Blyton Park 21st Oct.
I'd been itching to get back out on track again, a cheapish Saturday popped up through Trackday Solutions so I chucked some money at the website and proceeded to get the car ready. To be fair the car only needed fluids and a quick checkover. I had to spend a day rebuilding the running gear on the trailer though.
Some big inconsiderate storm hit the UK a few days before the Blyton date, flash floods and general mayhem ensued across the UK meaning a lot of diversions in place. Ended up having to wade through a small river than burst its banks in a village near Blyton. The mighty Mondeo went through no problem, the water was deep enough that the side running lights were fully submerged at one point. Someone else in a Disco decided it was too much water and bailed.
Wuss.
Anyway. Got set up and got the PS4s on after doing sighting laps on the Direzzas. It was a lot wetter than Oulton and I didn't fancy my chances at all!
We were warned that the entry to Bunga Bunga was mildly moist. They weren't wrong.
This Fiesta driver didn't listen and ended up visiting Shrek in his swamp.
After a lengthy red flag to pull him out (photo taken by a marshal), track time was underway again. Car ran flawlessly most of the day until a spanner appeared on the dash accompanied by "Check emissions". Car had a slight misfire but once it was back up to temp it was fine so it soldiered on!
Once I'd gotten packed up I made the perilous journey home which was thankfully less eventful than the trip up! Got home late Saturday night and abandoned the car round the side of the house ready to help my mate out with his entry to the final round of Time Attack at Snetterton on Sunday 22nd.
Snetterton Sunday 22nd October - Time Attack round 8
Got to the track around 7am ready to get my mates C6 Corvette ready. Thankfully it didn't need much at all so throughout the day it was a case of experimenting with tyre pressures as the car is near bone stock with the exception of upgraded brakes, lighter wheels and upgraded dampers. It was still running the leaf spring rear suspension! The MRNOISY plate was the original plate he had on the car 15 years ago in America when he bought the car! When he moved back to the UK he imported the car so it's been owned by him for most of its life.
As you can imagine it was a bit of a fan favourite. Lots of people stopping by the pit garage to talk to us and the circuit commentator was from America so he was very biased toward the mighty Vette.
For those that don't follow me on Insta, you won't have seen the bombardment on my stories from the day. The car was entered in to the Clubman class - the "bottom" group but this basically means the car is mostly stock and has the interior still. As we were a single round entry (SRE, formally known as OHW - One Hit Wonder) we didn't need to worry about tyre choice, Rich was content with finishing off the Yoko AD09 he'd bought when they first came out in the UK and they got destroyed.
As the day progressed, conditions got better and better, the mighty Vette was getting quicker and quicker through the class, which was being led by an AReeve Motorsport prepped Golf GTI running north of 400bhp and lots of trick bits on it. We spent the day fighting with the BTT Motorsport prepared FK8 Civic Type R, finally beating him in the final 2 sessions. At the beginning of the day we said we'd be happy with a steady improvement and that a top 5 in class would keep us happy.
Practice saw us in 4th in class, 3 seconds off the pace. It was damp and greasy and the Vette was struggling to put the power down, posting a time of 1:34.261 on the 200 circuit.
Warm up followed and the other groups had dried the track out for the most part, the times were falling and Rich posted a 1:25.252, 3rd in class and 10th overall.
Qualifying up next, nerves were setting in and I made the decision to knock about 6psi out of the front tyres (cold) as Rich was saying the front was washing wide. It paid off, a time of 1:23.858 was set and 2nd in class was achieved, 1st in class was half a second quicker with a 1:23.330. The DSG box was paying for itself there but we'd dispatched of the CTR in 3rd place which we saw as our target.
Finals. Pressure was on now, we didn't touch the car other than to top up fluids and do a quick spanner check, the AD09s were toast by this point but Rich went out and pushed as much as he dared. 1:22.618! We'd knocked over a second off our best time and we were so close to going quickest, another lap and I think we'd have done it. The winner in class posted a 1:22.516. Fastest lap of the day was here -
For our first steps into motorsport it was massively enjoyable. It's been decided that the Corvette is getting some love over winter and he'll be back for a full season next year. I'm also going to prep my car to compete next year too, although probably only for a few rounds as funds will be tight.
Next up. Cadwell park on the 11th November, followed by Snetterton on the 21st November.
There's also a new project in the makings which I'm very excited by... Keep an eye out for that next weekend if all goes to plan!