OULTON PIX AND NEWS HERE!!

[Melv]

Oct 1st trackday -pls post your pix and news here...............

 

[oldtimer]

Oulton was wet and slippy with one dryish period during the day. Hard core 964RS turnout went on track , saw at least 1 993RS in car park like a starlet at Cannes , waiting for the money men and photographers to turn up. None of my daughters were present so could relax and drive like a retired person should ..no showboating.
There were some casualties..... so local Porsche panel beaters will survive credit crunch.
No pix from me , I'm sure someone will oblige []

 

[timarnold]

Hi there everyone! I've just registered tonight having had a great day at Oulton today with Matt Hodder in his 964RS.

Despite the weather it was an enjoyable day; Matt allowed me to drive his car twice during the day, once in the very wet and slippery conditions in the morning, which was a bit nerve-racking, lol - no instructor wants to bin a customer's car! - and then after lunch while it was still dry, when I managed four laps before the rain returned. I think Matt enjoyed the day and even picked up a few tips!

The 964RS is my favourite 'road' Porsche; for me it's really the last 'proper' 911 (I want one!). My all-time favourite Porsche though is the legendary 917.

 

[65 mat]

ORIGINAL: timarnold

Hi there everyone! I've just registered tonight having had a great day at Oulton today with Matt Hodder in his 964RS.

Despite the weather it was an enjoyable day; Matt allowed me to drive his car twice during the day, once in the very wet and slippery conditions in the morning, which was a bit nerve-racking, lol - no instructor wants to bin a customer's car! - and then after lunch while it was still dry, when I managed four laps before the rain returned. I think Matt enjoyed the day and even picked up a few tips!

The 964RS is my favourite 'road' Porsche; for me it's really the last 'proper' 911 (I want one!). My all-time favourite Porsche though is the legendary 917.

I too enjoyed the day Tim, regardless of the weather! I certainly learned a great deal yesterday, about both the circuit and my driving technique. I would have never got that line through "Druids" in a million years!
I particularly enjoyed the passenger laps Tim. Considering you were fresh in the seat so to speak, I could not believe how quickly you were able to take it to the "limit". The look on that marshal's face was a picture as we went past him almost sideways.[]
You kept the day entertaining with your anecdotes and stories. I'm sure you have plenty more to tell considering how long you have been involved with motorsport.
In a nutshell, cheers for your help Tim and as I said, we'll certainly arrange another day at Donington in the near future!

Tim is an excellent instructor who has driven virtually every type of car over the years. His prices are extremely competitive and he only lives 5 minutes away from Oulton. He has his own website or you can contact me if you want his details. Highly recommended!

 

[Jamie Summers]

A rather frustrating day at Oulton yesterday. In the wet, early on, there was just no grip anywhere - it was a case of tip-toeing around and dealing with under and over-steer at every corner. This was not helped by an old racing Aston that insisted on dropping oil on the circuit all day long (despite the attentions of the Easytrack team). Every time it looked like it might be improving we had another shower. The was a brief period either side of lunch - maybe an hour in total when the track was more or less dry and grip levels returned - so we had a bit of fun then. The rain came back at about 3pm and never went away again. Typically it turned out to be a beautiful dry, sunny evening .................

Overall a good show from the 964 RS team, but a bit of a damp squib of a day. Personally I really don't enjoy driving in the wet - just too much at stake on a circuit like Oulton, and as a consequence I think I did fewer track miles than I've ever done before on a track day. Frankly I was just pleased to get home in one piece !

Fingers crossed for a dry one next time out ...........

Jamie

 

[timarnold]

ORIGINAL: 65 mat

I too enjoyed the day Tim, regardless of the weather! I certainly learned a great deal yesterday, about both the circuit and my driving technique. I would have never got that line through "Druids" in a million years!

I particularly enjoyed the passenger laps Tim. Considering you were fresh in the seat so to speak, I could not believe how quickly you were able to take it to the "limit". The look on that marshal's face was a picture as we went past him almost sideways.[]

You kept the day entertaining with your anecdotes and stories. I'm sure you have plenty more to tell considering how long you have been involved with motorsport.

In a nutshell, cheers for your help Tim and as I said, we'll certainly arrange another day at Donington in the near future!

