Oulton Park - March 9th

Windy_Miller · Feb 10, 2018

Hi,
Any other fellow Cayman owners going to the Porsche only day at Oulton Park in a few weeks time on March 9th?

Just wondering if anyone is going from Bucks / Ox / Warks areas up the M40 the day before and wants to convoy up?

I’m planning to travel around midday from the Aylesbury area. I’m going via Demon Tweeks in Wrexham to get a helmet ready for the following day, then over to Taporley to check into my hotel near the circuit for the night.

Cheers

Jason

Masher · Feb 11, 2018

Hi Jason. I’ll be at Oulton on the 9th and staying at the Alvanley Arms in Tarporley on the 8th. There should be a few of us there with Caymans and a variety of other nice Porsches. Travelling up on the afternoon of the 8th from Herts but cannot commit to specific times due to variable work commitments. Not looked at a map but Wrexham feels like a big detour? I’ll be in a Peridot green Cayman R - hope to see you there.

roblaurie · Feb 11, 2018

Hello Jason,

Who's organising the day at Oulton Park on 9th March?

Cheers,

Rob

Windy_Miller · Feb 12, 2018

Hi Masher,

weve ’spoken’ on the Cayman OC already, where I’m ‘windymiller’.

The via Wrexham only seems to add 25 miles on, so not too much of a detour. I want a new helmet and want to try on a couple of makes and sizes before buying. I have Some demon tweeks vouchers from Xmas so it makes sense to go to their Wrexham store whilst up that way.

The Alvanley was full when I got round to booking accom, so I’m in the MacDonald golf & spa hotel in Taporley (think I’ll book a cucumber and sage facial rejuvenator treatment for whilst I’m there.......

) (that was a joke of course!

).

look forward to meeting you up there on the 9th

🏎🏎🏎

Jason

Windy_Miller · Feb 12, 2018

roblaurie said:
Hello Jason,

Who's organising the day at Oulton Park on 9th March?

Cheers,

Rob

Hi Rob,

the event is booked through MSV trackdays via their website, it’s not an official PCGB event, but it is Porsche only. from what I’ve read around the forums it is annually organised by a couple of members of the PCGB RS register.

If if you look at the Oulton Park thread in the trackday forum on this site there is a brilliant link to in car footage of some fella taking his cayman R around Oulton on one such event. Looks a lovely circuit.

I suspect the the event will be booked up by now, but there may be a reserve list?

all the best

Jason

roblaurie · Feb 12, 2018

Thanks for that Jason.

I've done the club day in Nov a couple of times, my daughter lives up that way so I can stay with her. It's a bit of a hike from Devon to do in a day.

The trouble with early and late times of the year is obviously the weather. One year certainly, we had to wait for the frost to clear before going on track.

I mostly do Combe but occasionally Goodwood, although it's quite expensive and again, quite a hike from here (we shouldn't have moved to Devon!).

Enjoy your day in March.

Cheers, Rob

MrDemon · Feb 12, 2018

if it's a cold day you need to get there early, come 3pm most visitors have gone home to warm up. even most track drivers have gave up.

It's daft to have this event in early March imo hence I never book on it, it often snows or is raining, but it's always the coldest place in the UK....

great place to be at 10.30 to 11 ish the car parks full of toys and friends.

Gazoak · Feb 12, 2018

I'll be there as a spectator as its only about half an hour away, work permitting and checking out the toys in the car park. The last two years, the weather has been perfect! Clear and dry.

Steve Brookes · Feb 12, 2018

Gazoak said:
I'll be there as a spectator as its only about half an hour away, work permitting and checking out the toys in the car park. The last two years, the weather has been perfect! Clear and dry.

You're right. In fact it's been dry and relatively warm on the RS day for the last 10 years. I've been to all of them in that time. [

]

tcreswick · Feb 12, 2018

I was at Oulton Park this last Saturday with MSV. My first time at the circuit... nice and wet and a lot of fun. In total managed about 40 laps / 110 miles.

For what it's worth I drove up from London the night before and stayed at the Macdonald Portal Hotel for £70 including breakfast in a perfectly nice room. It's literally 10 minutes from the circuit so it made for a very nice start to the day. I'd definitely stay there again next time.

Personally I love a wet track day - nothing better to improve your skills, much less wear and tear on the car and you can generally stay out 2-3 times longer before things start to overheat. Also you tend to find it's a lot less busy since the open-top guys tend to want to stay dry.

