Croc

Or as I believe - we should grow old disgracefully! :jester:

Keen eyed viewers will note that the rev counter was not really going past 5000rpm and I was not heel and toeing downshifts as I was slow enough that I really did not need to. Combine that with the sprinkles from the heavens that were threatening our session, and I was understandably cautious. It is strange that those lines seemed to work best for me straightaway although it took time for me to feel comfortable with them. Only when we got through the classroom session did I have confidence that I had found pretty much the best lines to go around with.

Ok be gentle here - this was first time I have ever put together a video on a car and it was first session at Thunderbolt. The darkness just shows how threatening the skies were. Need to find a better spot out of the wind for the external mic. YouTube - ‪NJMP Thunderbolt - First run of a Caterham CSR Superlight‬‏

10hp is not much return for the cost of the roller barrels. Having seen what a little old crossflow seven can do in the hands of a capable driver, I think you would get more value for money out of some driver instruction.

And here was me thinking you had a Birkin SV? :jester:

:rofl: I love it....Skinny Guy Productions then you cut to fatso me! I think you owe me another beer Tom!

I did not think Michael bothered with brakes? I thought he used wind resistance from waving the hands around at a slower car in front that refused again to give him a point by!

More pics - our sevens garage at Thunderbolt: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/DSC00793_edited-1.jpg Dinner at the NJMP clubhouse on Sunday night: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/DSC00796_edited-1.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/DSC00797_edited-1.jpg Dinner at the Texas Roadhouse on the Monday night: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/DSC00799_edited-1.jpg

Hello.....you had an OFF too? You mean I am not the only one! Now I feel better!

Doesn't PCA require you to start in novice and work up from there? I think Michael is way too good to go back to being in the novice group.

Oh yeah...so it is...it was when I was on my charge. :rofl: Was it a mushroom cloud of dust? We had the fastest cars in the intermediate group. When I decided to really go for it in the 2nd and 3rd sessions at Lightning I reeled everything in shockingly quick. I passed the M3, GT3, Caddy CTS-V and every Corvette several times over the 2 days. I have never before driven a car so much faster than others around it on a track. I am still in awe of the car's abilities and take no credit for my effort. I would go as far to say MichaelD was probably second fastest. Little hard to tell after that although I think your laptimes would have not been much slower than anyone else's. It is not clear what caused the wreck on the NJ Turnpike. I would not be surprised if the rain was the cause. It ended up raining at the track around 2pm I think. PM me your email and I will send you the higher resolution file of the 3 sevens. 9 hours is a long drive but we would love to have you. Mike and Stewart did not give up much speed (if at all) by having crossflows. It can only be more fun with more sevens. Ian Prout of SDCA put on a great event and said he wants us back again.

This pic summed up the day at Lightning - a gaggle of sevens and a Fisher Fury beating up some poor Corvette: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_IN1_4763.jpg Why is it that Tom is always at the back of group photos? Does he like looking at rear ends? And some gratuitous pics of me - I look sooooo good :cooldude: (LOL) http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110628_NJM_IN1_6275.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_IN1_5393.jpg

Me chasing Scott: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_IN1_4819.jpg I liked exiting this corner on to the straight - I could really put the power down catch up on people: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_IN1_5854.jpg

Here is Stewart holding off the Cadillac CTS V. I nearly wore the rear bumper of this Caddy trying to get past with non-existent point bys. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_IN1_5819.jpg As Al Navarro said on the day, "You look like you are dressed for an office meeting" Pah! Who needs a fancy set of racing overalls when you are going to be faster than the fancy show ponies! http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_IN1_4820.jpg Hmmm....A little too much shoulder movement from me: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110628_NJM_IN1_6577.jpg A nice shot of Tom being slow: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_IN1_5465.jpg

Another angle to the group photo: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_MSC_4906.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_MSC_4899.jpg Kitcat leading Scott: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_IN1_5373.jpg Me leading Karl with the yellow rear wing of Tom poking out in the background: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_IN1_5377.jpg

