Snetterton 300 Saturday 19th
)
I originally booked myself on this day although I ended up having to cancel as I was booked to go to Bahrain with my V8 Supercar guys. Flew out Wednesday, races cancelled on Thursday, Flew back yesterday 
so wish i'd held onto the place now
Anyway, was hoping to get some onboard video of the new layout. If anyone has any would love to see it ...
Maxx
so wish i'd held onto the place now Anyway, was hoping to get some onboard video of the new layout. If anyone has any would love to see it ...
Maxx
Thoughts on the day
Short version
Wet, over crowded, great feedback on the track and cold like only Snett can be. Great to catch up with the lads
Thanks for the carpet Nik 
Proper version
I arrived at Snetterton, my emotions mixed with envy of those driving on the new '300' circuit, and delight from the warmth of the heated seats in the Lexus as I sheltered from the cold. The paddock was predictably packed as I trundled in, passed lines of vans and trailers up to the Tyrrells restaurant where I parked up.
I soon met a guy who campaigns Fiat Coupe's, and we spoke about his car, how hard he hammers it and the relatively stock specification. Interesting stuff and a smashing chap to be honest. It was the first time he's been to Snetterton being a Bristol lad, so he would be in for a surprise.....hope it was a pleasant one.
I walked towards the pitlane, nodding 'hello' to several familiar faces as I made my way to the garage where Jon and Matt where parked up. Both cars looked good as usual and I exchanged views with the owners about the conditions and the new layout. Positive feedback about the track, if not the weather or Focused Events practice of over selling the day (120+ slots!!No wonder there were queues all day)
I saw another couple of lads that I knew and made my way down to see my mate Mike who owns a ex race Saxo. It was his first time out in it in well over a year and he seemed to be apprehensive about the conditions, what with his brand new R888's, unknown tyre pressures and the close proximity of Armco; not to mention very slippery grass and mud that leads to it! He soon got out there though and started picking off cars....he found his groove quickly enough (Good old boy)
Soon caught up with a few others (Dan, Eddy, Ben, James, Nik, Mike B and Trev...........and Fezza and Pete) and to see the guys all out there having a grin was great. It would have been nice to have had a drive but seeing untold cars come back with mud slewn up them after 'offs' or breakages on the back of recovery trucks soon brought me back to my senses. I think there were lots of people talking about booking Dave's date in April and waiting for some better weather and more space.
The lads collected their free stuff (Enjoy boys ) and Nik was kind enough to cut some carpet for me to replace the Exxon Valdes boot liner I had. I even had a choice of colours!!
After various trips to get coffees, mainly to dry off or get warm, Saxo Mike and I broke for the cover of the Flame Grill diner. We both had a monstrous fry up and reflected on the new track, some business opportunities and the Summer months ahead. Interesting times for sure
Back to the track, I called Nik to see if his passengers needed scaring yet and soon enough, one young lady was strapped into Mike's Saxo for a few laps. This was the perfect opportunity to make a run for it. I bumped into Rob on the way out, gave him his cams and bushes and called it a day. Man I was cold!!
________________
I am sure that the drivers of the day will concur with the success of the layout. The track really is superb, and in my opinion, one of the finest tracks in the country and right on my doorstep! I am sure that the drivers of the day will also concur that it's worth paying a little extra money and having a lot less traffic and queuing. I understand FE's business model but when the circuit limit is 45 cars I think, selling around two and a half times that limit strikes me as madness. In the peak of Summer? Maybe. The first weekend in Winter on a brand new slippery track with even more slippery run offs? Madness.
Roll on the in-car videos; I understand that Jon and Eddy were going particularly well
Wet, over crowded, great feedback on the track and cold like only Snett can be. Great to catch up with the lads
Thanks for the carpet Nik Proper version
I arrived at Snetterton, my emotions mixed with envy of those driving on the new '300' circuit, and delight from the warmth of the heated seats in the Lexus as I sheltered from the cold. The paddock was predictably packed as I trundled in, passed lines of vans and trailers up to the Tyrrells restaurant where I parked up.
I soon met a guy who campaigns Fiat Coupe's, and we spoke about his car, how hard he hammers it and the relatively stock specification. Interesting stuff and a smashing chap to be honest. It was the first time he's been to Snetterton being a Bristol lad, so he would be in for a surprise.....hope it was a pleasant one.
