Full image gallery of the trip can be found here

Reims "Ghost GP"
To get an early start on the Ferry, several of us met up at Ashford for a few beers and a steak before an early night. As it happened to be my Birthday.it turned out to be several beers and a not so much of an early night, but it was a great ice-breaker. The Monster crew of Rich and Col were there (from Dulford Automotive) as well as Chris Davey in his immaculate Griff 500, Mike & Mell in their Griff 500 and Richard and Carolyn with their Sprint prepared Chim and not forgetting our Kiwi interloper Leyton. Leyton is a tvr nut from new Zealand who is currently sourcing his first tvr to export. Originally wishing to attend the Tuscan racing at Spa, he hooked up with us and blagged a ride for the whole week. Fortunately for all of us, he turned out to be a nice guy and NOT an axe wielding maniac! At the Port next morning we picked up Chris and Rich in another Chim (which turned out to be remarkably quick for a rookie) and Marcus and Amanda, another Sprinter looking for the BIG Tracks! Unfortunately, the weather was crap, but it cleared just as we reached the Reims pits. For those who don't know, Reims was a GP track from the 20's till 1974. The pits and stands have been preserved to a fashion and make a great stop off for lunch and photos on the way to Spa. Here we picked up Sean & Sue in their silver Griff on the second of their two week touring holiday of France. After pics and video drive-by's, we headed off to our beautiful Spa hotel, where we hooked up with our dedicated driving coach Steve Guglielmi for beers and racing stories. Also meeting us there were Koen (our Belgiun Tuscan) Paul in his LW Cerby (from Luxemburg), Dave Redden and his son Kurt in the infamous Nitos Griff, as well as Racers Tony and Marc Hockin, Steve Hall in his heavily modded Chim. All present and correct!

Spa Trackday
The rain continued. With everyone signed in and briefed, I, as an experienced Spa veteran thought "Hmmm, I'll give it an hour or so before taking the tvrs out." But the monsters had other ideas! Months of anticipation had them eager to get out and they were all booking slots with the more experienced cars and drivers for siting and demo laps. I was hugely impressed with everyone. Rookies and Pros acted impeccably, taking their time, listening and learning all the time. As all the cars behaved as well, the monster support crew could spend their time on suspension set ups as recommended by Steve and the more experienced guys. With a dry line appearing at around 3pm, they could then really push the cars limits. A great day was followed by another meal and beers in the town with everyone swapping war stories and the excitement of the day.

Onto the Hockenheim Sessions!
After a late breakfast and avoiding the speed trap, we headed down to Hockenheim. One or two had to say their farewells as they had to return to work, but most were in for Hockers too. Arriving mid afternoon, we had time to check-in and grab a shower before heading off to the Track for the Open session. This is an open evening where you can drive the circuit with whatever you turn up in. It was an experience! After a rolling start, the 60 cars headed off at full pelt. Standard Trackday rule were not heavily enforced which led to some wild overtaking moves in the braking areas and in the corners! A tremendous blast and as close to racing as you can get! We spent all three 20 minute sessions eating Porsche's, and BMWs. When we arrived hardly anyone noticed us. By the end, they were three deep around the cars. Fantastic!

Rest Day
The next day was a rest day. Dave & Kurt, Sean & Sue had to head back, but for the rest of us, it was time for the cars to cool off and for us to explore the area. The Motorsport museum, Heidelberg and the surrounding forests were all visited then it was back to the hotel for a beer or two. A superb Chinese round the corner then back to the hotel, and as the Drift Teams had arrived, more beers were in order.

Drift Day
As there had been no unrestricted Autobahns so far, and as the concensus was that people would rather head off to spa for the Britcar night race we left around mid-day for Spa. Chris and Rich still headed over for the preliminaries but headed off with us. To ensure some unrestricted stretches, we headed back up the Heidelberg valley to Cologne.which takes us past the Nurburgring. We had originally intended a day here too, but the "Rock am Ring" festival meant a closed track all week, still there's always the next time! However, the Autobahn from Cologne to Belgium has several unrestricted zones and we were all able to stretch the cars legs. My speedo was off the clock at 180mph, but due to race gearbox and lower gearing in the diff, the actual GPS speed was 152mph actual. Not bad.as it gets there in seconds!

Britcar Night Race
We wanted to head over for this, as Topcats Racing were running three cars. Topcats have long been associated with tvr and are major contributors to the tvrmonster project. Their three Marcos GTOs were well placed after qualifying with the lead car being sixth on the grid behind Porsche's and Ferrari's. No small achievement in itself! The race ran over four hours from 6-10pm and got off to a healthy start, but after 10 or so laps, the cars were in trouble. Stop and go penalties and technical failures put out two of the cars with the remaining GTO right at the back of the field. But if you know Warren and Charlotte, you know that they'll keep pushing the cars till the flag drops and lap by lap, place by place they pulled themselves back up the field. With 20 minutes to go they were back in 6th overall and a strong finish pulled them into a very creditable 4th overall and 2nd in class. Another top performance from the team and we were fortunate enough to be able to cheer them over the line from the pit wall, Well done guys & Thanks!

Race Sunday
Unfortunately, the Tuscan Racing had been cancelled, but there was still a full days racing on the Sunday. Mini's Euro cars, Formula Palmer Audis as well as F3000s and Gts. The weather was well into its stride by now so we could all enjoy the racing and check their pace against ours in the rain.

The Run Home.
Our last day was just the trek home. Four of us blasted off across the Ardennes, with the trailored cars following behind. We said our farewells on the ferry and exchanged pictures and phone numbers, with everyone firmly stating that they WOULD be back and a couple saying.just book me on it Andy, wouldn't miss it!

What's Next?
Well, the TVRCC Brands Hatch Trackday will be our only UK date in 2006. As I am now the TVRCC track day Organiser, it would be wrong to arrange Trackdays that may conflict or take away from the TVRCC dates so Brands will be our Bootleg monster. With Austec Racing supporting, along with ACT products and Mark Adams along too it'll be a great day. Oh yes.and Mike Caine will be the guest Instructor! See you there!

The Next Monster International is Spa and the Nurburgring! Fully supported with a Race day and Top tvr driving coach so watch this space!

Full image gallery of the trip can be found here