think we would be best taking mine!
zandvoort/Ring/Spa FULL TRIP REPORT
I'll be along to one early next year though, just have to decide which car 
CROSS POSTED FROM SE1
What a trip. Legendary is the only way to describe it, and it was a
perfect example of what makes SE1 what it is. The fun, the
friendship, the banter. All flowing, all of the time.
As is becoming a tradition, i'll try my best to write up a log of
the trip. No doubt i'll forget most of it, but Robin, Kelvin and
Bob can fill in the blurry bits.
THURSDAY 12TH
Robin and I left edinburgh at lunchtime to have a leisurely drive
down to newcastle to catch the overnight ferry. It was largely
uneventful, although our intended route was modified by roadworks
diversion number 1. We arrived at the ferry terminal at 2.30pm and
had a couple of pints with lunch to get us warmed up for the
ferry
We met Gavin, an Elise owner from newcastle who was also
on the ferry, and who joined us for our evenings entertainment.
This revolved around quite a few more pints, before moving on to the
drink of choice for the night, Jack daniels and coke. Approximately
a bottle was consumed by the 3 of us, and at 2.30am (12 hours after
starting) Robin and myself were politely reminded to go to bed by
the bar staff
Kelvin's trip over was much the same and, although his ferry didnt
leave until 11pm and therefore the drinking time was much less,
Walshy was on board so extreme levels of drunkness were still met.
He kept up the SE end so to speak by winding up all the english
drivers on board, and in his own words, said he was lucky to get off
without a punch in the face from 1 of them. Congrats Kelvin
FRIDAY 13TH
Friday the 13th. Unlucky for some. In this instance it was unlucky
for everyone. Me and Robin faced roadworks diversion numbers 2 and
3, meaning our 10 minute journey from ferry to track took 40
minutes, and we missed a little tracktime. Very annoying but no
harm done. More unlucky for Kelvin, who suffered his first ever
mechanical issue with his conversion. Not too shabby in 20,000
miles of trackday abuse, and something that could be fixed given
enough time and the right parts.
Today was the day of the Zandvoort trackday, and the weather was
perfect for it. Glorious sunshine and very mild. We all had a good
time on track in the morning. Kelvin had a whole morning session
before his thrust bearing started playing up. Robin played with all
the standardish cars and overtook most of them. I decided to try
and pick on Walshy's supercharged honda and we had a great battle
later in the day. It made me see that above a certain point, more
power is pointless, and that 220bhp is more than enough for the
elise. I reserve the right to change my view on this when i am
beaten by them in next years race series
After the trackday, most of the LoT crew headed for amsterdam, the
SE trio stayed in zandvoort and planned for an early night. This
plan lasted until the first drink at the bar, where more JD and coke
was consumed, and then a whole bottle of a spiriit called '51'
The buying drinks system was simple, throw all your Euro's on the
bar and keep drinking until it vanished
SATURDAY 14TH
Saturday dawned foggy. This was a god send, as bright sunlight
could have killed us, as we were a touch fragile. The plan for
today was to drive to Van Sten, a dutch lotus/honda dealer, to fix
kelvins car and then head to the nurburgring to watch some of the
VLM race. Unfortunately, the serious drinking had taken its first
casualty, Kelvin, so Robin drove his car to Van Sten whilst Kelvin
had another couple of hours shut eye. Funnist moment was when Robin
tried to pour himself into Kelvin's bucket race seat, and managed to
get his hips lodged about 2 inches up off the seat cushion. He
managed to drive for 60 minutes but got out at the other end with
numb legs. Also, as he couldnt sit down in the seat, his head poked
up above the windscreen, so he was buffeted for the whole trip.
Poor guy We also encountered diversion number 4
Unfortunately, Kelvin's car problem was confirmed as the thrust
bearing, and as the garage were busy, and didnt have any spares,
nothing could be done. This would have ended his trip and track
driving, but Robin and i volunteered drives in our car, so that
Kelvin could finish the trip. SE spirit shines through once again
We drove on to the ring, were Kelvin joined us later, and met up
with all the LoT crew who had ventured to amsterdam the previous
night. Stories were exchanged over alot more beers. We eat in the
pistenklaus, and stayed there all night, drinking until well after
midnight. I explained yet again why i had a WANK R sticker on the
back of my car, and for some reason that i cant remember, robin's
car was named EGO R
SUNDAY 15TH
I woke up, scared to look out the window. On every previous trip i
have been to at the nurburgring, i have woken up to torrential
rain. Surely, this would be my lucky trip. the forecast had been
excellent, and surely i wouldnt be let down again. I wasnt
We had a quick breakfast and drove to the car park. It was actually
quite quite for the first hour or so and Robin, Kelvin and I shared
WANK R and EGOR.
