Donington Park 7th November 2021
Last track day of the 2021 season, I was booked on with
@Big Ben @Helpimonfire and
@Beany came along to spectate for a little while. Forecast was dry but cold. Got the trailer the day before and loaded up the car in the sideways rain and gales. Always pleasant.
I took R888R and slicks as no rain was forecast. Made good time down there with the heated seats blasting and had an overpriced bacon sandwich (£6!!) in the garage when we arrived. It was bitterly cold first thing and I put my wooly hat on and just sat in the garage trying to keep warm.
I brought my brother-in-law along for the ride, so I sent him out for the sighting laps on his own as it was too cold and I finished my brew.
The track was so cold first thing, getting heat into the tyres was tricky. It was understeering and oversteering all over the place in the first session. I just cruised around at 60% pace trying to get some warmth into the carcass. I ended up having to put air into the rear tyres to get to the target hot pressures.
It wasn't the best day I've had at Donington, it was super busy. I suspect because it was a Sunday instead of a mid-week track day it just attracted more people. There were times when we were just sitting in the pit lane waiting to be allowed on track, the track was green but they were operating on one-in-one-out as there were just too many cars out, some of them were pretty clueless too. This resulted in a lot of this:
Mid morning I felt the brake pedal go longer than normal and mentioned it to my BIL in the passenger seat. We came in straight away and had a look at the fluid reservoir. I kinda knew it wasn't going to be that as I've had zero problems with brake fade or temperatures all year. Checked the reservoir and everything was looking fine. We took off the wheel and inspected the pads... they'll be done then
One was down to the backing plate and the other had about 1mm left, same on the other side. They've lasted all year (6 full track days and one evening session) which is pretty good going, as I do like to stand on them hard. Because I'm an organised cub scout I keep a set of DS1.11 pads in my tool box, 20mins later (
@mrpink pins are a life saver!) we had replaced both sides and the car was back on all four wheels. Easy peasy.
Bedding in instructions for the DS1.11 are 20-30 applications of 50% brake pressure followed by a cool down, so I went out and did 4-5 laps at 50% pace to get a few heat cycles in them, and then came in for 15 minutes to let them cool. They were mega for the rest of the day. Just need to replace my spares in my tool box ready for next year.
@Big Ben and I managed to get one clear session together just before lunch. I lined up behind him in the pit lane and wondered how long I could keep him in sight for. I'm running R888R, he's running AR1. Same suspension (Gaz Gold), I'm running a more aggressive geo. Not sure on weights, but I'm fully stripped out and weigh about 120kg. He's running 377bhp and I'm running 205bhp. I'll let the video do the talking:
As you can see, after 1 lap of tyre warm up Ben just fucks off into the distance. Ah well, at least I tried.
I spent the rest of the afternoon just driving around numpties and negotiating traffic, with a few good scalps along the way:
Mid afternoon, Ben comes over to me and offers me a drive in R444 NHM, I ponder it over for a second or two... There are two conditions, bring it back in one piece, and he's not going to come out with me in the passenger seat.
I accepted and got myself strapped in. Ben waited patiently on the pit wall, like a nervous father-to-be in the delivery room. I'm told he was counting an estimated lap time in his head then peering into the distance to try and see me emerge for another lap. I didn't hold back, I gave it everything I was comfortable giving considering it wasn't my car. I felt like I had to do it justice. Perhaps he can let you know what his car sounds like full chat along the pit straight!
It's a wonderful setup, boost comes in strong and hard and doesn't let up, it pulls all the way to the limiter. It gives off lovely whooshes, flutters, chatters and hisses like an old school turbo car. It's fecking quick, really really quick. I was arriving at corners at good 20-30mph faster than I'm used to. Where a dab of the brakes and a chuck into a corner is all you need in R20 BTG, I was having to brake hard and compose the car before the bend. There's not a lot that keeps up with it out of corners once you have traction. N/A hatchbacks barely even register as you blast past them. Brakes were good, the only downside is that it is traction limited on the front end. Definitely needs a gripper diff up front, I wasn't able to go full throttle in third out of the hairpin for example, I was feathering the throttle and even then the TCS light was flickering. I drive R20 BTG with everything switched off, but out of respect for Ben's car and as a bit of a safety net it was left switched on. The turbo was glowing when I came back in! So a big thanks to Ben for trusting me with his car, I really enjoyed it!
My session in R444 NHM came to an end when a MK2 Megane had an off into Turn 1 and again later the same lap. Red flags came out again, and I trundled back to the pits trying to process what I'd just driven. I do wonder whether Ben's bum was twitching when the red flag came out and I was delayed back to the pit lane!
I had another couple of sessions in the afternoon, I let my BIL out on his own for a while and he seemed to have fun. After a Clio 182 had a big off on the way into Craner Curves, I decided to call it a day while they retrieved the car and repaired the barrier. The light was drawing to a close and it was getting cold again. Loaded up and home by 6pm for dinner.
Enjoyable end to a good first season with the car, I've met some new friends and had a blast along the way. The car will now be put away for winter with some upgrades and maintenance on the list.
Thanks for reading!
