DivideBYZero
Lifer
Me and the S.O. went down to Thruxton Race circuit, the fastest in Britain and both had a 1 to 1 session with a track instructor. She drove an MX5 2.0 sport and I drove an Exige.
We have both had a pretty full day as we were out of the house at 9:30am and got back at about 6:45, but we enjoyed every single minute!
So, the Exige. I know I'll get roughly 20 people moan at the following statement, but in all honesty it IS as close as you're going to get to a go-kart without it actually being a go-kart. It really hangs on for dear life and pulls the sort of in corner G's you really only associate with those machines. It's front end is very pointy, but pushes wide a little if provoked. Summing up my session today I'd say I only explored to within 80% of it's limits as there was enough to take in with learning the lines of the circuit, etc.
Session one was three instructor driven laps where you are introduced to the circuit, the corners, the lines and special considerations such as the pit lane exit cones, etc. After that it was on to the first seven lap session. This is not as short as it sounds as the circuit is 2.4 miles long! It's also pretty technical and a longer stint would get wearing. This was good but I was trying to reconcile several things; the car, the circuit, the lines the other drivers, etc.
You take a break as your instructor takes out your counterpart for his/her seven laps. This gives you time to consider the previous session and it was a welcome break. You get some time to think about the car, the tough corners and what you want to work at or try to improve.
Onto the second session. Another seven laps. This time I was quite happy with the circuit and felt happy with what the car could carry in some of the long, unsighted and often sweeping curves. It's worth noting that Thruxton has NO straights. You have to be on your guard at all times preparing for the next bend or braking zone.
As I head out and clear the pit lane exit I open it up. You have to love the old school VTEC effect in the Toyota engine(I know it's VVTi or whatever, but it's the same shiz, different name). Those last few thousand revs are addictive as they ever were in your first VTEC Honda (on/off VTEC, not the later kind). Into the first couple of turns I brake, drop two gears then turn in. Feeling smooth, clip apex, drift to exit point feeding throttle and then open up to WOT again. Next bend is another sweep but you can keep your foot in it, so I do. The Exige fills you with the confidence to just hold the wheel in place and add more throttle, but at the same time communicates directly through your arms and arse exactly what is going on underneath you. Next turn is a very long unsighted right which you 'can' take and 100mph+ but I probably did no more than 85. Exit wide and on to some more WOT, dab the brake into a dip for a very fast right hander, again, this time I'm almost hitting 100Mph on this bend, then down the the long Brooklands curve, hitting up to 120Mph, then drop two cogs or more for the chicane, right, left, right, then onto the start/finish straight and your next lap. 😎
As pics kinda suck on here, follow this link for inline:
http://www.tfnn.net/forum/index.php?topic=45474
We have both had a pretty full day as we were out of the house at 9:30am and got back at about 6:45, but we enjoyed every single minute!
So, the Exige. I know I'll get roughly 20 people moan at the following statement, but in all honesty it IS as close as you're going to get to a go-kart without it actually being a go-kart. It really hangs on for dear life and pulls the sort of in corner G's you really only associate with those machines. It's front end is very pointy, but pushes wide a little if provoked. Summing up my session today I'd say I only explored to within 80% of it's limits as there was enough to take in with learning the lines of the circuit, etc.
Session one was three instructor driven laps where you are introduced to the circuit, the corners, the lines and special considerations such as the pit lane exit cones, etc. After that it was on to the first seven lap session. This is not as short as it sounds as the circuit is 2.4 miles long! It's also pretty technical and a longer stint would get wearing. This was good but I was trying to reconcile several things; the car, the circuit, the lines the other drivers, etc.
You take a break as your instructor takes out your counterpart for his/her seven laps. This gives you time to consider the previous session and it was a welcome break. You get some time to think about the car, the tough corners and what you want to work at or try to improve.
Onto the second session. Another seven laps. This time I was quite happy with the circuit and felt happy with what the car could carry in some of the long, unsighted and often sweeping curves. It's worth noting that Thruxton has NO straights. You have to be on your guard at all times preparing for the next bend or braking zone.
As I head out and clear the pit lane exit I open it up. You have to love the old school VTEC effect in the Toyota engine(I know it's VVTi or whatever, but it's the same shiz, different name). Those last few thousand revs are addictive as they ever were in your first VTEC Honda (on/off VTEC, not the later kind). Into the first couple of turns I brake, drop two gears then turn in. Feeling smooth, clip apex, drift to exit point feeding throttle and then open up to WOT again. Next bend is another sweep but you can keep your foot in it, so I do. The Exige fills you with the confidence to just hold the wheel in place and add more throttle, but at the same time communicates directly through your arms and arse exactly what is going on underneath you. Next turn is a very long unsighted right which you 'can' take and 100mph+ but I probably did no more than 85. Exit wide and on to some more WOT, dab the brake into a dip for a very fast right hander, again, this time I'm almost hitting 100Mph on this bend, then down the the long Brooklands curve, hitting up to 120Mph, then drop two cogs or more for the chicane, right, left, right, then onto the start/finish straight and your next lap. 😎
As pics kinda suck on here, follow this link for inline:
http://www.tfnn.net/forum/index.php?topic=45474
