Monday 13th July - Posted by Steve Bennett

Steve 'Weirdfish' Bennet's MoT Nurburgring Experience

I’m sitting in the passenger seat, realising I’ve taken my neck muscles for granted, as I experience Alistair’s personal mission to dry the track out. We’ve just completed the third lap of the 13 mile circuit on the bounce since it reopened after a downpour. My right leg is aching from a combination of bracing myself and pumping the imaginary brake pedal in the passenger footwell. I’m wide eyed, my heart’s racing and I’m smiling so much I think I may have distorted my crash helmet. 

I know I should take the opportunity to hop out as we approach the barrier to enter the track again, firstly to let someone else have a go and secondly, and more importantly, to give my neck half a chance of holding my head above my shoulders. Alistair looks across and says ‘Again?’. I just nod, or the muscles have finally lost their battle with gravity, either way we are off again. 

It’s a thrilling combination of driving skill and mechanical poise that not only betrays the MX5’s oft-quoted hairdresser image, but is also putting many dream cars, and bikes for that matter, to shame. However, amongst the precise lines and controlled drifts, the thing that will stay with me for a long time, is not so much seeing the center boss of the steering wheel pop out, a curb had dared to be in the way of the best line through a corner, but watching Alistair refitting it whilst in the middle of a chicane. Mind you it did take him three attempts to get it central and upright so it’s good to know everyone has room to improve.

Almost thirty six hours earlier I’d had my very first experience of lapping the famous Nurburgring circuit, once again from the passenger seat, but this time it was in the latest facelift model that was being put through its paces by Jim Cameron.  I was working on the theory that it made sense to get my first look of the track from a position that didn’t require me to point the car. The theory was sound, however, thinking that you can learn the Nurburgring’s many corners after a lap or two, be it passive or active lapping, is never going to happen. Especially as I’m pretty sure I had my eyes closed for the first 5 corners anyway. As I was there in my MX5-NC I was also interested to see how they had improved upon it. Judging from the pace of that very first, slightly damp, lap of the day and the best I could be proud of over the weekend I presume they have fitted a V8 with F1 running gear. 

As much as I was enjoying wandering around the car park admiring what must be a fair chunk of the worlds worth, I couldn’t put it off anymore, I had to venture out on track myself, after all, that is why I was there. Trevor, who had travelled down with Jim, with his own mission of blagging as many passenger laps as possible, offered to sit in and look out for traffic, and at the very least tell me which way the track went. The conversation went something like this, ‘Do you want me to sit in, you look a little nervous?’, ‘nervous is an understatement’, ‘well you actually look xxxx scared but I wanted to be polite’. In my defence, the reason for my nervousness was three fold. Firstly the car is only six months old and the journey down was as hard as it’s been driven in that time. Secondly, it’s been a few years since I’ve taken a car on any track, let alone one with the The Rings reputation. Lastly, and undoubtedly the most understandable reason, is it’s my wife’s car, and the thought of taking a box of bits home and saying ‘Funny story………’ is truly scary.

Eight minutes later I’d completed my first lap, official timing is frowned upon so that’s a guestimate and I’ve rounded down from about 15 minutes. The Nurburgring had sucked another victim into its web of addiction. I needed to do that again. My first solo lap was just as exciting with the added fun and games of negotiating traffic, which was uncharacteristically light for the Sunday; maybe the rest couldn’t keep up. Back in the car park I was buzzing, I was now a driving god and prepared for women to look upon me with awe and have the press invade my personal life.

I was at the car park bright and early eagerly awaiting the track to open on the Monday morning. I was still nervous, but a good nervous not Sunday’s sphincter clenching variety. I noticed another emotion or feeling I couldn’t quite put my finger on, however, shortly into my first lap of the day I knew exactly what it was, severe overconfidence. The Adenauer Forst chicane is not the place for overconfidence and lots of tyre squeal and much intervention of the cars electronics later, I’d had the necessary wake up call. To be brutally honest the whole lap was something of a disaster, it was like I had not only never driven the Nurburgring before but at times never driven a car. Pulling into the car park with the DSC light still flashing what were you thinking? and several expletives in Morse code, I sat there and threw my dummies out of the pram. Portrait of a driving god throwing a hissy fit. So much for awestruck women but at least I’d still have my privacy.

