LOT Croft & KH Track Weekend July 18-20 - Croft cancelled

[Chucks]

Had my biggest trackday moment yet when a Caterham didn't see me about to pass him on the back straIght, after letting the car in front by he retook the racing line rather abruptly leaving me with no option but to take to the grass sideways at a 100+ Having witnessed the lack of rear visibility in Mass's car later on I'll let him off this time.

That was me, I do apologise. Mirrors on caterhams do tend to be like pi55holes in the snow, I can see 2 or 3 cars waiting to overtake but the last one in the queue can easily fall in the blindspot. Wasn't sure exactly who it was otherwise I'd have apologised in person. Gave me the sh1tters for a good while afterwards too.

Cracking day, wish there was more fulll day sessions at KH, lets hope there's more in the future.

Massive thanks to Alan & Jen for taking my spare wheels down & of course Tut & the LOT folks for organising.





edit, first post written whilst the adrenaline, plus a couple beers were in the system & was perhaps a bit out of order.

[flat-planedCrank]

Good trackday

Weather a little changeable Good it dried out in the end...



Just posted some pics in the gallery ---> http://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/vie ... =9&t=21877



Good to chat to everyone


Cheers.

[ceejam]

What a cracking day!!

I did about 220 laps yesterday, and got a good bit of experience in the wet too. I stayed out for the morning shower, on the basis that I was going fast enough not to get wet myself, and I'd surprisingly never done a wet track day last year!

I was impressed by how quickly a dry line (and dry kerbs!!) appeared once it stopped raining!

Had some great laps near the end with Mike in his S1. Two closely matched standard S1s (and drivers) catching and passing some of the supercharged Exiges at times, which was fun.

My shoulders and wrists are aching today, but it was worth it

[alicrozier]

I can also testify that rear visibility is difficult on a Caterham! Thanks to Mass for the shottie - absolutely fan-blinkin-tastic! I could have stayed out all day learning. Think I had some laps together with Carlo, R300? Sorry if I was holding you up at all, I was the one with random indicators!

Cheers to Andy for a giddie-up in the Mule - Nicola loved the pax laps. Sooo light, chuckable and stable...what a hoot!

Also to Paul for a drive of his 340R, sublime. A great drive - only issue was some wazzer guest driving the mule flicking me the vees - probably a jaaaaag driver...


Finally a big personal thanks to Craig and Calum from MMC (post on feedback thread to come). Craig brought the car up to KH after the gearbox work and although all was fine on the road the track highlighted it needed a wee tweak to the cable adjustment which Calum sorted. Was 100% after that apart from a niggle on 1st (which will improve) and I really got back into bonding with the car - although a heavy beast compared to some I drove yesterday it really is awesome, wet or dry.
This was really a shakedown for FF in 3 weeks and it couldn't have been done without Craig and Calum. Thanks again guys, objective met for the day.

[Peter76]

Excellent day and nice to meet some more people. Mine would have been the supercharged Exige everyone was passing! That was my first trackday and although i had a good idea about how to take corners etc, and had previously done quite well on performance days at Knockhill and Silverstone, i managed to spin 3 times in the morning, i guess running out of what little talent i actually had!! The third time i spun, i managed brush the front end along a stack of tyres at the grandstands at the back of the circuit loosing my number plate in the process. The rest of the marks came out with some t-cut last night. Anyways, decided i would take it a bit easier in the afternoon and managed not to spin, however, thus meant being passed by just about everything on track. Learned some valuable lessons and worked out why i spun each time which i guess is progress. I believe after braking for the corners, sitting with my foot hovering over the accelerator, and not actually giving it a bit of power was the problem, thus loosing the back end each time. Feel free to advise!

Anyway, apologies to anyone i held up. Was very aware of cars behind me and always tried to get out of the way. Practically sh!t myself everytime i saw Tut and Mass in the mirrors as they seemed to catch up with me in no time. Will get some pax laps from you next time for sure Mass, and will definately get some instruction booked from the KH staff also!

And who ever had the Clio, that thing was very impressive! Was a little dis-heartened when it came screaming through the corners at me, i guess i have more car than talent!!

[Andy G]

Echo that - what a quality day out. Didnt realise how much i was missing the Mule until yesterday, and its new set up is strangely effective, despite the photos of it grounding

In the wet, simply epic, with the lack of grip being a great leveller.

Some great sessions, with Carlo is his new 7, watching him leave me on the straights was soul destroying, but the mighty mule then clawed it back under braking and cornering, lap after lap. Kenny and i had a good laugh for about 10-15 laps, some footage to follow i think

Driving standards were pretty good from what i saw, got held up in the wet for 5 laps by that Orange S1 Honda Exige thingy, but I let Robbie by in his Cup, and the guy then spotted him, after another 2 laps......was past on Robbies coat-tails

Pleased that everyone that drove the mule loved her, some of it rough, and Kenny, you know it makes sense. Some good S1 scraps ahead i think, especially with Mike just getting one, Jamie rapidly getting used to his, and the usual suspects.

Claire Duncan even had a shot of the might Mule towards the end and was doing well Keep it up, we'll get you faster than your Dad soon

Have to say again a huge thanks to Ali (SLS), Josh (SLS) and Willie (CLCM) for getting the Mule MOT'd , re-geo'd, and in a state where it stands a good chance of the next Euro jaunt, despite me driving it flat out everywhere.

Another good thing about S1 sheds - next to no brake wear with that little power

I might even wash the mule, albeit briefly, to go with its new 48's ready for FF8

Thanks also to Mass for the shot of the R400

Great to see everyone

[tut]

The Clio was driven by Alan Gourlay from Aberdeen, and he certainly was poling it well. He has built an immaculate S1 Honda car, he did a long thread on it, which is being resprayed at the moment.

