Daryl Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 (edited) Went to Bedford on Saturday,and what a day. We lost around 2 hours running first thing,as some bloke ran out of talent (not sure he had it to start with) and put his Pug on its roof,glass everywhere,mass clean up,ambulance etc etc. Then I had a massive off at the last turn,i think i grabbed too much kerb on the way in,but had a abit of a drift on,sorted that out,then all of a sudden i had no control,abit of a tank slapper,and ended up on the grass infield at the other end of the pit lane facing the track. That really shook me up,no damage to the car luckily,only my pride! Lunch was mainly spent putting the cat back in my mates S1 Elise,with no ramps or jack,so that was fun. (He failed the noise test at the start of the day,and had to go home and get the cat) Then in the afternoon i got taken for a few hot laps in my mates dads MP4-12C,which was epic,and my mate took me out in his Nismo kitted 370Z with P Zero Rosso tyres. I managed to get into a nice rhythm in the afternoon,though i never trusted the last turn again. I followed a 996 C4S with its front end twitching through there,so decided not to push though it again. During the down time in the morning,i put the ARB's on their hardest settings,and that really made a difference,and when I was taking out my mate who had the 370,he helped me out loads, pointing out where i could go faster and how to take certain corners. He later ran out of fuel at round 4.30 coming into the pits,and that ended the day. Over all an eventful day,but still brilliant,and the car performed brilliantly. Had the discs skimmed by Marcus at Disc Skimmers a few weeks back, and the brakes felt superb,i could brake really hard and consistently all day, and i always knew where I was with them. Got home about 6.30 and then got showered and changed and went to a party in the evening,got home about 12.30,was up at 6am that day,so was very tired. Edited October 29, 2012 by Daryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
370Ad Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Awesome! Hoping to book myself in at Bedford before the end of the year. Its known as the safest circuit in the UK, would you say this is true? Not much to hit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Its known as the safest circuit in the UK, would you say this is true? Not much to hit? Either Bedford or Anglesey. Bedford is very safe as there's masses of runoff everywhere because it's purpose built, sadly that does make it a bit lacking in excitement at times. The first half of the GT circuit up to the long straight is good fun though, as is the final corner that Daryl mentioned above. I'm tempted to drag the '5 back there again at the start of December, depends on whether funds allow or not right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
370Ad Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 (edited) Its known as the safest circuit in the UK, would you say this is true? Not much to hit? Either Bedford or Anglesey. Bedford is very safe as there's masses of runoff everywhere because it's purpose built, sadly that does make it a bit lacking in excitement at times. The first half of the GT circuit up to the long straight is good fun though, as is the final corner that Daryl mentioned above. I'm tempted to drag the '5 back there again at the start of December, depends on whether funds allow or not right now. Thanks for the info! I am looking at doing Saturday 15th December: http://www.clubmsv.c...?productid=1623 Seems great value for £99 for a whole day. Edited October 29, 2012 by 350Ad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daryl Posted October 29, 2012 Author Share Posted October 29, 2012 Its known as the safest circuit in the UK, would you say this is true? Not much to hit? Either Bedford or Anglesey. Bedford is very safe as there's masses of runoff everywhere because it's purpose built, sadly that does make it a bit lacking in excitement at times. The first half of the GT circuit up to the long straight is good fun though, as is the final corner that Daryl mentioned above. I'm tempted to drag the '5 back there again at the start of December, depends on whether funds allow or not right now. Thanks for the info! I am looking at doing Saturday 15th December: http://www.clubmsv.c...?productid=1623 Seems great value for £99 for a whole day. It is a very safe circuit yes,and although as has already been said,its laking in excitement,the GT circuit is pretty cool. There are points that test how brave you are,which if the answer is very,then its very rewarding. The £99 is a very good price if its for the whole day,and for the GT circuit,there are 3 different ones at Bedford. It was very crowded on Saturday,with around 90 cars,but they only allow 40 on track at any one time. For a beginners track day,its brilliant,the long back straight will see you touching 125-130. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrLizard Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 ahh this is where it all starts soon you will say "if only my brakes were a bit better i could save a few tenths here and there", "if only my suspension was better i could go quicker here or there" etc welcome to a slippery slope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnH Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Yep, that last corner can be a bit tricky: http://www.350z-uk.c...ford-autodrome/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
