Well, what an event that was! The word on the street (or should that be the track!) is that this year’s National was a terrific success and it wasn’t just because of the weather! Everybody I spoke to agreed that the combination of speed, shine and social worked very well and soooo many owners are now keen to have a go at more track events.
Congratulations to Dave, PJ, Nick and co for organising such a successful event. The best yet!
Just returned from the Rally & wanted to add my congratulations too. The first time I’ve been to a Rally but really enjoyed it, especially the opportunity to be driven round the track.
Many thanks to ALL those who spent their time organising it & I look forward to the next Rally.
Once again congratulations & many thanks.
Liz [Y][Y]
Great day for me too, came late for the morning session unfortunately so missed out on half of it, and it was my first time on track but i still absolutely loved it… and probably saved myself a tank of petrol by only doing half 
my nearside rear tyre took a good shredding off gerard’s bend too.
Will definitely be doing more MoT events in future and learned alot about my car. e.g. my gear shifting makes my clutch not a happy bunny, standard suspension doesnt really cut it for track use, and don’t touch your wheels just after coming off track… ouch
The wheels were that hot that when i re-torqued the nuts, my socket actually got pretty hot lol.
So yeah… great day and alot learned both on and off the track… look forward to seeing the pics 
Congratulations to all involved in organising a fantastic event and it is greatly appreciated, we all had a fabulous time, just pitty the day had to come to an end.
So once again many many thanks to all involved[:D]
Marcus, Jayne and my Sister Beth.
P.S. Roll on next year, can’t wait[:)]
Hopefully the Mk1 that came to grief on the track at the end of the day isn’t too bad, and that the passengers were ok; though the paramedics checked them out.
Good day, and a very good turnout.Not sure what the final car count was, but I estimate 700 was easily achievable.
Sandstorms are a Mallory feature, so I very quickly moved my car up from the carpark dustbowl. Food; well, this was down to the Circuit owners. 1 burger van and a cafe serving what looked to be prison food (hunks of fake looking meet in gravy) isn’t good enough. Teriffic venue though, and I hope the Mallory Park people take note if they expect another visit from us. The combination of show-cars and continual track action looked to be a winning formula, even for those not taking the cars out on the circuit. It was clear to me that the cafe “menu” was rather hastily put together, especially when I spotted the kitchen staff digging out some spare pasties from the freezer.
It is estimated that there were over 1000 mx5s, I didnt count them, but someone else did. We should have some final admission numbers from Mallory in due course which should help with this. The numbers in attendance far exceeded expectations by many, hence I am lead to believe the Mallory Cafe was over whelmed. No doubt the sunshine made a big difference to the attendance. I suspect Mallory in the wet is not such a nice place!
Overall a fantastic day and just about the longest day I have ever had! I left home at 5.00am in the morning, got to Mallory before 8.00am for the morning track sesion. So did the track in morning, the Rally in afternoon, the Gala Dinner in the evening, (that was fab as well) , the chit chat in the bar until the small hours (no drinking though) and eventually got home at about 5.30 am.!!! I may go for a nap shortly. [:)]
What happened with that crash? I was round gerard’s talking to the marshall when he got radioed to show the red flag, then i saw an ambulance going round the track.
And the burger i had from that van was one of the best i’ve had 
Part of the problem was Mallory had been told to expect 500 people not over 2,000
Many thanks to those who attended and especially to organisers. Of course the fantastic weather played its part, but this was my first event as an MX5OC member and both my son and myself thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Truly a day to remember.
Harco reckons over 1300 cars came through the gates, must be over 1200 MX5s surely?
The only disappointment was the catering facilities, redeemed only by the 99s served up by the old Italian gentleman in the ice cream van in the paddock after lunch.
Initially I had some doubts that we would be able to pull off an evnt that wasnt just a load of cars in a field
But My doubts were soon put to rest , there was plenty to see and do…the track , motocross bikes, mechanicle Bulls ,trade stands
and not least the cars…
I had a great day and did both the morning seesion and 4 afternoon sesions (including the one that was cut short due to the acciden)
Both driver and passenger wer shook up but I think the realisation that their car was a right off was waying down on both the very young owners
The back end steped out coming into John Cooper esses the car spun and hit the tyre wall on the drivers side…bounced off and ended facing the right way.
Thanks to all who put a huge effort into arranging , helping and making this one of the best OC events ive been to.
And a double whammy for myself as Sparkle got 2nd in the cool car section…And UMA got 2nd in the hot car.
It was good to meet all who came up and had a chat…See some of you at Oulton Park in November?
