Today I was at Brands Hatch working for Trackmasters - a Subaru enthustiasts club.
They had organised the trackday and had booked me to coach drivers in 20 min sessions as and when they wanted me.
Friday, 22 February 2008
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
wednesday 20th february - alconbury
A half day today with in fisher fury. Powered by a honda fireblade engine the car has a pretty good power to weight ratio and a sequential gearbox too.
The car handled quite a lot like my ginetta g20 did which meant a little understeer but a stable car. the fisher is a bit lighter though so it was more willing to change direction than the g20.
Steven will be racing the car in class c of the 75o motor club 'RGB' (Road Going Bike-Engined) championship. Today gave him a good practice at using the cars braking to full potential and we also worked on trail braking into the corners to get rid of the understeer.
Our plan now is to do a few trackdays at circuits before the race meetings so that steven can make the most of the car on race weekends.
Tuesday, 19 February 2008
Tuesday 19th Feb - Silverstone Gp Circuit
Another day with Kevin Norville in his GT3. We're steadily building pace and keeping the inputs smoother. Now that Kevin is not using too much steering lock his tyres are wearing more evenly and at a lower rate - but we are lapping quicker!
Saturday, 16 February 2008
saturday 16th february - Our charity trackday in aid of the British Heart Foundation
Today was our now annual charity trackday at castle combe. As always Katie organised a top day and mother nature smiled upon us with bright sunshine all day.
A great day was had by all and in total we raised over £2500 for the British Heart Foundation.
A big thank you to everybody who came. Check out our website for more upcoming trackdays.
Our friend Chris Firth who supports my ginetta racing brought along a couple of sponsors for the day and I took them for some passenger rides. It was a great chance to show off our new pit awning and flooring. Many thanks
to The Complete Office for their purchase of this.
A great day was had by all and in total we raised over £2500 for the British Heart Foundation.
A big thank you to everybody who came. Check out our website for more upcoming trackdays.
Our friend Chris Firth who supports my ginetta racing brought along a couple of sponsors for the day and I took them for some passenger rides. It was a great chance to show off our new pit awning and flooring. Many thanks
to The Complete Office for their purchase of this.
Friday, 15 February 2008
friday 15th Feb - Mallory Park - My first run in a G50!
Ginetta had Booked Mallory park for 2 days of testing. Track time was split between Juniors (on half term) and G50's. As the first 6 customer cars were delivered and were testing Ginetta allowed other customers to try the factory car.
I was given twenty laps in the prototype G50 this morning and I have to say I cant wait to get mine! The car is very well balanced and has a tendancy to 'porpoise' a little, very much in the same way that a porsche GT3 does.
My best lap in the factory car was 50.2 seconds. About 1.5 seconds off of the fastest laps set by the other drivers who had been in them for a day and a half. Given a full days testing in my car I should be on frontrunning pace.
I was given twenty laps in the prototype G50 this morning and I have to say I cant wait to get mine! The car is very well balanced and has a tendancy to 'porpoise' a little, very much in the same way that a porsche GT3 does.
My best lap in the factory car was 50.2 seconds. About 1.5 seconds off of the fastest laps set by the other drivers who had been in them for a day and a half. Given a full days testing in my car I should be on frontrunning pace.
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
wednesday 13th February - Alconbury Airfield
It's half term week for juniors so patrick fletcher made use of today and shared his car with fellow Karter Myles ...
We used the sprint course for patrick to focus on his braking technique on corner entry which he improved a lot on. We're at Brands at the end of the month so we'll see if the progress made today will carry over to the proper circuits. 'Patch's' car will also be up to 2008 spec (different tyres and front dampers) for Brands.
Myles had his first taste of car driving and improved very well throughout the day. After covering the basics of using the clutch / changing gear / braking with right foot etc in the morning we progressed on to the sprint course in the afternoon. Myles ended up just 1.3 seconds slower than Patrick in the same car. Very good from someone who had never driven a car before the day!
We used the sprint course for patrick to focus on his braking technique on corner entry which he improved a lot on. We're at Brands at the end of the month so we'll see if the progress made today will carry over to the proper circuits. 'Patch's' car will also be up to 2008 spec (different tyres and front dampers) for Brands.
