The British GT

I’m fairly confident in saying that whilst this is certainly not the last time I’ll be attending the British GT as it was some bloody brilliant motorsport (GT3 and a couple of GT4 cars in case any of you were paying attention or were actually there), I can safely say that it’s the last time I’ll be heading up North at 4.30 in the morning to get there on time for the test laps.

Whilst being one of the hardcore few to arrive on time, the fact of being up for 17 hours straight was a pretty painful one, especially the brandy – but more on that later.  The journey up to Knockhill (it’s in Scotland for those of you unfamiliar with the race circuit) was a largely uneventful one, barring a stop at a nice little Little Chef – with a wonderful waitress whom I have now forgotten the name of (yes, I’m actually James May).

Having stopped for breakfast, my friend and I decided to consult the timetable for today’s proceedings, to discover that there were various races throughout the day including the eponymous British GT, the Legends, a VW race featuring a wide variety of cars (though all equalised via power-to-weight), stock cars, single seaters and more.  All in all, something for everyone really – on a great circuit to boot.

Getting there just on time, we saw some of the British GT cars screeching around the track on a warm-up session.  Seeing the Ferraris, a very rare Ascari, a Dodge Viper and even a Ford GT was bloody brilliant.  The Ford GT in particular is far more handsome (note not beautiful) a car in the flesh than it ever could look when seen on television.

Whilst Knockhill is a short circuit compared to some others, it offers a nice blend of straights and corners.  When I arrived, I positioned myself by the Real Radio Hairpin turn – it was great to see the cars screeching their brakes, slamming down a few gears then tearing up the start finish straight.  It’s probably worth mentioning the weather at this point – it was amazingly hot.  A great day for racing, or rather lounging around as others do the hard work!

Next were more buildup and qualifying events for the VW race and the single seaters.  I particularly enjoyed seeing the new VW Scirocco out on the track – it proved to be a nimble performer that had quite a good presence on track, despite being a smaller car.

Look out for part 2 – coming this weekend!  Enjoy the photos of the day below!

A Ferrari

Look at the Ferrari tackling that turn!

A closeup of the Dodge Viper

A Dodge Viper set for the race.  I’m not normally a car fan, but for some reason seeing this at the British GT at Knockhill made me really, really want one.

Ferrari Challenge Stradale

This is part 3 of my track day experience, you can read part 1 here, and part 2 here.

I was due to drive the Ferrari F430 Spider convertible, but unfortunately due to timings I couldn’t actually make it for this one.  Instead though, I was offered the Ferrari Challenge Stradale – a lightweight, extremely powerful car based on the Ferrari 360 Modena.

A look inside a Ferrari

The first thing that struck me about the Ferrari was the look.  It is an extremely aggressive car, being extremely low slung, with light weight wheels and a handpainted stripe along the length.  Second to that was how minimal the thing looked inside – it was as though luxury had been sacrificed for speed (though it was still amazing compared to just about anything else I’ve been in).

The flappy paddle gearbox was the next thing that grabbed my attention, as I had to use it to get the thing into gear!  The whole process was easy enough, and was soon as the ‘1’ showed on the digital display the instructor told me to “get it going” – which I did with aplomb.

As an almost exact opposite to the Lamborghini, to drive, the Ferrari was all screaming track fury.  Whilst the masses of power and sensation of roaring, terrifying speed remained the same, the gearchange however was completely different.  Instead of having to stick the clutch right to the floor, of course with the flappy paddles there was no clutch.  This meant that you could change up without taking your foot off the accelerator!

As a comparison, I found that the Ferrari was more willing to turn in to the corners and the lack of a clutch did make it easier to drive (the speed of gear change was also amazing), but I felt that overall I would prefer the Lamborghini on my drive.  Had it been a Ferrari with manual controls the story may have been different, but the Challenge Stradale is clearly one of the most devastating track day weapons ever devised.

BMW M3 CSL

My experience of the track day ended with an ‘instructor hot lap’ in a BMW M3 CSL – an experience that was absolutely brilliant.  I’ve no idea how fast we were going but given that most of the time was spent going sideways!  Perhaps the only disappointment was the noise of the engine – after the charismatic notes of the Ferrari and Lamborghini the CSL’s engine sounded surprisingly flat.

Overall, the Elvington track day experience was fantastic and I simply cannot wait to do it again.  Next time though, I’d quite like to have a go in the Nissan GT-R…

This is part 2 of my track day coverage from Elvington – you can read part 1 here.

The Lamborghini Gallardo I drove

There’s nothing quite like looking at a Lamborghini in the flesh as it were.  Even compared to the next-fastest (and expensive) piece of machinery I’ve driven – a Subaru Impreza WRX for the record – it was clearly obvious that as I jogged up to the Lamborghini Gallardo it was a very special bit of kit.

After a quick check of the paperwork with the instructor outside of the car, I then half-fell into the passenger seat.  Unless you’re used to it, I guarantee your first entry into a supercar will not be an elegant one.  That’s fine though – because you’ll soon forget your lack of grace when you see the interior.

Naturally, for a car that has a price tag more than a small flat, there are swathes of leather, carbon fibre and beautifully machined parts to look at.  I was taking all this in as the instructor was giving further information about the car.  The Gallardo I was driving was manual, and, surprisingly, extremely comfortable.

