Brands Hatch Trackday - 3rd December 2011

Before embarking on my first event in the 2012 production BMW championship I thought I'd better book myself in for a few trackdays, first of which was on the 3rd of december.

Driving up on

an overcast saturday morning the weather didn't look like it was going to stay good for my first attempt at driving the E30 320 on track. Luckily the rain held off long enough for me to get the car unloaded off of the trailer so at least I was dry.

However it wasn't to stay that way for long and by the time the circuit opened the track surface was wet and very slippery.

We had been warned that there wasn't a great deal of grip on the circuit however I slightly underestimated how greasy it was a promptly managed to spin on my second or third lap at the apex of paddock hill, only a very minor spin. Didn't even leave the circuit but it still didn't meet with the approval of the organizers.

Through out the day there was in the region of 15 red flags so I wasn't the only one caught out by the conditions.

By the afternoon the track had dried out and some more sensible laps were put in, a few seconds off where I'd ideally be but the cold surface, old R888's and lack of experience in the car wouldn't have helped.

A quick video of the last session is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0Unf5twcIo

Lydden Hill - 22nd October 2011

A fairly predictable result at Lydden on the 22nd of October saw me finish in 3rd place behind the 2 911 GT3's, maybe there should be another purchase before 2012 and the odd sprint entered to see if I can compete on slightly more level ground.

The third in class was good enough for the following overall results for the year

Tunbridge Wells motor club - 1st overall

Sevenoaks Motor club - 3rd or 4th overall (forgot to marshall so didn't qualify)

AEMC - 5th overall, 3rd in class behind the GT3's

ASEMC - 5th overall, 3rd in class behind the GT3's

ACSMC championship - 8th overall, 3rd in class behind the GT3's

ACSMC Challenge - 2nd overall, 1st in class

So quite reasonable results considering I was 80-90 bhp down on the GT3's which I scored points against.

CSL went up for sale in the afternoon of the 22nd and sold soon after to fund a tow car for next year.

Eelmore - 9th October 2011

The 9th of October brought my first ever trip to the Farnborough Motor clubs Eelmore event which takes place on MOD ground between Farnborough and Aldershot.

As the results to this event weren't going to have an impact on any of the championships I've entered I thought I'd use the opportunity to try out the E30 320i that I'm intending to race next year.

As the car has been completely stripped for racing it was put into the modified class despite very little in the way of mechanical modifications so any dreams of class wins were very unrealistic.

had a great day out and the car performed faultlessly for myself and another person who double drove it with me.

what it lacked in power (and compared to the CSL it really does lack in power) it in part made up for with good braking and cornering abilities. If anything the brakes were slightly to good as a lack of ABS to satisfy the PBMW regulations for next year meant there was a fair amount of locking up going on.

I think my best timed run was a respectable 102.4 which I believe left me 5th out of 7 in class with the class winning time being in the high 50's

Debden - 2nd October 2011

2nd of October was the date for the last visit of the year to Debden, Great to see a large entry with a very strong entry in most classes including mine which had over 10 cars in class. As always the 2 GT3's, were going to be the guys to beat.

After the first timed run things were looking good, as had become almost predictable the class was being lead by the GT3's followed by myself although they were only 1/2 a second and 1 second in front so within reach. Also had a couple of competitors in a 968cs and tr8 within a couple of seconds behind and threatening to challenge for third.

Went off on the second run and attacked the roundabout with a little to much enthusiasm resulting in a little too much understeer which I quickly changed into far far to much oversteer, might have been recoverable but as the army had left a large pile of dirt just up the road I chose to abort the run rather than risk damaging the car. After all I still had a competitive time on the board or so I thought!

Turns out I must have clipped a cone, although I couldn't find any marks on the car which they usually leave and had received a 5 second penalty on my first run leaving me well down the field.

Third run determined to put a reasonab

le time in all started well, approaching the roundabout I switched the traction control from off to M-track mode to ensure that I didn't end up with silly amounts of over steer again. existed the roundabout well and went to switch the traction control back off as it make the car faster though the tighter sections of the circuit, in doing so I must have just knocked the car out of gear and lost time working out what the hell I'd done.

Ended up 5th in class which was a bit disappointing as without the penalty on my first run I would have ended up 3rd but I guess thats just the way it ends up sometimes.

North Weald - 11th September 2011

Last trip to North Weald of the year took place on the 11th of september, the weather forecast promised lots of rain so I arrived with full wet weather gear to be greeted by bright sunshine.

Luckily the issue with the GT3 in my class the day before at Brands hatch hadn't been too serious and the car was back out , although this effectively stopped any chance of a class win.

