Ford Fair - Silverstone National ciruit

[pablo]

Sorry for the lack of photos but there will some incar footage to follow tomorrow.

A perfectly timed departure ment that me and Alan joined the motorway only a couple of miles apart as we had decided that due to only fitting the gearbox at 7.30 the night before Alan would drive the car the 25 miles to the service station to bed it in. Once there we loaded it onto the trailer and headed off for Silverstone.
We arrived at about 07.15 and straight away a problem. Inspite of me going to some lenghts to sort us out a pit garage when we got there our names wasn't on any list.......So we ended up parking by Race Control which had the advantage of easy and quick access to the track.

Once we got the car unloaded and ready for a days work it was off to the briefing where they clearly pointed out 'Overtaking wes only allowed on the staights and not to avertake in the breaking zones or on the bends.

Session 1
Due to all the changes to the car I wanted Alan to take it gentle for the first session. Alan agreed to take it easy for the first 2 laps then as ha put it 'I'm going to kick the shit out of it'.
This session set the tone for the day. We did an out lap and an in lap. On the first flying lap 2 Focus's had a coming together.
Once back in the paddock I said to Alan 'I thought you were going to take it easy, I don't call that taking it easy'
To which he replied 'I was'. Yer right I thought.

Session 2
First flying lap all going well then As Alan entered Luffield on the racing line some knob in a Fiesta thought ohh a gap and stuffed it up the inside as Alan was turning in. Knob. Alan held his line without turning in anymore then some prick in a BMW M3 csl decided that as Alan and the Fiesta hadn't collieded there must be room for him and this almost put Alan off. Needless to say Alan was not happy and as he hunted them down he wass passing a Puma just before Maggots when the Puma turned in causing Alan to vear left and nail the throttle when he should have been breaking. Nice slide mate and well held. On the next lap the red flags were out for a broken down Capri just after Copse. 3 laps competed this session.
When we got back to the paddock Alan was well and truely wound up as a result of the prick in the M3 almost having him off

Session 3
As we waited to go out we were sat behind a Porsche carrea S and infront of that was the M3. When we headed out onto track my first thought was feck that Porsche is quick we won't be catching him...Pace car in and all hell broke loss. Alan really had been taking it easy earlier. He nailed the throttle coming out of Luffield straight after the M3, then backed off before nailing it through Copse and straight past the M3. The rest of the session Alan was fully on it and to say I was shocked is an understatment. Noticeably Copse, I glansed at the speedo several times and on his approach to Copse he was hitting 125mph and when I glanced up all I could see was the 50mtr markerboard about 25mtrs away. Then hard on the brakes and turn in at approx 85-90 mph. He was vicious, brutal and relentless in his abuse of the car......Then.....As he exited Luffield he glanced in the mirror and saw plumes of smoke. Far play to him though his reactions are quick, direct and again ruthless. The first I was aware of somethging being wrong was when he slammed on the brakes whilst his head was going side to side as he checked all his mirrors and even his nearside blindspot. As I was sat there thinking 'what,what', he hasd turned right had the car aimed at the pit lane on the otherside of the grass and headed straight over the grass, across the pitlane and onto another patch of grass stopping the car feet from 2 marshalls.

After a lot of panic searching we realised that the smoke was caused by oil surge through the breather tank out the filter and onto the exhaust. So thats the next job a new catch can set up.

The car went really well although the tyres really are shot. So all in all a good day, we didn't bother with the 4th session as Alan can't do gentle.

A few more tweaks needed but she is definately quicker and corners harder.

[Stuart]

Nice write up Pablo

You guys will always run into trouble on track time public sessions like this, and in truth, you guys are also probably guilty of causing as much trouble as anyone else too The mix of driving standard, track experience and car performance is always going to raise the risks of incidents up to a higher level. I am frankly amazed that public track sessions like these aren't more heavily restricted than they are.

I know that these sessions are great for potential marketing for TNT, and a bloody good laugh too, but to use them for testing or serious track work strikes me as madness.

Back to the car though, and it definitely sounds promising for the future; well done to all involved with it.

[pablo]

Cheers Stu. You always get these problems more so when they use the National Circuit instead of the GP Circuit as the number of cars on track is the same. I agree that we probably put pressure on other track users and from the general comments we had on the car I do feel that we have bascially put a target on our own backs.

[pablo]

Session 2. Unedited

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/a60RvpILduc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[pablo]

Session 3

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OesN6AzNF6w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[pjs65]

That looked a bit hectic in the first part and a bit of a difference in some of the performance levels between the cars , a bit of a hairy px ride there . When the track opened out in the 2nd vid the car looked to be running well , apart from the early stop you must be pleased with how it went and did the new found 100hp make a difference . Silverstone always looks to me a bit bland to me , is it actually better to drive than it looks . Pete

[Stuart]

is it actually better to drive than it looks?

No

[pablo]

The GP circuit is better than the National circuit (the one in the vid). For me there are 2 corners that make that circuit. 1 Copse. If you really attack it and carry a lot of speed it's truely rewarding but by the time you've finished patting yourself on the back you're turning into maggotts. 2 Luffield, slow and hard to get the best line but again get the exit right and it catapults you onto the old start finish straight and then a deep breath for copse.