Christian Iddon made a great start to Race 1 on Saturday to move up from 8th on the grid to 5th on his opening lap. His VisionTrack Ducati teammate Josh Brookes had lined up beside him in 9th, but wasn’t able to make as many moves forward.

Due to the worsening situation and rising infection rate of Covid-19, Mortons Media Group has reluctantly taken the decision to cancel the Carole Nash Classic Motorcycle Mechanics show, planned for October 10-11 at Stafford County Showground.

This long-established event has always been a firm favourite with motorcycle enthusiasts from all over Europe, and with the increase of cases worldwide, Mortons feels this is the safest thing to do, for the well-being of visitors and traders.

Not only is the show a highlight in the event calendar, it is also a strong social event for visitors at the show, with people naming a ‘day out with their friends’, as one of  the top three reasons for going. Given the current restrictions with the ‘rule of six’, and the increasing localised lockdowns nationwide, Mortons believes this is the most responsible course of action to take.

The Stafford Shows will continue in 2021, with the popular Carole Nash International Classic MotorCycle Show scheduled to take place over the weekend of April 24-25. The team will be looking to bounce back by putting on the biggest and best show of its kind in order to celebrate its 40^th anniversary.

Meanwhile Mortons will continue to hold regular outdoor autojumbles at Newark showground and Kempton Park, as currently planned.

BPS Racing’s Levi Day built on his Silverstone success by beating his namesake to the weekend’s opening race win at Oulton Park on Saturday afternoon.

I used to like the idea of being spontaneous and also did not fancy using a sat nav however once you have tried to get a room somewhere to find you cannot get one as they are full due to a local festival, overpriced (Italy circa 2001, 11pm in a roadside motel style @ €175 comes to mind) , you cannot find one (sounds strange I know but there are miles and miles of nothing in parts of Germany and France - well apart from excellent scenery) and to book into somewhere and find it awful, we now have a final destination and plan route around it. 

We use a combination of Biker Friendly accommodation on www.thebikerguide.co.uk and if there is nothing in the area we want we also look on other accommodation websites. 

We did a trip a couple of years ago with the final destination being Colditz Castle, which you can stay in. Went in July for 3-ish weeks with everything booked, set into Sat Nav and you know what - thank goodness as it rained everyday but one. We would set off with the next place in the Sat Nav - take off route when we wanted and arrive at destination stress free.

We stayed at some great places, travelled fantastic roads and routes, ate well, found our way easy even with the many roadwork diversions and would pass by others at the side of the road battling with a big wet soggy map to find their way. We did also pack a map as back-up or to look at a vaster area on a larger scale, however we are happy to say it return dry and not soggy. 

I think once you have used a Sat Nav on a big trip which gets you to destinations easy, gets you out of a diversion and back on route, helps you navigate/find food and petrol, you wonder what you did before the United States military released the technology for GPS!

The first way around a small budget for such a trip and/or even the Motorbike is to take out a small loan which will enable you to enjoy the trip, without having to save up for a long time.

With less than two weeks to go until the British Motor Museum hosts a new innovative production ‘Voices of the West End’, the organisers are keen to stress how COVID safe and secure the event will be. The outdoor event will take place in the grounds of the Museum on 25, 26 & 27 September and showcase music from the West End’s greatest musicals.

2,000 people recently watched the performance at Broadlands in Hampshire. Audiences greeted West End stars John Owen-Jones, Earl Carpenter, Kerry Ellis, and Katie Hall with a rapturous reception as they delivered a succession of hit numbers from favourite musicals including Chess, The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables. The audience praised not only the incredible performances but also the safe and secure organisation of the event.

Earl Carpenter, performer and producer said “From the outset we wanted people to feel entirely safe. Every group of up to 4 guests occupies their own 3m square marked out socially distanced plot, with metres of space between each one. But that did not dampen the atmosphere and enthusiasm one bit. Everyone was incredibly excited to hear a live performance and, as four performers, we loved singing for an audience again”.

Along with an option of a 4-person pitch from no more than two households or support bubbles there is now also the option of a two-person picnic or car pitch. The performances are 90 minutes long with no interval and will take place on Friday 25 September at 7pm, Saturday 26 September, when there are two performances at 2pm and 7pm and on Sunday 27 September at 6pm. Gates open 2 hours beforehand.

The box office for the concert is managed by Birmingham Hippodrome and tickets can only be booked via their website at www.birminghamhippodrome.com. Roped pitches are from £59 for a 3 square metre pitch and car pitches are from £96.50, where performances can be watched from inside the car or set up next to it. 

The chefs at the British Motor Museum are making luxury picnics and hampers which can be pre-ordered along with a selection of wines to enjoy in style. Picnics are £16 per person and the luxury hampers £21 per person. These must be pre-ordered via the Museum’s website and orders close on the evening of Sunday 20 September. On the event day there will also be a small food and drink area serving gourmet burgers with vegetarian/vegan options, coffee/teas, ice creams etc. and a bar selling alcoholic and soft drinks along with a Pinnock’s Artisan Gin Bar.

For more information about the event please visit www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/whats-on/voices-of-the-west-end

The Museum and event organisers will continue to monitor the Government advice and keep visitors informed of any changes.