I must seriously apologise for my absence on this thread, I’m sure you have all been yearning for updates… no? Well you’re going to get them anyway.
I’m not sure anything of any major note happened between my Brands track day and the next one at Rockingham a month later, so we will kick things off there. I picked up my friend Frank, who was going to be success ballast all day as his car was broken, then met up with two other friends in their supercharged MX5’s. We stayed in some dodgy B&B the night before, which is not an experience I wish to repeat in a hurry; they had communal toilets and my morning shower was akin to a dehydrated camel dribbling on me. It did at least mean we could get up at a fairly sociable hour, and had just a handful of miles to cover before arriving in the paddock and laying claim to a garage.
The morning was chilly but dry, and the track was very, very fast. I was bottling it at about 110mph on the apex of the banked oval. I’m confident the car could have carried more speed, but my testis certainly couldn’t. We were doing the 2.05mile International Super Sportscar Long circuit, and I quickly elected the left-right Pif-Paf chicane and the long sweeping Gracelands left hander as my favourite corners, being able to swing the tail nicely round on the former, and have it squirrelling about on the limit of adhesion all the way around the latter.
I had decided to risk throwing the balding NS2R’s from my last post on the front of the car, and after a few sessions it became apparent this may have been a foolish judgment! They were overheating rapidly and the driver’s side was delaminating badly on the outer edge. As the morning drew to a close I decided it was time they came off…
Just before lunch, as I was busy with the trolley jack and torque wrench, it started drizzling. The chief marshal had warned us in the briefing that the track would get abnormally slippery if the rain appeared, and as it continued throughout the break another marshal came wandering into the garage with further words of caution. But seriously, it couldn’t be that bad, could it? Oh yes, yes it could. Ice cubes on an air hockey table have more traction that we had at Rockingham that afternoon, it was almost comical! I quickly gave up trying to thread a decent lap together and spent a large portion of the next few hours playing chase car to the tail wagging MX5’s, which was genuinely fantastic fun. I did have to have my wits about me though, as an exuberant Jack (in his supercharged racing green number) insisted on spinning right in front of me on more than one occasion.
As time went on the rain ceased, but the cool temperatures meant the surface never really dried out. I must’ve got a little jealous of all the fun the rear steerers were having, as I decided to have a whirl myself, courtesy of some scandy flicks and tactical lift offs. This went well for a while, and I’m hopeful that it looked mighty impressive from the outside. Until it didn’t go so well, and I found myself in a colossal tank slapper coming out of Deene, ended only by the gravel trap on the outside of the following straight. I went in front first, having fortunately scrubbed off enough speed to avoid a roll, and just enough to stay out of the looming tyre wall, be it only by a few inches! However I was well and truly beached, the front wheels flailing about like the legs on an upturned tortoise.
Mercifully a pick up arrived a few seconds later, expelling two men with high vis vests and impressive facial hair. They kindly dragged me back onto the black stuff, allowing me to tie toe back to the paddock. This spelt the end to my days hoonage, with the next hour spent digging gravel out of every conceivable orifice in the Clio’s belly. Nevertheless I imagine a half decent orienteer could still have traced my 2 hour journey back home, simply by following the intermittent trail of kitty litter ricocheting from deep within the cars unmentionables.
I have some videos from a couple of the morning sessions thanks to my recently acquired Go-Pro, if you fancy wasting a few minutes watching some fairly abysmal wheelmanship, feel free to click the links below.
I decided to borrow the ramp again the following evening to finalise the gravel evacuation, and unbelievably I still managed to find a dustpan’s worth of the little critters. Whilst the diffuser was off I took the opportunity to level up my exhaust tips as the left hand side had dropped slightly. The OCD fairy was extremely pleased with this achievement.