I walked towards the pitlane, nodding 'hello' to several familiar faces as I made my way to the garage where Jon and Matt where parked up. Both cars looked good as usual and I exchanged views with the owners about the conditions and the new layout. Positive feedback about the track, if not the weather or Focused Events practice of over selling the day (120+ slots!!No wonder there were queues all day)
I saw another couple of lads that I knew and made my way down to see my mate Mike who owns a ex race Saxo. It was his first time out in it in well over a year and he seemed to be apprehensive about the conditions, what with his brand new R888's, unknown tyre pressures and the close proximity of Armco; not to mention very slippery grass and mud that leads to it! He soon got out there though and started picking off cars....he found his groove quickly enough (Good old boy
)Soon caught up with a few others (Dan, Eddy, Ben, James, Nik, Mike B and Trev...........and Fezza and Pete) and to see the guys all out there having a grin was great. It would have been nice to have had a drive but seeing untold cars come back with mud slewn up them after 'offs' or breakages on the back of recovery trucks soon brought me back to my senses. I think there were lots of people talking about booking Dave's date in April and waiting for some better weather and more space.
The lads collected their free stuff (Enjoy boys
) and Nik was kind enough to cut some carpet for me to replace the Exxon Valdes boot liner I had. I even had a choice of colours!!After various trips to get coffees, mainly to dry off or get warm, Saxo Mike and I broke for the cover of the Flame Grill diner. We both had a monstrous fry up and reflected on the new track, some business opportunities and the Summer months ahead. Interesting times for sure
Back to the track, I called Nik to see if his passengers needed scaring yet and soon enough, one young lady was strapped into Mike's Saxo for a few laps. This was the perfect opportunity to make a run for it. I bumped into Rob on the way out, gave him his cams and bushes and called it a day. Man I was cold!!
________________
I am sure that the drivers of the day will concur with the success of the layout. The track really is superb, and in my opinion, one of the finest tracks in the country and right on my doorstep! I am sure that the drivers of the day will also concur that it's worth paying a little extra money and having a lot less traffic and queuing. I understand FE's business model but when the circuit limit is 45 cars I think, selling around two and a half times that limit strikes me as madness. In the peak of Summer? Maybe. The first weekend in Winter on a brand new slippery track with even more slippery run offs? Madness.
Roll on the in-car videos; I understand that Jon and Eddy were going particularly well
-
Safety_James
- Posts: 1295
- Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2007 11:58 am
- Location: Snetterton Circuit - Track Safety
- Contact:
Im pleased everyone enjoyed it, a lot of time and work has been put in, not just from contractors, but also from the marshals who worked day in and day out in the wet doing various tasks to get the place ready..
Driving standards today were mixed, some real idiots ruining it for everyone, by constantly spinning and getting stuck in the wet soil that is currently around 70% of the track edge, causing us to have to keep stopping to lift you with the big trucks out as we cant get near with the normal tow trucks.
I can't stress enough that it is essential people take the time to go out and learn the circuit, it is a lot to take in I understand this, I get excited every time I drive out too
Sadly we had 3 vehicles today majorly damaged from hitting armco, and a couple with light damage, and the rest full to the brim with mud and slush, 17 odd red flags is poor and it affects everyone on the day! (Including my new boots now ruined
)
As always no BP member misbehaved whatsoever, and the comments about Eddies sensational Metro were non stop all day over the radio!!
What i find quite interesting is the real difference in speed all cars are now making coming past the start line due to the extra track at Russell, and the number of cars forgetting this when they hit Riches
Anyway, im probably boring you all, so Im going to bed, got to do it all again tommorrow for Javelin!
PS - Big thanks to Stu for the Wheels and Flocked Dash!! |:cheers2:
Driving standards today were mixed, some real idiots ruining it for everyone, by constantly spinning and getting stuck in the wet soil that is currently around 70% of the track edge, causing us to have to keep stopping to lift you with the big trucks out as we cant get near with the normal tow trucks.
I can't stress enough that it is essential people take the time to go out and learn the circuit, it is a lot to take in I understand this, I get excited every time I drive out too
Sadly we had 3 vehicles today majorly damaged from hitting armco, and a couple with light damage, and the rest full to the brim with mud and slush, 17 odd red flags is poor and it affects everyone on the day! (Including my new boots now ruined
)As always no BP member misbehaved whatsoever, and the comments about Eddies sensational Metro were non stop all day over the radio!!
What i find quite interesting is the real difference in speed all cars are now making coming past the start line due to the extra track at Russell, and the number of cars forgetting this when they hit Riches
Anyway, im probably boring you all, so Im going to bed, got to do it all again tommorrow for Javelin!
PS - Big thanks to Stu for the Wheels and Flocked Dash!! |:cheers2:
インテグラ TYPE R 無限
As above
Not a great vid as it was filmed with i-phone4, But click HD and enjoy...
I'll edit and post some more tomorrow.
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Not a great vid as it was filmed with i-phone4, But click HD and enjoy...
I'll edit and post some more tomorrow.
<object width="853" height="510"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LbUA-w06Oh4?fs ... ram><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LbUA-w06Oh4?fs ... rel=0&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="853" height="510"></embed></object>
