Went to Brands today for a trackday on the Indy circuit. Got some second hand 15in Pro Race 1.2s with 888s to try out and was keen to see how they performed. The track was damp and slippy to begin with, but by mid-morning a dry line had been worn in apart from Druids and McLaren, which remained a bit greasy all day. There was some proper grade A weaponry on track, although it did blur the line between track day and cheap test day for millionaire race teams.
The Clio felt great all day, the tyres working brilliantly. Did a 1min 02 lap on video, might have gone a bit quicker later on but didn't have the camera on. Toying with getting camber bolts and/or Eibach Prolines to quell the body roll and help grip on turn-in, but don't want to spend hundreds on coilovers. Any advice anyone?
Sketchiest moment of the day was this V6 Calibra that some blokes had bought for £200 off ebay. They'd been off a few times during the day and were driving pretty erratically. I caught them up pretty quick during a later session but they wouldn't move over. I didn't have the grunt to overtake on the straight so had to sit behind and wait it out. Then they overtook a Fiesta on the wrong side and headed towards Paddock with me behind them. I used my normal braking point, but their lights didn't come on until about a second later. They turned in really late, understeered hideously, ploughed into the gravel but kept steering. The car dug in and flipped twice before burying itself into the tyre wall. Both of the guys inside got out, but the car was even more of a wreck than it was at the start of the day. I got the whole thing on video as well.
Anyway, here are some photos:
The baked bean with new shoes.
There were not one, not two, not three, but four of these kicking about. Two on track and two parked up. Stunning things up close.
Track day or test day? When there are Aston Le Mans racers with full pit crews and transporters in the pits, you begin to wonder. Doubt they got a clear lap all day - just six hours of traffic.
R26R press car out with Race and Track magazine. Time to get saving i think...
Going to try and upload the videos tomorrow, when i've shrunk them down a bit.
The Clio felt great all day, the tyres working brilliantly. Did a 1min 02 lap on video, might have gone a bit quicker later on but didn't have the camera on. Toying with getting camber bolts and/or Eibach Prolines to quell the body roll and help grip on turn-in, but don't want to spend hundreds on coilovers. Any advice anyone?
Sketchiest moment of the day was this V6 Calibra that some blokes had bought for £200 off ebay. They'd been off a few times during the day and were driving pretty erratically. I caught them up pretty quick during a later session but they wouldn't move over. I didn't have the grunt to overtake on the straight so had to sit behind and wait it out. Then they overtook a Fiesta on the wrong side and headed towards Paddock with me behind them. I used my normal braking point, but their lights didn't come on until about a second later. They turned in really late, understeered hideously, ploughed into the gravel but kept steering. The car dug in and flipped twice before burying itself into the tyre wall. Both of the guys inside got out, but the car was even more of a wreck than it was at the start of the day. I got the whole thing on video as well.
Anyway, here are some photos:
The baked bean with new shoes.
There were not one, not two, not three, but four of these kicking about. Two on track and two parked up. Stunning things up close.
Track day or test day? When there are Aston Le Mans racers with full pit crews and transporters in the pits, you begin to wonder. Doubt they got a clear lap all day - just six hours of traffic.
R26R press car out with Race and Track magazine. Time to get saving i think...
Going to try and upload the videos tomorrow, when i've shrunk them down a bit.
