astraboy

With apologies to the one like the John Felstead (article style) and the one like the Longun (spelling ) astraboy productions proudly present the Castle combe track day, 11/07/2001.
The first thing I had to do was fix the cossie. The 3-door had developed a nasty problem and it had to be fixed. a call to Power Engineering had me booked onto the rolling road first thing Monday morning. I got up at 6am for the first of a lot of early mornings this week. I had a days work to put in as well as getting the 3-door running. The hellish journey to Uxbridge was over in 20 minutes so I slept in the car until Mervin arrived. I finally got going at around 8.40 which left me with the interesting predicament of getting to work in 20 minutes whilst being in Uxbridge and needing to be in the City. When I rolled in at 10.30 to be greeted by a highly unamused boss, I set about trying to get some work done. Unfortunately, that went out the window when Merv called me to say the beast was fixed!!! .
Straight on the phone to Castle Combe to get myself booked in and then sit around feeling good . Text the interested parties with a big "YES M8, I AM GOING!!!" and wait for the responses.
Conscious of the fact that I have to be back in Uxbridge before 6, I leave at 3.30 after sweet talking my boss (yet again ) and head back on the ****ty Metropolitan line to get to the Dyno.
Get to the end of the line and walk back to PE. Noted the large amount of Garage Wooooodbwoys walking about, complete with caps worn at 60 degree angles and socks tucked into tracky bottoms. Anybody live in Uxbridge? I feel sorry for you.
Anyway, I finally get back to PE and have a chat with Merv about the 3-door. He said he had quickly diagnosed a melted sparkplug and had fitted NGK Escort Cossie Sparkplugs as a replacement. He also turned down the boost a tadge to 1 bar and the result was a 260bhp max power and 250ib ft of torque. Ample. He also said that there was a big carbon build up so I needed to thrash it more. Oh If you insist.
I went upstairs and paid and then drove off. The long straight road which leads to and from PE is perfect for trying out your freshly tuned motor and the crisper throttle response and lower (in the rev range) torque delivery were all noticeable. When I got home, I was also pleasantly surprised about the improvement in the previously shocking fuel economy. Bargain for 130 notes.
Tuesday was spent in nervous anticipation of the next day. Sod work, I was too pre-occupied with being excited about the prospect of flailing around the track. I jacked it in at 4pm cos I just couldn't concentrate. once again, the boss wasn’t happy, but I didn't care. CC tomorrow. Oi!Oi!
Woke up at 6am and said my goodbyes to my girlfriend. She is going on holiday to Mexico for a month, but she didn't mind me not being there to see her go. Hate goodbyes at airports.
Anyway, I got back home and picked up all the stuff I needed. Helmet, Camcorder, Electrical tape, Letter from CC, Money, phone, sheet of paper, hardcore rave CDs.
I fed the cats and the fish and threw everything in the boot and shot over to Bracknell to meet up with the rest of the lads. Arrived at Bens house at 6.45 and he and his girlfriend piled in. I had had the sounds up (some deep ambient hardcore to chill me out so I could resist the urge to start the day early ) so I didn't hear my phone ringing. 8 missed calls and a text message from Ben as he got more and more nervous about my lateness. LOL With Ben and the lovely Sara in the place, we set off to the meet to hook up with Chris and his 350bhp 4x4 Cossie Saff and Si with his moonstone 3-door, freshly tuned to 320bhp.
I got to the petrol station and Si was already there. We both filled up and then shot off to get some cash. When we returned, Chris had turned up and was busy with the Octane booster and the SUL. He asked what I had had done to my car and there was much sucking of teeth at the mention of NGK plugs as he had blown up his engine when he had them fitted. I asked what he had and he said “FORD Escort Cossie plugs” Well, too late now, lets just get going.
We left Bracknell just before the traffic got too stupid and headed down the M4 at a sedate pace, no-one was interested in racing for a change as we had all that to come.
As we got into the journey, I had an idea. Ben had changed to Si’s car so it was just me and Sara. I asked her to get the camera ready and got on the blower to Ben and Chris. I told Chris to stay in the inside lane and got Si to go in the middle lane. I took the outside lane and it was complete. 3 beefed up Cossies cruising down the M4, 3 abreast. Sara got it on camcorder and with Opus III, “It’s going to be a fine day” coming out of the system, it was perfect moment and a good laugh. Stressed out commuters didn’t like it much though .
As we got to Castle Combe, we saw the place wasn’t that busy. What was obvious was that we were just about the least powerful cars there! Kitted up 911 Carreras sat menacingly with kick *** Lotus Carltons and the usual Caterham and Golf crew. There was even a 360 Moderna and an F50 there! It felt like we were lowering the tone a bit, okay a lot then but we didn’t care. The Cossie boys from Bracknell are here! **** your wimmin, drink your beer!!! And yes there were Scoobies there, but only a couple. a silver Wagon and a sweet blue RA WRX. a nice Evo VI Mak was also there but it didn’t take to the track .
