Round four and the first time the TSS has been all the way to Anglesey. For once, a track that is a lot nearer to me than it is to most others, though 120 miles away is not round the corner. We met for the usual antics, which normally start with a nice afternoon drinking catching up on all the banter in the hotel bar. This time was no different with a good amount of people (though not everyone) staying at a hotel near to Valley on the island.
Still as it wasn't a Premier Inn we didn't have to suffer the usual mediocre Beefeater fair when it came to the food. A table for 12 was swiftly booked and the beer flowed.
TSS Anglesey 21 Aug 16 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr
A later than usual start was the case on Sunday, due to a load of 2CV's having a 24 hour race at the circuit. Still we were on for around 10am and the fun soon began.
TSS Anglesey 21 Aug 16 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr
Anglesey is a funny old place. I've been driving on the track there since 2001. I cut my teeth doing perhaps 50 trackdays on the old circuit at Angers and it was a real hidden gem and cheap at the time. Here's what it looked like:
And a view of the old pitlane and control tower. Look at the paddock and how different it looks:
In 2007 the new circuit came and as I worked for Bookatrack at the time and Anglesey being the home circuit for BaT, I was amongst the first to drive it. We were promised great things by the owner, but really the new circuit was made to maximise the available space on site, rather than focusing on what makes a good circuit. This is why I think there are four hairpins (a lot in one lap) and no chicanes, though I really think they could have put a chicane in somewhere! The old circuit was a dream in that one corner linked into another and you don't get this with the new layout. As always, there was a chance to make something truly great and for me, it will always feel like a missed opportunity.
What you do get though, are corners that don't really work or flow in the way you might expect in places, take Peel corner as an example. But the rub is corners such as these become quite technical as you have to work it out. So it's not all bad by any means. Church is fast and you have to get it right to pay dividends on the exit all the way down the straight.
And so, onto the sprint. I was feeling quietly confident as I have a huge amount of experience with this track. Though the irony is, I drove the old track far more than I did with the new. But nonetheless I've still done over 20 trackdays at a guess round this layout over the years.
The day started with fine but the usual windy weather that Anglesey is notorious for. In my first timed run, I typically over drove it and ended up completely sideways into Rocket, then transitioned (knowing I had messed my time up already) and had a go at holding a full on drift all the way round. Sadly this wasn't to be as I ran out of steering lock and had to concede defeat and stop in the middle of the track! Never mind, I drifted the rest for the hell of it to try and keep the spectators awake.
On my second run I actually set a fast enough time to win the day, only going 18 hundredths of a second faster on my third which would seal the win. However in sprint mode, I was really working out where I could maximise my corner entries and try and get that elusive perfect lap together. It didn't quite happen which was a shame, but I felt that I really nailed how to get round by the start of proceedings in the afternoon. Kev was hot on my tail, putting in a quick lap after lunch leaving him only 0.64 of a second behind. The rain came after that and well, we weren't going to go any quicker so it was game over.
TSS Anglesey 21 August 2016 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr
Keith looked to initially be chasing Kev, putting in some consistent fast times, but Kev pulled one out of the bag to get himself well clear. Keith pushed through and beat Mike though getting a well deserved third place.
So round four was mine, giving me a perfect four out of four.
TSS Anglesey 21 Aug 16 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr
In other news, Adrian won, Stan came second though he has a poorly engine we think after it was making some kind of knocking noise according to Stan, so rather than risk it, Stan got on to the AA to get the car trailered back. Richard got trounced by Alex in his RS200, but he beat Roger and Pete so was happy enough with that. I was happy to gain 7th overall, though I lost out to Phil in his turbo MK1 MR2 by 4 hundredths of a second. Still getting the better of Martin Lush in his Gp.N AE86 was nice.
I do hope we return to Angers next year, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The good company, banter and plenty of beer and sausages all helps of course. See you all at the next one.
Attended: Japfest and Simply Japanese.
Favourite: Simply Japanese
Why? Because @smudge nearly hit Michelle with my Frisbee several times . Was also my first 'proper' meet with the 86/BRZ Drivers club, so I finally got to meet some fellow owners properly!
Carnage is the only word for it, never seen so many karts off in the tyres or been hit by so many back markers after overtaking them. Great fun though, roll on round 2!
Wasn't expecting so much interest I guess it'd be rude to only offer it to one person in this case . As mentioned earlier the cost will be approx £150.
@Twigman If it's a PDR Job I can get it done for you at the same time unless you have a preferred place to get it done.
@TTR Will do your reddie as well
Just an extra thought. Would anyone like to grab a bite to eat after? @DanJ suggested Ye Olde Swan. The menus look pretty damn tasty and I think he mentioned that they had a decent sized car park!
http://www.chefandbrewer.com/pub/ye-olde-swan-woughton-on-the-green-milton-keynes/c0156/
So since a few members in and around MK are popping up these days, would anybody fancy doing some sort of Karting meet at Daytona in Milton Keynes in a few weeks? I started a similar thread about doing it at SimplyRace and it got quite a bit of interest, but I think Karting may be a tad more fun . If not, we can just do the traditional Cars & Coffee Type meet!
TTR reacted to rob275 in 3rd September - Grasshopper lunch & social - South East
TTR got a reaction from smudge in Adrian Flux August Competition
TTR got a reaction from Paul in Any Pokemon Go players
TTR got a reaction from Tareim in Carbon and exhaust bits
TTR got a reaction from Keethos in For sale: Gaming PC + Logitech G920 and Playseat