Continuing with my habit of doing one to two UK track days each year, it was the turn of Oulton Park, in Cheshire UK to receive a visit from me.
This circuit has a famed and somewhat fearsome reputation in the UK. Host to British Touring Car Championship race, British Superbikes, and the Gold Cup, famously won by Sir Sterling Moss 5 times in the 1950s and 60s.
Why does it have this reputation? A track map really does not do the place justice:
http://www.oultonpark.co.uk/media/12...pe_numbers.pdf
The track consists of a series of natural undulations and blind crests that flow from working the circuit into the topography. There is a lot of elevation change, steep climbs and drops, compressions, and crests. Making it very difficult is the inconsistent surface grip – some areas are shaded, damp and have wet leaves, painted grid markings and kerbs can be diabolical for grip – so it is difficult to gauge speed. It is a very fast circuit, beautifully designed for a Seven as the car is agile for sudden direction changes and with a relatively soft suspension is able to cope better with the bumps than a heavier car that can struggle to put the power down. It is an incredibly challenging circuit for an old fat race hacker to be launching onto. Oh and should I mention that there is not much run off ….so any off track excursion is going to involve the sound of crash, crump, wallop, swearing and the rustling of a LOT of pound notes being sucked out of your wallet/bank account.
As usual I rented an Caterham Seven R300 SV race car from Jonny Leroux at BookaTrack. 2L Duratec powered with about 180hp, lightened flywheel, 6 speed box, full cage, upgraded 4 pot brakes, and CR500 tires. The race car deletes most options – handbrake, headlights, indicators, brake lights with just a steering wheel and a Stack display. The cars lead a hard life given the hackers who rent them but are very well maintained. If something breaks during the day then there are mechanics on hand to swarm all over the car to fix it quickly to get you back out there. If worst happens and an engine blows then (provided you did not over-rev it) there is a spare to get you back out on the track. I think it is testament to the maintenance and the design of the Duratec that the engines average 250 hours full on track running before they break. I suspect the K series would have been through 4 head gaskets by then.
So the day starts off with sorting out your car in the pits:
Then it is time for the drivers briefing which I have to say was one of the best ever I have experienced for a track day. Concise, focused, all lifted just enough with a hearty dose of English humor.
Fortunately, they had sighting laps before the session opened up. I managed to get in one lap to begin to see where the corners went. This quaint tradition does not seem to happen in the US but you do see some rather remarkable vehicles lurching around the circuit. The look on this van guy’s face is intriguing:
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