This won't muster much sympathy among the troops, but I cannot decide what car to drive to Le Mans. The entry list for the Le Mans Carrera Cup race has just been issued - I'm one of 61 cars, most of the others being handy regulars in 991 GT3 Cup racers. This should be preying on my mind, but instead I cannot decide whether I should bimble down to Le Mans in
the old M5
the posh Fiat
. Racing can wait for now, this is an important choice.
Well, it'd be a crime to leave it behind, right?
The case for the black corner, offering 286hp with a bodyshell slightly more rigid than a paper aeroplane, is quite compelling. I haven't used the M5 for eight months and this is the perfect opportunity to do so. It is fully fit, but it does have the slightest brake judder from the front axle - and I mean slightest. Otherwise it is ideal for the trip because it's relaxing and comfortable and fun at low speed. I also adore the way it looks, sounds and - well - everything about it.
But will that brake judder get a little worse during the trip? Could that become the factor which spoils the whole journey? It's nothing at the moment - but who can tell?
I rolled the car out of hibernation on Friday and used it all weekend. It took a little while for everything to absorb a heat cycle, but the motor's crisp, the clutch feels good and, most importantly, the engine fan and thermostat have been stress-tested. Nothing worst than discovering this isn't the case in the queue for the Chunnel.
The M5 has five seats aiding its sociability status, it has a large boot and I've had the air-con recharged yesterday. Its credentials are only dented by the fact that the old Blaupunkt Bremen's tape deck has gone on the blink, meaning I might need to crack open my iPod radio-transmitter thingy which is brilliant at locating and broadcasting local French pirate radio, but not so good at sending a tune from my iPhone to the hi-fi. I had bought a refurbished Blaupunkt Toronto for it a few months back, but it didn't come with the right cable attachments, so I can't fit it just now. Gah.
But can it carry Harris's on-site Le Mans wheels?
Lurking in the red corner, recently serviced at vast expense as chronicled in these pages, is the near 60,000 mile 512 TR. There can't be many in Europe showing more leg, surely? It's driving superbly. I always feel the only way to derive any value from big bills is to get out and use the bloody thing - so despite feeling all E28 M5 about this week, I'm struggling to ignore the fact that a near 1,000-mile road trip would be perfect. And the brakes don't have even the slightest judder, plus it boasts a fully-functioning cassette player and a CD changer.
It also happens to look, sound and drive in the coolest manner imaginable.
Further complications arise with the racing timetable for the Nurburgring 24-hour. The Carrera Cup race is on Saturday morning - of course I'll hang around to see the main event, then I was going to head straight to the 'ring. But that would mean too much hanging around in Germany. Instead I might head back to the UK for a night and then to the N24 where I'm driving an Aston N430 in the 24. Yes, life isn't too bad at the moment.
The decision was further complicated last night by team-mate and fellow scribbler Dickie Meaden of Evo saying he needed a lift from Dusseldorf Airport to the 'ring next Tuesday. I'm not sure I could fit him in the TR with all my clobber and the toy I'm about to buy - a folding Brompton bicycle. I used one in and around race paddocks last year. Genius bit of kit.
Off to the 'shop to see about that brake judder
So, I'm thinking drop the M5 to have new front discs and pads, take the 512 to Le Mans, swap it Monday for the M5, collect R Meaden somewhere in Northern Germany and head to the 'ring. Sounds like a plan.
Now I really ought to spend some time thinking about 61 cars heading in to the chicane before the Dunlop Bridge. It'll be completely mental.
Update
Went out for another spin in the M5 - it's too perfect to leave behind. Brake pad warning light was on so popped in to Forza West in Chepstow who kindly popped it on the ramp - the cable had worked itself loose. So now fixed and no light. Noticed front right wheel had lost its weights, so nipped to EK Tyres and had my four, pretty ruined, Avon ZZs re-balanced, much to the confusion of the chap doing the work! Ordered a new set of Goodyears for when I return.
Still a weeny vibration but miles better.
So, we're going in the M5. This is an M5 kind of trip, not a 512 trip. I don't know why I feel that way, but I do.
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