By Nana Helen
Other than having a fabulous cultural experience for six months, the reason the Sherrards travelled to Europe was so Rob could compete in the European Classic Car Races. Brands Hatch (England), Nurburg Ring (Germany), LeMans (France) and Silverstone (England) had already been ticked off when Rob and his family headed off to Danmark to race in the Kobenhavn Classic Grand Prix.
Now, let me put you in the picture. All of the previous races were on recognised race tracks with smooth surfaces and bends that were designed for racing. In Kobenhavn, the streets around one of the most popular inner-city parks are cordoned off and spectator barriers placed right beside the track. It’s a small track, basically in the shape of a rectangle with straights of just over eight hundred metres long. The turns are almost at right angles, and tight, very tight. Even the most disinterested car enthusiast had to be enthralled by the fact that as a spectator, you are almost on the track. You could see the expression on the drivers’ faces as they sped into the corners. It was great! Oh, I forgot to mention that the surface of the road was extremely bumpy and we saw lots of bits and pieces of cars flying into the air. I could almost hear the cash registers ringing.
Proceedings started quite well. Rob had his first race in his little Lancer Fulvia. As he puts it, it’s a stylish car but hasn’t got much speed. Neither did it have any brakes by the end of the race and Rob was basically changing the gears down to turn into the corners. He had to pull out on the second last lap which was a mighty fine effort considering he was ‘brakeless’. There was a lovely, friendly, relaxed atmosphere at the race-track. The Danes come to the event in their droves and they know a great deal about the race cars, so they really appreciated it when an Australian made the effort to come to their big event. With that in mind, one of our group, not mentioning any names, oh yes I will, our friendly larrikin John, stirred up the crowd by yelling “If you don’t cheer for Rob, we’ll take Princess Mary back home to Australia.” Now the Danes really love Mary and so they clapped, cheered and supported Rob brilliantly as he circled the track. So loud was the cheering that Rob waved and smiled as he drove past. He really engaged the crowd and it was one of those lovely sporting moments.
When Rob drove his forty year old Lola T70 onto the track, he could feel the support of the Danes, and his family who were sitting in the stands watching the whole circuit on a giant screen. Bronte proudly told everyone “That’s my daddy!” Secretly, my stomach was in my mouth because I couldn’t believe how big the Lola was, and I knew how tight the corners were. Rob was up against some very classy competition.
To cut a long story short, he set a new speed record in Kobenhavn - 306km/hr - he came first, beating this year's 24 heures du Le Mans class winning Aston Martin! That's probably the part he's most chuffed about!
So yes it was scarily fast and I'm so glad we were all able to be there for it. Well done Rob! There is no rest though, this weekend he’s off to Spa in Germany to do it all again.
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