60 cars at Rockingham Motor Speedway, Corby organised by easytrack.
Robert's account
Wow, what a demanding circuit!! As we entered the paddock we were overwhelmed by the size of the place, it seems massive. The other thing we noticed was how shiny everything was, being a brand new circuit .......
The first session started behind a pace car so we could get used to the circuit, this was very welcome, especially as the circuit was quite wet! The circuit seemed very long, and at 2.56 miles it is quite long in comparison to Brands, Castle Combe and even Donington. There was a lot to learn, there were a lot of slow tight corners which took a lot of getting used to. Then there is the last corner, round the bank. Flat out in 4th the sound echoing off the wall was awesome! A couple of laps after the pace car had gone in I was starting to get used to a few of the corners, I came round the last corner flat out in 4th, I came a little too far left and just touched the flat part of the banked corner, the back started to wave about a little, a little bit of opposite lock and all was facing the correct way with my foot still firmly planted on the floor!
We were arriving at the end of the straight at about 110mph, loose a bit of speed, down to 3rd and dive through the left right chicane. This can really be flattened out but cutting over the right kerb as there is a wide piece of concrete to run off onto, you end up just using the run off with the left wheels just touching the inside of the right kerb! So you can really attack this chicane and keep the throttle nailed to the floor before you even enter it. Drift out towards the wall and hug it up till the double apex hair pin, stand on the brakes, drop from 4th to 2nd, leave the left hand turn in till late, then get the power down just before clipping the second apex. You can run right out to the right hand kerb, whilst grabbing 3rd, as there is enough room to get back over to the left for the next right hander. Out of all the corners this was the one I had the most problem with, it is a little blind, is tighter than it looks and the track isn't very wide out of the corner so back down to second and loose a lot of speed, too fast into the corner and you would have to wait for ages before being able to get the power down. You just manage to pop up into 3rd before needing to go back down to second loose some speed for the next right hander.
This took a little time to work out but the best way through is slow in, keep as tight as possible to the right to set you up for the next couple of corners. If you go too fast you drift out to the left and have to take the next left right combination slowly as you are way off line. So, through the right hander, keep it tight and get over to the right of the track as quickly as possible, grab 3rd towards the end of the small straight, you need to turn in hard for the left hander and take a lot of kerb otherwise you will be too far right and will have to come off the power to be able to make the next corner without taking the cones out!!! Blend the throttle in, about 3/4 power, then when the car is far enough left you can nail it and throw the car through the right hander.
The car will end up in the middle of the track and you need to get it over to the right for the next double apex left hand hair pin. Hard on the brakes, down to 2nd, leave the turn in till late to flatten out the second apex which means you can get the power down nice and early, clip the second apex and let the car run out wide to the right as this is where you need to be for the next sweeping left hander. You don't need to loose much speed for the next corner, just a quick dab on the brakes, stay in 3rd, about 1/2 throttle, you need to stay with the kerb right till the end of it then you can put the power down and let the car drift out to the right. The straight is long enough to go all the way out to the right with plenty of time to get the car back over to the left for the next right hand chicane.
This chicane is very tight so you need to loose a lot of speed, 2nd gear, turn in late and get the power down early as the track is very wide on the exit. The kerb on the outside is very harsh so I wouldn't advise running over it, I did once and it triped the fuel cut out switch!!!! Keep the power down, 3rd gear, stay on the left, this is quite a long straight (compared to the rest of the circuit). Brake just after the 100 sign, but you don't need to loose too much speed as there is a reasonable amount of run off area. Stay in 3rd otherwise you just end up bouncing off the rev limiter half way out of the 75 degree right hander! The next chicane can be tricky and is very important to get correct as you need to be on the power early for the left hand banked corner. If you screw it up and can't get the power down then the cars behind will catch up easily through the long banked corner.
