Cadwell Park 4th April 2001

General Meets + Track Day Reports
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Anyone else going?

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Tonythought I might pop along to spectate…maybe find out from you what’s its like to be in the motor business!!!

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Hi Steve. Nice to meet you yesterday, albeit briefly. Sorry we didn’t get time to chat, but I was about to miss my session. I did have a look around for you a few times throughout the day, but with no success. Did you leave shortly after we met? Anyway, hope you enjoyed the day, despite the weather!

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Tony…went for a walk around the course and got totally soaked…ended up leaving about 12o’clock as the weather looked fairly set. Surprisingly, it was much better only a coule of miles up the road and the closer to home I got the bluer the skies!Hopefully, that weather was on the way over to you in the afternoon.Took a couple of pics of you on the track and could email them to you if you want.Besides watching you al the other cars seemed to be going round at pedestrian rates…although the sight of all that nasty armco and tyre walls combined with the wet narrow track would probably make me do the same!

5

Hi Steve. That’s why I couldn’t find you then! As it happens, they red-flagged the session I was in, due to excessive standing water, at around 12:00. They then closed the circuit, and put on an early lunch. Later, the rain stopped, and the circuit reopened at 13:00. The track then got dryer and dryer until it was almost totally dry for the last sessions of the day. WRT the photos, I would love to see then, as I don’t actually have any photos of the car yet. I don’t mind then going on the board if anyone else want to see them.I am now massively impressed by the Exige’s capabilities. Cadwell really allowed me to explore the car’s handling, although you were right about people being cautious, possibly overly so. Despite being in the expert group (On-Track terminology, not mine), I still managed to lap a significant proportion of the field each time out, and although I was having a lot of fun, I wasn’t going really hard as I didn’t want to wreck my tyres. I must say though that the stopping power in the wet was just awesome. I don’t know if you watched for a while at Park (the sharp 90-degree right-hander at the end of the back straight), but I was approaching that at over 100 MPH and not braking until I had passed to final 100-yard marker! Stunning for a road car. Also, I must admit to really enjoying passing the 911 RS lightweight and then managing to pull away from it quite quickly. Porche’s are great cars, but I couldn’t resist making it one-nil for the Exiges! [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]For those who followed my previous thread about my car, a bit more news: I have recently removed the motorsport cat and replaced it with a cat bypass pipe. I don’t know if it’s quicker, but it certainly sounds quicker! It does feel more responsive, especially a low speeds, and it does appear to hit 8,000 RPM in third more easily now, and it pops and bangs on the overrun. [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image] It also seems to be getting quicker as the miles build up (I just clicked over 2,000 on the way back from Cadwell). So, if there’s anyone out there who must run with a cat and wants a free-flow motorsport item cheap let me know! Other than that, as before, everything about the car was fine, just as it was at Hethel. [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image]

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Tony - emailed the pics direct to you…not very good at placing any directly on here…and david (are you still there?) is no help :stuck_out_tongue:

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Hi Steve. Many thanks for the pics. It’s interesting to see what it looks like to spectators! [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image] PS If you’re local, are you going to the Invasion of the Lakes and/or Wales?

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Tonyyou’ve got me there…what are they?

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quote:Originally posted by stevegreen:Tonyyou’ve got me there…what are they?Club Lotus organised events.

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Hi Steve. Like Rod says, they are Club Lotus events. The Invasion of the Lakes involves a long weekend in a hotel on Ullswater (which this year will be in a more up-market hotel) with a large number of other Lotus enthusiasts and lots of fun roads to check out. The turnout is usually very good. Please don’t quote me, but from memory there were around 70 cars there on the Sunday last year (i.e. including day trippers) and around 40 - 50 cars that were there for the duration. Highly recommended, and a great bunch of people. The Welsh weekend is similar and is based at Bodelwynddan Castle, although I haven’t been to this one yet. To be honest, I didn’t used to be too big on Club Lotus. Although there has always been a very friendly and helpful contingent such as Linda and Roger who organise the Lakes, there were also members who wouldn’t talk to you if you arrived in anything costing more than 10k. Also, there were too many 4-hour lectures on how to change your own cam-belt for 50p! I can still remember turning up one year in a new Esprit Turbo SE with a couple of friends who were in a new Lotus Carlton, and we definitely felt as though it wasn’t appreciated. However, I can honestly say that it’s changed for the better, with a significant number of new cars and younger owners now attending events, with IMHO an improved atmosphere as a result. The dates are 22 - 24 June for the Lakes, 24 - 27 August for Wales. If you want to know more, let me know. [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image]

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Tony thanks for the info - IIRC I was thinking of joining the Lotus Club but joined OLC instead…probably due to the feel of the older club being…well for older cars!