Once I’d calmed down and had a wander looking at some of the finest cars you’ll see anywhere, I talked myself back into my humble little 5 and ventured out again. With sphincter clenching returning with thankfully not a sniff of overconfidence, it was soon clear that I could still drive and that first lap fiasco was a mere blip and, to be honest, probably just what I needed. I did a few laps on the bounce and had the time of my life. Throughout the day I still had the occasional really? from the electronics, which I was happy to keep switched on, but I was learning more each lap and getting quicker and smoother each time. I never timed myself but you generally know when you’re quicker through a series of corners. Just knowing the track is worth minutes at the Nurburgring. 

Another track highlight for me was blagging a passenger lap in a Porsche 911GT3, which happened more by chance than any negotiating skill on my part. I was standing admiring the porker when the owner, a Swiss guy who’s name I can’t remember, politely told me to mind my feet as he was about to reverse out of his space to do a lap, then totally unprompted asked if I wanted to sit in. I was in, belted up and ready before he had even opened his door. It has occurred to me since that he may have been talking to someone else but if he had he never mentioned it, such is the friendly atmosphere of the place.

The core of the trip was to drive the nordschleife, but it has to be said that the surrounding area of Nurburg is truly beautiful and the final sixty miles of the journey was worth the trip in itself, a part of the journey I wouldn’t have experienced at all had Alan and Helen not rescued me from a moment of driver and satnav conflict. Evenings were spent discussing the day’s exploits over good food and helping the German beer brewing economy, I like to do what I can. One evening was spent at the Pistenklause restaurant, famed for its steak which is served on what can only be described as a small patio slab. Granted the patio slab is lava hot and cooks your choice of protein, and anything else that touches it, in front of your very eyes. You cook your steak any way you please and it keeps your elbows off the table after you've eaten. 

The Mazda on Track guys deserve a lot of credit for putting together what I hope will become a yearly pilgrimage, there had clearly been a lot of organising done in the background. We had a really good group of people and it was a pleasure being there. I went for the road trip and to maybe do a lap of The Ring, just to say I’d done it, I ended up doing twelve. Hopefully see you next year.

Steve Bennett 

MX5 OC Member: 20667

Forum id: weirdfish

Tuesday 17th April - Posted by Al Clark

MoT's first race - fully addicted.

The seeds were sown, unbeknown to me, back last November when a little yellow Eunos was bought to be the Owners Club project car for 2009. The car was basically sound, but in a very unkempt condition. An ideal car for rejuvenation. However due to delays in getting the documents from the previous owner till February and then the probable time frame of getting the car to show room condition meant it returned to it’s donator from MaX5 and all of a sudden in mid March I was on the conveyor belt to being a competitor in MaX5. The car went from having to borrow a battery at EMG in Cambridge to start it to drive it, complete with totally flat tyres and a burst radiator, on to the trailer to being a race car in 3 weeks. During the build a compression test on the engine found all 4 cylinders on this 19 year old car to be very good and that a change of plugs and leads was all that was required to have the engine running well. 
So that was the car, well what about me. Applying for a race licence is a fairly simple process, involving filling out some forms and handing over the keys to your bank account. It starts by applying to the MSA for an application form. Yes, you read that right. That costs around £55 which isn’t a problem until you find out the exact same thing in Ireland costs 20 Euros! You then need to get a medical which includes an eye test. The doctor stands one side of the room and holds up his bill. If you stagger and go white that proves your eye sight is ok and if you don’t faint, your blood pressure is ok and you pass. This then gives you the OK to apply for an ARDS (Association of Racing Drivers Schools) test which operates at various tracks around the country and bleed more money. Mine was at Mallory Park with Everyman Racing. It involves both a written test and track driving assessment. It is explained that in certain parts of the test there can be no mistakes. It is amazing how the human brain can conjure up so many failure scenarios so quickly. However, unlike A Level maths the “written” part was extremely simple and also I didn’t loose control of my arms at the first corner and neither did the track magically change direction in front of me so that bit was easy too. That then gave me the go ahead to send the MSA yet more money for my licence. Cost so far, about £400, but all of that doesn’t mater when you are holding your race licence. 
I’ll skip the next bit about registering for a race and buying race-wear other than to say I made good use of the OC discount at Demon Tweaks. 