As predicted I left North Weald with the 2nd, 2nd in class of the weekend, a win would have been nice but 2 2nd places adds lots of valuable points for the various championships

Brands hatch - 10th September 2011

The one and only visit to Brands Hatch of the year was for the Tunbridge Wells motor clubs annual sprint.

Arrived not expecting to do all that well as there were 2 911 Gt3's another CSL and a BMW Z3m coupe all in my class as well as several other potentially quick cars.

The practice run consisted of of 2.5 laps of which the first 1.5 laps were timed. Hoping to be 3rd of 4th after practice so was very please to see I was 1st with a time of 95.76 with the modified 996 GT3 2nd with a time of 97.07 and the 997 GT3 RS in third with a time of 98.14. everyone else in the class was over 100s.

Unfortunately after the practice run in it became apparent that the the 996 GT3 was having some issue and wasn't going to be able to take part in the timed runs, real shame but did relieve some pressure.

After the first timed run all was still looking good, I'd gone slightly faster with a time of 94.53 with the closest rival in the 997 GT3 RS a couple of seconds behind on 96.23 so all was looking good.

Going into the last run with a 1.7s advantage must have given me a false sense of security as not only did I fail to better my time but the 997 GT3 RS found just over two seconds to snatch the win. Still left happy as I turned a possible 3rd place into a second (all be it at the expense of the 996 GT3)

The result leaves me with a score of 107 in the Tunbridge wells motor club all circuits championship with the second placed car on 98 so this championships looking very positive

North Weald - 28th August 2011

Arriving at North Weald at the end of August I had no idea what competition I'd face as I'd entered very late and therefore not seen the entry list. Arriving at the venue the two usual 911 GT3' s in the class had been joined by a third.

After the two practice runs I was lying 2nd in class which was a very positive result consid

ering the competition.

This good form unfortunately didn't last, noting that the GT3's were very close behind I tried too hard in the first timed run, leaving braking for the roundabout far too late meaning the time was slightly slower and I was now lying 4th in class although slightly annoyingly my practice time would have given me third.

All was not lost though will still had two timed runs left but very heavy rain 5 minutes before the 2nd timed run would effectively ruin any chance of bettering our first times. one of the most positive results of the

day was that on the wet surface I was in second place just 0.22 seconds off of the leader.

Lining up for the third timed run I had accepted that 4th place was as good as I was going to do as the track still looked slightly damp. I was the last to run in my class so was slightly confused when the first of the gt3's came over the line in a very similar time to the previous dry runs, the 2nd of the GT3's was then not far off of the first timed runs so when the last of the GT3's posted it's best time of the day I thought I had a chance of snatching either 2nd or 3rd.

The run went well, getting a much better braking point for the roundabout and therefore getting better drive out of it, as I cam through the second to last corner everything felt good (and apparently the times were looking equally good) how ever it wasn't to be. Push a bit to hard into the last corner resulting in quite a lot of understeer, tried to correct it with lots of throttle but just ended up spinning. Oh well 4th in class, my first spin in the CSL and a lot of fun.

Goodwood - 6th August 2011

3rd trip of the year to Goodwood was on the 6th of August for the Brighton and Hove motor club's Eagle sprint. As with the previous Goodwood events the course was a single lap of the Goodwood circuit.

The first practice run is 2 laps of the circuit, The first went well giving a time of 95.67 which was around a second faster than I previously managed at Goodwood, however the second lap didn't go quite so well as I ran out of tarmac on the Lavant corner and briefly took to the grass, no damage but didn't help the times or confidence.

On to the timed runs and having run off the circuit in practice and seeing a few drops of rain in the air I went for a slightly less aggressive approach with a time of 96.43 which was still a respectable time.

Second run in the afternoon was a bit better at 95.43s, good enough to take the class win by over 6 seconds and 10th overall very pleased to finish so high up the overall result and always a pleasure to come in front of a Porsche 997 GT3 RS.

Only July and already looking forward to next year

Well it's only July and I'm already been looking at options for next year, the sprinting is good fun but in the back of my mind I've always had some circuit racing as a goal so I've bought a BMW E30 320i to use in the production BMW championship.

The car is a 1986 320i and has almost ready for racing with just a few minor details to get it finished.

Can't wait to get it on a trackday.

Debden - 10th July 2011

After a disappointing class turn out for the event at Lydden hill the day before a total of 16 competitors in my class for the Borough 19 motor clubs sprint at Debden was very reassuring. The event took place on a revised circuit layout which made an interesting change to the standard layout used in the past.

