Octobers birthday treat

[Tashyboy]

So as part of Tashyboys 60th birthday Treat from March. Every month on the 1st Missis T surprises me with a monthly envelope to say what me surprise is. And today we ended up in the Doncaster area on a track day in three cars. Holden by Missis Tash.
First up was an E Type Jag. Bottom line it was as basic as you could expect. 4 speed manual steering wheel big enough to turn a tanker and arms like Garth needed to turn it. It was a brute. Last time I was in one I was about 9 yr old.
Next up was a Maserati GT. Quite simply it was an untamed beast, paddle shift up and down and it was just unashamed power. It sounded and performed exceptional. Missis T booked that coz I like the Italian cars.
Last up was an 18 year old Aston Martin DB9. For 10 mins I was Tash Bond. Without a shadow of a doubt It was my favourite by a country mile. The guy that sat with me really explained the GT aspect of the car. The steady supply of power compared to the Maserati. The easier paddle shift. Quite simply it was quintessentially British and I loved it.
Last off is one lap in car where a guy drives toy round in a car where he drives it like he has stolen it. God some folk can handle a car.
Re the day it is set up to milk money and they do a bloody good job of doing it. The experience of driving a car that 99% of us can only dream of is a once in a lifetime.
On a downer, the cars look absolutely hammered and a bit/ lot scruffy. The Maserati had an airbag warning light on and a wheel pressure sensor light on. The Atom had broke down. But it did not put of the hundreds paying out there brass. The Airfield strip Track was bang average so if I was to do it again. It would be on a track but I would deffo do it again.
cheers Missis T from Bond, Tash Bond.
PS, think Ave broke the British record for the fastest Pair of Crocs

 

[Pin-seeker]

Me & my dad did a track day a few years back.
I drove a Ferrari & dad drove an Aston Martin.
Then a bloke dressed like the Stig took us round in an Ariel Atom.
That thing made the Ferrari feel like a Fiesta.

 

[Pin-seeker]

So as part of Tashyboys 60th birthday Treat from March. Every month on the 1st Missis T surprises me with a monthly envelope to say what me surprise is. And today we ended up in the Doncaster area on a track day in three cars. Holden by Missis Tash.
First up was an E Type Jag. Bottom line it was as basic as you could expect. 4 speed manual steering wheel big enough to turn a tanker and arms like Garth needed to turn it. It was a brute. Last time I was in one I was about 9 yr old.
Next up was a Maserati GT. Quite simply it was an untamed beast, paddle shift up and down and it was just unashamed power. It sounded and performed exceptional. Missis T booked that coz I like the Italian cars.
Last up was an 18 year old Aston Martin DB9. For 10 mins I was Tash Bond. Without a shadow of a doubt It was my favourite by a country mile. The guy that sat with me really explained the GT aspect of the car. The steady supply of power compared to the Maserati. The easier paddle shift. Quite simply it was quintessentially British and I loved it.
Last off is one lap in car where a guy drives toy round in a car where he drives it like he has stolen it. God some folk can handle a car.
Re the day it is set up to milk money and they do a bloody good job of doing it. The experience of driving a car that 99% of us can only dream of is a once in a lifetime.
On a downer, the cars look absolutely hammered and a bit/ lot scruffy. The Maserati had an airbag warning light on and a wheel pressure sensor light on. The Atom had broke down. But it did not put of the hundreds paying out there brass. The Airfield strip Track was bang average so if I was to do it again. It would be on a track but I would deffo do it again.
cheers Missis T from Bond, Tash Bond.
PS, think Ave broke the British record for the fastest Pair of Crocs

You’ve obviously not seen the Croc brigade when they open a new till at Aldi.

 

[cliveb]

Many years ago I did a Jonathon Palmer track day (paid for by Oracle, bless them), where we drove a variety of cars.

The most fun was a Caterham 7 JPE. At the briefing, they said "This car has 190 HP. The first 90 are useful, the rest is just there to get you into trouble".

The strangest experience was a Formula Ford 2000, which had slick tyres and wings.
It's the only time I've ever driven a car with that much grip and downforce and in the few laps I had it was utterly impossible to get your head around it.
At no point could I ever bring myself to believe how fast I could go into a corner, and never once got anywhere near its capabilities.

 

[Piece]

I've done a supercar experience at the Top Gear track. Extra premium for that, m'Lord. Drove a Ferrari 360, GTR Nismo, McLaren 570S, Caterham (I think) and a Porsche 911. All good experience, but as Tashy says, all cars were "well worn".