A couple of nice pit shots at Lightning: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_MSC_4381.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_MSC_4385.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_MSC_4743.jpg The nicely laid out cockpit of Dermot's Fisher Fury: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_MSC_4744.jpg

Here are some more from SDCA site: Tom being led by the Aston mobile chicane at Thunderbolt: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110628_NJM_IN1_6571.jpg A nice shot of Michael diving in to a turn at Lightning: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_IN1_5466.jpg A study of cornering styles - front to rear is Mike, Michael and Mike: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_IN1_5852.jpg Is it a gaggle of sevens? From front to back - Michael, Mike, Mike and of course Tom struggling to keep up on 10 inch slicks on the sweeping lefthander at Lightning leading on to the straight. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/june%202011/20110627_NJM_IN1_5873.jpg If people want the hi resolution image for your own picture albums let me know your email in a PM

Ron - You would be very welcome next time - the more the merrier! As a sad postscript to the event, you all may recall the diesel Nascar pickup driven by one of the instructors with the matching blue/green motorhome and trailer. On the way home north on the NJ turnpike, a tractor trailer hit the motorhome/trailer rig at 60+ mph leading to the crash and the total consumption of the motorhome, trailer and racecar in flames. From following up with Ian today to say thank you for a well run event, he confirmed the instructor and his wife escaped without injury, which is a relief.

I like the color scheme. What engine spec are you putting in here? The R400 220hp duratec?

The photos from the Lightning Day on the 27th and 28th (search SDCA, 27th/28th and Intermediate) are posted at: www.tracktimephotos.com There are some brilliant pics there of the sevens together on track or attacking some poor Corvette or Porsche. A great pic of Karl coming out of the sweeper onto Pit Straight with rear suspension cranked down as he powers out. There is also one of me in a dust cloud :blush: (but it is not when I spun so not sure it was my dust!) Not so many of the Thunderbolt day due to the weather. There is a good one of Tom following the Aston Martin mobile chicane. A suggestion - If anyone wants pics then put an order through me with the picture file name as I will make one big order for all of us to get the bulk discount. I was going to order the high resolution. I can then load them onto memory sticks and mail them out to you.

I thought I did a well executed stuff up. I was probably lucky I did not dig two wheels in and roll it. I only got the car back under control when it decided to go back on the track and I could reverse the spin. I had no idea where you guys where thanks to my smoke screen....err....dust cloud raised by the spin. We also have a few posts and pics here in a pic thread: http://www.usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?p=55506&posted=1#post55506 I definitely want to do this next year - It was a great time.

Owww Tom! I just passed him on the back straight at Lightning before the ninety degree left. He was on slicks too I will have you know! :toetap05: It was a brilliant couple of days. I had a simply great time with a great group of guys. I definitely want to see this become an annual event. We all got on so well socially and it was a delight to run with so many sevens on the track at once. The memories of the event are many: · Following, Michael, Mike and I think it was Tom (or was it Scott?), all ahead of me on Lightning, crawling over the back of some Corvette Z06. No matter which mirror the Corvette looked out of he would have seen buzzing sevens darting around behind. · Trying to catch Tom on the big long curving sweeper at Lightning and realizing he had slicks while I was on Cr500s. · Beers in the paddock on the Sunday evening setting up and after the day at Lightning. · Following Michael with car positioned up the tailpipe of the silver Infiniti (or silver corvette) with hands waving frantically as they would not give him a point by. · Being amazed at Kitcat driving totally committed, holding momentum and just flying past cars everywhere. It may only be a 135fwhp crossflow but it just shows that well driven they are lethal on a track like Lightning which suits a seven so well. · Following Dermot in his Hayabusa Fisher and watching him just flick the car into corners seemingly without brakes · My rather large and extremely dusty spin. · Getting fast enough to be airborne over the hump on the back straight at Thunderbolt. Scared the hell out of me. My video camera worked only at Thunderbolt but I will edit something down on the second half of the second session when I really decided to see what the girl could do and found to my surprise that I was just passing everything on track. Hopefully that shows something good. The car was as close to perfect as a seven gets with 700 miles on it. Chassis and suspension set up felt great. Brakes were running nicely with no fade even when trying hard. The 6 speed gearbox is starting to lose its notchiness and the shifts are starting to come smoother. The engine was just brilliant. I could stay with the fastest cars down the straights with a good exit from the previous corner and a little slipstreaming. Fixes needed for the car following the track day: · A proper oil catch tank with filter vent. I have oil breathing heavy out of the washer bottle....errr...Caterham oil catch tank. · A diff breather catch tank - I was getting a smallish amount of diff oil being breathed out. I have also decided to call my differential "Tom" because it whines so much! · New windscreen. The current one took 4 stones in one session at Lightning and it is totally gone. · Speedo needs fixing - it went erratic on the track when I went over 100mph. An old well known problem. · A new set of rear tires would not go astray. · Skate tape on the floor of the pedal box where it is polished ali so the heels of my shoes have some grip while working the pedals. My journey home was not a good one. I got hammered in a monsoon on Rt55 and took refuge under overpasses twice when the car started to miss (no trailering for me). I had hazards, rear fog light and headlights on yet a kind soul from the track day who stayed behind me on the drive to keep guard said I was invisible in the rain. Also with the NJ Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway and I-295 all parking lots headiing north, I ended up driving over the Ben Franklin Bridge into Philadelphia and picking up I-95 towards Trenton to get back up to NYC. Traffic was so bad that it was a 4 hour trip when it should have been 2-2.5 hours. Until next year!

