INGLISTON
Motor Racing Circuit
The Royal Highland Showground at Ingliston was first used for motor racing in 1965. The track used part of the existing perimeter road and some of the internal connecting roads of the showground along with a new specially-built section comprising several fast uphill swerves which came to be known as the Esses.
The names originally given to the other corners - Farmers, Bankers, Foresters, Gardeners, Shepherds, Brewers, Vets and Merchants - were derived from the various buildings and display areas that were dotted around the showground and which sprang to life every June for the Royal Highland Show.
The track was characterised by its tight confines and plethora of trackside obstructions - I doubt if there were any other race circuits in the UK which had such a wide variety of trees, buildings, telegraph poles and miscellaneous wooden structures to hit if you were unfortunate enough to leave the tarmac and spin towards the infield!
September 1968 saw a new section of track opened, finally giving the circuit a decent straight worthy of the name, along with a very tight hairpin bend, initially named West Gate.
All the corners were re-named for the 1970 season (see map on left), the new names perhaps being more meaningful than the original agriculturally-derived ones! And yes, there used to be a caravan site at Caravan Corner, and Clock was of course so-named because of the large clock on the race control building situated at that corner.
Sadly, by the end of 1994 it had become no longer financially viable to run race meetings at Ingliston, and after 31 seasons and around 160 race meetings, Ingliston departed from the Scottish motor sporting scene.
Fortunately for Scottish enthusiasts we had Knockhill waiting in the wings.....
Although circuit racing no longer takes place at Ingliston, the showground itself continues to host the Royal Highland Show every June and is used for other exhibition-type events throughout the year.
The majority of the track itself still exists, with the exception of the start/finish area, as the following photos illustrate:
GTs on the dummy grid in 1967...
The start line in 1981...
F. Libre cars approaching Caravan Corner in 1966...
1979: Graham Hamilton's F1 Surtees at Caravan...
Modsports at the hairpin in 1970...
...same view in 2005 - less tarmac and no armco!
...and same view in 2005 - the original grandstand has been replaced by a new structure which sits right on top of the old track
...replicated by my little Honda CRX in 2003
...makes my little Honda look rather pathetic at the same spot 23 years later!
...and the same view during a car show in 2005
A recent aerial view of Ingliston - the main A8 Edinburgh-to-Glasgow road is visible top right of photo:
