Just a few notes about Goodwood last Saturday. This was a Surrey Club Lotus event and primarily a fun day out rather than a proper driving session. Unfortunately noise restrictions at Goodwood mean only 5 cars on track at a time, and the organisers had decided to split the day up into 5 lap sessions. 40+ cars meant lots of queuing for very little track time. I got 5 sessions, and the lovely spring weather (intermittent drizzle) meant 4 of these were wet.

Goodwood is right handed, open and undulating. Exiting the infield pit lane there is a short run up to Madgewick. The three main corners on the circuit are all double apex, and here the first apex isn't too important as long as you hit the second one nice and tight. The total turn is about 120 degress and there is a slight bump in between the apexes which lifts the car so don't try to change direction too fast in the middle. Once the car settles again, back on the power towards Fordwater, a fast gentle righthander with a crest at the apex - this needs to be taken flat out for a quick lap. A short straight, and then brake and downshift for the 30 degree right hander with no name (where Stirling Moss famously crashed). Hold the car to the centre of the track on the exit as you are about to turn hard left for St Marys. Turn in positively but then relax a little as the camber drops away - the car will start to drift wide until the track rises again and grip returns. Accelerate hard again and then brake firmly for the entry into Lavant, another double apex righthander. You are about the enter the Lavant straight, the fastest part of the circuit, so keep it neat on the way in, and make sure you are propely placed for the second part of the bend so you can apply power all the way through. Every extra mph of exit speed counts here. Hold the throttle wide open all the way down Lavant, straightening the slight kink and keep your nerve as Woodcote, the last double apex, rushes up at you. Woodcote exits almost directly into the chicane so the priority is to keep all that entry speed for as long as possible - brake late and hard, turn in and perhaps brake again, touch the second apex, a quick squirt and then slow it right down for the chicane. Right then left, not much space on the exit and marked out by tyre walls, so technique wins over bravado. Past the pit lane and into Madgwick again.
Total lap time in an Elise on a damp track around 2 minutes.

First session out we queued up as car 5 out of 5, in front of us an Elan +2 and three assorted Esprits. I had my friend Matt as passenger for the day, but even with his extra 75 kilos of ballast and I figured there was a fair chance of catching something if the track worked out as I had pictured it. The organisers let the cars of at intervals so we started with a clear, wet track. Taking things deliberately easy initially I took a reconnaisance lap, and found the track matched my expectations pretty well, although there was no way I was going flat through Fordwater and St Marys was very slippery - I felt the drift would convert very quickly to oversteer, and indeed I had to correct a few twitches as we started to build up speed. After a couple of laps we had caught and passed the Elan and one of the Esprits, and were gaining on the second.. however, as we came up on him at the entry to Woodcote I noticed that he had locked up the front wheels on entry and only just stayed on the blackstuff. We backed off a little, not wanting to get involved in someone elses accident and sure enough the next lap he spun off onto the infield at St Marys. Fortunately there isn't anything to hit so he was able to rejoin behind us.

Second session was much like the first, except that we started in the middle of the group, quickly catching and passing the same Elan again, and then the final Esprit - a V8 surprisingly.. surely that ought to be quicker than me? I'd looked again at the Autosport guide in the break and confirmed where the braking points for Woodcote and Madgewick were - Woodcote is easy to pick out as the track widens on the left, but Madgewick is harder to distinguish, and felt that I was starting to get the right line as I could put the power on earlier without any of the uncertainty from the back end. Track still damp and with 2 min. lap time and only five cars running, the grip at St Marys seemed to change from lap to lap. Still a bit untidy through Lavant - probably too fast through first part of corner.

Time for lunch already. The sky started to clear and when we went out for our third session, some dryer patches were starting to show, but not enough to make any real difference. Caught and passed the V8 Esprit again at the exit from Lavant. The only other car we see in this session is a seven, who throws me slightly by braking though Fordwater; bit different from the Caterhams I encountered at Snetterton.

Fourth session; rain has returned, track wet again. Vivian and Alan have braved the weather and turn up to watch. I think this was the session where we started second - the Esprit in front of us leaves the pit lane with a huge wheelspin, only to be caught and passed a lap and a half later. I finally get the approach to Lavant sorted, and am rewarded by full power all the way from turn in to exit and the fastest run down Lavant straight so far.. 110mph at the braking point. Vivian has reminded me that I ought to be noting turn in speeds, so I try & look. About 60 here and at Lavant, maybe 70 at Madgewick, but perhaps not representative due to damp track and passenger.

