Cadwell Park 31/10/14

a mixed bag of day...on the one hand a great track day and tons of track time and the weather was great - on the down side, son crashed the Pumesta and did a fair bit of damage.

Stephengreen popped round with his lad and I took them both round, was good to meet them both top guys very enthusiastic about their Puma.

Had a young mentally handicapped lad become my number one fan...he loved the car and his dad asked me if there was any chance I could do a quick lap with him. I totally agreed and hats off to Javelin...he was 15 but his birthday was on Sunday - they allowed him to go and gave him the passenger pass free as a birthday present.

I lost my USB extension so had to mount the camera close enough to the cig lighter as I only had a small cable and a borrowed plug...had a quick look at some footage and its not the best angle but at least there is some footage so I'll check my lap times later.

The day started very foggy and this delayed the sighting laps, the track didn't open until around 10am. There was a lot of red flags, some bad crashes and some very poor driving standards On the first session after about 3 or 4 laps I passed an FRP that had spun off at the hairpin, only to be red flagged on the same lap because a little red Puma had spun down the hill at Mansfield and rear ended the barrier. It was very greasy to start but a dry line and eventually a dry track appeared. The sun came out and it was verm hot in the car.

Just before lunch, Nathan was coming round Chris curves over taking a young novice who decided to drift into his path, squeezed onto the grass he bacame a passenger at 90mph and did well to handbrake it to take a sideswipe into the tyre wall. The once pristine Pumesta was now a real mess.

Using the jack and some wood blocks...tiewraps and tape...he got the car straight enough to continue tracking for the full afternoon session. Its going to need new headlight front wing and rear quarter plus paint and few other bits to get back to its former glory and will be off track for a while but its not dead.

I let my track virgin friend have a drive after lunch and he scared the bejesus out of me...no idea about racing lines, braking turning or accelerating.... but he was happy he'd had a go. towards the end of the day got to have a couple of go's on my own with no passengers and it gave me at least an extra 10mph.

I had virtually run out of fuel though and 40 miles to the nearest petrol station on our way home with the yellow light on - getting lost in the dark was nail biting, but she made it.

Finally with 2 miles to go to get home we got pulled by the cops....for jumping an amber light...with the Pumesta minus one headlight he was following me for safety and the lights changed just as he went through. Luckily the cops were friendly enough and sympathised with his bad luck of the day and we were sent on our way with a wave.

Hell of a day...375 miles there back and on track....5am start and an 8pm finish....knackered but fulfilled.

Oh, and I forgot the wheel nuts for the propellors with the semi slicks on so had to run on the Toyo's....but I'll let Stephengreen fill you in on how good they were...one day I'll get to try semi slicks lol

first video I watched lap times down in the 1.54's so well chuffed, I was aiming for 1.55's. I know there is a lot of room for improvement too as there are a few areas I know I'm slow. Cadwell is not my best track

Oww, Feel sorry for that little Pumesta :? - Good to see you had a great day nevertheless

Looking forward to the videos, Talking about videos. You were the one that used the SJ4000 camera right?, What is the maximum video length you can record before it shuts down? My SJ4000 shuts down after about 30-40 minutes of recording and when I turn it on the battery is like half way. In your post you said you use a USB extension to let it charge constantly (I guess) will the increase the recording time or haven't you tried that?

it will record indefinately if you put it in car mode. This requires the usb plugged in to a power source (cig lighter). It will continue to record until your memory card runs out and then it will overwrite onto the oldest files first

Once managed to record the entire 2 hour drive to Cadwell by accident

Ooh, that looks a bit rough, it should buff out though....
I`m glad your lad was ok.
No video links at the mo, (damn laptop)
but i`ll check out your vids tomorrow.

no they are taking forever to upload - first one failed, think I have a slow uplink

few of my friends were at that one yesterday, black saxo that got smashed up and a pretty much boggo spec 1.6 Clio!

Looked like ta good day but like you say, a lot of crashes

Ok thanks for the info, will order an usb-extension then!

Didn't the black and silver Saxo's get banned for running slicks on unmodified cars no cages and messing around driving dangerously on track. I've seen at least one video of the silver one nearly taking out an Elise with some stupid driving and there is another of them handbraking it round a corner?