So to my first day at Thruxton. 
It started out ok as I was told that I didn’t need to be there till 10am which was good as initially I thought I needed to be there at 7:30! However I still needed to start quite early as I needed to pick Paul up from Coventry first. 
Arriving in the paddock at 9:30 saw a variety of tasks needing completion. There was the yellow car, looking vastly different when I last saw it, complete with brand new roll cage, seat harness and the like, but still the grubby old paintwork. So the first job as to wash it, then a quick rub down of the worst parts of the paint and to apply stickers. What a laugh. Many of decals were quite big and you have to wet the car surface first to position them. Well the stickers didn’t want to stick! So after a fight, they were on of sorts!
Then it was scrutineering, in which I was asked to turn the rain light on! Queue me looking dumb, but it turns out to be the fog light! It passed with only the requirement to add identification of the front tow eye. It also resulted in Al Clark and Paul having to push the car most of the way back to the paddock as again unfamiliarity with the car left me not knowing I have the ignition turned off while trying to start it. 
So next is qualifying. I have to rent a timing transponder which with no place to put it on the car, ends up in my pocket for the whole time. 
Being the first time I have driven the car, and also it’s first drive including being on new tyres and the first time I have ever been to Thruxton made qualifying a bit of a steep learning curve to say the least. I think now not knowing the car was probably the first thing that stood out. It is much softer than mine and the new tyres seemed to totally lack any form of grip and the rear end was very loose. So add that to not knowing the track and that the brake pedal had a long travel so I couldn’t heal and toe, meant that the other drivers were out of sight within a couple of laps. So it was just me and practice. You have to lean pretty quick. I guess qualifying involved about 10 to 12 laps. The first 3 was just remembering where the track went, then slowly it starting to come together. Grip and the back of the car was a problem and also the brakes were rather ineffective with the near side front locking up. However I find that corners seem to fall into place in order of distance from the start, so the first right, left, right if realised needed brakes to get the front of the car into and not overly fast else the second part was right on you. Further round the fast left hander soon was ok. The very fast right hand bend after that was proving trickier as it was hard to reference a turn in point and grip was lacking to get the car to point it where I wanted to go. Backing off would introduce some interesting drifts and staying on the power was causing me to wonder just how far across the grass a yellow Eunos would go at the top of 4th gear. However, I did start to get it right and it served me well for the race later on. The final chicane before the pits was harder and it was only on the last lap of qualifying that it clicked to go much deeper before turning in. So just as it came right it was all over, I would have liked another couple of laps but that was it. 6 seconds off the fastest time, but all in all not bad. 

Back in the paddock we decided that the brakes needed looking at and good job too. What a state! Surprisingly, although the lines had been changed to braided ones nothing had been done or reported about the disk, pads or callipers. Firstly the disks looked 19years old. Very worn and thin and I am highly surprised the car had made it thought its last road MOT. Then the pads generic road going ones and no more than 2mm of meat on the best on and finally one of the callipers was virtually seized. 
New racing pads were in order, but nothing could be done about the rest there and then. The suspension settings were also fiddled with to soften the back to give it more grip. 

