Photobucket


+- +-

+-User

Author Topic: Castle Combe Trackday - 13/08/12  (Read 376 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Tim Moll

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 266
  • Welcome to the JMR forum.
  • Location: Ripley, Derbyshire
    • View Profile
Castle Combe Trackday - 13/08/12
« on: August 02, 2012, 07:27:05 pm »
So between Nick Penfold and Jason I have had my arm twisted behind my back to do the Castle Combe trackday on the 13th August.....to be honest it didn't really take that much twisting  ;)

It'd be great if a few more of you guys on here were able to get along.  Nick and I will be there in our respective 8v Mk1s giving it 'full beans'  ;D   

I think I'll start making my excuses now as both Nick and Jason know the track, whereas I have never even been there.....let's see what happens shall we  ;)

Tim

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter


Offline Tim Moll

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 266
  • Welcome to the JMR forum.
  • Location: Ripley, Derbyshire
    • View Profile
Re: Castle Combe Trackday - 13/08/12
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2012, 09:19:50 am »
Looking like it'll just be Nick, Jason and I then  :(

Offline RobT

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 128
  • 'Ave IT
  • Location: Cheshire
    • View Profile
Re: Castle Combe Trackday - 13/08/12
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2012, 07:47:38 pm »
Good idea, but too far for me, south manchester.
Have fun!
2008 Audi A6 2.0TDI S-Line
2004 Audi A4 Avant 1.8T Quattro S-Line
1996 Seat Ibiza 16V F1.5 Race car

Offline Tim Moll

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 266
  • Welcome to the JMR forum.
  • Location: Ripley, Derbyshire
    • View Profile
Re: Castle Combe Trackday - 13/08/12
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2012, 09:36:12 pm »
Good idea, but too far for me, south manchester.
Have fun!


Come on Rob you know you want to....it's even further for me as I'm North of Derby  :o

Offline Stooza

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 152
  • Location: West Sussex
    • View Profile
Re: Castle Combe Trackday - 13/08/12
« Reply #4 on: August 05, 2012, 06:14:51 pm »
I'm on holiday then  >:(
Mk2 2.0 16v GTi (built for track day fun)
Mk3 16v GTi (standard)
1970 1915cc type 1 beetle (rebuild on hold)

Offline samfish

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 32
  • Welcome to the JMR forum.
    • View Profile
Re: Castle Combe Trackday - 13/08/12
« Reply #5 on: August 13, 2012, 07:18:06 am »
Sorry I can't make it. Hope it goes well!

Offline JMR

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 325
  • Welcome to the JMR forum.
  • Location: Plymouth / Saltash-Cornwall
    • View Profile
Re: Castle Combe Trackday - 13/08/12
« Reply #6 on: August 14, 2012, 10:17:20 am »
A great day all round at Castle Coombe yesterday!

The main objective was to give Nick Penfold's ex Slick 50 Mk1 a shake down ready for the forthcoming Brands Hatch GP meeting of the VAG trophy, and when Nick said "bring yr crash helmet"..well..it would have been rude not to!

Nick and Tim had already been out by the time I got there, or I should say splashed my way there...good ol' British weather!

After putting a stopwatch on both cars from the pit wall it was evident there was little in it, but what would a rusty old hillclimber make out of it.. ;D

Nick very kindly left the belts slack for me.. ;D..so I was swiftly in and strapped up ready for the off. The engine fires up with no drama now...a far cry from when we first got involved with the car. We built up a bottom end earlier in the year to get Nick out on a semi-sponsored deal using Jon Wright's ex hillclimb bottom end with a freshen up and a bit of JMR re-engineering. .with Nick's old slick 50 head & Jon's old Newman 296 cam, this made 124hp at the wheels on AP Motorsport's rollers.

Out on track in the wet, I forgot how bumpy Castle Coombe is!...or at least it was for now!

The engine pulls strong to 7000, but it's best work is done by around 6,800...peak was 6,500 on the rollers but hanging on well to 7.

After a fair few laps behind the wheel. .Tim's vids later will show all!...along with the fact I WAS in front the whole session...Eh Tim!....lol...I figured I better not either wear the engine out or park it in the barriers...it was slippery!...and brought the car back in...along with a plan to do something with the suspension.

Whilst it was possible to put in consistent lap times, it was hard work. After working out where the damper settings were I took 2 clicks off the front & 3 off the rear...the springs looked fairly small in diameter so shouldn't be causing the twitching ride...and I remembered from deep in the old memory bank some of the slick 50 cars used to be set up with soft springs but firm dampers.

Nick went back out on the revised settings and returned to pronounce "Im racing it like that at brands"!....it was much more drivable and predictable now.

I also got a few laps in out in Tim's red rocket!...this is simply a great car!....good balance & compliance from the budget suspension, good brakes, and decent grunt from it's similar power to Nick's, all be it 1900 version. The power band felt the same in terms of speed on track, but the engine feels a bit gruntier. .helped no doubt by the bigger lung capacity & next step up cam....it's well worth the asking price too!...and will make a great trackday car for either a novice or an old hand.

