TRACK DAY FOR CAers - TOO GOOD TO MISS

[smokie]

What a great weekend!

Beer at £1.11 a pint. B&B and evening meal (steak!) for £11.

And lots of cars.

I went up in a powoered glider, and on landing Steve took me out for one of the sessions. Superb.

Thanks Mark for arranging it, I can't wait for the next one!

[Fran]

I agree absolutely with Smokie.  Lovely to see a few familiar faces and the Commer.  A great weekend all round.  Fantastic weather too - so long as you had your wind proofs with you... 

A big thank you to Steve B for taking me round the track n not frightening me to death! 

Also thanks to Mark for all his organisation and hard work, not forgetting his volunteer assistants from the base who all helped to make it safe and successful. 

Fran
XX
 

Just by way of a bonus - I must say the drive from Manchester to Marham was a pleasure too (apart from a tiny stretch of M1) - and how often can you say that!

[smokie]

Oh, and here's the pic you all wanted to see - the infamous Commer outside the Officers Mess at RAF Marham.

[smokie]

and another...

[Andy Zarse]

A fantastic weekend and I can only echo what has been said above. Good to see all the CAers and their pals, but especially the wonderfully hospitable MGMark, who I had not previously met; it was a pleasure.

Had a great time on the track and up in the air. The mess bill was unbelievablly low and even Smokie didn't wake me up too often with his snorring and other "nocturnal noises". 

[BigH]

A real hoot and no mistake. Military precision and young women in uniform, what more can you ask for?
It was great to see the usual suspects, and I even think the cars enjoyed it.
Well done Mark, and thanks for all your efforts, brilliantly done!!
And I made a new friend at the local filling station!
H

[mgmark]

Chaps and Chapess,

            Thanks for the kind words - the whole weekend went off extremely well, with 2 hours of track action on the Saturday and 4 hours on the Sunday.   I really enjoyed meeting those CAer's I had not seen before (and those I had as well) and the convivial atmosphere of the bar as the drinks flowed on Saturday night - shame the bar couldn't stay open longer but, in hindsight, it was probably as well that it didn't for all sorts of boring practical reasons (like not being pis**ed the next day and hurtling round the track at the same time).   Aside from it all running smoothly and the sight and sounds of some jolly nice machinery, a few of the CA highlights for me were:

The mighty Commer coming into view as it made its stately progress around the perimeter road on arrival and later outside the Officers Mess
The look on faces at the bar prices (just shows you how much the pubs mark up by!)
Dan Lowe's pleasure at finding out that his FTO is not speed restricted
His look of pain on discovering that his tax disc had disappeared down between the dashboard and windscreen, which will probably lead to a removal of the former to find it.   
Andy Z hooting with glee in the MGA
Big H's frequent trips to the local filling station - the Jag's fuel consumption must have been about 1.5mpg based on the number of trips made.
The smile of Smokie's face having been gliding and then jumping straight into Steve's Cobra

I'm sure Rick will chime in soon (but he and Dan have only just left Marham this morning) with details of the video footage that he took over the weekend.   There indeed some classic moments there, including the TVR spinning as it passed the  Cortina estate's exploding windscreen on the Saturday.

More to come no doubt, but a damned fine weekend all round.   Thanks to you for coming and supporting the event, all the best for now,

Mark

[mgmark]

The first of the video footage taken by one of the other visitors yesterday.

Hi Mark,
 
Thanks for a great day, enjoyed it, even as a spectator/cameraman!!   I`ve done a short video which you are welcome to pass on the link if you like. http://www.pistonheads.tv/clip561   (wmv format, 15.7MB)
 
If you want to download rather than buffer, press "play" to open the playing window, press "stop" in the function bar and then "right click" the small bar underneath which says something like "watch in external player", then "save target as" from the sub menu which enables you to route the clip to where you want it.
Cheers
Ian

Haven't been able to watch it yet (work computer doesn;t support wmv files, but enjoy - includes in car footage of the Ultima at 3 miles a minute

Mark

[jpchenet]

Nice Footage. Look forward to seeing more as other videos (Rick??) become available, and of course Steve Browns pics on Webshots.

Was that Smokie at the start walking towards the Motorised Glider?

And Harry, I thought you might have tried to hold off the Ultima!!! 

[BigH]

And Harry, I thought you might have tried to hold off the Ultima!!!

Bloody cheek!!!


I tell you, although Ian looks to be a skilled and cunning video man, he failed to edit out the bit where I let the Ultima pass.
If we could see the earlier footage I'm sure it would be obvious that I had the little yellow weasel outgunned in pretty well every department.
Apart from acceleration that is.
And handling.
Oh, and top speed, obviously.
Err, and roadholding of course.
And well, driver skill as well, if I'm honest.
Anyway, I bet he was counting his blessings when that red flag went out.
H

[Andy Zarse]

H I'm certain I was in the Jag when that film was shot, so take some of the blame for the ballast. In all honesty, it came past us and was breaking for the corner whilst we were only two thirds of the way down the straight. It really was very fast, but it's a strange line he's taking though that righthander.

H, I like the way you and Dave roared off from Marham ahead of me, and despite my leisurely cruising speed and a petrol stop too, I'm totally baffled how it was only at Stanstead that you managed to catch up. Either it's the mythical powers at work again, or you did you stop for another "Chef's Surprise" by the rolled-up carpet on the A14? Oh and sorry about "doing the shimmy" when I pulled back into the slow lane; the old girl doesn't like the HGV ruts and anyway, the yaw damper's broken.

[BigH]

Andy, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw you up ahead on the M11, I had a short stop for (more!) fuel, and that was it!
It just goes to show that Autoroute is a damned dirty liar and shouldn't be trusted, unless there's more to this than meets the eye. Were those ferret furs and chicken bones I saw in the back, along with candles, shaven coconuts and other Voodoo paraphenalia?
I was laughing to myself for a good half hour after passing you, you had a look on your face which seemed to combine resignation and futility with a stiff upper lip. The grin was a rictus, I'm sure.
Glad you made it back!
H

[Steve Pyro]

Arrh yes, what a great day the track day was - and good weather too.

A huge thank you to Mark from all us East Anglian cobra pilots for an excellent day.  We're already looking forward to next year.

Highlights - pretty much all of it really.  Eileen managed to spin the Trans Am and I used a whole oil well of fuel in the Dax.

There were no major engine traumas from our point of view, but Wilby Meadows pumped out probably 2 pints of oil from a blown out valve cover breather cap in his cobra caused by a sudden increase in crankcase pressure (holed piston?) probably, judging from my speeds over the same part of the track, at over 100 mph.
Also, Mark Bright managed to kill his alternator and a turbocharged Nissan 200SX blew a large hole in the side of the engine block due to the contained parts wishing for some fresh air.

Simon Finlay's cobra's under floor exhausts set fire to the passenger footwell and Rick Cutler has some good video footage of him spinning and fishtailing rather dramatically out of a bend.

[Steve Pyro]

I've now uploaded the photos I took to Webshots at - http://community.webshots.com/album/467296937uPhexB

[Steve Pyro]

Meanwhile, here's a few tasters - these are reduced in size / quality.  For the full size versions, follow the Webshots link.

Part of the East Anglian cobra pit (with CA'ers in the background - Smokie, Andy Z, Fran, Dan Lowe, Rick C)