Final session and we exit the pit lane behind a Turbo Esprit and what looked like a slightly tweaked Elise - sports exhaust and glimpse of different airfilter in the boot as the driver stowed his kit. As we turn through Madgwick it is obvious that the track has finally dried, and we can finally go flat through Fordwater. The grip level through the righthander and at St Marys has gone up enormously - no more twiches on exit, and the braking zone around Woodcote is much more certain and we can get full power on immediately at the exit of the chicane. Up ahead the Esprit is baulking the Elise, although not by much, and eventually we catch them both. That was definitely fun - enough grip to start warming the tyres & brakes a little at last.

Once again I am impressed by the cars responsiveness and feedback. The wet conditions definitely bring out the best in it - you can feel the grip level changing through the corners and correct any under or oversteer before they become big problems. If we'd had another dry session I think I would have tried hanging in fourth gear for the bend before St Marys, and perhaps a two stage brake at Woodcote. Oh well. Next time!

P.S I'm going to have to find a left handed circuit - the tyres are wearing distinctly off centre.

Update - August 2001

Finally back to Goodwood, courtesy of the Opel Manta Owner's Club (tenuous connection through Lotus Carlton/Omega). It's been a long time and a lot of track miles since I drove here, so I was looking forward to it. Futher interest added by being joined my Mike Knowles in his selectively improved car - Mike has a cone air filter, extractor manifold and stainless exhaust (93dB as against my standard 88dB for reference) plus the Lotus Sport Suspension, steel brakes with Pagid pads and Bridgestone SO2 tyres.

We were also playing host to Bob Metz, a US Lotus enthusiast who dropped in on his tour of Europe, bringing a gorgeous summer day's weather with him, and Vivian who joined us for lunch and advice.

So out of the pits, and I'm pleased to say it all came back to me reasonably - we'd had rain the day before but the track had just about dried and I set about finding lines and brake points. Out of the pits, initially 3rd gear through Madgwick (4th later), treating the corner similarly to Druids at Oulton park, by just missing the first apex to ease the second part of the corner, then flat out in 4th (maybe 5th) through Fordwater and into the corner with no name. A light touch of the brakes here and stay tight on the exit before braking hard before turning right into St Mary's. Clip kerb, drive to outside of circuit then pop over the brow and brake again to lose lots of speed for Lavant. It's important to use all the track here even if it means driving to the edge of the track to position the car for maximum acceleration out onto the back straight. My best runs saw me shifting up from 6,000rpm in 3rd by the second apex, then full power and wait for the car to hit terminal velocity - I saw 112mph top-down by the kink. Mike, running top-up made 120mph. Through the kink before braking late (carry speed in) towards the edge of the track at Woodcote and then the short run to the chicane and back round again. 5 laps at a time, with a bonus lap if you managed to overtake the slower cars.

This was meant to be a fun day, so not too much serious track analysis, and in fact the low numbers of cars present meant not much hanging around between runs, which is a big contrast to my last visit here. We did take the opportunity to swap passenger rides though, and as might be expected, Mike's car eels more stable during turn in and a lot less wind bluster with the top up. Comparitively hot and noisy inside though, so I'll stick to top down for my track days as the difference isn't that huge.

Final laps showed that Mike was a little quicker in total, the most marked difference being at the chicane where he took yards out of me - during the passenger ride I saw he managed to hold third and 4,000rpm with ease, whereas I seemed to have to drop to second to maintain momentum. I could pull most of the advantage back through Madgwick, St Marys and be right behind him all the way down Lavant Straight and almost alongside into Woodcote, before he started to pull away again.

So how to go faster? Number one point would be to learn some bumps - I was always holding a little in reserve in case of mid-corner upsets, and on 3 or 4 occasions needed it as the rear of the car kicked loose - Madgwick, St Marys and Lavant were all potentially tricky. Number two would be to try not look at the barrier round No Name.. if this corner were not blind and not near a tyre wall I'm sure I'd carry a lot more speed in, Number three is to sort out some kind of consistent line at Woodcote - more or less anything seemed to work and that can't be right, then finally regards the chicane I think I need to be more kart-like and get the power back on before the turn and slide it through. I may need Mike's suspension to manage this....