Arriving at the event the two cars to beat were likely to be the two porsche 911 GT3's, one a modified 996 and the second a 997 GT3 RS.

By the end of the event I was in third in class which was the best I'd really expected, a respectable 0.49s behind the 997 GT3 RS and just over 2s behind the 996.

a video of the event is here youtube

Lydden Hill - 9th July 2011

The SEMSEC 2 3/4 lap sprint at Lydden took place on the 9th June. A fairly poor turn out meant we had a class of just 4, which was very unfortunately reduced to 3 when a competitor snapped the key off in the ignition on the way to the first practice.

The two remaining competitors in my class were in much older less powerful cars so the class win was quiet inevitable, still good fun and all track time is worth while. The championship points were also very welcome!

Goodwood - 25th June 2011

Entered the second round of the year at Goodwood with the hope of breaking in 100 second barrier I so narrowly missed in April.

Arrived bright at early on Saturday morning to find the unwelcome sight of a very wet circuit, far from ideal but at least I could leave the traction control on (usually off for sprinting)

However the car seamed to have other ideas as whilst cuing up for the practice runs a fault code popped up turning the traction control and abs off, not welcome on a wet track where I was expecting to be hitting approximately 140mph in places.

Luckily playing with various buttons cleared the code and all my driver aids were back.

First attempt at the practice saw red flags as an MR2 turbo had spun exiting the chicane on to the main straight.

Second practice run went more to plan with a time of 110s which was along way off my desired time but respectable considering the track conditions.

luckily by the time the timed runs started the track had dried out and the business of breaking the 100 seconds could start. Ended up with a time of 96.36 which was far better than expected and gave me the class win along with a welcome 11th overall.

Mallory Park - 18th June 2011

After the very unexpected class win at Abingdon the previous weekend I left home for the Classic touring car racing clubs Mallory Park sprint in a positive mood.

Arriving at the circuit early Saturday morning we were greeted my a damp circuit which didn't inspire too much confidence. The main competition in the class was looking likely to be a 385bhp focus RS.

By the end of the first run I was lying around 0.5S off of the Focus for the class win, I'd accepted that the win wasn't going to happen as I'd again opted to play safe with the damp conditions and close barriers in places.

Went out for the last run having accepted 2nd place place but from somewhere found enough to finish the day winning the class by a second.

Abingdon CAR-nival - 11th June 2011

11th of June was my first attempt at the Abingdon CAR-nival. The sprint is part of a much larger event which includes rallying, auto tests and off road events all with the aim of raising money for local charities. http://www.abingdoncarnival.com/AbingdonCARnival/CAR-nival.html

The sprint itself is split into two courses, the best time from each course is then added together to obtain the overall result.

Arriving at the event I wasn't all that confident of doing that well, other entries in my class included 2 911 GT3's including the 997 GT3RS of Brain Winstone which I'd been loosing to all year as well as a couple of other experienced drivers which I thought may well leave me mid class.

First course our group competed on was the faster Abingdon circuit, after the 2nd timed run I was shocked to see that I'd be starting the second circuit with a time advantage of 0.91s over the second placed 911 996 GT3 and a 1.16 second lead over the 997 GT3 RS, not sure where that came from but was very pleased.

Going onto the the second 'Bentley' circuit the class win was mine to loose. The Bentley circuit is a series of longish straights with 90 degree bends so is a bit of a test of brakes and acceleration. I was also lucky enough to set the fastest time in class on this circuit as well although by a much smaller margin of 0.25 seconds.

One of my goals of the year was realized by beating the GT3RS so I left the event very happy.

a quick video of the event is here:- http://www.youtube.com/user/andye30m3?feature=mhee#p/a/u/1/dnlCIZsm0hU

Lydden Hill - 4th June 2011

4th of June at Lydden Hill was an all too common result of coming 2nd in class behind the 997 GT3RS although on a more positive note I was around a second quicker than I had been in the sprint earlier in the year.

Crystal Palace - 30th May 2011

30th of May was a great day for my first ever visit to Crystal Palace to take part in the Sevenoaks and district motor clubs motorsport at the palace event http://www.motorsportatthepalace.co.uk/

Great day out as it was one of the few sprints with a good turn out of spectators, the event didn't count for any championships so with the proximity of barriers and slight lack of grip I opted of a better save than sorry approach.

Highly recommend this one to anyone looking at competing in sprints.

Debden - 8th May 2011

Arrived at Debden looking for a good result which never quite materialized
As always arrived at the event hoping to challenge the 997 GT3 RS, this time for second in class as there was a heavily modified 996 GT3 in the class which I would expect to worry.

