Sunday 22nd March 2025

Annual historic motorsport show successfully returns  Words and pictures by Ken Davies 

Race Retro 21-23 February, Stoneleigh Park

Following its cancellation in 2024 due to flooding, Race Retro - run by Clarion Events - bounced back to promote and showcase club and national motorsport, including all forms of circuit racing, rallying, speed hill climbs and much, much more. Annually, this event offers enthusiasts a fantastic platform to display iconic cars from four capacious exhibition halls, interwoven with over 150 specialist motorsport suppliers of almost every motorsport need, all based at central and rural Stoneleigh Park situated in Warwickshire.


Perennial Race Retro favorite is the Talk Motorsport stage where motorsport legends share key career highlights with a knowledgeable audience. This year, celebrities being interrogated included, from rallying: 1967 Monte Carlo Rally winner Rauno Aaltonen, WRC co-driver Nicky Grist and former twice British Rally Champion, David Llewellin. While from racing, fans were able to listen to BTCC adversaries Matt Neal and Jason Plato. Former F1 driver, turned pundit, Anthony Davidson, and 1970s BRM F1 and Sportscar driver Mike Wilds, who vividly recalled driving Nissan’s R88 1400 bhp Le Mans prototype sports racer at 240mph, through fog! Other fascinating interviews included motorsport book authors and Don Wales, a member of the Campbell land and water speed heritage dynasty as well as last BMC competitions manager at Abingdon.

For those looking for a new competition or classic steed, there was a hall dedicated exclusively to Iconic Auctioneers who had amassed a vast selection of high-quality race, rally and classic road cars for sale in an eclectic catalog of almost 150 lots which included a Bentley GT campaigned at Pikes Peak, several Ford Mustang historic racers, a stunning race-winning semi-lightweight Jaguar E-type and a Porsche 993 GT2R with meagre delivery mileage. Among collectors’ cars were the first McLaren Senna, having clocked just over 1,000 miles, a one-owner Ford RS200S, and a Porsche 911 GT3 RS with just delivery mileage. All these cars presented unique and potentially lucrative opportunities to potential investors.  


On Saturday and Sunday, outdoor demonstrations featured the Rally Stage and Historic Karting, both attractions being particularly popular with visitors and participants, as was the multifarious Autojumble, especially as this year stallholders and shoppers were spoilt with fully heated halls. But Race Retro is also acknowledged as a great opportunity for event organisers to network, and competitors and teams have the chance to preview the season’s plans to the media, who are always well-represented at this annual show.


This year, organisers added an extra hall packed with motorsport history and that delighted the show visitors over the three-day event. Each year, this show provides an essential opportunity to around 40,000 visitors, including those closely involved to showcase all categories and levels of motorsport. Competitors, teams and event organisers are currently competing in a relatively deflated market of diminishing competitors, so long may exhibitions of this sort continue to inject optimism and enthusiasm into the season ahead.

Race Retro 2026 will be held on 20-22 February.