Pretty soon it was the race and I was surprised my self in my lack of nerves. I felt I had a good idea I knew where the track went and more to the point where I wanted to go. The formation and start procedures again were all new to me, and basically I copied the other drivers weaving about on the formation lap. I could feel the car had far better grip turning right than left, however this could be due to lack of alignment or simply the left hand tyre was worn in better then the right.
For the start I had been told, 3,500rpm and short shift. I got of the line well but the clutch definitely slipped in the short shifting and the decision to leave the car as road legal resulting in 30kg extra weight was instantly seen as a wrong one as the other cars were inching ahead. I was more than pleased with my first 3 laps and far from being 6 seconds off the pace I was right there and again it was sinking in how the quest for that little extra speed and pace starts and the car was definitely just not as on form as the others. Soon I was in a 3 battle for fourth place, which sounds more glamorous than it was because there were only 6 cars running but for me it was fantastic. 3 cars at 100mph all in 30 yard of each other and one of them a turbo! It was on the 4th lap though it all went wrong. The middle car of the pack, the turbo one in fact, lost it in on the exit of Church, running into Brooklands. The back went left, then right full across the track leaving me with no choice but to brake and follow on to the grass. Although I was then able to drive around and back onto the track I was now in second gear rather than fifth and the car in front was now a speck disappearing round the next galaxy and that was the last I saw of that. Off I went and for two laps I was not in last place. However I was struggling into the final chicane and an error on the 6th lap allowed the car behind to catch up and the power of the turbo just meant that he went past between Segrave and Noble. Not to be defeated however, I was much better under braking and much faster through Noble, Village and Church and over the next two laps I really felt I would get past again, however on lap 9 on changing down for the club chicane I just could not get third gear and for the turn in and ended up with the back well out of shape. I struggled to get second and lost valuable distance. I again pulled a lot back through the back bends, but again could this time get no gear changing down for the chicane and ended up having to coast into the pits and off. Pumping the clutch several times I got first and that was it, all over. The curse of the slave cylinder.

My first race “did not finish!” Boo. Was it a bad experience? No, I loved it. For a car straight out of the box, rushed through, it did ok. If it were my own car and more time, I would expect that these things would all be sorted. The heal and toe problem I found particularly off putting as it is easy to mess the back up and the brakes and alignment need sorting but at the end of the day with all these, my fastest lap was only 0.14 seconds slower that 3rd places fastest lap so I am pretty pleased. Just need to sort the car now.

Tuesday 24th February - Posted by Al Clark

Sideways is the new forwards.

Thursday 15th January - Posted by Nick Dougill

It's a big old race track. And then some.

So why exactly was I in an apartment in the middle of the Eifel mountains in Germany with a bunch of guys that I had never met and wasn’t even a member of their club? Now I have owned two RX8’s before, but I no longer have them, so owning a third might be considered a touch greedy. Well truth be known I’m a petrol head and I have a petrol head company called Mazda on Track so that other petrol heads can come and be petrol head with me. So when I heard that the RX8 owners club were organising a trip to the Nurburgring, one of the most entertaining and bewitching pieces of tarmac in the world, I was in. 

Now the Nurburgring has a bit of a fearsome reputation and to be fair at just about 14 miles in length that is about the average length of people commute to work, so it’s not exactly popping to the shops. It was originally conceived, some say by Hitler himself, to bring economy to the depressed Eifel region in the 1920’s by building a race track for the growing affluent sport of motor racing and to rival the Targa Florio of Sicily. It consisted originally of 4 separate parts. The Nordschleife, or North Loop, the Sudschleife, unsurprisingly the South Loop a warm up loop, Zielschleife, connecting the two and the whole of the three combined. This was the infamous 174 corner Nurburgring Gesamtstrecke or Whole Course. Because of its mountain position the track is narrow and there is precious little run off. Increasing safety concerns and the crash by Niki Lauda in the 1976 German GP spelt the end of F1 racing on the dreaded Green Hell. 

Anyway, back to the plot, the original list of hopeful attendees had somewhat reduced near the time, some with complete racing driver excuses such as accidently eating their passport but I had successfully stowed away on the RX8 trip and now here I was with the four bold and intrepid members of the club, Dave xxxxx and his red 231, Jan xxxx in his silver grey car and Tim xxxxx and Linda xxxx in their blue Evo 10. And bold and intrepid they are as it is indeed a fearsome track. 

