Back to the Track
03-05-2012, 12:07 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Back to the Track
A few of you will know me after I stuffed my S into the wall at Oulton Park after a ten minute tank slapper on the exit of Druids. Well, the car is all fixed up with some new Hardrace Rear Toe Arms and fresh from a Geo setup, so I decided I should get back on track as soon as possible to get 'back on the wagon'. I chose a Motorsport Events airfield day at Keevil for a few reasons: Proximity to my house (an hr's drive), good organisation (I've been to their days before and they're superb), and most imporantly, no tyre walls!
We were very lucky with the weather; a shower in the morning and a shower at lunch time made for a few damp but drying laps at the begininning of each session, which I was all too wary of, as these were the conditions in which I had my 'incident'. I had a tentative and fairly sedate first session of the morning, followed by an hour's Limit Handling tuition from 'Nev' at MSE, who was apparently chosen due to his RWD/single seater experience. I was hoping it would still be damp, to replicate the conditions at Oulton Park, but alas it was fully dry by then.
The Limit Handling tuition was on another part of the airfield, completely away from everything else that was going on, but this allowed me to concentrate on feeling what my car was doing. They had set out one corner, that could be taken in both directions, and a cone slalom that widened and narrowed to force acceleration and braking whilst turning. I thought initially 'how much can we really do with just this?', but using just one corner and a slalom, my instructor pushed me harder and harder until he eventually introduced me to the art of trail braking. I have to say, he judged my ability extremely well and my confidence grew with each run. By the final run, I had the back end sliding into the turn (on the brakes), then mild understeer mid-bend, finishing with a whopping powerslide out of the bend, to the sound of a large 'woohoo' from me and a 'yeaah' from him!
Confidence renewed, and new skills learnt, I took to the track once more after lunch and my driving was transformed. I did three more sessions, and was touching 100mph at three points on the lap by the end of the day. Crucially, my goal of 'retraining my instincts' to be calmer when the car moves around had been fulfilled and my confidence was back. I still wasn't pushing fully through the fast 80mph corner, and I could've gone quicker through the chicane, but I felt I'd nailed the rest of the turns at least a couple of times during the day. And the tight hairpin, which was always my least enjoyable corner, where I'd prevously suffered from understeer in the S at Hullavington and Colerne, was now transformed into a fun moment of trail-braking oversteer.
All in all, a cracking day out, and actually a bargain at £179, including £70 for an hour's instruction. If anyone can't stomach the price of a full day's Limit Handling tuition, I'd thoroughly recommend an hour with MSE to boost your skills and confidence. I feel renewed post-accident and will be doing a few more track days this year, hopefully including Anglesey (BaT).
For those who are still reading my waffle, here's a few videos throughout the day. They do include the warm-up and cool-down laps, so you may want to skip a little, or just watch the final session (last video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4DNn...uSCYWVN4s-7wO9
We were very lucky with the weather; a shower in the morning and a shower at lunch time made for a few damp but drying laps at the begininning of each session, which I was all too wary of, as these were the conditions in which I had my 'incident'. I had a tentative and fairly sedate first session of the morning, followed by an hour's Limit Handling tuition from 'Nev' at MSE, who was apparently chosen due to his RWD/single seater experience. I was hoping it would still be damp, to replicate the conditions at Oulton Park, but alas it was fully dry by then.
The Limit Handling tuition was on another part of the airfield, completely away from everything else that was going on, but this allowed me to concentrate on feeling what my car was doing. They had set out one corner, that could be taken in both directions, and a cone slalom that widened and narrowed to force acceleration and braking whilst turning. I thought initially 'how much can we really do with just this?', but using just one corner and a slalom, my instructor pushed me harder and harder until he eventually introduced me to the art of trail braking. I have to say, he judged my ability extremely well and my confidence grew with each run. By the final run, I had the back end sliding into the turn (on the brakes), then mild understeer mid-bend, finishing with a whopping powerslide out of the bend, to the sound of a large 'woohoo' from me and a 'yeaah' from him!
Confidence renewed, and new skills learnt, I took to the track once more after lunch and my driving was transformed. I did three more sessions, and was touching 100mph at three points on the lap by the end of the day. Crucially, my goal of 'retraining my instincts' to be calmer when the car moves around had been fulfilled and my confidence was back. I still wasn't pushing fully through the fast 80mph corner, and I could've gone quicker through the chicane, but I felt I'd nailed the rest of the turns at least a couple of times during the day. And the tight hairpin, which was always my least enjoyable corner, where I'd prevously suffered from understeer in the S at Hullavington and Colerne, was now transformed into a fun moment of trail-braking oversteer.
All in all, a cracking day out, and actually a bargain at £179, including £70 for an hour's instruction. If anyone can't stomach the price of a full day's Limit Handling tuition, I'd thoroughly recommend an hour with MSE to boost your skills and confidence. I feel renewed post-accident and will be doing a few more track days this year, hopefully including Anglesey (BaT).
For those who are still reading my waffle, here's a few videos throughout the day. They do include the warm-up and cool-down laps, so you may want to skip a little, or just watch the final session (last video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4DNn...uSCYWVN4s-7wO9
03-05-2012, 12:07 AM
#2
Thread Starter
03-05-2012, 12:08 AM
#3
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03-05-2012, 04:20 AM
#4
03-05-2012, 04:30 AM
#5
Thread Starter
Hehe, figure of speech, but it felt like it! Certainly went 3 times both ways. The medical staff said it looked impressive! Would've been an epic save if I'd registered it. I very nearly did, but sadly not.
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