Midvaal Raceway 14/15 Feb
 

I've got that itch again, so I'll be putting in some track time at Midvaal on Sunday 15th Feb.
An added bonus is that Saturday 14th is a full-blooded Northern Regions race meet which will be dynamite, so I'll go up for the weekend and stay over in Meyerton.

Feel free to join in - Sunday is an open track day.
All you need is a helmet, long-sleeved shirt, long trousers, closed shoes (takkies OK), your car, and R500.
Here's the drill http://www.midvaalraceway.com/TrackDays.aspx

Remember that you and only you chooses how fast you want to go, and how much risk you want to take.
Keep your confidence level one click below your skill level and you'll be fine :)

Here's what a lap of Midvaal looks like

[ame="http://youtu.be/x43W7GMgiC0"]http://youtu.be/x43W7GMgiC0[/ame]

Changed my mind - I won't be going to Midvaal this weekend.
Maybe later this month...

Changed my mind again...
I will be going to Midvaal this weekend.

Looking forward to Saturday's racing, and Sunday should be cool too with some racecars on track to mix it with :)

In other words the wife's valentines present to you is a visa to go to the track... :D

Saturday 14th - oh wow!! What an amazing days racing at Midvaal.
I tried to count and got as far as 150+ racecars there - very cool.

I've been to Midvaal many, many times, but it was my first visit on a big race day, and it was stunning.
The organisation was 100% and everything just seemed to happen without any hassle at all.
Don't listen to anybody who says Midvaal can't handle big events - bullshit!!

Cherry on the top was being in the right place at the right time - a few metres away from 70+ Willie Hepburn with his old Opel V8 teaching a bunch of very hot V8 Jaguars, a Corvette, and a Mustang how it's done.
Incredible - hats off. There's no substitute for 50 years racing experience. I tried to get it on video, but it all happened too fast...

The times aren't up yet, but I timed him on a random lap at 1m10. For those who know Midvaal that will be significant...

Here's a short snippet after he'd nailed them all - the old ballie is in the red and white Opel about to lap the yellow supercharged M3. Watch how quickly he gets around the slow section of the track, and how fast he is on the back straight. Big Kudos Madala Willie :)

[ame]http://youtu.be/PCZKWz3h3is[/ame]

Sunday 15th - what a wonderful day on track. Not as many cars as I expected, but as usual with Midvaal - always something different and interesting. More than enough action, crazy different shit, and great fun.

Firstly *Pepper Racing* was there practicing for next weekend - with their 3 very quick Polo Cup racecars. Fokit they're quick. I thought I'd flex my muscles and take em on (hey, they're only Polo's), but that didn't work too well. A Polo Cup car is like *exactly* as fast as my supercharged 86 down Midvaal's long back straight (huh?), and despite my most extreme attempts, I just cannot hold a Polo Cup car in the twisties either (but not by much - I'm nearly there). Bottom line, they're 3 secs a lap quicker than me when I'm at my best. Lord knows what VW puts into those "secret" sealed engines, but it sure works. Oh, and their dynamite driving skills and experience probably has a lot to do with it too. :) At different times in the day, I diced Tasmin Pepper, Trevor Bland and Shaun La Reservee, and came short equally to all three of them. Methinks I have a lot to learn...

I did many short sessions during the day because my trusty semis (RE11S) have reached the end of their lifespan (boo-hoo) and were greasing out quite badly, and they weren't handling more than 6 or 7 laps before resigning.

But that's OK. I've learned that fast is relative, and unless you're racing competitively, that's actually irrelevent because it's the sensation and your enjoyment that counts. If you've got kak tyres, but you're having fun sliding around - well, enjoy :) And that's what all slowpokes like me say - LOL.

I had many sessions and great fun today without hammering my car (much). But the memorable one was my last session because it was different despite being my slowest by far.

I had already packed up, and most of my kaka was already packed in my car. I was nearly ready to go. Then they called a "saloon cars session" - and I just hadda do it.

Please don't look at these lap times - they're not great, but aloaded 86 still handles lekker, but maybe not that fast... :)

Anyway, I ended up 1st in the line waiting to go out. When we got the *go* there were 10 cars waiting in the line behind me, and the only other road-legal car amongst the racecars was an STI. I schemed that I'll give it a bit of horns (despite my load), and see who catches me, and how quickly.

Here's a short vid...

1st car to nail me was a 7lt (LS7) Cobra (600hp) - OK, fair enough. But a Chevy mill in a Cobra - huh??
2nd car to nail me was an STI (another one, not the road legal one), a hillclimb special which dynos 570wkw, which is almost 1000fhp - What!!
3rd car to nail me was a Class B MPC (Modified Production Cars) Opel Kadett which goes like stink. He's same as me down the long straight, and much faster in the twisties, and I guess he dyno about 47.3wkw...

So, anyone want to buy an 86? I'm looking for a 30 year old Kadett :)

But irrespective, I stayed out in front with my load on board for 1 3/4 laps before the first oke caught me - do I feel lekker about that or not?

And it was cool that even after my slow down lap, the next car to come past was a Polo Cup car which you'll hear and see when I'm tootling down pitlane. Ag, lekker.

But the sad thing was that car 7 or 8 in the line behind me was a gorgeous old Le Mans type Porsche (don't know the model) which I wanted to get on my dashcam when he passed me - but he didn't catch me. Don't ask - I don't know, but I took the pic below after I'd parked - he was still running.

Please excuse the sound quality - my cheapie Russian camera doesn't like my window open - which was essential in today's heat.

[ame]http://youtu.be/J1eJkX1Yjp4[/ame]

For the unbelievers, here's a snippet of how quick those bloody Polo Cup cars actually are.
This is Shaun La Reservee.

I had a passenger so I couldn't hold him on the straight...
Or on the corners, or anywhere. But I tried...
I go faster without a passenger, then I can nearly stay with them, but not quite.

I almost went farming on turn 5 because I was watching him hanging tight up my ass, and I wanted a good run into the straight.
Even though I took a bit of grass, I held foot flat - didn't work... :(

The reality is (almost) that the slowest race car is quicker than the fastest road car.
And you won't believe that until you been there and done that... :)

[ame]http://youtu.be/c60k2fVZRP0[/ame]

Here's another clip of me vs a Polo Cup car (Trevor Bland), this time I didn't have a passenger.
He's 3-4 secs/lap quicker than me.

This was early morning and it was foggy and gloomy, so the video's not good quality...


[ame]http://youtu.be/Z2lpAHNTNZk[/ame]

But you not even trying @Fish_Eagle :cheers:

Wow, what makes you say that?

The polo looks like its on three wheels at every corner :P

Yep, he was caning it.
I tried to hang onto all 3 of them at various times and they were all giving it horns. Same result each time.
I felt that Tas was the quickest, but then her car developed a problem and she was out of it.
I suppose that you don't get to drive in a sponsored national series (Engen Volkswagen Cup) if you drive like a woes :)

I was pushing quite hard. I see on the video my lap time was 1m22.7
It was early morning about 16°C (ie slow track) and I was short-shifting with 500rpm - I could maybe have gone 1 to 1.5 secs faster.
My PB is 1m20.1

The Engen VW Cup doesn't race at Midvaal, so no times available there.
But I found a Zwartkops time for him in that Polo - 1m13.1

That is a quick time. No way the 86 is going to get close to that :(