Blokko Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Met up with Mike (croc) last Friday at Donington Park track. Good to meet a USA7'er - looking forward to meeting more 7 owning folk when I get over to the States! Didn't manage to get on track on the Friday (which was a good thing as it turned out). A week before the event there were 18 places available. When I came to book on the Monday morning all the slots had gone. There was a lot of fast, expensive metal / carbon / fibreglass on track (Ferrari's, BAC Mono's, an Aston, some quick 7's) and the track etiquette wasn't the best. Several red flags for various incidents and (unusually for this track day organiser) there was a lot of queuing to get on track. Here is one of the reasons behind one of the stoppages - Here is a pic of Mike navigating Redgate - In contrast Sunday at Anglesey was a great day (and this time I did get on track, albeit for only half a day due to work commitments). Weather was great and there were only about 30 cars on track (all behaving well). Got a lot of track time in on this brilliant circuit. A lot of time was spent either chasing or leading Mike - both of which were good fun. Had to come in after a few laps as I had a bit of a problem with the expansion bottle top losing pressure and because my tyres lost grip once they reached a certain temperature (understeering out of Church at 90mph was 'interesting' to say the least). Here are a couple of low res shots from Anglesey (Mike in background of the one shot) So, a great weekend of track action. All being well I'll be joining some of you in 2015 on the New Jersey track weekend (in my own 7 if all goes to plan).... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 It was good to meet you in person Steve! Top days at Donington and Anglesey. While Donington did hold the British GP something like 10 years ago and is fairly well known, Angelsey is a small club circuit in the far north of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. Both make incredible use of terrain. While I looked at videos to familiarize myself with the layout in advance, nothing prepared me for the elevation changes that happen on those tracks. For those wondering what happened to the poor Caterham gear lever above, that was the result of it suddenly becoming a "flappy paddle" gearbox while going from 5th to 6th diving downing into Craner Curves at 85-90mph. Steve was generous enough not to show the results of the "gardening" that resulted from my sudden surprise and confusion. Somehow all the gear lever retaining bolts had worked loose so the lever disconnected from gearbox. While I tried to limp to the pits in 6th gear I ran out of revs and had to be flat towed back for recover. Give me to the weekend and I will upload photos of the astonishing Donington Collection of Formula One cars which has to be one of the most incredible auto collections I have ever seen in. I will also upload some circuit video and photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Come on Steve, post up the Gardening Pics. :lurk::lurk::lurk: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Steve - you may as well tell everyone what I did to the poor instructor at Angelsey....:svengo: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blokko Posted June 5, 2014 Author Share Posted June 5, 2014 Steve - you may as well tell everyone what I did to the poor instructor at Angelsey....:svengo: Okey dokey! So I decide to sneakily follow Mike out on track for his instructor session so that I could pick up his lines. We joined the circuit at The Banking hairpin, then it’s a short straight into Church - which is a long 90 degree right hander that you can carry a lot of speed through. The next ‘proper’ corner is Rocket, but between Church and Rocket the tarmac is never actually straight – a gentle right hand curve that sharpens a bit just at the point where you might want to think about hitting the anchors. At this stage (when I got things right) I was approaching the sharp left hander of Rocket at 110. Braking here is helped by the fact that there is a steep incline on the approach to Rocket, which enables you to scrub a lot of the speed that has built up. Except on this first lap Mike didn’t manage to scrub enough speed and he watched the apex fly by as he headed towards the infield. Fortunately he managed to make the turn before running out of tarmac – thus saving the embarrassment of going grass cutting with an instructor on board J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taber10 Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 While Donington did hold the British GP something like 10 years ago and is fairly well known...... I'm very jealous, as I have only had one "low speed" circuit of Donington Park during the early '80s in a US Spec TR6. But I want to make a historical note: Donington hasn't hosted the British GP for quite some time, actually pre-war I believe. It did host the 1993 European GP, for which Senna is deservedly well-remembered. That was more than 10 years ago.... During that time frame, Brands Hatch and Silverstone shared hosting the British GP and alternately, the "world" GP or something similar. Donington was much more