May 2006

Book-a-Track sessioned trackday - Goodwood

Images are here

Unexpectedly, Matt was able to join us at this trackday, as he and Clare had not yet left to go to Canada, so there were three of us driving today.

The event did not start well, and it was something of a sign of things to come: after the problematical preparation evening the night before, we thought nothing more could go wrong, so we headed off in Gareth's Renault Master van, with enough tools to complete most jobs we could envisage. We arrived early at Goodwood to fine, if slightly cloudy weather, and awaited the other cars. Soon the paddock filled up with some very interesting metal, including a very beautiful (and original) AC Cobra, which parked up in the garage next to us; and a stripped out Mk1 Golf, which the owner was pleased to inform us had an Audi TT engine, quaife gearbox, and lots of power. He was in our group, so was waiting to see how much fun he could have with us! We made some final checks on the car and went off to sign on, and attend the drivers breifing.

After the breifing it was a simple matter of getting a noise test and lining up in the second group - except that Chris managed to re-arrange the door on the side of teh pit garage, leaving a nice dent! Put it down to being strapped back into a low seat, a full face helmet, the roll cage, excitement or just stupidity I suppose.

The first session was behind a pace car, and after the first bend it was clear that the roll cage was going to make a massive difference to how the car handled, the whole car felt much much more responsive, allowing sharper turn-in, and on the limit, the car drifted in a much more solid fashion, it is hard to explain - it just inspired much more confidence than before. The worry we had was the water temperature. This was our first outing with our new double thickness intercooler, and after a couple of short bursts on boost the temperature needle was well into the red. We were concerned whether we would even manage a full session at a proper pace.

For the second session we topped up the water, and Matt drove. The car performed fantasticly, the new wastegate and intake modifications were allowing the engine to hold boost quicker, and far more reliably throught the rev range. Matt also was very impressed with the difference the 'cage made. Most importantly, the chap with the Mk1 Golf was somewhat surprised to find that despite starting the session behind us, he could not make up any ground - sadly, we had a noise warning on the 2nd to last lap, so had to ease off, which allowed Golf to catch up.

Back in the pits we changed our rear pipe for a quieter one we had brought with us, at the same time as tightening the rear brake adjustment as one of our calipers did not appear to be adjusting properly. The water alson needed topping up, although it was hard to see where it was leaking from (around the bottle area).

We took the time to chat to the owner of the Mk1 Golf and a 205GTI ex race car which were the only two fast cars in our group. Both had been quite surprised by our Saab!

Our long suffering girlfriends and some other friends that have been bored by talk of track cars decided to come down to the event, and some of them got passenger rides, in between eating the delicious poducts available from the on site burger van. Sadly, it was when Matt was taking our friend Roland out for a session that the final disaster struck watching from the grandstand, there was a crunch as Matt changed from 3rd to 4th (the whole crowd on the grandstand gave a sharp intake of breath) but, after a pause, he found a gear and got going again. Matt then continued the last 10 minutes of the session at a slightly slower pace, but we couldn't really work out what was wrong.

10 minutes later, a sullen Matt & Roland coasted into the pits with more steam than before coming out of the engine. Matt leapt out and gave a summary
"It's not pretty: we're overheating, the brakes are non-existant, and I no longer have 2nd or 4th gear!"
Despite a joke of using the Renault Master for the last couple of sessions, we decided that we might be pushing our luck after the recent events, so the Carlsson was sullenly loaded onto the trailer and we went home early.

Despite the early bath, we still reflected on a happy day, some of our friends got a ride out, that roll cage and intercooler all worked brilliantly, and the car was improving - we just had 2 gearboxes to change!