3 CASTLE COMBE TRACKDAYS 2002
DAY 1 - SATURDAY 27th APRIL
Saturday started at 4am. Far too early - even for a work day. Waking up after
having only three hours sleep is not good at the best of times, especially if
you've fallen asleep on the floor with only a bean-bag as a pillow. Thank god
for coffee. After a good strong cup and fifteen minutes in the bathroom,
freshening up, we were all finally ready for the long trip from Nottingham down
the Castle Combe.
After spending what seemed like an age packing away all the electrical
equipment we had (camera, camcorders, wires, phones, etc) and extricating the
cars from Lauren's driveway we were off. Most of the journey was motorway
and therefore uneventful. We stopped for breakfast at Corley services on
the M6. Almost immediately after we had parked up, the camcorders
(well, mine and Mark's) came out and were focused on Lauren. We got the feeling
that Lauren wasn't exactly impressed by the sudden attention as she uttered a
most un-lady like expression and sought shelter inside Fazza's car! Once we, and
our cars, were fed and watered we were on our way again. Apart from a
loo-stop (tut - women!) we made it the rest of the way there in good time.
There wasn't much of a queue to get in, so we were all parked up fairly
quickly. After wandering around in daze for a while as most of us were still
half asleep we decided to start unloading the car of all the stuff we
had brought and didn't want rattling around in the boot whilst out on the
track. Fazza had the brilliant idea of setting the tent up so that all the kit
could be put in that. However, it was windy. I don't think I need to say
anymore, I'm sure your imagination can do the rest! It wasn't long before
Lauren had rushed off to go and get her track pass and safety briefing out of
the way, and the rest of us were left to go our separate ways. Already there
were quite a few cars there. We wandered around, looking at the very nice
machinery that was on show. By the time any of the rest of us had made
our way towards the main office to get our track passes, Lauren was already in
the queue of cars waiting to go out.
The day then took what I would suppose is a normal track day routine. Whilst
some were out on the track the rest of us would be either watching,
wandering around, or (like me) falling asleep in their cars. There were a few
incidents out on the track. Thankfully, only one of them involved one of
the MR2 crowd. Unfortunately, both Fazza in his MK2 NA and Toni in here
Supercharger were rudely cut up by a Ford (could've guessed!) Sapphire
Cosworth. As with most incidents, the 'bad' driver in the cossie got away
with out a scratch. Toni seemed to get away okay, although I guess
here tyres lost a good amount of tread. Fazza though was not quite so
lucky. He managed to go straight through two bollards which left their mark on
his nose cone and bonnet. He actually seemed proud that he had acquired a 'war
wound'. I suppose he'll leave it on there - a scar from Combe! A TVR
managed to use a Citreon Saxo and the wall to come to a stop. This was mainly
down to the fact that his brakes had failed! A Renault 5 and a Fiesta were
involved in a collision which wrote both cars off. To my knowledge though,
nobody throughout the day got injured. Although I would guess a few prides were
dented!
This was my first track day ever so I didn't really know what to expect. I
was eager to get out on the track. But once I had my track pass and was sitting
in the queue waiting to go out, that's when the nerves set in. I've had the
Levin supercharger conversion in my car for about four months now so I thought I
knew my car well. How wrong I was. Once you're out of the pits and actually on
the track it's like another world out there. You can accelerate to your heart's
content, you can corner at ludicrous speeds and you can just drive your car up
to it's limits, and sometimes beyond (mmm, yet another spin!). I took the
cautious route. Start slow and build up. YES! It is true that I got overtaken by
three Nova's and an Astra (no, it wasn't an Astra swing as Lauren keeps telling
everyone!!!). All I can say is that I didn't spin out once. You are only out on
the track for a 20 minute session, but it feels like an absolute age. Once
we were called in and the end of the last lap, the excitement and utter
brilliance of a track day session came out (a lot of you have seen the video - I
won't repeat the language used!!!) It was absolutely brilliant. Even though I
had driven relatively slowly around the track, I felt like I had been in a
mini-race.
The second session was even better. Now I knew the track and therefore I had
a better idea of when to turn and when to brake. I became more confident as time
wore on and actually took a couple of liberties as well. I even managed to get
the tail out and control it. If anyone out there has not done a track day yet
and has considered it. Don't think - just DO IT!
