Created by Petrolheads, for Petrolheads

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pseOz8ulUm8

Footage from my first laps of Goodwood in the newly track-prepared SPR.  The brakes and the tyres have been sorted – the car now goes around corners and stops when you press the pedal in the middle!

Nancy has made me a SPR birthday cake.

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Favourite car of the day …..

Marcus and I have just got back from a very damp practice morning ahead of the Sprint on Easter Monday. I can safely say that Marcus’s Radical is VERY fast, while SPR is alot slower – no surprise there – however our little Lotus should be competitive in her class. For Marcus this was the end of a four month wait to drive ‘The Red Devil’ as the Radical has been nick named. He was more than happy with his purchase and it certainly lived up to expectation.

You can read full details on my runs on the SPR Race Diary page.

Push the Traction Control System button OFF.

Push the Go Pedal ON.

Spin car into hedge.

Oh the shame….

This spells trouble, I have been onto the McLaren configurator and put together my perfect car. Its worse than getting the brochure! I have started dreaming all over again. Have a go: http://www.mclarenautomotive.com/uk/default.aspx#/configurator

The wife has caught the bug. Here is Jo preparing to go out on track with one of Goodwood’s driving instructors. After a slow and nervous start she soon got into the groove. Trouble was at the end of the day Jo said “when can I go again”!

Also note SPR’s new light weight Rota wheels (shod with slicks), they look great and help with turn in.

I and a friend Stuart spent an informative day at Jonathan Palmer’s Bedford Aerodrome under the tuition of Mike Copper using a track prepared MR2 for us to play with (very similar in feel to a Lotus Elise). Mike first evaluated our driving styles and then started fixing our various problems which there were many! For me the big news of the day was to be encouraged to take the braking phase deep into a corner and really load up the front wheels to help with mechanical grip as you feed out the brake and applied the throttle through the apex. This technique really allowed a whole new level of control through the corner and made for faster exit speeds.

Here are a few pics of some  of the stars. Very relaxing day, limited number of tickets which meant only about 6,000 there not 10,000’s as is usual on a Fri/Sat/Sun.

Living in a county baked by brilliant sunshine for what seemed like weeks, it was hard to believe the rain forecast for the Brands Hatch track day at a venue not more than 50 miles away … but after consideration we loaded up the Golf-mule support car with the wet tyres on the outside chance they might be required.  We left Surrey on a bright summer’s morning and hit the M25, crossing into Kent around 7am, …. and an absolute monsoon.  Arriving at the circuit  we found it overcast and damp.  We also found it very, very, very busy and the facilities in the inner paddock lacking, with the Golf-mule being relegated to the outer paddock because of space constraints.

Briefing completed, we hurriedly prepped for sighting laps behind a pace car before finding some time to prepare properly for our first runs.  I drove next with PC as passenger, taking it cautiously to learn the circuit and also through a passing rain shower.  We then swapped for the next session, at the end of which we both agreed the need for some extra power to keep up with the competition!  (That’s next year’s upgrades planned!)

Next up were solo sessions.  Having learned the circuit, the 12.00 session allowed me to push the car further, and the GP circuit is fantastic with a huge variety of challenges – most enjoyable and rewarding.  A break for lunch and PC’s solo session then preceded my most interesting moment of the day as I sought to perfect a ‘backwards’ racing line out of Paddock Hill bend as it drops away downhill.   I have absolutely no idea how it happened – although I have a suspicion that it involved a lack of talent – but the back of the car snapped away just past the apex of the corner and I completed at least one 360 before collecting it up and completing the lap with the car intact but pride definitely wounded.

In summary, the Brands Hatch GP circuit is fantastic – although apparently rarely used for some reason – and I’d definitely drive it again, but the logistics behind the day are more than a little trying.