[jai-uno-t]

not entirely sure wether this goes here, but here goes!

this weekend just gone was the Practical Performance Car trackday at Mallory Park Race circuit, in the midlands. it's a small circuit, about 1.3 miles long, and as you can see from the map, essentially an oval with a hairpin tacked on. a bit 3D too, as there are changes in elevation, with some adverse camber, and a semi chicane to play with.

in preperation for my nurburgring trip next month, i booked 6 15 minute sessions though the day for me and the uno, and so it came to pass on a blazing hot sunny day, i was mixing it up with the likes of race tipos, a boxster, hordes of peugouts, bmws, coupes and even a bowler wildcat!

the uno acquitted herself well, despite getting hot and bothered, she ran like a champ, brakes never fading, and pulling hard enough for me to take a few scalps too!

by the end though, as you can see, the front nearside tyre took a terrific beating, mainly off the bottom bend, a long sustained 0.3 miles right hander which leans the car hard onto the tyre at 70mph+ for a very long time. i was shattered from the effort, it's eyes all round to ensure you don't misjudge an entry and collect whatever is gong by, and the car was filthier than if i had driven through a swamp!

well worth it though!!

[Mpower]

Interesting circuit layout! something to think about for American oval track owners.

Are those Eagle F1s? Looks like a typical street tire (as in not a sport tire). You might want to try adding more negative camber to help tire life but then again you many not have this problem at the ring.

[ananthkamath]

Great track layout, looks like the learning curve is very easy here! Is that a Bowler wildcat in the background?

[jai-uno-t]

the tyres are nexen 2000 very much a budget road tyre, the suspension is totally standard and set fr normal road use, as that's where she spends most of her time.

yep, that indeed was a bowler wildcat, brought along by allysport, and the thunder it made as it roared by was quite a thing to behold!

[Mpower]

Is there a banking on the oval?

For a stock suspension the body roll is quite low. Must be a sport package from the factory.

If you are going to do this more often you might want to get a nice set of sport summer tires for track use.

[hillram]

Great to see Unos in action.I heard of this circuit when i was in UK.

[jai-uno-t]

the main be at gerards is flat as a pancake, so holding the line in, through and out is quite hard in this car at speed, i'm not planning on doing many trackdays, just a few here and there, i have got my eye on toyo r888, or perhaps yokohama a539 for a spare set of alloys i have lying about

[majorpayne]

@Jai uno - I have the exact same questions that you had on the race tracks in india about this track in the uk.

Can i rent a car at the track. How much will it cost me? How far is this place from London?

Cheers

[jai-uno-t]

Originally Posted by majorpayne

@Jai uno - I have the exact same questions that you had on the race tracks in india about this track in the uk.

Can i rent a car at the track. How much will it cost me? How far is this place from London?

Cheers

hiya

mallory is about 80 miles up the M1 motorway from london, however hae a look here:

UK Trackdays - Car and Bike Track Days at Racing Circuits across the World
Track Day ( Track Days ) for Bikes and Cars in the UK and Europe - www.racedays.co.uk
UK Track Days - BookaTrack.com
http://www.easytrack.co.uk/

and as you can see there are loads of tracks to choose from, all over the country, some closer ones will be north weald, bedford (jonathon palmers track...awesome!), silverston and brands hatch to name a few.

most of those sites will point you in the right direction for car hire, and you will no doubt find the costs are quite steep, esp for the more exotic machinery, in addition to the track time itself. a further obstacle may be your drivers license, some places will only accept a eurozone one, but email enqs will no doubt confirm for you.

a quick and easy way to sort it out is to go for a package deal, something like this:

Red Letter Days - Silverstone Grand Prix Challenge Day - Gift Ideas
MotorSport Vision - A New Era in British Motorsport

there are loads of companies who do this, you call, pay in advance, turn up and it's all laid on for you, you just need to pick the package, track and date you want, only thing with these is getting the days that suit you, which may require some planning, but like i said the choice is massive.

if you are over for a longish period of time, it might be better to scout it from out there, picking track layouts you like, then doing the actuall bookings when here, easier to contact whoever you are going with, and spend a little time talking through what you want

whaever way, hope you have a blast!