“I don’t even have to watch them, I just like walking around and hearing the track cars go zoom.” That quote from my friend Immi is my favourite line from the 2024 Players Classic, held at Goodwood Circuit this past weekend.

The arrival of Players Classic means the UK summer show season is well and truly underway. For many people, this is the event to unveil new or improved builds.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is my favourite show held on our little island on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, and I know I’m not alone in that thought.

A small internal metric I use to judge the success of a UK show is the number of foreign cars that make the drive over. Unlike most European shows there’s the small matter of the English Channel to contend with, and bringing your modified car under or over the sea requires a little more effort than many people want to put in.

Yet 2024 had the best turnout of European machinery I’ve ever seen at the event, with plenty of Belgian and German cars making the trip.

Cars such as Jean Pierre Kraemer’s stunning pink Porsche 911 964 Turbo.

This featherweight hot rod boasted some serious modifications, including a CAE shifter, RS wing and genuine widebody-spec Speedline wheels. Porsche nerds such as myself should know just how special these Speedlines are.

This squad of Belgian Opel Kadetts were parked up together on the green next to the paddocks; prime examples of Euro styling and Opel culture with C20LET engine swaps and BBS wheels.

Coming over from the West, 2024 featured two special guest cars: Ravi Dolwani’s CSF Porsche 911 and Pit+Paddock’s E91 BMW M3 GTS tribute from the US. Players Classic is the first stop on the cars’ joint European tour.

Delve into those previous features for all the details, but this was my first time seeing Ravi’s 911 in person. I was blown away, as was the almost constant crowd around the car. The craftsmanship is incredible.

Meanwhile, the Touring was still as attention-grabbing as it was at the Evolve x BMW Park Lane Showroom Takeover 3.0 a few weeks ago.

As firm favourites with stance builders and track day enthusiasts thanks to their aftermarket support, BMWs were abundant at Players Classic. Amar Flora’s E36 M3 straddles the line with its impeccable bodywork and interior, and an E46 M3 S54 engine under the bonnet connected to a short ratio limited-slip diff.

Jake Crouch and Tom Leicester provided the most track entertainment of the weekend, putting in some seriously quick laps and regularly swapping positions. I’m sure there was no competitiveness in it at all…

The diversity of the cars on show is always a talking point, and the Players Classic track day is no exception too. The weekend’s surprise was Ravi taking his 911 out on the circuit and running some very loud laps for the crowd.

It wouldn’t be Players without some serious drift displays from the Monster Energy crew. Liam Doran brought out a rear/mid-engined space frame monster of a ‘Mini’, popping wheelies along the main straight to rapturous applause the length of the pit lane.

A fun atmosphere with a great variety of cars would be hard to mess up, but after 17 years of Players shows and 11 years of the Classic, there’s always a risk of the recipe getting stale.

Yet Jay, Carl, Pat, Rik, Mex and the rest of the Players crew have managed to avoid that, keeping the show feeling as fresh and entertaining as the first year I attended.

Considering how many attendees have been to every Players Classic since the show’s inception in 2013, it’s safe to say the people agree.

Mario Christou
Instagram: mcwpn
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