Scotland’s F1 start David Coulthard has praised the organisers of the first Ignition Festival of Motoring which has been running on Glasgow’s Clydeside over the weekend.
He said it was an inspirational move to bring the festival to the city and create a street circuit around the SECC and the SSE Hydro and make it a great event for thousands of people in Scotland.
“Everyone involved has done a great job and I just wish I’d brought my eight year old son here. He’d have loved it,” he said.
“Scotland has such a rich motorsport heritage and an event like this will inspire the next generation to get involved, not just competing but also other areas like engineering.”
Coulthard has been enjoying the circuit himself, taking a Red Bull Racing RB7 on demonstration laps. On the first day the winner of nine F1 GPs Mark Webber put on some power laps for the crowd. After his drive, Coulthard admitted it was the first time he’d driven a Grand Prix car in Scotland.
“It’s a very tight circuit but it feels very safe,” he said after a couple of laps. “I don’t get the chance to be here very often and I’ve actually lived abroad for longer than I ever lived in Scotland so it’s great to be back.”
Of all the vast range of cars on display and being driven round the circuit and demonstration tracks, there was one group which had attracted his attention.
“I quite fancy having a go in one of the drifting cars – supercharged Team Japseed Nissan 370Zs – because you can do donuts in an F1 car but they’re not built for drifting and it looks like great fun.”
Tartan Tarmac has been at the event in force with our own display area and many members and supporters taking their own collections of classics out on to the track. Among the other attractions were demonstrations by former rally champion Jimmy McRae at the wheel of the Subaru Impreza, which won the World Rally Championship in the hands of his late son Colin.
British Touring Car champion Gordon Shedden clearly enjoyed himself at the wheel of the Ariel Nomad superfast buggy performing donuts around the circuit while former Touring Car Champion John Cleland burnt plenty of rubber in his smoking Jaguar F Type.
The event has been a great success with thousands of motoring fans flocking through the gates for the three-day feast of high-octane maximum-revs entertainment.