fun, in that club races, Formula Ford series, etc. were routinely held there from 1977 on. Thanks for the pictures! Taber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Taber you are quite correct on the year for the British GP. I had 2003 in my mind as the year when in fact it was 1993 as you point out. I remembered it being Ayrton Senna who won as I watched the race live but I guess it was a senior moment that led me to have a mental arithmetic failure. :blush: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Here are the photos from my recent Donington and Anglesey excursions. Donington is based in the East Midlands area of the UK – about 2 hours drive from Heathrow. Given I arrived off a US flight early in the morning I stopped in first at the Heritage Motor Museum at Gaydon UK, about 1.5 hours drive from Heathrow. It celebrates the British motor industry which had extraordinary success until brought down by poor management, weak Governments and labor unions in the 1970s. The facility is superb with extensive sponsorship by Jaguar and Land Rover. If you want you can take a Land Rover or Range Rover on an off road test drive in a purpose built 4wd trail on the property. I had a great time testing a LR3! In the museum, there is a spectacular collection of cars: An original Jaguar XJ13 with its dashboard Who remembers Bob Tulius? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 An original Le Mans D Type and its interior: A lovely Lotus 7 Series 3 although it had some Series 2 touches if you look carefully Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Then it was cross country to Donington. The circuit maintains a museum which has the greatest collection of Formula 1 cars anywhere on Earth. I can only say they may be under estimating. I left a trail of drool, dribble, sweat, tears, pee and sperm all over this museum….absolutely amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 You may want to hurry to see this collection. Tom Wheatcroft, who bought the circuit and established the museum passed away in 2009 and left his estate to his son who seems to be actively selling cars off to buy WW2 tanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 So then it was on to the track day run by BookaTrack. Normally very tightly organized, given it was the Friday before a weekend of racing, it really turned into a practice session for the racers. The track: http://nickleason.co.uk/circuits/Donington.jpg We were running the National Circuit without the hairpin extension. There were a range of cars – Radicals with RST V8s, BAC Monos, high powered Caterhams and Westfields, tin top touring cars, an absolutely amazing yellow Ruf Porsche 911, to hackers like me in a beaten up Caterham R300. Rules are passing on the “straights” only on the left, ideally with a point by. However, that degenerated rapidly as the red mist descended. In the afternoon it seemed like you did 2 laps went to the pits under red flag and then went out for another 2 laps before another red flag and so on. It was amazing how many “race cars” were showing drivers with no talent. One Renault Clio race car was ahead of me at Radcliffe before running off the track, through the gravel trap, out back onto track off onto the grass on the right, over correct and then back left across the track into the gravel and eventually into the mud….muppet! A few of the Caterham Academy drivers demonstrated lack of fear and made numerous gardening excursions. So the photos – looking towards Redgate: Looking back towards the start finish line and the pits: Going through MacLeans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Just about to turn into Coppice A wonderful drivers track – definitely worth trying out. Then it was on to Anglesey. I decided to take the long way through the driving roads of the Peak District and through Snowdonia. Anglesey is way up at the very northern end of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It does have a reputation for wet and windy weather as you would expect. Although for me it was pretty nice – not raining until 4pm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Photos: Steve (Blokko) looking concerned when talking with me (back of head)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Steve following me in his K-series engine Caterham Roadsport SV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 So who wants to join me at Spa-Francorchamps in November? :seeya: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Well, the wife just walked in and poured water on me. Seems I had passed out from automotive awe. And now I need a new computer from all the drool seeping into the keyboard. Great shots, Mike! Thanks for sharing. . . . :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Ditto xcar: the Anglesy circuit is the stuff of dreams. The shot of Croc's se7en headed into the sea is transcendent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Ditto xcar: the Anglesy circuit is the stuff of dreams. The shot of Croc's se7en headed into the sea is transcendent! Has to be one of the best (if not the best) Seven photos I've ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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