Helpimonfire
Paid Member
Croft - 06/05/22
No pictures as I tend to forget about taking photos or videos. I even took my GoPros and they sat in the BMW all day... Any photos or videos of me going around would be greatly appreciated
So. Croft. I travelled up on the Thursday afternoon as I learned my lesson from doing Oulton and back in a day last year, got myself a cheap Travelodge with plenty of parking space for the BST and Clio on the trailer. Got to the circuit on the Friday morning after convoying from the hotel with @burrellbloke and @EthanMenace in their 'not a track car trackcar'. Got set up outside their garage and went out for sighting laps. I've watched Croft on the BTCC and watched various onboard videos, all of which went out the window as I didn't recognise any of it! I did the sighting laps on road tyres as the weather was very indecisive and I was expecting it to rain at any moment, but it didn't thankfully! After the sighting laps I changed over to the now 12 trackday old MRFs which still had plenty of meat on them, the 2 most worn going on the rear...
As a side note, while I was waiting for the BST to be repaired, I was using the Clio as a daily. Enjoyable but too much for the road in all honesty. I hit a pothole and gained a new clunky noise. The more I drove, the more regular the clunking was becoming, it was almost as loud and regular as Katie Prices headboard after a night out. Changing my wheels over at Croft was where I saw the issue (I'd also spotted oil on my trailer which made me worry a little). The top seal on the YSR coilover had popped and there was fluid everywhere. This was my clunking. I'd assumed a balljoint or bush or droplink, but turns out it was the damper! I decided at this point that it was already broken and I'd just go full send until I couldn't go full send anymore.
Turns out you only really need 3 working dampers to have a good day at Croft! Once I'd got my eye in, I was going full send all day and the car never missed a beat. The diff was working well and once I'd realised I could get on the power much earlier, I was having a whale of a time. I did have a moment while chasing @R20BTG where we caught up with a slower moving Fiesta ST150 who braked was earlier than expected, this caused Iain to get on the brakes and I'd taken a moment to realise what was going on, luckily there was a runoff road so I could avoid piling into the back of everyone's favourite build!
The Track Baguettes were in low numbers at Croft, only 2 of them showing up. I tried keeping pace with @RSRowe at one point but it was futile, he was quicker than me. I didn't even try keeping up with his mate Ben as he's as quick as Nathe! A passenger run with @R20BTG was also had, his car feels so composed and has impeccable manners on track, I wish mine felt as composed as his does!
All in all, a cracking day at Croft, run by @NickD with my only complaint being the time spent queueing to get on track, however the low traffic on track was really nice so I suppose it worked out for the best in the end!
No pictures as I tend to forget about taking photos or videos. I even took my GoPros and they sat in the BMW all day... Any photos or videos of me going around would be greatly appreciated
So. Croft. I travelled up on the Thursday afternoon as I learned my lesson from doing Oulton and back in a day last year, got myself a cheap Travelodge with plenty of parking space for the BST and Clio on the trailer. Got to the circuit on the Friday morning after convoying from the hotel with @burrellbloke and @EthanMenace in their 'not a track car trackcar'. Got set up outside their garage and went out for sighting laps. I've watched Croft on the BTCC and watched various onboard videos, all of which went out the window as I didn't recognise any of it!
I did the sighting laps on road tyres as the weather was very indecisive and I was expecting it to rain at any moment, but it didn't thankfully! After the sighting laps I changed over to the now 12 trackday old MRFs which still had plenty of meat on them, the 2 most worn going on the rear...As a side note, while I was waiting for the BST to be repaired, I was using the Clio as a daily. Enjoyable but too much for the road in all honesty. I hit a pothole and gained a new clunky noise. The more I drove, the more regular the clunking was becoming, it was almost as loud and regular as Katie Prices headboard after a night out. Changing my wheels over at Croft was where I saw the issue (I'd also spotted oil on my trailer which made me worry a little). The top seal on the YSR coilover had popped and there was fluid everywhere. This was my clunking. I'd assumed a balljoint or bush or droplink, but turns out it was the damper! I decided at this point that it was already broken and I'd just go full send until I couldn't go full send anymore.
Turns out you only really need 3 working dampers to have a good day at Croft! Once I'd got my eye in, I was going full send all day and the car never missed a beat. The diff was working well and once I'd realised I could get on the power much earlier, I was having a whale of a time. I did have a moment while chasing @R20BTG where we caught up with a slower moving Fiesta ST150 who braked was earlier than expected, this caused Iain to get on the brakes and I'd taken a moment to realise what was going on, luckily there was a runoff road so I could avoid piling into the back of everyone's favourite build!
The Track Baguettes were in low numbers at Croft, only 2 of them showing up. I tried keeping pace with @RSRowe at one point but it was futile, he was quicker than me. I didn't even try keeping up with his mate Ben as he's as quick as Nathe! A passenger run with @R20BTG was also had, his car feels so composed and has impeccable manners on track, I wish mine felt as composed as his does!
All in all, a cracking day at Croft, run by @NickD with my only complaint being the time spent queueing to get on track, however the low traffic on track was really nice so I suppose it worked out for the best in the end!
