Apparently the crash was caused by a black Clio cutting up the inside. Saw the Clio briefly back in the pits after and he had done a good job on most of the panels down one side, he seemed a bit unhappy, just grabbed his Burberry lined jacket and scarpered :eek:

Chaps,
There was yet another smash even after the clio incident. After you left Benno we queued for 15 - 20 mins to get back out only to get half way round and come across 2 RS Festa's who'd connected! Suffice to say after this the organisers decided to call it a day. Shame as I was looking forward to the last session with there being very few cars left.

Ritchie.

Gulp! I've been to trackdays where stopages were down to cars hitting scenery but never cars hitting cars so much :(

Supertouring, your car went well too. It'll be even better with AP's ;)

F

Track report:
I nearly didn't go because the weather looked poor but it turned out really well, if a little cold.

I was using the track day to see how my new spring rates would behave and if I could fit 225 section tyres on my car (A032's). The track day was organised by Beds RSOC so obviously it was mainly Fords of some description. There were 4 Scoobs that I counted other than mine. One chap had a Northloop sticker (Supertouring) and kindly let me share his pit garage I tried to buy him lunch in return but quickly realised that the tenner I had would barely cover my meal at Autodrome prices.

I stuck the A032's on and they looked mighty close to the coils at the rear. The fronts had plenty of clearance but the balancing weights were placed right in the path of the calipers (AP's) - feck! I didn't really want to run my nearly new road tyres so I decided to knock the weights off at the front and see how it went.

The first lap would be a shake down. The track was the full GT circuit but the pit straight and hairpin had been bypassed for building works so the track was slightly shorter. I arrived at the new track entry point with a strange rubbing sound. There was also a slight high frequency vibration somewhere too so I took it quite carefully for a couple of laps. OMG, I've never tried R rated before but even at the gentle speeds I was doing I could feel the extra grip and control. I came in even though I wanted to carry on exploring the extra grip as I had visions of exploding tyres and a rolling scoob :eek:

In the pit garage I removed the rear wheels - near side, nothing, off side, a strange rubbing mark; that must be it but what to do? I decided to borrow a file from two 205 chaps and file a bit of clearance on the spring platform collet. I check the front and all looked OK there too. Strangely, there wasn't any wheel vibration at all even though I'd removed the substantial balancing weights :confused:

Oh, well back out on track again but this time I'd go quicker and do 4 or 5 laps. Unfortunately the noise was still there. Sod it, I'll have some fun anyway :D

Feck me these tyres work well, even if they are past there best. I can see why Simon was all over me in the corners at the Ring last year ;) The raised suspension height and 50/40Nm springs were also playing their part; 10/9 clicks on the adjusters too. Very little rubbing even with the 225's and increased grip. The balance and turn in was superb along with fantastic adjustability mid bend. Those RS boys didn't stand a chance :p

Last year I only had 230-250BHP and it was a struggle to pass RS Focus's on the straights; they also out handled me on stock suspension through the bends... Now with 325+BHP I could breeze past everything and out handle them. One Escort RS Cossie owner asked me what I'd done to the car as he had 350+BHP and he thought I'd passed him at 10-15mph faster down the back straight :D He said he was concentrating on a MkII Escort that had ruputedly been clocked at over 160MPH, when I came past the both of them :)

Unfortunately I didn't get on at the same time as Mike R's BIG BHP car or the CSL but I managed to over take everything else (even the pesky Reyland Metro).

There was a slight rubbing on the rear wheel arches on the really tight hairpins and also on the off side front but nothing as bad as I had expected. When I removed the wheels at the end of the day I saw no tell tale rubbing marks that could account for the noise, on the tyre or the car. I put it down to the tread pattern now.

If I get the arches rolled and a front uprated a/r bar then I'd be happy to run 225's on the Ring now.

Other highlights of the day were a couple of Ford's rear ending each other (ooh-er) and a few cars that didn't want to move over but that is usual to most tracks on the latter issue. The ford's also had an alarming casualty rate - diffs, engines, oil etc... I think there were 3 or 4 collisions on the day.

Big thanks to the fellow Northlooper (D.Jones) who also seemed to be having fun (and also not being overtaken all day)- respect!

Can't think of anything else at the moment so that's it apart from the 400/420 stripped, caged, Sierra Cossie that I let past on my warm up out lap, but quickly kept with him and eventually passed him. He had front facing and rear facing cameras, so that'll be interesting to see posted up on Turbo Nutters Forum. Nice car too :thumb:

F
Update, I've now found out that the tyres do make a noise so all's well. Also the banter has started with Mike on Passion ford!

Good write-up.

Fair dues, you did buy me a can of coke in return for using my garage all day :lol1:

Lol :D

F

a can of coke eh, you did well to get that much :thumb:

Simo, you don't deserve anything, it's the priveledge of having my car in your garage and you should pay me! ;)

F

Floyd can you post a link to the Ford site? Be nice to read some more about the day.

Cheers
Gerry

Gerry, there were about 6 different threads in their general section, which drops real fast. I didn't bookmark any as I thought I could 'User CP' them but I didn't find that functionality on their site :(
http://www.passionford.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=13
I'll need those arches rolled! I'll hopefully be joining you on some of your days...
F

'My Days'? I'm hoping to be doing some sprints & hillclimbs this year, how about you?

See you're running 225s which are a tad wide especially if you've lowered yours. Had my arches done at Littleknocks but that was before I discovered my namesake :D

Gerry

I've raised my suspension to preferred level now. Only slight rubbing so rolling should sort.

I think you told me about the local chap but I need reminding...
F

Floyd,

YHM :)

No mail yet Gerry :(

F

Odd, have you changed from your dsl.pipex.com address?

Anyway, sent via. PM now.

Got pm :thumb:

Same address, must be in the ether!

F

Has anybody managed to find any pics, I tried a few forums on Passion Ford but had no luck??

Ben

None of me or you, just an empty space in the garage! Actually I did find a tiny picture of me on track in the background of some Fords; I guess the Fast Ford photographer didn't want to shop a Subaru overtaking all the Ford's :D

F