bit harsh that Steve.

most of the cars that broke were down to problems that could not be forseen.

my big ends were knocking,JC's car cracked the engine block,the golf broke the hub, Mike's driveshafts etc.....

no preperation could have not helped these.

to be honest i cannot recall any cars breaking due to stupid things, i.e things that should of been checked over before hand.

can't believe hw many under skilled,over enthusiastic drivers with under preared cars turn up at the ring........what ones were them Steve

 

Got to agree with Dave
Wait I have another few pictures from the weekend;

 

Chris, have you got any pics of cars that aren't all smashed up?

 

There was nothing wrong with jc's evo it never had a rattling bottom end,it never missed a beat all week and he put in a good few laps and wasn't taking it easy and holding back. The japseye was killed by K5SSY who thought he knew the track after one lap

 

cracking photos! gutted for all that had a bad time! defo gotta go there one day!!!

 

I didn't think there was much wrong With his EVO, cause as you said, he was kicking crap out of it all day. He was the one who told me it was fucked!!!!
Jakub I do have a few normal pictures too, here's a couple to wet your appetite;

 

That black/yellow Porsche with sticker saying "girls and motors" in german rocks!


You Escos too...


And the pimpmobile

 

 

Could be seen as a little harsh.

Im just surprised that people turn up with cars and have so many failures. Be those ones that could be forseen or not.

Why were ur big ends rattling?

Why did the golf hub break? Must have been hit of something at some point in its life.

How many people went off the track due to thinking they knew where the track went when the clearly didnt? Not necessarily about the Passionford lot. I think a couple of them managed to drive home? Just in general.

There were too many crashed, bashed, broken, knackered cars at the end of that weekend to state it was all just luck of the draw. Proper preperation, a car thats actually able to handle its power (surely its not that big a surprise to Mike that his drive shaft broke with twice the std power? I forgot to ask him if he was surprised at the time) brakes that are good enough and a car that doesn't overheat when u use the power it makes. Add to that a little time spent learnng the basics of the track on either GT4 or videos and showing the track a level of respect should hopefully see u home in the car u went in.

Do u see it normal for so many people to go and for so many people to have issues all in one weekend?

RW

 

Steven_RW

Why were ur big ends rattling?

don't know, car oil level was at max,car had very good oil pressure before the lap.

not sure how old the engine was.

Steven_RW

How many people went off the track due to thinking they knew where the track went when the clearly didnt?

maybe they were just trying to get the little bit faster around the track as most were trying to do with all their cars.

you only go fast around the track if you know it really well,as shown by a few basic cars there.


a little time spent learnng the basics of the track on either GT4 or videos and showing the track

it does tell you where the bends are but it's different when you are driving on it.

the track was really busy too and i heard a lot of accidents were due to human error,people getting in each others way etc.....

a bloke in our hotel,he said his mate stuffed his GT3 due to a car cuting him up.

he had done over 250 laps of the track too.

 

Mine... whoops

 

some of us did...

tyre failure is not somthing you can easily predict thou....

Alex

 

I would definately say alot of crashes on the Ring are due to people thinking they know it, but they don't. It's a long track, that to the unfamiliar eye all looks the same. My Dad smashed his Z3 M Coupe due to getting over-confident after 3-4 trips thinking he knew the track, but didn't, came off at Wehrseifen, which after miss-hit-miss it a very slow tight bit which, if you're not expecting it will only end in tears.

As RW said, it's not hard to learn at least where the track goes and the general line from videos, track notes and even GT4! Track knowledge is sooo important there.

 

cossymad What size wheels are on the Golf, is it on coilovers?

 

I'm just imagining the driver on his mobile phone to the car rental company
"I demand a replacement car NOW!!!!!! - deliver it to me without delay - as I have'nt completed a full lap yet and I've purchased pre-paid tickets for another 18 laps this weekend AND THIS ONE NOW IT LOOKS LIKE A WONKY DONKEY

[/quote]

 

I can see a business opportunityu - buy the gaffer-tape franchise for the area and set up a stall there.

Not just good for repairs but sell it to folk to seal gaps round lights etc for top speed runs too...

... and to repair more than a few pairs of trousers!!!!

 

Hello m8

The golf is mine
Its on H&R shocks and springs 60-40 drop and wheels are 9x18's with 225-35-18 parada 2's

 

SilentStu fixed it yet?

 

hope you g ot home ok Stu.

 

Not fixed yet,
just finding all the bits i need then will rebuild it
already done the window but that was a must for securty!

How was your drive home Jakub ?

Yeah got home ok dave cheers
wasnt an easy drive tho got going then realised the rear hub was bent too so i was dragging the back wheel 400+ miles
how was the rest of ur trip dave ?

 

Will you be changing bodywork or just beating the panels straight?


Slept most of the time, boring really.

 

Changing the front wing
But gonna see what my body shop say about the rear as its only the arch so the might beat it if not re-section it

at least you had a good sleep lol

 

Wish you luck then....


NOt really good sleep in the back of a megane, but could be worse...

 

Dave,

Im still not convinced that most of the issues couldn't have been dodged with greater preperation, testing and staying within each others abilities.

RW

 

SilentStu

how was the rest of ur trip dave ?


Really good time in Amsterdam

thanks Stu.

 

examples please Steve.

 

SilentStu Sounds like it will be back to looking the business soon mate, v nice

 

Thanx m8 hopefully will be back to former glory or better soon

 

Thats the one who broke a record last year, aint it? Im shure ive posted about it somewhere but my memory is too lousy to remember what it was.

 

yeah thats the one Andreas

 

Gemballa Porsche that did 7:33?

 

In German it's called 'lehrgeld' - money you pay to have lernt something. I'm sure those going back will have lernt from their adventures. The track bites you quite hard if you aren't respectful - I find that if Im not flowing nicely (hard to describe this - a bit like the force in Star Wars ) then it's best to ease off and hope for a better run next time - obviously you can be flowing it really nicely but something will still go amiss, thats what you have to rectify on the next lap.

To be honest the Easter weekend is by far the busiest and craziest, people come from all over to be there. With all the PS games it's not surprising that so many come and don't get it right - there is only one way to learn the track and that is to drive it frequently. Even after the winter break, it can be difficult to remember all the lines and combinations.

I drove a lap in the fog with Dan last year, visibility was down to 25m in places, and even having a reasonable amount of experience (a few hundred laps), I was still unsure as to what was coming up in some places.

I would definitely recommend coming over during the week, where the track is generally open in the evening - you'll be in good company, as only locals, and race and rally teams will be there, so you can get lots of clean laps in, and get to go out with Porsch Cup drivers, WRC drivers and generally people who can show you some of the finer points.

Big thanks to StevenRW for helping me with my brakes on Sat. morning - I've now ordered the AP 6-pot kit as it was extremely annoying to not be able to really push the car once conditions had become suitable.