Sarnie Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 Ok boys and girls lets get started!! For those of you that don't know I booked to go here: http://www.pistonheads.com/trackdays/in ... ryId=15425 yesterday which was also my birthday!! Having never been on any kind of track day I had no idea what to expect and was very worried about smashing up my bowl of custard I booked a 10:30 - 12:30 slot which mean't having to leave Brum at 07:30 which was no mean feat on my birthday Razzed down the M40, the M25 and made our way through Guildford. Drove the 140 miles without a problem, but then proceeded to get lost on the actually road that the track was supposed to be on Eventually found the site and pulled up outside the venue to be greeted by a stunning array of cars A couple of Nobles: And a lovely vintage Ferrari: An NSX Nice selection: An AC Cobra Four porsches from the Carrera GT Cup: All looking absolutely stunning I was greeted by Graham who looked strangely like Lomoto He invited us inside for a coffee and we went through the Plans Motorsport workshop which was hiding a few other beauts There must of been around 10 Elise's/Exiges on site, 6-7 VX220's, 4 NSX's and a couple of Noble's. My old man, who is a car nut, thought he had died and gone to heaven. We proceeded upstairs and and a bit of chit chat. I signed a nice little document that basically said if anything goes wrong whatsoever, don't come crying to us Now I was starting to worry about my car! Graham stated that out of 200 runs only 3 people had crashed their car and that was because they didn't listen to him. My reply was: 'Pardon?' He was not amused We talked about what I wanted to get out of the session time wise and I reassured him that it was far more important for me to get my bowl of custard home in one piece than to break any records However I did tell him that I wanted to beat Ellen MacAthur's time and possible get within 10% of the stigs time in the zed, which would be the sub 1:40 mark. We then proceeded down to the track, Graham in a Leon Cupra, me and my old man in the zed. We all then jumped in the Leon and did a few laps of the track to get used to it. http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g319/ ... lltour.flv (You may need to download the latest version of Flash to play this link ) The first thing you realise is that it is very hard to distinguish at first, where the track actually is. The track is painted onto the airfield rather than being a purpose built track. I suppose if you were to go round silverstone the track is pretty obvious: Tarmac is track, grass is not We then pulled up on the start line and Graham let us know how the celebs laps are recorded for Top Gear http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g319/ ... ecrtes.flv We then jumped in my zed with Graham driving for a few hot laps and I completely sh1t myself. Partly out of concern for my zed but also cos I didn't know which way we were going to go at anyone point due to the nature of the track I was now very nervous that I was gonna mong it up on a corner We then swapped seats for me to do a few flying warm up laps: This is Graham telling me which way roung the track I'm supposed to go This is me warming up: http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g319/ ... muplap.flv On the starting line: http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g319/ ... ay2020.jpg Vid of me off the line: http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g319/ ... alflap.flv And Another: http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g319/ ... dstart.flv Graham asked me if I had taken the car to the 155mph limiter. I said no, he said lets do it: http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g319/ ... ter044.flv To be honest the zed was a joy to behold, plenty of backend action and the sound was awesome. Graham corrected a lot of my sloppy driving habits such as driving one handed The more laps I did the more confident I got. Graham warned that as my confidence grew the harder I would be trying and I would actually get slower. As much as I tried to relax I was desperate to break the 1:40 mark on my last lap. I caned it around the track and coming into the penultimate corner I overcooked it and almost ended up on the grass. Graham reckoned that cost me 2 secs, which means I could of got round in about 1:37. Check it out here: http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g319/ ... tackit.flv My lap times were as follows: 1) 1:43.98 2) 1:42.20 3) 1:41.56 4) 1:40.20 5) 1:40.20 6) 1:39.37 To summarise it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and would 100% reccomend it to anyone!! PS 1:39.37 is the time to beat! Anyone wanna try to beat? Give it you best shot Some other vids: http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g319/ ... creech.flv http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g319/ ... ahyeah.flv http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g319/ ... Day054.flv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomoto Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 NICE ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted November 22, 2006 Author Share Posted November 22, 2006 NICE ... Do the vids work ok? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomoto Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 NICE ... Do the vids work ok? yep spot on, like the "yeah yeah" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl114 Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 I think its because you have a silly coloured car that you stacked it Really nice videos and great driving dude. How much did it cost you again as i may go on the next one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkfish Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 Nice one mate! Good match report. Sounds like a great day!