rickya Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Went to Brands Hatch Open Pit lane yesterday with the Middx Subaru Owners Club. Approx 15 of us had one end of the pits as a group with others in differing cars in other garages inc TVRs/500bhp Cossie/E46 M3/ etc. Weather was excellent; event was busy with approx 5mins queing to get on track. Good to go in a group as collectively we had a whole garge worth of tools & tyres & quite a few members who were mechanics or as good as! Though great fun, this event was not as relaxed & enjoyable as previous club trackdays at Silverstone or Donnington. Mainly because the other remaining 70% of cars there were hardcore dedicated track machines such as Ariel Atoms; SR8's/ Caterhams including a R500 Superlight lapping in low 50'sec/997 GT3 RS/Gallardo LP/Tuned 911 Turbos/ Single seater racers etc. So most of time was spent looking in the rear view mirrors letting these through. Secondly the number of track day experience or tuition Elises/Megane R26 F1's that would constantly be on track & not move over was shocking. (Though the R26s were great cars considering they'r only running 225bhp IIRC.) Also IMO Brands Hatch is not the kind of track that you can go into corners all guns blazing without a care in the world like you could at Silverstone/ Bedford & to certain extent Donnington. Here armcos & barriers are always a few meters away & the grass is even closer, as my good friend foundout to his peril at 10.20am. Caution was needed, after watching countless videos beforehand I knew Paddock Hill bend was where I would take it easy as a beginner. I was also surprised to realise the exit to Druids claimed so many cars. Which is exactly what happened to my friend, in his older shape Spec C. I think he applied to much power with lock still on, comming out of Druids. One tyre on the grass on the left hand side of the track probably sent him spinning across the track to the right hand side. Straight into the tyre wall hitting almost every side of the car in the impact. It was then bounced back onto edge of track. Paddock Hill bend has to be one of the greatest corners on any track, its amazing how steeply it drops away & absoloute balls of steel are needed to be fast here...ps not me!! Me Taking it easy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickya Posted November 24, 2008 Author Share Posted November 24, 2008 Also a phone video: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NduP8b4ttiA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M350ZB Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Ouch , the white scoby, looks like a road car, must of been gutted, some good pics of it though, looks like a good day out !!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronzee Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Nice variety of cars there too. And ouch, but a good action shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Looks like a good day out! Gutted for your mate though, hope he is ok. I was at Brands a couple of months ago for Autotuner and saw a fair few offs and crashes.....mainly at Paddock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl114 Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Looks like a great day bar the accident. Will catch up with you soon mate, got a manic few weeks ahead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M13KYF Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 nasty, looks expensive. Did you pull over after you came out of the track to report the incident Swerved to avoid a fox, officer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Glad you had a good day out. Shame about the other one but you just got to live with it. Looks like he drove it back to pits/hotel so not toooo bad on damage. Gets worse when you loose wheels etc. Seems to be a couple of the LoTRDC cars, did they behave themselves. The class C car can do it in 51.6 so should not have held up many people. Insurance companies do follow track day photos and since you can see his number plate then there is bound to be other pics out on the web. So hope he had trackday cover. Tell him he needs some gymkhana training. http://video.kenblockracing.com/flash/s ... autoplay=0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickya Posted November 26, 2008 Author Share Posted November 26, 2008 Thanks chaps We all had track insurance so he's not too bothered, quite a laid back chap!! Good day out but I prefered Silverstone & Donnington to Brands. Its a great circuit but not in your own car if you know what I mean!! Steve Thanks for all your video links from other post, I watched that LOT Brands lines video many times. Also watched a lot of Caterham & SR8 etc videos, made me catch a lot of perople in Clearways & exit of Clearways by carrying a lot more speed with a proper line. Spent most of that morning fiddling with newly fitted thicker/adjustable rear ARB & tyre pressures. After lunch started picking up speed, but by 2.30pm tyres were going off & needed to be swopped over front to back & also pads needed changing. So instead called it a day 1.5hrs early. Just bought some Performance Friction Zcompound pads & need to do oil/filter change. Before another trackday in spring I would rather do a driver training day & also then consider getting: thicker front ARB/ Remap after a few mods/ Coilover suspension??? ££££££Â£'s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H5 Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 That looks like one expensive shunt, but good no-one was hurt. I'd love to go round Brands Indy, just not sure I've got the guts to take a road car there! The LoT guys were quick I'd guess? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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