Monday was dry and bright, all you could want from an Autumn day in England. Unfortunately I spent Monday in the office, and by the Wednesday Club 89 meet, the weather had deteriorated.

Oh well, I had put the hood up the night before just in case so I drove to Brands with it still up. No actual rain, but lots of fast moving clouds of various colours. Got there about 8:15, signed on and got scutineered - just a basic check of lights, secure wheel centres and nothing loose in the car, bagged a garage, affixed race numbers, emptied boot, taped headlights, took the hood down, checked tyre pressures ( I'm still using the factory settings), met fellow lister Vivian Meazza who had bravely volunteered to act as ballast/give me the benefit of some of his experience, and took advantage of the free coffee on offer until it was time to get briefed.

As I'd never driven Brands before I was in the Novice class, and at the briefing the organisers announced that we would be sent out as 'ducks and drakes', i.e. we would follow an instructor round for our first session to get the feel of the track and learn some good lines. Club 89 send the experts out first, followed by the intermediates and then the novices, so I took advantage of the offer of ride round with one of the circuit instructors while I was waiting. The circuit wasn't quite as I'd anticipated - Hawthorn Hill was steeper than expected, and Westfield and Dingle Dell bends closer together than they seem from the track plan. By this time it had started to drizzle and the circuit was damp all over, so trundling gently round the instructor car initially seemed like an excellent idea.

Ok,'nuff talking, time to get on the track. Pull out of pit lane, keep right downhill into Paddock, easy at this speed and then uphill into Druids, a 180 degree right hander with the apex at the top of the hill. Not much grip here it seems, and a light touch on the throttle seems to be in order. The track then goes downhill and left, runs a long the back of the pit area and then turns 145 degrees left and uphill at Surtees where the Grands Prix circuit we are using splits off from the shorter Indy circuit. This has a late apex and requires going in very deep before turn in, and then full power exit, keep right and onto the back straight. This is one of the fastest parts of the circuit, and finishes up with hard braking into a fast right hander... Vivian tells me it can be taken in 4th so being gullible I believe him and it works. A short straight and now brake, shift down to third and turn right again into Westfield - supposedly a double apex curve but taken as one. The track now drops a little and the climbs steeply uphill through into Dingle Dell Corner, a blind entry into a right/left/right chicane, the idea being to clip all three apexes and make it a single corner. I get one out of the three - must try harder! Nearly round now, turn 120 left through Stirlings, requiring another deep turn in and late apex, back up into 4th gear for a short straight and now we're coming back round to rejoin the Indy circuit. From this approach, the entry into Clark Curve requires a firm but brief shove on the brake pedal, shift down into third, turn smoothly in and get on the power early and hard to get a good run onto the main straight. There's plenty of tarmac here, with a bit of helpful camber so lots of opportuntity to carry speed though. Hold the throttle wide open for as long as I dare at the approach to Paddock Hill bend, and leaving it as late as possible hit the brakes as we approach the blind turn in..... I crest the slight rise and then find I have to accelerate up to the turn in point as I've misjudged it completely. Now the track goes right and steep downhill, the dropping away from beneath me and then catching up again in the dip, before climbing back up again to Druids for another lap.

Vivian has kindly brought along his Autosport circuit guide, so now that I've had a go at the track myself he talks me through the lines - he's driven here four times this year alone so knows how the Elise should work. I seem to have picked up most of the circuit reasonably well, but there's still a lot to do to get competent, and the weather is getting worse - it's actually raining now.

Second session, and we're out on our own now. The run downhill through paddock is now wet all over, so I brake carefully going into Druids and sure enough it still feels uncertain on the turn in, and as we exit the car understeers slightly and before I think it worth correcting, the back follows. I hold the throttle constant while the grip comes back, and then try and accelerate but it's still slippery and the back loosens up as we go down Graham Hill, again I hold the throttle and use just a fraction of opposite lock to get back in line. Fortunately things get better from now on.. it seems there is some oil on Druids that is making things worse - the rest of the track is just ordinary wet. I make a pigs ear of Surtees - as per Donington I'm still finding that it is difficult to increase my entry speeds without messing up my turn in - at yellow flag speeds I can take a nice neat line, but as soon as I start pushing it all goes to pieces. In this case I'm turning in too early, making this already tight bend even tighter and losing all the exit speed. Vivian points out the correct braking point at the end of Hawthorn Hill.... needless to say it's a long way past where I thought it was. Going through Westfield is pretty good, and I manage to get two of the three kerbs in Dingle Dell. Stirling goes like Surtees did, and Clark Curve gets better every time. The Elise seems to be able to get power on a lot ealier than most cars so even running two-up we can drag past a lot of machinery here.. I guess this is what Oval racing is like. However, I lose all the speed again at the end of the straight, still braking too early. My turn in to Paddock Hill is getting better, but I'm holding the turn a little too long, and not using all the track on the exit and so losing some straight line speed.

