bedford 28/9 (yesterday!)

[_Dan_]

Anyone of you chaps there yesterday?

It was my first track day and I had a bloody great time! Good cars, good bunch of people and a great track. It was great until my ignition module packed up as I was down-changing into a hairpin and locked the rear wheels sending me spinning and dead in the water anyway! Sorry to everyone who had to swerve to get past me, and the red flag! Got a good 20 laps out of the old girl before she packed up anyhow, so happy days!

Got the bug now, need to do more, need to upgrade things or buy a better car. I want, I want, I WANT!!

Edited by _Dan_ on Tuesday 29th September 21:01

[Regional]

I was driving my mates blue 205 race car, had an oil leak problem and a duff battery.
Other than that I enjoyed myself - it was the first time i'd driven the car and if things come together i'll race it next year.

Saw your TVR, didn't realise you'd killed it.

Nice track, nice people - impressed.
Loved the fast chicane at the back, i'm sure I could go through there quicker but I was being gentle on the car

[Steve Spider]

Was there in the yellow Atom - have to say your TVR sounded good whilst it was full chat.

Hope you get the Trevor up and running again soon.

[_Dan_]

Regional said:

Loved the fast chicane at the back, i'm sure I could go through there quicker but I was being gentle on the car

Do you mean the one after the long straight just before the hairpin? That was a good one.

Once the Tiv died, I sat in with a couple of mates, both in Jap cars (one Civic Type-R and one Impreza Sportwagon) and I've got to say, both of those guys were going for it through the corners more than I had been. Dave in the Impreza was pretty much 4 wheel drifting round most corners! I, on the other hand, like you, was just testing the water. A few laps before the Chim conked out, I was getting more confident in giving the car a bit of abuse though the corners. Still no where near near some people though.

Good fun!

[_Dan_]

Steve Spider said:

Was there in the yellow Atom - have to say your TVR sounded good whilst it was full chat.

Hope you get the Trevor up and running again soon.

Cheers Steve a couple of people mentioned the sound! I was lucky to get on the track to tell the truth, the static test measured me at 106.7db (think the limit was 101db) but then the drive by test an instructor did passed me.

Must say, when I wasn't on the track or trying to fix my car, I spent a fair amount of time drooling over yours! That must be amazing fun on a track!

The Tiv will be running in no time, only a £40 ignition module I think, so no big deal.

[Regional]

Yes the fast chicane on the long straight, I was just sniffing on the brakes and taking it hard on the throttle in 4th - i'm sure I could have held 5th through there feathering it but it wasn't my car and only getting used to its characteristics.

I thought the standard of driving was pretty good, I had 3-4 great laps in the very first session with an orange exige - it was very well driven and it was only due to traffic and my tyres coming on that I put any distance on it, hats off to you sir.

[ForzaGilles]

I was there in the orange Caterham Superlight. First time at the track and very impressed, really enjoyable circuit. The back straight was a bit long for me though, not a Caterham forte, especially when 120 is flat out
Hope you get the Tiv sorted out asap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--WtXe0if7w

Edited by ForzaGilles on Wednesday 30th September 10:18

[BigBen]

ForzaGilles said:

I was there in the orange Caterham Superlight. First time at the track and very impressed, really enjoyable circuit. The back straight was a bit long for me though, not a Caterham forte, especially when 120 is flat out
Hope you get the Tiv sorted out asap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--WtXe0if7w

Edited by ForzaGilles on Wednesday 30th September 10:18

That is really good quality video, what setup were you using ?

I was there in the green Atom, not quite as quick as the yellow one having less than half the BHP and a fatter driver!

Was also impressed by the standard of driving, actually I would not know good driving from my elbow, more impressed with the courtesy shown by other drivers, even the mrs felt confident when driving which is not usually the case.

Glad the Tiv was a simple fix, it sounded great when it was going.

Ben

[ForzaGilles]

BigBen said:

ForzaGilles said:

I was there in the orange Caterham Superlight. First time at the track and very impressed, really enjoyable circuit. The back straight was a bit long for me though, not a Caterham forte, especially when 120 is flat out
Hope you get the Tiv sorted out asap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--WtXe0if7w

Edited by ForzaGilles on Wednesday 30th September 10:18

That is really good quality video, what setup were you using ?



Ben

One of these http://www.aiptek.de/index.php?Itemid=106&opti... connected to one of these http://www.rfconcepts.co.uk/21HQ-R43-0209.pdf

The Aiptek DV recorder was only about £120 so the picture quality isn't bad considering that. I use an external mic aswell so you hear more than just windnoise!

