Every year, ahead of the VSCC Vintage Sports Car Festival at Cadwell Park, French racing driver Christian Le Gousse makes the long drive all the way from Paris to the Lincolnshire Wolds to compete around the “beautiful” twists and turns of the ‘Mini-Nürburgring’.
With his Riley 12/4 Special in tow, Le Gousse makes the pilgrimage to the UK to compete with the Vintage Sports-Car Club, travelling over 430 miles to do so. But Le Gousse’s passion and fond memories of the circuit keep him coming back year after year.
Explaining why he loves the track so much, Le Gousse said: “I like Cadwell for multiple reasons. The first is that, as a race circuit, it is a very technical circuit with its various up and down hills, as well as an impressive diversity of turns and curves that still allow for us to compete at high speed in the pre-war cars that we martyrise on track!
“Secondly, the setting is just really beautiful, with all of its hills and curves meaning that it has the true flavour of a "mountain" circuit, and it actually has a similar atmosphere to the Charade circuit (near Clermont Ferrand in Auvergne) which is regarded as the French Nürburgring.
“I also have had several of my best race memories over at Cadwell. My best memory is pretty special because it was able to erase one of my worst memories that was happening at the same time. In 2023, I was unsuccessfully trying to overtake Onno Konemann in his MG D-Type Special, who was obviously not happy to oblige, and we had a really great fight on the track. I had such a fantastic time that, even after realising that by the end of the race that my engine was definitively toasted, I could not help but smile and savour the brilliant time I just had!
“Beyond the track, it is a pleasure to meet up with the good company of the VSCC community and race against them each year. I definitively think that, even after coming all the way from Paris, the Cadwell Park experience is definitively worth twice the trip and the effort.”
Le Gousse will be back at Cadwell Park this month as he looks to enjoy further on-track battles during the Vintage Sports Car Festival on Saturday 20 June. For more information and to book tickets, please click here.