Thirlestane Castle
Sir Jackie Stewart Classic
What a superb event this was for a first attempt. It was a huge undertaking and the work by the team from Thirlestane Castle made it an event for all the family and a tremendous credit to all involved and I understand the crowd was in excess of 20,000 over the 2 days. Most importantly the weather played ball and apart from the grass being wet when we arrived on Friday it was perfect conditions for getting a bit of a tan. Just ask Hugh McKinnon who did his impression of a beetroot both days!!
The selection of cars on display and taking part in the sprint was exceptional and Jackie’s collection of cars throughout his career included his very first racing car, the Marcos Xylon, originally owned by Barry Filer but now owned by an Italian who trailered it all the way over specially.
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The Veterans Association had plenty of space and we set up on Friday morning with Charlie Young and Mid Bruce doing the heavy lifting by bringing the gazebos, banner, table and some chairs. Hugh McKinnon appeared with 2 cars as his daughter drove his lovely 1965 Mk.1 Jaguar E-type from Houston and he peddled the tarmac rally-spec 1994 Porsche 911 2.7 Carrera RS. My friend Neil Hunter came with me and between us we built the encampment!!
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On Saturday morning Chris Paton arrived with his precious wee Mini and along with Vernon Williamson’s 1951 Ecurie Ecosse Joe Potts Special F3 car we had 4 cars on display (photo on the front page header on the website).
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From the point of view of the association the weekend was a great success with many visitors and several new potential members given flyers and application forms. We had visits from Jimmy & Arlene McInnes, Nancy & Barry Crichton, Billy & Anne Cuthbertson who are regulars on the Spring & Autumn Runs as well as many other stalwarts including Hugh McCaig, Sandy Denham, Bruce Lyle, John Cleland (whose Volvo dealership display was next door to us), Willie & Marnie Crawford, Robin Liddell whose father Eric was a well known racer in the 60’s, Clive Reeves and Iain Nicolson who runs the Ingliston Circuit website.
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Our Honorary President was aware of our presence but he was a seriously busy man over the weekend hosting many guests and didn’t make it to our stand. A great shame but I’m sure the figure raised for the ‘Race Against Dementia’ will be substantial.
This was the first event of a 3 year plan by Jackie so it’ll be interesting to see where it goes next year but it will be 50 years since he retired in 1973 so that may be an indication.
All in all an outstanding success and looking forward to next year already.
Mike How