They’re so close to the action, they can see the whites of the driver’s eyes! This is street racing with a difference, because the modified cars screaming around town don’t belong to boy racers, but to professionals.

The main teams from the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) descended on Milton Keynes, Bucks, for a demonstration event, wowing a crowd of more than 10,000 fans.

Vauxhall VXRacing, Team Halfords and SEAT Sport UK were in attendance, with Yvan Muller, Matt Neal and Jason Plato respectively piloting their awesome 300bhp machines along a narrow tarmac course in the town centre.

Current championship leader Neal was amazed by the reception he received before starting up his bright orange Honda Integra. “I’m really impressed with the size of the crowd. If all of these people come along to the races, then it’ll be fantastic for the series,” he said.

One by one, the super-saloons rolled out of the improvised pit area with tyres smoking and exhausts barking. They headed on to Avebury Boulevard, which was lined by throngs of cheering enthusiasts. After a dramatic racing start, the cars reached speeds of nearly 100mph along the short straight. The drivers then dived into a hairpin bend, fashioned from one of the city’s roundabouts, before sprinting back to the start.

VXRacing spokesman Frank Marie explained the reasons behind the UK-wide tour, which has already taken in Newcastle and Edinburgh. “We bring the cars to the people rather than the other way around, as is the case with many branches of motorsport. There’s so much going on at the weekends these days that you simply must get the message out there,” he said.

A heavy downpour late in the evening did little to dampen spirits. “I can’t believe how loud and fast the cars are,” said local Matthew Philips. “I drive down this road to go shopping, so it’s unbelievable to see the BTCC guys racing along it!” Sue Young from Cranfield, Bedfordshire, agreed: “You’d never get this close at a race. Being able to stand next to the drivers is great.”

Organiser Carl McKellar seemed positive about the street spectacle and the future of the BTCC. “There were more than 10,000 people here, which compared to the 5,000 we had in Newcastle is phenomenal. The main thing now is to get them to the race tracks.”

(this article was by taken from autoexpress.co.uk)

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 29th, 2005 at 10:22 am and is filed under Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.