- Croft Time Attack
Discussion
My first experience of Time Attack; and generally a good one. More people at Croft than the usual three men and a dog and a different demographic- younger and ethnically more diverse- which I welcome as I get fed up of seeing only other white middle aged people at racetracks.TA was much more like the drag racing crowd.
The cars were almost without exception extremely well prepared , especially if you are a carbon fetishist. Fewer rules mean much more outlandish wings, splitters and diffusers , even if the odd car was a bit Saturday night at the multiplex car park in appearance.
The quick cars were very quick , especially in a straight line. Some very good driving- very impressed with the MK 3 Escort turbo in particular- very neat, quick and lines good. It would be unkind to name them but a couple of cars were driven pretty poorly-no troubling of apex involved and to be honest not as good as many track day regulars - by a long way. Lap times bore this out.
Talking of which.. commentator was very cocky about how the cars were quicker than BTCC. To which the only reponse is..I should bloody well think so too. BTCC has about 300 bhp if I recall correctly , maybe less than that, whilst these guys had- allegedly - more than three times that ! But niggling apart good fun to watch and I would go again even if I would far far rather watch them race or hillclimb rather than cruise for a few laps and then go quickly for one.
The cars were almost without exception extremely well prepared , especially if you are a carbon fetishist. Fewer rules mean much more outlandish wings, splitters and diffusers , even if the odd car was a bit Saturday night at the multiplex car park in appearance.
The quick cars were very quick , especially in a straight line. Some very good driving- very impressed with the MK 3 Escort turbo in particular- very neat, quick and lines good. It would be unkind to name them but a couple of cars were driven pretty poorly-no troubling of apex involved and to be honest not as good as many track day regulars - by a long way. Lap times bore this out.
Talking of which.. commentator was very cocky about how the cars were quicker than BTCC. To which the only reponse is..I should bloody well think so too. BTCC has about 300 bhp if I recall correctly , maybe less than that, whilst these guys had- allegedly - more than three times that ! But niggling apart good fun to watch and I would go again even if I would far far rather watch them race or hillclimb rather than cruise for a few laps and then go quickly for one.
I was racing there this weekend (well, trying to) and I'd agree with pretty much everything above.
I was really shocked by the lap times, particularly in the Club classes.
Judging by my qually times in the same track conditions on Saturday in a pretty much standard car and only ~160bhp (and considering I'm still a long way from being a good driver) they've got a long way to go.
There was some excellent driving from some. Mr Clark in the Scooby and Scuffers in the Exige were immense. As expected though, there was a lot of point & squirt driving and ridiculous aero that clearly had just been stuck on with no actual technical thought.
I can understand why the tuners get involved and can understand its popularity from the different demographic but I can't get past the fact its just an expensive qualifying pissing contest with a lot of very poor driving.
Dan
I was really shocked by the lap times, particularly in the Club classes.
Judging by my qually times in the same track conditions on Saturday in a pretty much standard car and only ~160bhp (and considering I'm still a long way from being a good driver) they've got a long way to go.
There was some excellent driving from some. Mr Clark in the Scooby and Scuffers in the Exige were immense. As expected though, there was a lot of point & squirt driving and ridiculous aero that clearly had just been stuck on with no actual technical thought.
I can understand why the tuners get involved and can understand its popularity from the different demographic but I can't get past the fact its just an expensive qualifying pissing contest with a lot of very poor driving.
Dan
Edited by djroadboy on Monday 13th May 21:08
Interesting to read your comments, thanks for the feedback.
This is gareth Lloyds lap that gave him second place with a 1:23:869. (Olly hasn't released his yet).
http://youtu.be/ykmGBRJo7mM
This is gareth Lloyds lap that gave him second place with a 1:23:869. (Olly hasn't released his yet).
http://youtu.be/ykmGBRJo7mM
Time Attack is certainly not for everyone, that's for sure and there are those who maintain that it's completely pointless, just a glorified track day etc, etc. They are all entitled to their opinions and that's not a problem. However, it really does have it's place and if you keep up to date with who's in it, what cars they run and how they have been built etc and get an idea of what the series is all about, it can be really quite interesting.
And although there are always going comparisons to the lap times of big budget, factory backed cars in other race series, it really isn't all that important, as it has nothing to do with the series. It's just sometimes nice to have a target in mind, that's all.
Some of the reasons I got involved are these:-
-Relatively low commitment in terms of the number of events.
-A great selection of tracks all over the country.
-Little chance of doing damage normally associated with 'proper' racing.
-Realistic entry fees.
-Relaxed regulations.
-Superb paddock atmosphere.
-Healthy numbers of visitors, normally only seconded in terms of audience figures by BTTC.
