Croc

Caterham Track Day at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit Continuing on my bucket list journey to try all the tasty great race tracks in UK and Europe, I was at Brands Hatch this week with a Caterham from my friends at BookaTrack UK. It has a great history, holding the British GP between 1964 and 1986. I was running the shorter Indy Circuit given it was mid-week and noise restrictions are a major hassle at this circuit now. So the GP circuit was off-limits. I was not concerned as this is a brilliant little circuit – flows beautifully with great elevation change. It is probably the best circuit designed for a Caterham that I have ever been on. The photos do not really show the elevation. Below is in the foreground the turn into Paddock bend, then into the dip and up the hill to the 180 degree Druids corner Then it is down the hill into Graham Hill bend Before sweeping left into Cooper Straight and left into Surtees Then sweep right into McLaren where you brake before setting the car up for the sweeping right Clearways (around where the vacuum truck in the below photo). Clearways is the critical corner as the earlier you are on the power gives you the best run long the “straight”. I had the Caterham 310R. I had driven this at Silverstone and Donington this year. It has the 1.6L Ford Sigma engine – so around 150hp. Black pack. Aeroscreen. 13” Apollo wheels with Avon ZZRs. Great little package. Works well at all but power circuits. Brands Hatch was nippy. Morning was 35 degrees F when I arrived and frost everywhere. Needless to say that is tricky for Caterhams. And so it showed by one Caterham spearing off on Graham Hill bend on the sighting laps. Even I found the car pushing at 35mph in that bend. Another Caterham triggered the red flag on lap 1 by nosing into the tire wall because it understeered off on the frost. On the restart, technically lap 2, the silver Caterham in the photo above (same one I had at Sp-Francorchamps in March 2018) lost it out of Clearways by excess throttle and spun along pit wall denting every corner - luckily pretty much cosmetic. So up to 11am I tiptoed around the wet patches, letting all the heavy cars past - Ginettas, Ford Focus (Foci?), etc. - as their weight gives a more consistent contact patch cutting through the surface frost/damp. But after 11am there was enough warmth and grip for the equation to reverse and the Caterhams to once again be ascendant. Temps topped out at around 50 degF. The nice thing about the track is that you did not need a high hp car to be quick. Its tight layout compressed the hp differential between cars. There are no stop start types of corners and so the flow helps the lower hp cars while being tight enough to restrict the high hp cars. Now if you opened up to the GP layout then that long straight turns into a high hp track. But I was very happy on the short Indy circuit. The only other circuit that I can think has this characteristic is Cadwell Park. Even Oulton Park has too many straights. Noise at the circuit for the day was 98db. It was tested in the pits before joining the circuit (static test 98db at 4000rpm) plus a drive by limit on the circuit at 98db. You got one warning for noise and then you were expected to fix it. Second time you were booted from the circuit. So how was the driving? Brilliant. Perfect for a seven. It’s a 3rd and 4th gear only circuit although you could go down to 2nd for Druids for a marginal benefit if you needed a little extra time. For video we have two options: 360degree video (with lots of wind noise) is linked below. You can click and drag the video around to look forward, behind or sideways. For the conventional look forward camera with some engine sounds, this is below: Despite Brands Hatch being likely to be my most epically expensive track day ever (as I bought a Caterham to keep in the UK - oops!), I am committing to going back to Spa-Francorchamps next March. Should be fun.

In the latest installment of me exploring different circuits in a Caterham, last week saw me in France for track days at Magny-Cours and Dijon-Prenois in a Caterham R300 with Bookatrack. I try to do a few of these events each year to sample different circuits. While Magny-Cours was a bonus, I really wanted to try out Dijon given its history. The rental Caterham is similar to the one I have used in the past – R300 race car. Full cage, no road gear, standard 2L Duratec with 6 speed gearbox and CR500 tires. There is a fine process for damage – over revs $100 per 100rpm over 6800rpm, fine for putting it in gravel and of course find the wall you are repairing it. Other than that it is fully maintained and supplied with fuel. The car had 291 track miles on the engine before I got my hands on it and the gearbox was showing signs of needing a rebuild as it was baulking into 3rd which is the classic early warning for the synchros on a Caterham 6 speed box. Its perfect for exploring these tracks in a fun way. Magny Cours Located in central France in the Burgundy wine district roughly 160 miles from Paris. To me it’s the type of circuit which has had its original essence tinkered with to manage Formula 1 races to avoid them being boring and as a result they became boring. The map bears that out as it feels like a sprint between a series of tight hairpins. One thing is clear, make a mistake and you will be getting towed out of a gravel pit! For all that it was a good fun circuit to play on for a day. Some photos: At Adelaide hairpin: Weaving through Nurburgring chicane: Turning into Chateau d'eau Some track video to give you an idea of the circuit Dijon-Prenois This is what I really came for. After we had finished the day at Magny-Cours most people had to drive the 3 hours cross-country through rural France to Dijon for the night. So began an entertaining drive along some scenic country roads avoiding cows, deer, tractors, 2CVs and generally anything that was hostile to me driving a German-plated rental car. Of course the Swiss GP was held there as the Swiss Government banned all motor racing in the wake of the 1955 Le Mans tragedy. The map really does not covey the terrain changes here – some of the most extreme I have experienced after Spa-Francorchamps and Mt Panorama. The track sets up some significant G forces as you weave your way around it. It is also one track where it seems like every corner wants to trick you in to turning in early – late turn in is required on nearly every corner. Why did I want to experience Dijon circuit? Well it was because of this race back in 1979: Probably one of the most incredible finishes with the scrap for 2nd place by Giles Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux. The track flows well, it responded well to using just 4th and 5th gears and it encourages bravery in order to be fast. I was conscious that bravery would mean that if you goofed then you would find the gravel pits very quickly. One surprise was the surface when it got wet – a brief shower was all it took for the surface to suddenly have no grip. The transition point of grip was extremely sudden – one corner you would be good but by the next you would be screwed. Some photos: In the Parabolique: Exiting the Parabolique: Just before the Parabolique: Some track video to give you a taste of the circuit. Like all videos it really does not show the level of vertical terrain change although it does show how I am being thrown around from the cornering forces. So was it worth it? You bet! Dijon is one of those little gems of a circuit which just suits a seven so well. After lunch I had one session where I did 40 laps in a row just hammering happily around the circuit. I would go back in an instant. Next up is Spain in September to visit Barcelona and Valencia circuits.