Now I am fortunate as I have done a few laps of this place, and I was very fortunate on this trip that I actually got to drive each of the kind people’s cars. It is not without pressure when someone asks, “go on, show me how to do it!” So my heartfelt thanks to each of these very kind and trusting people to have such faith in me. Both Jan and Dave’s car are standard in the engine and suspension department and although they have significantly more ponies than my little MX-5, the extra weight and size and refinement does not make them feel significantly quicker. The RX8 is a fantastic chassis and even in standard road suspension it is sweet to drive and the lack of overall torque is not an issue on a track as if you are below 5,000 rpm, you are doing something wrong. Where it fails in road trim, is, to be honest, where most road cars fail in that they set up to absorb pot holes and not for taught body control, however this is no bad thing around the Karussell which has broken more than one of my exhaust hanging rubbers due to the shear pounding you get.

So the RX8, very adjustable in corners, a lift on the throttle will slide the back wider to bring the nose in and them power will stick the back down again and off you go, just as it should be. Under heavy braking that rear gets a bit squirmy and this seems to be a trait of the Mazda 5 link rear suspension as the current MK3 MX-5 does the same, and it did produce a few grins in the hard braking zone at Aremberg as the back of Jan’s car came out more than a few degrees. Tim’s Evo 10 is a different proposition totally and is basically a detuned rally car and shows it, very short gearing and a thumping 300 bhp engine with the added torque that a turbo gives. Pressing the loud pedal just dispatches lesser cars to the dirt behind you and it can’t be described and anything less than a huge giggle. Where the MX-5 would be doing 80 and the RX’s maybe 90, this has 120 showing and that was three up....

The rest of this story continues here!

Monday 12th January - Posted by Al Clark

Just a quick one.

MoT was at the Pistonheads meet tonight at the Ace Cafe in London. Somehow, the plucky roadster managed to get the best seats in the house, and I chatted amongst the Lambo, Ferrari and M3 owners, and how they all loved driving their wives MX-5's! Also met a chap call Ijaz who had his mint condition MK1 RS MX-5 there, and we spent most of the evening chatting over a hot chocolate. 

Wednesday 7th January - Posted by Al Clark

We want to see your Mazda Track car!

That's right, we want you! If you've got a Mazda track / drift / sprint / fun car that gets all go and no show, then we want to hear from you. We're going to start featuring cars that follow in the spirit of MoT, so send your submissions to alistair.clark@mazdaontrack!

Tuesday 6th January - Posted by Al Clark

Welcome to the new revamped Mazda on Track site!

We have been working extremely hard over the last few weeks to bring you several new events for 2009, plus we have worked and refined the existing ones after listening to feedback to give you more of exactly what you want. MoT is a great pleasure for us to run, not just because we get to spend time with cars at race tracks but more so because we are seeing the Mazda community start to really come alive with a wave of previously unseen track cars. The RX-8 community has made a welcomed appearance at Brands Hatch, proving that there are track addicts in the rotary world, plus the support from the MX-5 crowds are ever growing, and we thank everyone who took part in our 2008 events.

But lets not look back - lets look and see what we have planned for 2009! Alongside our Trackdays and Car Control days (which we are in the final processes of confirming some dates), we are delighted to announce the much talked about Charity Sprint Championship. This will be a proper competitive championship with sponsors, some very cool prizes, trophies, champagne, and more importantly - the chance to put your skills and cars to the test on special exclusive courses on closed MOD facilities! We will be supporting Help for Heros, a hugely relevant charity supporting fallen and wounded soldiers and their families. We will be donating 50% of all our profits, plus any donations.

Next up is the Nurburgring Trip for 2009! An all inclusive organised run to the worlds most famous and stunning race track in Germany. This three night trip will take us through glorious roads to the circuit where you will be able to drive on the track, or sight see some of the amazing historic castles and towns in the local area. We hope to be joined by our European cousins culminating in a huge MX-5 meeting celebrating the 20th anniversary of the worlds favourite soft top. Naturally of course, any car is welcome to join us, being it Mazda or Mercedes!

We've barely mentioned the Drift days, our official photographer Matt from Phoenix Photos, Welcome to Track dates, our race car rentals, plus a special partnership and driver opportunity with the UK's MX-5 racing championships.

We hope you have a great year of fun motor sport, and see you at the events!

Wednesday 31st December - Posted by Al Clark

A Mazda? On track?! 

