SPA 25/05/05 and Ring 27/05/05

SPA 25/05/05 and Ring 27/05/05

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John Lloyd

Original Poster:

926 posts

238 months

Friday 27th May 2005
quotequote all
Spa was fantastic. Trip was the best ever. Set off at 07300hrs on 24th. Drove down to Folkstone for the tunnel. Whilst at the tunnel car park surrounded by coach loads of children over 100?!! This was to become a reacuring theme where ever I stopped there always seemed to be at least one coach load of children.

Calais to tiny village near track 330 miles in about 5 hrs. The village even has a war museum with a German tank outside it. If you want a very quite small village hotel and the owner speaks very good English this is the one www.ecuries.be

Up early the next day to the track. There all day and did about 170 miles on the track. Also had some time with an instructor. IT WAS FANTASTIC. I cannot believe I have actually drivn on a F1 circuit. Photos will follow and I will get Bruce to put some on the club site too. A number of spins, which was quite scarey as the barriers are close to the track and if you hit them you to pay for them to be repaired too.

That night drove into Spa to watch the football. I actually had a very attractive Belgium women sit in the car with me to have her photo taken!! Lots of admiring looks. My French is rubbish, but I do understand Tres Chic! which was said very often.

Home the next day. Great journey home lots of admiring looks. Stuck in a traffic jam on the motorway. So the usual taking of photos as people drive past slowly.

At Calais car park I had to wait a couple of hours so I sat away from the car. In the two hours I counted over a hundred people stop and look at the car, almost every other person using a mobile to take a photo and that was just adults. Again there were coach loads of children who swarmed round the car.

Best trip ever. :bounce:

ross.mcw

393 posts

264 months

Friday 27th May 2005
quotequote all
Sounds good - I'm going to have to find time to have a go at SPA. I must have done a million laps on Simbin's GTR already so I need to do it for real

John Lloyd

Original Poster:

926 posts

238 months

Friday 27th May 2005
quotequote all
Here are a couple of pictures of Spa. How many Porsches are behind me? Bruce I spun twice at the top of this bend (Eau Rouge for those not in the know!!! Oh get him!!) once with the instructor. Even he was impressed!! Or just thankful we had surrvived!! As I've said it was the dogs bo**ocks.



>> Edited by John Lloyd on Friday 27th May 23:57

>> Edited by John Lloyd on Saturday 28th May 00:16

John Lloyd

Original Poster:

926 posts

238 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
How many Atoms can you get in a tube?



Tom Cruise eat your heart out! This is how the proffesionals map read. Makes you feel like a F15 fighter pilot.


Who parked that there?


What's that hidding under there?


>> Edited by John Lloyd on Saturday 28th May 00:20

datasafe

911 posts

238 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
Good photos John & great to hear you had such a good time in Spa.

Loved to read your account of the driving there and back and how people reacted on seeing the car.

John

fast buck

238 posts

235 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
That looked great, as soon as work picks up and i can afford to take time off i'm up for something like that!

Scorewriter

75 posts

237 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
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Oh! b*ll*cks John! I simply HAVE to do Spa now! I'm a bit peeved I missed this trip. The piccies are stunning. Reading other track dayers various reports, it seems many of them rate Spa higher than the Ring.

Having a look on the net, the next uk organised trip is bang in the middle of my holiday, after that it looks like September. Shite. I can't wait that long!

Mike

Scorewriter

75 posts

237 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
By the way John, is that an official Ariel rain cover or a third party thingy? I could do with getting one but Ariel's look a bit pricey.

John Lloyd

Original Poster:

926 posts

238 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
scorewriter said:
By the way John, is that an official Ariel rain cover or a third party thingy?


It's the one from Ariel. I bought it, because I was thinking of keeping the Atom outside, but changed my mind and the Volvo sits outside. But having it to take on track days has been great as it hides the car in the sense that no one knows what it is and it's kept it dry over night a couple of times. Also as the factory make it it fits perfectly.

datasafe

911 posts

238 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
I think I might need one of those covers too as I can't see us clearing the garage junk in time!

Does it FIX on to stop the thieving buggers from pinching it?

John

john lloyd

Original Poster:

926 posts

238 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
datasafe said:
Does it FIX on to stop the thieving buggers from pinching it?


It only has a strap that goes underneath it and clips to the other side. There is no where for a padlock, but you may be a ble to add one on the strap.

atom120

268 posts

238 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
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Wonder what the people running the tunnel thought when this turned up a couple of days later!



>> Edited by atom120 on Saturday 28th May 17:32

atom120

268 posts

238 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
Spa sounds absolutely awesome - that'll be next on the list!

In the meantime, a few pics from the ring:





Bruce Fielding

2,244 posts

289 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
I see you're taking the MC line in Pic 3...

John Lloyd

Original Poster:

926 posts

238 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
Atom120, how many of you were at The Ring?

atom120

268 posts

238 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
John Lloyd said:
Atom120, how many of you were at The Ring?
How many Atoms? One ...me!

About 40 other cars ...so a pretty empty day. Though we did have buses travelling in the OPPOSITE direction at one point ...and an artic reversing ACROSS the track at T13 ...only at the ring!!

atom120

268 posts

238 months

Saturday 28th May 2005
quotequote all
Bruce Fielding said:
I see you're taking the MC line in Pic 3...
That'll be because it was MC driving at the time!!

Bruce Fielding

2,244 posts

289 months

Sunday 29th May 2005
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That boy can drive, can't he?

atom120

268 posts

238 months

Sunday 29th May 2005
quotequote all
He certainly knows his way round the ring...