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted November 22, 2006 Author Share Posted November 22, 2006 I think its because you have a silly coloured car that you stacked it Really nice videos and great driving dude. How much did it cost you again as i may go on the next one? £189 You can go on one anytime mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl114 Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 I think its because you have a silly coloured car that you stacked it Really nice videos and great driving dude. How much did it cost you again as i may go on the next one? £189 You can go on one anytime mate really? anytime???? Just as long as they are not filming i gather. Hmmmmmm i may do this when it gets dry next year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkfish Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 I think its because you have a silly coloured car that you stacked it Really nice videos and great driving dude. How much did it cost you again as i may go on the next one? £189 You can go on one anytime mate ...as long as Top Gear don't need the track. They can bump you even if you've booked in advance. £189 is a bargain for that experience imho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 great report Sarnie, and for once, well done! Until someone beats your time, I'll add a little nickname to your already well earned title Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelwr Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 Nice post, vids worked no bother with good sound for a windy'ish day. Good to see the track walkthrough only question about positioning on the track is "should your dad really be standing on the outside of the last corner?" Welldone and happy birthday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkfish Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 great report Sarnie, and for once, well done! Until someone beats your time, I'll add a little nickname to your already well earned title :lol: ...and I presume whoever beats his time gets the Stig tag?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl114 Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 great report Sarnie, and for once, well done! Until someone beats your time, I'll add a little nickname to your already well earned title I will beat his time as mine is GM and we all know they are faster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captint Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 Mate, got to take my hat off to you, great job. Well done, you have certainly set the benchmark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 great report Sarnie, and for once, well done! Until someone beats your time, I'll add a little nickname to your already well earned title :lol: ...and I presume whoever beats his time gets the Stig tag?? yeah (also the other one if they really try! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M13KYF Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 Excellent write up Sarnie I bet that's the most you've done all day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted November 22, 2006 Author Share Posted November 22, 2006 great report Sarnie, and for once, well done! Until someone beats your time, I'll add a little nickname to your already well earned title :lol: ...and I presume whoever beats his time gets the Stig tag?? yeah (also the other one if they really try! ) No way! They are mine to keep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted November 22, 2006 Author Share Posted November 22, 2006 Excellent write up Sarnie I bet that's the most you've done all day Its the only thing I've done all day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted November 22, 2006 Author Share Posted November 22, 2006 Mate, got to take my hat off to you, great job. Well done, you have certainly set the benchmark I reckon I could get that time down to around 1:36 with a bit of practice. I'm happy with my time but I'm sure somebody with an ounce of track day experience could beat it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkfish Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 1.39's a very respectable time for your first blast mate. Now......where's are those "I am Sarnie" t-shirts?....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted November 22, 2006 Author Share Posted November 22, 2006 1.39's a very respectable time for your first blast mate. Now......where's are those "I am Sarnie" t-shirts?....... Graham has a leaderboard in his office and there was two Subaru's, a VX220 and two Ellise's all slower than me which pleased me My time was smack in the middle of a load of VX220's and Ellise' and the zed must weigh a shitload more than them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 Well done Sarnie - I enjoyed this write-up very much. I think a lot of Z owners around here are very envious of you now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted November 22, 2006 Author Share Posted November 22, 2006 Well done Sarnie - I enjoyed this write-up very much. I think a lot of Z owners around here are very envious of you now. Cheers mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavis Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 Well done Sarnie and a good write up, you have done us UY GT4 owners proud. And for the record you GM GT owners have 20bhp less Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted November 22, 2006 Author Share Posted November 22, 2006 Well done Sarnie and a good write up, you have done us UY GT4 owners proud. And for the record you GM GT owners have 20bhp less Agreed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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