Debden July 13th Sprint - Round 5

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 »

Trouble with thinking 'must try harder' is you probably need to trry less hard. Twice, I had to go straight on to miss demolishing the roundabout due to going too fast. I know I wasn't the only one :D

Andy's off? Which Andy and what happened?
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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blacky
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Post by blacky »

ESL went off in the Fun run....did he do much damage Trev?

Reckon they are more dangerous than the proper runs!!

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blacky
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Post by blacky »

Oh, ordered a new Actuator today from Ears Motorsport. saved a whopping

MiKa
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Post by MiKa »

I think you'll find that was a 66.76, Logan...

And I really had to push to do it too. Not sure I could have done it again as it was right on the edge of being too ragged. As always v close between us.

Pleased to have just beaten my previous best there and how well our times compared to the D8 boys.

Good to see so many BP cars out and glad you all enjoyed my home track. If only every venue was literally five minutes away.

The track looks rubbish and close to cocking about around cones but it is a real challenge - two big balls high speed corners that require more than just waiting until the last moment to brake and a tricky, technical final section where it is all too easy to lose time by trying to hard.

Shame about the bent motors - I know what that feels like. Just as well the Army has removed the Portakabin and metal fencing from that end of the track...

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Gerry H
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Post by Gerry H »

I can't begin to imagine how Mike Blackmore got a 63.9 or whatever the time was. But then 66.76 needs a fair bit of imagination too :D

Well done chaps.
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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Stuart
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Post by Stuart »

Well, well, well.

I LOVE sprinting :D
My day started at just after 5.20am as I scrambled from bed like a kid at Christmas. My Gti was ready loaded so all I had to do was wipe the toast crumbs from my top and drive the hour and twenty minutes to Debden.

I followed Lord Houghtons excellent directions and arrived bang in time, with only a Lotus 211 there before me. Nice equal playing field there then :lol:

Soon enough the regular sprinters turned up, all wearing that rather cheeky grin. The sun was shining, everyone was smiling and this was going to be a great day.

Smithys was serving it's usual fine cuisine and I took it upon myself to sample most of their menu. Thanks to Trev and Gerry for helping to fund this substantial effort. The things you do to sabotage your own power to weight ratio :lol:

Power to weight........yes, power to weight; there's a thing. My humble twenty year old Golf reminds me of my aging Belgian Shephard dog, Tara. Loyal, a bit smelly and nowhere near as fast as it was but it still tries to please. The difference between the car and the dog is that you can always get another car, so this was to be the Golfs last outing of any sorts.

(Later that night I would be taking the car to my brothers near Harlow for either sale or breaking and I would drive my replacement home. 'Out with the old' and all that.)

The car sailed through scrutineering with only a cautionary word about the blowing exhaust, then onto practice. Trev and I had walked the course and talked about turn in points and exits. Actually, we talked about Golfs, Imprezas and a few other things but not much course critique. We did talk about avoiding the big ugly, suspension breaking kerbs. Scary stuff. The tall weeds, trees and swampy bits were just inconveniences (well done to Logan, Andy and John for missing all of the above)

Walking the course did little to help a few of us who completely missed the turn in for the 'roundabout'. A cheeky reverse up and wave did the trick for me and no doubt a few others. A fast entry, off camber and blind approach all helped a great deal. ( Note to self; learn to drive)

Practice was crap in terms of time; a very nice S2000 was handing me my arse time wise, and that was going to happen a lot on this day. In fairness this did highlight a little untruth in the whole competitive motorsport thing, taking part is the important thing etc etc. It's only competitive, if you are competitive. I suppose the clue was in the title :? . The Golf does very well but a few of my spec choices really buggered my chances. Oops.

The highlight for me on this day was the laugh and banter. There were some very non-PC things talked about and enjoyed. It made me think that I'd like to be doing this sort of thing for many years. Driving cars, talking nonsense with good friends and getting quicker :thumb:

Not long 'til Lotus (3 weeks) so that's a tiny amount of time to finish the car that is still in bits, but with the help of Rob and Gary, a few late nights and no small amount of sheer luck, I should be there in the BM.

Where's our official photographer? Did he get detained for mucking about with peoples cars? (Ren was trying to hobble several drivers cars and got busted. He then had the bare faced cheek to steal a firec extinguisher that was only 4 years out of date

:o ;)

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blacky
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Post by blacky »

Glad you enjoyed yourself Stu, you did have a big cheezy grin for the most part of the day!

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Stuart
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Post by Stuart »

It was fun with a hundred brake. Can only imagine what it will be like with nearly three hundred :)

MiKa
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Post by MiKa »

Well said Stuart.

No competition - no point.

And sprinting is dead friendly... until you're on the track. Then its Nomex gloves off.

Sprinting may not be great value in

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Stuart
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Post by Stuart »

Spot on Kim

No arguing with petty excuses. You're either quick or you're not.

There is a strange kind of 'fight club' style validation in sprinting. It is nice to becoming part of that.

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