Tim is an excellent instructor who has driven virtually every type of car over the years. His prices are extremely competitive and he only lives 5 minutes away from Oulton. He has his own website or you can contact me if you want his details. Highly recommended!

Thanks Matt! []

The track was extremely slippery the first time I did a handful of laps in the morning and there was very little front end grip when trying to turn in - that certainly kept my attention, particularly at druids! That coupled with the 911's tendency to switch to oversteer once into a corner with all that engine hanging out of the back and the ease at which your engine could pick its revs up, and the overall lack of grip in the wet from the cold R888's all made for a need for great care and concentration!

When I managed to get four laps in the dry after lunch, before the rain came down again, finding some grip from the now warm and tacky R888's gave me a lot more confidence to push the car a little; hence the couple of tail-out slides and being able to pull away from that race-prep'd MGBGT V8 that was going round! Sadly the rain came back before I really got into the groove with the car otherwise I could have gone a little bit quicker while remaining within safe limits.

Someone has posted a link to a photo gallery from yesterday on the EasyTrack forum (not the official photographers). Their images are subject to copyright but they probably won't mind me posting the following pic with a link to their web site (there are two or three images of just about every car there in this gallery):

Full gallery here!

It was nice to meet some of the other guys off here too.

I mentioned to a couple of people that I have a friend who is a bit of a Porsche race-prep specialist having been responsible for prepping and looking after my friend Peter Cook's racing Porsche's for British GT, Belcar, Britcar and Porsche Open races - various cars including 993 GT2, 996 GT3RS and RSR, 997 GT3RS and recently an ex Kremer 962. His name is Andy Baynham and he's based in Cheshire, again not far from Oulton, and he's now offering race/track preparation services for Porsche's, including engine rebuilds, on which his prices are very competitive! I've recently put a web site together for him where you can see galleries of some of the cars he's worked on and some cars that are for sale (including the 962!). Andy's web site is at www.andrewbaynham.com (mobile number and email form on the contact page).

 

[kasbridge]

All,
Would echo the above really, I was out on my last day for the year on near bald 888s so did not have a lot of fun given that they not clearing water and were impossible to get up to temp in the wet...looking forward to a better day in the spring.

Had a good session chasing Ian round after lunch, me quicker through Druids/Lodge/Old Hall, Ian much quicker on the back part of the circuit..

Always good to see the 964 crew, look forward to meeting again on a dry day for some fun and games.
Cheers,
Kevin.

 

[Matt]

it was very funny yesterday as all the 911 drivers were huddled around the pit garages as it was raining..very few of us really wanted to get out there..

i had forgotten how slippery & variable Oulton can be in those sorts of conditions - like most of us not really enjoyed as theres not a lot of room to play with the car without ending up on the grass..its not like bedford where you get to push & play around with little risk of damage..my ar5e so tightly clenched yesterday i thought i'd pull the material off the seat..

most fun i had was taking the company hack for a few laps of sliding - i was as fast in a diesel bmw as i was in an rs...if not faster!!

Matt
(defo a fair weather driver)

 

[ChrisW]

It was great to see you all again, Matt (Maritime N-GT) for the first time, Jamie, Matt65, Paul, Kevin, Ian, Ian, John, Will, --- who have I forgotten ? Me !

This time I really enjoyed myself.

Thanks to Kevin for passengering me first out, --- yes it was more slippery than I had expected, and I thought I was going slow !

Covered 190 Km on track and used 55 Litres of Optimax --- 10 mpg with the drive to and from the garage.

Two wet sessions --- the second drying. Then after lunch a long session in the dry followed by seven or eight laps of increasingly heavy rain --- but by then with relatively warm tyres.

Then another short session in the rain buiding up the speed again, to the point where the wet leaves on the track at Druids, trying to keep up with a Mitsu Evo and a developing cramp in the foot brought me in !

I learnt a lot !!!!

To mention nothing of the great company --- the 993RS was Steve (King ?) --- but not a single 993RS on track ?

Not bad for £165.

P.S. Who were the official phot's ?

 

[timarnold]

ORIGINAL: ChrisW

P.S. Who were the official phot's ?

