I fronted up to Zandvoort in The Netherlands to do a track day with RMA, a UK outfit with a good reputation. For some reason I ended up being the only TFL Racing supported car at this event. My car arrived in a small trailer towed by a trusty pick up driven by Dickon who was my support crew for the two days. Given what later emerged with the weather I think the others were more sensible in staying away. I was also joined by a family member.
The Zandvoort Circuit has a long history back to the 1930s, carved into the dunes behind the beaches facing the North Sea. Its not Florida but to Europeans, it is an exclusive seaside resort. It is the home of the Dutch Formula 1 Grand Prix although for how long is a major question.
The track of today was heavily modified 5 years ago to make it more suitable for Formula 1 safety needs. Despite this, the old character still shines through. This section below is still readily familiar when you drive it today.
The track is well suited for spectators with lots of dunes and mounds of sand to get great views of the cars on track as they weave and undulate through the sand dunes.
The week before I turned up I had to scramble for a garage as it had been forgotten originally booked plus the weather forecast was not looking great. Fortunately I secured one, right next to Mickey's Bar at the end of the pit complex.
Keen eyed observers will notice the yellow vinyl sticker with a black cross through it on the back of the car. This was the rookie sticker to alert cars coming up from behind that a newbie to the circuit was ahead. While I had been to Zandvoort before, I also had a family member with me driving my car who had not.
I stayed in central Amsterdam as the accommodation options were more plentiful plus many dining options for the evening - its only a 40 min car ride to the circuit. Zandvoort at this time of year is a ghost town and not a fun place to stay in off season.
The weather forecast was grim. Day 1 - intermittent showers with strong winds. Strong winds ended up being 45mph with with gusts up to 65mph - those gusts are technically hurricane strength. I was hoping that the dunes around the circuit would protect me.
A fair amount of standing water around the track was going to require some delicate driving given the conditions were marginal for the Toyo R888R tires - my wet intermediate choice. I do not have full race wets. The dry slick tires stayed in the trailer.
The cars at an RMA event are high end. A lot of Porsches. A good scattering of BMW M cars. There were a few of those space frame Beetle looking Fun Cup things. There were two other Caterhams - a 620R and a 420 race car. The 620R was only out there on day 1 as he only had Avon ZZR tires and given the condition sensibly stayed under cover on day 2. The 420 race car was running full race wets and so was making me insanely jealous by showing off how much grip he had all over the circuit.
On day 1 the track did dry out mostly. Turn 1 was marginal all day - I could not get the car to stop and used the run off at the end of the straight quite a few times to save myself. A combination of damp/wet track, cold temps, the light weight of a Caterham, just could not get the tread on a R888 to grip.
You can really see the sand dunes in the background looking towards the North Sea.
Turn 3 is a fascinating corner. A deep bowl, it has lots of G forces as you hammer through. You could dive deep down to the inner kerb but the faster line was to stay high and hold more momentum through the corner.
The old character still shines through. Look at the sequence of the next two photos - first from the 1950s and the next from this year. This was my favorite part of the circuit as you swoop through the undulations at high speed. However, it was a bit tricky for me. One time I was caught by a wind gust and found myself with opposite lock to stay on track.
Apologies for the sound but this short video below shows the sequence through turns 2 and 3 with turn 3 being the dished banked corner.
Naturally the way to recover after a track day is with some hydration to warm back up.
Day 2 was not good. Lots of rain - mostly torrential.
My approach was to use the dry window at the bbeginning of the day to get as much time in as I could. So I went out for an endurance stint as soon as the lights went green. Two hours later I came back in with the fuel tank on red. I always liked endurance racing when you just get into a mental zone of being super consistent and smooth on the car.
Below shows the car coming through the final banked corner onto main/pit straight.
The rooster tails of water show the level of standing water on track. It was a struggle to get the car to stop let alone grip in a corner or apply power without getting snap oversteer.
Headlights needed to be on. You really could not see cars coming up behind you in the spray unless their headlights were on.
This section of track saw me managed to do a 360 degree loop when I messed up a heel and toe downshift, but I still managed to keep momentum and drive off in second gear. The track photographer was right there but he said to me later he was so surprised he forgot to take any photos of my looping.
Lots of race cars were present using the days as testing for future race events. Being race cars they had full wets so were far more capable in the conditions than what I was able to achieve. Its still fine to drive but you have to adjust for the conditions. So I was a lot slower. My accompanying family member only went out once on day 2. He said he preferred his track days like his martinis - dry. He was mostly found keeping warm in Mickey's Bar!
Despite the weather, I have booked again for September 2026. This time I have booked a garage and will seriously consider better wet tires - likely a full race wets although maybe the neww Nova ZZS will be available by then.
Links
Zandvoort Circuit
https://www.circuitzandvoort.nl/en/
History of Zandvoort
https://www.circuitzandvoort.nl/en/history/
Zandvoort Track Narrative
https://www.circuitzandvoort.nl/en/corners/
TFL Racing
-
7
-
2
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.