So brake hard, 2nd gear, turn in late to smooth the exit out and don't get on the power too early. Then just drift the car up to the wall and keep the throttle firmly on the floor. Gently drop the car down the bank to keep low for the centre of the corner, slipping up to 4th mid corner, and let the car drift back out to the wall along the straight and you're back to the chicane at 110mph again
We still had the annoying brake pulling problem which caused some interesting "moments" ..... tight up against the wall @ 110mph, jump on the brakes and the car veers towards the wall, had to come off the brakes and just turn into the chicane, ended up sliding through the chicane sideways
........ another "moment" coming up the the first hair pin, locked up a little
turned in and had massive oversteer, a couple of turns of opposite lock, a bit of power and unwind the lock and of we go Rally style
We had a few problems with the car during the day. First the front pads wore out, we had tried red dot pads for the first time, they had only been on two track days, won't be using them again. After going to the local car shop and fitting some crappy standard pads we were back on the track. Then the car overheated and dumped the water at the end of the pit lane, not good
after bining the thermostat we were nearly back
on our way, except now we realised the rear pads were worn out!! They were new last week and had covered less than 150 miles on the road (mostly
motorway) and about 180 miles on the track, they were Lucas pads, won't be using those again either!!! By the time we had bought and fitted
the rear pads there was just enough time to squeeze in a final session and I got a chance to take some pictures and video, hence the distinct
lack of pictures
We had a play with a few cars, managing to take a few, one being a 160 Sport Elise which was quite pleased with. There was some fast machinery there, including a Mk1 Golf with a GTD badge on the back, nice, there was a Lotus Sunbeam with a Rover V8 and quad twin webbers, very nice, there was also a Williams Clio which when cornering lifted the rear wheel about a foot off the ground!!! Very fast but needs the suspension sorting out me thinks!!
Spen's take on it.
Awww man, you have to go. As a passenger you'll need a lot of faith in your driver! The corner, the big, bad, banked corner, flat out in forth less than 12" from the wall. The noise was unreal - the 100dB of exhaust + it's echo. I felt like some demon driver driving a 7.2 litre V12 - It sounded, no it more felt, like being in Nascar!!
The rest of the circuit is awesome as well. The bit in the middle - left, right over the brow, left then hairpin was magnificent. Really easy to mess this bit up with too much speed.
Less good was the cars survivability. The Rock broke the XR. The new rear pads were history in 2 hours of track time (the fronts had also been replaced). The car also overheated.
We had to rip the thermostat out.
Interesting moments:
1. Rob violently assaulting a large kerb. Enough to trip the fuel cut out. Enough said.
2. Rob making a kipper of the banked corner as he put the back wheel onto the flat in field (sideways whilst flat out in forth was a little bit worrying). We both laughed AFTER the event was over.
3. Spen getting a little excited and overtaking a golf at the end of the straight just before the chicane. This resulted in a very late aborted chicane and a trip across farming land to rejoin the tarmac.
4. Spen laughing at a TRV taking a very interesting line through a hairpin. (The laughing stopped 0.2 of a second later as it started to spin)
5. Rob as near to spinning as I've seen him at the first hair pin. Several turns of the wheel to keep it real. I wasn't sure it was coming back.
Things gleaned:
1. You can go in to the corner too fast and still make it though but it's not as quick as a nice tidy corner.
2. Mid bend - driving totally on the throttle. If it's understeering then lift off a bit. When the oversteer is well established then nail it again. This is most excellent on the hairpins where the car can be provoked hugely. Ok, it's not news but at Rockingham you can really hone this - three tight hairpins.
3. Bloody Caterhams & westies can be bloody annoying. Especially if there are 200 of them.
4. Some people drive a lotus well, some people don't.
5. Brake pads are not optional.
6. Even good brakes fade at Rockingham.
7. The most critical tool, spanner, socket, 7mm hex bit, will always break when the car is in pieces and you need it to get home. This phenomenon is similar to the toast landing jam side down.
8. I'll be going back.
Quite easily the best track I've been to. And it wasn't even wet.....
