A lonely 928 on track

Timing is everything. It was Porsche Club GB’s latest track day newsletter in my inbox that did it. The last event of the season was fast approaching it informed me – at Oulton Park in Cheshire on 4th November. And for some reason it made me questions myself: Why had I not done a track day for the last 20 years when this circuit is so close to home?”

I thought about it some more and decided that 20 years was just too long; it was time to refresh the high speed brain cells and think positive – this is a safe, fast and enjoyable day out, the chances of ‘bending’ the car would be minimal. Let’s see.

The Club’s motorsport maestro Steve Kevlin leads the Drivers’ Briefing. He knows his stuff and can lay claim to racing 928s when he worked for AFN, it all takes at least 20 minutes of serious listening.

The flag system and what the corresponding colours mean is all explained, as too is how we must never overtake on the right but always on the left, were just some of the major instructions. Sign your Indemnity Form, and if you are in the Novice category (I really am) find your instructor, and aside from noise testing the car, you are almost ready for the track.

No-one goes out unless they have joined their team’s introductory convoy drive around the circuit “to show you the best way forwards”. This applies to all drivers regardless of previous experience, or effectively no experience, in my case. A final check takes place before you go on circuit to ensure all occupants are wearing a helmet and the assigned wristbands. From the cars parked outside the briefing I can already see I am in the minority, a lonely 928.

My ARDS approved instructor (Assoc of Racing Driver Schools) was Howard Hunt from York, who turned out to be my guide for lap after lap, with his calm and consistent voice, and very patient instructions. “Turn in here, brake at the white board, brake harder, let the car find its line, let the steering unwind, take a straight line here, drift to the right, clip the white line, feed the power in now, watch that marker and just hold that line down the past the pits”, where I just had time to glance at the speedo, to see I was approaching 100mph! It felt more like twice that!

The 928 through all of this was poised, balanced, almost serene. I was regularly being overtaken by every type of 911, from Turbo to Targa. It was one thing to view their tailpipes but another to see how much control they had to build into their corners, whereas the 50/50 weight distribution of the evenly balanced 928 meant I could concentrate on “flowing in and flowing out”. If and when I get out of the Novice class I might just be able to crow about that, but it might take a while! When a Cayman GT4 goes past a 911 and your own 928 you also realise that Porsche never stands still in the development department.

I was not counting laps at all, I had too much to think about, but somewhere between five and ten laps of this 2.77 mile circuit, Howard suggested we come in for a break and to cool the brakes! He was exactly right, I was ready for it. Similar sessions were to follow as I alternatively mastered Druids, with its series of high speed drifting curves,  then the next time around made a complete hash of it.

Old Hall Corner was interesting, after the run past the pits, but all too easy to overcook if taken too sharply. My own favourite long section became the stretch from Cascades, with the lake on your left, followed by Island Bend swooping you down into Shell Oil’s Corner. When you bring it all together it’s very satisfying, however maintaining concentration for the whole lap was proving problematic for this novice.

The lunch stop coincided with the low fuel light, signifying that my original start with a half full tank (approx 35 litres) had not been enough. Petrol is available on site, but I chose to go down the road, it’s one mile down the road for the high octane fuel, which provided another chance to cool off the brakes. On the road, the 928 can just about see the other side of 20mpg, on a motorway run. On track I doubt I was reaching half of that, but the fun level was several times greater!

I took another break to take up the offer from Chris Whittle for a passenger ride in his brand new bright yellow Cayman GT4 (with full race harness and roll bar) and was suitably impressed by the acceleration and roadholding. Just a few tads faster than the 928, but never as smooth as a V8 of course!

The circuit was never too busy with traffic, there were just over 30 on track, but you would never have guessed it - we were all either cooling the brakes, or the oil, in the Paddock.

Had my car suffered through this high speed bashing? The water temperature on road is about 82/85 deg and on track moved into 88/92 deg. The oil pressure never wavered. The brakes went soft and started to fade, but then recovered after cooling down for 20 minutes, a noticeable juddering was the warning sign. The tyres looked untouched, just feathered slightly on the edges. I had made sure they were on the handbook settings of 36/42lbs pressures before setting off. The oil level was down by only a few millimetres on the dipstick next day.

All too soon the light was starting to fade on this autumnal day in early November and only now (typically!) was the track starting to dry. Sorry, did I not mention that before? It started a damp day and it never changed, nor did the sun appear, but the grin on my face made up for it. One thing was certain, I would be looking to return next time that Oulton Park comes around, the circuit driving bug had bitten me for sure.

The second time around – my pace is faster when going slower!

Almost exactly 12 months later and here I am sitting in the pit lane at Oulton Park. Instructor Howard was once again sitting next to me and 5 refresher laps of guidance are in front of me. Let’s go. There’s no doubt I am rusty from last year, but just 3 laps in I felt like I was getting into the groove. After 30 minutes I was back in the pits ready to go out on my own, a daunting prospect, so I limited myself to just 3 laps of practice, taking care to cool off the brakes at the end.

As the morning wore on the track surface improved and the sunshine made all the difference, on the racing line. One added bonus this time was I had more time to think, and when finding myself inside a bubble with no cars in front or behind, it’s was much more confidence building. I felt more at ease with the steep learning curve, literally learning the curve!

I even noticed my pace is faster, when going slower! Lunchtime came pretty quickly, so I could join up with two more 928 owners I had met just before we went on track and share their experiences. This camaraderie is a key feature of this day out, everybody is happy to chat. It’s all calm and collected stuff, talking about getting the power down smoothly, discussing the satisfaction of a good line, and suggesting tips for improving.

There was also the surprise appearance of a bright yellow 928GTS in full racing livery. Graham Saul had trailered in with his as yet incomplete yellow peril to get it noise tested for future racing. “Our V8” made a glorious vibrant boom, that could seemingly be heard from the other side of the circuit and the resulting noise meter reading was no real surprise - in excess of 120 decibels. Oh dear, a very loud failure! With a sound limit of 104/105, it was a touch or two too high.

Reality started to dawn after lunch, I began to get a feel for the combination of steering, accelerator and braking, but not necessarily in that order! It just felt better lap after lap and the car felt good too, 928’s seem to ‘warm up’ and become more flexible, I know other owners say the same.

I had started with a near full tank of fuel this time, which had undoubtedly made the car heavy, the optimum balance might have been better around 50 litres. You have to find these nuances for yourself. Like checking the brake reservoir and finding it almost empty, I might just have boiled it!

I estimate I did over 25 laps and enjoyed every minute, it never felt threatening, even when the car regularly ‘went light’ over the crest at Clay Hill at 90mph. If only I knew what my lap times were like, I could say I got better with some conviction. As a novice I am sure I am overdriving one lap and then overcautious the next. Now I’m so keen I want to try another circuit. I did Donnington a few years back with its wider run off areas and higher speeds. I must see what circuits Steve has on the list for 2017...