Im not familiar with Compton Verney or the surrounding area so ive been looking on google maps at the location what 3 words will be taking us to. How suitable is it for lowered cars? Its hard to see on a screen and not all the roads are mapped but it looks like a lot of cars will struggle to get in.
This is the view I get when I look at āGate 1ā for MX5 car entry.
And this is the point on the map
Thats the same road i was looking at. That grassy hump could be an issue for some. It might look worse than it is.
Thereās a more than fair chance that someone who has done this before has scouted out the event and access on the basis that a few thousand vehicles of various levels of modification are likely to turn up. Iām sure it will be fine.
**thereās now way l am going down that track after all the effort people put into getting there cars bulled up who did the recce for this must of had his guide dog with him ā¦.some cars are quite low tooā¦ā¦.utter shambles cars wizzing all over
1 Like
One would hope so who pays for any damage to the under side of there car ā¦ā¦???
Just use Gate 2 with the āplebsā
3 Likes
Sheeesh this queue is slightly longā¦. Not had this before 
It finishes at 4ā¦. I hope Iām parked by then ā¦. Might not be
1 Like
Currently in the queue for gate 1 after the 4 way junction, we are moving although quite slowly
Edot: just got parked at 1200 after joining the queue at 1040
Been here an hour now queuing. Are they still sticking to the scheduled programme taking into account the majority are going to miss the opening events?
1 Like
Given up, turned round and returned home.
3 Likes
Oh dear, hope you all get in ok.
Sadly I couldnāt make it to this one.
So disappointing! My first National Rally. Plenty of excitement, The MX5 polished to within an inch of its life and all set to go.
As some others have posted. Close to the venue at 10:40, but it took until 12:10 to get in through the members gate, only to find that its little more than a dirt track unsuitable for low clearance cars. The car looked like it had been on safari in the dessert by the time the track ended in the parking field. All that polishing for nothing 
Once in the parking field you then joined yet another queue to gain entry and then another queue to use the looās, then another queue to get coffeeā¦bit of a theme here.
The volunteers tried their absolute best , but totally overwhelmed by the numbers.
Real Shame
4 Likes
Decent show, picked up some utter bargains in the trade area and the general public carpark had some fantastic cars in it!
Show itself was good, could be more āopen planā and have clusters of cars dependant on model year etc? Iād of enjoyed one massive āmk1 areaā for example.
The road in with speed bumps was savage. I have chassis strengthening bars and used them as grind rails! the grass track out wasnāt much better but at least it was just grass!
Decent show, events staff all switched on and great weather. Will return!
2 Likes
Having helped organise similar albeit smaller events in the past for motorcycles I can appreciate and am very grateful to all those that put in the hard hours to turn something like a national rally into reality. It was my first MX5 event and whilst smaller than expected thatās purely down to my expectation being out of balance with reality. Once in it was good and for that I thank all those involved.
However, the getting in part wasā¦entertaining. Having arrived at around 09:30 we and many others were waved past the main entrance towards what I at least believed would be an alternative. There was no alternative or at least not one that many/most/any could find. The resultant chaos of 30 to 40 (50?) cars yo-yo-ing up and down a recently resurfaced road, passing each other so often that some are now on my Christmas card list whilst all trying to solve the mystery of how to actually get in was at best amusing and at worst borderline dangerous. This was a public road and āthe publicā arenāt used to every third car seemingly stopping at random to talk to a gate guardian before being told, at an undisclosed interval, to move along. The gate guardian by the way was a lovely chap who was less than pleased about his predicament. In the end those that could parked up on the verge nearby, helplessly watched the mayhem and waited for 10am to arrive. Whilst itās understandable to have an event start time there has to either be somewhere that people can go prior to that or it made very clear that you will not get into the venue, at all, not even to park, until a certain time.
Once access was granted, the route in was a stereotypical dusty farm type track with speed bumps which the slightly lower cars ahead of me very kindly ground down enough so that I could clear them. Slowly. At an angle. After the farm track it was grass field parking time and whilst generally speaking that worked, given the slope of the land I pass thanks to the weather gods that it was dry otherwise getting hundreds of low, lightweight rear wheel drive cars out again could have proven interesting. For some reason the entrance track was also the exit track which added an extra touch of jeopardy trying to guess where in the grass a boulder or a hole might be when someone came in as you were leaving. Given we arrived early the pedestrian queue part wasnāt an issue although it did seem to stall and grow to rather an impressive length shortly afterwards.
The actual show venue itself seemed to work well, itās a nice place - cars, stalls, food, tea, nice folk and a lovely chap called Taylor off the YouTube telly with a V6 MX5. All good, and again my thanks to all those hidden soles and unclaimed hours that make these things happen. The wider infrastructure though seemed to my inexperienced or naive eyes to tick most of the boxes youād be keen to avoid given the audience.
Would I attend a national rally again. Yes. Would I go there again. Yes - but not in an MX5 and not early. Or lateā¦
4 Likes
The track was just about OK I thinkā¦the lowered cars were keeping a wheel on the hump and the other on the verge to keep out of the ruts, which werenāt that deep anyway.
It was quite dusty, but better that than heavy rain which could have made the parking very difficult.
The main problem I think was the delays. We happened to arrive too early (10.16 I think) and were were in by 11 but it was clear by then than there was a big backup. with traffic queues on all 3 approach roads.
Unfortunately after the parking queue, and once parked, there was a queue to show tickets which was not a trivial one.
A group of members from my area arrived before 11 and werenāt inside until 12.30. Iād been listening to the first Tom Matano & Bob Hall session for half an hour by then.
Itās not fair to knock volunteers. A constructive suggestion I think is that if we are going to have ticket inspections then we need more āturnstilesā. everybody was passing through one point.
Iād be interested to hear what the attendance was and how it compares with previous venues, especially Gaydon which is located nearby.
Generally speaking a decent enough venue I thought, but overwhelmed by the numbers.
Thanks to the organisers and volunteers, As somebody who has just been involved in cancelling a village show for lack of resource, I know how challenging it can be.
7 Likes
My first National Rally , and whilst I have absolutely no gripe with the volunteers etc the access and egress( down the same dirt track) was really not well thought out. I got to a 4 way junction close to the venue at 10.30 and got out of the car at 12.10. Heaven only knows what would have happened if it had rained!!! I would definitely go to another rally but not at this venue!!
1 Like
This entry road was the only fly in the ointment of an otherwise very good day.
We joined the queue from the South at about 10:25, I took this at 10:41, our arrival photo was taken at 10:54, and we parked at 10:59.
I have been in a slower rally queue, but at least that previous one had a big holding area immediately off the main road as a buffer so it was much less of a problem and we could see what was going on ahead for final parking.
In general it was a very good rally, dry and sometimes sunny, lots of interesting stalls, cars and stuff going on, people to meet up with again, and I thought it was well done considering how many cars were there.
Weāll be going back to Compton Verney and Iām happy to pay for a day spent wandering around it at leisure because with all the MX-5 interest we did not have enough time to see much of its attractions other than the cafe and house loos
6 Likes