 

[Deleted member 29109]

Palmer experience days are great but expensive.

I’ve done a few track days in various super cars, and they are a lot of fun.

Karting is the most fun. Especially if there are a few of you that are a similar standard.

 

[KenL]

Me & my dad did a track day a few years back.
I drove a Ferrari & dad drove an Aston Martin.
Then a bloke dressed like the Stig took us round in an Ariel Atom.
That thing made the Ferrari feel like a Fiesta.

A Fiesta ST is a fast car with amazing handling.
You take that right back.
KenL
ps I own and love my mk8 Fiesta ST3.

 

[Pin-seeker]

A Fiesta ST is a fast car with amazing handling.
You take that right back.
KenL
ps I own and love my mk8 Fiesta ST3.

Yeah.
The Ariel Atom is more like a go kart.
Seem to remember it beating most of the super cars around the track on top gear.

 

[KenL]

Yeah.
The Ariel Atom is more like a go kart.
Seem to remember it beating most of the super cars around the track on top gear.

 

[nickjdavis]

At the other end of the motoring spectrum speed wise.....a skid pan day is actually really fun as well as being hugely informative and instructive.

Did one at Thruxton maybe 25 years ago....battered old car with tyres pumped up near to bursting on a wet oily slopy pan....huge fun....remember it to this day.

 

[Tashyboy]

Back in the early nineties, I was invited to a best of British sports car day at Mallory park. I was a passenger in a race prepared Caterham seven. I was took round by a guy in his mid sixties. He frightened the bloody life out of me. The car was epic.
you had a choice to go around last Friday in an Airel Atom. I decline, glad I did.It broke down.

 

[Ye Olde Boomer]

I can't fit into my 1962 Corvette restomod any more,
or at least get in and out of it with any grace,
so I gave it to my son to enjoy as a summer toy.

It's much easier to both restore and modify for updated performance
an early Corvette than an E-type Jaguar.
The E-type, admittedly the more glamorous car, is a monocoque.
My son's Corvette is body on frame (as the XK-120/140/150 was),
and even today, there's a huge aftermarket for performance parts.

The English actor Tom Ellis drove a same-color 1962 Corvette on his TV Series, Lucifer,
but his was accurately restored rather than modified for higher performance
and would thus actually be worth more on the collector market, despite not being as expensive to restore.

 

[Pathetic Shark]

I did a single seater session at Thruxton a few years back. Had it recorded. I had my foot flat down round the back of the circuit and Tiff Needell went past me in a saloon car doing a demo like I was out doing the weekly shopping. Puts into perspective how fast they actually go. It's the same when I do a couple of great laps of the Nurburgring on Gran Turismo 7 and then watch the all-time fastest lap there on YouTube.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Many years ago I did a Jonathon Palmer track day (paid for by Oracle, bless them), where we drove a variety of cars.

The most fun was a Caterham 7 JPE. At the briefing, they said "This car has 190 HP. The first 90 are useful, the rest is just there to get you into trouble".

The strangest experience was a Formula Ford 2000, which had slick tyres and wings.
It's the only time I've ever driven a car with that much grip and downforce and in the few laps I had it was utterly impossible to get your head around it.
At no point could I ever bring myself to believe how fast I could go into a corner, and never once got anywhere near its capabilities.

Oracle use to do a lot of these days when I worked for them although that would have been mid-90's and cash wasn't as tight for such events

 

[cliveb]

Oracle use to do a lot of these days when I worked for them although that would have been mid-90's and cash wasn't as tight for such events

Yes, it would have been mid-90s, because I remember Jonathon Palmer was asked by one of the particpants about his opinion of the way Michael Schumacher won the '94 F1 championship. His response was not especially sympathetic. He didn't actually use the word "cheat", but we all got that impression.

 

[Tashyboy]

Yes, it would have been mid-90s, because I remember Jonathon Palmer was asked by one of the particpants about his opinion of the way Michael Schumacher won the '94 F1 championship. His response was not especially sympathetic. He didn't actually use the word "cheat", but we all got that impression.

Was that when he cheated and rammed Damon Hill off the track or another cheated moment.

 

[cliveb]

Was that when he cheated and rammed Damon Hill off the track or another cheated moment.

It was the Damon Hill incident. Palmer basically said that Schumacher must have known his car was bust, and so what he then did was premeditated.

It was probably the thing that prompted the FIA to start getting much stricter. Recall that in '97 Schumacher tried to ram Villeneuve off and was DQ'd from the entire season as punishment.