Cattering was a bit of a let down but thats one small gripe
Once again Thanks + Well done
Alan
P.s All we need to do now is sort this forum out[::(]
[H] wow what a day, great drive up (bit late oops!) great to see all the nutters going round the track, but was a bit dsiapionted that Shiny Steve turned me down when I asked to borrow his car for a spin round the track[:$] honest I would n’t have dented it MUCH.
but well done to all the organisers great day
George
ps also won cool mk1 well happy [&]
Mallory Park was our first MX-5OC National Rally, and we were eagerly looking forward to it. I have been to several other Owners’ Club rallies so knew what to expect, but it was a first for my wife. <o:p></o:p>
We really enjoyed our day. It was great to see so many MX-5’s all gathered together. We didn’t go round the track but it was good to see how MX-5’s behave on the track. <o:p></o:p>
I have some observations to make, and I hope they will be considered and/or taken on board for future events.<o:p></o:p>
My MX-5 has lowered suspension (30 mm) and driving to the parking area and negotiating some of the potholes was really difficult. Indeed, the car grounded on several occasions. I did ask if it was possible to park somewhere more suitable but was told this was not possible.<o:p></o:p>
The catering on site was abysmal. My wife and I had decided to make a day of it and get a meal or nice snack, but no such luck. One solitary burger van and ‘canteen’ food was not really on. <o:p></o:p>
I keep my MX-5 ‘nice’; I don’t go for detailing or ‘concours’ preparation. Before leaving for the show I gave the car a wash, cleaned the interior, and polished the windows. In essence my car is as it left the factory four years ago, but allowing for 10,000 miles of use. I congratulate all those who took the time and trouble to prepare their cars to such a high standard, your dedication and commitment is to be admired. However, bear in mind that your car did not leave the factory, or was handed over to its original owner in that condition. As an example; a lot of MX-5 mark 2½’s had the underneath of their bonnets as highly polished as the outer surface. This is not how they came from the factory! <o:p></o:p>
The point of my observation? Can I suggest that a new class be introduced, namely best original vehicle in original out of factory condition? This would be the vehicle in the best original, new, out of showroom condition, with no modifications, or accessories fitted that were not available when new. I for one would like to enter such a competition. I like to keep my cars as original as possible; I don’t go in for coloured silicone hoses, chrome add-ons, custom wheels, etc. Do any other members share my view? I think that there is an equal pride in keeping a car in such a condition. <o:p></o:p>
Finally in all the other members’ club rallies I’ve attended every vehicle was given a small engraved plaque (say about 6cm x 4cm) with the name of the club, the national rally’s venue, and the date. Were these given out? We arrived at 11.30. I remember seeing several long-standing members with a large board proudly displaying all of the plaques they had collected over the years. This I feel would be a worthwhile ‘added value’ item, and be an incentive to return to the ‘National’ year-on-year.<o:p></o:p>
Please do not take the points I have raised as criticisms; they are not meant in that way at all. My wife and I enjoyed our day at the ‘National’. It was the best National Rally I’ve attended! I should like to thank the organising committee and all the volunteers for their hard work and efforts in making it such a memorable day. <o:p></o:p>
Normally plaques are given out at the gate but I arrived pretty early so they (probably) hadn’t been distributed to all the marshals then, although I did get one a bit later on.
In addition, I suspect they may well have run out mid-to-late morning, as it looks like attendance was about double the previous best!
Best Kept used to be Judged On Originality but was changed by competitors consent.
There were the Usual rally plaques presented but I believe some early entrants missed them.
The roads were a bit lumpy but even Uma managed them and her front splitter has only 2" ground clearance.
Must agree with you on the catering side.
Alan
Rally
plaques not given out on entrance, but when I managed to get
there in the afternoon, I noticed that they were
available from the club marquee, by the tombola. (I had already got one by that time).
They
were also being handed out when I was leaving at about 16:00.
Couldn’t make the Rally unfortunately but agree with “Spyderman” re the “origonal” class of car. It should be acceptable for owners to do whatever they want to to their cars but for those who want to leave it near to or standard then there should ba e class for them. I think it is fantastic what some people do to their cars to individualise them, be it cosmetic or performance related but some just want to look after them and leave them as they were designed.
Shame to here about the accident, I hope the owners are ok and the car repairable (insured or not). I did a track session at Castle Combe and while I was happy with my own ability it is always in the back of your mind about the others on track. The last time I went somebody did serious damage to their M3 BMW so there are risks. I think if I did it again I would upgrade my insurance.
May I suggest that any competition discussion is continued in the MX-5 Owners Club discussion forum please.
RR.
Yes, best National Rally ever - 1100 plus owners can’t be wrong.
Must say I didn’t notice the catering issue - too much to see and do to think about eating.
Highlight of the day for me (sorry it’s not MX-5 related) was standing on the barrier at the very end of the paddock by the Esses when the drift cars came by about 20 feet away - awesome!!!
Oh, and the passenger ride with Martin in the Merlot of course (almost as awesome[;)])
Who said a track based Rally wouldn’t be popular?
Catering? - it’s a racing circuit, not a Michelin-rated restaurant visit!
The burger van was busy, and the burgers were ok.
The 2 ice creams vans were busy, and the 99s were ok.
The paddock cafe gets great reviews otherwise for a middle of a circuit cafe - you don’t get that at every circuit!
It was a great day, now stop the whining! [;)]