The loneliness of the long distance club racer
Discussion
Harris_I said:
As I'm hearing from a lot of the other club racers on this thread we seem to have a shared experience of just not having enough seat time and what time we do have has its share of challenges.
I didn't expect to do anything more than the Silverstone 24 this year - and given it was my race ambition, I was chuffed to bits with how it went. Was due to do Britcar's 3-hour at Donington last weekend but we ended up with no serviceable car. Not sure when I'll be out again but at least I did get a nice long session in the GT4.Chris.
t too Only just seen this thread, but captured this one at the recent CSCC round at Brands. If you want a high res copy of the image just pm me and I will email it across (lovely looking car by the way...)
Porsche 996 GT3 by jon bawden, on Flickr
Porsche 996 GT3 by jon bawden, on Flickr
Second and last race of the year I’m afraid. Wish it could be more but I would need a much more understanding family and boss. This time it’s Thruxton, home of the BARC and reputedly the country’s quickest circuit.
Today I have pit crew (hurray), although my nephew is mechanically even less competent than me (boo). Nephew is duly educated in Newton’s First Law of Spanner Monkeys: if it moves and shouldn’t, use duct tape; if it should move and doesn’t, use WD40. With advanced race car engineering out the way, my nephew proves very helpful in removing the burden of race day logistics.
I haven’t heard much in the way of track days at Thruxton, although it does seem to offer those generic “supercar experiences” which I can’t say sounds very interesting to me. For a petrolhead, this limited access should be a crime against humanity because the circuit is both wonderful and terrifying in equal measure. I mean really, truly, eyes-on-stalks terrifying.
Quali is a wide-eyed, white knuckle succession of blind apex after blind apex, all at three figure speeds over a one mile stretch of the 2 mile circuit, at the end of which I have recalibrated my definition of adrenaline junkie. I immediately wish I had invested in a new set of Cup 2s: at driver briefing this morning, the clerk of the course had strongly advised us that Thruxton requires the best rubber we can get and I bit my tongue. Mine are on their fifth raceday outing (it sounds ludicrous just typing it – feel free to flame away). The tread refuses to die but the rubber has clearly heat-cycled too many times as the car has a tendency to skip laterally through the long fast right handers. In a sense it feels lovely: a wrestling match with the Cup steering wheel, a workout of the left deltoid over a bumpy, physical surface. But an old-fashioned four wheel drift on bakelites is not a great way to hustle a modern car and a large part of me is worried about the consequences of a blow out as tyres heat up, or putting a wheel on the grass in a moment of inattention.
There, that’s the racing driver excuses out the way. I settle for 19th out of 29 on the grid. Today is a standing start which possibly gives me a better chance of out-dragging the pack and then hopefully learning the circuit as I go. Amateurs, eh.
The long wait between quali and the last race of the day gives me a chance to ogle the road and race cars in the paddock. A few notables:
Lights out. I was expecting to get away quickly but not this quickly. Bloody hellfire. I’ve had plenty of practice perfecting the getaway at sprint races in Dubai over the years. A smidge over 2000 revs is all that’s required given the weight over the back wheels. As the pack pours into turn 1, I’ve made up several places although it is only a matter of time before I get mugged by the gang of M3s as they bruise their way past the mobile chicane I am creating. Eventually I am left to battle the three Seat Supercopas, a delicious little Lotus Exige and a fabulously turned out Mondeo touring car.
The Exige is quicker than me but I am doing my best to hold the racing line. Sadly it doesn’t end well for him as he attempts to squeeze through the inside just as I am turning in to clip the apex. He manages to avoid contact but ends up spinning into the long grass where he remains immobile for the rest of the race. The driver and I have an amicable chat afterwards so no hard feelings.