It really started to get busy before lunchtime and a big accident
involving a car and a bike caused the circuit to be closed for an
hour. This brought grid lock to the car parks and surrounding
roads. After the first red flag, someone went out and decided to
bin it again straight away, so another hour of red flag was
endured. After 5pm it started to quieten off, and a few more fun
laps were had by all.
My last lap of the evening was following a german registered yellow
S1 Exige. I had the legs on him on the straights, but people had
told me he was quick, so i decided to follow him and try and pick up
a few lines. After sitting on his rear clam for 3/4 of a lap (until
we passed another big accident and i backed off) he approached me in
the car park offering instruction. Turns out he was an RMA
instructor on ring days. How we laughed when he he told me i was
driving too fast, and Kelvin proclaimed, its not that i was driving
too fast, it was that he was driving too slow.
We went into Adenau for a pizza that night, and had a 2 course meal
and drinks for 15 Euro's. You cant help but love germany.
MONDAY 16TH
German exige guy try's to skin me 600 Euro's for 8 laps of
instruction. I politely explained that he is perhaps a tad
overpriced, as you could hire a personal instructor for a whole
trackday in the UK for about half that.
Car parks and surrounding roads were much quieter, as was the track,
but what traffic that was out there was very bad at getting out of
the way, so i never had a cleanish run all day.
Robin took my car out for a spin with me as a passenger. I am too
traumatised to talk about it, but suffice to say, it wasnt an
enjoyable experience, and i ran accross the car park to Kelvin
afterwards shouting "daddy, robin is a bad man"
Did my best ever lap late in the day. As it had been so busy, i
hadnt bother timing, but this one lap was reasonably clear, despite
2 accidents, and i drove the smoothest i have ever done. I came
into the pitlane with the biggest grin on my face, and i have to go
along with the philosophy that it doesnt matter what the laptime is,
its all about the satisfaction.
We had an enjoyable drive to Spa that evening, despite diversion
number 5 and were talked into having dinner at the Ronnay. It was
as awful as i remembered and took almost 3 hours. I'll never go
back there for a meal or a room.
Went to our hotel, to find that it wasnt any better than the
Ronnay. Hatched a plan never to stay in franchorchamp again
TUESDAY 17TH
Awoke to another clear, dry, sunny day. This couldnt be happening.
Kelvin shot off home to drop his car in at MSC for repair. Robin
and I went to Spa (with Bob and Crazy Dave of course). I have
loads of video footage to edit, and i will post it up when i have
time.
Highlights of the day for me where only being overtaken by 2 cars.
One was a 650bhp track spec EVO, the other a 911 GT3 RS on slick
tyres. All the other porsche's and TVR's were overtaken by WANK R,
and most were also overtaken by EGOR aswell. Good baiting skills by
Robin and I.
I ended up doing a full tank of petrol in one stint. 95 miles
without a break took its toll on the car slightly and finsihed off
my brake pads. Didnt stop me going out for a wee play with Mr Kell
in his Supercharged honda S2 but after overtaking him and pulling
away, i hit the brakes for the bus stop and the pedal almost went to
the floor with no real braking force. Crappy pants moment for sure.
Robin changed my pads for me and we bled the calipers aswell. He
acknowledged that i was more than capable of doing it myself, but
that i may rush to get back out on track, and its best not to rush
with brake components.
We decided that our best plan was to cut our losses with the Hotel
from Hell and just head for the ferry. We had previously changed
our plans already to return home via dover ferry rather than
newcastle, so we headed for the port and stayed in a cheap hotel,
with a plan to blag our way onto the early ferry.
WEDNESDAY 18TH
Ferry home and robin and I headed our seperate ways. He was off to
visit his family near london, and i was going to Mckeann it all the
way home.
