COVENTRY’S motoring heritage is set to go under the spotlight in a series of high profile events set to reignite the image of the area as Britain’s Motor City.

Motofest 2015 is a three-day festival beginning on May 29, which is dedicated to the city’s motoring heritage and the event will feature pop-up racing, demonstration events,  static displays, live music, and even fringe events.

Organisers have also partnered with the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC). They were hoping to stage a two-day programme of time trials featuring vehicles from across BARC’s various championships and race series.

It would have seen the Coventry ring road play host to British Formula 3 cars, vehicles from the British Touring Car Championship and Porsche Carrera Cup series cars, amongst others.

However, time trialing against the clock now won’t be taking place because the necessary legislation to allow road racing could not be passed in time due to the General Election.

Nevertheless, the BARC is hopeful of gathering around 150 drivers to Coventry MotoFest 2015, with representatives of each of their racing series showing off their cars.

The potential for the event is shine a light on Coventry can be seen by the fact Motofest has attracted £40,000 of short term loan funding in a deal brokered by Coventry non-profit organisation, Coventry and Warwickshire Reinvestment Trust (CWRT).

The five-figure sum will help to secure the future of the event, with the money invested into the planned expansion of the three-day festival over the next few years.

James Noble, Motofest Festival Director, said: “It’s fantastic news for Motofest that we have been able to work with CWRT to secure this substantial amount of funding.

“The money that has been made available will help us to grow the festival as planned and implement the vision we had at the beginning to create an Edinburgh Festival-style celebration of Coventry’s motoring heritage.”

Mike Musson, Chief Executive of CWRT, added: “We are an impact investor which seeks to benefit the local community by providing loans and Coventry Motofest is an attractive proposition for a couple of key reasons.

“We see Motofest as a key flagship event for Coventry, given the city’s status as the historical UK home of cars.

“It’s also importantly having a direct impact on the people of Coventry. It’s helping to create jobs, a sense of community engagement and enjoyment for people in the city and that is a key part of the motivation for supporting such an event.”

This year’s event has also attracted a pair of high profile sponsors, including a company from Coventry steeped in the history of the automotive industry.

AP Racing is a leading manufacturer of performance brake and clutch systems for road and race cars. It is a recognised brand within the motorsport industry as a key supplier to all levels of international motorsport formulae, including single seat racing, rallying, sports car racing, stock car racing and touring cars.

In 2014 alone, AP Racing supplied either brakes, clutches or both to over 30 champions across the entire spectrum of the motorsport world and every Formula One Championship since 1967 has been won using their equipment.

Joe Bennett, Marketing Engineer for AP Racing, said: “We’re incredibly proud of our association with Coventry, so it is of no surprise that we took the opportunity to provide sponsorship for this festival based in our hometown.”

In addition, Falken Tyre has been signed up as the event’s Official Tyre Manufacturer.

It is the first time that Falken Tyre has supported the event and its UK drift team will be demonstrating with a performance on the city’s ring road.

The intention was to give this year’s event a special flavour with the new tunnel on Coventry’s ring road transformed into a huge nightclub in a world-first experience.

The Greyfriars Green road tunnel was set to be renamed The Tunnel Club as it was transformed into a temporary nightspot for up to 5,000 people on the Saturday night of the three-day festival.

However, event organisers, in agreement with Coventry City Council, have decided this will now not be going ahead as a mark of respect following the stabbing of a teenager in the city earlier this year.

The Motofest event is intended to be a celebration of Coventry’s status as the spiritual home of the British car industry and in recognition of this there will be a number of very special cars taking part in the festival.

One of these will be the Rover-BRM gas turbine race car, which will take to the city’s ring road for the first time since the 1960s (left).

Jointly built by Rover and the Owen Organisation, the Rover-BRM gas turbine race car was the first gas turbine powered vehicle to take part in the Le Mans 24 Hour race, when it competed in the famous endurance race in 1963 and 1965.

While competing as an experimental car in 1963, in 1965 it was officially classified as a two litre vehicle and driven by motor racing legends Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart, it achieved 10th place in the overall race standings.

The car was also first tested at the Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA) track near Nuneaton by Graham Hill and was road tested in and around the Coventry ring road.

Now over 50 years later, its Rover 150bhp 2S/150 two-shaft gas turbine engine, which runs at a constant 35-40,000rpm, is set to make it one of the stars of the festival.

It is currently housed at the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon, which will also be bringing a selection of classic cars from the collection to the festival.

James Noble said: “It is truly wonderful news that the Heritage Motor Centre will be bringing the Rover-BRM gas turbine car and we are very thankful to them for their support.

“The car is a classic icon of its age and when Graham Hill was first testing the car he commented that ‘It sounds as if you’ve got a 707 just behind you, about to suck you up and devour you like an enormous monster’.

“So you can begin to imagine the amazing spectacle it’s going to create when it takes to Coventry’s roads again after first being road tested on the ring road in the 1960s. It will be a real homecoming for the car and we are excited to have it as part of the sprint circuit racing display.”

The Heritage Motor Centre is home to the world’s largest collection of British built vehicles. It boasts nearly 300 cars which span the classic, vintage and veteran eras and is a Mecca for car enthusiasts from all over the world. It also houses a huge archive of over two million historic photographs, brochures, automotive drawings, and records.

Classic cars in new world record attempt

IN June, the city’s most celebrated motoring brand – Jaguar Land Rover – will be doing its bit to support a world record attempt to stage the largest parade ever of classic cars.

The record attempt is planned the week before the museum’s official re-opening.

The Jaguar Land Rover Heritage Collection is supporting Coventry Transport Museum’s plan to stage the parade but to supplement this, the museum has called on owners of classic Jaguar and Land Rovers to register their interest and take part in the momentous occasion, which is set to take place in the city on Sunday, June 14.

The record currently stands at 1,674 cars, which was set in Mexico City in 2014. The goal is to attract up to 2,000 classic cars that are at least 30 years old, for the record to be officially ratified by Guinness World Records.

The route of the parade, which must measure at least two miles to meet Guinness World Record regulations, will start at the Ricoh Arena and will include the city’s ring road.  Vehicle registration documents will be required as proof of a car’s age.

Gary Hall, Chief Executive of Culture Coventry said: “We are thrilled that Jaguar Land Rover Heritage is supporting us in this attempt to bring this World Record home to Coventry, the spiritual home of the British motor industry.
 
“There couldn’t be a more fitting way to celebrate the re-launch of Coventry Transport Museum and Jaguar’s 80th birthday than to bring classic cars from all over the country, to the city which designed, built and inspired so many gorgeous and pioneering vehicles.

“Demand to take part in this event is already very high, so we are asking people to register their interest as soon as possible.”

Owners of Jaguars, Land Rovers and other classic cars who would like to take part have been asked to register their interest as soon as possible, by visiting http://transport-museum.com/events/event/270/guinness_world_record_attempts.aspx and completing the ‘Expression of Interest’ form.  

The museum chronicles the story of the city’s unique transport heritage and attracts almost half a million visitors per year.  The museum’s redevelopment has been funded by the European Regional Development Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund, Garfield Weston Foundation, Biffa Award, Arts Council England and WREN.