A small village in Aberdeenshire was transformed into a motor-racing circuit this weekend as the annual Speedfest descended – bringing with it record crowds from all over the UK.
Thousands of motoring enthusiasts turned out to watch the eighth annual motoring event organised by the Grampian Transport Museum in Alford.
For the first time, visitors exceeded 6,000 – a figure that has “blown away” the event team at the Alford-based attraction.
Officially opening the event was father of tragic British Rally Champion Colin Macrae, Jimmy Macrae who also participated in a Ford Focus that was once driven by his son.
Colin Macrae tragically died in a helicopter crash ten years ago, but he drove the Ford Focus in the World Rally Championships in 2001, famously crashing it and losing out by just two points.
The car has since been rebuilt and was on loan for the day from the Station Garage in Torphins, especially for Jimmy Macrae.
It is believed to be the first time a member of the family has seen it in ten years.
Marketing manager from the museum, Oliver Edwards was thrilled with the turnout and said: “What a fantastic day, we have broken the 6,000 barrier of visitors with a massive 6,027 people coming along.
“Jimmy Macrae drove two demos of the Focus, which was quite emotive for both him and the crowd.
“We weren’t sure if the same numbers would turn up as last year, but it just gets bigger and bigger. We are already planning to expand the car parking for next year and will have extra shuttle buses.”
Enthusiasts travelled from all over the UK and notably a team from the Isle of Man brought their steam-powered bike with them ahead of its attempt on the land speed record in Bonneville, Arizona later this year.
Other vehicles strutting their stuff were the Black Bull Racing Ex Ecurie Ecosse BMW Z4 GT3 racing car that was a front runner from 2013 to 2015 in GT racing, winning the British event in 2014 – driven by Sandy Mitchell, the youngest British GT driver.
Quintin Milne, son of Donald Milne of Banchory who helped Colin McRae in his early years leading up to his World Championship in 1995, joined the impressive list of rally drivers and cars headed up by Jimmy Macrae.
The action came thick and fast with the drifting competition, parallel auto-tests, stunt driving and pursuits.
The event finale was a freestyle drifting demonstration from the Aberdeen Drift Team where they ‘used up’ what was left of their tyres.
