Mallory Park

Track Addict Does Mallory Park

21st May, our second outing of the year and as its always the way with the way we work it was a last minute rush to get all the cars ready in time. Unfortunately not all the cars made it. The casualties we're Hayley 's MX5 Turbo which was having manifold issues and Kiz's Renault 5 which he deemed not safe to drive....

That still left us with 6 cars ready to hit the tarmac and get some laps in!

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day, the sun was shining and not a cloud in the sky! First things first though, find the garages and get set up!

Its always nice to have a few garages booked, somewhere to store your things, work on the cars, hide from the rain and pretty much anything else you can think of... The garages at Mallory were lacking a little bit but no matter, it'll do for us!

Once we'd got through sign on, briefings and noise testing we just had enough time for a few little tweaks, check the levels and make sure the cars we're good to go. 9:30 AM and the pitlane is open... Play Time

There's nothing like getting to grips with a new track, Mallory Park might look very simple in its layout but its anything but simple when it comes to getting the perfect lap in. Gerrard's, the first corner is a long sweeping right hander with a fast approach its a case of how much speed can you carry through the apex to maximise the exit and the run down Stebbe Straight and into Lake Esses.

Braking as late as you dare and trying to carry as much speed as you can through the corner, its a tricky one but very rewarding when you do get it spot on!

The entry into Lake Essess is quite tricky, the ideal wide approach isn't really available so come in at quite a tight angle, luckily the second part is nice and open with plenty of track to run into, its a quick dab on the brakes, turn in, find an apex and get back on the power, the second part is easy flat and this then takes up the short run into Shaws hairpin.

Shaws the slowest point on the track, hard on the brakes and down the gears to 2nd. As with most hairpins there are a few ways you can attack this one. wide in cut back to get the car straightened up and back on the power or square the corner up some more and carry the momentum through the apex making use of the track on the exit. The latter was my approach especially as you'd need all the speed you can find you moving for Devils Elbow.

Devils Elbow is a fast and flat out left hander that heads down hill back on the start finish straight. Its easy flat in most cars but that doesn't detract from the challenge. Its vital to build speed all the way through, you want that momentum to get you down the start straight.

So thats Mallory Park - Verdict? A fantastic little track thats well worth a visit. We'd been warned that it was a little bit boring but thats just not true,the fast flowing nature of the circuit really challenges you, its also a track that can bite you if you get it wrong.... As I found out with a trip across the grass at about 80mph after I got my entry to Lake Esses all wrong! Fortunately the damage was just cosmetic but it did smash my bumper and splitter up.. oh well!!

I fell out with the car for a good hour after the incident but I soon bodged it back together and went back out!

We we're also joined buy a few of our Instagram follwers on the day, Mark Hutcheson came along in his rapid little Mini Cooper S JCWGP.

Kirk Middleton Also brought along his freshly boosted Fiesta ST, the little supercharged monster ran faultlessly and was really putting the hammer down!

Another one to join us was Dan Lewis though sadly his Megane would suffer an alternator failure early in the day and we never got a photo of his car

One the best cars that was there hammering round all day was Dudley Waldron 's bike powered Mini It was just insane... and to prove it here's an onboard video!

One of the major casualties on the day was Bretts MNR Vortx it developed a rather serious oil pressure fault and suspected bottom end failure soon put and end his days running. Although when it did run it was pretty damn quick!

Other than our obviously awesome cars one of the best thing about a track day is just wandering the paddock and checking out the vast majority of machinery that is there. This Focus RS looked pretty normal apart from its white paint job and rear spoiler but when you take a closer look you'll find the engine is has been turned and its now rear wheel drive!

This bike powered Mini was also very impressive, although it also have a very impressive blow up later on during the day, it dumped a nice amount of oil just on the entry to Gerrard's

I think my persoanl favourite car from the day would certainly have to be this S1 Escort RS Turbo. It was packing slightly more punch than Ford ever intended. This had a full Cosworth 4x4 conversion! Mental!

Fully race prepped Corsa with wide arches and a C20XE conversion with ITB's... It sounded amazing!!

Dudley's Mini at the hairpin

As for our cars we suffered a few issues, mine was self inflicted and I've already mentioned what happened to Brett. Craig's Clio decided it no longer liked its alternator.