By the end of the day most of us were completely shattered. After all, we had
spent only three hours asleep, four hours driving to Combe, and most of the
day running round with camcorders and cameras or running around the track. And
most of us had also got a nice long drive to make in the evening
to get across to Bentwaters Park near Ipswich. By five o'clock the track
sessions had thinned out. A lot of people were packing up and going home. So all
the kit had to be re-loaded back into the cars, the tent taken down, and
off we started for Ipswich. After a good few sessions around the track we
nearly all required fuel. The poor guy in the Shell station just down the road
from Combe didn't what had hit him - five MR2's all wanting to use the same
single Optimax pump. I think I pushed him over the edge when I went to pay
as I could decide what choc bar I wanted and changed my mind about three
times as he tried to swipe my card! Mark had a clutch problem as we pulled off
from the Shell garage as it seemed to engage far too quickly. He left us in
a small cloud of burnt rubber smoke!
We made it to the hotel we had booked just north of Ipswich late that
evening. The decision was made to go and find a chippy somewhere and bring it
back to the hotel where we would all meet up in one room and sort through all
the video footage we had. Finding the chippy proved to be mission impossible and
after nearly an hour of driving around all over the countryside, Toni and I came
back empty-handed. Finally, we managed to swindle a few bacon and egg cobs
(minus the egg it turned out) and a couple of drinks out of the very nearly
closed Little Chef nearby. Mind you, it did cost us an arm and a leg!
So that was it. After nearly four months of eager anticipation, Combe had
come and gone. It may have only been one day, but it was one day that I
certainly won't forget! Better still, after another measly three or four hours
of sleep we were going to do it all again at Bentwaters.
RYAN KING ‘NOSMO’
DAY 2 - SATURDAY 15th JUNE As usual the club attended but I was
the only one who turned up!! So where were you all? I know a few went to the Le
Man 24 hour race and I think the world cup had a lot to do with attendance as it
was decidedly quieter than usual, both on and off the track. The club had its
usual free entry tickets and track passes, unfortunately most of these went to
waste. I of course felt it was my duty to fly the flag for the club and made
full use of them managing to get in 2 free sessions before the 11.00am deadline.
The weather, for a change was great, only starting to rain as I left at
around 5.00pm and the event brought the usual kit cars, Cosworths and Scooby's
(Subaru Imprezza's). Late in the day I did see an owner of a MK1 going around,
seemed like a nice red one with aftermarket alloys and what looked like an Ansa
exhaust system which you can't buy anymore, a tailpipe either side of the car
gave it away. If the owner is a club member, get in touch with me and I may be
able to get free passes for Combe's next action day. (editors note – if the
owner is not a member of the club he missed out on a free £6 entry pass and 3
£25 track passes!)
I had a ride in my dad's Lotus Elan, late type front wheel drive (why front
wheel drive??) which was fun, I always feel more nervous as a passenger but
quite pleased that it didn’t feel as fast as my supercharger. We were overtaken
by some very fast BMW's and an even faster mk1 Golf, which must have had over
250bhp!!!
As usual Quarry was the place to go if you wanted to watch any crashes. A
white Peugeot 405 seemed to forget about Quarry corner and came in far to fast,
the inevitable happened, especially when he hit the grass. He hit the tyre wall
pretty hard wrecking the front end, no-one was hurt which is the main thing and
I managed to get the whole thing on film. So be warned do not buy a white
Peugeot 405, particularly if it says never raced or rallied!!
One of the highlight's of the day was a guy (or gal) in a Sierra Cosworth who
was getting it very sideways at Quarry and smoking the rear wheels up the
straight. Even better however was a guy (or gal) in a BMW 325 who was throwing
the car into Quarry totally sideways and I'm talking about him getting it
totally sideways 100yds before the corner at about 80mph and power sliding all
the way around on full opposite lock-it really was something else and probably
the best bit of driving I have ever seen at Combe. One time however he did get a
bit too sideways and lost it, missing a little kit car by what must have been
inches!!!
I took my supercharger out on the track again in the afternoon and I was
lucky enough to be joined by a couple of MK2 turbos. I'm pleased to say my
supercharger didn’t let me down and through the back part of the circuit where
it is quite twisty I was pulling away, however on the straight they both caught
me up. I eventually let them through after my brakes went totally coming up to
one of the fast corners. It was a bit worrying as you plant your foot on the
brake pedal and the car hardly slows down at all. I managed to scrabble around
and took things easy for the final lap.
