Nice to meet you....

Was out playing for the first time at Gurston Down annual test day on Sunday with OK ish times until it rained/ hailed. then the track went from dusty to wet to muddy or, some grip to little grip to no grip!! so lets get some wet running then when the Cof C called it a day it stopped raining and started to dry up
It is also nice to meet Simon just before a run, and I must appoligise if I could not have a good old chat but those dark clouds were coming!
Any way I will be out again on the 22nd April along with Simon and on the 23rd at Gurston.

Ive started another thread for those of us speeders to record the year.....I look forward to you and Simon's updates! Personally I think I'm gonna get my asp kicked this year

Personally I think I'm gonna get my asp kicked this year

Same here.

[simontaylor]

Red21, good to meet you too, nicely prepared car.

I have started by setting sights low, so I can nominate myself for most improved driver at the end of the year !!!

I'm carrying all that original weight, (Andy, plus extra balast in my ground hugging AZEVs), the cluth is playing up or on the verge of slipping, I've got no idea if my corner weights are good, never been on a RR, got standard brakes on 20mm thin disks (by they are grooved) and never been on the courses before.

My target is to "not come last at every event", so repeat visits to the same venue could help me out and the 1st event has a bunch of Austin sevens entered.

See you on the 22nd, I'll be No 94.

Simon 'stealth' Taylor

Simon ,did you compete yesterday

[simontaylor]

Yup, a pretty fantastic day out.
Really friendly bunch of people, some pretty nice motors there too, well organised, good food and a reasonable crowd hanging over the fence.

I did 2 practice runs and 2 timed runs.
1st practice was more of a gentle drive for familiarisation, testing the tarmac with my tryes, seeing what the corners really look like and how fast it really was........ or could be.
2nd practice was much more agressive and changed gear in more appropriate places, knocked 4 seconds off.
Both timed runs were a .5 and .2 seconds slower than my 2nd practice, but each had it's fluffed gear change at different corners. Trying too hard probably.
One corner is close to being on full lock, changing into 1st, steeper than a multi-story car park ramp, with a crest you cant see over and rumble kerbs. Easy at a slow pace, but much more challenging at speed.
I can tell you that there is a big problem for GTAs sprinting, yes you guessed it..... HEAT. The turbo plenum stays pretty cool on my car while idling and the V6 is even cooler, then after a minute or so of sprinting both plenums are so hot you can only dab them for a moment. On the last straight the acceleration in 3rd was atrousous, just no grunt at all, I'm guessing the motor's induction system is completely heat soaked by then.

Saving up for a Charge-Cooler.

Would I do it again, you bet.
All you need is an MSA licence £33, type-A helmit (say £200 I already had one), suit, less than £100 new (also available on ebay for £20) and events are £60-£90. registration gave me a programme and 2 entry tickets, worth £19 in them selves, so it's only about £50 more than being a spectator.

Just a few other home made bits, like timing strut, yellow tape around the battery earth, headrests (already have those), 3 point belt is acceptable (I installed a 4 point harness (£50 from demon tweeks), just make sure the car is tidy and safe, like battery well bolted down and no floor mats. Must be road legal too with Tax and MOT.

Give it a try some time.

Next event is in 2 weeks at Curbourgh, Sat 6th. Next year I "might" consider going back to 15 inch wheels, then I'll be standard class rather than modified. I'm sure it will be easier to keep up with the M3s, 944s and old Audi quatros than a fire spitting 4 wheel drive Evo6 and Carerra GT3. It's all about how the rules are interprited!

Will try and make sure to get to Curborough to cheer you on next event

I am glad you enjoyed the day, and unlike yesterday today was very wet and then remained damp for the timed runs.

[pgoldsmith]

I'm going to Gurston on 17th/8th June so I'll look out for both of you.
It's always a good day out there and nice to see some Alpines on the course.
There was chap (Peter Ellens I think) who regulary raced his A110, unfortunately his halfshaft broke on one of his runs and I havent seen him race since.

[simontaylor]

I will be at Abingdon's CAR nival on the 10th, with Pete, his A110 is back with extra punch from some slicks too.

See the speed season 2006 thread for the cars I'm up against, includes a 350Z