I'll get some footage uploaded in the next day or so if anyone's interested.

tcreswick · Feb 16, 2018

...and I finally uploaded the video here https://youtu.be/NyWAcRpfiMk - jump to about 140 seconds in (https://youtu.be/NyWAcRpfiMk?t=149) if you don't want the out-lap.

I've got some much faster laps from earlier in the day when it was dry, but not with both cameras.

Steve Brookes · Feb 20, 2018

tcreswick said:
...and I finally uploaded the video here https://youtu.be/NyWAcRpfiMk - jump to about 140 seconds in (https://youtu.be/NyWAcRpfiMk?t=149) if you don't want the out-lap.

I've got some much faster laps from earlier in the day when it was dry, but not with both cameras.

Enjoyed watching that Tim. Some fun oversteer moments there! Always going to happen with our cars in conditions like that. From what I saw it must having been slowly drying which is always more slippery than full wet. I was surprised that you used 2nd gear for so many of the corners. Personally I wouldn't go as low as 2nd for old hall (first corner) or Druid's (double apex later in the lap). In the second half of the second video you started using 3rd for Druid's which was both better for grip and exit speed (also safer because you don't want oversteer in the middle of Druid's!).

tcreswick · Feb 20, 2018

Yeah it was my first time at Oulton so was learning the lines and best gears as the day went on.

My last session of the day (it rained again) is now uploaded here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8sA7JDoZs0 with internal camera only. Jump to 11 minutes into the video for the better 2 laps.

I tend to use 2nd gear a lot on track, always happy to shift down and with the remap I get very smooth power delivery all through the rev range which helps a lot. I agree that in the dry Druids would be 3rd gear all the way through. Earlier in the day it had been so wet and enough people had gone straight off (out-braking themselves) at Druids that I was taking the corner entry much slower than really necessary which meant dropping to 2nd.

As for Old Hall... I was just having a lot of fun balancing the car on the power coming out of there and it was nice and lively in 2nd. You're right that I was right on the limiter in my downshifts there. If I wasn't double-clutching I'd be concerned about locking the rear axle I suppose. I was taking it around 50mph through there by the looks of things, which in my book is firmly 2nd gear territory

Glad you enjoyed the videos though.

Steve Brookes · Feb 20, 2018

Glad to hear you enjoyed it especially as it's a long way for you. Luckily for me it's only half hour away so I must have driven it 20 times now. [

]

I guess you're not booked on the RS day next month?

tcreswick · Feb 20, 2018

Yes it's a fun circuit and I was pleasantly surprised at how fast it is. The 987 S is geared so long that at Brands Indy I only get 4th gear down the pit straight for about 4 seconds the rest of the lap is all 2nd and 3rd.

I always notice when I'm using 4th gear on track since the top end of 3rd is about 95mph. I can see that I'd be using 4th all over the place at Oulton in the dry.

I'm booked on the PCGB day at Silverstone in June, and I think I'm also doing Silverstone on the 18th of March. I've been trying to get onto Snetterton this weekend last minute because I'll be in Norwich unexpectedly...

Other than that I'll probably do a day either at Bedford or Brands in early March as a shakedown after the next round of upgrades

Windy_Miller · Mar 1, 2018

If the ‘beast from the east’ hasnt subsided by next Friday would the event be postponed?

Or do we all just ‘luck out’ with our fees paid already if it’s cancelled outright?

Steve Brookes · Mar 2, 2018

If MSV cancel the event because the track is too dangerous, snow bound, etc they will give you credit to use for a future track day. However I think it is unlikely to be cancelled given the forecast for next week. The roads are mostly clear around here already.

paulbarlow · Mar 2, 2018

I e-mailed MSV about the prospect of a cancellation. We are travelling from Aberdeen on the day before so we are looking for advance warning so we can avoid unnecessary travel. This is the reply from MSV this morning:

"At the moment, Oulton Park is planned to go ahead as the weather is due to clear up after tomorrow. Any further decisions won’t be made for this event until Monday morning until we’re able to assess and see how clear the circuit is but will of course make contact with everyone as soon as the decision has been made. We are contacting all customers by phone but an email will be sent first so keep an eye on your emails as well."

Pretty much in line with your thoughts Steve.

Windy_Miller · Mar 3, 2018

Looks like things are warming up and thawing away the snow (slush) throughout the next week, should be all gone by Thursday for travelling up.

Possibly rain on the Friday itself though (too early to accurately forecast yet).

Brian_Innes · Mar 4, 2018

Whatever the weather is on March 9th at Oulton, the track surface will be cold and "green" after this wintry spell.

The driver briefing will cover this aspect I'm sure......just be aware.

Brian