Drew lays out plans for new motor show

Drew, better known as the man behind the British Rallycross Championship rounds that used to come to Nutts Corner Motorsport Centre, is taking a step back from actual competitive action on the tracks to promote a ‘static’ outdoor car show in Banbridge hoping to attract a vast array of diverse cars.

As part of his pre-preparation for the event he told The Leader why he chose Banbridge for such a show when he has been associated with Rallycross and Nutts Corner area for so many years.

“Well for starters I live in Banbridge, I promote Banbridge businesses at every opportunity through my Ryan International business,” he said.

“I believe in Banbridge as a town, I am 100% behind the development within the town boundaries plus there is a vibrant young motoring scene already here and not being catered for so Banbridge was always my first choice.

“This will be a change from live action on the track but I believe that Banbridge deserves such a show as this.

“It was one of those ideas that comes to you in a flash so I just stuck it on to my Facebook page at the time to guage reaction and it just snowballed, the messages of support I received through Facebook, e-mail and telephone calls were unbelievable so that really made up my mind to make it happen.

“Within 24 hours I had enquiries from two companies who wished to get involved through sponsorship, four companies who booked trade stands and at least three car clubs who said they would attend and one of them was from the west of Ireland and that is before a venue was secured.”

Drew admits that at the minute he does not have a confirmed venue but he is confident that a suitable site can be secured in the town.

“Make no mistake about this, this will be a big show, spread over two days and will attract a lot of people into the area,” he said.

“There will be a mix of modified cars, rally and rallycross cars, sprint and hillclimb cars, classic and vintage cars, autotest and hot rod, autocross and autograss cars as well as American cars and some trikes hopefully.

Drew says that this will be more than just a car show, adding that there will be several events held throughout the weekend which has been earmarked for August 13-14.

“I plan on having live entertainment for two hours each day and a ‘car show dance’ in one of our hotels on the Saturday night.

“I have also spoken to PSNI with regards to a drive through or cruise through the town each evening at the end of the show.

I will be targeting clubs from all over Ireland both North and South and my idea would be to have convoys coming from all over Ireland with cars joining from other towns on route.

“I’m just not sure if Banbridge can handle it but I’m determined to make it happen.

“Obviously it will take a sizeable budget to put on such an event and I will need the support of the local business community and residents however it will be money well spent in my view as it will boost the spend in the town that weekend.

“I am in the process of putting together a small team to make it happen and all the signs are extremely encouraging so far, so as they say ‘watch this space’.