And that was it. No doubt i missed a hell of a lot of details, but
robin, kelvin and bob can fill in the blanks. This is always a
great part of the trip, to come home and reminice about the fun,
friendship and banter
What a trip. Legendary is the only way to describe it, and it was a
perfect example of what makes SE1 what it is. The fun, the
friendship, the banter. All flowing, all of the time.
As is becoming a tradition, i'll try my best to write up a log of
the trip. No doubt i'll forget most of it, but Robin, Kelvin and
Bob can fill in the blurry bits.
THURSDAY 12TH
Robin and I left edinburgh at lunchtime to have a leisurely drive
down to newcastle to catch the overnight ferry. It was largely
uneventful, although our intended route was modified by roadworks
diversion number 1. We arrived at the ferry terminal at 2.30pm and
had a couple of pints with lunch to get us warmed up for the
ferry
We met Gavin, an Elise owner from newcastle who was alsoon the ferry, and who joined us for our evenings entertainment.
This revolved around quite a few more pints, before moving on to the
drink of choice for the night, Jack daniels and coke. Approximately
a bottle was consumed by the 3 of us, and at 2.30am (12 hours after
starting) Robin and myself were politely reminded to go to bed by
the bar staff
Kelvin's trip over was much the same and, although his ferry didnt
leave until 11pm and therefore the drinking time was much less,
Walshy was on board so extreme levels of drunkness were still met.
He kept up the SE end so to speak by winding up all the english
drivers on board, and in his own words, said he was lucky to get off
without a punch in the face from 1 of them. Congrats Kelvin
FRIDAY 13TH
Friday the 13th. Unlucky for some. In this instance it was unlucky
for everyone. Me and Robin faced roadworks diversion numbers 2 and
3, meaning our 10 minute journey from ferry to track took 40
minutes, and we missed a little tracktime. Very annoying but no
harm done. More unlucky for Kelvin, who suffered his first ever
mechanical issue with his conversion. Not too shabby in 20,000
miles of trackday abuse, and something that could be fixed given
enough time and the right parts.
Today was the day of the Zandvoort trackday, and the weather was
perfect for it. Glorious sunshine and very mild. We all had a good
time on track in the morning. Kelvin had a whole morning session
before his thrust bearing started playing up. Robin played with all
the standardish cars and overtook most of them. I decided to try
and pick on Walshy's supercharged honda and we had a great battle
later in the day. It made me see that above a certain point, more
power is pointless, and that 220bhp is more than enough for the
elise. I reserve the right to change my view on this when i am
beaten by them in next years race series
After the trackday, most of the LoT crew headed for amsterdam, the
SE trio stayed in zandvoort and planned for an early night. This
plan lasted until the first drink at the bar, where more JD and coke
was consumed, and then a whole bottle of a spiriit called '51'
The buying drinks system was simple, throw all your Euro's on the
bar and keep drinking until it vanished
SATURDAY 14TH
Saturday dawned foggy. This was a god send, as bright sunlight
could have killed us, as we were a touch fragile. The plan for
today was to drive to Van Sten, a dutch lotus/honda dealer, to fix
kelvins car and then head to the nurburgring to watch some of the
VLM race. Unfortunately, the serious drinking had taken its first
casualty, Kelvin, so Robin drove his car to Van Sten whilst Kelvin
had another couple of hours shut eye. Funnist moment was when Robin
tried to pour himself into Kelvin's bucket race seat, and managed to
get his hips lodged about 2 inches up off the seat cushion. He
managed to drive for 60 minutes but got out at the other end with
numb legs. Also, as he couldnt sit down in the seat, his head poked
up above the windscreen, so he was buffeted for the whole trip.
Poor guy
We also encountered diversion number 4Unfortunately, Kelvin's car problem was confirmed as the thrust
bearing, and as the garage were busy, and didnt have any spares,
nothing could be done. This would have ended his trip and track
driving, but Robin and i volunteered drives in our car, so that
Kelvin could finish the trip. SE spirit shines through once again
We drove on to the ring, were Kelvin joined us later, and met up
with all the LoT crew who had ventured to amsterdam the previous
night. Stories were exchanged over alot more beers. We eat in the
pistenklaus, and stayed there all night, drinking until well after
midnight. I explained yet again why i had a WANK R sticker on the
back of my car, and for some reason that i cant remember, robin's
car was named EGO R
SUNDAY 15TH
I woke up, scared to look out the window. On every previous trip i
have been to at the nurburgring, i have woken up to torrential
rain. Surely, this would be my lucky trip. the forecast had been
excellent, and surely i wouldnt be let down again. I wasnt
We had a quick breakfast and drove to the car park. It was actually
quite quite for the first hour or so and Robin, Kelvin and I shared
WANK R and EGOR.
