Saturday, July 7, 2012

A grand day out!

Yesterday my dad, brother, and I went to Hullavington Airfield for a day of hooning around in the Caterham. They hadn't driven it before, and had only briefly sat in it for short trips to the shops. Now though, they got to DRIVE it! It started off dry, so I took the opportunity to test out the new uprated brake pads (installed 5 minutes previously), test out driving with my new HANS, and see if the suspension adjustment made a good or bad difference. With that out of the way, and the brand new pads "feeling funky" I took my brother for a blast, and had them bed in a bit more with extra weight in the car. After that, my dad took over the wheel, and took to the track... amazingly I stayed calm and took on a teaching role. He drove it quite successfully, no spins or major mistakes, it was the slowest I've ever been around a track, but it wasn't about speed, it was about driving the car.

My brother went a bit more mental with it. He used some more of the power range, going all the way to 6k rpm, yet still 750 rpm below the engines rev limiter. He took some more chances, but he did know the track a bit better having had a ride with me before his turn driving. Still not pushing the car, but I believe he enjoyed every single second of it!

With both of their main drives out of the way, I went out again by myself, it had now started to rain, fairly heavily, so the track became... stupendous fun! I took my dad out, this time he was passenger, in the serious rain, getting completely soaked, but having all the fun in the world! He has said a couple time "Tor goes as fast in the wet as I would comfortably go in the dry", so suitably entertained :-D.

One last drive for my brother, where he span, and a final drive for me, and the day was over. Completely soaked, an hour of rain sodden roads to drive home, I was left to drive the distance by myself... as you'd expect.

Pictures!

Taking my brother out,
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New HANS!
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My dad driving!
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Brothers turn!
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It was a little wet inside the car...
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Strapped in and ready to go!
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It was a fantastic day, I loved every minute, and I think they did too.

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