Sadly my photographer in residence – also known as Dad – wasn’t able to make it to Combe. Something about being in Vennice. Who’d choose Italy over a carpark! In any case, this means I don’t have any pics of me wearing the finished helmet.
I couldn’t help adding the irridium visor – so here it is, in all it’s glory! Needless to say, I love it!
By the time the alarm went off to get up, I was already fully up, washed, dressed and packed up. Still, the roads were quiet!
I wasn’t the first to arrive. I think that honour went to Charlie, who had stayed close by and was also far too excited for sleep.
Morning was the normal hectic affair of unloading and prepping the car, and trying to fit in noise testing, sign on and briefing. All standard affairs. The only slight difference to this day as opposed to all the open pitlane days I’ve been on to date was it was sessioned, timing was allowed and overtaking was allowed into the corners. Not quite a test day though as we were still only allowed to overtake on the right. Something which lead to some fairly unconventional blocking tactics later on in the day!
I have to say, we were epically lucky with the weather. The forecast was unsettled right up to the morning of the event, and the weather on the way over was far from dry! However, other than the wind, the rain pretty much held of and, other than a first session on a damp track, it dried out pretty quickly.
The 15 minute sessions meant a surprisingly fast turnover on track. So much so that I didn’t get out till the end of my fist session due to miscalculating the time it would take to strap in. This already long and convoluted process was made worse as I was also using the HANs for the first time at track. It makes it an almost impossible task to get everything in the right order. I think at some point, I’ll put a step by step guide to getting in and strapped up to a racing Caterham. If only so I can put a check-list on my dashboard to remind me every time!
Having been to Castle Combe with the Elise a couple of times and with the ARDs day fresh in my mind, I was pretty happy to start throwing the car around from the off. For many, this was their first day on track. Everyone I spoke to through the day seemed to be having a great time though. Lots of little huddles of people all comparing notes and stories.
One of the most memorable bits of the day was the silence that befell the paddock every time someone had a spin coming through the last corner. You couldn’t see the track so waiting to hear whether there was going to be a big crunch after the squeal was a very cringesome affair! A number of people did meet the barrier through the day. Most seemed able to carry on. I didn’t hear of anyone permanently side-lined but a couple of cars did end up head first into the tyres, which can’t have been good for the front geometry.
I’m glad to say, I avoided contact with anything more than a poor earth worm that was unceremoniously lifted from it’s burrow by a wayward Alan Pegram, carried 10m through the air by a big gust of wind and unceremoniously splattered against my roll cage. My only injury through the day was when I punched myself in the nipple while trying desperately to save a spin!
I got close, but never quite matched the Academy lap record. 0.1 slower during my 3rd session on track. The wind picked up at the end of the day and it seemed the track was therefore around 0.5s slower.
As ever, I had great fun. I love being at track and hooning around. It’s only 10 days until our first competitive day at Aintree. I feel like I’m just about ready now. Fingers crossed we have consistent weather through the day – be that bad or good. Can’t wait.
Here it is. The car livery as it will go into the racing season. Who knows how it will come out the other side!
I was outside in the ‘garage’ today to do final preparations for the official test day on Wednesday. Some of this was ceremonial – other bits were more important!
First up was the removal of the passenger seat. With the car overweight once I step on board, and no need for the seat, it makes sense to save the weight and take it out the car. The passenger seat is MUCH easier to deal with than the drivers seat, so it really wasn’t too much of a hassle.
I took the opportunity to clean out the drivers and passenger side of all the grit, sand and general gunk that had collected over time.
I did a diagonal swap on the tyres to try and keep the wear more even. Something I didn’t do so well with my first set and I’m determined to get this set right.
With the wheels off, I put some aluminium tape over the wheel weights. I had forgotten to do this when I first had the tyres balanced and had been meaning to do this for a while.
Next up was a quick bolt check and visual check over the car. The small radius arm bolts had again worked themselves lose enough to need a good couple of cranks on the torque wrench.
I applied some Rainex type compound to the outside and inside of the windscreen. Having spent a quick 10 mins in horrid rain the previous day, I realised that it was pretty essential to help visibility.
A good wash and rinse later and the car was ready for more stickers. It’s getting harder and harder to really get the car clean. Track day rubber, oil and grime is extremely difficult to shift. I might have to ask for some tips on what shifts it.
It was great to finally get the sprint numbers onto the car. It wasn’t easy though. There’s not a lot of room on the number square and it’s tricky to get everything lined up and looking neat and tidy. A few pencil lines and careful use of masking tape later and I was fairly happy with the result.
I picked up some other stickers and URLs from a company recommended by Steve Grubb. http://www.goodwingraphics.co.uk/ They made me up a batch of sticker that were a great price and also delivered pretty much next business day after the request! Great service.
All that done, I tucked the car back up on the trailer pretty happy that everything is ready for the test on Wednesday. Was great to see the sun finally!