We come back in and discuss the slippery track with the driver of a silhouette special Imp (has to look like the donor car from the wheel centres up, and maintain the same layout of primary components) and he's having problems as well. After a few more minutes the circuit stewards concur and driving is stopped while the track marshalls attempt to remove some of whatever it is that is greasing up Druids.

Sessions three and four go much the same as Session two. We see a few dry patches start to emerge, with some encouragement I manage to get round Graham Hill bend without braking - a slight lift is all that is required to get a little weight on the nose at the start of the turn, then we can power all the way through and pass a few things before Surtees. Vivian says my turn in speeds are still well below what the car is capable of, but I'm happy to build up gently. After a few laps of better grip, Druids has gone slippery again - we lock up behind an MGF under braking but manage to sort it out. Whatever the marshalls did seems to have been undone again by the weather.

After lunch, during which some serious rain descends and we even toy with the idea of putting the hood up, there are a further three sessions. The first of these is marred by a Westfield seven which manages to fall into a gravel trap first lap out. After this has been extracted, I get my line through Paddock right for the first time, get nicely onto the far left of the circuit flat out in 3rd and consequently enter Druids going fast enough to nearly overcook it under braking - the wheels lock, I cadence brake, turn, the wheels lock again, release again, turn..phew..kept it on the black bits. Who needs ABS anyway? Graham Hill is also drying nicely, and for the first time today I notice that we're actually generating some proper cornering load - very satisying, I love that feeling when the car starts to 'fly' and you know that you are approaching the limit of adhesion but are still under control.

Penultimate session, and finally the weather is lifting, the sky is blue again and the circuit is dry round the front, althought it's still damp at the back. We get another few laps in, getting a bit quicker, but unfortunately an over-keen driver demolishes 40ft of tyre wall and causes another stoppage, but by now I'm pretty worn out anyway so I'm not too worried that we only get three or four laps in the final session before it's time to stop.

Summary of the day... objectives achieved in that I've got familiar with another track and overcome a little of my fear of driving in the wet, but not completely satisfying. The car was very forgiving, seeming to have much more grip than I expected under the conditions, but I was reluctant to push too hard. Better safe than sorry I suppose - Brands Hatch is a great track, and I'm looking forward to going back next year. I'd still prefer it to be dry though!

1999 Update

Back to Brands  - Club 89 again, but Indy Circuit this time. Start of lap is the same as the GP, but the track spilts off at Surtees and curves right through Clearways into Clark, making a much shorter lap.

And we're out in the wet again, at least initially due to a shower between signing-on and first session. Fortunately the skies clear just as we're about to go out, for a cautious first lap. Initial run through Druids goes well, then into the new reshaped Graham Hill bend - this has been tightened so it's a definite brake before turn in now, and keep it tidy as the new kerbs are huge, then on to Surtees. I make a pigs ear of this initially, completely failing to find a line that joins this series of three bends together, but it comes together as we rejoin  the start finish straight and barrel towards Paddock - wait for the brow and brake just after the crest, keep left and aim for an early apex, as soon as you've got it wind off the lock and let the car fall into the downhill exit. Do it right and you're on the edge of the track at the bottom of the dip, ready to climb back into Druids again.

And repeat, again and again - the short circuit means loads of laps, the rain holds off and after about 15 minutes a dry line appears (important not to drift off line under these conditions), and by 30 minutes in the surface is completely dry and I can push much harder. Graham hill benefits from a later apex, getting power on harder earlier and outdragging other cars towards Surtees (usual track day stuff, overtake on left only), and I manage to work up a line which involves turning into Surtees without braking, driving towards the next apex and then braking into the turn in point for Clearways. In retrospect I suspect I was coming in a bit too quickly and that a gentler more curving approach might pay back in getting the car better settled for the exit through Clark - I'll try that next time.

I manage not to get passed by anything embarrasing, although a few full race cars whistle past me, the usual Caterhams (although not all the Caterhams) and a quick Skyline GTR. A Metro 6R4 takes to the gravel trap and comes off unharmed and someone deposits a mudguard just before the apex of Clark to make life interesting. Only drama of the day comes when I consider passing an Integrale into Clearways, then realise he's braking and taking his line, forcing me to back off and correct the inevitable lift-off instability. Fortunately this doesn't lead to disaster but it was worrying for a moment. I think I need to learn to left foot brake properly.

See below for a couple of snaps taken by brave passenger. There are also some short movies on the in-car clips page.