Saw the guys they had trackaddict sweatshirts on and came over to chat and take pics - they had a red puma too which also crashed. The green Clio did get in the way a bit but was reasonably sensible

First quick video, this was the first session when the track opened late because of thick fog. The track was very greasy and slippy and it caught out two other Pumas. The first was an FRP that lost it at the hairpin but luckily came away unscathed by the looks of things and the second was a standard red Puma that went backwards into the armco at Mansfield. Both on the same lap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T5Li9YHIkk&feature=youtu.be" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That looked like an eventful lap :roll:

every morning session was red flagged. I waited until the afternoon to let my track virgin drive....he was awful and scared me to death...thats the next video I'm uploading...for him.

The light was really bad with a low sun all day, most videos already published from other drivers seem to suffer the same problems

last session of the day at sunset - lights on ran till the petrol lights came on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuRfEPjmDDc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Had a good day spectating for a change. Was great to meet Mr Noobrider, and his car. A true enthusiast. Was the first chance to get a passenger ride in a different, well sorted, well driven puma. The thing that impressed me the most was the tyres. I've never been an advocate of Toyo t1r's after running them in a larger size on my Audi a4 road car ten years ago. But have to say that had I been told we were running on cut slicks I would of been none the the wiser. Really appreciate you taking time out to take me and my lad out Nick, and patiently answer all my questions about the set up of your car. Hopefully we'll get booked on the same track sometime soon. I'd be keen for you to take our car out for a few laps see what you think about any difference you can feel with ours running a sport cat rather than a de-cat like yours.

Yeah was great to meet a fellow enthusiast - just posted a video with your lad as passenger. Oh and there's some knob on Facebook Puma owners group saying T1Rs are the worst tyre you can buy....go figure.

Cadwell is not my best track, I bottle it on a few corners, I know where I'm slow and I'm not consistent. Like the corner at the end of Park, I start out changing down into 2nd for it but by the end of the day I'm doing it in 3rd...and don't even realise and I don't know which is quicker. I'm slow through Hall bends and the right hander into the start finish straight is awful for me...I bet I take it differently on every lap.

Anyways here are a few more videos, some better quality than others

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6irY0-1aHs&list=UUMxcdecPDDiYxVH54F5K6Eg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This one is me coaching a track virgin round...that was scarey, like taking someone on the motorway for their first driving lesson - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0s_tmHzZ1k&list=UUMxcdecPDDiYxVH54F5K6Eg&index=4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObB3QJ_qwNc&feature=youtu.be" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've got a couple more to upload

Good vid from late on,
Visibility looks bloody awful, I guess that must just be the recording.

My Ebaying has been goingwell over the weekend, so I`ll be looking to book Blyton 24/11 this week..
I really cant wait to see how my times/speeds have improved over the year.

Nice one Stu, yeah videos were really poor this time, lighting position etc

I'm nervous about November, unless I have a few big weeks it may be off, the Pumesta crash has put a big dent in finances

That bad news Nick.
When I saw your lads car, I thought you may have other priorities on the track car front.
I really hope you do make it. (pop along for a ride in mine :wink: )

Failing that...
I`m starting planning my spring track action now.
I`ve found MSV are running an OPL at Oulton on the 7th Feb (Saturday) http://www.msvtrackdays.com/car/calendar/2015/february/7-op-ards-shop.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
also, forum member Pumajay is organising a trackday at Rockingham International, on the 8th March (Sunday) http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=138&t=26161" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I`m looking at both of these to kickstart my 2015 season
See you on track soon..

Will see what November brings, got a half decent week this week but its also rent on the garage week and we have nothing in savings from a very poor October. PLus I just had to buy a new toolbox £3000.

We do trackdays together because we carry all the support gear in both cars so one goes with the other really...plus if one breaks down the other is the ride home.

The Pumesta is pretty bad, inner wing, slam panel, front cross member, steering rack, rear quarter all need replacing, Bonnet may be salvageable but is creased.
The puma hasn't escaped unscathed either...lower arm on nearside has cracked...I heard some knocks on the hard right hander into Park, looks like a stress crack plus the brakes have gone soft so need to replace the fluid, discs and pads.

Can't complain, its done quite a few track days and is my daily driver.

If we get a couple of good weeks in I'll be there, if not, I'll try bob along for a go in yours.

np..
Although, with Blyton looking shakey for you and my mates trip to Donington costing so much I'm really tempted by Cadwell again on the 29th for £99...
I know I've been there, but I've been to Blyton too and its only another 24 miles..