i went to Rockingham Motor Speedway today!

[shimmy]

Set off this morning in fine weather only to turn up to Rocky in drizzle and 10 degrees C, I was not happy.

I met my brother there who was in his Caterham Academy car, due for his first race which happens to be at Rockingham in July. Needless to say he was eager to get out in the wet to make sure he was prepared for all eventualities meanwhile i was only too pleased to sit in the briefing room drinking coffee and feeling sorry for myself.





luckily a combination of a few friends turning up wanting passenger rides tempted me out on track in the wet.

It was VERY SLIPPY as first rain after 4-5 days of dry weather and loads fo rubber down, cars had spun on the sighting laps and the Clio boys (dozens of them) were spending more time in the gravel than the paddock tbh. Couple of red flags but then by 12 noon it suddenly dried out and GAME ON!

at that point the day suddenly cheered up and with a good level of grip (apart from a couple of hairpins) i did some video of my brother lapping from behind and then decided to do some quick laps. A few too many Caterhams and Ginettas with no idea of what were around them did spoil what could have been a clear couple of laps but hey ho, it was still before lunch!



Took some photos at lunchtime as for once i had my camera with me (felt a bit Japanesey doing this but Nathan wanted some RDS shots for bedtime 'reading' apparently)





Afternoon the traffic was still heavy in places and then clear track mainly due to the fact that people were finding it hard to get past certain cars therefore bunching at one or two points on the track. Rocky is a great leveller, you can find that Clios, Caterhams, CSLs, GT3s, even GT3RS can all be lapping together which is fun but does result in 'gaggling'



Sun came out just in time to see a stickered up, wide wheel GT3 smack into the concrete wall and a Ginetta smash its front end to pieces, obviously interspersed with many Clios collecting bags full of gravel and distribute it around the track!



The day finished with sunshine but looking at the data i recorded one clear fast lap all day, but the car felt strong and only one radical and one R300 Caterham passed me all (dry) day. My best time was beaten only by a few tenths but without traffic i think this would have been 1-2secs.



any of you guys want some handling practice Rocky is a good option. It is hard on the brakes for sure and there are a few hard things to hit (i got very close to concrete whilst missing a braking point after i was swearing at a Ginetta instead of concentrating)

Got some vid being processed and will stick it up soooon

[NZ_M3]

Great pics Sounds like you had fun too!!

[Bealo]

Great report and pic's mate. shame you didn't get any pic's of the smashed up porker

[Bounce]

Good pics Shim.

[shane@mbtech]

Good pics Shimmy,

Paint your wheels matt black

[shimmy]

Originally Posted by lawsy

Good pics Shimmy,

Paint your wheels matt black

Yep they need some sort of new colour but such a shame as the finish on them is superb and to date not a mark on them and they clean so easily
I'll do it in the winter

[shimmy]

Originally Posted by Bealo

Great report and pic's mate. shame you didn't get any pic's of the smashed up porker

I got some vid driving past it as it was limping to the pits but couldt see any damage so I wasn't sure if it was the big crash or not

[glendog74]

Nice report Shimmster

[s.mac]

good write up and pics

LEAVE the wheels they look mint

[Yanto]

Good post Shim - enjoyed that read