Anyone going to the GMSC trackday tonight?

[smitstui]

Is anyone going to the GMSC trackday tonight?

I am going to head down but it looks like rain unfortunately

[allyrennie]

I Shall be up sir as I have a wee bit of business to do with a man ( That sounded well dodgy I know..................But thats Fife for you! )

[cstrachan]

Might pop over, could do with giving the Skoda a run as has not moved in 3 weeks.

[smitstui]

I am just heading off now but if you see me pop across and say hello.


Cheers,

Stuart.

DSC01023.JPG

[smitstui]

Well I enjoyed that, but what an amount of red flags. First one was on the first lap and lasted about 30 mins.

Another 4 or 5 iirc.

Not an awfull lot of driving time left, oh and they did that close the track for the single seater thing again, albeit only for 5 or 10 minutes.

[Modena Scotland]

Doesn't sound too good Stu.

[Stewart]

Well I think that will be the last GMSC night for me . This was my first time on track since France last August and the first time in the exige so I was feeling a little apprehensive and very rusty.

First the good points, its stayed dry; the car was great fun and felt pretty fast. Other than that there weren't too many positives.

As I thought from previous experience of these nights, there were a few sheds, however driving standards have always been reasonable in the past. Standards tonight weren't particularly poor but there were on or two guys there who may have been more at home on a Speed Sunday. There was also a massive variance in speeds and ability. Quite often the slowest looking cars i.e. novas were among the fastest. No real issue with that, if I saw them even getting close to me, I just let them buy.

The first red flag came out at the end of my first out lap at 6:05 for a rally car that had parked it on the hairpin. Apparently the 4 wheel drive had locked solid. It took until 6:30 to clear it. We could only have been out for about another 6 laps when yet another red. This then set the theme for the night as various sheds had offs or expired on circuit. In fairness I think the majority were mechanical as I never saw any damaged cars and there was never any oil sprayed onto the track.

I probably did less than 70 miles on track tonight and I was on track for more than 90% of the green flag time. And yes, annoyingly, the single seater was allowed out on at least one occasion that I am aware of.

I have to hold my hands up and say that on a couple of occasions I failed to spot quicker cars behind me. I put this down to the poor light, the cars being black in colour and the limited vision through the rear screen of the exige. I know that it is my responsibility to be aware of what is behind me, but the darker coloured cars may be safer running with lights on. One of them was the ultima which is a very quick car.

I think the tin lid for me was after the session ended and we returned to the paddock. When I climbed out of the car all I could hear was someone shouting at the top of their voice. It was a big bloke and he was giving an older looking guy a really sever berating. I am guessing the older chap had perhaps went to have a quiet word with the vocal chap and nearly had his head bitten off because of it. Not a pretty sight and not something I have any desire of being involved in in the future.

Roll on the next SIDC

[allyrennie]

Lets just say a "fair mix" of vehicles on show tonight...........




Note the Induction Kit....



















Good to chat to a few people tonight, it was very cold as usual!!

Ally

[fd]

Hmmmmm, apologies for one of the reds, t'was me . . . HT lead fell off the coil and the car died coming out of the hairpin . . . feck . . . I suppose one mechanical failure on the Elise in 100K miles is not too bad . . . there was some aggressive driving going on, not something I really worry about as I can mix it with them and quite enjoy it . . . but track time was very limited . . . not something I was over concerned about as I had planned short stints anyway . . . but I can see the issue . . .

such is life . . . first time on track in the Elise for me in 2.5 years I think and it was as disappointing as I feared . . . too slow, too heavy . . . too much a road car

Fd

[allyrennie]

Says - Car broke down
Fd

Well I wasn't going to post it but since you mentioned it..........



Caption Competition maybe?

Glad it was nothing serious sir

[fd]

"There's a first time for everything, in this case fitting the tow hook . . ."



Fd

[smitstui]

Doesn't sound too good Stu.

It was still worth it for me, I wanted to get a feel for the new car and I did. As stewart pointed out, its not a patch on the SIDC days. The track always seemed busy, maybe due to slower machinery and catching it up.



I think my next one will probably be a Hot Marques - maybe a bit cheeky but I have KH vouchers and I am not doing a speed sunday!

[smitstui]

"There's a first time for everything, in this case fitting the tow hook . . ."



Fd

If you hadnt have had that red flag I wouldnt have come in and check my fuel - not exagerating there was only an inch of petrol left at the bottom of the tank!

[fd]

I am just heading off now but if you see me pop across and say hello.


Cheers,

Stuart.

DSC01023.JPG

I think your rear tyres are fouling the bodywork, I have some video showing it puffing tyre smoke on the run up to the chicane . . . worth checking to see what's hitting what . . .

Fd

[Andy G]

what a parade of sheds. Sorry to hear that Stewart