All in all it was a great day, my race and the BMW sideways at Quarry made
it, just a shame no-one else from the club could make it. See you all next time.
The third and final Castle Combe Action Day is Saturday August 31st, if
anyone is interested get in touch with me.
ANDY O’BRIEN
DAY 3 - SATURDAY 31st AUGUST 2002
Do you remember the first time? Well this was it. My first trackday in the
MR2, in fact my first track day ever. An early start got us to the track around
8am. Richard Morgan had beaten us to it and for the next few hours a steady
stream of Mk1’s arrived. The reason for the early start was to make full use of
the free track passes that the club gets. Andy O’Brien handed these out to the
first 6 cars that had arrived. By various means further free tickets were
secured and it was then time for a safety briefing and the queue to get on the
track.
As it was my first track day Andy had kindly agreed to go out with me and
give me some direction on the track. After about 20 minutes queuing we were in
the pit lane with the adenaline flowing, waiting for the off. Accelerating away,
the quarry turn and the traffic were my main concerns – a lot of cars were on
the track as everybody else wanted their free go as well. Andy very helpfully
shouted ‘brake, brake, brake’ a lot and ‘turn in, turn in’ With so much
happening around me basic tasks like changing gear and braking seemed to have
reached very high levels of difficulty. After a few laps I started to get the
hang of it and started to realize that the Mk1 has a lot of grip and potential
that I never experience when driving on the road. It’s a wonderful feeling to
drive with that amount tarmac in front of you.
With the number of cars on the track there did seem to be bits flying off
other peoples cars (thankfully not mine) and there was a near miss when someone
in an old classic locked up their wheels in the chicane. I also got a surprise
when a 240Z overtook me around a tight bend – against the rules but once you’re
on the track people have a way of forgetting..!
The next thing I remember was seeing a car pull into the pits. I thought it
must have some sort of problem but in fact it was the end of the session –
already !!! So 5 laps and 10-15 minutes had gone by and we were pulling into the
paddock. What a brilliant experience. Andy dived into his supercharger to try
and get back out on the track before the 11am free ticket cutoff time. I was
chatting about my drive when he ran back and said ‘get a helmet, we’re off’
(well something like that) so off we went again this time with me as passenger.
The supercharger shot off and Andy certainly knew the course – this was how to
really drive round circuits. Unfortunately one of the intercooler pipes came
loose so full power couldn’t be achieved and we had to come in after 2 laps – a
real shame for both of us. The supercharger did get fixed later in the day so
hopefully Andy did get on the track again.
Around lunchtime I went back out on the track for the parade lap – this is
basically a procession lap following the pace car and lets people who don’t want
to risk their cars go on the track safely. It’s also a good way of getting to
know the course and allowed me to see the racing lines a bit more clearly than
on the earlier session. I would definitely recommend this as a good way of
learning a track and getting some confidence if you are new to track days.
The other great thing about these days is you get to watch all sorts of cars
whizzing round. The range of cars included Porsches, M3’s, lots of Mk1’s,
Cobras, a Volvo estate and a Rover 216! Most spectacular was a green Escort
which span then slid sideways before ending up on it’s roof. The guys crawled
out after a few minutes and seemed to be OK. Unfortunately the other casualty
was somewhat closer to home in the Mk1 camp – Lyndon Checketts pulled off the
circuit with a clanking engine. He managed to nurse it back to the Mk1 paddock
and on inspection it was found that the oil on the dipstick was smoking. I don’t
know the final outcome but I think the consensus from everyone who mucked in to
help was that major repair or a new engine was necessary.
Although it was very unfortunate it did show the true club spirit with about
10 people at any one time peering into the engine trying to sort the problem
out.
So, a great atmosphere and a great day on the whole. Everyone with a Mk1
should do this at least once. The problem is, is that once is never enough – I’m
hoping Donington will be as good, only another week to wait now ! Thanks to all
in the club who attended and especially Andy O’Brien for his on track
assistance.
MARK DALTON
Members begin to arrive - what is that on the end?...
...It's Mike Bubb with his Porche, lowering the tone of the
place!
Joining the queue for the track...
....Nearly there, Andy O'Brien and Mark Dalton
Mark Dalton sweeps down the field
Gavin Pressler on the right - square plate
Alan and Mark Cayzer leave the rest far behind
A great turnout of 14 MR2's (and a Porche) for the last Castle Combe trackday
of the year, why didn't you come along and join in the excitement? See you all
next year.
