foolhandy

Yesterday I traveled up to Snetterton in Norfolk with Helen to take part in a Novice’s Track Day, where I drove my Mazda MX-5 Merlot around in circles all day at high speeds. I shan’t mention carbon footprints because I averaged just 23mpg compared to the usual 35ish I get, will have to replace two of the tyres and most probably have new brakes too… It was great fun though.

The day was so well run by Motor Sport Vision I’d recommend it to anyone with an idea that they might like it. They would… You get to drive around in several sessions during the course of the day, and as long as you’re not being dangerous you can do what you like - I wasn’t expecting such freedom. I made use of an instructor early on which proved a great help as I was getting the lines, braking points and gears wrong one the first few laps. After that I was able to keep up with most of the cars through the bends. MX-5s may be fast through corners but on the straights I was eaten by Lotus Exiges, Porsche 911s, BMW CSLs, a motorbike engined Westfield, a Nissan Skyline GTR & Mazda RX-7 (both popping and flaming from the exhaust!), an Aston Martin V8 and a horrible sounding Renault Clio. There was also an old Citroen ZX, a VW Golf TD (in silver obviously) and a last-generation Toyota MR2 Turbo which I apparently gave a run for its money pace-wise. There was another MX-5, a Gleneagles, and I had quite a few enjoyable chats with its owner Brian.

Funniest car of the day was the Rover 100 (a tarted up Metro) which looked for all the world like the car an OAP would drive. It had no spoilers, no decals, no sporting anything, just slightly lowered suspension if you looked carefully.

Here it is overtaking me on the start/finish straight. Just out of shot on the right is a silver (again…) Porsche 911 Carrera 4 that had struggled to get past the Metro at the beginning of the straight. For most of the day the question on most people’s lips was “What has that got under the bonnet?!” and eventually we found out it had an MG ZT engine mated to a Peugeot sports gearbox and fully independent suspension all round. The ultimate Q-Car!

Finally, thanks go to the man at Motorsport International (Tel: 01953 887232 - Snetterton Circuit, Harling Rd, Snetterton, Norwich, Norfolk, NR16 2JU - they don’t have a website I can find) who sorted out an early tyre pressure issue which could have ruined my day, and Helen who gave me the voucher for the day for Christmas.