A few years ago, the YPR had the unenviable reputation of being the rally where you were always guaranteed hot and sunny weather .... alas, this is Great Britain we are talking about, and we have obviously pushed our luck far enough, the forecast was for heavy and prolonged thunder storms most of the rally weekend (apart from the Sunday when everyone would be leaving) .... deep joy :-(
It did rain a fair bit throughout set-up week too. Alas, this is not Yorkshire MAG's first moist event, and they are well versed in managing damp conditions, so the build up team had been very careful to keep vehicle movement on site to an absolute minimum prior to the event, to ensure the ground was in tip top condition prior to rally goers arrival. However, to do this, they had to make the difficult decision to cancel all of the trade stalls that were not already on site or who did not require vehicle access to the fields. So, there were a few less traders this year but all the food units were already in so choice of food on-site was not affected. The build up team had also laid road plates in areas that would get boggy, so whatever happened, rain or shine (mostly rain), access and exit from the site would not be a particular challenge.
Physical numbers at the rally were a few hundred down due to the adverse weather forecast but the event, as usual, was a sell out. 2023 has been a challenging season for the event industry as a whole, so for the Yorkshire Pudding Rally to sell out pre-event for the 8th year running is something that was not expected. It shows the popularity of this event and the sheer stuborness of Yorkshire MAG's rally customers when faced with adversity.
Friday was very much sunshine and showers, but when it did rain, it was heavy and areas flooded.
With foot traffic in the main area, it was inevitable it would get a bit muddy, not that seemed to put people off wandering around, and it certainly didn't curtail their beer consumption LOL.
Saturday lunchtime was the kick off of the Custom Show and the Smacked Arse Comedy Show in the main marquee.
Due to the ground conditions, the bike show was a little different this year, instead of parking up in the main arena to be judged, the decision was made to simply judge the bikes parked up in the campsite next to their owners tents. What this meant was that any bike on site was automatically entered into the show. A Back Street Heroes magazine staff member judged the show this year, by literally walking the site and the winning bikes were awarded a rosette, and a notice for the owners to come to the control tent at 5pm to collect their trophies. The problem the show marshals had though was as no one had to complete an entry form, we had no contact details to inform the owners they had won. We therefore had to hope the majority would see the notes on their bikes, otherwise the award presentation photographs would be a bit hit and miss.
The 2023 YPR six show winners, and overall Best in Show:
All but two of the winners rocked up for the award presentation at 5pm, and all of those five actually rode their bikes through the mud to get there, so, the presentation photos were just like other years, albeit, with muddy bikes ;-)
I can't comment on how good the bands were on Friday or Saturday nights as I decided not to camp and simply 'day visit' the rally on both Friday and Saturday to complete my marshal shifts. I still went on the bike though, and yes, I did get soaked on both inbound and outbound journeys, on both days.
Sunday came around and it was all hands to the pump for the marshals helping people off-site, and this assistance greatly helped. MAG marshals always do go above and beyond and this was no exception. A huge thanks to Yorkshire MAG's volunteer marshals (amongst many others) for helping to make the 2023 YPR happen (the site management of Escrick Estate had originally wanted the rally to be cancelled due to the weather forecast). At the close of it all though, the site wasn't left in too bad a condition at all.
Hip .. Hip ... Hurrah !!!