Hi Jude, Here you go: http://www.tousleyfordparts.com/ Looks like online ordering is easily done. Cheers

Great photos! Do dogs need eye protection? I know my eyes suffer with the buffetting and I wear glasses all the time.

Great to see everyone here today. Al N made a royal appearance which was truly appreciate. Steve Novelli (S1steve) joined in the good natured ribbing that has been going. It was good to meet Ryan (Proj217) in person and the Boss 302 he is crewing for is one of the best sounds cars on the track. And of course to meet Dave and his wife with their orange S1 (forgotten her name already - I am useless). George Alderman of MidAtlantic Caterham stopped by for a visit and was good to see. Jack VB is staying with us for the track days even though his seven is off the road. Drivers are: - Tom G (Yellowss7) - Stewart (Sabbot) - Michael (MichaelD) - Scott L - Mike M (Kitcat) - Karl (Blubarisax) - Mike (Croc) - Dermot (ottcycle - driving his Hayabusa Fisher Fury) Lightning is a great track - fully a momentum style of track that suits sevens so well. We were literally eating every other car up. Corvettes had us on the straights but at least I could hang on to them. Kitcat was a man alive just monstering every car out there - truly inspriring driving in a 135hp crossflow. Truthfully the track suited sevens so well we were all driving above ourselves. I will have an open kimono session now to get my dirty laundry story in first. In the 2nd and 3rd session I was trying to push very very hard to see what the car could do. It is touching 140 mph at the end of the main straight and getting through turn 1 on what feels like 2 wheels but is about 104-105. in the second session I tried getting through at 110mph and bounced the apex curve which bounced me wide and two wheels off into the dirt which was fairly easily recovered albeit with a large dust cloud. In the third session, I again tried very hard. At turn 4 I cocked up pushing too hard. Missed the apex by a foot and dropped 2 wheels off the track on the exit by about a foot. And then I went for a little ride through a few spins off track, coming back on where I could get some semblence of control and reversed the spin to back off and wait for the slow cars to pass (Tom?). Unfortunately, I created a little...errr...large... dust cloud from which no one could see through to see where I was hiding. I slowly trundled back to the pits to check out the car (fine just dirty) where the pit marshal uttered the immortal words - "You have a tree in your visor." And so there was. Unfortunately I have had a bad tech day - my digital SLR went on the fritz. My video camera cut out after 30 seconds in the 3rd and fourth sessions (thank good no spin pics to immortalize me). I will need others to post pics sadly. :svengo: Car is fine - diff is breathing oil...fairly normal. Engine is breathing oil...fairly normal. Feels fantastic handling and braking. Absolutely filthy from my gardening excursions. :jester: