Cars and Racing at Carlsberg

Cars and Racing at Carlsberg

Carlsberg, Ny Carlsbergvej, 2500 Valby; Sat and Sun 08:00-19:00; tickets 40kr, under-15s 20kr, www.billetlugen.dk; www.internationalracingfestival.dk

The International Racing Festival has steadily gained momentum over the years and is currently one of the major ‘cultural’ events of Copenhagen. This year, expectations are particularly high as none other than the Carlberg Group is offering its picturesque ourdoor premises to stage the event. ‘Cars and Racing at Carlsberg’ is a high-octane race and regular car exhibition rolled into one.

That the objects of our attention here are nothing short of the most beautiful and expensive vintage, sports and luxury cars the world can offer goes without saying. One by one, auto manufacturers have made available their cars for what is Denmark’s biggest charity event - this year to benefit the Danish Red Cross - and already donations exceed 13 million kroner.

The very fairly priced admission fee will not be your only way to contribute. As part of the concept, you can buy a ride as a co-driver round the 1.5km long ‘Monte-Carlsberg’ circuit. A skilled racing driver will handle the wheel while you’re busy absorbing every detail of the car of your dreams.

Ferrari, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Bugatti, Porche and Aston Martin will all be there, as will many other slightly more affordable vehicles plus, of course, innumerable cars not for sale. HRH Prince Joachim of Denmark is the patron of the festival, and racing driver Thorkild Thyrring is the project manager. With a little luck guests may again see the Prince laying rubber on the road or struggling to tame his horsepower round a bend.

Professional speed demons such as Denmark’s Tom Kristensen, Jan Magnussen, John Nielsen and Jason Watt  have previously guested the event and displayed their talents. So have Sir Stirling Moss, Derel Bell, Stanley Dickens and Johnny Herbert from abroad. This year’s professional participation will be remarkable, organisers promise.

Of particular interest for supercar fanatics will surely be the very recently premiered Mercedes-Benz W197 SLS AMG. A red coupé of this specimen will have spectators oohing and aahing as its gullwing doors swing open skywards to admit its driver. Mercedes-Benz has called the car a spiritual successor to the legendary 300SL Gullwing from the ‘50s – many remember this in its timeless polished silver. What the new one lacks in sensual curves it offers in fierce power.

The Bugatti Veyron deserves a mention too – and what a car it is! With a horsepower equivalent to around 20 original Volkswagen Beetles, the two-door roadster arguably deserves its ‘Car of the Decade’ prize from the BBC motoring programme Top Gear. Topspeed: 404 km per hour. ‘The greatest piece of engineering ever’ and ‘the greatest car we will ever see in our lifetime,’ were host Jeremy Clarkson’s comment. Only around 220 cars were built during its production from 2005 until 2008. This seems to have satisfied market demands and the price could have something to do with it: an estimated 26 million kroner last year, according to a Danish car magazine. But that included tax.

Also on display at the Carlsberg premises are any and every product that might interest car owners. Browse the gadgets, detailing equipment, tuning tools and other auto-related accessories.

The idea to combine a race and an exhibition has been lauded by several parties, including most of the major sponsors in the car industry. And the sheer number of amazing cars on the backdrop of a beautiful, ordinarily closed and private garden in the heart of Copenhagen has festival co-ordinators confident that satisfaction is guaranteed. A multi-dimensional experience is in store, they promise, whether you are partial to the sound of screeching tyres or the sun’s reflection in newly waxed and polished paint and chrome.