Bit of a big update this. But my trip to the Ring below.
Friday, before the trip:
I was chatting to my old man and he decided now was the best time to question whether the
timing belt had been done on the Megane. It's 13 years old, so should of had 1 at the very minimum during it's life. I have no history of this in any of the old documents, and all three of the previous owners I contacted, said "oh the previous owner did it".
Saturday:
I set about doing the belts (inc aux belt and tensioner) having previously ordered one, but being way too lazy to do it (this definitely bit me in the arse). Meganes are much more of a pain to do compared to the Clios, but it went pretty smoothly. Fortunately (i think it counts as fortunately), the belt had been done in the past as there were pen marks beneath the
timing cover.
Sunday:
Got the car packed up, and washed
Monday:
The AC debacle continues. Thought it best to drive it to work for a couple of days prior to the trip. I set off for work and the AC is blowing warm again. No time and no motivation to sort the issue, I'll just have to put up with the displeasure of being warm!
Tuesday, the trip itself:
I went from Hull to Rotterdam this time, this being my first foray on the ferry over such a distance. The ferry is overnight, leaving a 20:30, and arriving at 08:30. The journey was smooth sailing (lol), and upon docking on the other side, we only had a 3-3.5 hour road trip ahead of us (this a stark contrast to the 12+ hours it takes via the eurotunnel).
I travelled over with my mate in his E92 M3. Originally there was 3 of us heading over, but the 3rd member of the cohort had lapsed 16 days into the remaining 3 months of his passport and they wouldn't let him travel. This put a bit of a downer on the trip from the start, combined with both of us feeling slightly anxious about how savage the angles would be on the loading ramps to the ferry, and also the proximity of other cars once parked up.
We'd managed to time it just right, and got an ace little spot with plenty of room round the cars.
Wednesday, food and TF spectating:
The journey through the Netherlands was without any hold ups whatsoever. A chilled drive across saw nearly 40mpg out of the Megane. Arriving in Adenau, we headed straight to The Cockpit for some Currywurst mitt fries. Check-in for the house rental wasn't until 4, so we mooched around for a bit and then headed up to Brunchen until we were allowed in.
A speedy unload of the car, and a swift wheel changeover, the car was now ready for some laps. Decided against going out on TF because i'm a big wuss.
Thursday, a day of monging about:
I'll skip this as nowt interesting really happened. Did take some moody pics of the car at the boulevard though
Friday, trackday:
First port of call, breakfast! My absolute favourite thing in the world, is a handful of croissants at ED, and a can of Chocomel.
For me, the day was pretty steady. I was pretty close to the lead car on the sighting laps, and after the first slow paced lap everyone decided to pit with the exception of a few and myself. Now, we were told on the gate upon entering, that as soon as the clock goes 08:45, the track goes live no matter where you are on the track. This message clearly hadn't processed in the M3 owners brain, as he was rather upset with me barging my way through.
I did have to take to the kerb a little on the exit of Brunchen 2, as the GR Yaris started to move over. No harm done thankfully
I did a couple of laps just blasting round on my own, without any distractions from others. The track was wet, but the A052's were gripping really well off the normal racing line. I love doing wet laps, as it makes me feel like a right hero going passed everyone.
It didn't take me too long to catch up with the back of the pack, so decided to come in for a natter with
@R20BTG. I'd timed this pretty well, as almost instantly, the track went red and everyone started heading in. A GT3 had managed to lose the rear end and send it straight into the barriers on the exit of Hohe Acht.
Once the GT3 was recovered, the track time resumed, but with a large yellow flag section where the marshalls were on track repairing the barriers.
Had a couple of laps with a fellow Megane owner which was a good laugh. These laps were still pretty steady, but there's definitely some points where i need to remember that i'm not driving an n/a car any more.
A bit later on, Iain and myself head out for some chase/follow laps. Was great seeing how much his car moves around in the corners, but it was clear to see he was much braver than the year previous. I was very much looking forward to seeing some footage of him behind me, but the dafty himself forgot to set the white balance on his gopro. I'll let Iain post the video of me chasing him on his build thread, but i will post this photo here, purely because it's ace and it's some achievement!
I'm definitely taking all credit for applying the right amount of rearward persuasion though.
I'd noticed a bit of a clunk on the front of mine towards the end of the day. Had a quick mooch around, but couldn't find anything untoward. There was quite a length closure in the afternoon where an M3 had gone over the barrier. This meant that the final hour on track was really busy, so i didn't bother pushing on too much. One thing which was a bit of a shock, is my extinguisher had managed to come out of its mount, and partially go off in the footwell.
I fortunately managed to clock what had happened, and sharp opened the windows. Definitely had a bit of a throaty cough since it happened.
In total, i did 23 laps, which has gotta be a record of mine for a single day given the closures.
The rest of the trip:
Not too much to mention here. The rest of the trip was a combination of eating, sleeping, spectating, eating, and looking at all the wrecks being recovered off the track.
Definitely gonna book 2 dates over there next year. Itching to get myself sub 8!