Despite a conscious effort to drive conservatively and hold a little something back, I climb to 13th overall and 3rd in class which is not too shabby. In the spirit of full disclosure, I should say that not everyone has finished so the result does flatter me. The jury is still out on my options for next year. Although I can gladly file the day in the “happy memory” box, I must admit the end of the day feels something of a relief which doesn’t feel quite right. I guess my heart hadn’t really been in it before the start of the day particularly as I’d had to sacrifice a family event to be here.
It’s a bit like those cop movies where the protagonist has one last case to solve on his last day before retirement, and just wants to get through it in one piece. As racing driver excuses go, it’s a bit lame because let’s face it, the reason I’ve been miles off the pace this weekend is a severe skill deficit and it will only stay the same as long as I find time for only a couple of outings a year. It will certainly take a lot of time and training to have the confidence to go flat through Village into Church Corner and I absolutely definitely want to be doing that on fresh tyres only. It reminds me of turn 4 at the Dubai Autodrome which is a flat out, off-camber kink also taken at three figure speeds, and nicknamed Porsche Corner for obvious reasons.
The Classic Sports Car Club is an excellent club for the dilettante to dip his toe on an occasional basis although be warned the competition can be significantly “less amateur”! I can’t deny it’s a stretch to invest the required time and effort in such a niche hobby, hence the thread title. Amateur motorsport is a real labour of love and summer weekends are at a premium, especially with club cricket competing much more successfully for my affections.
So until I make a definitive decision about next year, it’s time to prepare the car for the gentler pursuit of track days sans decals. That means refresh fluids, leather buckets back in, fresh set of Cup 2s, new front Alcons, and maybe think about replacing the front and back bumpers which are looking pretty haggard these days – I would appreciate some advice on sourcing replacements without paying the OPC you-having-a-larf tax. I might even treat Cobalt to a coat of polish…
Today I have pit crew (hurray), although my nephew is mechanically even less competent than me (boo). Nephew is duly educated in Newton’s First Law of Spanner Monkeys: if it moves and shouldn’t, use duct tape; if it should move and doesn’t, use WD40. With advanced race car engineering out the way, my nephew proves very helpful in removing the burden of race day logistics.
I haven’t heard much in the way of track days at Thruxton, although it does seem to offer those generic “supercar experiences” which I can’t say sounds very interesting to me. For a petrolhead, this limited access should be a crime against humanity because the circuit is both wonderful and terrifying in equal measure. I mean really, truly, eyes-on-stalks terrifying.
Quali is a wide-eyed, white knuckle succession of blind apex after blind apex, all at three figure speeds over a one mile stretch of the 2 mile circuit, at the end of which I have recalibrated my definition of adrenaline junkie. I immediately wish I had invested in a new set of Cup 2s: at driver briefing this morning, the clerk of the course had strongly advised us that Thruxton requires the best rubber we can get and I bit my tongue. Mine are on their fifth raceday outing (it sounds ludicrous just typing it – feel free to flame away). The tread refuses to die but the rubber has clearly heat-cycled too many times as the car has a tendency to skip laterally through the long fast right handers. In a sense it feels lovely: a wrestling match with the Cup steering wheel, a workout of the left deltoid over a bumpy, physical surface. But an old-fashioned four wheel drift on bakelites is not a great way to hustle a modern car and a large part of me is worried about the consequences of a blow out as tyres heat up, or putting a wheel on the grass in a moment of inattention.
There, that’s the racing driver excuses out the way. I settle for 19th out of 29 on the grid. Today is a standing start which possibly gives me a better chance of out-dragging the pack and then hopefully learning the circuit as I go. Amateurs, eh.
The long wait between quali and the last race of the day gives me a chance to ogle the road and race cars in the paddock. A few notables:
Lights out. I was expecting to get away quickly but not this quickly. Bloody hellfire. I’ve had plenty of practice perfecting the getaway at sprint races in Dubai over the years. A smidge over 2000 revs is all that’s required given the weight over the back wheels. As the pack pours into turn 1, I’ve made up several places although it is only a matter of time before I get mugged by the gang of M3s as they bruise their way past the mobile chicane I am creating. Eventually I am left to battle the three Seat Supercopas, a delicious little Lotus Exige and a fabulously turned out Mondeo touring car.