I had been giving the poor little thing more than its fair share of abuse lately, so I decided, as way of an apology, to buy it a rear spoiler. Perhaps had it been wearing one at Rockingham the negligible added downforce could have saved me a trip into the stones, but that is a debate for people with more time and brain cells than I. Regardless I always thought the rump end of the car could use a little more detail and aggression. The obvious answer would have been the proper Renaultsport wingy thingy, but for some reason I just find this a bit too fussy for the Clio’s otherwise subtle features. So a Sprint Spoiler arrived instead, courtesy of Simon at Spray Shack, and I wasted little time having it painted in the appropriate hue and lobbing it on the back of the car. I knew those scrap bits of steel would come in handy for something!
This wasn’t the only thing to arrive in the office post-Rockingham either. Having been put off the Nankangs by their truly appalling performance in any kind of light moisture, not to mention the way they disintegrated as soon as they surpassed the wear markers, I decided to step things up a level. Feast your eyes on rubber perfection (although please don’t type that into Google), Yokohama Advan Neova AD08R’s.
I had heard nothing but good things about these tyres so decided to take the plunge despite them being a fair whack more currency than the competition. Angel from Cazan Racing made things slightly less painful, and I must say it’s a real shame he has decided to shut up shop. Anyway, I had these fitted all round on the OEM wheels, the remaining pair of half worn NS2R’s then went on the Silverstones to burn off on the next dry track day, and the Rainsports were removed and sold on. Having driven on the Yokos now for the best part of 2 months I have to say the rave reviews are most certainly justified; they are fantastic. Honestly I really cannot sing their praises highly enough, just go and buy some. Now.
Back in the land of chronology, the first drive with the new additions up top and on all 4 corners was a little blast through some of the most B-est of B-roads Wiltshire has to offer, led by my friend Will in his other half’s Mini Cooper S. I know, either she is enviably understanding, or just plain oblivious... Having experienced Will’s driving I can only assume it is the latter. We were joined by Andy in his turbo’d Mk1 MX5 and Rob (owner of the yellow Exige featured previously in the thread) in his work wheels – a mapped 330D M-sport. Rob and Will are both very competent (read: absolute nutcases) at the helm of an automobile, and both knew the roads pretty well. As such Andy and I struggled to stick with them at times, but that didn’t stop us trying for a second! I don’t often get sweaty palms on the road these days, but I definitely had to direct the air con towards the steering wheel that morning. It was scarily fun.
We stopped for a breather and a Costa back in Swindon, where I grabbed the camera out the rear footwell, was pleasantly surprised to find it still working, and snapped a photo.
Having finally got my good friend Frank’s MX5 back on the road after a torturous 7 months off of it, he was champing at the bit to get out and drive. He assembled the troops, namely Jack and Aran in their similarly specced cars, and never one to excuse such an opportunity, I jumped in the Frenchy. By the way, I apologise for the unrelenting MX5 content… I think I need to get some new friends with Clio’s! Parked up next to the little Japanese roadsters the R27 looks huge and, dare I say it, a little bit boring. In fact I may even have felt a little tinge of remorse at selling my own Hiroshima Hooner as I composed the photographs below. Getting back in the Clio though I returned to my senses, I still reckon it is just as much fun, and on the right road just as rapid, as my Mazda. Plus on the uninspiring straight bits, and whilst stuck behind Cuthbert and Dorris in their 1.25 Fiesta, I can revel in my sound insulated cabin, tweaking the climate control to the most pleasurable half degree!
Midway through our drive we found a nice echoey bridge and Aran decided it would be good idea to set his camera up in the corner, whilst we all blasted through with engines singing. As ideas go I reckon it was up there with anything Einstein ever had to offer, and here is the result…
I think I shall make this update a two part affair as I have no doubt bored you’re all to tears, despite the fact we are still a while away from being up to date. Maybe, just maybe, I will get chapter two in before the week is out. But then again Boris Johnson may top the podium at the next Formula one race... I wouldn’t put my money on either to be honest.
Love and hugs,
Rob