So, perhaps you don't have a Mazda, perhaps you do, and perhaps your wandering why on earth you'd want to take one on track? The Mazda range has always been perceived to many as the everyman sports car - Great, but not the 'real deal'.

The RX-7's are too difficult to live with, the MX-5 is too girlie and slow, the MPS are great but the more established names have significantly more credibility. I am happy to report that the real story is far different. I was always in the camp of perceiving the MX-5 as a hair dressers toy, but as my desire for cheap, reliable rwd motoring increased after owning a gorgeous stripped out MGB, and a capable yet comfortable MK1 MR2 it was time to give the MX-5 a try, and I am glad I did.

I still owned my first MX-5 some 3 years later, having been the type of person who gets bored of cars very very quickly. Now I've got a MK2....  Back to the question in hand - Why start a Mazda track company? I'll focus first, as we've alrady mentioned it on the MX-5. Can the Japanese idea of the British Roadster really be a good track tool? Just because it has it's own racing championship doesn't mean anything, they race caravans and 2CV's.

In the last few years, the MK1 MX-5 has rock bottomed in price - I've purchased one for £500 that required a £100 or so throwing at it to make it into a completely sound road worthy car, and it even had trick suspension. My personal MX-5 cost me £2960 three years ago, I paid a little too much for it, but I was not wise to the world. So what does your thousand pound MX-5 buy you? Well, lets start with the track, as we are a track company. There are some very very fast MX-5's in the world.

One of my most respected MX-5 drivers is Dale Lomas, proud owner of G28 MUX, and one of the guys I've learnt more than anything about my own car from. His videos on bridgetogantry.com are pretty famous. He's an instructor at the 'Ring at RSR Nurburg, but when he's bored of his semi-race prepped Alfa 75's, 911 GT3's and Clio 197's, he reaches for the keys of his Mazda and takes out just about everything lapping slower than 8:40 seconds. Experience and knowledge of the track allows him to demonstrate just how fast one of these car's can really go. My own car is lapping in similar times, purely down to paying attention to his lines and for want of a better word, copying them. We both share the same 1.6 110bhp powerplant.

Dale's arguably the trend setter in fast MX-5's at the 'Ring, helped by the fact that he lives there of course, but so far the only thing to fail in the hundreds of laps this car's completed is an alternator belt. So that's a very very small insight into the MX-5. So what else is there? Well Mazda is probably known for being the only company to slog on with the extremely mis-understood Wankel rotary engine, namely the RX cars. The RX-7 has been with us for over twenty years, and it's formula never changed - Light wankel rotary in the front, lots of power to the rear wheels. The RX-7 FD or 'the curvy one' is the last of the RX-7's produced, and it really is quite a special car. Twin turbo's keep power up, same engine formula keeps weight down.

You end up with a pretty magical car to drive, if quite different from anything else I've ever driven. I've been in a couple of RX-7's now as a passenger round the Nurburgring, and both of them were modified in very different ways but both shared the same characteristics of handling. When I drove one on the road, I was limited to 70mph, but I could feel the magic. That steering is awesome, the car is so planted, the front end felt so easy to direct.

The engine takes some getting used to, it sounds like a swarm of angry bee's, and the actuators chattering away are almost compelling. Like the Supra and Skyline, the RX is the third major player in the 270bhp (ish) every man Japanese super car - As such there is a huge following for Drag, Drift and Sprints, and what a capable car to do it in. Still not convinced?

Wednesday 10th December - Posted by Nick Dougill

My incredibly pessimistic Sat Nav was convinced it was going to take me 35 minutes to cover the last 10 miles and I was amused to see the time remaining tumbling in 10 second intervals and even when it said that I had 400 yards to go it insisted that it would take me 3 minutes.

The day was split into 3 sessions covering Mazda, Triumph and MG. In fact it was in part due to this event that Mazda on Track exists. That the day organised by MG enthusiasts sold out the MG and Triumph sessions very quickly leaving the Mazda group struggling to find attendees. We couldn’t let such great and capable cars be left under represented any longer and so here we are, and in fact there I was.