Took him an Jen out for a ride, and she was well giggling.

tut

[jen]

what an amazing day!! Thanks to Tut and LoT for organising it all! Thanks to Tut again for my first pax laps of the day! Was sooo good! I was loving every minute! I actually thought everytime we passed a cone, it was sure to be flattened! and thanks to Ali for taking me out in the Exige. I had a great big grin on my face, it was really great, especially the sideyways in the wet! then thanks to Charlie for taking me out in the Caterham, reminded me of Alans Westfield he had. If he decides to build one again, I think I might just let him! Don't tell him though!

The Clio is my car, used for getting me back and forward to work/doing the tesco shopping in, you know-NEVER did I think it could go round KH like that! Alan took me out and I really was scared! Probably down to the fact that I knew it had to get us back to Abz though!

Finally, thank you to Peter who brought his Burnt Orange Elise with him! It was a pleasant surprise to see it as now I know what our car will (kinda) look like when it's finished! Looking forward to getting it back on the road, been loutsless for almost a year now and days like yesterday can be sooo depressing, but the Clio (with Alans driving capability) made up for it! She done well, even though our front two brand new tyres are completely obliterated!

Thanks again everyone for a super day!

Jen

[transglobal]

Morning,

Yes, I echo all that has been said before re how good a day yesterday was. Thanks to everyone who put it together and also for accomodating those of us who arrived late. Was my first trackday too and I was dreading it to be honest. Thats why I spoke to very few people during the day, as I though that if I was going to make a complete hash of it then at least no one would know who I was

In the end I surprised myself. Sure I was getting eaten by some of the quicker guys but all in all I learned more in that afternoon than I'd have done all year on the road. Thats what its all about for me. I actually loved the wet laps but was conscious that I was a hairsbreadth from disaster as I spent most of the laps sideways. Great fun but dodgy. The dry laps highlighted the fact that the car is much more capable than I am so much to improve on for me.

Highlights: Tut bouncing down the main straight. Orange Exige (What a note). The burnt orange Elise SC was beautiful and very very quick. Sounded great too. Alan in the Clio. You need help and quickly. Were you running aero fuel? When I saw you behind me I pulled into the pits so I could honestly say that you never passed me the whole day!

[tut]

Did not see as much of my car as usual, once Jamie and Clare got their hands on it I was a spectator.

Big thanks to Robin for taking them under his wing, they could not praise him enough for his patience, the man is a natural Instructor. Jamie had never been in an Elise or on track before, and he gave both of them extended tuition in his car, so by the time Jamie took my car out with me as pax, the first two sessions were very wet, and then track closed wet, which is no joke for your first drive in a LHD N3, he was handling it really well. When it dried out his confidence and ability improved steadily, and on our last sunny session he was just about passing everything on track and correcting beautifully on bald tyres and knackered rear suspension. Said it was the best birthday present he had ever had.

Saw him eyeing up N1 TUT in the garage when we got home, so Clare had better keep her eyes on him.

Also to Andy for again letting Clare drive his car. She also showed Robin how consistent she is by putting his car into the kitty litter at exactly the same spot as she did last year on the Calendar photo.

tut

[Modena Scotland]

Good to see all the new and familiar faces. For those who had pax laps or drove the SLR, you were all very welcome.

Peter, give me a shout the next time. Andy, sorry for not handing the key for more laps in the afternoon. I've missed driving the mule too . We will swap the next time

The ACB10s (2nd hand) I've tried for the first time was OK in the dry but laughable in the wet. Understeer at very low speed followed by snap oversteer. For those Cat owners on the forum, make sure you have some decent spare wet tyres (CR500 etc) at KH

[Andy G]

Andy, sorry for not handing the key for more laps in the afternoon. I've missed driving the mule too . We will swap the next time

Hopefully I'll be up there a bit more frequently after FF8

[Corranga]

Standard car will be fine to go all day long. It's the tuned monsters that generate all the heat that they cannot dissipate that are the problem.

Cheers,
Robin

I see what you mean. From my milage, I figure I managed 150+ laps over the day, with my longest outing lasting around the 1 1/2 hour mark.

Car seemed to hold up really well, Toyos still have tread on them, though I was getting some serious brake fade for the first 1/2 a lap when I rejoined after a cooling off period.

Was very aware of cars behind me and always tried to get out of the way. Practically sh!t myself everytime i saw Tut and Mass in the mirrors as they seemed to catch up with me in no time. Will get some pax laps from you next time for sure Mass, and will definately get some instruction booked from the KH staff also!

The sight of that bright orange caterham with lights a-blaze side ways round the hairpin in your rear view mirror is some experience, and Tut's comedy rear suspension skipping it's way along Railway was some sight!

Great to see what other relatively standard S1's can do in the hands of Andy / Jamie / the other Azure s1, and hope that other, faster cars were nice enough to lift on the straights to let you guys on your way
I think I need some stickier tyres*





*this phrase is interchangable with 'more talent'

Superb day

Chris

[kenny]

That was me, I do apologise. Mirrors on caterhams do tend to be like pi55holes in the snow, I can see 2 or 3 cars waiting to overtake but the last one in the queue can easily fall in the blindspot. Wasn't sure exactly who it was otherwise I'd have apologised in person. Gave me the sh1tters for a good while afterwards too.

No worries mate, these things happen just wish I had it on camera. Would have made interesting viewing.

[transglobal]

Sorry, this wasn't Peter76's quote it was Corranga's.

I think I need some stickier tyres*

*this phrase is interchangable with 'more talent'

Superb day

Chris

Having spent 4 wet laps sideways thats exactly what I said when I came back into the pits. Its the tyres, not me!!