With the turn of the key, the V10 barked into life with less drama than I was expecting.  My first impression actually was “wow, this is incredibly civilised” – and it was.  The small steering wheel fitted perfectly in my hands.  Perhaps I still have the mentality of supercars of old, but I was expecting something that would be unwieldy at speed, yet as the instructor trundled it up the strip it was quiet.  In fact, it was more than quiet – it was near silent.

As we made the approach to the track, this all changed however.  Instructions followed quickly to look to the right before engaging the throttle – hard.  Suddenly, the engine cleared its throat and made an urgent bellowing as the car launched forward.  The sensation of speed was overwhelming as we hurtled through turns, chicanes and down long straights.

Before I knew exactly what had happened or even realised we were back at the start point, the instructor turned to me said “now it’s your turn!”  Stepping out of the car, I went out to the other side.  I couldn’t believe I was actually about to drive a Lamborghini Gallardo – one of my favourite cars of all time!

Settling in to the seat and pulling down the scissor door sent a thrill down my spine.  I knew, I just knew, this was going to completely live up to the experience I had in my mind.  Brilliantly, I wasn’t disappointed at all.  The ease of driving the thing initially was reinforced as I slowly pulled off in first, finding the biting point.  Thankfully, the Gallardo suffers from none of the well-known problems with supercars – such as possessing a very heavy clutch.  In fact, I marvelled at the simplicity and directness of it all.

The gearchange was sharp and precise, with the gates being open.  I instructor helped me to find the apex as I gradually weaved the car around the intricate circuit.  I didn’t know what sort of speeds I was doing as the central RPM indicator is all dominating – but I do know it felt pretty quick without even using half the revs.

Building up more courage (yes, you need a lot of courage driving a car with this much power), I started to get more of a feel for what the Lamborghini Gallardo could do.  So, I put more power down.  I’ve never felt anything quite like it, as the car simply bit into the tarmac and surged forwards.  It was at this point that the drive went from quiet to amazing – the noise from the engine behind me filling the cabin and urging me to drive faster.

Steering seemed precise and light, even turning in at 3rd gear through the chicane and sharp turns proved to be an easy, manageable experience with no tyre squeal – though still plenty of white knuckles as I wondered whether the car was at the right speed for the manoeuvre.

Luckily, the course had useful indicators on such as braking signs etc, so I’m quite happy to say that each lap I managed to build up more and more speed.  The final straight was breathtaking as I tried to hold onto the gears for that little bit longer.  Exhilarating probably just about nails it!

It was with sadness that I stepped out of the Lamborghini Gallardo – but I was grateful that I survived the experience.  Truly, it is a motor that thoroughly deserves the title of ‘supercar’ and it definitely be something that I’d love to own.  I’d imagine with a little more time behind the wheel one could get a better idea of what the car is able to do – though you’d have to be a very special driver indeed to find the limits of the thing…

Look out for Part 3 of A Track Day At Elvington Circuit, when I describe my experience driving a Ferrari Challenge Stradale.

Two Lamborghinis

Elvington

Now that we seem to be having some sunny (if not warm) weather, there’s nothing better than going along to a track day – especially when you’ve been given the chance to drive both a Ferrari and a Lamborghini!  It’s with this in mind that I thought I’d give you all a write-up of my recent experience behind the wheel and my thoughts on the day as a whole.

Elvington Race Circuit was the venue of choice – being one of the closest circuits to myself and having a great setup for those who aren’t out on the track every weekend.  It’s an old airfield venue that even has an air museum you can visit after some fun out on the tarmac.  If you haven’t been before, it’s certainly worth a look.

The track itself is pretty huge, offering a very large run off area making it perfect for beginners who may be a little too over exuberant with the ‘loud’ pedal.  There were a wide range of cars available on the day, for hire through 6th Gear on a per lap basis.

The address for Elvington Race Circuit is:
RAF Elvington
Elvington
Yorkshire
YO41 4AU

The venue was easy to find, having clear signposts from the southbound route I took in order to get there.  All the staff on hand were very friendly and the instructions were clear and precise on how to get signed up and what was required.  The idea of having to pay for a supercar to be repaired was a little scary so I took the insurance waiver (just in case).

Following this, my day began with a sighting lap of the course.  Because Elvington is, as mentioned, an airfield circuit, this allows for a range of setups and effectively how the cones are set dictates the course.  This particular day had a setup that involved some chicanes and sweeping corners – so quite a tremendous mix to really see how the cars handled.

Naturally, before my sessions began, I took the chance to have a look around at the vehicles on offer and I spied various Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Ariel Atoms, An Aston Martin DBS, Caterhams, an Audi R8, a Subaru Impreza WRX STi and even a BMW M3 CSL.  Little did I know that I would be hurtling around in this later in the day, much to my terror!

Two Lamborghinis waiting to go!

I got my ticket signed and waited at the gates – facilities were what you’d expect really, with tea and coffee available and toilets not too far away.  In the meantime, I was enjoying watching the supercars roar away and I have to say that the noise from them all was simply brilliant – as was the sense of speed when they just took off!

I was told that my first experience on the track would be in a Lamborghini Gallardo, a car I’ve wanted to drive ever since first seeing one.  Naturally, my excitement was palpable as I saw the vehicle pull in and the instructor give me the nod.

Look out for part 2 later in the week!