Myles had his first taste of car driving and improved very well throughout the day. After covering the basics of using the clutch / changing gear / braking with right foot etc in the morning we progressed on to the sprint course in the afternoon. Myles ended up just 1.3 seconds slower than Patrick in the same car. Very good from someone who had never driven a car before the day!
Sunday, 10 February 2008
sunday 10th february - Snetterton
Another Day with Patrick 'Patch' Fletcher in his Saxmax Saxo. Patrick passed his ARDS test on thursday with good reports from his assesors at Castle Combe. Patricks car control is superb and he knows no fear. We got up to a good pace but I feel there's more to come from him in the way he comes off the brakes entering corners. A little more finesse in this area will help carry more speed through the corners.
I was also out with Richard Green - Regular Customer and one of my racing sponsors, in his caterham. Richard Built his car with his son Pascal - who couldn't be with us due to a school trip.
I was also out with Richard Green - Regular Customer and one of my racing sponsors, in his caterham. Richard Built his car with his son Pascal - who couldn't be with us due to a school trip.
Thursday, 7 February 2008
7th February - Silverstone GP
A full day with trackday novice Stephen Shields in his audi RS6. Stephen progressed well and was keeping GT3's in sight by the end of the day. The RS6 is a quick car but very heavy and the smoother you drove it the faster it went and the less the tyres complained!
I also took Kevin out in his GT3 - with some new tyres on! (see 2nd feb) We worked on not getting on the throttle too soon in the corner (creating understeer and scrubing the front tyre).
Saturday, 2 February 2008
Saturday 2nd Feb - Silverstone National
A busy day today working with 3 cars / drivers. Patrick 'Patch' Mason out on cicuit for the first time in his saxmax race car, Kevin Norville in his porsche GT3 and Katie's brother Stewart in his Fiesta race car.
Patrick had a superb day and was really flying. Initialy trying to go a bit too fast into the corners but by the end carrying massive speed through them all. we had the Saxo taking copse at 85mph in fourth gear - not bad at 13 years old!!
Kevin's day was cut short by an overly worn front left tyre which started to delaminate. It was very worn at the start of the day. For safety reasons we stopped driving at mid day. Kevin's using a bit too much lock after the apex of the corners at the moment which is contributing to the wear. Over our next few days training we will focus on this to make him not only smoother and faster but wear the tyres out less quickly.
Stewarts Fiesta was fresh back from Daniels Motorsport having had a winter 'service' Unfortunately the car had a sticking right rear brake which was causing the car to 'handbrake turn' at Brooklands - the only real left turn on the circuit. This caused Stewart to have a spin on his first lap which we initially thought was cold tyres. I then drove and the car spun so violently that the steering wheel pulled itself out of my hands. In trying to recover the spin the wheel spun and hit my thumb which now has a masive blood blister under the nail. I wont post a pic! We couldn't fix the problem on the day so had to pack up.
Patrick had a superb day and was really flying. Initialy trying to go a bit too fast into the corners but by the end carrying massive speed through them all. we had the Saxo taking copse at 85mph in fourth gear - not bad at 13 years old!!
Kevin's day was cut short by an overly worn front left tyre which started to delaminate. It was very worn at the start of the day. For safety reasons we stopped driving at mid day. Kevin's using a bit too much lock after the apex of the corners at the moment which is contributing to the wear. Over our next few days training we will focus on this to make him not only smoother and faster but wear the tyres out less quickly.
Stewarts Fiesta was fresh back from Daniels Motorsport having had a winter 'service' Unfortunately the car had a sticking right rear brake which was causing the car to 'handbrake turn' at Brooklands - the only real left turn on the circuit. This caused Stewart to have a spin on his first lap which we initially thought was cold tyres. I then drove and the car spun so violently that the steering wheel pulled itself out of my hands. In trying to recover the spin the wheel spun and hit my thumb which now has a masive blood blister under the nail. I wont post a pic! We couldn't fix the problem on the day so had to pack up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
