Nik won't mind me saying this, well I hope he won't, but it is fair to say that we were both bricking it! As the weather didn't look too hot we decided to go out at the same time which in hindsight was a good decision I think.
As soon as we got out there, whilst still a little apprehensive, I started to enjoy it straight away. I was following Nik and we soon caught up to a biker who was taking things even easier than we were. Nik had a bit more confidence in passing people than me and soon despatched with the biker. Being a bit more nervous I tried to get a good exit out of a bend and get past on the straight, not easy to do with a bike!
Other than braking too early for some corners and some interesting gear choices the first lap was dealt with without drama. The same couldn't be said for the classic Jag that crashed in quite an odd spot on the entry to a bend. I assume due to hitting the brakes too hard, locking up then using the armco to stop! They were all fine though which is all that matters, although I don't think we will see it for the start of the classic rally today.
I followed Nik back in to the car park and we went to buy another lap!
Lap 2 was much like the first, I decided I was going to take it slightly easier than the first but once I got out there that didn't happen! We both got caught behind a RSR Clio doing driver training. This meant that the driver was sticking dead to the line but driving quite slowly. Again Nik managed to pass pretty swiftly I, again being a bit more nervous about passing took a few km to finally get past on the straight after a good exit from a bend. Again another fun lap.
For our first time out I think we both did a pretty good job. Whilst you should only be driving your own lap you can't help but feel good when you catch and pass much better machinery.
The only thing I missed out on was getting down into the karousells. On all 4 occasions it turned out to be an easy opportunity to allow quicker cars pass so I took the slow route around the top. Nik got stuck in to them... as did his exhaust clamp!
As for the cars, well my one coped pretty well I think. It didn't feel like it rolled too much into the bends, not enough to spoil my fun anyway. The Whiteline anti roll bar did a good job of dialling out understeer although at the limits of grip it still defaulted to understeer which in all honesty suits my driving talent (or lack of).
Niks Mini looked to be in a different class and was certainly the better tool for the job with the way it changed direction. His only complaint was with a bit of brake fade, probably due to the DOT 4 fluid he was running.
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