ON YOUR marks and get set for the return of a much-loved community pedal car event after a two-year hiatus.
The course has been finalised and readied for the British Pedal Car Grand Prix in Ringwood this Sunday (July 10) in which more than 40 racing cars will zoom around the town centre circuit.
Expected to attract up to 7,000 spectators, the race itself is a two-hour endurance contest around the closed streets of Ringwood town centre.
Roads around the town centre will be closed from 10am onwards and will only allow outgoing traffic before the event commences in the afternoon.
The hand built pedal cars will assemble in the Furlong shopping centre from 10am and are displayed there for the morning prior to the parade laps from 2.30pm – with the race starting at 3pm with its conclusion coming at 5pm.
Spectators can walk around the whole course to watch the race from various different vantage points.
This year’s course has changed slightly from previous iterations in that racers will no longer go into the Market Place towards the Jubilee Lantern. This decision was taken on safety grounds due to the narrowing of the road caused by ongoing building works.
A Grand Prix spokesperson described the course layout as the following: “From the pits up in Meeting House Lane, racers will zoom over the cobblestones down The Furlong before being forced to slow down as they take a sharp left turn into the High Street.
“After the long straight – where they’ll be reaching nearly top speed – competitors will bear left into Southampton Road as they approach the most challenging part of the course. After the speed of the previous sections, the track narrows as we pedal down the footpath round to re-join Meeting House Lane, a tight sweeping bend that will test our drivers' braking and steering skills, along with their nerves.
“As they accelerate through the gap back out onto meeting house Lane, erases will pass the pit lane on the right, crossing the finish line and completing a lap.”
The event was last held in 2019 having been cancelled in both 2020 and 2021 due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Sponsorship money raised during the event is donated to various charities.
This year’s event will be the first without commentary from the much-loved Michael Lingam-Willgoss after his passing in March. His voice welcomed visitors and described the action at the event since its inception in 1987.
Visit britishpedalcargrandprix.org for more information.
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