Shhh it didn't happen

[Dick]

Nice write up but 2 of you both with phones with no battery so no photos ? yer come on now as the ninja would say no photos didn't happen

[jeffw]

Sorry Jeff, yes Friday.
If you fancy it Jeff i would be more than happy for you to give me a few tips on Friday if you dont mind going slow.

Always happy to help....

[Crunchie Gears]

frankly it nearly did not happen for me. Leaving Bracknell it was wet and slippery. By the time I got to Maidenhead it was cats and dogs. On the M40 I thought if I was not meeting Mark, Ian and Neil (a mate with a 500bhp Mk1 Escort) I would have turned round and gone home!

I am glad I carried on because I had a brilliant day.

The Caterham did well; it did 155 miles there and back and 170+ of track miles with just a drop of oil in terms of maintenance. It still has some tyres left for N. Weald too

So on arrival at the circuit the pit lane was very intimidating. The massive HGV1 race team barges backed up to their garages. I got to our garage and rolled in my lonely kit car, waiting for the arrivals. Ian arrived with his trailer and his race Caterham Supersport. Ian and I unloaded it, well I watched and with my work gloves on As we were not going to get full we offered Solution Motorsport a share of the garage so they backed their massive barge up and unloaded a Caterham SP250 and a R300. It did add some street cred that we had the big unit outside, teak picnic table and chairs, coffee urns, tool chests and compressors in our place. It took the focus from my serviette nicked from MacDonalds to wipe the dip stick.

So on to the trackday, After Mark had a wet session with Ian, Ian said get out there. So I went out by myself and my goodness it was slippery. Braking for the tight left hander at the end of Vale I locked up and so came in far to fast missed the turn in scrambled round the bend and scaninavian flicked the car for the next right. This was the first lap where I was trying to be sensible

I went passed some cars so was not the slowest on the circuit so confidence was building. I then got the wet session with Ian and swopped seats for some tuition. Ian was buoyed by my comfort on oversteer but suggested I needed to let the car understeer, in the wet, and as the tyres warm up they will grip. Hmmm

With the track drying out with the big cars thundering round a dry line soon arrived and the speeds increased. The Caterham came into its own.

I have never had tuition where I could attempt to chase the instructor. It works really well. also with Ian following he can see where you are losing time. The nub of it is I was OK through the slow stuff but the two or three very fast bends I was braking too much and needed to man up. I did find it difficult to follow through the two fastest bends as Ian turned in so quickly.

In the afternoon I went out after Neil in his Escort. I understood why we had a steady stream of people coming to look what he had under the bonnet as he went through the Becketts complex very sideways hut the straight and was gone. Whoa! it was soooo quick!

I got the chance to drive Ian's car and what a car. With 35 bhp less the car is much quicker. I did not want to come it it was a hoot. You can chase Radicals round the bends. Granted not down the straights. I came in with the tyres blistered because it was running out of fuel.

Having Ian for the day made improvements to my circuit driving and kept the pressure on. He never made you feel bad but also showed how much grip the car had. Driving his car means I will have the setup sorted so mine performs similarly to his race car and see if that works on the road.

One of the best trackdays I have done and looking forward to booking him again for Snetterton as there are some good bends there too.

I have had a number of tuition sessions but only three instructors have pushed me to get closer to the performance of the car and Ian is very much one of them.

Big thanks to Neil (who offered me a passenger ride and I chickened out; regretting it now ), Mark and especially Ian for making it a great day.

PT Sportscars is a really good find and address maintaining and sorting my car with understanding and are fun to deal with. But with Ian they also can up grade the driver!

[Crunchie Gears]

Nice write up but 2 of you both with phones with no battery so no photos ? yer come on now as the ninja would say no photos didn't happen

I think I have some video of Mark in car. They are also posting the event pictures tomorrow night.

Oh, and Mark forgot to mention the Radical factory team with 4 Radical RXC 8 Spyders. It probably was because we did not see them much!

[SteveRST]

Sounds like an amazing day out chaps! Looking forward to seeing a few pics.

[Crunchie Gears]

So it did happen

Here is the Captain in full charge:

[Crunchie Gears]

So it did happen

Here is the Captain in full charge:

Try again:

http://s743.photobucket.com/user/paulvo ... one%209-16

[Crunchie Gears]

This is going well:

Now for the traffic jam from a mobile skid obstacle:

[greenwoo]

Well i did tell you i'd spun it Paul
I blame the racing snake sitting next to me, if he's weighed the same as i do ..
a/ we wouldnt have got 'up to speed'
b/ the geo weight would have been perfect for a powerslide and not a spin.....

[Crunchie Gears]

Good excuses

See how you left Ian on the fast side.

Great driving from the RS6