Back in March this year I made an attempt to run two consecutive days on track at Spa-Francorchamps in a BookaTrack rented Caterham and it did not work out so well as it snowed on the first day and it became an exercise in survival and bring the car home alive. For the second day there were a few more inches of snow that I would have needed an SUV to go around the circuit. Still, I saw enough of the circuit to understand that it is a special place and worthy of going all out for another try. So last Monday and Tuesday I went back – again with BookaTrack in trusty BAT10, a Caterham R300 race car that I have rented several times before. Before I turned up at the circuit, I arrived the day before early to allow me to explore the Spa Circuit museum in the Stavelot Abbey, located in a little village about 6 miles from the circuit. While not large, it has a great collection of cars and some very interesting videos of old races. The track day was being run by BookaTrack. I am firmly of the belief that they run the best track days in the UK and Europe. Great team of friendly people, headed up by Jonny Leroux who gives the best driver briefings of any track day I have ever been on – serious, strict but with a healthy dose of humor to keep you focused. It was an open pit lane format with rules are similar to US track days except (a) passing only on left on straights (b) no point by given the speed differentials between slowest to fastest cars. The Belgians do use a white flag on their circuit. I thought this was reference to them surrendering but it means there is a track vehicle on course picking up debris or giving a flat tow to some disabled car. They do this to avoid shutting down the track which takes a long time given it is 4 miles long. My faith was confirmed – it was an epic two days. The weather was warm and perfect. The track was in in top shape. It was not very crowded so quality track time. Well behaved participants – no troubles getting past other cars. Casualty rate was low – only 1 incident. My car was perfect. My car was again BAT 10 – Caterham R300 with a 180hp 2L Duratec, 6 speed box, running 13 inch wheels with CR500s, full cage, no frills. It has the 3.62 diff ratio so in theory should gear out at 120-122mph area in 6th gear at 7000rpm. Track map: I said it once before in an earlier post and I will say it again – the circuit is simply one of the top 3 circuits in the world. I much prefer it over Nurburgring as Spa is a more fun drive and still a great driving challenge. To me the sense of history contributes so much to understanding just a fraction what the top F1 pilots of the 60s and 70s went through. The elevation changes contribute so much the character. The only other circuit which comes close in this respect is Mt Panorama Bathurst Australia which also makes my top 3 circuits to drive. Yet I think I prefer Spa as Bathurst can be a little too dangerous with is blind corners and places too much demand on power which a relatively low powered car like a Caterham cannot meet. Spa’s design rewards the momentum driving style that a Caterham can produce. At my lap times I was averaging 90mph per lap (3mins for 4.5m) – no wonder I spent most of my time looking for 7th gear on the long straights (the video shows me doing this all the time). While the Caterham may not have the top end speed of the Porsches, Beemers and the like, I would kill under braking and would maintain a higher average speed through the corners. For a power circuit like Spa the seven does not give anything away. For example there was a Ferrari 430 running around – I hounded him for 3 laps – he would get away on the straights but I would kill him on the corners and curvy bits. Eventually he let me past with a cloud of brake dust. Same for the McLaren and Aston Martins and most of the other road going exotica. For its cost a Seven cannot be beaten in the value performance stakes. The Caterham could pound its way around for 30-40-50 minutes doing consistent lap times and was probably faster, and easier to drive over the time than much of the high powered cars. We were based in the Endurance Pits this time instead of the Formula 1 Pits. While more crowded it does have the advantage of more character and you can hang on the pit wall watching the cars barrel past into Eau Rouge and up the hill. There was a very interesting range of cars on display. Low end 125hp Caterhams, to Lotus Eliges and Ginettas, to higher end Porsche 911 derivatives, BMW M3s and then full on race cars like Radicals, Junos and the like. There was a Lola T70 (best sounding car) and a Porsche 962. Tuesday saw a group 4 (I think) De Tomaso Pantera. The Jagermeister Porsche 962 caused me to ruin my underwear in more ways than one: That was one way. The other way was on Kemmel Straight, rocking along at all of 115mph at 6800rpm in 6th gear, the Porsche blasted past me at something like 200mph. Being a competitive chap and I had carefully listened to a few knowledgeable people in the pits about the benefits of slipstreaming aero cars, I decided to grab a tow by jumping in behind it. Instantly I was sucked hard and was at 7800rpm and through the rev limiter past the red line before I could blink. The BAT mechanics slapped me silly later and said “don’t do it again” otherwise you will be fined. I had no idea of the aero vacuum that sits behind a group C sports car…wow! After my March trip, I had a decent idea of where the circuit went and so I just headed on out and promptly looped it at the La Source corner on the first lap…oops! After a few laps I found my feet and just started pounding around to explore the limits carefully. I had two sessions of instruction included in the car rental with Scott Mansell, a very accomplished race champion. I am amazed how much I get out of top tier pro drivers when they provide instruction. It may cost a lot but the quality of input is superb. He gave me some quality suggestions on day 1 and by day 2 after some work at them the results were evident and I felt much happier in the way I was driving the circuit. Some photos to look at – all of these great photos are courtesy of the BAT photographers (who make me better than I really am!). Here I am exiting Eau Rouge and making the climb up to Radillon. This is the classic scene of Spa with the Endurance pits in the background. Here is the car hopping the curb at Radillon apex. The pit exit is the lane in the background. After Radillon you have the gently uphill Kemmel Straight. With a good run out of Radillon I was easily sitting on 6800rpm in top gear (say 115-118mph) well before the braking zone. I usually kept it at 6800rpm since it did not take much to hit the rev limiter at 7000rpm. After Kemmel Straight it is a sharp deceleration in speed for Les Combes, a nicely paced esses series. At this point you are at the maximum altitude of the circuit where you start the downhill run back to the pits. An illustration of the drop is the next photo of me going through the left hander after Rivage – less than a mile beyond Les Combes but a lot lower - photo was taken up near Kemmel Straight. At this point you start picking up real speed, winding your way down before reaching the high speed Blanchimont area. This culminates in the Bus Stop – a very slow esses complex just before the main straight and the F1 pits. After the F1 pits you have the very sharp right hander called La Source. For some reason lots of cars get out of shape on this corner? The bad (missed the apex by 12 feet, opposite lock is on and the damn photographer found me!) The Good Here video of the first session Tuesday when I managed to get the logger to work (its in 1080 60fps – select the cog wheel to get higher res). The GPS signals were erratic due to the terrain and trees so there is jumpiness to the speeds and map from time to time. At 12m20 you start to see a black Caterham in the rear camera and then the front camera hanging the tail out. When you are Jonny and run BaT you can have a bit of fun from time to time. His car control is immense and you will hear me laughing aloud as he hams it up on track. Brilliant stuff! He does also hold the outright Caterham race lap record around Spa at 2m45.46 in a Caterham R300 so he is one guy I want to follow on track to learn. By contrast I only got to a best lap time of 2m57 in my last session (with no traffic) – just need to find another 12 seconds! The second video screwed up the video sound but was my last session. You can see me halfway through finally summon the courage/skill to take Blanchimont corner flat out without lifting at 105-110mph (F1 cars do it at 200mph!). I had such a blast I am trying to work out when I can get back to do it all again! Forget your retirement savings, college funds, dresses and jewelry for the other half, come on out and live. Life is too short to miss experiences like this.

Track day at Spa-Francorchamps Circuit in Belgium In the latest installment of great circuits of the world in a seven, on March 23/24, 2013 I made the trek to the Spa to have a weekend in a Caterham R300 rented from Bookatrack. I have rented this car a few times before having run it at Oulton Park and Silverstone previously. For those who do not know, Spa-Francorchamps has a long and distinguished history in motor racing. Currently the track is the home of the Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix plus the Spa 24 hours and Spa 1000km Endurance Race. Circuit History (from Wikipedia) “Designed in 1920 by Jules de Their and Henri Langlois Van Ophem, the original triangle-shaped course used public roads between the Belgian towns of Spa, Malmedy, and Stavelot. The track was intended to have hosted its inaugural race in August 1921, however this event had to be cancelled as there was only one entrant. The first car race was held at the circuit in 1922, and two years later saw the first running of the now famous 24 Hours of Francorchamps race. The circuit was first used for Grand Prix racing in 1925. The old Spa circuit was essentially a speed course with drivers managing much higher average speeds than on other race tracks, a factor that made Spa very popular from its inception. Back then, the Belgians took pride in having a very fast circuit, and to improve average speeds, the former slow uphill U-turn at the bottom of the Eau Rouge creek valley, called the Ancienne Douane, was cut short with a faster sweep straight up the hill, called the Raidillon. Until 2000, it was possible to travel over the racetrack when it was still a public road. At Eau Rouge, southbound traffic was allowed to use the famous uphill corner, while the opposite downhill traffic had to use the old road and U-turn behind the grand stands, rejoining the racetrack at the bottom of Eau Rouge. The old racetrack continued through the now-straightened Kemmel curves to the highest part of the track, then went downhill into Les Combes, a fast, slightly banked downhill left-hander towards Burnenville, passing this village in a fast right hand sweep. Near Malmedy, the Masta straight began, which was only interrupted by the fast Masta Kink between farmhouses before arriving at the town of Stavelot. Then the track blasted through an uphill straight section with a few kinks called La Carriere, going through 2 ultra-fast turns (an unnamed right-hand turn and then Blanchimont) before braking very hard for the La Source hairpin, and that rejoined the downhill start finish section as opposed to today where the start-finish section is before La Source. Spa is located in the Belgian Ardennes countryside, and the old circuit was (and still is) used as everyday public road, and there were houses, trees, electric poles, barnyards, fields and other obstacles located right next to the track. Before 1970, there were no safety modifications of any kind done to the circuit and the conditions of the circuit were, aside from a few straw bales, virtually identical to everyday civilian use. Former Formula One racing driver and team owner Jackie Oliver was quoted as saying "if you went off the road, you didn't know what you were going to hit". Like the Nürburgring and Le Mans circuits, Spa became notorious for fatal accidents, as there were many deaths each year at the ultra-fast track, especially at the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix where 2 drivers, Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey were both killed within 15 minutes (although Stacey's accident was caused by a bird hitting him in the face) and Stirling Moss had crashed at Burnenville during practice and was severely injured. When Armco crash barriers were added to the track in 1970, deaths became less frequent there but the track was still notorious for other factors. The Ardennes Forest had very unpredictable weather and there were parts where it was raining and the track was wet, and other parts where the sun was shining and the track was completely dry. This factor was a commonality on long circuits, but the weather at Spa was always more unpredictable than other long circuits, combined with the fact that it was an ultra-high speed track with all but 1 corner (La Source) being extremely high speed made it one of, if not the most dangerous race track in the world. Multiple fatalities during the 1973 and 1975 24 Hours of Spa touring car races more or less sealed the old circuit's fate, and by 1978, the last year Spa was in its original form, the only major races held there were the Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix and the Spa 24 Hours touring car race; the 1000 km World Sportscar Championship race no longer took place after 1975 and did not come back until 1982.” “In 1969, the Belgian Grand Prix was boycotted by F1 because of the extreme danger of Spa. There had been 10 racing fatalities in total at the track in the 1960s, including 5 in the 2 years previous. The drivers demanded changes made to Spa, which were not possible on short notice, so the Belgian Grand Prix was dropped that year. Armco was added to the track and sections of it were improved (especially the Stavelot and Holowell sections), just like Armco had been added for the 1969 Le Mans race. One last race there the following year on the improved track was still not satisfactory enough (even after a temporary chicane was added at Malmedy just for that race) for the drivers in terms of safety, and even with the chicane, the drivers averaged 150+ mph (240 km/h) during the race. For the 1971 race, the track owners and authorities had not brought the track up to date with mandatory safety measures, and the race was cancelled. Formula One would not return to Spa until 1983 on the modern track. Over the years, the Spa course has been modified several times. The track was originally 15 kilometers (9 mi) long, but after World War II, the track had some changes. In 1930 the chicane at Malmedy was eliminated and bypassed, making the course even faster, but the chicane was re-installed in 1935, albeit slightly different. In 1939, "Virage de Ancienne Douane" was eliminated and cut short, thus giving birth to the Eau Rouge/Raidillon uphill sweeping corner. In 1947, the chicane at Malmedy was again eliminated and bypassed, and was made part of the Masta Straight. The slight right-hander that was originally Holowell (the corner before Stavelot after the second Masta Straight) was eliminated. And finally, instead of going through a slight left-hander that went into the town of Stavelot and a sharp right-hander at a road junction in Stavelot, a shortcut was built that became a very fast, very wide right-handed turn that bypassed Stavelot. All these changes made the final configuration of the old Spa circuit 14 km (9 mi) long. All these changes made Spa the fastest open road circuit in the world, and in the final years of the old circuit, drivers could average 150 mph (241 km/h) on the circuit. The biggest change, however, saw the circuit being shortened from 14 km (9 mi) to 7 km (4 mi) in 1979. The start/finish line, which was originally on the downhill straight before Eau Rouge, was moved to the straight before the La Source hairpin in 1981. Like its predecessor the new layout still is a fast and hilly route through the Ardennes where speeds in excess of 330 km/h (205 mph) [Croc edit – not in a Seven!] can be reached. Since inception, the place has been famous for its unpredictable weather. Frequently drivers are confronted with one part of the course being clear and bright while another stretch is rainy and slippery. The circuit probably demonstrates the importance of driver skill more than any other in the world. This is largely due to the Eau Rouge and Blanchimont corners, both which need to be taken flat out to achieve a fast run onto the straights after them, which aids a driver in both a fast lap and in overtaking.” Circuit Map This map does not give justice to the elevation change from the heights of the circuit just after Les Combes from which it is a rapid downhill to Campus (aka Stavelot) and then the level run along the valley through Blanchimont and Pit Straight before rounding La Source and heading steeply downhill again to Eau Rouge and then the steep steep climb up top Raidillon and then the Kemmel Straight. Travel to Spa So I fly out from Newark on Thursday night to Brussels for arrival at 7am on Friday. I pick up my trusty rental car from Uranus Hertz (actually not that company but the cost felt that way!), and proceed to head to the exit of the garage. Inching out into a one-way street that was blind from the right where the cars should have been approaching from, I was promptly run over by some dump truck heading up the one-way street the wrong way. Sigh. Luckily the rental car company was watching since I only just left the booth and so after 1.5 hours of waiting to give the police a report and for no cost to me, I was given a nice new diesel Ford minivan to carry on my way. A little over 1.5 hours smooth drive later I was at Hotel La Source. This is a nice new facility located just off the La Source hairpin. During the F1 Grand Prix rooms go for 1000 Euros a night…ouch! Saturday So the day dawns overcast with threatening skies – snow flurries were forecast. The temperature is cold (20sF) – rather daunting given that I am a virgin on Spa. So I rock up to the pits to sign on, get my wristbands and check out my car. It is a Caterham SV R300 spec with the Duratec 2L putting out about 180hp with the Caterham 6 speed gearbox. It runs on 13 inch wheels with Avon CR500s. It is pretty simple – no speedo, the Stack dash is erratic in its warnings, no headlights or indicators or brake lights. As I complete my scan of the car I notice…the car has an S3 chassis sized Tillet. Given my built-for-comfort-not-speed-sized dimensions this is a problem. The car is normally spec’d in advance with a Tillet B2 race shell which is larger for the dimensions of the SV chassis. Oh well… so we borrow some foam from the truck and some duct tape and before you know it I have a nicely comfortable and functional seat. Bookatrack are in my opinion one of the best track day operators I have ever run with. For Spa it was open pit lane format, passing only on the left (car being passed on the right), and normally with a point by. For Spa given the speed differentials are so great the point by requirement was waived as on Kemmel Straight the Caterham can only pull about 125-130mph (on a good day) whereas some of the cars there (Ferrari F40, Porsche, etc.) could pull close to 200mph. Vigilance was key for the day. Jonny LeRoux has the best driver briefings that I have ever listened to – thorough, comprehensive, and leavened with a healthy dose of humor. Really well done. So we leave the briefing room and discover….uh oh….its snowing. Never mind, it is time for sighting laps. This is something I have experienced outside the US but never within the US. It is a series of 2-3 laps behind a pace car in any vehicle that is mobile. So I grabbed my trusty Uranus Hertz rental minivan and helmet and went out for some sighting laps: You know something is wrong when a diesel front wheel drive car is getting huge amounts of oversteer…hmmm. So then they let us out on track in the snow initially following a pace car with no passing and then after 2 laps the pace car came in and we were live. Here were the pits as I set out: and Kemmel Straight: Then it was time to saddle up and see what mischief I could get up to. I sort of knew I was in deep s*&^ over my head when the nice lady controlling our exit onto the track stopped and said “be careful where you see the yellow flags or yellow lights as that is where the ice is on track.” Oh F!