Pageant of Power 2012.
After skipping the event in 2011, I returned to the grassland surrounding Cholmondeley Castle in June for the 2012 Pageant of Power. Moved back a month in the calendar, in a bid to curry favour with the weather gods, the hoped-for sunshine was an occasional rather than continual visitor over the three-day event, the dampness only really shifting for real on the Sunday. Needless to say the three days following the Pageant were glorious....
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Regulars to the PoP will have recognised a number of the cars entered this year from previous occasions, but there were also many fresh four- and two-wheeled "faces" to ensure that interest for seasoned visitors was maintained. This year saw the 50th anniversary of the AC Cobra's introduction, and the Pageant organisers had gathered together a fine collection of original cars, joined by one or two later AC Cars continuation models, and a few produced by replica manufacturers for good measure. Paraded with enthusiasm over the three days, they made for a fine sight.
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Modern supercars jostled for attention with vehicles dating back to the sepia era, their pilots keen to demonstrate their vehicles to the best of their cars' abilities. Fastest car of all was a modern creation, the Caterham Superlight SP/300R, a vehicle designed to take the scrap to the likes of Ultima and, evidently, doing the job in speed terms. More memorable though were the aero-engined machines, veterans of more than one PoP in most cases. What they gave away in raw speed to more modern upstarts, they easily made up for in crowd-pleasing demonstrations.
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I attended on the Friday set-up and practice day, and then on Sunday. Saturday's stage times were reigned in substantially by the other type of rain, while Sunday - finally - offered the prospect of some decent runs for most competitors, finally able to benefit from a dry track and a modest build-up of rubber laid down at the start line. Below are some of my favourite images from the 2012 Pageant of Power.
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