It would appear that I was over confident of beating the others in my class so was quite disappointed to find myself 5th in class.

Excuse of the day:- everyone in front of me was running on track tyres which have a huge advantage over standard road tyres.

Goodwood - 30th April 2011

First visit of the year to Goodwood and pleased to say that the recent glorious weather continued despite the predictions telling a very different story.

Having had 3 2nd places last year I was very keen to go one better and achieve the 1st in class that eluded me all of last year.

Upon arrival the class consisted of myself, A BMW Z3M couple driven by a much more experienced driver, 2 porsche boxster S's, an early but modified 911 and a Mini cooper S works.

initial suspicions where that due to the long straights at Goodwood the main battle would be between myself and the Z3M this turned out to be the case with the first practice runs separating us by just 0.27s with the mini and 911 close enough to cause concern.

Had a great scrap with the Z3M though out the day, my slight power advantage being leveled by his toyo R888 trackday tyres (Compared to my standard road tyres) with both of us improving on every run.

By the end of the timed runs my times had improved to 100.66s taking the class win from the Z3M by just 0.77s.

A last 'fun run' got my times down to 100.39, slightly disappointed that I didn't break the 100s mark, I'm sure with a little more time to learn the circuit it would be easily achievable as the car is definitely capable of doing so.

Thanks to Treleon for the images

North Weald - 24th April 2011

Back to North Weald for the second time of the year on an all new layout.

Much more enjoyable layout was used for the first time at this event, having traditionally not done well at North Weald I was expecting to finish a fair bit behind to the two Porsche 911 GT3's battling with a Ferrari 355 and mini cooper works.

The practice runs looked like confirming my suspicions and the most impressive thing about my runs seamed to be the rather heavy right foot at the start line, keeping the marshall entertained with quite a bit more wheel spin than was intended or desirable.

However come the first of the timed runs I managed to find some time and move up to second in class in front of the 997.2 GT3 RS, assuming this was a fluke I was very pleased to see after the second run I was still in second place

However second place wasn't to be as on the third timed run despite improving the GT3 also improved to beat me by just 0.11 seconds, mixed feelings, over the moon to get as close as I did to second place but slightly disappointed I couldn't quite hold onto it.

Can't wait until the next rounds, the strong runs today really has increase the enthusiasm, Can't wait for Goodwood next weekend.

Rushmoor - 10th April 2011

My first event at the Rushmoor venue, run by Farnborough Motor club. Arriving at the event we were yet again greeted by fine weather which always seams make leaning a new circuit much more enjoyable.

I'd watched some youtube videos from the last couple of years so had a ruff idea of what to expect before arriving, what I hadn't accounted for was quite how high the curbs where in places, these clearly weren't going to get on well with the expensive CSL wheels and there 30 profile tyres!

After a couple of tentative runs , the traction control was turned off and I set about trying to move up the scoreboard ending up 3rd out of 6, which I was reasonably pleased with as it was a new venue and my reluctance to be leaving great chunks of alloy wheel on the curbs.

Lydden Hill - 9th April 2011

First run at lydden hill of the year and more glorious sunshine, so pleased it wasn't wet and slippery like the October 2010 event.

A good result with 2nd place behind a 997.2 GT3 RS which I hadn't expected to beat

Mallory Park - 20th March 2011

My first ever time at Mallory and a welcome warm and sunny day and the absence of the two GT3's was no bad thing for myself.

Having never been to Mallory before I was reall

y looking forward to the new venue, a great close battle between myself, another M3 and a Z3M coupe for second place took place all day with me just about holding of the others to claim second in class behind a very modified looking V8 MGB, great day and much more happy with how I was driving than the previous event.

North Weald - 13th March 2011

Arrived at the first sprint of the year in the new CSL and not really sure what the targets were or how I'd get on. Typical March weather meant cold, wet slippery surface which was far from ideal for thefirst event.

A fairly disappointing day left me 6th in class and having been beaten by cars I'd expected to be quicker than ,I was beginning to wonder if the change to the much more powerful CSL had been the best Idea but was looking forward to improving at future events

a quick video of the event's here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfc8-qhLh74

New car for 2011

After a successful 2010 it was time for a change of car for 2011

With the S2000 sold it was time to look at my options for either moving into the over 2000cc production class or into the 4wd production class. Considered all sorts from evo's and impreza's to 911's and M3's

Ended up buying an E46 M3 CSL, if the way the car drives on the road is anything to go buy it should be superb on track, can't wait for the years sprinting to start.

It will be interesting to see how it gets on against the 2 911 GT3's that sprint in class A3