Barkston this sunday?

Get to know you and your car's limits on the track.
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Gerry H
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Post by Gerry H »

Thanks Andy, Sun's shining atm so fingers crossed for a dry day.

Thought you were on holiday, somewhere beginning with 'M', Malta? Madiera? Manchester? I know it was somewhere exotic :D
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Nik
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Post by Nik »

Good luck today guys. :)
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Gerry H
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Post by Gerry H »

Thanks Nik, It was a good day :-D
The RAF have a different class system to the RAC in that classes are determined by practice time not engine capacity and car type. Fastest timed practice sets the top group and anyone within 3 seconds is in that class. Next class is the cars in the next 3 sec. time bracket and so on until all times are accounted for. This means you could find yourself in a class on your own or with a bunch of similar timed cars.

If any of your timed runs knocks 1.75 seconds off your best practice time you're bumped up into the appropriate group. This happened to Andy in June and me today. In both cases we found ourselves up against a very quick Westfield and the organiser's 'thing' sorry, don't know what it's called but it's a pretty rapid two seater low slung sports effort :o (wait till it rains, we'll have the pair of 'em :twisted: )

Ben was there with his lovely Civic Type R and had the vtec screaming on the red line all the way round, tyres squealing and lots of sideways action :o The afternoon session saw Ben shifted up into the next time group so progress is being made. :thumb:

I was quite happy with last in class and 3rd overall. Can't be arsed with driving to a time, I'd rather just get the fastest time I can and to hell with winning any classes.

Having started to get the hang of the course in June, they confounded us, well me anyway, by running in the opposite direction. I preferred this as it seemed to flow better and was later told that the track was intended to be run like this but, in the wet, it's lethal as there's too many solid lumps to hit.

First practice session saw quite a few cars spin on the slippery, final left hander before the blast to the line. I took the first prtactice run quite steady and then went for a fast second run. It was going beautifully and felt really quick until that last bend where I ended up on the grass and facing the wrong way :roll: So a slow practice and a run of three seconds quicker will see me at the bottom of the next group iyswim.

The day's runs over, the course was opened to testing and the opportunity for pax laps. Ben took me out in the Type R which was great fun and then we swapped for me to show him, with wheels on the grass a few times, how not to do it.

All in all a great days motorspost. Looking forward to my next one whichever way they run the course.

One downer, a guy in a newage Scooby bust second gear which will be more expense. Oh and there's a newcomer, a young lad (well he is to me) in a very nice, white, bog standard STi1 Scooby, even has the 2 pot brakes and 15" wheels on it :o

Hopefully Ben will be along with his version of events
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duncan
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Post by duncan »

sounds like you had fun Gerry - bit complicated that class structure and bumping up a class. :?

IWANT1
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Post by IWANT1 »

Well done fella,

Which way was it run Gerry last time i went the start was nearest the pits and running down the hill the first corner being a right hander ie clockwise!

Looking to do the Sept round!

Didn't get a ride out weather looked a bit off!

What sort of cars are entered???
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Gerry H
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Post by Gerry H »

Dunk, it's not really that complicated, the faster you go, the more you're penalised :roll: One useful improvement to the very slick organisation would be the more frequent posting of times. ATM you don't know the times until it's all over so if you make any adjustments you won't know the effect until it's too late. Class adjustments are made after the event is finished and you receive the final results by email some days later. It's still a good day out and excellent vfm.

Lee, today the course was run anti-clockwise i.e. straight up the hill with a sharp left hander and finishing parallel to the peri road.

I've not entered for the Sept one and I'm blowed if I can remember why not so I may enter yet. The more BPs the better :-D

There's a real mix of cars that varies it seems. Last time there was a very quick Jedi there's a few Westfields, Scoobies, SX200, Civic Type R, MR2s, Metro, Mini, BMW M3, Golfs. A very broad spectrum. Not seen any Evos yet :D
Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or hump it, piss on it and walk away!

IWANT1
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Post by IWANT1 »

Cheers Gerry must get my form's in the post :wink:

Just checking there will be something to compete against in the ax!

would i get enough time to run the car with more than one driver?

sorry for all the questions!

Is there an august event?
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Gerry H
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Post by Gerry H »

No problem with Qs Lee.

Sorry forgot you use the AX, there'll be plenty to compete against but I think ultimately, you're competing against yourself and the track at Barkston.

Double drivers is OK. They just ask that the first driver gets to the start smartish and therefore allows the other driver to change over and give the car a little time to cool down. One usefull aspect at Barkston is that you can do your two practice laps back to back without having to rejoin the (short) queue. Same with the timed runs. Also there's no particular order, unlike MSA run sprints.

No, there isn't an August sprint :(

Did you actually run when you went before or spectate?
Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or hump it, piss on it and walk away!

IWANT1
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Post by IWANT1 »

Done an event there with javelin and loved the little track although not a timed event!

Will have to chat on the 3rd i think :wink:
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" Uh Betty you should of seen this car in Ely today!! it had stickers and stripes
all over it, and when it started up, the noise!!!, I could feel my teeth rattling!!!"

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Gerry H
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Post by Gerry H »

Look forward to it :D

Ben was saying he wouldn't mind doing the North Pickenham (?) sprint so I sent him the links. Could do with a few more as the numbers are a bit disappointing.
Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or hump it, piss on it and walk away!

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