Testing Testing - Let's Rock!

Test days are different to Track days for a number of reasons: you must have a Racing Licence (so no briefing, either!), you don't have to follow track day etiquette (so you can pass on either side), you can time your laps but you can't take any passengers (including instructors).

So it was that on Friday, 2nd July I took to the track on my first test day.  The relaxed atmosphere of the track day was gone and a more regimented, sessioned day took place.  For thirty minutes in every ninety, we got to put laps in with other Academy cars around you.  The difference to the track day was that it was a bit more competitive, a bit more intense.

I started the day re-fitting the damaged light lens I sustained at Brands Hatch (Wes had kindly returned my replacement after 'Useless Josh' (though he's anything but...) had taken it accidentally after Rockingham).  This proved to be a bit more of a job than I first expected so I was a few minutes late for my first session.

A few drops of rain in the morning didn't bring the expected slippy conditions but it was certainly useful to experience the track in the damp.  During the day, the only 'damage' I incurred was a wiper arm that detached itself down the straight and the tax disc falling off the windscreen.

It's amazing how much I missed the help from my wife, family and friends.  Being on your own really does prove more difficult.