Motor Sports??

[Will]

Just wondering, has anyone had any involvement or participated in any type of Motorsport...past or present? Even if you've just had a go once or helped out at an event. Anything...cars, grasstrack, banger racing, bikes, go karts, hovercraft, lawn mowers (yep, they do race lawn mowers! Lol). Could be an interesting talking point.

 

[Will]

To kick this off, I did some local grasstrack (or autograss) racing in Minis then Escorts years ago in the late 80's. Then I raced a Sierra modified production saloon in 92/93 (picture below). I'll try and dig out some more pictures. These days, I like to have a go at the arrive and drive karting you can do at various places in the UK. Always great fun!

 

[AmericanThunder]

RWYB a couple of times, Shakes and Pod.

Raced an E-type at Silverstone. Was told if I hit the rev limiter on Hanger straight I would be doing 140mph but I wouldn’t achieve it! Red rag to a bull!!
Slid it sideways on to the straight, banged 3rd and 4th and bounced off then limiter all the way down.

Did a NASCAR experience at Florida raceway. Only hit 116mph as following that closely to the car in front was not a natural thing to do.

Did a parade lap of Rockingham, followed by a fast lap in my 97 TA.

oh and flown a Piper cub around the island of Jersey. Very cool thing to do.

No real racing though, nothing I’ll admit to anyway officer.

 

[Will]

Wow! If you've had an E-Type sideways coming onto the Hangar Straight at Silverstone then nailed it down to Stowe Corner, that qualifies as real racing in my book! I never did Silverstone as my engine blew the race before and I couldn't afford to get it sorted in time. And I've always loved NASCAR but have never even sat in one. Also, I've never been to Rockingham.
Those sort of experiences are what I'm talking about... They stay with you forever. Same goes for any sort of flying experience!

 

[an88fiero]

All I’ve done is a fast lap round Rockingham too in my 3rd gen Camaro (Chevy Day)

I’d like to do more

 

[TransAmDan]

Done a couple of laps at Brands hatch in the T/A, sadly it was just a parade. No real racing from me.

 

[Will]

All I’ve done is a fast lap round Rockingham too in my 3rd gen Camaro (Chevy Day)

I’d like to do more

Nice! You say "that's all you've done"...but many have never driven on a real track. That's an experience in itself. My first time was on a driving experience at Brands Batch. What I remember striking me was how wide it seemed compared to a road, especially with no white line down the middle! lol. Knowing where you were supposed to position the car on the track seemed daunting at first.
I'd like to see Rockingham. It looks the closest we have in the UK to a NASCAR track. I bet that seemed quite wide too? And I'd imagine the oval looks huge?!

 

[Will]

Done a couple of laps at Brands hatch in the T/A, sadly it was just a parade. No real racing from me.

Ah yeah, at American Speedfest? That parade was brilliant! Even though I've been round Brands at speed, that was years ago, so it was still great to drive round it again, particularly in the Grand Prix with all the other Yanks. What always got me about Brands was how Steep Paddock Hill Bend and the climb up to Druids is lol

 

[TransAmDan]

Yeah that hill is steep. I think if the Kia had 4 adults in it, that hill would cause issues unless I had a run up. I had seen it on TV, but you can't tell how steep it is until you drive on it.

 

[AmericanThunder]

We need a solent renegades cruise to Le Mans with a return route via the Nurburgring!!!

 

[AmericanThunder]

My Rockingham parade lap had one of the professional drivers stood on the passenger seat whilst hanging out the t-tops waving to his fans!!
Didn’t know him then, don’t now!!
The best bit of the day was the exhaust appreciation tunnel. This is a huge corrugated iron cylinder that goes under the banking and was used during construction and has been filled 1/4 deep with concrete to make it driveable. The noise from my Borla equipped LT1 at full chat was unbelievable.
I almost lost Clare out the t-top who was filming and she did lose her baseball cap!!

 

[saleen 192]

did some banger racing at smallfields race track near crawley many years ago when i was at college, did soem dune buggy racing near dorking rwyb at the pod my fav to be honest,
and did go carting need alot more pratice for this,

 

[Will]

We need a solent renegades cruise to Le Mans with a return route via the Nurburgring!!!

How awesome would that be!! I've never been to either.

 

[Will]

My Rockingham parade lap had one of the professional drivers stood on the passenger seat whilst hanging out the t-tops waving to his fans!!
Didn’t know him then, don’t now!!
The best bit of the day was the exhaust appreciation tunnel. This is a huge corrugated iron cylinder that goes under the banking and was used during construction and has been filled 1/4 deep with concrete to make it driveable. The noise from my Borla equipped LT1 at full chat was unbelievable.
I almost lost Clare out the t-top who was filming and she did lose her baseball cap!!

Sounds like that was a pretty good day. I bet the sound inside the corrugated iron tunnel was bonkers. We did a tunnel run through the Hindhead Tunnel on the A3 a few years back, that was pretty cool.
Fiar play to Clare for hanging in there while still filming. Kate Aidie eat you heart out lol

 

[Will]

did some banger racing at smallfields race track near crawley many years ago when i was at college, did soem dune buggy racing near dorking rwyb at the pod my fav to be honest,
and did go carting need alot more pratice for this,

Fair play! I don't reckon I have the nads for banger racing..or a strong enough neck! lol. We go to watch them at Ringwood Raceway sometimes. They are nuts...but still damn goods drivers it must be said. Controlling a Granada with bald tyres on mud or a wet oily track takes some doing!
Dune buggies must be fun. My closest was having a go in an Apache buggy with a Honda VFR750 engine in. It was just one of those pay a tenner for a go jobs at the Goodwood Festival Of Speed. That was mental.
Ah yeah, karting...Brilliant! Me and Dan are doing Thruxton with a load of mates in a few weeks. We really need to sort a Renegades Karting event!!!

 

[an88fiero]

All I’ve done is a fast lap round Rockingham too in my 3rd gen Camaro (Chevy Day)

I’d like to do more

Just remembered, it wasn't actually Rockingham, it was Silverstone

 

[Will]

Just remembered, it wasn't actually Rockingham, it was Silverstone

Ahh, OK. Silverstone is probably the more iconic of the two

 

[NikCee]

Morning troops, was watching a bit on youtube and came across this..... Just count how many cars past him and for how long.

 

[NikCee]

Not to shabby for a Fix Or Repair Daily

 

[Will]

Nice! Crikey, he was a bit brutal on some of the passes lol Got the job done though. Nice to see an old MK1 Escort seeing off some more powerful machinery