It was unfortunate that the Mazda MX5 Owners Club Motorsport coordinator was suffering very badly with flu and although desperate to come had to convalesce. Indeed, another very sick parrot was our own Al Clark, who, being a veteran of over 400 laps of the full Nurburgring was desperate to try the mini version, only to fall victim of sunstroke the day before after filming most of the day at Lydden Hill in Kent. Bad luck to both.
So the task of enjoying this wonderful circuit on behalf of Mazda on Track fell to me. It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.

So how did the day go? Well even though it had only been 6 months since I was last here, it is amazing how quickly you can forget things. Not the basic track layout, that stays there, but the subtle things, such as the correct lines, where is fastest, where and how hard do I need to brake, which gear should I be in. And so it was for the first couple of sessions. The very first runs under the safety car for a couple of laps to show the correct lines. However, one new comer to track in an MG was not familiar with the process of following the car in front and rapidly fell off the snake, eventually resulting in a 600 yard gap to the next car and insolating the snake behind them. This resulted in the safely car doing 3 complete slow laps in this group and when the green flags were eventually put away, releasing people to overtake, the session was all but finished.
The second session was more open, but again, people are finding their feet and a caution is advisable all round. However there was time to start exploring some of the corners and there are some pretty good ones to explore. In fact there is not really a mundane corner on the track, maybe Barn being the more obviously less dramatic.

To me Coppice is the real test, a vary fast left, right that requires all the bits to be strung together to make it work and it then runs into Charlies and to get a quick lap and stay on the track it needs commitment and accuracy, nether of which I had in the second session as I kept backing off on the entry to Coppice. This was also a session, as is often the case, where you find yourself often in the wrong gear or changing gear unnecessarily. By the end of the day you know what gear to take a corner in and when to change, but for now I was merrily changing up, only to down shift instantly just wasting time and effort. So description for second session, “exploratory!”
The break in between was ideal for a cup of tea, or COT in Mazda on Track circles and to help Sam Court spray half the suspension of his MK1 Euros with silicone spay as he tried to eliminate a squeak. He was unsuccessful and therefore I have to conclude his time would have been better spent with a COT.

Session three was good, by now I was starting to experiment with the corners, looking for the right lines, the right turn in point, the right amount of brakes and most importantly how to drive through it. The second part of Charlies for instance is not one to be on trailing throttle. It also saw the start of an interesting contest between me and Sam. I was faster through some parts and him through others and it resulted in a very even battle. Obviously I wasn’t quicker because I was weighed down with tea and a full petrol tank, but I suspect it was more to do with the fact he is just a good driver.
The fourth session was the start of the really interesting part as I, followed closely by Sam, came up behind a supercharged 5. We were quicker through the corners, but the extra power of the car in front prevented us time and time again from getting past on the straights and it easily pulled away. I tried all sorts of tricks from hanging back and taking a run through the corner to get a run, to filling his mirrors through the bends, which did result in a few raged sideways moments from the driver but even though this we were unable to get the marshals to produce a blue flag and short of nipping up the inside on a corner, which for a track day is a total no, no so behind we stayed. It was becoming a bit frustrating by the end, but we met in the paddock afterwards and agreed that we both had the superior talent and became friends, as it should be. And then it was time for lunch.

This gave us one hour forty minutes before we were due back out again and so after a rather nice curry it was out to put some fuel in the car from the Jerry Can and wander about and chat to people. It was also time to live in the past glories of the British sports car industry. There were lovely examples of both the MG and Triumph brands and the Spitfires with the GT6 straight six engines did sound very good. Also time to look over the MGB with the 4.6l Rover V8, over 300 horse power and stupidly quick in a straight line, although as proved time and time again, the little Mazda is very quick in the corners and it was only on the straights that the car pulled away, and again a testament to the Mazda that even with a 200BHP power deficit, the MG was only 100 yards further down the track at the end of each lap.

