Guys, I am looking at Javelins calendar and there is a sprint event at Barkston Heath. I have an idea of what a sprint event is but have never done one.

 

 1,Have you done a sprint event and what was it like?

 2,What is Barkston Heath like?

 3,Would anybody be interested and giving it a go?  safety in numbers like?

 

 

30th March

 

LINKY

 

 

 I think it is tight and twisty but could be a fun day out.

 

At a wedding mate or I would have been all over that.

Sprint is like a hill climb on the flat ! 

 

We go here http://www.curborough.co.uk/

 

Its brilliant !

 

£28 annual membership 

 

£12 subs 

I have been watching a few youtube clips, it looks like a good day out, average times are about 1 minute and you can queue up as many times as you like, two course to try also, I am booking up for March 30th.

 

 Cheap at £89 for the day. Grantham is middle country too so accessible for many.

 

 

Its not just the racing too plenty of ****ing about too !

 

^^ Cool find Binzie  those Escorts Rock!

Its my channel, this was a pre season shake down 

 

900 bhp Audi 

 

 

Daughters photo and video montage of how her dad and his pals waste all their money time

 

I am booked and going to give it a go!  Then I checked the attendee list, I might be the slowest 

 

Porsche 911

Ford Escort

Vauxhall Omega

Ford Escort

Toyota GT86

Toyota GT86

BMW M3

BMW E30 325

Toyota GT86

Renault Clio

Mazda RX8

Peugeot 205 GTI

Westfield 7

Toyota Celica GT4 WRC

Ford Fiesta RWD

MG Maestro

Vauxhall Astra

Toyota MR2 MG KN

Caterham

Renault Clio

Toyota GT86

Toyota Celica GT86

Toyota GT86

Toyota GT86

Subaru Impreza

Toyota Celica GT4

Toyota Yaris T Sport

Renault Clio 172 Confirmed

I am at a Sprint next Saturday.

My first one too.

A pair of rookies     give me a call Saturday night and let me know how you get on 

A pair of rookies give me a call Saturday night and let me know how you get on

I also expect to come about last.

What car are you using Richard?

R32.

Rest are tuned Evos, Scoobs and R35s.

should be good to get it out there in anger, all run in now and at full tune?

If anybody is interested in joining me for this event, here is a brief description of what it is all about.

 

It’s essentially the same as normal trackday but instead of going round a circuit there are two ¾ miles courses with a start and a finish so you do your run then line up again if you want to. Cars are set off about 30 seconds apart so you are essentially just on track by yourself so you will have more freedom to experiment with driving techniques than you would on a normal circuit day. There is an ‘inner’ course which is narrow and technical on smooth tarmac and will have timing equipment in place on this event, there is also an ‘outer’ course which has a slightly rougher surface but is wide and open. As long as people are sensible and are driving safely then you can play with the car more than a normal trackday and the odd spin doesn’t matter as the car following you is 30 seconds behind so there is a safety buffer between you. Most people tend to prefer one track over the other but you can swap between them whenever you like, the event instructions will be sent out later today.

I've done a day there. Barkstone sprint track is narrow and twisty,  you'll have to be precise in your steering, doesn't matter if you overcook it though, you just have a nice slide across the grass.

The handling track is just a 'do what you want' affair. Practice your drifting, sideways action on there and obviously will wear your tyres out quickly, it's a mixture of rough tarmac and concrete.

I was hoping for rain but it looks like it is going to be a warm day, might be difficult to drift an AWD car as I have heard the tarmac is abrasive, a guy who did a rally there in an Escort MK 1 murdered 10 tyres over 5 stages! 

Rain!    My Westy is a real handful in the wet. Your Golf 4Mo. would not be fun on the do anything cct.  You need to change one of your cars to RWD motor.  What's all this about an A3 yuk car?

I bet a Westy is a handful in the wet, it weighs nothing and has lots of power!

My 4 mo is going to be very sad on a do anything circuit I have to agree BUT with too much tyre pressure and some scandinavian flicking it will slide, trust me!

 

 Now the A3    I have changed my job, this meant I had to hand the Yeti to one of my colleagues before my replacement started as a result of this I got a 1.6tdi A3 for two weeks, it was dire and that is being polite. There has been a development since though, I am in my new job now, done the first week and have a BMW 116d, it has an M pack on it, 18" 245 tyres and wheels, it has great seats that you can inflate the bolsters to grab your sides and to be honest I was expecting it to be poor when it came to performance and quite frankly it is a spritely thing, 120 bhp or there a bouts and does 60 mpg all day long so I am enjoying it, I have been asked if I want to swap it to a Mazda 6, it is top of the range every bell and whistle on it and 2.2 diesel in black but I am not convinced it is a car I want.

 

 

 As for Barkston heath, I have the Golf outside the house, got a few tools in there, it is full of petrol (but won't be by the time I get to Grantham) and we are ready to go, early night tonight as the clocks go forward too.  

 

Video will be posted after my day  

Quite an interesting day all in!  Barkston Heath is ok for a sprint, one track is smooth but tight and the other is wide open but rough, the place was dominated by Toyota GT 86 cars.

 Top and bottom of it that most people were doing the three quarter mile sprint in about 1 minute 5 seconds, a few Westfields did it in 55 seconds and me, my best time was 58.4 seconds, the Golf was sliding allover the place and at one stage we did take out three cones and were well off on the grass.

 

 Videos to follow

Sounds like you had fun James.

I put a little bit about my first Sprint Event in my "non-Skoda" thread.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/290500-richards-gt-r-thread-old-and-new/?p=3714383

OT, but I did my flying training on the Jet Provost Mk 3 and 4 at RAF Barkston Heath back in the 60s. My then Mk 1 Jaguar 3.4 would reach 100mph on the hill up from Ancaster.

Here is a little from in the car, my times had tumbled from 1:04 to 1:02 and then this one, 59.56 seconds, you can hear my delight!   Best I did all day was a 58:4. 

 

I was trying Hard on this corner 

 

 

 

 And here we are using more than just the track 

 

Should have left the passenger behind and get a quicker time.