Castle Combe track day

[Falkers]

Hi all,

I went to the CSMA Track Day at Castle Combe yesterday - the weather held off, and it was a bloomin' fantastic day. My mate has a few pics at his Fickr site. Official pics come out on Thursday, and I've grabbed a few myself that I'll add to my gallery tonight.

My mate and his brother brought along a Mazda MX5 1.8 each. Said mate's brother pushed a touch too hard and 180'd it . My mate pushed a touch too hard in other respects and took his pads down to the metal! (see Flickr pics link above)

Surprise of the day was that I only had to get out of the way for one car - an MG ZS 180. I had a passenger, he was alone, and I guess that makes it a close match - but his driving really made the difference.

The Evo was going great on the straights, but seemed really cautious before and during the bends - maybe a new owner and didn't want to push it too much. A couple of times I had to back off behind it at the end of the straights. He didn't pull over.

A Saab 2.0 turbo seemed a little tooooo quick...and later I saw him putting semi-slick Avons on the rear, so maybe it was tweaked under the bonnet too.

The Atom just kicked track-ass...it was the supercharged, 340bhp version.

All in all, taking the GTV on a track has made me fall in love with it further - people said it had the best sounding engine out there (I'd put the BMC CDA kit on a few days before). Staying between 4-7k revs throughout meant it was simply roaring all the way round...beautiful.

I was a touch wary of the chicanes, but it held its own. Definitely nose-heavy, but didn't wash out as I expected. The pics show this perfectly - compressed suspension on the outside, slight lean, but absolutely gripping and going forwards!

From the pics it looks like other cars on the same bend were leaning quite a bit more than the GTV (Evo, BMW 525, Porsche). Didn't expect that!

It didn't miss a beat, and the only thing that didn't shine were the brakes - by the end of 5 sessions (about 25-30 laps) they were spongy and the ABS was kicking in. Once they'd cooled they were fine, so I'm guessing hot brake hoses were the culprit.

I'm still smiling....

[v6 animal]

cool sounds good what did it cost i would love to have a go at that in my car

[Hamster]

Sounds like you had a great time, Darren156 will be interested in this

[Falkers]

Originally Posted by v6 animal

cool sounds good what did it cost i would love to have a go at that in my car

The day itself was £100, I paid £60 for trackday insurance (but with a £500 excess, unless you've got trackday cover on your own insurance, this is something to take or leave). Got through about £30 of fuel too.

People talk about budgeting for brakes and tyres, but if you only do a trackday once every 6 months or so, it's not a biggie.

Originally Posted by Hammy156

Sounds like you had a great time, Darren156 will be interested in this

A fantastic time - I can't say how much it helped me get to know the car, and she put on a top show!

Looking forward to my next track sesh already...but unfortunately I can't make the SW/Wales one.