Croft April 4th

[Andy G]

DJ - will be towing down - leaving 5-ish.

Just did dover to Edinburgh last night in a Ferrari and cant face driving back south tonight on 2 hours sleep.

[Mike Scib]

How good is Croft!! Up there with Oulton IMO, looking forward to going back already

Day started of damp which made things interesting even in the mighty VX but the track started to dry out in the afternoon. Was very important to get your lines right especially around the back section of the track as it was pretty quick though the kinks.

Was loving the VX today, pretty much flat everywhere, even managed to upset a few of the Supercharged VX which was keeping me entertained 37mpg there and back, 13mpg on track

To top the day of I got a drive of Andy's Atom and Stu's 2-11 Cheers gents

The Atom was absolutely brutal in its power delivery in any gear and pretty much any revs! I have no idea how Andy keeps it in a straight line in the wet, or even damp for that matter. Madness

In the 2-11 you could carry so much speed, the biggest difference I noticed from the VX was how impressive the braking was, obviously you where going faster at the braking point which I was now leaving until later but I still found I was having to back of the brakes and drive up to the corner as it could srub speed so quickly Plus I am under no illusion that I was using them anywhere near to there full potential! Epic car

Will try and get some video up later.

Great trip and great company. Frank even found it educational learning what a Panini was

[Stu160]

Totally agree Mike, i had forgot how good Croft is . Last time i was there was 10-11 years ago, in the 160.
A well known tall chap had a little padock chunder after a few laps with me

I also really enjoyed a few laps in the VX, so much fun , made me miss my old one

Stu

[Kinger]

Was thinking of you guy's while I was at work today.................Glad you had a great time !!

[Mike Scib]

http://vimeo.com/m/91024325

[H8OAG]

Good Effort!
Still as bumpy.......
The grip seemed to change dramatically in some parts of the circuit?
Have they been resurfacing in parts......or were the tyres going off?

[Stu160]

Its bumpy after Hawthorns, which i found quite good fun, as you had to wait on the car to settle before planting it round the right hander
Very slippy in the wet, but still great fun.

It is an olde style track where you really dont want to make a mistake, on the right hand kink before sunny in for example, 5th gear, 130 plus, there is about 30 m of grass, then a large group of tree,s . I would not like to miss the line through there.

But, it all adds to the thrill, if it had 100 m of tarmac, then a gravel trap, it would not be the same

Stu

[Mike Scib]

At Stu said it was pretty bumpy in places Iain, but some the sliding about was just me over driving the car trying to catch those pesky Supercharged VX's

[rgordonw]

Brilliant day yesterday, way exceeding expectations. The section through the esses, kink and sunny was awesome.
Many thanks to Mike and Kenny for passenger laps.
Knockhill will never be the same again!
Spazz cant come soon enough!

Gordon

[DJ]

Was great fun, even for a talentless trier like me in amongst SE's driving elite . Did notice a LoT day is generally a lot faster than most other run days I've done. Perhaps ultimately a good thing it was damp and a bit greasy in the morning to learn the track, with speed and confidence building as the weather improved and track dried out.
Loved Sunny in and Sunny out. Reminded me of the double right hander at the bottom of the outdoor kart track near Tranent. Agree start of Hawthorns was bumpy. I was like lightening through there - never striking the same bit of tarmac twice . Could never get that line right as felt so unnatural being so far to the left on a right hander and easy to be thrown even further left with the bumps.
Long day, leaving house at 5am and home at 8pm with about 400 miles driving but well worth it. Good to meet some more people from on here too.

[gedi]

Not much to add which hasn't been said already but I was so glad that I invited myself along!

Fully planned on just joining in on the social aspect with the hope of bumming a few passenger rides but was very happy to get out on track due to a last minute cancellation.
Struggled most of the morning in the damp and learning the track lines. Having limited experience with only ever being at knockhill it was a steep learning curve but it's got me hooked on wanting to know what other tracks are like!

Managed to get an instructor beside me in the afternoon and got a test drive in the Evora S. Top day out. Now where's the next one?!

[Cisco]

Cracking day out

[Andy G]

A great day indeed gents, and thanks to everyone for making it such a good laugh.

The Atom first thing was lunacy in the wet, a semi spin, out braking myself, and a few other cock-ups got the adrenalin pumping - next car was the Exige V6 Cup - great fun, quick, so capable, and it would actually do what you wanted it to - felt outrageously different to the Atom. Had a great laugh winding the instructor up, who was "impressed" with the speed once he figured out we werent going to crash after a relatively rapid first lap taking the Atom lines.......Stu then wound him up some more.....poor chap.

Then in to the 211 as Stu had taken out the Atom - first move was to pass Stu who was by now driving the Cup, which resulted in Stu getting a warning about not chasing me. The 211 felt mighty round Croft, so comfortable to carry mad speeds and SO easy to get stopped.

Some more monkeying about, took Brandon out for a pax, amongst others, and then post lunch went out for a pax in Mikes mighty VX - what a laugh. Balls to the wall everywhere and scalping far more powerful cars 2 up! It was like Frolic of old!

Thanks to DJ for being my wing man, and helping me get up the road awake, and for putting up with following a towing rangie up the A1 in some pacey overtakes.

Great day out gents - now as for the comparison with Oulton, I dont think Croft is at that level - but when are we going to go and put and end to this debate???

[rgordonw]

Finally managed to download video from phone and set up a link.
Reminder of what a great day it was!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lv2f3zxnubhc9c4/249.mov
Gordon

[Mike Scib]

Great day out gents - now as for the comparison with Oulton, I dont think Croft is at that level - but when are we going to go and put and end to this debate???

Don't get me wrong, love Oulton. Maybe not a fair comparison as I have only done Oulton in the S2000, and 2 hot hatches, 306 Rallye and Clio Trophy.

Was looking up dates for Donnington as never done it, anyone up for it?