370Ad Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Its known as the safest circuit in the UK, would you say this is true? Not much to hit? Either Bedford or Anglesey. Bedford is very safe as there's masses of runoff everywhere because it's purpose built, sadly that does make it a bit lacking in excitement at times. The first half of the GT circuit up to the long straight is good fun though, as is the final corner that Daryl mentioned above. I'm tempted to drag the '5 back there again at the start of December, depends on whether funds allow or not right now. Thanks for the info! I am looking at doing Saturday 15th December: http://www.clubmsv.c...?productid=1623 Seems great value for £99 for a whole day. It is a very safe circuit yes,and although as has already been said,its laking in excitement,the GT circuit is pretty cool. There are points that test how brave you are,which if the answer is very,then its very rewarding. The £99 is a very good price if its for the whole day,and for the GT circuit,there are 3 different ones at Bedford. It was very crowded on Saturday,with around 90 cars,but they only allow 40 on track at any one time. For a beginners track day,its brilliant,the long back straight will see you touching 125-130. On the 15th December its the SEN Circuit so only 2.3 miles instead of 3.8.. http://www.clubmsv.com/car-home/circuits/bedford-autodrome Looks like the SEN circuit might miss out the 'dreaded' last corner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daryl Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 Had a chat with John Palmer too,very nice guy. He said he would very much like to do a race series with 350Z's,he ran a few as experience cars a few years back,and he always rated them. That would be very interesting. I said to him id spun at the last corner,and said about the ginger crash,i was lucky as i went onto the grass. I think i just got too much kerb on the entry to it. I feel the seats could be alot better. My friend with the 370 has nice very nice Recaro's and harnesses,which were immense,really held you in place,so maybe worth a look at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Had a chat with John Palmer too,very nice guy. He said he would very much like to do a race series with 350Z's,he ran a few as experience cars a few years back,and he always rated them. That would be very interesting. I said to him id spun at the last corner,and said about the ginger crash,i was lucky as i went onto the grass. I think i just got too much kerb on the entry to it. I feel the seats could be alot better. My friend with the 370 has nice very nice Recaro's and harnesses,which were immense,really held you in place,so maybe worth a look at some point. You ought to see if you can get a moulded insert for your seat to fit you - like Seb and Mark have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daryl Posted October 31, 2012 Author Share Posted October 31, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Nice action shots of a dirty azure Bit concerned you felt the need to fit the towing eye - but like the confidence that if you were going off it would be backwards into the kitty ltter or barrier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
370Ad Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Awesome track shots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnH Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Bit concerned you felt the need to fit the towing eye - but like the confidence that if you were going off it would be backwards into the kitty ltter or barrier It's a "requirement" at Bedford, well more like a polite request. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 It's the same everywhere, 'cos if you don't fit it and have a car/scenery moment then they'll tow you out by anything they can find: Wishbone, ARB, straight through the bodywork...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilMH Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Bedford is where I decided I wanted a 350Z. Drove one of theirs in torrential rain (mainly sideways) and loved it. It seemed to me like a good old fashioned sports car which was very predictable. Also had fun in their Caterham but struggled with the JP1 and the Clio Racer - didn't really get how to get the best out of them. Conditions were too bad to really do much in the Formula Palmer Audi but at least I didn't stall it coming out of the pits. Really safe place which does encourage you to explore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daryl Posted November 1, 2012 Author Share Posted November 1, 2012 Nice action shots of a dirty azure Bit concerned you felt the need to fit the towing eye - but like the confidence that if you were going off it would be backwards into the kitty ltter or barrier Yeah sorry,it hasnt been washed for a month or so now,wife to be's car is the same,its disgraceful really. Would have washed it Friday evening,but had to fit some bungs into a mates Elise,which was a waste of time as it still was over the noise limit. They are getting really strict on the noise now,they actually had a guy leaning in the cockpit watching your revs as another guy held the machine at the back of the car. Atleast in most of the shots you can see im pushing the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
370Ad Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Is yours a scorpion cat back, what DB was it out of curiosity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daryl Posted November 1, 2012 Author Share Posted November 1, 2012 Is yours a scorpion cat back, what DB was it out of curiosity? I think i was at around 98dB,thats the unresonated version,with uprated Y pipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 (edited) Static isn't a problem at Bedford, it's the drive-by that gets everyone. And of course, you can't tell that until you get there and get black-flagged, by which time it's usually too late to do anything and your day is ruined. As a trackday-using community, we should all be trying to make an effort to reduce the volume of our cars whenever we go on track so as not to give the NIMBYs any ammo. It's easy to pop a stock backbox back on, or refit the cats if you've got decats on there, before the day itself and that way you make life a lot easier for yourself as well as protecting the future of trackdays. Besides, once you've got your helmet on everything is muffled anyway, so the only person your car sounds nice to is the marshall waving that black flag at you! Edited November 1, 2012 by Ekona Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrLizard Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 easy to spot the three mics at bedford, small white pole with a black hat on, all three are on straights, two near the end of the lap and one near the start, i ran a k1 there and just lifted off past the mics, no problem all day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
370Ad Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Is yours a scorpion cat back, what DB was it out of curiosity? I think i was at around 98dB,thats the unresonated version,with uprated Y pipe. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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