So Paul and I reminisced about the first day over a couple of rum's and decided that we had a good first day - no crashes, kept our deposit and learnt a little of the track..
So this morning after breakfast, we drove back to the track but to a new company called RSR who were offering a BMW M3.
It was very different set-up to the rentracecar with a comprehensive workshop and a lot more cars... but it was not in the carpark of the ring which meant that it if track closed we would have to leave and queue up!
Gabrielle the chief instructor walked through a talk explaining the track and how to survive the ring.. Paul and I agreed that this talk would have been far better on the first day but we learnt ALOT.
I have driven around the ring many times on playstation but the playstation gives you now impression of how hilly the ring is... below is topographical view and we talking some very serious incline/declines 11%!!
Gabrielle informed us that they did not have a M3 and offered us an alternative BMW 135... at first I was sceptical but Gabrielle assured us that the 135 was actually a faster car around the ring!
Our first lap around the ring was with an instructor with me driving. It was very useful to understand how to position yourself with all the blind corners. They say that the ring takes 100 laps to learn and has 140 corners!!!
With only 9 laps we set-off for our first lap with the instructor to only drive past a serious crash with 2 cars.. by the time we completed the lap they had closed the track.. again it was very busy!
Paul and I swapped over and after a 45 minute delay we got back on the track. The 135 was actually a very fast car.. lots of grunt and superb brakes. Paul enjoyed the real wheel drive as this is more like the Aston.
As Paul got a feel for the car (by driving on the right hand lane) we saw another major crash with another two cars.. Gabrielle's prediction that 90% of the ring drivers are idiots was coming true... We completed the lap to find the track closed again and went have some lunch... The picture below is of the queue on the finishing straight waiting to get off the closed track... alot of cars!
With all this time waiting you do get an opportunity to spot some really rare cars.. how about the BMW I8 - the hybrid 8 series!!
The time was now 4.30pm and we still had another 7 laps still available in the BMW. I went out first 4 lap set. To be honest I did not like the 135, it did not have the same feel as the Golf.. lots more power but not the same balance. The track was busy but no crashes... so Paul and I did a very quick change over and then he drove 3 laps.
Paul's first lap was probably the fastest, we did not time it but it was sub-12 minutes, there was very little traffic and Paul really got in the flow - great lap!
We finished at 6.30pm.. rushed back to RSR to jump into the Aston to get a few extra laps but unfortunately we ran out of time.. so yes.. the Aston never got to do the ring!
In hindsight Paul and I agreed that the ring was probably a little dangerous for his beloved Aston so things turned out well...
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