Castle Combe 07-Aug-2007

[JonRB]

Was anyone from PH there yesterday?

Glorious weather and an unexpected bonus of being undersubscribed and switched to open pitlane rather than sessioned.

I was running the Corrado that day and it was going pretty well - well enough that I was being held up by an Evo, two Skylines and a Carrera 4 which I was quite chuffed by.

Big respect to the old Datsun 240Z though - that really shifted and just romped away from me each time we were in the vicinity of each other.

[_TC]

Yes sir i was there too. i had the white exige. saw you taking lots of pics. can you upload any?

Glad you had a good day. we were having a real ball but had things to do in the afternoon.

Ed.

[Don]

Those R888s were doing you proud then, Jon!

Nice. So...you recommend them I take it!

[JonRB]

_TC said:

Yes sir i was there too. i had the white exige. saw you taking lots of pics. can you upload any?

I wouldn't say loads of pics - I just banged off a few snaps of the paddock and the cars whilst the Corrado was cooling down a bit between runs. But if I have any decent ones I'll post them up.

_TC said:

Glad you had a good day. we were having a real ball but had things to do in the afternoon.

Yes, it was a good day and so quiet too. It so happened that you and I didn't seem to ever come across each other on track, but the grey Elise and I did. He was going well but we were surprisingly evenly matched a lot of the time by the afternoon. My tyres were giving me great traction to the point I could plant my foot to the floor from apex onwards despite having no TC.

Sorry I didn't get to chat to you.

[_TC]

JonRB said:

_TC said:

Yes sir i was there too. i had the white exige. saw you taking lots of pics. can you upload any?

I wouldn't say loads of pics - I just banged off a few snaps of the paddock and the cars whilst the Corrado was cooling down a bit between runs. But if I have any decent ones I'll post them up.

_TC said:

Glad you had a good day. we were having a real ball but had things to do in the afternoon.

Yes, it was a good day and so quiet too. It so happened that you and I didn't seem to ever come across each other on track, but the grey Elise and I did. He was going well but we were surprisingly evenly matched a lot of the time by the afternoon. My tyres were giving me great traction to the point I could plant my foot to the floor from apex onwards despite having no TC.

Sorry I didn't get to chat to you.

Yeah i was on the track the same time as the Elise. he was going very well but i was suprised to be waved by by him. the Exige was feeling absoulutly brilliant. tyres working well, brakes doing a stunning job and even the driver was holding his own yesterday.
Next time im going to hire one of the Caterhams to see just how much fun they are.

[JonRB]

Don said:

Those R888s were doing you proud then, Jon!

Nice. So...you recommend them I take it!

Certainly would. They're undeniably more grippy than road tyres - there is a marked difference even on the public road (I've been scrubbing them in with road driving for the past week). They've also got stiffer sidewalls which resists roll and shoulder wear more. I've still got a lot of shoulder wear on the N/S/F, of course, but not as far over as I had on the road tyres at Thruxton.

As for track work, it's very difficult to make a like-for-like comparison. Thruxton and Castle Combe have different grip, different characteristics, the attendees were different, I not only had the R888s but was also running front springs 50lbs stiffer than before as Calum suggested. So there are a lot of variables there, but whilst at Thruxton back in April with you I felt like I was one of the slowest cars there, at Combe I was well above the median (Caterfields excepted). But, as I said, there are so many variables that it is difficult to say why although I do think the tyres helped a lot. I think that fast passenger ride with Calum helped too as it showed what the car can do and also what it feels like nearer the limit too.

Edit: Main downside is that they are a lot more noisy than road tyres. The rumble / drone they generate is quite pronounced but tolerable.
Oh, and the fact that they are very prone to aquaplaning in standing water.

Edited by JonRB on Wednesday 8th August 13:50

[Shropshiremike]

JonRB said:

Big respect to the old Datsun 240Z though - that really shifted and just romped away from me each time we were in the vicinity of each other.

Was that the V8 powered one?

[JonRB]

Shropshiremike said:

Was that the V8 powered one?

I don't know what he had under the bonnet - I only got to talk to him for a minute or two just as he was shooting off - but it was very well sorted with a half cage, race seats and harnesses, so it was by no means standard.

Edited by JonRB on Wednesday 8th August 14:53

[_TC]

Hi John, did you happen to take any of my Exige when in the paddock?
Still waiting for Batpics to upload theirs.

[JonRB]

_TC said:

Hi John, did you happen to take any of my Exige when in the paddock?

No, I'm afraid not. I can't think why because your Exige was looking great, especially with that high-mounted intercooler you have right in the airflow from the roof scoop.

I looked at the photos last night and, to be honest, I can't see where you got the idea that I took lots of photos from because there really are only a handful of photos of the cars and the paddock and a few of my tyre wear throughout the day, and that's about it.

Some of my in-car video footage has come out quite well and there's some good footage of that Datsun, but I haven't been through it all so I don't know if there is any of your car. I don't think so as I don't recall us driving near each other for the whole day (as I mentioned earlier).

I'm looking forward to finding the bit where the red tricked-up R34 Skyline had a big tank slapper trying to stay in front of me. I just hope that was when I had the camera forward-facing rather than the session where I played around with it rear-facing. It would be just my luck if it were the latter.

[_TC]

JonRB said:

_TC said:

Hi John, did you happen to take any of my Exige when in the paddock?

No, I'm afraid not. I can't think why because your Exige was looking great, especially with that high-mounted intercooler you have right in the airflow from the roof scoop.

I looked at the photos last night and, to be honest, I can't see where you got the idea that I took lots of photos from because there really are only a handful of photos of the cars and the paddock and a few of my tyre wear throughout the day, and that's about it.

Some of my in-car video footage has come out quite well and there's some good footage of that Datsun, but I haven't been through it all so I don't know if there is any of your car. I don't think so as I don't recall us driving near each other for the whole day (as I mentioned earlier).

I'm looking forward to finding the bit where the red tricked-up R34 Skyline had a big tank slapper trying to stay in front of me. I just hope that was when I had the camera forward-facing rather than the session where I played around with it rear-facing. It would be just my luck if it were the latter.

Ah well not to worry.
I saw you taking pics with an SLR camera and just got it in my head you had taken more than i thought, if that makes sence.
I think i remember seeing you on track on one of my outings but you may have been on a cool down lap as i didnt see you again.
That skyline was rubbish in the corners. plenty of power and flames but not set up for the track i feel.
Hope to see you on another track day soon and i will pop over and say hi etc.
Do you have another booked at all?

[JonRB]

_TC said:

Hope to see you on another track day soon and i will pop over and say hi etc.

Likewise.

_TC said:

Do you have another booked at all?

Not at the moment. I may get another in by the end of the year - October perhaps - but nothing firm at the moment.