As I said it was a great day, well organised & the weather stayed fine and my Sprint got me there & back in one piece (always a bonus).
After signing in and getting our numbers & wrist bands we had the usual pre-track briefing. The day was divided into three separate sessions; Lotus on Track had the first session with MGs on track taking the other two, ClubTriumph members mingled with the MGs. All sessions lasted 20 minutes and believe me, driving a circuit for 20 mins at a time is pretty knackering. I think it's more mentally tiring than physical.
The first session for everyone was to follow a pace car around the circuit for three laps at no more than 50 mph. The pace car would follow the racing line & the theory was that everyone would follow that line, but by the time it got towards the rear of the convoy...well lets say it's a bit like Chinese whispers. Anyway, that took up most of the first session but we did manage a couple of flying laps once the pace car pulled into the pits.
I found the circuit to be quite intimidating to start with as it’s quite wide & I felt a bit lost at times on that vast circuit of over 3 miles long. After the first proper session I was a bit disappointed as I felt, and probably was, all over the place, either braking too soon or too late & getting the race line completely wrong. But that was short lived. The next session I had learned by my mistakes & determined to get it right I was gradually carrying more speed through the twisties. What a contrast that session was to the previous & I got back to the garage with a big grin on my face. From then on it was pedal to the metal all the way, well quite a lot anyway. I did have a couple of moments; both at Vale. The first one I just out braked myself & had to run onto the grass, a bit bumpy but still, the second, after trying to keep up with the Herald estate that I’d let pass me a lap ago, I took the corner too fast & spun.
The best session was the last one. I lined up behind Jon Jackson (Sierra brake man) in his Sprint. It was brilliant, Jon was off like a bat out of hell & caught me napping but I soon caught up once he hit traffic. Then it was a case of scything through the slower cars (well actually, waiting ‘til they let us pass) MGFs, Midgets, even a Rover 75 V8 supercharged estate thingy (must admit, that V8 sounded awesome).
Ah! Well, back down to earth now, which reminds me, Life on Mars is just about to start.
_________________
Sprintless for the first time in 35+ years.
... Still Sprintless.
Engines, Gearboxes, Overdrives etc. rebuilt. PM me.
1997 TVR Chimaera 450
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, got any video footage?