The first thing we had to do was get our exhausts sound tested. I was a little apprehensive though, not for me, but for Chris. His exhaust on boost sounds like a jet turbine and I seriously thought he would breech the 100db limit. Thankfully, we all passed. Chris managed it by feathering the throttle so it was off boost when he was tested and walked away with 92 db. I managed 90 and Si got 88 with his tiny system. Unfortunately, the Ferraris weren’t so lucky. The F50, dispite having a standard system, smashed the limit by 40 db!!!! the 360 was only allowed out so long as it didnt exceed 5500 rpm!! gutted.
we then had to attend the driver’s brief which was straight forward enough with the usual flags/safety rules stuff, but when we were finished we were shown to the Proton GTIs which the instructors took us round to show us the lines. These are sweet little cars and were faultless round the bends. Believe me, the instructor that took me, Si and Chris around took full advantage of the Lotus handling. I want one.
Then it was our turn. We climbed into the respective Cossies and made our way to the track. I have a little ritual I go through when caning my cars off road and today was no different. I removed my plates, made sure nothing could roll about in the boot and taped a piece of paper over my speedo with the words “GO FASTER!!!” written on it. The instructor then came over and said to put my rear plate on as he needed to ID the car. He said I could tape up all but two of the numbers though. I wanted to wear my nice Sparco Crash helmet, but I am so tall that it banged on the headlining when I moved my head and that was when the seat was at its lowest, so I had to leave it I was the first on the track when the light went green and I made my way at the requisite 15mph. I saw 3 other people who had come with us on the spectator banking. So I stopped and gave a little burnout to warm the tyres and entertain them. then I released the brakes and shot forward and onto the track. Heeding the instructors, the other racers and everyone on here to watch out for the tower turn, I took it easy and got on the brakes before the scratches in the tarmac. I then nailed it up to the next turn into bobbles and then kept the speed up for the long sweeper. I then hammered the brakes for the sharp right and then on the brakes and down into second for the esses. Past the pit entrance then to the final sweeper onto the start finish straight. That was cool. ‘Nother few laps? Why not
By the end of the first 10 minute session, I was grinning like a E’d up Cheshire cat . My brakes, however, weren’t so happy. The light warp had turned into a huge one which shook the whole steering column. I resolved to take the brakes easily and power out of the corners. One thing I did get good at was exiting the esses (second chicane) in a huge broadside . Wicked fun and after that I did it every lap.
After a few more sessions, I was starting to get a little worried about the engine. Mervin had said that my turbo had a lot of in and out movement, so that was the huge crack of smoke was all about when I changed down then. I had filled up before we started, but on checking the oil, I saw she was well below min. I tried the garage next to the circuit but they had no semi synthetic 10/40 so I left the paddock to find another garage. I pulled over a few miles into my trip to put my plates back on. I was wondering why everyone was beeping me and flashing me Finally a Shell hoved into view and a 4 litre bottle of semi synthetic 10/40 Helix was mine. I topped up straight away and it was passed around to Chris and Si when I got back.
After lunch (Beef Curry and Chips, Yum) We had a few more goes and as things was getting quieter and quieter we were allowed out whenever we wanted and not just during our session. I was having a great time screeching my tyres round the corners and although my brakes were shagged, thanks to Mintex, there was no fade and the rest of the car was loving every minute of it .
Ben, meanwhile was having a great time on the blag. By mid afternoon, he had blagged a go in the Porsche and the 360. If that wasn’t good enough, he took his camcorder to record the glorious occasion where the Ferrari had been taken to 10,000rpm. lush.
By about 4.30 everyone was tired and my tread was getting very thin indeed. The tread blocks had folded over into the grooves and the outside edge of the front left was slick. However, it was still legal according to Chris who is an MOT tester so we made our way home. Ben and Sara fell asleep as soon as we got going and I was damn tired too, but I kept me eyes open till we all got home.
For 135 notes, I do feel that it is a bit expensive when all we were doing was going round the circuit, but for the experience, it was worth every penny. I really want to do the ‘ring now, but I will have to save for a few months mind.
and get some new tyres
astraboy.

jon hill

cool

i still reckon that the coombe day i did a couple of weeks ago (same as you with the little jaunt in the protons to start) was one of the best organised i've been on. Few cars on track, people were friendly, instructors were plentiful & useful, nobody trying to kill you, etc, etc

jon

astraboy

Blimey, that was quick, are you a speed reader or summat?
Yeah it was well organised, but the best thing was it was quiet! No farting around for 1/2 hour, if you wanted a go, you went
astraboy.

jon hill

er... management, me

you get used to reading reports and skipping the bs. So yours didnt take long to get through

sorry.....

GP

nice read.. CC is my local track - did you book up through them or via one of the trackday outfits ?

jon hill

the one i did was a coombe arranged day - astraboys sounds the same (in that you get a tour in a proton with one of the locals first).

Go for it, great day.

jon