(I'm the owner of the Lotus Exige pictured above by the way)
And although there are always going comparisons to the lap times of big budget, factory backed cars in other race series, it really isn't all that important, as it has nothing to do with the series. It's just sometimes nice to have a target in mind, that's all.
Some of the reasons I got involved are these:-
-Relatively low commitment in terms of the number of events.
-A great selection of tracks all over the country.
-Little chance of doing damage normally associated with 'proper' racing.
-Realistic entry fees.
-Relaxed regulations.
-Superb paddock atmosphere.
-Healthy numbers of visitors, normally only seconded in terms of audience figures by BTTC.
(I'm the owner of the Lotus Exige pictured above by the way)
It definitely has its place Jamie and, as I said, I can understand why the big tuners get involved. I was really impressed by some of the cars and drivers in the Pro classes (and considerably less impressed by others) but I found the Club classes generally disappointing.
To put it in perspective, the winning time in Club RWD was a 1.35.9 from Umar Masood in an Rx7 that must have ~400bhp and full on aero etc. In testing last Monday I did 1.36.2 with 160bhp and no aero at all and I'll be the first to admit I'm not the best driver in the world.
It kinda gives me the impression that if someone turned up with a well sorted race car and were a bit handy behind the wheel they could wipe the floor with everyone.
As I said though, there are some proper cars and proper drivers in the Pro classes. I was really impressed with Olly Clark and Brett Winstanley. Some of the massive power Evos impressed me less and none of them seemed to driven well.
Dan
To put it in perspective, the winning time in Club RWD was a 1.35.9 from Umar Masood in an Rx7 that must have ~400bhp and full on aero etc. In testing last Monday I did 1.36.2 with 160bhp and no aero at all and I'll be the first to admit I'm not the best driver in the world.
It kinda gives me the impression that if someone turned up with a well sorted race car and were a bit handy behind the wheel they could wipe the floor with everyone.
As I said though, there are some proper cars and proper drivers in the Pro classes. I was really impressed with Olly Clark and Brett Winstanley. Some of the massive power Evos impressed me less and none of them seemed to driven well.
Dan
It definitely has its place Jamie and, as I said, I can understand why the big tuners get involved. I was really impressed by some of the cars and drivers in the Pro classes (and considerably less impressed by others) but I found the Club classes generally disappointing.
To put it in perspective, the winning time in Club RWD was a 1.35.9 from Umar Masood in an Rx7 that must have ~400bhp and full on aero etc. In testing last Monday I did 1.36.2 with 160bhp and no aero at all and I'll be the first to admit I'm not the best driver in the world.
It kinda gives me the impression that if someone turned up with a well sorted race car and were a bit handy behind the wheel they could wipe the floor with everyone.
As I said though, there are some proper cars and proper drivers in the Pro classes. I was really impressed with Olly Clark and Brett Winstanley. Some of the massive power Evos impressed me less and none of them seemed to driven well.
Dan
To put it in perspective, the winning time in Club RWD was a 1.35.9 from Umar Masood in an Rx7 that must have ~400bhp and full on aero etc. In testing last Monday I did 1.36.2 with 160bhp and no aero at all and I'll be the first to admit I'm not the best driver in the world.
It kinda gives me the impression that if someone turned up with a well sorted race car and were a bit handy behind the wheel they could wipe the floor with everyone.
As I said though, there are some proper cars and proper drivers in the Pro classes. I was really impressed with Olly Clark and Brett Winstanley. Some of the massive power Evos impressed me less and none of them seemed to driven well.
Dan
I get the impression those big-power Evos are more difficult to drive quickly than their specifications might suggest. I was watching several in the Euro Saloons encounter at Silverstone the other week. Even a very experienced chap like Gary Prebble was struggling with terminal understeer through Luffield. It looked absolutely tortuous.
Must admit I've never watched Time Attack in person but would like to see the Exige perform - as it's one of the maddest developments of my own car I kind of feel obliged too. Looks mega. All club-level categories suffer with mixed levels of talent relative to budget though...
Must admit I've never watched Time Attack in person but would like to see the Exige perform - as it's one of the maddest developments of my own car I kind of feel obliged too. Looks mega. All club-level categories suffer with mixed levels of talent relative to budget though...
Please remember, club is for owner drivers, some have experience, some don't and the licence requirement is a non race B.
TA also operates a three strike rule where if you get within 5 percent of the fastest lap in the class above three times (finals at seperate events) you get moved up a class.
TA also operates a three strike rule where if you get within 5 percent of the fastest lap in the class above three times (finals at seperate events) you get moved up a class.
TA does have its place, and quality of the field is getting better. I do think they need to address some of the regs though as having as class for 'pros' and only letting them overtake on the left is frankly ridiculous, specially considering they are also trying to all put in one hot lap without interference. I do like the principle, its a very pure form of motorsport and I hope it continues to evolve.
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