It really started to get busy before lunchtime and a big accident
involving a car and a bike caused the circuit to be closed for an
hour. This brought grid lock to the car parks and surrounding
roads. After the first red flag, someone went out and decided to
bin it again straight away, so another hour of red flag was
endured. After 5pm it started to quieten off, and a few more fun
laps were had by all.
My last lap of the evening was following a german registered yellow
S1 Exige. I had the legs on him on the straights, but people had
told me he was quick, so i decided to follow him and try and pick up
a few lines. After sitting on his rear clam for 3/4 of a lap (until
we passed another big accident and i backed off) he approached me in
the car park offering instruction. Turns out he was an RMA
instructor on ring days. How we laughed when he he told me i was
driving too fast, and Kelvin proclaimed, its not that i was driving
too fast, it was that he was driving too slow.
We went into Adenau for a pizza that night, and had a 2 course meal
and drinks for 15 Euro's. You cant help but love germany.
MONDAY 16TH
German exige guy try's to skin me 600 Euro's for 8 laps of
instruction. I politely explained that he is perhaps a tad
overpriced, as you could hire a personal instructor for a whole
trackday in the UK for about half that.
Car parks and surrounding roads were much quieter, as was the track,
but what traffic that was out there was very bad at getting out of
the way, so i never had a cleanish run all day.
Robin took my car out for a spin with me as a passenger. I am too
traumatised to talk about it, but suffice to say, it wasnt an
enjoyable experience, and i ran accross the car park to Kelvin
afterwards shouting "daddy, robin is a bad man"
Did my best ever lap late in the day. As it had been so busy, i
hadnt bother timing, but this one lap was reasonably clear, despite
2 accidents, and i drove the smoothest i have ever done. I came
into the pitlane with the biggest grin on my face, and i have to go
along with the philosophy that it doesnt matter what the laptime is,
its all about the satisfaction.
We had an enjoyable drive to Spa that evening, despite diversion
number 5 and were talked into having dinner at the Ronnay. It was
as awful as i remembered and took almost 3 hours. I'll never go
back there for a meal or a room.
Went to our hotel, to find that it wasnt any better than the
Ronnay. Hatched a plan never to stay in franchorchamp again
TUESDAY 17TH
Awoke to another clear, dry, sunny day. This couldnt be happening.
Kelvin shot off home to drop his car in at MSC for repair. Robin
and I went to Spa (with Bob and Crazy Dave of course). I have
loads of video footage to edit, and i will post it up when i have
time.
Highlights of the day for me where only being overtaken by 2 cars.
One was a 650bhp track spec EVO, the other a 911 GT3 RS on slick
tyres. All the other porsche's and TVR's were overtaken by WANK R,
and most were also overtaken by EGOR aswell. Good baiting skills by
Robin and I.
I ended up doing a full tank of petrol in one stint. 95 miles
without a break took its toll on the car slightly and finsihed off
my brake pads. Didnt stop me going out for a wee play with Mr Kell
in his Supercharged honda S2 but after overtaking him and pulling
away, i hit the brakes for the bus stop and the pedal almost went to
the floor with no real braking force. Crappy pants moment for sure.
Robin changed my pads for me and we bled the calipers aswell. He
acknowledged that i was more than capable of doing it myself, but
that i may rush to get back out on track, and its best not to rush
with brake components.
We decided that our best plan was to cut our losses with the Hotel
from Hell and just head for the ferry. We had previously changed
our plans already to return home via dover ferry rather than
newcastle, so we headed for the port and stayed in a cheap hotel,
with a plan to blag our way onto the early ferry.
WEDNESDAY 18TH
Ferry home and robin and I headed our seperate ways. He was off to
visit his family near london, and i was going to Mckeann it all the
way home.
And that was it. No doubt i missed a hell of a lot of details, but
robin, kelvin and bob can fill in the blanks. This is always a
great part of the trip, to come home and reminice about the fun,
friendship and banter
