Post by chipbutty on Feb 27, 2020 20:21:12 GMT
First day of the Palmersport 2020 calendar and they were doing an early bird offer - which for me worked out at £840 including VAT and the insurance
Conditions were not exactly ideal on arrival
or for the first event - the Clio Cups
However - it stopped sleeting after 10 am and the tracks dried out from then on - with all the fastest lap times being set in the delightful winter sunshine of late afternoon. I got my best performance in the Palmersport Caterhams (2.5 litre, 200 brake) where I ended up 4th fastest out of 30th, but this does not mean that I am totes amazeballs, because my times in the earlier sessions were obliterated by the afternoon teams.
I have been thinking about getting a track day car for a while now, so I've been looking for a high quality track day experience to work out if the enjoyment I would get out of it is worth the investment and (crucially), what type of car would be most fun. Other types of driving days I have done have been very short and generally not much fun (basic, plain tracks, crappy cars and/or low rev limits), so the answer was obvious.
In summary, the day was fantastic and extremely good value for money when you look at the driving time, the range and quality of cars and the fluffy bits (Catering, venue, logistics). For me, the F3000 was the high point and I still can't get my head around how fast it was in a straight line and the speeds it could do in the corners - downforce is awesome !. Going in the JPLM first with an instructor before the F3000 was extremely helpful because they are very similar in terms of performance and I would never have coaxed the speeds I did without having the instructor to keep pushing me faster and faster through the faster corners. When I got into the F3000, I had much more confidence and I felt like I drove the wheels off the bugger. I was 2 seconds a lap quicker in the F3000 on my own than I was in the LM with the instructor and it was gutted when we were called back in because I was getting faster and faster on every lap.
Second highlight of the day was the M2 Competition - what an amazing little car, the instructors absolutely love them and it was obscenely good fun. I still can't believe how capable it was and how quickly you could acclimatise to it or how much it flatters your driving and makes you feel like a car control god.
Finally - the Caterham was completely as expected - i.e, a tail happy animal. I screwed my best lap by spinning it on the final corner, but what a headcase and what a sound. If I was going to buy a track car, it has to be one of these because it would be the most fun to tame and still be quick enough to scare you silly.
However - when I was talking to one of the drivers I asked if I could book more time in just one of the cars (say, 2 hours in the F3000) and he said that's no problem, just ring the booking office. So that got me thinking - rather than buy a track day car, I could spend the annual running cost of one on 3 or 4 tailored sessions a year at Palmersport. No caterham will ever get near the thrill of that F3000 and no track converted hatch is every going to get near the thrill of the Palmersport Caterham or the M2. Also that Caterham must be £45ks worth at least because it had the flappy paddle box and the mental 2.5 litre engine (I would need the flappy gearbox because these things are so tiny, I could barely shift gears in the pursuit spec one that was a manual).
P.S - I didn't like the Clio Cup one bit and whilst I am sure the soaking track didn't help, I just didn't get on with it, I thought it was a pig to drive and very numb to the touch (so to speak).
Conditions were not exactly ideal on arrival
or for the first event - the Clio Cups
However - it stopped sleeting after 10 am and the tracks dried out from then on - with all the fastest lap times being set in the delightful winter sunshine of late afternoon. I got my best performance in the Palmersport Caterhams (2.5 litre, 200 brake) where I ended up 4th fastest out of 30th, but this does not mean that I am totes amazeballs, because my times in the earlier sessions were obliterated by the afternoon teams.
I have been thinking about getting a track day car for a while now, so I've been looking for a high quality track day experience to work out if the enjoyment I would get out of it is worth the investment and (crucially), what type of car would be most fun. Other types of driving days I have done have been very short and generally not much fun (basic, plain tracks, crappy cars and/or low rev limits), so the answer was obvious.
In summary, the day was fantastic and extremely good value for money when you look at the driving time, the range and quality of cars and the fluffy bits (Catering, venue, logistics). For me, the F3000 was the high point and I still can't get my head around how fast it was in a straight line and the speeds it could do in the corners - downforce is awesome !. Going in the JPLM first with an instructor before the F3000 was extremely helpful because they are very similar in terms of performance and I would never have coaxed the speeds I did without having the instructor to keep pushing me faster and faster through the faster corners. When I got into the F3000, I had much more confidence and I felt like I drove the wheels off the bugger. I was 2 seconds a lap quicker in the F3000 on my own than I was in the LM with the instructor and it was gutted when we were called back in because I was getting faster and faster on every lap.
Second highlight of the day was the M2 Competition - what an amazing little car, the instructors absolutely love them and it was obscenely good fun. I still can't believe how capable it was and how quickly you could acclimatise to it or how much it flatters your driving and makes you feel like a car control god.
Finally - the Caterham was completely as expected - i.e, a tail happy animal. I screwed my best lap by spinning it on the final corner, but what a headcase and what a sound. If I was going to buy a track car, it has to be one of these because it would be the most fun to tame and still be quick enough to scare you silly.
However - when I was talking to one of the drivers I asked if I could book more time in just one of the cars (say, 2 hours in the F3000) and he said that's no problem, just ring the booking office. So that got me thinking - rather than buy a track day car, I could spend the annual running cost of one on 3 or 4 tailored sessions a year at Palmersport. No caterham will ever get near the thrill of that F3000 and no track converted hatch is every going to get near the thrill of the Palmersport Caterham or the M2. Also that Caterham must be £45ks worth at least because it had the flappy paddle box and the mental 2.5 litre engine (I would need the flappy gearbox because these things are so tiny, I could barely shift gears in the pursuit spec one that was a manual).
P.S - I didn't like the Clio Cup one bit and whilst I am sure the soaking track didn't help, I just didn't get on with it, I thought it was a pig to drive and very numb to the touch (so to speak).