So, yesterday I got a chance to take the G40 around Rockingham, as part of the Guild of Motoring Writers 'Big Day Out' event. Essentially it was a track day where journalists, bloggers and writers could take their own cars out on track, do a spot of networking and drive some new models the manufacturers had brought along.
I had only ever driven Rockingham in the dry beforehand, in Honda press cars about four years ago, and that was huge fun. But at the briefing we were warned that the infield section of the track is incredibly slippery when it's wet. They weren't kidding. We'd had rainfall overnight and the track was covered in water, so everyone was slipping around even on the sighting lap.
With that in mind, I left it for about half an hour or so just to let some dry lines form then took the car out for some slow-ish laps. Baby steps, we were told, is the best way to learn the layout. I could get traction, which still surprises me given how awful it was in the wet before the Quaife went in, but the back end was twitching a bit for the first session.
The track got gradually drier through the morning, and my confidence picked up, as did my speeds on the banked section, though with plenty of water either side I decided against going flat out and kept the speed down to a comfortable 90mph before braking earlier than I normally would into the first two turns. The inside of the sharpest turns, the racing line, was a like driving on ice.
Pic by PoloDriver.com - love it!
My fifth (I think) and last run before lunch was pretty brilliant, going around the track following the dry lines and finally making use of the supercharger. Then sadly I hit a snag.
Not a big snag, but a snag.
The rubber ball had come off the top of the 'shift finger' - the bit which connects the gear linkage between the gearbox and the gearstick, which meant I couldn't get any gears. Luckily it happened in the pitlane.
This completely blindsided me. It's not something I'd ever even considered would wear out, but after 186,000 miles it was cracked, crumbling and I'm amazed it survived a morning on track. Although it's a £10 part, it's not something dealers keep in stock. I bodged a repair job on what was left of mine (gaffer tape and superglue) and with a 150 mile drive home I decided against chancing any more laps in my car.
Not a huge sacrifice, because several manufacturers had brought cars to drive. I ticked this off the bucket list, finally, and still want one:
Kia had brought one of the 'reasonably priced' Cee'ds so I took that out for a few laps, which was good fun. It had done 300 miles by the end of the day, which is over 150 hard laps of Rockingham's BTCC layout, and it didn't miss a beat. Speaks volumes for Korean build quality!
I also had a chance to get a few pax laps in, including a rapid VX220 Turbo, an Evo FQ400 and several with a mate in his MX-5, which was hilarious. Armfuls of opposite lock on almost every corner, made me want something with rear wheel drive.
As a bonus, my car was voted 'car which best captured the spirit of the day' and I won this, which I was really chuffed with!
Then I got a stroke of luck - I'd contacted Mark (aka Big Burt) to see if he had a spare part to get me home, as I knew he was local. He didn't, but he put me onto Pete (StinkyPete) who did, and offered to sort the car out on his drive so I could get home. LIFE SAVERS, the pair of them. Plus I got a chance to have a look around Pete's monster space framed breadvan, which is even more awesome in the metal than pics could ever convey!
Ironically, my repair job had turned the crumbling remains of the rubber ball into a rock solid block of glue and gaffer tape which had latched on so tightly it was able to support the metal bit underneath. I reckon it would've lasted the afternoon, wasn't worth chancing though.
I had a great drive home with the car repaired, it felt really strong, and it's made me a bit more philosophical about things. I'd started the day confessing to Jon that tracking my car makes me nervous, in case I bin it, but I came away feeling entirely different. It'll always be cheaper to take a chance that the G40 will break or get bent than it will to run a second car just in case, I don't tend to take chances anyway and it's plenty quick enough for me to enjoy hooning it about.
Actually, it's a shame not to track it, but I'll be a bit more thorough with pre-flight checks next time around. I can think of more expensive ways to learn that lesson.