@#!!!!!: In short it was diabolical. The lightweight of a seven just cannot cut through a wet track let alone an icy track to get any grip. Cat on a wet tile floor is the analogy that comes to mind – paws everywhere trying to get control. There was black ice just after the apex on Eau Rouge, ice on the second part of Les Combes, ice on all the apexes and curbing. Opposite lock was standard steering in Les Combes, La Source, Bus Stop, Fagnes, and Campus/Stavelot corners. La Source was interesting as there was a nice little stream running from left to right down to the apex. So you turn into the corner, aquaplane understeer and then the fronts grip again which suddenly kicks the tail out into oversteer. I don’t think I have ever driven in a more treacherous condition on a track. My strategy was to stay in one piece for the day as I had a second day to look forward to. Also I applied the usual wet weather trick of looking for grip off the racing line, which did work in a few of the corners, but I was painfully slow. By contrast everyone else in a heavy car such as Porsche, BMW, Ginetta, etc. was flying past me. Before I could decide to come in and reassess the state of my underwear, the decision was made for me – a Bookatrack seven found the wall before Campus, which mangled the radiator and ripped the steering race mounts off. Red flag to stop the session. Then it was back out for 2 laps before contestant number 2 in a Bookatrack rental seven miscued Eau Rouge and backed it into the wall at the top of the hill – fuel tank holed and its mountings ripped off. Red flag for that one. I checked the state of my car – the ice build up was a problem…hmmmm: So I decided a tea break was in order. Bookatrack were stars for laying out hot tea, hot soups, and biscuits to warm up. In the pits I found Mav and Paul – from the Lotus 7 Club. Mav had brought his Caterham SV Sigma across from the UK for the two days. The three of us mugging for the camera. The break was still interesting – there are some very interesting cars to check out: I did like how the owner of this Swiss Aston Martin kept a steering wheel cover over his wheel to protect it while he slipped and slid his way around the circuit dirtying the exterior of the car: The star cars were one owner who brought a Ferrari F40 and a Ferrari 275 GTB. I so want one (or both): Someone took a video of the two Ferraris on track: I had the privilege of following the 275GTB on track and it was handling the conditions very well – much better than my seven! So it was back out again to keep learning the circuit. The weather was not really any better but it was still a fantastic driving challenge. It was not long before another Caterham found the wall after Blanchimont, rotating the rear and going into the left hand wall sideways at what would have been a fairly high speed. The impact was hard enough to bend the deDion tube and punch the suspension up through the rear wing: One thing to note about the damage, there is a sizable deductible on the rental Caterhams. So if you crash them you pay for the repairs – parts and labor. Encourages a bit of common sense while driving. There were a couple of hot shot pros in Caterham R500s circulating. They were much faster than me but also they all either went off or spun in front of me at least once during the day….somewhat reassuring that they were finding it challenging conditions. Before the day was out the driver of a formerly-nice looking Mercedes CLS63 AMG coupe decided to redecorate every panel just after La Source corner. He was warned for bad driving earlier and the day was the type of day which did not suffer fools or bad driving. I was told a BMW also kissed a wall and was towed off but I did not see it. So with all that here is the short video to give you an idea of what it was like. First part is the snow, second part is the slidey moments and the third part is one full lap to give you a flavor of the place. It looks slow because it was! I screwed up the sound (yet again) so music for parts of the video to cover up blank space (I hope you like Frankie!). Sunday So I look out the hotel window next morning and SNOW! About 4 inches overnight. So I delay a little and then get in the car to head to the circuit. At the Ster Tunnel under the track I find a 4 car pile up in the tunnel. Ice on the ramps down and up had led to a nice old mess. So I figure on taking the old former circuit road around to the Blanchimont tunnel. It should take 10 minutes – 1 hour later I turn off the main road onto the access road. It was carnage – one van with race car on trailer in a ditch, BMW 3 series into a snow embankment, 3 Porsche 911’s bogged to the belly pan spinning their nice wide slick wheels futilely in the snow, a Lotus Elise scrabbling for grip and then an Aston Martin convertible deciding discretion was the better part of valor by not driving down into the tunnel – the only wise man. Inside the circuit it was nicely icy. So icy that I could not drive up the ramps to the pits where my gear was so after a few stupid attempts I stop at the base and walk up. This is what the track looked like: Definitely no driving and I was given back my money for the day – although I am rebooking for later in the year. I am hooked. I have tasted enough of the Spa circuit to know why it is one of the great tracks of the world and know I want another go at it. Just need to find the time to escape work. If I cannot make the Spa dates work in November then I will spend June at possibly Donnington or Anglesey for a weekend. Bookatrack have plenty of R300s for rent. Who wants to come with me?

