Saturday 16th September saw the return of the Audi Driver International Show at Castle Combe race circuit and hosted by the Audi Driver International Magazine.
For the members who attended, it was an early start as some of us met for Breakfast at Chippenham Premier Inn. This gave us a chance to get to know one another and it set us up for the great day ahead however did mean we were slightly late getting to Castle Combe and were beaten to our spot by fellow members who hadn’t come for breakfast. Whilst we were setting up it started to rain however this didn’t dampen the spirits of those who attended.
Our club display was set off to the left from the entrance and was placed opposite the Audi Owners Club.co.uk stand. Once we were set up we all were able to chat and to get to know one another. We had a very good display which consisted of a R8, RS5, RS6 C5, A6 C5, A6 C6 Le mans saloon, 2 A6 C6 Le Mans estates and an A3 8P.
After a short while mingling the weather had improved and we headed off to look at the other club displays and stands. There was plenty of nice Audis to look at and the biggest club displays by far were the RS3 Owners Club, the A2 Club and a couple of the classic Audi clubs. Everyone I spoke to were friendly and were happy to talk about their cars and the clubs. Audi UK were also in attendance with some of their heritage collection which consisted of an NSU Ro80, RS2 and Audi Quattro as well as bringing some of their newer offerings such as the new RS5 and R8.
After lunch the members geared up to participate in the parade lap around the famous Castle Combe race track. For this a drivers briefing had to be attended but afterwards the cars were lined up in the holding area to be lead out for four laps around the track. This was clearly an experience none of us would forget!
Besides the parade lap there were dedicated track sessions to allow people to put their cars through their paces. There were some lovely cars on track including a couple of R8 race cars and an old Audi 80, there were even some non Audi cars namely a Seat Leon in Gulf racing colours and a golf Mk5.
By 2:30 people started to leave the show to make their way home and most of our club had left by 4:00. All in all the Audi Driver international was a great show to attend and had a nice atmosphere to it. It is definitely a show the club will be attending next year!
Thanks for reading J
Cheers
Steve