Bruntingthorpe Track Day 2005

In September 2005, Ride Drive attended a track day at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground with a small party of customers. There were Honda owners, some with TVR sports cars, and some other makes too. The idea was to provide a fun day with some track driving tuition for the guests.

The early morning mist hung in patches over the fields as the late summer sun rose into the sky and I made my way along the A413 out of Aylesbury towards Buckingham. My destination was Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground in Leicestershire, and if things stayed as they were, it seemed we were in for some good weather.

An Exclusive Car Handling Course For Ride Drive Guests

The venue had been booked several weeks ago, and with an expected party of 17–cars I was determined we were going to have some fun. We were not to be the only group who would be there as this was a full–on track day run by Big Thunder catering for a number of parties. However, we had something that none of the others had; a handling skills circuit separate to the main activity, and all to ourselves, with our own paddock area as well.

After arriving there at 8.30am it wasn’t long before members of our group started to arrive. There was Sammy Ashton, leader of Honda Revolutions, a car club that appeal to those with Honda cars and who wish to promote the concept of having responsible fun with a car.

Not All Honda’s and TVR’s

Sammy had brought her red Honda CRX and was raring to go. Hers would be one of ten cars driven by members from her club, others being three Honda S2000’s sports cars, a silver Honda NSX and then a selection of Type–R Integra’s and one early CRX, about which there will be more said later.

Aside from the Honda Revolutions crowd other guests comprised of a Toyota MR2 Turbo, bought for a song by its owner Dave Oldroyd purely for a track day car, a Ford Fiesta XR2 and a bright yellow Westfield⁄Caterham 7 look–alike kit car. There were three TVR’s too, these being two Chimaera’s and a TVR Griffith 500.

Coincidentally, these three Blackpool beasts were all of an identical bright red colour, which made them easy to spot, even from a distance, but not so easy to determine which was which when flying by on the track.

I was there with two more of my team, Mohammed Khan and Steve George, and the idea was for us to sit in with any members of our party where requested to help them get the best out of their day, and their cars. It was all part of the service to make the day go as well as possible.

Signing in And a Thorough Briefing

After signing in and getting our colour coded wrist bands from the organisers, taking a large coffee in one hand and a bacon roll in the other, we attended the pre–drive briefing held at the front of the Big Thunder office.

I was impressed with the safety instructions. This told me that these guys were going to police this event thoroughly and therefore the level of safety should be high for all. After briefing it was a parade lap behind the pace car so that we could all familiarise ourselves with the course.

Mohammed threw me the keys to his BMW Mini Cooper, a car with the John Cooper supercharger conversion fitted, and I drove the three of us around the track as part of the overall convoy. This was a slow procession and any messing around was not to be tolerated.

An Interesting Circuit With Fun as Well as Safely in Mind

The course was superb with a circuit of just over 2–miles in length. Leaving the pit lane, which emerged about 2⁄3 of the way down the start⁄finish straight, there was a sweeping open left–hander followed by a short straight of around 750–metres before a sharp right–hander of about 110–degrees.

Next, there was a straight of around 1000–metres with a right, right, left, sweeping right with severe adverse camber as we exited onto the main runway. This ran nearly the whole length of the back of the field.

Along the back straight lines of cones had been placed out to form a big open slalom course, devised to stop anyone building up too much speed. This was wise, as at the end of the back straight there was a sharp right hand bend that continued a little more than 180–degrees. This led onto the beginning of the start finish straight. There would certainly be enough distance to get well over 100mph here for those cars and drivers capable of it.

Taking The Mini Cooper on The Car Handling Course

After returning to pits and our paddock I took Moh’s Mini Cooper onto our exclusive handling circuit. After placing the car in the start–box marked out with four cones it was a dash forward with a flick right, right again, left and right before a short straight, where the camber of the surface changed sharply on a ridge. This was just where you needed to put a bit of left–hand steering in.

There was a 180–degree tight right–hand curve after this, short straight with a left towards some cones that made you go sharp right, left, right, left and then finish up in the box at the end. This was a complete second gear course. Those who thought it would be a breeze actually found it to be anything but! We had a few spinners during the day, that’s for sure.