Continuing with my habit of doing one to two UK track days each year, it was the turn of Oulton Park, in Cheshire UK to receive a visit from me. This circuit has a famed and somewhat fearsome reputation in the UK. Host to British Touring Car Championship race, British Superbikes, and the Gold Cup, famously won by Sir Sterling Moss 5 times in the 1950s and 60s. Why does it have this reputation? A track map really does not do the place justice. The track consists of a series of natural undulations and blind crests that flow from working the circuit into the topography. There is a lot of elevation change, steep climbs and drops, compressions, and crests. Making it very difficult is the inconsistent surface grip – some areas are shaded, damp and have wet leaves, painted grid markings and kerbs can be diabolical for grip – so it is difficult to gauge speed. It is a very fast circuit, beautifully designed for a Seven as the car is agile for sudden direction changes and with a relatively soft suspension is able to cope better with the bumps than a heavier car that can struggle to put the power down. It is an incredibly challenging circuit for an old fat race hacker to be launching onto. Oh and should I mention that there is not much run off ….so any off track excursion is going to involve the sound of crash, crump, wallop, swearing and the rustling of a LOT of pound notes being sucked out of your wallet/bank account. As usual I rented an Caterham Seven R300 SV race car from Jonny Leroux at BookaTrack. 2L Duratec powered with about 180hp, lightened flywheel, 6 speed box, full cage, upgraded 4 pot brakes, and CR500 tires. The race car deletes most options – handbrake, headlights, indicators, brake lights with just a steering wheel and a Stack display. The cars lead a hard life given the hackers who rent them but are very well maintained. If something breaks during the day then there are mechanics on hand to swarm all over the car to fix it quickly to get you back out there. If worst happens and an engine blows then (provided you did not over-rev it) there is a spare to get you back out on the track. I think it is testament to the maintenance and the design of the Duratec that the engines average 250 hours full on track running before they break. I suspect the K series would have been through 4 head gaskets by then. So the day starts off with sorting out your car in the pits: Then it is time for the drivers briefing which I have to say was one of the best ever I have experienced for a track day. Concise, focused, all lifted just enough with a hearty dose of English humor. Fortunately, they had sighting laps before the session opened up. I managed to get in one lap to begin to see where the corners went. This quaint tradition does not seem to happen in the US but you do see some rather remarkable vehicles lurching around the circuit. The look on this van guy’s face is intriguing: The crowd at a Bookatrack event is really very similar to US trackdays – the average guy with his car ready for a bit of a spin. There are a lot more sevens than we see in the US and far less Corvettes (no shit Sherlock!), a lot less Porsche (only 2 or 3), a couple of Beemers, a Ferrari 360, a lovely Ginetta G60, and one or two Lotus Elises. Oh and they had 2 Radicals to blast the field. There were a couple of small commuter hatchback cars buzzing around – cheap track thrills and why not. BookaTrack does not crowd its track days – 55 people registered some sharing cars with a max 25 cars on circuit at once. I rarely got held up – worst case took me 1/3rd of the circuit to get past. Passing was done always on the left with point by and no corner passing, although the natural undulations and weaves of the circuit did confuse me as to what actually a “straight” was on the circuit! Quality of driving was excellent except for 1 or 2 cars in a Corporate Experience day. You know the type – you get 3 laps driving a race car for the first time on a circuit for the first time, all the time being dive bombed by other top notch drivers. And to think I was apprehensive! Fortunately, all drivers were courteous, passes acknowledged with a wave and no impatience. I have done a lot of track days and this was as good as it can get for the average non-pro driver like me. Format for the day is open pit lane. So you have 9.30-12.30, lunch 12.30 to 1.30, then back running again 1.30 to 5pm. I probably did 3-3.5 hours in the day and I was worn out by the end of the day – I think the car was in better condition! Luckily, I had a friend at the track. Martin (or Mav on Blatchat) is local to the circuit and brought his Roadsport SV for some fun. Now Martin KNOWS how to be prepared for a track day – a BBQ grill, gas stove, electric fridge, tea kettle, coffee maker, lots of cake, marinated chicken, burgers, sugar fixes, drinks, etc. He also managed to bring the usual complement of track day tools. Actually, it may not be Martin’s preparation as Viv (Mrs Mav) also was there and I have a sneaking suspicion she might just be responsible for Martin’s outstanding success. Here is Martin in gourmet cook mode in his pit garage: Martin’s Caterham also looks the part: Martin was kind enough to let me follow in the first “session” foray on to track. This is one place where placing the car on track is an art because of the bumps. It feels a very fast circuit because it is a slightly narrower tarmac plus the car is constantly being thrown around. However, from logging speeds, it is not as I thought! Being responsible and restrained, I satisfied myself with learning the circuit in my usual way – stick it in one gear (5th in this case) and focus on learning lines and braking points. So some pit photos: Some track photos now. Just starting to turn into Lodge Corner: Coming out of Lodge: Looks like it is in Cascades? Coming down Dentons just before Cascades corner: Later on, Martin found me on the track once I had learned the basics and we had a more spirited session. For a 140hp engine, Martin showed how good a Caterham can really be around this track. Now one of the exciting pieces of machinery on the track was an Aston DBR1 run by a gentleman who had his son out in an Ariel Atom. I suspect it probably was not original as I think these go for $10m or something equally ridiculous plus it looked too fresh for a car that should have a touch of patina. I had the good luck to range up behind it on track and I slowed down long enough to follow. The owner later said to me it had no grip. Well that was obvious to me as it was all angles going through corners – understeer, oversteer, understeer, oversteer, back and forth working the wheel in one corner, as he piloted it nicely through the corner. Just incredible car control. I had the good fortune to run into a gentleman testing out VBox Lite equipment on a Caterham in a track environment with a view to renting at future track days. So my car was festooned with cameras and logging equipment from his kit and my usual Gopros/Racechrono logger. Given the hassle of lugging all my kit over to the UK, I think I would just rent it from him next time – much smarter. There was a few technical issues – the circuit was so bumpy it threw the camera aim off. The driver face camera became “Groin Cam” at one point not that there was much too look at given my distraction elsewhere! Then again, had it happened while I was following the Aston Martin.... Another coming over the rise exiting Lodge corner: Now at the end of every track day we all pack up and go home. How about this for a trailer unit for the Aston Martin DBR1 and the Atom? Here is some video of the day. First is one of me following Martin (Lotus 7 Club member "Mav" on Blatchat). It gives you a good idea of the layout, elevation changes and above all, how impressive Mav is at pedalling a 140hp Caterham SV around the circuit loaded with him and Mrs Mav. This is not a video for anyone who expects me to be on the ragged edge doing a qualifying lap (after all I want Bookatrack to have me back!). The second short video comes from when my rent a seven was turned into a test bed for a vbox hire business being started this month. Colin at Video & Data Capture was a top guy to meet and I learned a lot about the finer points of data logging and got some excellent ideas. I really hope his business takes off. Anyway, here I am following an Aston Martin DBR1 (a very authentic and expensive replica) being enthusiastically pedaled. The owner said there was no grip - pretty obvious from some of the steering angles witnessed.

