Plum Pudding report

Good day out and nice to see our pals again
One interesting point is the different lines taken round the hairpin by two of our hero's.
Firstly Ian's route



Then Billy's



And Edward revealed his new car................................

Sorry Admin, you used the wrong picture, this is Ed's new car which got more attention than any others on the day.

There you have it the secrets out, as I said she has a short wheelbase so. Will be an entertaining drive with the mid mounted V8 pushing her along. The good news is that she passed scrutinering without any problems. I even managed to get a couple of flying laps in before the circuit closed at the end of the day to check out the wet set up before next season. The only problem I can see is which series to enter as it could easily be classed as a GT or as a sports car prototype.

I will keep you updated with pre-season testing

Good pictures Chris thanks for sharing

Well a fantastic days racing well worth dragging my sorry arse out of bed for on Boxing day morning.

Arrived on circuit to find the sweeper scrapping ice of the track very distracting ! Got the car unloaded and was greeted by Billy. Billy toddled of for his customary track inspection returning with some nice lumps off ice in his pocket. At this point I figured if the conditions were going to be poor at least I was in the right car for it.

After much toing and froing by the CoC about letting us practice either solo or behind the safety car due to the ice on the exit of Gerrards it was eventually decided to let us go unassisted. I had decided on the Toyo 888 that the car wore for the shenanigan's that we partook back in October and to be fair it wasn't that bad but nonetheless the car still felt very much on its tip toes. Had numerous slides and "ooh Fuck" moments but had a really big one on the turn in to Gerrards when I missed the braking point slightly at one point I was heading for the tyre wall head on. Fortunately about 50 yards away from the wall I had the clarity of thought to put car in second and just dump the clutch this locked the back wheels and pitched the car sideways and more importantly scrubbed off a heap of momentum meaning a meeting with the tyres was avoided. Then ensued a comical period of time trying to get the car of the wet grass and mud which resulted in me reversing 2/3rds of the way of the grass and attempting a j turn which did not quite work out but I got a round of applause of the marshalls for my efforts.

Out into race 1 I decided wets were worth a try. For once in my life being organised meant that I was second on the grid. A woeful start ensued with lots of wheelspin and I slipped into first place for about half a lap when I was passed by a Clio Cup and Honda Civic. I held station for a few laps and the tyres really started to come to me. I managed to catch and pass the Civic and was catching the Clio. I had started to notice that the Britcar Seat Toledo was starting to reel me in and before long was on my tail. On braking into the hairpin I adjusted my line to go defensive but the track surface was so slippy the car just understeered very reminiscent of the crash that I had in the Hornet in 2009 fortunately a tug of the Hydraulic handbrake pitched the car sideways unfortunately the movement of my arms and the Xmas ballast penalty meant my forearm caught my belt release clip and undid my belts. I re-joined and managed to overtake a Silhouette Tigra and reclaim 4 th.

Second race was a bit of a non starter it was cold and pissing down at this point . I was starting 4th from the back and decided on caution being the best policy and had a very steady start allowing the front group of cars to go and to allow a few spaces to open up. By the time the chequered flag dropped I was up to 7th but tbh happy to be loading the car back on the trailer in one piece.

Big thanks to Ed and Billy for helping me load the car it was appreciated . Eds new car was mind blowing and got more attention than anything else in the paddock I really like it just not sure on the colour scheme.

Good to see Bill and Joey and everybody else who said hello

Billys spin @ 7:07

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd4bYEMyLYg

Thanks for that link Ian, and I have also found a vid of the second race from the car alongside me on the grid. Great first lap going from 11th to first, then spun at the Esses on lap 2, look out for the spinning headlights at 2:00 min into the video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTIiUa2emTk

OK so it was very cold and also wet, but this made for a very challenging track plus there were 18 other cars to play with. The intention was to sort out charging issues and an oil leak with the Mk2 from when it raced at Snetterton in November, then use this event as a shakedown in prep for 2015. However, I had misplaced my wallet and had cancelled my cards so couldn’t order any parts!!!
As the weather leading up to the event was so nice, I decided to take the Mk4 instead, and even prepped some secondhand F Ford slicks I had picked up cheap (12 for £90). These dropped the gearing but based on previous plum puds the top speeds on the straights is reduced due to the low grip in the cold round the corners.
Come the day it was below zero and a cycle round the track showed it was covered in either ice or water! The tarmac is quite coarsely grained so the water was lying between the aggregate rather than above it. As the grid for the first race is decided by order of entry receipt, I decided to take a chance with the slicks!!!!!!!!!!! I was second out of the assembly area behind a bike-engined Mission, and as he sped off, I gave the car a few aggressive yanks on the steering wheel to check the grip, which seemed OK. I passed the Mission, which was now stuffed in the tyre wall on the exit of Gerrards, and started to build up speed. The Mk4 has always been poor in the wet due to the stiff sidewalls of the A048’s, so despite being on slicks, the much softer sidewalls made it very controllable. All the other cars were on List 1Bs or wets, so I was very surprised that I was only passed by a Radical, Porsche and a 1400cc Kawasaki Locost, plus I was overtaking loads of other cars 
The track had dried slightly for the first race, but was still damp. I was 8th on the grid behind the Radical (who stalled) but was up to first place by the second time into Gerrards. I was soon passed by the quicker cars though and so settled into 4th position. On lap 6, I tried trail braking more into Shaws, but ended up spinning the car and losing loads of places, clawed a few back and finished the race in 6th place.
The rain had started prior to the second race, so the wets were put on. These are some very old Michelins that were secondhand when Frodo was using them several years ago on his Locoblade! These reduced my gearing even further, but again the conditions were so poor that I was not reaching more than about 105mph anyway. I was 11th on the grid this time, but again my way through the pack up to first place on the first lap 
I was passed by the Porsche into the Esses on the second lap and I gave it too many beans on the exit and the back end came right round, so i added more lock and hit the brakes hard, which thankfully span me up the gras towards Shaws, rather than cutting across the grass into the tyre wall. I rejoined quite quickly, but had lost lots of places again. Thankfully another car passed me on the start/finish straight and the spray washed away all the mud on the car and my visor, which was covered. I was now back up to speed and again clawed back some places to finish 7th this time.
I usually hate driving the Mk4 in the wet, but that day it had performed really well and so I was really pleased I had taken her instead of the Mk2.
It was also great to see Bill and Joey, Ed and his new motor! also Ian Toon and Clive Turner (who I used to race against in the 90’s). A great end to a great season 