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Hornet at the ring


Tony
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Just got a call from Sean who said with new geo/ GAZ suspension and 888's the Hornet has just done a 10.58 lap on the ring :speak_cool:

not a bad time! was it the 2.0 i guess ?

 

if it was a 1.6 then that was a stonking time

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Were all awaiting the vid, Sean has problems with this PC, it died and he's trying to get it to work!

Thats the reason the Supra photo's are not up yet.

Hopefully, in the not too distant future!

However... to keep you amused, Nursey found some photo's from the entry webcam and the official ring photgraphers here:

http://www.planetmx5.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5867

The photo's of the one with the roof up, RUT and KSX are not part of the Planet outing. (KSX was previously owned by a Planet member though!)

 

Sean is going to do a write up for everyone, for myself, I went out Saturday for a sighting lap with Wolfie (red mark 2) and then went out on my own, and did 4 laps for the day. The surprise was the Carousel, when we approached it for the first time, the car in front just dissapeared from sight as it dropped into the carousel, I wasn't expecting that! You have no idea how big the carousel is, as all you can see through the screen is the next 20 foot of concrete!

Sunday On my first lap out wanted to get into the carousel ahead of a GT3, held the line,(instead of going around the top,) went in too fast and eventually was spit out towards the barriers, all 4 tyres screaming, avoided the barriers, but was seriously shook up! I wasn't going to do another lap on Sunday, but we decided that we'd all go out late Sunday as it would be quieter as most people would be heading back to work on Monday. Had a nice clean lap, but slow, which restored my confidence.

Monday, Out again in Lexie for 2 laps, then out in the Hornet for a lap for the first time, it was so good I stayed out for a second lap! As Sean has mentioned through Tony, there is only one way to describe the Hornet, sublime. The WIM 'ring alignment, GAZ shocks, 888's, yellow stuff pads and not forgetting the magnificent Mazda chassis made the Hornet handle and stick superbly. As far as I went with it, it was totally neutral, planted and turned and went where you pointed it! It was an absolute joy to drive, without the power you had to take it by the scruff of the neck, go for it and carry as much speed through the corners as you could.

Did a total of 8 laps on the Monday!

By the end of day Monday, I was beginning to be able to remember corners and bits of the track, so I could drive a little harder, and less of the fast country road type of driving. On Monday, Hornet covered iirc 228 miles, all of them hard miles and didn't miss a beat. (Used a little oil, but that's allowed!)

All in all, a brilliant experience, one I will be doing again in the future. We had good weather, sunburn anyone? A great group of friends, a great laugh and the ring thrown in as well. Heaven!

Oh, and some of us visited Spa on the way back.

h

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We did.

The atmosphere at the ring was brilliant, watching the ring taxi powerslide around the corners was fun, but I did see a taxi be bit of a d*** and throw it into a powerslide in a corner just as he overtook another car. Paniced him a bit!

3 days on the ring is not enough!

h

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Hi all,

I'm currently trying to upload the video to Youtube, (having created an account), from my work laptop & its S L O W!

 

So in the meantime, just to add to Howards comments.

I'm not a track driver of any sorts, so driving on the Ring was a nerve wracking experience for me!

 

I went out with Finn for a couple of passenger/sighting laps, to get a vague idea of the circuit & look at the traffic.

 

I then decided to bite the bullet and go for it. As I went through the coned chicane I glanced at my watch and then concentrated.

First thing I noticed was the rear view visibility was slightly hampered by the foam that had been put on the TR Lane rollbars, so I had to scrunch down to see what was coming up rapidly behind!

(The wing mirrors are next to useless as they drop with the slightest vibration.)

 

Having done a far amount of the drive to get to germany, I was comfortable with the car & its general feel.

Now I have no idea of the names of the corners, so I won't attempt to give a running commentary, but I couldn't get through the esses cleanly and really enjoyed one section that howard called Brunchen, a downhill with a slight wiggle, large compression and then two right turns going back up hill.

 

Also had to laugh when I chucked the hornet into the Karussell and shot out the other side.

Overall, the car felt well set up, very planted and handled beautifully.

Thanks go to Tony & the guys for the ring Geo settings, Derek for the Gaz shocks and MOT for supplying the 888's.

(We also fitted Yellow stuff pads the weekend before we went.)

 

Other moments on my first lap to remember?

I passed a 3 series BMW who wasn't particularly happy about it and promptly over took me again on the next straight, only for me to pass him again twice in corners.

Also passed a VW golf, but that was being driven fairly sedately.

Oh, and there was one long up hill section where I was jumping up and down trying to get the car to go faster! :D

 

When I got back to the bridge, I glanced at my watch and worked out it was somewhere between 12-13mins, which I was more than happy with.

 

Later in the afternoon, I went out for another lap, and totally overdrived the car and got very ragged and some hairy moments.

Also nearly got an Aston Martin skidding up the hornets ar$e as I slowed down for some yellow lights & a flag being waved, which he didn't seem bothered about. :lol:

 

That shook me up a bit, so that was the end of my driving time on Sat.

 

Sunday was a very busy day, so I only felt confident enough to do one lap, and unfortunately came round a corner to see yellow lights, flags and one of our groups cars on a flatbed.

 

Didn't help with Finn talking to me about the crashed car & phoning to let others know that we had one go off, so I took it easy for the remainder of the lap and got the hornet back in the carpark.

 

Monday morning I got out very early and had another reasonable lap but didn't chase times, as that was possibly part of the cause of accident the day before.

 

In total, I drove 4 laps, which I'm happy with, got 6 or 7 passenger laps with Finn in the Hornet, one passenger lap with Wolfie, (Red mk2), who did a total of 27 laps over the weekend and was awesome, and also a ride in a 968 club sport! :D

 

So just to say again, thanks to all for their help & sponsorship of a sublime little 66BHP car called the Hornet!

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Nope,

I need to get some bigger Kahuna's!

I was playing it very safe, letting everything past. I didn't want to get into a corner with someone thinking I'd take one line and then do something completely different!

The other thing was I couldn't remember the course so I had to drive as a fast road, able to stop within the track I could see!

h

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The 'Ring is an absolute must for any petrol head.

 

I've done just the one trip a couple of years ago and quite agree with most comments above.

I found that the relatively low power of a standard 5 was a real boon as it meant only having to properly remember about a dozen corners as the rest don't register / matter all that much.

 

I also went into the carousel too quickly and had the bloody thing actually jump coming out of it, but found that the outside kerb was ok to lean on.... but isn't it bumpy through there?

 

We also were sort of lucky in that there were no bikes running as there was a treated diesel spill approaching Adenau, although that did mean technically an enforced speed limit through there.

 

The toughest thing is remembering the blind brows - ie what's on the other side? Is it absolutely flat out or does it lead into another tighter corner? Take your pick!!

 

Thoroughly recommended at whatever the cost.

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Fully agree, although the road down to the Adenau bridge and the Brunschiede (sp) bridge is actually speed limited down to 70 kph but didn't see many people take notice of that!

Next time I go I must go to the carousel and look at it to get the full impression of its size. You only see about 20 foot of it at a time through the screen as you drive around it!

h

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