We went to Snetterton on 19th August 2021 for what was an unofficial clio197.net meet. I met many faces from the forum and got to have a good look around many of the cars that I have seen photos of from this site. We travelled up with the track wheels thinking that a day on track with the Direzzas which were part worn when we got them, and had been used for a day at Lydden Hill, would probably be significantly worn out by the end of the day.
This was track day number three for
@EthanMenace and I. Neither of us had done an open pit lane track day before. There were a lot of Clio's about. I counted 6 Glacier White 197s/200s. There may have been more. There was an Alien Green 200. The Track Baguettes were out in force. They seem to travel in convey, very quickly, around the track with very little space between them. There were also a few other 200s that I recognised from Instagram. I was looking forward to seeing the
@R27WTF and
@PITA supercharged builds. I was also looking forward to seeing
@IainMac car.
After the sighting laps we managed to sneak in to a garage that had been left empty as whoever had booked it did not turn up. We got some laps in trying to learn the circuit and the best lines to take round. There were a lot of powerful cars out on track including a lot of BMWs, a 700kgs throttle bodied mk 1 Clio, and a McLaren.
The day went really well. There were three red flags in the morning and one in the afternoon. The weather was overcast for a bit, but in the afternoon the sun was out but not too hot.
The washer bottle took at knock a few weeks ago at Lydden Hill. During the day it started to leak some washer fluid. After some brief investigations the leak was diagnosed as the motor/pump just being loose in the washer bottle - notwithstanding this the washer bottle decided to empty it's contents on to the floor of the garage with a little help from
@suj.
I managed to get a ride in
@IainMac car. It is a finely tuned beast. The Gripper LSD was awesome. As I had done quite a few laps of the track it was clear how much power the diff gave the car out of the corners compared to my over eager wheel spinning out of some corners like Montreal.
I had played a bit of Project Cars 3 and was always confused about the best line to take out of Bomb Hole heading towards Corum. It is long sweeping right hand corner. Towards the end of the day I managed to get a session with one of the instructors. He was really helpful to point out the best lines, breaking points, and when and when not to accelerate. I think that the biggest lesson I learnt from the tuition is simply to drive more consistently rather than jerking the car around trying to accelerate too quickly, or brake too sharply. I also learnt that sometimes it is good to power the car through a corner to cause it to drift very slightly.
At then end of the day we packed up and the Direzzas looked fine and have certainly got enough meat on them for an evening session at Brands Hatch on 25th August 2021 and possibly another track day before the end of the year. I have got a week booked off from work in October so I might book up Bedford on 25th October 2021.
It was good to meet
@LiamP,
@suj,
@IainMac,
@PITA,
@R27WTF,
@Big Ben,
@Helpimonfire,
@joehodges154 and a few others I have probably forgotten to mention.
