Bigpower

A few of us went to Bedford Autodrome last Monday with Focused Events to do the full GT circuit of 4 miles ish and really enjoyed the day. MikeyS in his Impreza Type R, MikeB giving the M3 it's first airing, MikeB's mate, Jamie in his Renault Clio V6 and me in the Dax.

Despite living 20 mins. from the circuit, I haven't been to Bedford for about 4 years owing to the stringent noise restrictions and having a noisy Impreza and being black flagged on my last visit. It's difficult to believe the Dax's V8 as quieter than the Scooby considering it has similar static dB readings from each side exhaust.

The day started very misty which caused a delay in the proceedings but once the mist cleared, the sun appeared and produced a gloriously warm day. The damp track rapidly dried and by the time the sighting laps were completed, there was a definite dry line. I sat in with Mike B for the sighting laps which was rather a waste of time as neither of us took much notice of where the track went. Instead Mike was demonstrating the gizmos and gadgets that made the M3 a bit special. The gearbox is quite amazing particulatly the way it 'blips' the throttle when changing down. Unfortunately I missed the opportunity of further pax laps with Mike once he'd got the hang of the car and had switched off the driver aids.

Having realised that we didn't know the track layout because of too much chat, we decided to take the Dax out for another sighting session. By the time we'd strapped ourselves in and got out of the garage, the pit lane had opened. The Dax seemed to be going OK with none of the electrical gremlins of the previous outing and it actually was displaying some oil pressure, which was nice. Next was a few laps with MikeyS in his very nice Type R Impreza. It really is a nicely sorted car and pulls very strongly right through the rev range. Handling is superb with Mike B's old suspension from his now broken sprint car. Only once was there a hint that something wasn't quite right and the car wasn't heading in the desired direction but a quick girly scream from Mike and some deft steering angle alteration and we were saved the embarrassment of careering off onto the broad, flat, grass run-off

Unfortunately, I didn't get to have a ride in Jamie's Clio but it is a lovely bit of kit although there seemed to be some anguish over checking the oil level in the engine. It was quite amusing watching him, dipstick in hand, clambering through the rear hatch into, what would normally be, the rear passenger seat area and muttering something about "Can't find the bloody hole".

Lunch break arrived and passed without incident. The afternoon however was cut short for me when, out on track and changing down for an approaching corner, I suddenly had no clutch. The pedal went straight to the floor with no resistance and I couldn't find any gears just a box full of crunching noises. I managed to limp back to the pit area and found the clutch slave cylinder at an odd angle to the bell housing. The bolts had come loose and one was lost and the remaining one had been bent by the force of the hydraulics. So, with 5/16"UNC bolts, being rare enough these days to warrant an appearance on Antiques Roadshow, we called it a day at 3:00ish. The guys had a fair journey back to the wilds of Essex and I had the prospect of getting back home with no clutch.

Sorry but no pics from me as I forgot to switch on the camera but Mike B says he has some to post

Anyway. Bedford Autudrome is a great circuit with a good combination of straights and corners. Anti clockwise although you don't really notice. Flat and with loads of runoff I wouldn't want to do it too often being the polar opposite to somewhere like Cadwell, it could soon become boring.

Thanks for the illuminating write up Gerry Interesting to note your thoughts on the circuit being the full GT version; how did you get on with Focused Events as an organiser?

What was the briefing like?
What was the circuit traffic like?
Would you use them again?

I'm sure once you've worked out the gremlins from the Dax it will be huge fun. You seem to have gelled quiet well with it in a short period of time, so more seat time should put you in tremendous stead for next year.

stuart wrote:Thanks for the illuminating write up Gerry Interesting to note your thoughts on the circuit being the full GT version; how did you get on with Focused Events as an organiser?

What was the briefing like?
What was the circuit traffic like?
Would you use them again?

I'm sure once you've worked out the gremlins from the Dax it will be huge fun. You seem to have gelled quiet well with it in a short period of time, so more seat time should put you in tremendous stead for next year.

I don't know about illuminating considering it was started at about 5:30 this morning.

Focused Events seemed to be very well run with minimum interference from the TDO once the briefing was over. The briefing was short sweet and to the point with no dwelling labouriously on points, like some I've attended.

Circuit traffic was controlled very well, as you'd expect at a MSV circuit. Short queues at the pit exit. With 4 miles to hide yourself it certainly wasn't crowded but the mix of cars meant you were catching and being caught. Hold ups by less experienced drivers was minimal as there's plenty of width to the track. A few red flags halted procedings but were soon dealt with and running was resumed. There's always the 'racing driver' who seems to think there's a McLaren talent scout at these events but nothing too out of the ordinary. I was overtaken by a couple of [email="tw@ts"]tw@ts[/email] under yellows who dived in front of me before the red but there's always an Evo about

Would definitely use FE again. Their price structure seems to be very good, the day was

Good write up! I'm there in the cerb and celica in December. I live in between Bedford and Silverstone and Bedford is a great track to practice technique without hitting any horrible walls!

Mine is organsed by Javelin which run the Toyota Sprint Series so I've known the organisers for a few years now. Can't wait

Maybe see some of you guys there

Louise

i want a pax lap! ^ please ta

Buffie wrote:Good write up! I'm there in the cerb and celica in December. I live in between Bedford and Silverstone and Bedford is a great track to practice technique without hitting any horrible walls!

Louise

Thanks!

Beware the noise limits with the Cerb. It's one strike and you're out these days at Bedford

Excellent write up Gerry, I was going to do this circuit with a mate of mine but I was concerned at the low noise level 98 dbA I think, I would have borrowed a rear box off of Russ but this thing really strangles the car, however with such a large circuit this may not be quite the penalty I expect particularly if the straights are long and the bends not low speed what do you think?

We booked Brands in February instead as they have 105 dbA

Bedford is 101dB static and 87.5 drive by @ 20 metres so not as terrible as it sounds but thanks to the local council and whiners there's a very stringent policy to enforce it. You can take your car there to be noise tested which means that one of their (very capable) drivers will drive your car a short distance to check its dB reading past the meters. I think the problems arise with turbo rather than n/a cars where the turbo accounts for the power hike so a static test doesn't really mean too much. Out on track with WOT giving max everything is where the noise damage is done.

They've done a great deal of work to try to contain the noise with earth banking so it's not as if they're trying to catch anyone out. It's not like 'we've got your money so now we'll catch you out' which was the impression I got at Donnington.

There were a couple of, what looked to be, high powered Subarus that did get black flagged but Mikey S' Type R had no problem with 350ish BHP and giving it plenty of beans.

There's a couple of 2nd gear corners with most others being 3rd & 4th (depending on car/ratios), It's ideal for Imprezas as the fuel surge problem is minimised by mostly left hand cornering shame but it's the Imprezas that can't take full advantage.

Sounds like you had a good day Gerry, nice write up as well. Would have to agree the GT circuit at Bedford is a fantastic circuit especially for testing you car.

Thanks Gerry certainly gives food for future thought