Sunday 2nd November 2003
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The Setting:
A Track day at Cadwell Park circuit organised by BookaTrack. |
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Robert's account (in the Legacy turbo) Cracking track, the drive up was pretty good, the A153 after the A1 reminded me of the road through Wales, twisty country roads and very little traffic :o) the extra 5 psi boost helped the enjoyment of the trip as well ;o) Cadwell is very tight with some corners having no run off at all, including a hairpin with not even a curb, just a tyre wall!!! It's the first time I was glad to have abs on a track car! She certainly held her own on the track, helped by the fact it was raining on and off in the morning. Down the straights I could keep up with most things, round the faster corners managed to stay with the couple of Exiges that actually managed to catch me but they could take the slower corners faster than me (though I had a damn good try at staying with them!) Lap account .... from the back straight (the opposite side of the track to the pits ... 4th gear down the straight, around 110mph, keep right, dab the brakes to loose 20mph, 3rd gear, bring the car into the apex of Coppice and don't drift out too wide otherwise your line is messed up for the beginning of Charlies, give it some light throttle, get the car out to the left then immediately right through the first part of Charlies. Then over the blind crest bringing the car out to the left, a quick stamp on the brakes and aim for a late apex (I think, one of the corners I'm not sure about). You can get on the power early as the track widens on the exit and keep it nailed down Park Straight. Over the brow of the hill, 4th gear, nudging 115mph, fly past the 300 yard board with the throttle buried, as you pass the 200 yard marker stamp the brake pedal and bring the car down to about 60mph, aim for a central apex and get on the throttle early to get the turbo spinning up, a lift for Chris Curve, feather the throttle to get the car into the inside of the track before burying it, staying in third to virtually the red line (7k) while letting the car run out to the left, not too quickly though as you will run out of track! Another stab at the brakes to loose some speed (never got to look at the speedo here!!) and get the car aimed into the right hand kerb of Gooseneck, a small blast on the throttle before scrubbing some more speed off for the left hand exit, the car will be loose here on the limit!!! Nail the throttle down the hill towards Hansfield, staying on the right still in 3rd, and stab the brakes hard for the long left hand corner. Get the car into the kerb and nail the throttle (or feather it to stop the wheels spinning!!) Gently bring the car over to the left, approaching the red line in 3rd, and let it drift out to the right for the entrance to the first part of Mountain. Scrub off loads of speed and down into second, if you come in too quickly you'll be so out of line for the second part of Mountain up the hill. Hug the left hand kerb, virtually no throttle till the car is aimed at the apex at the bottom of the mountain, then nail it! The car will go light (or get a little air) over the crest, just keep it buried! Grab third gear before braking for Hall Bends and down to second, again another corner I'm not quite sure on, over to the right then in tight for the left apex as there is a tyre wall ahead of you and no run off, once the car is aimed through give it some gas and once you are through its a quick squirt down to the Hairpin. Don't brake to late for the hairpin, especially when there are damp leaves on the track!!! The hairpin feels so slow (again, no chance to look at the speedo due to the tyre wall looming on the exit, not much room for mistake! Once you've avoided the tyre wall it's a quick blast on the loud pedal before slowing for the first part of Barn, feather the throttle for a little bit, get the car pointed in the right direction then you can nail it quite early as there is quite a lot of room onto the main straight, into 3rd, 4th and your back towards Coppice again :o) It was drying out for my second from last session and was still able to reel in lots of expensive machinery, had a couple of people come up and ask what the hell the car was (Turbo nutter Jap Barge!!!). Apparently I was getting air coming over mountain, hopefully there will some pictures, I was certainly loosing traction coming over the hill!! The last session there was a dry line all the way round near enough and I was still able to get round quickly :o) I had an Exige come past and he was probably a few seconds a lap faster and I was really hammering it to stay with him, I did find it useful to watch the quicker cars lines as there are still several corners that I don't know exactly how to take ... I'll have to go back again :o) After the session I pulled the car up as normal, left it running with the bonnet up while I put the jack and tool box back in the car and sorted myself out for the drive home. Coming out of the paddock there is a 500 yard road then a T junction with a hedge the other side, I came up to the junction at about 30, pressed the brake and the pedal went straight to the floor!!!! I used the hand brake to get round the corner but was more than a little surprised, pressed the pedal a few more times and got a little response. Drove slowly to the track exit and the pedal had loads of travel but was working so decided to drive for a bit and cool the brakes down, they eventually came back after about 10 miles so I think the system got a bit warm, some dot 5 required if it goes out again ......... think I'll have to put the Mondeo up for sale and keep the Scooby :o) |