Donington - 30th March 2015

[W8PMC]

Was a great day.

Thanks Phil for organising & for the lunch. Was great to meet some other RS246ers & get some pax laps with Graeme in his B8 RS4 & Phil in his GT-R.

Shame my rear pads were shot within 3 hours so couldn't venture out after lunch. Thought i'd get a day out of them but sadly not. The M5 was great fun & very little troubled it other than the single seaters who feel they need to play the corner/straight game so just easier to let them go & back off.

I need to get braver with the Traction Control & if dry try switching it off completely, but did try MDM for a couple of the sessions & that was interesting.

Best lap time (National Circuit) was 1:25.63 which isn't too shabby for a fat saloon car & top speed was 129mph. Got some Pagid RS29's sat at home that happened to arrive whilst i was at Donington, so these will improve the braking in plenty of time for her next track outing.

I think the thrust of your car down the straights will stay with me for a while. I was certainly one of the fastest straight line road cars I've had the pleasure of being in recently. Thanks again for the ride

I could only time on the lap counter button on my car where possible/safe to do so, but the best I saw on the day was 1.23:6*, but I had a good tow down the last straight before the start/finish line by the racing Lotus with the massive wing
My tyres called time for me, and it was about the same time the drizzle started to set in, so a perfect time to hit an accident on the M42 and enjoy a 3 hour drive to Swindon

I know it's not always cool to do so, but having 30mins with the instructor just before lunch made a massive difference for me again

I wonder how those lucky boys and girls got on today in the 3x Ferrari F12's that were being delivered whilst we were having lunch

I'll look forward to the next one

Thanks.

You put in some good laps & your car behaved perfectly & to be honest better than i'd have expected. Not been out in many cars with Ceramics, but they really do make a difference & will certainly be a consideration when i move to my next car (whatever that may be).

I'm having some alterations made to the code in 2 weeks to dial out some of the TC intervention, have the top speed limiter removed & alter the torque curve to compliment the revised TC. Would be a fair bit quicker if the increased power/torque didn't cause the TC to intervene on track quite so much. I'm not brave enough to switch it completely off yet.

Checking my laptimes though, i was only 1/2 second a lap quicker in MDM mode (reduced TC) than i was with it fully on so kind of wish i had tried a couple of laps with it fully off. Maybe next time.

[Graeme4130]

I took your Sheffield mate out twice instead, so he got your go
Said I was like a pro driver after being your passenger

Fook he must be bad then

haha, thanks mate

I think Phil's track time was limited on Sunday as he'd forgotten his booster seat

[W8PMC]

Was a great day indeed. My first black flag ever (Noise) but with careful social engineering and high gear laps I managed to avoid the second black flag (Sends you home).

Glad Paul killed his car (again) as it wouldn't be the same if he didn't. Added benefit this time was I didn't get to go as a passenger and risk losing my lunch.

Would have liked to go round with Graeme but the track closed, I went for more fuel and he ran away before I got back!!

Have the pics of the four cars and will contact the owners with a download location.

Happy days

Didn't invite you out for a lap anyway Your laps were OK i guess

I didn't break my car, just temporarily stunned her .She was fine after a 10min nap (apart from the pads which are well & truly fooked).

You must have been snacking at the garage as were ages so we had to leave & it had started raining. Annoyed my car didn't throw an orange brake pad warning first as i could have managed the wear better & got a few more laps in but when red it was game over for me

Cheers for the photos, was a great day. Defo need another couple of weekday events between now & Spa so i can shakedown the new setup.

[Graeme4130]

Phil, who was the photographer on the day ?

[Reflect Russ]

I took your Sheffield mate out twice instead, so he got your go
Said I was like a pro driver after being your passenger

Fook he must be bad then

haha, thanks mate

I think Phil's track time was limited on Sunday as he'd forgotten his booster seat

Graeme I think the comment was that you are a very good driver, but lets face it, I dont do track days and I WAS A VIRGIN until PhilT stole that from me.

PhilT=Missed his vocation in life

Graeme=Very good driver but did have instructor training prior to going out

Mr Carkson=Well now theres a story for the others to ponder on

Me=Relieved to have got out of the M5 alive.

Was a great day and big thanks to PhilT for the invitation.

[Reflect Russ]

Also Graeme I will have an ask around who i know in Swindon for you regarding the chips, unless you want to have a drive up to Sheff.

[Graeme4130]

Hey Russ
The driving standard comment was more tongue in cheek, as anyone can look like a driving God after being in the car with phil
But I'll take all compliments too

If you know someone decent in Swindon, let me know as most of the places I've seen round this way are a bit shocking, so a recommendation would he welcomed

Good to meet you at the weekend and see you at the next one !

[W8PMC]

My feelings are now hurt

It's not easy to hustle an M5 round a track quickly, that said i do try to apply a sprinkling of shits & giggles into some of my laps when taking passengers out as i feel that's the right thing to do. Apologies if it's only me who enjoys the giggles but most tend to know what they're gonna get when sitting in my passenger seat

[Reflect Russ]

Thoroughly enjoyed it Paul, it was nice to be in a rear wheel drive monster and not see it in a ditch, unlike a couple I saw on the way round.

Graeme I will ask around but failing that you may have to pop up here for a day to get it sorted.

[PhilT]

Phil, who was the photographer on the day ?

Xtreme Motorsport Photography aka our mate Nick

[Graeme4130]

I see there's another on Monday the 20th April at Donnington if anyone's up for it ?
http://www.trackdays.co.uk/book/cartrackday/8251/

[HYFR]

Don't you guys work?
Monday track days ?!

[Graeme4130]

Don't you guys work?
Monday track days ?!

Chosen specifically to avoid those who do work

[HYFR]

?? Odd comment.

Or have i missed the BBC news article explaining why people who work are to be avoided

[Graeme4130]

Was a flippant joke, that somehow seems less funny when disected