Having become involved in motorsport timing via a colleague, I had timed a couple of events at the Curborough sprint track near Litchfield.
This is an interesting motorsport venue, used regularly for sprints and car testing. A short twisty piece of track, used by everything from unmodified small-engined road cars to powerful single seaters, and everything in-between.
The members’ day is an opportunity for club members to do a few laps of the track in any road legal car. No need to wear a helmet. It is one car at a time, and due to that and the numbers you don’t get many laps, but the cost is low (just joining the club is much less than a trackday). I was happy to only due a few laps, as the car had only recently come back from getting a new head gasket.
Joining the queue, and heading out on the track made me realise just how tight and twisty it was, with little run-off. The Saab wasn’t the ideal machine for the track, barely hitting 80 down the main straight as it struggled to carry speed through the tight corners.
No photos of me on track as the photographer was busy moving cars, or in cars, but it was the usual story of some straight-line speed and lots of roll.
Still judder from the brakes when warm, not sure what is going on there. They hang on well, but it isn’t very smooth. Could be deposits on the disks, I have been very very careful about not doing anything that could cause warping.
Had a couple of rides in my colleagues MG ZR. While this car has ~ 37% of the Saab’s power, it is lighter, and has far better handling for a circuit like this. With the lack of big straights, brute power doesn’t help, and agility is far more useful. He drove it very tidily, unlike my random lines on a new track.
Hopefully he will be entering the ZR in some sprints next year in the < 1.4 litre roadgoing unmodified class, where it should be a competitive car.
Spotting a nice looking Westfield, I asked the owner if I could have a passenger ride. He was very accomodating, and we had a good chat about the car before and after. The passenger laps were great, very very quick (225 bhp), loads of grip (888s, good suspension), and some much higher speeds than I could manage.
Plenty of normal cars on the track, making little noise, and also some faster machinery.
And some that looked faster…
It’sd a fun day, little pressure, only a few laps, but a good time for track novices (like my fiance who had a go in the Saab) to get a little experience. Nice group of people there to chat about cars to.
Full photo set here
Wow what a nice car and a thorough blog, all this talking about a Saab is a great preamble to finally introduce a ZR.
I like to think of it as that a ZR only needs 37% of the power of a Saab. Great photos