Andrew Walsh North Weald Activity Day
Discussion
I had a great day out in my car last week at an Andrew Walsh Activity Day at North Weald Airfield. I’d been aware of Andrew’s excellent reputation through my many years of Elise ownership, but I’d never been to one of these events before as, having done so many track days (long ago, in my 30s), I thought, a day with traffic cones on an airfield wouldn’t quite hit the spot, but I was very wrong – I had a great time. It was easily the most fun I’ve had in my car since buying it.
Andrew is an excellent host, & the tone he sets with the briefing at the beginning of the day is very different from all the “Don’t do this, don’t do that” & “This is dangerous” seriousness that precedes a track day. With a maximum two cars driving at a time, & no chance of them being close to one another, there’s very little chance of damaging your car, so everyone just focuses on having fun. Helmets are not required.
The other big difference from a track day is, driving beyond your ability is not discouraged at all. If you spin, that’s fine – you’re not going to hit anything & you’re not going to hold anyone up. So go ahead & spin – find your limit.
Andrew offers driver training (max. 4 people for training days, I think). This wasn’t a training day, it was an activity day, so there was no in-car tuition, but Andrew & his two helpers were pleased to give tips & advice.
There were around 14 cars on the day I went. This was a Lotus club day, so most cars were Exiges & Elises, & there were a couple of other Lotus models, a 911 GTS, a Boxster S & a Tesla.
We spent around an hour at a time on several different activities/circuits, all of which were great fun, & we finished the day with some timed runs over the North Weald MSA sprint course, which if you’re interested, looks like this (link to someone else’s Youtube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZgAmxIa1Yk
You will be pleased to hear, the bog standard non-S Alpine, running on small brakes & PS4s, beat all the Lotuses, but the 911 had me by a second (sorry to let you all down).
So, what did I learn?
The first thing I learned was that the button that I thought was turning off the TC in sport mode doesn’t turn it off – it just allows a decent amount of slip before it sets about rescuing you. Having learned this, the rest of my day was spent in track mode, which I hadn’t used before (my car was still on less than 2,000 miles when I arrived at North Weald).
The horrible rev counter display wasn’t such a problem as I thought it would be: although you can’t take a micro second glance to see how many revs you’re doing, when it’s time to change gear, the whole strip (in track mode) turns red & there’s a useful beep sound too.
More than ever, I wish they’d made this car with a manual gear box.
I want to do some track days again.
The car continues to deliver excellent fuel economy even when driven hard.
I definitely need some harder brake pads if I’m going to do a track day. & I’ve worked out why my rear wheels black up more than the fronts too – it‘s the e-diff. So I’ll need good pads at both ends. I’d been thinking just the fronts would be enough.
Anyway, that’s enough from me. I had such a good time, I just thought I’d encourage a few more Alpine owners to get over to North Weald to learn what happens when you run out of grip/talent. I’ll certainly be doing this again as soon as my schedule allows.
Awdrivertraining.co.uk & there’s an AW Driver Training Facebook page as well.
Andrew is an excellent host, & the tone he sets with the briefing at the beginning of the day is very different from all the “Don’t do this, don’t do that” & “This is dangerous” seriousness that precedes a track day. With a maximum two cars driving at a time, & no chance of them being close to one another, there’s very little chance of damaging your car, so everyone just focuses on having fun. Helmets are not required.
The other big difference from a track day is, driving beyond your ability is not discouraged at all. If you spin, that’s fine – you’re not going to hit anything & you’re not going to hold anyone up. So go ahead & spin – find your limit.
Andrew offers driver training (max. 4 people for training days, I think). This wasn’t a training day, it was an activity day, so there was no in-car tuition, but Andrew & his two helpers were pleased to give tips & advice.
There were around 14 cars on the day I went. This was a Lotus club day, so most cars were Exiges & Elises, & there were a couple of other Lotus models, a 911 GTS, a Boxster S & a Tesla.
We spent around an hour at a time on several different activities/circuits, all of which were great fun, & we finished the day with some timed runs over the North Weald MSA sprint course, which if you’re interested, looks like this (link to someone else’s Youtube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZgAmxIa1Yk
You will be pleased to hear, the bog standard non-S Alpine, running on small brakes & PS4s, beat all the Lotuses, but the 911 had me by a second (sorry to let you all down).
So, what did I learn?
The first thing I learned was that the button that I thought was turning off the TC in sport mode doesn’t turn it off – it just allows a decent amount of slip before it sets about rescuing you. Having learned this, the rest of my day was spent in track mode, which I hadn’t used before (my car was still on less than 2,000 miles when I arrived at North Weald).
The horrible rev counter display wasn’t such a problem as I thought it would be: although you can’t take a micro second glance to see how many revs you’re doing, when it’s time to change gear, the whole strip (in track mode) turns red & there’s a useful beep sound too.
More than ever, I wish they’d made this car with a manual gear box.
I want to do some track days again.
The car continues to deliver excellent fuel economy even when driven hard.
I definitely need some harder brake pads if I’m going to do a track day. & I’ve worked out why my rear wheels black up more than the fronts too – it‘s the e-diff. So I’ll need good pads at both ends. I’d been thinking just the fronts would be enough.
Anyway, that’s enough from me. I had such a good time, I just thought I’d encourage a few more Alpine owners to get over to North Weald to learn what happens when you run out of grip/talent. I’ll certainly be doing this again as soon as my schedule allows.
Awdrivertraining.co.uk & there’s an AW Driver Training Facebook page as well.
Great write up thanks.
I’ve done a couple of Andrew’s Drivers days as well as an activity day in my old Elise & Exige and have to agree they are great fun and teach you a lot about car control as well as your own limitations!
Have been thinking of taking the Alpine to one and you’re write up has whet my appetite again
I’ve done a couple of Andrew’s Drivers days as well as an activity day in my old Elise & Exige and have to agree they are great fun and teach you a lot about car control as well as your own limitations!
Have been thinking of taking the Alpine to one and you’re write up has whet my appetite again
The 4 person day is better. As you get limit handling coaching rather than just figure it out on your own which you won’t without guidance and even then you need real track experience to optimize but as an intro into how your car will behave when you lift off in extremis is illustrative
The track used to be pretty abrasive like all airfields so it’ll be good to know that and to have protection on rear arches
The track used to be pretty abrasive like all airfields so it’ll be good to know that and to have protection on rear arches
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