They say that smell is one of the strongest aids to recollection, that you can be transported back to a time or event by the whiff of whatever you associated with it.

For me that smell is racing fuel mixed with burning rubber.  Pretty much every weekend of my formative years was spent at Brands Hatch watching some form of motorsport or another, from Group C and touring cars, to Mighty Minis and Honda CRX'.

Each year I move further away from this time in my life, houses, jobs, moving, responsibilities all take me a little further away from the carefree time when Sunday was all about getting the best photography spot at Druids, then the days after waiting for the photos to come back from the developers.

So every chance I get now days I'll grab and head over to a motor racing circuit, it almost doesn't matter what it is, just to be out and enjoying cars racing round a track is good enough.  If it can be an event like the HSCC Historic Festival, or this weekends Castle Combe Classic Carnival then all the better.  Now not only do I get to shed responsibilities for a while but I also get to meet up with a whole load of new friends I've met in the intervening years.  What could be better, racing, cars and friends?

I'm sure I'm not the only one for whom the smell of cars triggers happy thoughts, am I?