Edited by ForzaGilles on Wednesday 30th September 17:09

[andy kirby]

myself was in the wine red skyline , 1st time @ bedford & enjoyed it extremely , just need to look at me suspension ( standard dampers + tein springs , uprated anti roll bars ) as feels a little soft but then i didnt bother adjusting the anti roll bar, so poss myself to blame , but still a good day

was impressed with how the evo went as well as the red 106 & vx220 seemed a little on the edge ,

[Stubby Pete]

[quote=ForzaGilles]I was there in the orange Caterham Superlight. First time at the track and very impressed, really enjoyable circuit. The back straight was a bit long for me though, not a Caterham forte, especially when 120 is flat out
quote]

Just out of curiosity, how long were you bouncing off the limiter?
Planning on going 31/10 but thinking I might be beter off getting something else to drive as mine tops out a bit easy too.

[boxsey]

ForzaGilles said:

I was there in the orange Caterham Superlight. First time at the track and very impressed, really enjoyable circuit. The back straight was a bit long for me though, not a Caterham forte, especially when 120 is flat out
Hope you get the Tiv sorted out asap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--WtXe0if7w

Edited by ForzaGilles on Wednesday 30th September 10:18

Nice video but you deserve a drive through penalty for what you did to that first chicane

[BigBen]

boxsey said:

ForzaGilles said:

I was there in the orange Caterham Superlight. First time at the track and very impressed, really enjoyable circuit. The back straight was a bit long for me though, not a Caterham forte, especially when 120 is flat out
Hope you get the Tiv sorted out asap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--WtXe0if7w

Edited by ForzaGilles on Wednesday 30th September 10:18

Nice video but you deserve a drive through penalty for what you did to that first chicane

Seems to be the way everyone does it at Bedford, wonder if a more aggressive curb would help, otherwise there is no incentive not to cut it

[ForzaGilles]

Stubby Pete said:

ForzaGilles said:

I was there in the orange Caterham Superlight. First time at the track and very impressed, really enjoyable circuit. The back straight was a bit long for me though, not a Caterham forte, especially when 120 is flat out
quote]

Just out of curiosity, how long were you bouncing off the limiter?
Planning on going 31/10 but thinking I might be beter off getting something else to drive as mine tops out a bit easy too.

I didn't hit the limiter, I just eased off before about 500rpm short, which was probably half way down the straight!

[ForzaGilles]

boxsey said:

ForzaGilles said:

I was there in the orange Caterham Superlight. First time at the track and very impressed, really enjoyable circuit. The back straight was a bit long for me though, not a Caterham forte, especially when 120 is flat out
Hope you get the Tiv sorted out asap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--WtXe0if7w

Edited by ForzaGilles on Wednesday 30th September 10:18

Nice video but you deserve a drive through penalty for what you did to that first chicane

It's a fair cop guv I didn't do it all the time, but when those cones got knocked out of the way it seemed to be the thing to do, especially as it's smooth...

[Steve Spider]

BigBen said:

boxsey said:

ForzaGilles said:

I was there in the orange Caterham Superlight. First time at the track and very impressed, really enjoyable circuit. The back straight was a bit long for me though, not a Caterham forte, especially when 120 is flat out
Hope you get the Tiv sorted out asap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--WtXe0if7w

Edited by ForzaGilles on Wednesday 30th September 10:18

Nice video but you deserve a drive through penalty for what you did to that first chicane

Seems to be the way everyone does it at Bedford, wonder if a more aggressive curb would help, otherwise there is no incentive not to cut it

More of a challenge? After all no one is getting timed.

Appreciate your comments regarding my lighter weight frame doesn't happen often.

[saxo16v]

Hey guys, I was there in my saxo. I'm a regular on northloop.co.uk and a couple of mates pointed me in the direction of this thread....

_Dan_ I think you spun about three cars ahead of me. I just squeezed past then we were red-flagged for about 20 mins before they towed you back. I did come by and offer a hand later on in the day when you were about half-way down the "pit-lane" attempting to fix....

I've done my fair share of track days, and this was my third time on Bedford GT. Always like the turn-out of cars from all end of the spectrum there.....Ford GT to, erm, Rovers....

On that note, did anyone see that blue Rover turbo going round? I saw it fly past in the morning and thought "hmm, that'll be broken by lunch", but he was still going at the end of the day and passed just about everything...

Anyway, would have been nice to meet you all a bit more formally, but got way too excited and spent too much time on track!

Tom

[BigBen]

Anyone got a link to the photographs from the day ? The URL in the TVR pic above won't work for me

Cheers

Ben

[ForzaGilles]

BigBen said:

Anyone got a link to the photographs from the day ? The URL in the TVR pic above won't work for me

Cheers

Ben

It did work the other day, site must be down.

[andyjpug]

I was there in my red 205, was going great until drive shaft went mid-afternoon. Tried to sneak it home, but it snapped completely about a mile from the circuit, but RAC only took about 40 mins to turn up so wasn't too bad.

I was gutted as I've just completely re-built the front end with everything new including the drive shafts - the one the other side seems to be chucking out grease as well. Hopefully the supply will swap them FOC.

Wasn't too keen on the track, straights were a bit long for a 205 and I've gone off airfield tracks a bit - last track day was at Cadwell, now that's what you call a track!