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Over the weekend we visited Copenhagen for our very first experience of the annual Historic Grand Prix event held in Bellahøj. We visited alongside the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association and had an incredible weekend watching the racing, detailing cars, and enjoying the great company and weather! The HGPCA took part in several races over the weekend including the Pre 61’ Front Engine F1, and Pre 66’ Rear Engine F1 races.

Everything kicked off on Friday when the Mayor of the City held an event at the Copenhagen Town Hall to welcome everyone to the event and wish them a successful and enjoyable weekend.

On Saturday morning the qualifying races were held to allow the drivers to get used to the tracks. This annual event is particularly unique as the track is built each year from an existing street surrounding a park - this is constructed in advance of the race and gives the drivers a very different racing experience to any other tracks they are used to. The way the course is built also allows spectators to get extremely close to the action, if they have the nerve for it!

The first race which took place was the Pre 61’ Front Engine F1, where Miles Griffiths came first, Guillermo Feirro came second, and Steve Hart came third. Later on we saw the Pre 66’ Rear Engine F1 race and celebrated Will Nuthall coming in first, Rob Hall coming in second, and Sid Hoole coming in third. Everyone performed brilliantly as usual! After watching the races we headed to the HGPCA hospitality tent to celebrate with the winners. We were in the midst of many big names in the industry including Damon Hill who was also racing at the event!

On Sunday morning, we were given the opportunity to detail an Aston Martin DB5. It is owned by Richard Parnell and it’s easy to see why he is so proud of it - he purchased the car long before it became fashionable for collectors due to the association with James Bond! Richard has owned the car for 38 years, however it is very well preserved and remarkably has done less than 40,000 miles. The standard paint finish at the time of manufacture was cellulose. This unfortunately has not been able to stand the test of time too well, however the Supagard treatment has done a great job in maintaining the quality of the exterior and Richard was very pleased with the results! It was a pleasure to detail such an impressive car.

Later in the day the winners for each of the races were presented with their prizes at the podiums. It was a great experience supporting them throughout their races over the weekend and celebrating their victories.

Overall, the CHGP event was a great success and we had an incredible time with the HGPCA - it may have been our first visit but lets hope it’s not our last!