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I went along to a Novices Track Half Day at Brands Hatch on 24th February 04 run by Evo Active exclusively for Caterham owners. The weather beforehand was not good as temperatures were dropping over the previous weekend and snow was predicted in some areas. As I had just fitted the new Aeroscreen this was particularly poor timing.
Added to that my new spa mirrors had only arrived the day before in the post and had to be fitted hastily to the aeroscreen and as is always the case the hex grub screw was halfway in size between two of my allen keys. Oh well...
Decided to drive along the A25 to get to the track in the morning and nearly suffered frostbite in the process. Very glad the heater is still in the car. Received some odd looks from other motorists due to me wearing a helmet and having no windscreen, along with a friendly wave from a policeman (at least thats what I think it was ...)
There were about 33 Sevens at the track in total for the morning session and we were split into three groups. After a safety lecture and a bus tour around the circuit, the first session was spent following a pace car for 20 minutes. This was followed by a rest break to check the cars and compare stories, and then another 20 minute session where we could lap freely.
Just as we were going out for the second session snow flakes started to fall but that wasn’t about to dampen our enthusiasm. We did get damp though when the snow turned to rain, but this just made the circuit more interesting with the back end of the cars becoming twitchy to some of the drivers surprise.
Brake points, turn in points and apex points were all set out with cones, but it was still a demanding exercise to follow the racing line accurately and smoothly, and the various dips on the circuit felt like a roller coaster ride without the rails. Everyone returned to the pits after the session with huge grins for a debriefing and a hot drink to thaw out with.
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