THOUSANDS of vintage and classic car enthusiasts have been rocked by the news that the annual Sevenoaks Motor Club Festival, held annually on the Bank Holiday at the end this month in Crystal Palace, has been cancelled and, worse still, that it is unlikely to be staged again.

Bromley Council is upgrading the park with a £2.4m redevelopment the aim of which is to restore parts of it back to the Victorian layout of Paxton, the designer of the Crystal Palace.

As part of the development, the existing motor-racing track will be dug up and replaced with a narrow, resin-bound gravel type, more suited for walkers.

The downside is the new compound will not be able to sustain the wear made by cars travelling at speed, especially on slick tyres.

Event organiser Jim Giddings said: “I am obviously disappointed with the decision, especially as I had a verbal agreement with the council to hold the event at Crystal Palace for three years, which would have included this year.

“But from a commercial point of view, I understand it and realise the council has to do it. It's a shame, as the Palace is best remembered for motor racing.”

In recent years, the event has twice been oversubscribed with 300 drivers

applying to enter the 150-car festival, while last year more than 4,000 spectators attended.

A host of vintage and classic cars have raced at the event in recent years including a pre-1930 Bugatti 35B Grand Prix car, a pre-1940 Bentley Special, a 1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa, and various Lotus, Porsche and Aston Martin models. The event would have been in its fifth year in its second spell at Crystal Palace after originally taking place from 1927 to 1972.

The majority of entries and guest appearances have been from that original racing period, while there have been modern-day vehicles including a rally class.

Bromley Council is looking at other places in the borough for the club to hold its event, but according to Jim .... “it will never be able to match the Crystal Palace event”.

Meanwhile, the club is actively involved in the organisation of the new Kent Forestry Rally, which will take place in Ashford, in October, subject to the foot-and-mouth epidemic not being a factor. This will see factory rally cars back in Kent for the first time in decades.