So, first session after dinner, the traditional catch people out session. It catches people out because their car temperatures have dropped, particularly their tyres, but mainly because they have talked their confidence levels up over diner and they try too hard. So a couple of gentler laps to start with after lunch and no fear of a trip across the grass. This was time to start really trying to string it all together and trying the refinement to my driving and the track that I had been building up to. Hall Bends in particular are particularly satisfying. It was this session that Sam was in front of me and after a couple of laps he got let through by a slower car just after the Gooseneck and the resulting complex of bends behind the slower car saw him move a good few hundred yards ahead and I was unable to catch up. However, It was long enough to see where he was faster and I began to realise I was actually over braking, so taking too much speed off and that I could actually carry more speed through the slower corners. It was good information. I was also alarmed that my brake warning light was coming on, and I knew this was because the fluid level was low in the reservoir. I was paranoid that O might actually introduce air into the system, effectively ending my day, but I was OK, and Sam to the rescue once again as he had some 5.1 DOT fluid which I rum so it saved a trip to the local Halfords!
The penultimate session really saw me trying to get the best out of the corners. By now the speed was at it’s maximum and all thee irrelevant gear changing was done with, there was no braking too much and changing down, it was known by now how to carry the speed through the corner and in particular Coppice into Charlies was very exciting with steering on the throttle. Keep the power on in the second part of Coppice to keep the back under control, but a small lift at Charlies to get the nose to turn in for the apex there.

So it came to the final session. Minimum fuel and possibly minimum brakes I set off. True to form, the fuel light came on, on the second lap I was left with the dilemma of should I pull off track while I have some or should I risk that the 10 litres the light indicates is in the tank’s actually there. Oh well, I thought, it is the last session so on I went and I’m glad I did. Cadwell truly is a wonderful circuit. Fast a tight bends undulations and gradients. Great!

So with mimimal weight and no fuel I decide that this was it, go for it. So a lap.
Coming along the top straight by the paddock, the first challenge id Hall Bends running to the hairpin. The road goes right left, right, left. The first part is easy, but it requires some speed to be taken off to easily negotiate the second part. This was once of the areas that Sam was faster than me and in observing his lines and processes had made me realise that I was over braking for this, just a brush on the brakes is required to balance the car and get the nose in, but I was giving a good prod and loosing speed and time. The second part again goes Right, Left, but this time over the brow of a blind hill with 50 yards run then to the tight right hand hair pin. Tight right then about a 100 yard run down to Barn, and opening corner and doing down hill. Barn has quite a late apex and is running down hill, so it gives good acceleration along the new part of the track and leads to Coppice and Charlies. With the speedo just touching 100 it is turn in to what is quite a daunting corner. The turn in point is right at the end of the straight and you need to get that right so that you can clip the apex and run on to the second cone in time. Also it is critical to get right as it positions you for the next corner, which seems faster than the corner that you have just been through. This then runs out to the entrance to Charlies which is slightly tighter and right and requires just a slight lift to get the nose pointing at the apex and then some throttle to keep the back from sliding out. Charlies has a great exit and you naturally run out to the outside edge of the track and away down the track to the next bends 800 yards a This is Park, and another one of the areas that I was braking too much as Sam recons he was going through flat. This runs to Chris Curve which is a fast right hand bend where you accelerate through, keeping tight to the right in the first part, but let the car run to the outside for the latter part. It is them flat out to the start of the Gooseneck.

With the car on the left of the track a touch of brakes to steady the car and turn in, bringing the car to the right hand side of the track for the turn in for the left hand second part. Turn and aim for the apex which is on the crest of the hill. Get the line right and there seems plenty of track the other side, apex a bit early or wide and the track suddenly seems narrow and the grass beckons. And as it is all down hill, the preferred option is to stay on the track! Sprint down the hill in fourth, bake, turn in left in third to Mansfield and add some power, again, the track runs out if you go wide or apex too early and too much power and you have an arm full of opposite lock. Then a couple of gentle curves until the left hand entry to the mountain. A tight but long left going down from fourth to third and then to second for the sharp right, jump the curbs Mountain corner and up the steep hill where if you have power you can get airborne. For me it was just aim left at the top as the back goes light and the revs rise slightly, but it’s great fun and then it is on to Hall Bends again. One lap done.

It’s a great circuit and I wish I could go again tomorrow.