Last Saturday I was at the Newark Kit Car Show in Nottinghamshire in the UK while here on a work trip. Great show – more interesting than the Carlisle PA show each May and a lot more sevens of differing marques than we normally get in the US. I stopped by the Lotus Seven Club to check out the cars. Not many there, probably due to my timing and the unfortunate weather. A nicely cared for classic seven with lovely patina – good to see the owner enjoys it. This was a good looking car. I liked the red half hood touch. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to chat to any of the owners as they were trying to escape to beat the rain. Here is the Tiger seven Club. I don’t think these come to the US but they looked well put together: Next stand down was the MK Indy group. These are imported via a Florida dealer – I think there was some interest lately. The yellow one had a Honda bike engine installed. The cars on display clearly had a lot of attention from their owners during construction. I thought they looked good. Westfield made an appearance. I was a little disappointed by the sparseness of participation – they looked a little forlorn in the field by themselves with their friends: While not a seven, it was still a Westfield – XTR. I found this example to be a really nice looking car with the Martini livery. The largest kit car group was the Robin Hood Seven contingent - now known as Great Britain Sportscars (GBS). Probably around 50 cars, they exhibited the good and bad influences of their owners: I found this interesting with the 2.8L V6. I think this was the Ford Cologne motor that was used for a time in the Ford Taurus? Not sure if it was a good engine for a seven as it was very heavy and made no power despite its size. I liked the opening bonnet on this one. Now this show was not just about sevens. It also included a vast collection of Toyotas….err….Ferraris…..errr? They did have a gorgeous replica Ferrari P4 which I would have bought if it were for sale (I did ask!). There was also replica Ferrari 250 LWB Le Mans. The 250 replica was for sale at GBP 28,500 – lovely workmanship and a credit to the owner. Time to shift from club stands to new manufactuers of kit cars and replicas. Somewhat predictable mix of seven options, Atom replicas and other tasty options. A new Miata based coupe costing GBP4500 for a bolt on body kit using the existing miata floor pan. Some styling elements look very much like Lotus…a little too close possibly? A Sonic 7 – not as good in person as it looks in pictures Usual bunch of so-so Atom replicas: Cobra replica: MNR is another seven manufacturer which does not get much air time in the US. This is their version of the seven with the body kit on: However, I found the bare chassis to be more interesting as a design. A nice looking Stratos kit. While Caterham was not present with a display, Westfield did make it with one car: Also, Chris Rea’s well used Caterham was on display: The British love their three wheelers. Personally I could think of more fun ways to kill myself but here is a new incarnation: There were a lot of vendors selling parts, memorabilia and generally things that I like to browse around for hours thinking of new ways to part myself from my money. There were 2 other cars outside that caught my eye. The first was a Morris Minor 1000 that had a transplant of a 3.5L Rover V8. Now I don’t think the Morris Minor was sold in the US which was fortunate. However, growing up in Australia, my mother had one and I very much recall the handling as evil. I also recall my father saying the VW Beetle was a much better handling car which I suppose is the same as considering relative attractiveness of women after either a case of beer or a keg of beer. The last car was this 1960s classic Jaguar Mark II. Looks authentic doesn’t it? The creator/owner took a 2005 era S-type Jaguar with the Type R sports pack. This has the supercharged 4.2L V8. He then replaced the body with the old Mark II body shell. So you have the chassis, suspension, drive train and even interior (cabin and trunk) of the new car but the exterior looks of the old 1960s car. The S-Type was a decent sporty handling car for its time having once been terrorized by a colleague in Brussels who had one. The owner described it as a labor of love as you get the modern reliability but much better styling. I can only imagine the effort to get everything to mate together perfectly and look original. More entertainingly I can imagine some pimply teenager pulling up to the lights in his hot rod and getting smoked by this seemingly old car!

Last week I was in London for another business trip. To make life fun I paid a Friday visit Caterham South showroom to check out the floor stock, buy some goodies and generally have fun. I had been to the factory about 5 years back but this time the factory was not available for visit. Not a real problem as there was plenty to explore at the South Showroom. In the lobby area was an original Lotus 7 on loan from the Nearn family (no photo sorry). There was also a bare CSR chassis to see how it differs to a regular Seven chassis. There was also the new Monaco Seven model. Inside was red carpet trim – not necessarily my cup of tea when it comes to style but I appreciate the effort to keep the designs fresh. Out back in the warehouse was where they keep the jewels. There were more Sevens in one spot than I had seen in my entire life. We think it is an achievement in the US when we get 10-15 Sevens at a major meeting. Not having been to 7-7-07, I clearly missed a major meeting but even so, the garage below was impressive: My guide was David Ridley, Caterham’s International Development Manager, who showed me the various models, features of the entire range – something we just don’t see with our smaller Seven market in the US. I was able to sit, study, admire, drool and generally be a nuisance while checking things out. It was intriguing to see the CSR with its inboard front suspension, IRS and curvy dash: I was also able to discuss David’s plans for the Caterham Drive Experience coming to the USA in 2011 (hopefully?). While I was there, a proud owner brought in his new Seven race car (I think it was an Academy). Just to show that the English have a well developed sense of humor, the Caterham sales guys were calling it the fried egg car – as it was a yellow and white color scheme (white body, yellow nose cone, cycle wings, and rear wings). To fill in time while I was there on the weekend, I had arranged to join a full day session of the Caterham Circuit Experience at Silverstone Circuit. These are a fairly big event held regularly in the UK. Other variations on the theme are the Caterham Drive Experience (an auto-x/slalom style of event) and the Caterham Drift Experience. The format for the day is to turn up at 8am, wake up with coffee and breakfast and have a 30 min briefing on the circuit, safety factors, and generally how the day will progress. Then you are turned loose on the circuit with your instructor who takes you on an initial 3 lap demonstration to point which way the track runs, the basic layout, the racing lines and give you some basics on safety protocols (i.e. when to overtake, etc). It worked out that I shared a car with 2 other guys in the morning and in the afternoon it was sharing with just 1 other guy. You ended up with roughly 3 x 15-20 min sessions in the morning and after lunch another 3 x 20 min sessions all driven with the