Bedford Autodrome trackday, 28th Feb 2009

Long time, no trackday. Two years, in fact. Mortgages suck.

This was my first time on track in the 350Z and, while it was enjoyable, it might end up being the last time too. The car's just too heavy. While it made an admirable fist of changing direction when asked, it didn't take long to overheat its brakes, resulting in most runs being curtailed long before I felt I'd pushed it enough. Same old story, eh? Even with upgraded pads with which other users had reported a complete absence of fade. Am I just too aggressive? I don't think so; braking's where you make up most time and where you feel you're really racing. Why lose the fun?

That aside, my lack of recent track experience, coupled with my sedate, petrol-saving everyday driving, saw me making loads of mistakes. I suspect it was largely down to me not sighting the track far enough ahead. The lack of discipline in my lines was appalling. Frankly, I was all over the place. My positioning approaching corners was woefully inconsistent and my subsequent lines through and out of the corners were poor to say the least. Ragged at times, and just plain out of position at others. As much as it pains me to say it, I was your typical rubbish driver in a fast car. That said, at least I was still courteous to those overtaking.

For once, I also had a passenger for the entire day. Perhaps that might explain part of my crap driving too; not because they weighed the car down, but because I was too aware of throwing them about to concentrate fully on the job in hand. Whatever. It was probably a combination of all these things, but the upshot was that I drove disappointingly.

My preparation for the day left a lot to be desired too. I forgot to print out indemnity forms, didn't have one for my passenger and managed to turn up late, having to leave registration till after the safety briefing. Consequently, I was so late to the track itself that I'd missed the guided sighting laps and in my rush to get out, forgot to put the towing eye on the car. Very poor. I'll not let that happen again. Then, to compound my foolishness, a headache carried over from the previous day just got worse and worse during the morning to the point where I felt nauseous. I skipped the start of the afternoon session in favour of a couple of ibuprofen and half an hour's nap. From there, however, it was all good.

So, how did the car drive? Apart from the brakes, it was pretty well suited to the circuits we drove. Its power suited the straights and the corners were mostly sweeping enough to be pitched perfectly for a GT. The back straight was a little long at 1000m, but it did see my fastest trackday speed so far of 127mph. The Mini would've felt lost in a sea of tarmac. One thing that surprised me a little was the lack of wheelspin I got out of the tighter, slower corners. It was rare and noticeable when the back stepped out of line; most of the time, it just dug in and powered away. Well, accelerated away. The power wasn't actually that evident. I'd be interested to see the Zed on a rolling road, but I'm not willing to cough up to merely satisfy my curiosity.

As for the track, well, it was 2 tracks really. Bedford has 37 different circuit configurations to choose from. In the morning, we used a 2.8 mile combination of South and West circuits. In the afternoon, it was the 3.8 mile GT circuit. Now that is a long circuit. :) The two layouts shared a large section of their full distances and each had its spectacularly fun bits, largely towards the end of the lap. The start of the lap was, for me, a little too power-oriented. The final sections, however, had plenty of twists and turns and regularly sent my passenger into fits of giggles and squeals. I just wish the whole circuit had been like that.

Overall, it was great to get back on track. Headaches may have effectively written off the morning, but the afternoon was a hoot. The track was good, the car reasonably well suited to it, and Easytrack were well organised even if I wasn't. I'd definitely use Easytrack again, but perhaps in a smaller, more nimble car next time. And that might mean a circuit other than Bedford too. The twists and turns of Rockingham are looking pretty attractive right now. :)