It's usually Scott Davey TrackPhoto but I'm not sure so I've emailed him. There's nothing on the site yet but I believe he's in the process of having a new site built.

 

[65 mat]

Thanks for those links Tim.

Must agree with Chris that the wet conditions encouraged the technique of smooth driving. This could only be of benefit to us all. Also good for confidence...for goodness sake, driving around Oulton of all circuits in such weather proved to be a real test of the metal. Surely anything there after will seem like a piece of cake.[8|]

 

[Melv]

Matt

Are you on commission???[]

 

[ChrisW]

I guess not, but certainly the recipient of a lot of Tim's time on Wednesday --- respect.

 

[timarnold]

ORIGINAL: 65 mat

Thanks for those links Tim.

Must agree with Chris that the wet conditions encouraged the technique of smooth driving. This could only be of benefit to us all. Also good for confidence...for goodness sake, driving around Oulton of all circuits in such weather proved to be a real test of the metal. Surely anything there after will seem like a piece of cake.[8|]

No prob Matt.

It's often said that if you can drive Oulton well you can drive anywhere; it's regarded as the most demanding circuit in the country. Smooth is always quickest!

BTW I found a pic of that 993C2 I told you about! This is me giving its owner's brother a ride around Goodwood (like your RS it's a left-hooker). This image also demonstrates quite well what I told you about the turning moments acting on the car (polar moments of inertia - the dumbell effect) when the speed carried into the corner assists the turning. Despite being right on the apex of this medium fast but fairly sharp corner (Goodwood's 'Woodcote Corner') the front wheels are almost straight and very little steering lock is applied (this is often exaggerated in a 911 by the mass of the engine sticking out of the back, but still applies to any car); it's the turning forces acting on the car causing it to yaw - the lateral G pulling the back round - that are carrying it through the corner:

Here's the corner snapped on Google Earth:

 

[ChrisW]

But it's also the fact that under power the rear tyres are pinned to the track and the lateral slide (oversteer) is doing the steering for you.

Now picture what would happen if the driver lost his nerve part way through and lifted off --- or a Turbo suddenly belted in and upset everything.

And a perfect strategy for the second Chicane at Oulton (coming into Knickerbrook ?) where a lot of speed can be gained for the hill up to Craners (--- Edited to read "I meant Druids honest --- second time I made that mistake !!")

 

[timarnold]

ORIGINAL: ChrisW

But it's also the fact that under power the rear tyres are pinned to the track and the lateral slide (oversteer) is doing the steering for you.

Now picture what would happen if the driver lost his nerve part way through and lifted off --- or a Turbo suddenly belted in and upset everything.

And a perfect strategy for the second Chicane at Oulton (coming into Knickerbrook ?) where a lot of speed can be gained for the hill up to Craners.

 

I completely agree that optimum acceleration out of Knickerbrook is essential to carry speed up Clay Hill and through Water Tower to Druids (not Craner LOL - I'd be well impressed if you exited Kickerbrook with such speed that you found yourself entering Craner - which is 70 miles away at Donington!) and sometimes hard acceleration can load the rears enough to generate some extra grip, but if it's enough to kick the tail out (i.e. break traction and spin up the rears) you will compromise the acceleration. Yes you let the oversteer steer for you, but not too much! Sideways is fun but it's not quick.

The way through Hizzy's (as that section is called) is to carry quite a bit of speed into the first right hander, possibly trail-braking into it to help induce some turn-in oversteer, keeping tight to the right on the 'exit' which is also the entry to the left-hander immediately after it; you need to keep it all neat and tidy through the left hander and on the very short bit of straight after it, keeping a steady throttle, not using all the track at the exit (it's easy to make the mistake of going too fast there) so it's easier to get back over to the left for the entry to the final right-hander into and through Knickerbrook. Through the exit iof the left-hander and into that final right-hander keep a steady/balanced throttle and use the momentum and the switch of lateral G (and the pendulum effect in a 911) to generate just enough turn-in oversteer to counter any inherent understeer; once the car is turned in, takes a set and is into the clipping point right on the end of the kerb start feeding the power in progressively and winding off any steering lock (balancing one against the other) to gradually straighten out your exit and accelerate as hard as the available traction will allow.

That's a very summarised explanation btw!

