Rockingham 26/08/10

[Daniel]

Not very fast at all in the wet, but good fun nontheless.

 

Nice too see Fentuz, Tim, Ninarin and a couple of others there too

 

[fentuz]

Yes, it was interesting Great to get Tim's feedback!

 

Next I book Rockingham, I'll get that

[TheRon]

Yesterday I had an eventful start - I was 4 cars behind a lorry wiping out a Peugeot on the A14 (everyone OK but shaken up) so I didn't get to Rockingham until 10am. I found Dan cowering in the pits not having gone out yet.

 

It was some of the trickiest conditions I've driven on track in and it caught a few people out. The banked corner was terrifying in the wet - that wall is very close. In the dry the whole track would be fantastic fun though.

 

I was shattered when I got home last night - just the sheer amount of concentration required all day to avoid making a mistake took its toll.

 

 

[Gary ZBJ]

Big respect to all you guys for being out there in that weather, I work just by Rockingham and with the weather as it was I thought it would have been cancelled!

 

The banked corner can be terrifying in the dry, can't imagine doing it in the wet, lol

 

I'll be there in Nov with LOT (if not before with someone else), I hope it is a dry day.

 

Gary

[fentuz]

Dan

 

Tim

 

Phill

 

me

[Iceman_Jay]

Im really glad I didnt book both events now, Silverstone on the monday was enough for me - I dont think it was as tricky as this looks as some ppl were flying round.

 

I saw an unfortunate someones supercharged elise up at JSR this morning which had gone into the pit wall on the evening session at Silverstone it was a right mess, quite a few ££££'s worth of damage to the suspension/wheels/brakes alone then theres bodywork and paint, It makes me think everytime I see a car in that state how easy and how quickly these things can happen which is why I was captain slow on monday but I suppose at the end of the day I could at least drive it home.

 

Not the most exciting video Daniel but I suppose in the conditions an appropriate speed as you displayed how easy it was to get the tail out, I like the telemetary data how does that work?

[Daniel]

In the briefing Malcolm explained the dangerous bits as Rockingham is supposed to be one of the slippyest tracks in the wet so I really was paranoid. I'm not confident in the wet at all and it shows even more on the banked oval where I was hitting maybe 60mph and when I was pax with Tim he was doing 80'ish. That big concrete wall scares me. Even in the wet though Tim commented how much better my 888's were on the patches without standing water compared to his 'normal' tyres.

 

Added to this there were lots of people visiting the gravel and a couple that visited the armco and came off looking worse for wear so I didn't fancy joining their exclusive club. Heck, it was that bad that even Tim spun

 

What was very interesting was the different lines I learnt for the wet. In a later session for example you can really go quite rapidly all the way around the outside at Tarzan, it feels most unnatural but there is bags of grip compared to the normal racing line which was like driving on ice. Thanks for that tip Tim.

 

Datalogging = Performancebox with input module a video camera and Trackvision to overlay it.

 

I want to go on a skidpan day

 

A few of the moments in one mashed together clip. Nothing too exciting but still...

 

[TheRon]

LOL - I span because I saw the photographer and twatted about...

 

Trying different lines in the wet is good to remember. Where rubber gets laid down it can be slippery compared to tarmac that has had less running on it. This is particularly noticeable at Donington when doing the full GP loop - on the final left hairpin at the end of the Melbourne Loop the first half of the corner has grip and as as you join the racing line for the club circuit the grip vanishes !

 

Martin Donnelly came out for a few laps at the end of the day and while I could almost keep up round the tight technical sections as soon as we got to the banking he flew past.

 

Dan and I watched a VXR go off ahead of us and bounce off the Armco - he was pushing it a bit (he'd already spun in front of us earlier in the session) but the poor guy learn't a lesson in very harsh way. There was also a blue S2 that damaged the front clam - the guy remarked how he wasn't trying any harder than any previous lap and just seemed a bit bewildered at what had happened.

 

Still - everyone who persisted driving there yesterday will now be a better driver because of it ! Cheaper than normal as well, no brake pad wear, no tyre wear, half the amount of fuel normally used, etc.

[Daniel]

Just found I can do this too which is cool.

 

View my line on Google maps

 

and this one too

 

All the laps from my first session including my spin.

[Iceman_Jay]

I think Daniel judging by your second video that your a lot like me, inexperienced and tend to power off once you feel it sliding which means im gonna be of no help to you at all so sorry haha there was one slide in there that you powered into and I think thats more or less how your supposed to do it so your on your way at least, I think its just practice but I'd honestly rather have more dry trackdays

 

Good video though and I'd really like to hear more about the datalogging thing - moreso the price if its expensive forget it haha

[Phil S1]

Dan

 

Tim

 

Phill

 

me

 

Thanks for posting the link. Reckon I'll have to place an order for one of my many sideways moments

Good to meet you and some of the othe mloc folk. Like Tim says though, I'm absolutely shattered today. It was fun but all the time you're aware of how easily it could all get out of shape and end in tears. Went for a passenger ride in an exige s and was surprised, given the power, at how much more grip it seemed to have compared to mine on Advans.

[Elise+Imp]

Like those above i had an interesting day, spent most of it on the circuit but only about half behind the wheel, had more than a few moments (hi Phil S1) but by-enlarge learnt a lot, last time i drove on a surface that slippery it was in march and somewhat white in colour.

 

must get some decent tires, my toyo's T1-R's are a few yeas old and nearly down to the blocks which didn't do much in displacing the water. As mentioned above the banking is very intimidating but the standing water after the chicane was the area which i feared the most, i could just imagine aquaplaning into the wall.

 

It was my work colleague who re-styled his blue S2 slightly, he's in good spirits and want's to do more track days, hopefully with better weather

[ninarin]

Was a great day for me!

 

Only because I did not actually take part in the day, was there with friends and had pax rides with anyone willing to take me out.

 

Was very entertaining as a passenger but I felt every bit as nervous as all the drivers at the concrete wall section

 

Thanks again to all who were kind enough to take me out.