I had an interesting experience yesterday. A mate has a BMW track car and was at Cadwell for the day so invited me down for some ride along laps. An open pitlane day and a real mix of cars out there. I always thought Cadwell was too small for cars and I still think for racing it is but for a blast around it’s a great laugh. What struck me most is how slow the cars looked when watching from the sidelines. But in the car it felt quick and you could feel the g-forces trying to throw you out of the bucket seat! I was checking the speedo and obviously the car is much slower than a bike on most of the track - but you don’t feel the G-force on a bike as you go through the corners so somehow the sensation of speed is somehow increased in the car. Chris curve gives you the impression that at any moment the grip is just going to give up and send you flying sideways. The kerb on the exit of Mansfield finally made sense as well! I can see why they put the chicane in for bikes as the entrance speed into the mountain complex would be daft without it.
I can only imagine the carnage that would occur with the speed you could hit - there just isn’t the run off to make it safe - people would be out breaking themselves and piling into the fence all of the time. Check out this superkart onboard footage - it actually becomes a blind left hander as you pass under bridge - it would be fun to try it but I can see why they did it.
Definitely a fun day out. I did a track day in my car at Donington. I know Cadwell and Donington like the back of my hand so I was quick (ish) from the get go. Although it was a hoot I much prefer the bike for trackdays. As you say, they're much faster for a kick off. They're much more involving and exciting too. I reckon bikes would me a lot cheaper too. Fuel, pads and discs will cost a friggin fortune with a car I would imagine. I was running a Porsche 911 and the brakes were done after 3 hot laps and I was having to nurse them towards the end of each session. I'd never encountered brake fade on the road but they were hopeless on track.
I used to live 2 miles from Oulton and at the time had an Exige S, I did a few trackdays in that..... I've done literally 1000's of laps on a bike around the place so jumping in a car was pretty easy, but it just wasn't the same fun, even though the Exige was bike quick it just didn't feel as exciting, plus the whole overtake on the RH side thing... As mentioned though it's extremely expensive compared to bikes, 4 tyres, pads, it soon mounted up.
This sent me down a YouTube rabbit hole and I found this: Jamie Whitham and Robert Dunlop Fighting it out at Cadwell - pre chicane in the first bit of this video. Early 90’s. Some great shot’s of how Cadwell used to look - I knew about the house at between Hairpin and Barn but I never realised just how close to the track it was! and another with some big names from 1988 - shows a chicane immediately on the left at Mansfield- obviously wasn’t a popular idea because it didn’t last long. You forget how much safety has changed at the track - old tyres and straw bales as crash barriers - an actual Barn sitting on the outside of the corner at Barn!
I have to agree - the car was fun but even with the intention of it being a cheap bit of track fun my mate is constantly having to fettle it just to keep it running. he had the brake issue and then a cooling issue, a suspension issue, gearbox, clutch…….. Slowly but surely each part of the car that’s not up to the job is getting replaced - new shiny bit’s in place of the old. The stresses are just too much on a car designed for the road and it really doesn’t take much track time for things to break. Shows just how close to race machinery a modern sports bike actually is. You can take one on the track a thrash it all day without worrying about reliability- just change the oil and jobs a good-un.