It was a great day out, and for me shows how you can have some track enjoyment without 300hp. Nothing came past during my seat time...did it Tim!...and I could catch and pass everything on track, from road going Porsches to track based specials from Westfield & Radical. .yep...both pulled over and waved me through when they saw and old Mk1 Golf homing in on them!...even the current Castle Coombe saloon champ Peugeot 106 with 220hp and an awesome chassis (I know the guys well who engineered the car) succumbed to 8v Golf power!
« Last Edit: August 14, 2012, 10:20:36 am by JMR »

Offline Tim Moll

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 266
  • Welcome to the JMR forum.
  • Location: Ripley, Derbyshire
    • View Profile
Re: Castle Combe Trackday - 13/08/12
« Reply #7 on: August 14, 2012, 11:28:42 am »
After a fair few laps behind the wheel. .Tim's vids later will show all!...along with the fact I WAS in front the whole session...Eh Tim!....lol...I

Nothing came past during my seat time...did it Tim!...

I wish I had a rear facing camera and then I would have been able to actually push on a bit and still manage to film you as I went past....but alas only a front facing one so had to resign myself to just lap behind you :P

I'll get some video clips uploaded in the next day or so....I can confirm it was pretty slippery out there at times......unfotunately my memory card was full so I didn't catch my 'moment', the camera would have needed to be facing out the passenger window to get the full effect anyway, but according to Nick I got a round of applause from the watching spectators for holding it together  ;D  This also meant I missed Nick almost 'T boning' a very poorly driven Toyota MR2 and having my car at 45 deg to the track at one point  :o

Both Nick and Jason keep telling me to get my ARDs booked....
« Last Edit: August 15, 2012, 06:49:09 am by Tim Moll »

Offline Tim Moll

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 266
  • Welcome to the JMR forum.
  • Location: Ripley, Derbyshire
    • View Profile
Re: Castle Combe Trackday - 13/08/12
« Reply #8 on: August 15, 2012, 06:48:20 am »
More to come when I get a chance ;-)


Offline Robin_16v

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 70
  • Welcome to the JMR forum.
    • View Profile
Re: Castle Combe Trackday - 13/08/12
« Reply #9 on: August 15, 2012, 11:30:34 am »
looks good Tim!

Offline Tim Moll

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 266
  • Welcome to the JMR forum.
  • Location: Ripley, Derbyshire
    • View Profile
Re: Castle Combe Trackday - 13/08/12
« Reply #10 on: August 16, 2012, 08:08:30 am »
and a short one chasing Jason in the wet....unfortunately the memory card was full so missed some 'fun' sideways moments  ;D


Offline Tim Moll

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 266
  • Welcome to the JMR forum.
  • Location: Ripley, Derbyshire
    • View Profile
Re: Castle Combe Trackday - 13/08/12
« Reply #11 on: August 17, 2012, 07:43:46 am »
Right here are a few more videos from Combe....

This first one is Jason 'pedaling' my car round for the first time....his only critiicism was that it needs a JMR gear linkage  :D






Offline NickP

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 1
  • Welcome to the JMR forum.
    • View Profile
Re: Castle Combe Trackday - 13/08/12
« Reply #12 on: August 18, 2012, 09:23:05 am »
An exellent day! After a long battle to get the car back on track i think we're actually ready to compete again now. After Jason made those last few damper tweaks the car became so much more predictable, the last session started dry and finished wet but to honest the car (and me) made an easy transition with no 'JESUS' moments! I wish we had a stop-watch on the last dry session (not official of course as it was a track day and timing is not allowed;-) because i think I was bang on the quickest Class B car that raced the VAG trophy last year. Brands Hatch on the 15th September here we come!!!!

Offline samfish

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 32
  • Welcome to the JMR forum.
    • View Profile
Re: Castle Combe Trackday - 13/08/12
« Reply #13 on: August 18, 2012, 01:31:35 pm »
That looks great fun. Sad I missed out.
What tyres where you running on in the rain chaps?
Really glad to hear the car is going well Nick.

I need to pull my bloody finger out to make sure I get to Brands on the 15th .......he says, looking around the house to see what can go on ebay.

Offline Tim Moll

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 266
  • Welcome to the JMR forum.
  • Location: Ripley, Derbyshire
    • View Profile
Re: Castle Combe Trackday - 13/08/12
« Reply #14 on: August 18, 2012, 02:57:06 pm »
That looks great fun. Sad I missed out.
What tyres where you running on in the rain chaps?
Really glad to hear the car is going well Nick.

I need to pull my bloody finger out to make sure I get to Brands on the 15th .......he says, looking around the house to see what can go on ebay.

Hiya Sam,

It was fun albeit a little slippery at times ;D

We were both running Dunlop Direzza DZ03Gs, great in the dry and pretty damn good in the wet to be honest

 

+-Recent Topics

JMR – Customer Cars