Bigpower

Wow

What a great circuit !!!

Just like a real racing track but narrow

The day started with the drivers briefing where there said that the track was VERY slippery and to be careful for the first hour or so.

Stu's car was still misfiring intermitently but I will leave him to tell you about his disappointments

I had managed to convince Rachel (my wife i you dont know her) that it would be best to come out with me first thing so that she can build up confidence in being on track as my speed built up rather than jump in once I had got used to the track. Anyway we were on the down slope to the track and the track had to be closed while they cleared the debris of a crashed scooby and repaired barriers - 3rd lap and he loses it into the barriers opposite the pits doing both front and rear bumpers ... he must have been asleep during the briefing !!

Once opened we proceeded to tiptoe around for a couple of laps to try and learn which way the track went and to get some heat into the tyres. I could feel the track getting grippier so started to get quicker. This circuit is truly beautiful, in a kinda mini nurburgring way but not quite as forboding .. loving it

I duly dropped rachel back at the pits having endured 6 laps of fun and one or two sideways bits on the slippy bits and then headed back out for a few more laps to get my eye in and follow some of the more experienced guys around.

A short break for a bacon butty (the food there is top class btw ) and Stu strapped himself in for some laps. The car was starting to get quicker and smoother but brake judder was starting to appear as it felt as if brakes discs were starting to warp with the heat.. the turns, hills and speed takes their toll on the brakes here !

Not to worry, just brake a little earlier and problem solved - this didnt seem to affect things too much and meant that I had to concentrate more on getting the lines right and carrying speed out of the corners.

Lunch came at the right time and we managed to dodge the trail of food drippings from Paul's overloaded plate of gravy and baked beans (sure there were other things on there but most of them had life-rafts

After lunch I had booked some tuiton (provided free on the day) and was pleased when he said that my lines were excellent, apart from widening the entry to the first of the series of corners by the pit straight. Very pleasing to hear I dropped him off and proceeded to hammer it for a few laps to put this into action.

Brake Judder was getting worse now as speeds were higher so a short drive of normal speeds and a cruise around the circuit were in order to cool stuff down.

Fellow BigPower guys were there in force with Pavlo, John Felstead, Gerry H, Andy916 all enjoying the circuits flowing nature and getting the best from the cars.

From my own point of view I enjoyed this massively and finished the day showing Rachel how much quicker I had got during the day - she was suitably scared - mission accomplished. The only downside was the lack of playtime on the track with Stu.

If anyone gets a chance to do Cadwell - do it, it is superb

Oh and you can take off on the mountain in a car

.....numerous pics to follow in the events pics area

Good to hear you've had a good day, hope Stu gets his problem sorted asap.

cadwell is a great circuit, wish i could of come along.

Excellent write up mate. Sounds like a good day.

It's the Scalextric track you never had quite enough bits for

:pmsl: i always wanted to build the nurburgring as a kid in the 4 lane format but never got enough track to do it

The track was very slippery at the start of the day but got quicker and quicker as the day went on

Stu timed a lap of mine in the afternoon as 1min 45 - well chuffed with that seeing as the brake judder was causing me to brake earlier

No idea how that compares to proper cars around there but it seemed quick enough to me.

Many thanks to Stuart and Duncan for their organisation on this one.

My day got off to a slow start, fitting a replacement expansion tank which Paul had brought along for me after mine had fractured the day before. I wasn't too bothered, as grip would surely be improving as the surface warmed and dried.

Once out there I began to enjoy as if it were my first (bike) trackday there 9 years ago! Of all the UK circuits it's the one I know the best, from trackdaying then racing bikes there. Concerns about it being narrow for a car soon evaporated, with traffic generally sparse enough (and well behaved) for a free rein. The mountain was just as much fun as on a bike, spinning up over the crest. From there it's a short straight past the clubhouse into the woodland section. Minimal run-off and tree cover mean that care is required all the way around there. A good exit from the final righthander, Barn, is important for speed along the bottom straight. From there, there's the awesome uphill lefthander, Coppice, and the double apex blind right, Charlies. Once again, good drive is the key to speed along the straight. Beyond that, Park corner then Chris curve into the gooseneck is another awesome fast section. Chris is long, narrow and flat-in-4th once you've worked up to it (in a Scoob WRX with standard engine). The Gooseneck is just as dramatic, plunging steeply downhill to Mansfield corner, then a short straight to the base of the mountain again.

Sorry to ramble on, but re-running the lap like that brings a smile to my face

Laptiming wasn't officially allowed (trackday insurance gets more and more restrictive...) but I'm told that I did 1:51 whilst chasing the much faster John on one session. I did the day on ordinary road tyres (T1S) and it'll be interesting to do it next time on grippier tyres. I have a set of slicks on trackday wheels, but wasn't allowed to use them without a rollcage - another insurance restriction.

All in all a great day, with weather better than we'd dare hope. Will look forward to another trackday with you guys soon.

cheers
Andy

Was great to put a name to a face Andy - think Paul got some nice pics of you in action. My pics are not quite up to that level but will get them sorted tomorrow

Lovely walk through of the lap - brings a smile to my face too

Nice to meet you and Lucy on the day mate and I'm glad you got the car sorted out. I must admit the friendly intimate nature of the circuit and day was one of the highlights for me. I suppose my sparse drivers moments allowed me to concentrate on watching everyone learn the track and the way people got quicker was noticeable, or seemed it, from the cafe.

Great food, I think I sampled most of the menu, and the most obscenely good weather contributed to making a personally disastrous day into a good overall experience. Nice to meet John, Pavlo and see Gerry again. Met a few lads with old school Xr4x4's too, they may be making an appearance on here as one was turbocharged and once set up correctly, could make a great budget trackday weapon.