Trackday with the C-V8 (Anneau du Rhin)

[felixkk]

The weekend before last I was at a trackday on the Anneau du Rhin circuit near Mulhouse in France. We did five 25minute runs, thankfully the weather was nice (and dry!). The track is 3.55km long with some tight corners, some fast curves and a long straight. First time on the track- I followed the 70s Alfa Giulia for the first few runs, then the '66 Shelby GT350. He had a bit more experience than me on the track and was a bit quicker in the corners (215 tires, mine 205). On the straight we were about equally fast (I peaked at a bit over 170kmh). He had the original brakes (drums in the rear), so he was more careful with braking. The '66 Ferrari 330GT would also have been an interesting to drive with, but unfortunately we never met on the track, the owner of the Mustang drove with him though. The E-Type (Series I) was quite a bit faster- seasond driver, but also a race prepped engine (Rob Beere) and semi-slicks. The C-V8 held up well. I had one scary moment when I braked too late and hard in the 4th corner (Gauche de la Foret) and the car began swerving- I managed to keep the car on the track though. It was on the first run (after the warm up) so maybe the tires weren't fully warm yet. Even with my limited experience the C-V8 was comparable timewise with the other cars (granted, making up quite a bit of time on the straights), and a better driver would have been quite a bit faster than I was. Very relaxed atmosphere, the other drivers were very friendly and helpful.

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The other cars in our field:

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[felixkk]

Some of the stats off one the the laps, taken with the app "Harry's lap timer"

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The summary of the runs (I didn't record all of them):

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The tire after one of the runs:

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[felixkk]

Two upgrades for faster times: semi slicks and a better seat with belts. I held on to the steering wheel in the corners as best I could, hoping it wouldn‘t break. The next day I had cramps everywhere from the waist up, including my jaws from chewing gum furiously

[Martin R]

Looks like you had a lot of fun!

[EdwardB]

Felix,

Outstanding post, highly interesting and entertaining.
Thanks for sharing.

Edward

[felixkk]

Thanks guys- yes great fun, highly recommended (I think the JOC have a track day planned also?). Being on a track was new to me, I had to tell myself to pretend I was on a normal road when I wasn‘t sure how fast I should go or when to brake. Sounds odd, I know. I was so busy with the road that I didn‘t shift into 2nd (next time) and I nearly forgot to refuel. Having refueled (I filled the tank) I lost petrol in the tight right corners, in the back left. Must have that checked.

[Roh]

How did your brakes go?

[felixkk]

They felt very soft at times, but worked fine (Joerg upgraded them after they failed on him and he still claims that the car tried to kill him ). I spoke to the Shelby owner about the brakes and he laughed and said they're probably fine, it's subjective. Only once did the brakes overheat, on the bottom the Stelvio pass. Engine temperature also fine, at the end of the run the fans did not even turn on when I switched the engine off.

I've uploaded two videos on Youtube, filmed with a Gopro camera:

https://youtu.be/uGrHFP6LaNo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://youtu.be/Jt-JyiDTfLU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jorrocks]

How did your brakes go?

I expect they, err, ‘went’!

Tyre lookin’ good Felix!

[felixkk]

I don‘t exactly know when the brakes go soft on my car- it happens very seldomly und usually catches me by surprise- and they are always back when I pump the brakes once or twice softly. It didn‘t feel like the brakes were being overly stressed (the runs only lasted for 25 minutes), and wheels weren‘t all that black from the brakes. Knowing when to brake, how late and how hard, I thought was tricky- and spooky when you see the corner approach rapidly, especially when the car begins to swerve back and forth. Brake too early and you feel like a fool Valuable lessons for normal driving on the road in traffic.

But I could really kick myself for not going into 2nd- common practice on the road, especially in the mountains. It would have been much easier to handle the car and I would have been quicker out of the curves, instead of having to wait for the kickdown.

[felixkk]

Finally managed to overlay the data from the lap timer app with the video:

https://youtu.be/ZEjDPBrsbPM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I told Heini, who spent many years racing Porsches, not to be overly critical of my driving when I shared the movie. He replied that there was certainly room for improvement Chances are that he‘ll join us next year to give a few pointers- I‘d certainly like to try to follow him in his Interceptor.

[RAP72]

great video lovely sound. However, typical youngster - can't leave the phone alone.

[felixkk]

- did not look at the display once though, was afraid that it wouldn‘t record properly if not in the upright position.

That BMW 2000 or 2002 Touring ahead of me was quick- was not expecting that (turbo?)!

[Grant]

Wow.. Hats off to you Felix for your bravery.. brilliant video, brilliant sound and hairy speeds by the look of it.. Don't you wish it was manual though Felix?.. Wicked stuff!!

[felixkk]

Thanks Grant! The fast curves I thought were most scary (those could have been driven quite a bit quicker I suspect), otherwise I have a lot of confidence in the way the C-V8 handles. The tight corners involved quite a bit of strength to hold on to the steering wheel- which flexed quite a bit. A better seat would certainly make life easier. Not much tire screetching in the corners compared to ordinary roads. I suspect it was because of the amount of rubber on the track...? Manual would most definitely be cool, and we have talked about it! But I don‘t think I would have been much quicker- had I gone into 2nd gear, which I completely forgot about doing Plus, I needed both hands to hold on to the steering wheel. Accelerating out of tight corners in a curved stretch (after turn 2 and 4) I thought was mega