The Honda Integra Type–R

My first ride out as a passenger was in a Paras’s Honda Integra Type–R and after about half a lap it was immediately obvious this young man had a lot of natural ability and feel for a car. This was reinforced when he went into turn–2 on a too shallow line whilst carrying too much speed.

Coming out of the corner wide on the exit, Para got the two nearside tyres on the grass that was shaded under a row of fir trees and still damp with the dew. This was going to end in tears, I thought, but to give him credit he did not panic. He remained very smooth with the controls, didn’t brake or accelerate, but kept a nice balanced throttle easing the car back onto the tarmac with very slight and smooth steering. It was a good recovery.

After a few laps he was making better progress with better entry lines and technique. The car ran really sweet, which belied its age. I was to go out with him again later and see that he was getting better all the time.

A Westfield Type Sports Car – This Was Going to be a Tight Squeeze

My next ride was to be an interesting one. "Can you have a ride out with me?" asked Will Jones. This was the guy with the Caterham 7 look alike sports car. I never got to ask what it was, but he did say he had built it himself at home.

The engine of this car was the twin–cam Ford unit from a 2–litre Sierra, mated to a Sierra gearbox, and with an Escort 1600 flywheel with clutch assembly. The rear end was also Sierra, making the whole thing into a neat little package, especially as it weighed a total of about 6 ounces!

Will wanted the handling circuit first, so applying crash helmet I squeezed in beside him and tried to get the hang of his full race harness safety belt arrangement. As went around the handling circuit it was here that I realised the first main problem – communication.

With a full–face helmet, an almost straight through exhaust at my side, and our upper bodies open to the elements, there was no chance of issuing any verbal instructions. I asked if I could demonstrate how to get around the small course more effectively by taking him through it in his car. Will seemed to think this was a good plan.

Unable to Back Off the Throttle in the Westfield

Now, I reckon that Will weighed around 9–stone and was the best part of 5ft 9–inches tall in his bear feet, which themselves looked about a size 8. I, on the other hand, am 6-foot and weigh around the 14–stone mark, have size 11 double E feet and Will had built this car to fit him!

With no adjustment to the seat, and no height under the dash in which to bend my knees I could not get my foot off the gas enough to reach idle speed with the engine. None the less I think I managed to demonstrate the most suitable line through the course over two laps.

He did it very well after that anyway. When finished there Will took me around the main circuit, but this time I relied upon sign language alone to guide his position. That little car was certainly quick.

Some Flying Laps on Track in a TVR Griffith 500

My most satisfying moment was provided by Kerry Giddings in his TVR Griffith 500 sports car. After a few laps, he took turn one, the sweeping left–hander at the end of the start⁄finish straight, absolutely flat out without lifting at all.

The car went around there as sweet as sugar, and to stand in the paddock and watch him out there doing it all by himself afterwards was very rewarding. Well done Kerry. He had only owned the car 2–weeks. A run out with Ashley Powell in his lovely red TVR Chimaera produced similar results.

I mentioned earlier I would come back to the subject of the silver Honda CRX. This car has been prepared for the track, although Mark Ely, its owner, did drive it to and from the venue. It was completely stripped out inside with every non–essential item removed that could be removed without making it illegal.

The engine was basically made up of the bottom end of a 2.0–litre unit from a Honda CRV or HRV and with a VTEC head from a B16 1.6–litre engine. The result was about 230bhp in a car weighing very little. Talk about a jet–propelled skateboard!

A Great Track Day With Sunshine All The Way

Well, the sun shone all day, the air temperature remained mildly warm and comfortable, and all had a great time. There were no mishaps and no tears, except for Honda Revolutions organiser, Sammy Ashton, that is.

Having canvassed the Honda Revolutions guys to come along to our event, her Honda CRX decided to give up a CV joint before she even got near to the circuit. This was so cruel and unfair. Perhaps we’ll make sure she gets two days worth out of one for the next event.

Thanks to all who attended and for being such a great bunch of people.

You Are Here » Home » Events and Motor Shows » Bruntingthorpe Track Day 2005

This page was last updated
Wednesday, 08-Dec-2010

Bruntingthorpe Track Day 2007