The Clio went to Snetterton today for a Sunday track day. The Clio had last been used on a track day about 3 months ago at the end of June 2025 so a track day was well overdue.
The Clio had had its interior stripped and we had installed new PMS top mounts since the last track day. We had also installed solid PMS engine mounts. On the 1h 45m journey to Snetterton I wore some ear plugs and
@EthanMenace wore some ear defenders to soften the noise of the new rattly and loud interior.
I had been watching the weather forecast over the past week and earlier this week the weather was predicted be wet most of the day. The weather today was actually dry all day up until 4pm so we were very lucky. The day was busy with some race teams testing, lots of nice road cars that were out for a Sunday blast and the usual type of track days cars.
I had changed our camera set up recently. The rear camera is now fixed to the inside of the boot lid to give a closer and better rear view perspective. I also added in a camera on the passenger side A pillar to capture some of the driver and passenger actions/reactions.
As we unpacked the car and fee more Clios arrived.
@Helpimonfire didn't bring his Clio but he did trailer Wes and his Clio to Snetterton. Also Lee arrived in his racing blue 197 - I am not sure if he is a member on this forum. The only other 197/200 there was a nimbus 197 from the Isle of Wight.
I had given the car a good clean yesterday so it was spotless inside and out. After doing the sighting laps we were ready to go.
Session 1 was basically Ethan and Wes chasing each other. Although Martin had turned up without his Clio he did turn up with his camera. The "track day" style photos I have got came via Ethan but I am pretty sure they must have been taken by Martin and sent to Ethan - if they are then thanks Martin. I am hoping Martin has got a few more for me!
I went out in session 2 in a Clio train with Wes' friend driving Wes' Clio, me driving our Clio with Lee following behind.
Session 3 was Ethan and Wes chasing each other again with Wes clocking an impressive 2m 16s lap time. During the same session Ethan got his best lap of the day which was a 2m 19s.
I discovered a petrol pump today. We took 40 litres of Tescos finest 99 RON petrol with us today so that once we have burned through a tank of petrol in the morning and afternoon (with a lunchtime fuel stop to fill up the tank again) we could top up the tank with another 20 litres to get us to the end of the morning/afternoon without having to get another whole tank of fuel. Although we have got a filling nozzle for the VP fuel jugs a pump makes the job so much easier.
Wes' car developed an oil leak which turned out to be a cam cover cap seal just before lunch. I left them to investigate whilst I squeezed in another session before lunch.
In the afternoon Ethan gave one of Wes' friends some passenger laps. The in car video is quite amusing watching the reaction of someone who was not expecting the car to corner so fast or break so sharply.
We both completed a few more sessions in the afternoon.
We used our worn set of Direzzas today. We had a very small amount of delamination on one tyre before we started the track day so we had thrown that on the rear drivers side as that tyre does very little on the Clio. At lunch we swapped the position of some of the tyres as the front passenger side was taking a beating. At the end of the day the tyres were looking very worn. There were several areas of delamination and virtually all of the tread had gone. You could say that we had got our moneys worth out of the tyres.
Ethan did the last session of the day just before 4pm. It was clear that the tyres were knackered then as they were not providing the same level of grip as they had previously. It had started to rain about 4pm and I thought that trying to squeeze in some extra laps on dead tyres in damp conditions was only go to result in something bad happening.
Today was good. Ethan got a 2m 19s and I got a 2m 26s lap time. Neither of the times were personal bests, but the combination of good company, only a few red flags, and good weather meant we had fun.
The Clio felt good today. I think that the engine mounts have made our gear changes slightly more crisp as if the gear is being slotted in to gear rather than going in to a vague area where the gear should be. The gearbox was good all day. I did not notice a massive difference with our slightly increased caster but we are still getting even tyre wear on the front wheels and the car felt amazing when cornering at high speed today.
Our next track day is booked for 6th November at Donington. We may try and squeeze in another track day in October.
I will order another set of Direzzas to replace our dead tyres, other than that the Clio should be ready for another track day without any major repairs or work required.
