Heavy rain had closed the car park across the road from the circuit, directed up to the race course I thought we may be in for some hard standing, but alas, that wasn’t the case. A very wet grassy slope was the location and we were amused by a newish 911 GT3 that was having a lot of trouble negotiating the slippy conditions. Amused that is until the driver started slipping towards a very clean TVR. Now I wasn’t in the most appropriate off-road vehicle, my 911 wearing Michelin Pilots. Having dealt with similar conditions at Brands Hatch, I plotted a wide berth across fresher grass, letting the car gently crawl its way up the slope. Thankfully we didn’t have any mishaps and by the time we were out of the car, the GT3 pulled up alongside us having avoided any contact with other cars.
The weather appeared to have reduced the number of vehicles in the paddock, but there was enough to keep us entertained. Batches of cars were sent out for a set period in a similar way to a normal track day. There didn’t appear to be any separation of vehicles which made for some interesting combinations out on track at the same time. How about a 1963 Brabham-Ford BT5 running with Rover SD1s and Jaguar E-Types?
There’s not much to really say about these practice days, I let the images do the talking. I will say that if you get the chance to go to a practice day it’s worth it as the paddock is open and with the relaxed atmosphere the crews and drivers have time to chat when not working between runs.
