I must address Daves last point first, tempted? Never been SO tempted, to the point i may just advertise my car this Winter - it is a big MAY, but with the performance (with the right driver) and price of the cars now....mmmmmm......very tempted.
Dave and i discussed this at length, we know the 968's very well, nuances on track, what they are good at, what they lack, and whilst we are no driving gods [
], we have a reasonable appreciation of the cars. Dont get me wrong, always room for improvement, things to learn, but at the end of the day we have had these cars for 6 years now and it is sometimes the right time to move on. To go to the next level, to learn something new and go all through that curve again. VERY, VERY tempted. The above can be said for stopping us, we know the 68's, our own and the cars capability - why change, the environment we are in is 'safe', we have fun, we push each other (most of the time....Dave had a larger margin of 'advantage' over me at Cadwell - more later), and the bills are not huge (relatively speaking).
Would be sad to sell though, shouldn't get sentimental about a car. Unfortunately, i couldn't afford (work on house is looming.....well it has been looming for six years now (note the six years from above [
] )) to say i was spending all that money on another car and not selling the present one.....she would say ok....but lets get the extension first - you know how it goes, we have different priorities than those indoors. So sentiments may get the better of me.
I diverse, Cadwell, superb, nervous, but thoroughly enjoyed. Slight problem at the end - we'll get that out of the way first. Exhaust split as the single pipe splits into two. Remember our report of Oulton drifting.....it must have fractured my exhaust, the heat and stress of Cawell finished it off, the split when about 90% of the way around. Day over at about 4pm! You may say only an hour left....trust me, dry day, new interesting circuit, 80-85% confident - i missed THE best hour.
Tip-toe'd home, and about 30 miles into the journey it went completely - i've always moaned about the exhaust note, but now it sounded like a tractor. 12 miles of it to the next services. But it was worth it, made an exceptional friend - you know the sort, you have a catastrophe on hand - you have to save the World - and the only way to do it is to buy a 10 pence 'whatsmecallit', only to find you only have 8 pence in your pocket, but there is an option, you can sell your sole to the devil. Well that's what i had to do - for a jubilee clip! Now i hope none of you own Land Rovers and know this guy. What a TW#T, and i am sorry to say, it has prejudiced me against ALL Land Rover owners - i sincerely hope my faith is restored soon, but this one guy. His Land Rover was a 'bitsa', all sorts of colours, and the parts came from all over; car boots, ebay, auction this, auction that, scrap yards, local ads, national ads, mates, mates of mates and so on. Thing was, it had cost less than my spanners - the ones he told me were sh#te, along with my screwdrivers, my fuel can (well that is), my tool box, even my car. Then he started on all the things that i didn't have and that i should have, now, as you can imagine, this list was VERY long, and to make matters worse he couple subject 1 with subject 3 - all those things that i didn't have - and should have being a Porsche owner - he could tell me where to get them for very little money. Worse was to come, he then explained how i could, sorry should, use said item that i didn't have, but would have after i had 'procured' them after i had visited every scrap yard in the NorthWest.
To the point - he had a jubilee clip i REALLY needed. And it cost me £3! The fact that he looked like he still lived with his mother (he must have been about 45), wore trouser shorts with long socks and black shoes made up for some of it. (Dave - the women in the car - i bet it was his mother NOT his wife!)
Exhaust repaired (bodged), coffee, burger and we were off. Made it most of the way home, woke up the neighbours. Exhaust off, down for local repair to the failed weld and strengthening plates.
Back to Cadwell. I was a little nervous, it is sucha narrow circuit, and there are one or two tricky bits. I had to hold off quite alot in the morning, we tend to arrive at a circuit and press on after an hour. I think there is far too much to take in here to be able to do that. Dave has been here four times now and it showed. I was about 20% off the mark by the end of the day, but would love to go back and continue learning. We didn't really have the usual chasing sessions, simply, Dave was too quick for me (there Dave, i've said it [
], you have it in writing, now don't ask me again [
]), and the one session we did have was marred with a plonka driving very badly, adn ultimately hit the barrier.
Mountain is interesting,, must get the car properly aligned before you go over the hump, things go rather light! The next section is a quick right, left, right, left, 'hairpin' right, quick straight, hard right (top second gear/low third) onto a long straight. Get any of the first couple of corners wrong and you really mess it up (that is if you don't hit one of the barriers - it goes through a wooded section) Gulp. Messed it up on one lap, bottom clenching moment, but remained composed and just about on track. The wooded section happens so quickly, eally need you wits about you; braking, gearing, apexing - worthwhilst watching some videos on Youtube or similar.
Some people say Oulton is technical and barriers are close, and has some similarity to Cadwell. It does, but for those whom have not driven Cadwell, i think Oulton is a 'faster' circuit, Cadwell is similar, but in a more compact manner - it is closer to what i imagine the Ring to be. I think it is this condensed and pronounced nature, with the limited width in places that made me more nervous here - perhaps just a good safety barrier. Nevertheless, i pushed on harder later in the day, but that said, i did feel as though there was a lot in reserve, and i did know where and how i could make up time - all the more reason for going back.
Considering the heat of the day, car perfomed well, tyres and brakes behaved themselves. Never been 100% witth the Dz02s - not as good as the D01J's, but you live with what you have, its only a trackday.
Overall, good social the night before - big thumbs up to the two GT3 guys (Tim/Andy?); really added to the couple of days - good conversation (well, as far as 'car' conversations go), ok accomodation (where is the bathroom, this is THE bathroom), interesting circuit, and certainly one that should be on the list. I erred off this circuit in the past due to the location - shouldn't have done, it really should be on everyones list.
JP
