Event
Race Retro takes place each February at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire, a rural exhibition centre between Coventry and Leamington Spa that has hosted the event long enough to give it a settled, familiar character. The show occupies four halls and draws around 23,000 visitors across three days, making it one of the more substantial indoor motorsport gatherings in the UK before the outdoor season begins.
The exhibition side covers a broad range of competition cars – Formula 1, GT, touring cars, single-seaters – presented by historic racing teams, private collectors and marque clubs. Motorsport UK operates on-site throughout the weekend, which means race licence renewals and club registrations happen in the same building as the cars. The autojumble hall runs in parallel, with parts traders and automobilia dealers filling the space that the main exhibition doesn't need.
The outdoor programme on Saturday and Sunday is the element that differentiates Race Retro from a standard trade show. Rallying with Group B organises live demonstration runs on a purpose-built gravel stage, with over 130 Group B, C and D cars running in sequence. Audi Quattros, Lancia 037s, Subaru Imprezas and their contemporaries on a loose surface with a proper crowd watching is a combination that holds up regardless of how many times you've seen it. Passenger ride experiences are available through the HERO-ERA programme.
Stoneleigh Park is about eight kilometres south of Coventry, accessible by car from the M40 and M6. The February timing makes it a practical season opener for teams and competitors who use the show to finalise preparations before the first events of the spring calendar.
