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Hornet Abingdon 15 Nov


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Lazza took the Hornet to Abingdon, his write up is as follows:

 

 

Had a great day at Abingdon in Hornet yesterday. Weather was pretty much perfect and Hornet performed brilliantly.
It started cold and a little slippery on the road tyres but it was a good chance to get reacquainted with the car.
Justin arrived before I went out again with the track wheels so I it then on first.
First session on these tyres was... Interesting. Loads of understeer which slowly improved a the tyres wore in and warmed up a bit. They didn't feel quite right though and the under steer remained and braking was a bit iffy.
I had a bit of a moment coming into the first cone chicane after the main straight where one front wheel locked up then as I came off the brake the other front wheel locked and I went straight on through their cones. The yellows were out while the cones were removed from under the car.
I was waved on and, as I hadn't spun, I continued lapping. The next time through there ithe Marshall was waving a blue flag. There was a faster car behind me so I let that past when we got to the straight. Next time around he was waving the flag at me again. Again I let a faster car pass me. Next time around he was flagging me again but this time there was nothing behind me. This time I realised that what I thought was a blue flag wax actually black! It just looked blue with the low sun shining through it! Doh! eusa_doh.gif

I came into the paddock where I was duly chastised and I apologised profusely.

After Justin had a turn we were pulled over again and it was pointed out that the track tryes were now slicks and had to be taken off so the road wheels had to go back on.

That was actually a great move as although they had less outright grip, the balance on the road tyres was much better and it was possible to lap a fair bit quicker!

I overtook a number of cars including 3 other 5s, a couple of Elises and 7 type kits, and a few others (including a new Toyota GT).

So apart from the few niggles, the tyres, the cones and the drivers side window breaking, it was a very good day with a good bunch of people in a wide variety of cars from an old original mini to an Ultima and even a 330bhp Mk1 Escort. There was also a McLaren but that didn't go out on track.
 
 

 

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Hi Tony. No, no changes to the suspension at all. I think it was just down to using an old and very worn set of 888s that were pretty much slicks. They had been stored for the last 6 months or so in a garden so were somewhat weathered as well as badly worn.

When I swapped to the Avon ZV3s it performed perfectly and the balance was spot on allowing me to really take liberties, especially through the kink/chicane onto the main straight.

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I think the 888s were just beyond help. They really should have performed well as that track suits sticky rubber but there was no balance with them on.

On my own car I have Yoko A048 which are similar (I'd say a touch better dry but not as good wet i.e. typical Yoko) and they always feel superb at Abingdon.

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What is available now?

I get the A048s for my own car from a guy who races an Elise so they are used but fairly lightly as the Elise eats rear tyres but hardly touches the fronts. They aren't using A048 next season though so I'll be looking for something else.

We will also be needing something for Hornet. Similar requirements as although my own car is obviously a fair bit quicker, cornering speeds are similar.

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