instructor next to you coaching you by intercom. The final element of the day was the instructor taking you out to show you how a Seven can really handle in the hands of a pro instead of a ham fisted hacker (like me!). Some of you know that I had a large incident on a track many years back and lost confidence so I figured this was my way to get back in the saddle gently and regain some confidence. The cars were a mix of S3 and SV chassis. The engines were Sigma 150 which are Ford 1.6L 150 FWHP standard engines matched up with the Caterham 6 speed gearbox and no LSD. Standard seats and interior with 4 pt harnesses and an FIA roll bar. From my scrutiny they looked completely stock other than no ignition key and the speedo was deactivated (so no telling how fast you were going). Tires were the standard Avon SV3 road going tires with full tread – lots of squealing. The Caterham crew was quite large. Six cars were there of which we were using four. There were 4 instructors, a coordinator, and two mechanics all led by “Sudsy” as chief instructor. We were using Silverstone’s south circuit (i.e. the southern end of the F1 circuit). The National circuit had a race meeting on and Stowe was being used by a Drive a Formula Ford for a day program. South Circuit is the top half of the circuit in this aerial image of the full complex We shared the south circuit with Silverstone’s own drive experience program where you turn up and pay your money to drive a Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Audi R8 or Lotus Exige for a few laps and then get taken around by a pro. There was also an R300-400 Caterham Seven running around with an insanely crazy talented driver scaring the hell out of paying passengers. It is an amazing facility dedicated to driving. The South circuit was nicely challenging – a nice mix of flat out corners and slow tights turns. Abbey into Farm was my favorite although intellectually the hardest was Stowe – much faster than you would expect from an initial drive. Despite the lack of power the Sevens were extremely competitive with the exotics as the straights were not too long and so it was only Hangar straight where a small power advantage came into play. The R300/400 seemed to obliterate anything else on the track – no straight line power disadvantage was apparent. Naturally the exotics could not beat the Sevens for general handling and braking nimbleness. The instructors were all professionals. Mine for the day was Bradley Ellis who has carved out an impressive list of racing achievements in a relatively short space of time. His you-tube video of hanging the tail out of a Porsche Cayenne medic car at the British Touring Car Championship Silverstone race meet: Initial drive session started off just circulating the course in 5th gear to simplify learning. Later sessions introduced more gears, later braking, etc. Despite being initially underwhelmed by the 1.6L engine, I was proved wrong. It was a wonderfully tractable little unit that revved freely up to 7000rpm and sounded great going down the straight. Speeds were not that high – I was seeing 7000rpm briefly in 5th gear at the end of Hangar Straight, before dabbing the brakes into Stowe corner. Later, Sudsy said that was about 110mph. Interestingly Brad was doing about the same in his demo laps. The only criticism I could make was that these cars had a small throttle opening jerkiness that made it sometimes difficult to feed power in gently plus the different pedal heights made it difficult for me to heel and toe. This was not just me as other participants made the same observations. Practice makes the problem go away as the pros did not have the same problem. The role of the instructor is critical – to push you at times to go harder and hold you back when you are being a little too wild. Brad was excellent at pushing me harder all the time - he knew exactly my issue and how to make me overcome them. For example, there was a Audi R8 V10 that was pretty slow around corners that I ended up being strongly encouraged to overtake going down Hangar Straight as the Audi V10 started to hit stride - a drag race I assumed I could not win. Not only did I find I could keep pace up to about 100mph, I ended up passing the Audi as he started to brake at the end of Hangar Straight. As for the little wild, Silverstone has a 2 spins and you are out policy – something I was not prepared to test. However, Sudsy had a group of Eastern Europeans to instruct and from appearances they had never driven a car with a steering wheel before. If coming around a fast corner to find a Seven mid racing line facing you after it spun is unnerving then think about Sudsy in the passenger seat of the spun car thinking how do I control this student! Sudsy was heard to utter later in the afternoon “I thought I was going to die today.” Fair assessment based on what I saw from that group. The SV model I started with in the morning was retired by 11am with cooling issues – a small leak in the radiator allowed the remaining coolant to boil itself into froth. This was the only breakdown of the day. Bonnets did not come up on any of the other cars that I saw. Pretty impressive for cars that were being thrashed all day on a circuit. Spare car coming up: Overall, I thought it was a great day. By the end of the day I was feeling respectably fast again - able to keep up and pass many of the exotic road cars and the other Circuit Experience Sevens circulating. I certainly felt more confident and secure in my abilities and know what I need to work on going forward – I can see that my transition from braking to acceleration was not smooth enough and needs working on, I struggled finding the right gears at times (I kept on being confused by the 6 spd gear layout compared to my 5 spd T-9) plus I could see that I was sometimes misjudging the entry by apexing too early. The width of a F1 circuit is staggering compared to any other circuit I have been on – many of the corners were flat out accelerating in a Seven. Even Village corner which felt relatively slow was still a 70mph corner(so I was told). Here is a Caterham midway through Stowe corner: (Apologies for grainy pics - I only had a pocket camera and I was a fair distance away.) Aside from my failings, the day is an impressive showcasing of the abilities of a Caterham Seven. All prospective Se7en owners should consider a day like this if it is available as it is only in this environment that you truly understand what giant killing cars Se7ens are. These days are not cheap and will never be when you consider we had a car provided, fuel, tires, full professional instruction, pit mechanic backup, spare cars, and un-crowded circuit hire for a whole day. When you consider the cost of a regular track day, the cost of this Circuit Experience was within proportion given the extra inclusions. Even if it was not a Seven event, having the professional coaching was worth it for me to correct old bad habits and help me find a groove. From my earlier discussions with David Ridley and from the Caterham Circuit Experience team, some cars have been set up for shipping to the US to kick off the drive experience program to be operated with the assistance of a US motor sporting organization. This is different to what I went through as the drive experience focuses on auto-x style slalom driving around cones. They seem to be looking closely at the New York metro area for now. They are aiming for an announcement in early 2011.