"This is a great place to watch from" announced Smarty, as a race-tuned family saloon roared up the track. "You can see two of the sharpest bends and occasionally one goes off." At that moment, the car we were watching locked its wheels and skidded into a gravel trap before gently colliding with the crash barrier. Except for his pride - he stood, red-faced, by the side of the car while the safety crew dug it out - the driver wasn't hurt.
We were at the Prescott Speed Hill Climb, in a little village just outside of Cheltenham, where we were the official cheerleaders for our good friend Chris "Flash" Miles as he competed in the final race day of the year. He's been racing his Porsche 944 since 2010 but this was the first time Keith had been able to go and support him - Jan had seen him race at Castle Coombe the year before.
About 200 cars compete in the event, ranging from Fiat 500s to ones that wouldn't look out of place in an F1 Grand Prix. To make things fairer for the competitors, and more interesting for spectators, they are put into vehicle performance groups, so Chris was racing against a bunch of similarly powered Porsches, all against the clock.
Stood in the pit area, watching him prepare his car and waiting for his turn, we chatted about the changes he'd made to make the car lighter and faster, especially on the hill climbs. His first practice run proved the point when he knocked about 4 seconds (7%) off his previous best time, despite the track being wet after overnight rain. Not satisfied, Flash set about changing his wheels as soon as he got back to the pits.
To make the event more attractive for spectators, Prescott had combined the racing with an All-American motor show, including live music, Laurel & Hardy lookalikes and a Wall Of Death motorcycle stunt display. "Most of the race days aren't this much fun" confessed Bubble, Chris's wife and occasional pit crew member.
We'd lost track of time as we wandered around the show and suddenly realised we might have missed watching Flash do his first race. Fortunately the parade of US vehicles had overrun - the Whistling Billy steam powered car struggled on the steep turns - and the start had been delayed.
There were even more delays before Flash got his turn as we watched two cars crash and another break down, all requiring the track to be closed while the vehicles were recovered. When he did get his chance, Flash went even faster than in the practice, which was nice, but sadly not as fast as his closest rival.
With all of the delays, we had to miss his final race. We had to leave because we were going out to dinner, but we had seen his best drive. His last run was slower because the conditions worsened. We'd had a great time at the Autumn Classic and look forward to hearing about Flash's next race when he might finally be top of the leader board. Sorry but we can't promise to be there.
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