Lifetime Ambition Fulfilled......
Discussion
On Saturday Eric the Brave (or Jim as he is now known) fixed it for me to be driven around Brands Hatch in the Xero Competition C5R Corvette piloted by Ricky Cole!
What a blast! 5 laps of Brands as a passenger in a C5R and it cost me not a bean
Unfortunately Ricky had taken Steve Havelock out in the morning in the car and had had a rather spectacular off which meant the car was looking a little 2nd hand by the time I got to go out. i.e. rear wing from the Jensen Motorsport Corvette, one rear light missing, no passenger door mirror glass (interesting that the mirrors still have all of the electrical bits), broken windscreen and a lot of yellow tank tape holding the bodywork together......but I didn't care it was still great!
Many thanks to Eric (Jim) the Brave for arranging it (pity he couldn't fit in the car) and to all at Xero Competition.
Nice suit huh!
Famous "sid the snake" entry method....
Notice the results of Ricky's 1st attempt at killing his passenger....I was his 2nd....gulp.
Safely installed....now where is that steering wheel, Oh bugger Ricky's got it!
Out on track
>>> Edited by vetteheadracer on Monday 6th December 19:39
What a blast! 5 laps of Brands as a passenger in a C5R and it cost me not a bean
Unfortunately Ricky had taken Steve Havelock out in the morning in the car and had had a rather spectacular off which meant the car was looking a little 2nd hand by the time I got to go out. i.e. rear wing from the Jensen Motorsport Corvette, one rear light missing, no passenger door mirror glass (interesting that the mirrors still have all of the electrical bits), broken windscreen and a lot of yellow tank tape holding the bodywork together......but I didn't care it was still great!
Many thanks to Eric (Jim) the Brave for arranging it (pity he couldn't fit in the car) and to all at Xero Competition.
Nice suit huh!
Famous "sid the snake" entry method....
Notice the results of Ricky's 1st attempt at killing his passenger....I was his 2nd....gulp.
Safely installed....now where is that steering wheel, Oh bugger Ricky's got it!
Out on track
>>> Edited by vetteheadracer on Monday 6th December 19:39
The compression at the bottom of the hill after Paddock Hill bend is probably the reason I have excrusiating back ache at the moment!
As Brands is such a short and dare I say it "Micky Mouse" circuit, it was not a high speed trip! I doubt we exceeded 120 on the start/finish straight, but the cornering speed was very impressive and certainly the grip and acceleration throught the corners was very good. I think driving a fairly quick vette probably made it less impressive than if I drove a run of the mill car.
I would love to do a lap of Thruxton in warm weather conditions to see what the car is really capable of.
Even so, it was mighty impressive and the cornering and braking were awesome......that and the noise!
There are plans for next season that may involve parade laps for Corvettes (i.e. you guys) at the British GT circuits, so watch this space
As Brands is such a short and dare I say it "Micky Mouse" circuit, it was not a high speed trip! I doubt we exceeded 120 on the start/finish straight, but the cornering speed was very impressive and certainly the grip and acceleration throught the corners was very good. I think driving a fairly quick vette probably made it less impressive than if I drove a run of the mill car.
I would love to do a lap of Thruxton in warm weather conditions to see what the car is really capable of.
Even so, it was mighty impressive and the cornering and braking were awesome......that and the noise!
There are plans for next season that may involve parade laps for Corvettes (i.e. you guys) at the British GT circuits, so watch this space
) Hmmm a tad too subtle for us bears me thinks!!
Not too many of us these days think of Jimmy Saville when you mention the name Jim! In fact I suspect that there are a few here that, altsimer's aside, cant even remember him. I can of course, but only on good days and after my medication...........
G
Not too many of us these days think of Jimmy Saville when you mention the name Jim! In fact I suspect that there are a few here that, altsimer's aside, cant even remember him. I can of course, but only on good days and after my medication...........
G
[quote]I can see the connection here - didn't Jimmy Saville have long grey hair and smoke cigars? Can't recall seeing him wearing red dungarees on Top Of The Pops though.
[/quote]
I think that I can... Somewhere in the dark and dim memory there is an image of him in exactly that but then Nige really doesn't have the Bling factor so I think that it is totally unfair of you to suggest that he looks anything like Sir Jim!
p.s. I think Nige looked great - a real racing pro.
p.p.s. I am only being nice as I don't want him to tell you how much I wanted to get in the car for my laps but didn't because I couldn't get in to the damn thing! Maybe I should sponsor one of the Xero cars so that Dave Beecroft will build another one with a fat bastard entry system!!!! You cannot imagine how much I cried when I realised that I couldn't have a go. Having said that, it was worth going to the track just to see the grin on Nigel's face when he got out of the car!!!!
[/quote]
I think that I can... Somewhere in the dark and dim memory there is an image of him in exactly that but then Nige really doesn't have the Bling factor so I think that it is totally unfair of you to suggest that he looks anything like Sir Jim!
p.s. I think Nige looked great - a real racing pro.
p.p.s. I am only being nice as I don't want him to tell you how much I wanted to get in the car for my laps but didn't because I couldn't get in to the damn thing! Maybe I should sponsor one of the Xero cars so that Dave Beecroft will build another one with a fat bastard entry system!!!! You cannot imagine how much I cried when I realised that I couldn't have a go. Having said that, it was worth going to the track just to see the grin on Nigel's face when he got out of the car!!!!
Saw Steve today and he gave me a blow by blow account of the day and the accident - he had a couple of pics taken by another photgrapher as the car skidded off backwards. Obviously quite an experience for him.
Don't you worry about me - my "dodgy ticker" has been fixed (or else I've been to hell and back for nothing!!)
Don't you worry about me - my "dodgy ticker" has been fixed (or else I've been to hell and back for nothing!!)
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