 

[Melv]

ORIGINAL: timarnold

The way through Hizzy's (as that section is called) is to carry quite a bit of speed into the first right hander, possibly trail-braking into it to help induce some turn-in oversteer, keeping tight to the right on the 'exit' which is also the entry to the left-hander immediately after it; you need to keep it all neat and tidy through the left hander and on the very short bit of straight after it, keeping a steady throttle, not using all the track at the exit (it's easy to make the mistake of going too fast there) so it's easier to get back over to the left for the entry to the final right-hander into and through Knickerbrook. Through the exit iof the left-hander and into that final right-hander keep a steady/balanced throttle and use the momentum and the switch of lateral G (and the pendulum effect in a 911) to generate just enough turn-in oversteer to counter any inherent understeer; once the car is turned in, takes a set and is into the clipping point right on the end of the kerb start feeding the power in progressively and winding off any steering lock (balancing one against the other) to gradually straighten out your exit and accelerate as hard as the available traction will allow.

That's a very summarised explanation btw!

You've lost me!![]

On my notes in the Autosport CCt guide I've written the following for Knickerbrook '3rd gear'.....'nip kerb on right hand'.......'hug the kerb on left hand'......and the book says '...give width on entry' and 'try to keep power on' i.e. nail it!!! on exit towards Clay Hill -I just LOVE that bit up Clay Hill and past Water Tower into Druids!!

 

[timarnold]

ORIGINAL: Melv

You've lost me!![]

On my notes in the Autosport CCt guide I've written the following for Knickerbrook '3rd gear'.....'nip kerb on right hand'.......'hug the kerb on left hand'......and the book says '...give width on entry' and 'try to keep power on' i.e. nail it!!! on exit towards Clay Hill -I just LOVE that bit up Clay Hill and past Water Tower into Druids!!

LOL, that's one of the problems trying to explain it on a web site forum!

I've put a little illustration together in an attempt to make it clearer [] I've used a traffic light system to colour the line; red being braking, green being full throttle and yellow (amber) being somewhere in between:

This is an illustration for explanation purposes - the actual detail might not be perfectly accurate.

Approaching 'Hizzy's' usually quite quickly and downhill calls for heavy braking, but be careful not to lock up as there is more weight transfer owing to the downhill approach. The entry to the right-hander is faster than it looks; come mostly off the brakes before turning in but keep the brakes on marginally to maintain some weight transfer to the front to counter any understeer and to unweight the rear slightly to induce turn-in oversteer and assist the turn in (do this carefully in a 911 for obvious reasons!); you can potentially carry this 'trail-braking' through to and even beyond the clipping point. Make the turn point quite late and aim to keep the car tight over to the right until just after the clipping point to get a good wide entry to the second corner of the complex, the left-hander.

Quickly get the car balanced and keep a steady/balanced throttle (neither on, nor off) just enough to maintain a constant speed as you turn into the left hander. Don't push too hard through this section otherwise it could compromise your exit through Knickerbrook, which is far more important, and you have very little to gain here. From around the clipping point apply a gentle squeeze on the throttle, not too much though, and don't use the full width of the track, it's far more important to get back to the left to line up for a good entry to Knickerbrook. It's essential to keep it all neat and tidy through this part of the chicane complex.

Approaching the entry to Knickerbrook, get well over to the left of the track, if you have managed to squeeze a bit of power on through the exit of the left-hander and along the very short straight, 'feather' the throttle back (don't lift) into a balanced (steady) position to just maintain your turn in speed and neutral weight distribution; turn in aiming to take a very small nibble at the kerb on the right (taking too much kerb there can unweight the car, reducing traction); start progressively feeding power in as soon as you can (before clipping if possible) and smoothly, progressively build speed all the way through to the exit, winding off lock as you go and building up to full throttle as soon as the traction can take it - like it says in my illustration: Now you can nail it!

The run up the hill from Knickerbrook to Water Tower and on through to Druids is one of the most critical sections of Oulton to obtaining a good lap time so it's essential to get the fastest exit from Knickerbrook as possible.

 

[Melv]

Tim

Appreciate the time and trouble you have taken for this -ever thought of putting it into a book????

 

[65 mat]

Jesus Tim...how long are your notes for the Nurburgring !!!![][]