The Exige is quicker than me but I am doing my best to hold the racing line. Sadly it doesn’t end well for him as he attempts to squeeze through the inside just as I am turning in to clip the apex. He manages to avoid contact but ends up spinning into the long grass where he remains immobile for the rest of the race. The driver and I have an amicable chat afterwards so no hard feelings.
Despite a conscious effort to drive conservatively and hold a little something back, I climb to 13th overall and 3rd in class which is not too shabby. In the spirit of full disclosure, I should say that not everyone has finished so the result does flatter me. The jury is still out on my options for next year. Although I can gladly file the day in the “happy memory” box, I must admit the end of the day feels something of a relief which doesn’t feel quite right. I guess my heart hadn’t really been in it before the start of the day particularly as I’d had to sacrifice a family event to be here.
It’s a bit like those cop movies where the protagonist has one last case to solve on his last day before retirement, and just wants to get through it in one piece. As racing driver excuses go, it’s a bit lame because let’s face it, the reason I’ve been miles off the pace this weekend is a severe skill deficit and it will only stay the same as long as I find time for only a couple of outings a year. It will certainly take a lot of time and training to have the confidence to go flat through Village into Church Corner and I absolutely definitely want to be doing that on fresh tyres only. It reminds me of turn 4 at the Dubai Autodrome which is a flat out, off-camber kink also taken at three figure speeds, and nicknamed Porsche Corner for obvious reasons.
The Classic Sports Car Club is an excellent club for the dilettante to dip his toe on an occasional basis although be warned the competition can be significantly “less amateur”! I can’t deny it’s a stretch to invest the required time and effort in such a niche hobby, hence the thread title. Amateur motorsport is a real labour of love and summer weekends are at a premium, especially with club cricket competing much more successfully for my affections.
So until I make a definitive decision about next year, it’s time to prepare the car for the gentler pursuit of track days sans decals. That means refresh fluids, leather buckets back in, fresh set of Cup 2s, new front Alcons, and maybe think about replacing the front and back bumpers which are looking pretty haggard these days – I would appreciate some advice on sourcing replacements without paying the OPC you-having-a-larf tax. I might even treat Cobalt to a coat of polish…
Great read and love your description of my local track. A friend of mine described it as his favourite track and like many I hadn't driven it because its hardly ever visited by many series/championships and very few track days. Last year I got out there with Goldtrack and the other outfit who do track days there is MSE, absolutely love it but yeah when I got the arse end out at 110 mph in a FWD hatch you suddenly realise where that reputation comes from. Church is bloody terrifying, anyone that doesn't say that just hasn't been trying hard enough. The last couple of years there has been about 6 track days a year there between MSE and Goldtrack but its the 90 dB static on the noise test that will be many peoples biggest problem, having said that though when I was there this time last year a Cayman GT4 got on track no problem.
What a brilliant write up. Thoroughly entertaining. I was there Saturday. My first race in the Mustang and my first race on the Dunlop crossplies. Last time I raced at Thruxton was 17 years ago. Of course I hoped it would all come flooding back to me but no it had to be re learnt. Yes I could remember whether the next corner was left or right but apex and corner speed was all a learning curve. But what a blast. Church in the Mustang was a lift once I got brave.
SRT Hellcat said:
Church in the Mustang was a lift once I got brave.
I have a feeling the M3s were not even lifting through there, they were so damn quick! Also interesting to note the manner in which they go barrelling into the high speed turns leading up to Church: quite a few of them are happy to get crossed up and sort themselves out through the corner - completely impossible in a 911.I found myself giving it a comfort tap on the brakes just before Church until the last few laps, by which time I was willing myself to stay off the brake pedal. Still not flat out but I guess that was progress.
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