Motors and Me

Yesterday, James and I spent the day blatting our cars round Cadwell Park and, despite a spin each, survived unscathed. All things considered, I reckon that’s a pretty good result. Here’s how it went... First impressions The first thing that struck me when we turned up was just how narrow the track was. The videos we’d watched on YouTube simply didn’t do it justice. It looked more like a kart track than a proper race track. The next surprise was finding out that we were using the full circuit, including the Woodland section under the trees. I knew this was a tight, twisty, undulating section of track, so the prospect of doing it in the wet with autumn leaves around was a daunting one. Once the regulation safety briefing was out of the way, we got out on track for a few sighting laps behind a pace car. It was immediately apparent that learning the best lines was going to take a while. The Mini felt horribly twitchy and the blind crests and curved braking zones did nothing to set

Earlier this year, I’d planned to move house to somewhere with a private garage so that I could take the next step on the sportscar ladder. I even had various bits of work done to the Mini to prepare it for sale, including the refitting of standard-issue run-flats. Given my subsequent failure to move, I’ve still got the Mini and the trackday hiatus has become too much to bear. In light of this, Friday 24th sees me heading off to Lincolnshire to take on the challenges of Cadwell Park . The trackday will probably use the Club circuit, as the Woodland section will be treacherous at this time of year. (Track map nicked from www.msport-uk.com .) I use the word “challenges” advisedly. Cadwell is often referred to as Britain’s mini-Nürburgring and for good reason. It’s a very narrow circuit, with lots of crests, swerves and alarmingly track-hugging Armco and tyre walls. Parts of the circuit are also underneath or close to trees, which should make it treacherous at this time of year. In f