TheRon Posted August 29, 2011 Posted August 29, 2011 LOT French Frolic 10 I got back yesterday from this epic. I decided to do the Ecuyers track day on the way down before the Frolic started. Ecuyers is very tight, twisty and long. It's got a lot of off camber corners. It's fun enough with lots of run-off but I wouldn't bother with a trip to France to do it. I stupidly left my roof behind when I left. I remember when I got back to my hotel and went straight back to get it but by then circuit was all locked up. I tried to go back on Sunday to collect the roof but it was still shut so I had to do the rest of the trip without my roof. Bresse was good fun, one fast corner then a good twisty section in the middle that unsettles the car. After the quiet day at Ecuyers (just 9 cars) it was fun to have a full complement of cars and experienced drivers to play about with. After Bresse we drove down to Macon. On Tuesday we had a day off so I hired a bike and joined another member of the group cycling up Mont Ventoux - 22km straight up to the summit and we reached over 50 mph on the way down ! Circuit du Luc is a lovely track set in a forest, a fun track but with two hairpins added in the middle that we very very slow, for the last hour they changed the layout and the track really flowed. Ledenon is amazing. Most tracks I can pick up fairly quickly but I struggled all day with this one. Very fast, very technical and lots of blind crests and drops where you cannot see anything. Very hard to get the right line - every time you come over a crest you to have to adjust your line when you finally see where the track goes. Grand Sambuc is a short simple track but it has no run off, just armco on the edge of the track. It's more like a hillclimb in that respect. Only car problem I had was my front right wheel bearing started to get noisy and then very noisy and then very very noisy. Managed to make it back but by the time I got home the noise was incredible. It was very hot all week - it got to 39 degrees on the drive down Macon and on track the car was running at about 98 degrees. It was great fun doing all this with like minded people and the organisation was superb. There were a few car failures, there are some good stories from the evenings and a few funny incidents on track. So in summary: Friday - Drive to Reims Saturday - Track day at Ecuyers, leave roof Sunday - Drive to Macon Monday - Track day at Circuit de Bresse Tuesday - Day off, hired a bike and rode up Mont Ventoux Wednesday - Track day at Circuit du Luc Thursday - Track day at Ledenon Friday - Track day at Grand Sambuc Saturday - Drive back to near Calais, collect roof from Ecuyers on the way (600 miles in one day - ouch) Sunday - Got home, 5 track days and 3300 miles completed.
Martin R Posted August 29, 2011 Posted August 29, 2011 Tim, sounds like you had a great time. Its also good to hear the K is standing all the abuse
HRT Posted August 29, 2011 Posted August 29, 2011 As Martin said, good to see the K series being reliable Tim Looks like you are getting maximum value from that season ticket LOT French Frolic 10 I got back yesterday from this epic. I decided to do the Ecuyers track day on the way down before the Frolic started. Ecuyers is very tight, twisty and long. It's got a lot of off camber corners. It's fun enough with lots of run-off but I wouldn't bother with a trip to France to do it. I stupidly left my roof behind when I left. I remember when I got back to my hotel and went straight back to get it but by then circuit was all locked up. I tried to go back on Sunday to collect the roof but it was still shut so I had to do the rest of the trip without my roof. Bresse was good fun, one fast corner then a good twisty section in the middle that unsettles the car. After the quiet day at Ecuyers (just 9 cars) it was fun to have a full complement of cars and experienced drivers to play about with. After Bresse we drove down to Macon. On Tuesday we had a day off so I hired a bike and joined another member of the group cycling up Mont Ventoux - 22km straight up to the summit and we reached over 50 mph on the way down ! Circuit du Luc is a lovely track set in a forest, a fun track but with two hairpins added in the middle that we very very slow, for the last hour they changed the layout and the track really flowed. Ledenon is amazing. Most tracks I can pick up fairly quickly but I struggled all day with this one. Very fast, very technical and lots of blind crests and drops where you cannot see anything. Very hard to get the right line - every time you come over a crest you to have to adjust your line when you finally see where the track goes. Grand Sambuc is a short simple track but it has no run off, just armco on the edge of the track. It's more like a hillclimb in that respect. Only car problem I had was my front right wheel bearing started to get noisy and then very noisy and then very very noisy. Managed to make it back but by the time I got home the noise was incredible. It was very hot all week - it got to 39 degrees on the drive down Macon and on track the car was running at about 98 degrees. It was great fun doing all this with like minded people and the organisation was superb. There were a few car failures, there are some good stories from the evenings and a few funny incidents on track. So in summary: Friday - Drive to Reims Saturday - Track day at Ecuyers, leave roof Sunday - Drive to Macon Monday - Track day at Circuit de Bresse Tuesday - Day off, hired a bike and rode up Mont Ventoux Wednesday - Track day at Circuit du Luc Thursday - Track day at Ledenon Friday - Track day at Grand Sambuc Saturday - Drive back to near Calais, collect roof from Ecuyers on the way (600 miles in one day - ouch) Sunday - Got home, 5 track days and 3300 miles completed.
stockhome Posted August 29, 2011 Posted August 29, 2011 Sounds like you had a great time Tim very jealous
TheRon Posted August 29, 2011 Author Posted August 29, 2011 French Frolic wasn't on the season ticket - that just covers the UK days. It's definitely working out though ! New engine was great this trip. It's using a small amount of oil on track but on the road it's not. Cooling system was having to work hard, the driver's side sill where the pipes run was pretty hot and the interior air vents were blowing air hotter than ambient even when set to cold. I fitted a new set of T1-R's before this trip and they're now about half-worn and they coped fine with the hot temperatures. I fitted new front pads and they're now about half worn. Rear pads were half worn when I set out and still have a bit of life in them. On some of the really hot afternoons I would have killed for air-con ! Nigel Ayres kindly lent me his roof while he trailered his car so at least on a couple of the drivers I could keep the sun off my head. Other cars also had a few problems but I think only two (maybe 3) of them had to be recovered, and one of those came on a trailer anyway. The heat caused some problems - a couple of VX's melted their gear change cables which made changing gear difficult. There was one night where we got back to the hotel and 3-4 cars were being worked on in the car park. There was great commanderie and the owners of the cars that were properly broken down were generously donating parts (temporarily I guess) to others to keep them going. Two Evoras came along (one as a support vehicle carrying drinks and organisers) and one on the Frolic proper - seemed to be the ideal Frolic car. There were a couple of 211's that weren't being trailered - pretty hardcore for that distance. This coming weekend I'll do an oil change, replace the knackered wheel bearing and check over the suspension. Forgot to mention, on the way to Ecuyers I also stopped off at the old Reims circuit, took a look around and took some pictures.
MilesH Posted August 29, 2011 Posted August 29, 2011 Sounds like a great trip! Glad to hear the car survived without any issues
JonS Posted August 29, 2011 Posted August 29, 2011 Sound great TIm! The K-series can take a good beating every now and then! Glad you made it back in one piece. Good idea on leaving the the roof, as you say, you do need it sometimes though - it does get very hot out there!
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