Wooohh, what a day!! PalmerSport @ Bedford

[Peter DLM]

Well, I was wary at spending £750 on a day of racing various cars but I'm so glad I did now as it was one of the best days I can recall.:bannana: And it's my birthday treat to myself

My younger brother joined me, along with a colleague from work and one of his mates.

Cars used were a stripped out E90 M3, Ariel Atom, Caterham Superlights (twice), Formula Jaguar, JPM-LM (Le Mans single seater), Defender and Karts with little lawn mower engines.

PalmerSport 2012 - the world's best corporate hospitality driving event

Anyway, weather was good, it was embarrassing parking my Smart in the car park, there were 50 competitors and I leant an awful lot.

Firstly, I have new found respect for F1 drivers! Single seater cars with slicks and downforce are in no way easy to drive at their limits. Both the Jaguars have downforce and both need a lot of experience and skill to drive in any worthwhile way.

I won a prize!! I got the fastest Kart time of the day, which is suprising seeing as I weigh 17st and must have been one of the heaviest there!

I also got 9th and 10th places in most of the classes. My bother did amazingingly well winning 'Team Driver of the Day' and getting in the top 4 in the Atom class and 5th overall for the whole day.

Anyway, highlights.... the Jaguar race cars... amazing thrill. The Formula Jag I almost didn't drive as it triggered my Claustrophobia switch as I tried to get in. I have comedy superhero sized legs, and I couldn't fit both of them in the narrow tub/tunnel, so I had to wait and run my mental routines to calm down and get in further, then stop and calm down 2 more times as the 6 point harness got tightened. I'm glad I didn't bail as it was an amazing experience and means readjusting what slicks and downforce mean to grip levels. At the end of the session I was hammering out fairly respectable laps and was in the top 10

Arial Atoms are utterly mental. Utterly. I'm a life long motorcycle club racer and thought I'd have a clue, but noooooo. I had to start from scratch with them. After 5 laps, and 3 spins, I'd listened to the instructor and begain to bang in good laps. What an utterly amazing toy though *loves*

I can whole heartedly recommend this experience to anyone.

We're booking again for the summer.

Pics coming up later.....

 

[Justin1600]

Sounds a very good day mate i did a day at Mallory driving different cars but not as expensive. But then the cars were not as good as yours.
I hear what you are saying about single seaters, a different ball game for sure

 

[st4]

Sounds a brilliant day. I saw one and was tempted but the price is very high but if it's that good I will do it at some stage

 

[Peter DLM]

Aye, I can't say anything bad about the day. It is the most professional day of its type I've encountered as well. Catering was top quality, the cars were immaculate, the instructors enthusiastic and actively encouraged/taught you to go as fast as possible, facilities top notch as well. We were very well cared for.

Steve, you owe it to yourself, as it is every petrolheads' dream to experience proper G-Force and mind boggling grip and cornering speeds.

 

[SavMan]

It great fun, I did one last year as a prize in work. I didnt get to go in an M3 but they did have 911, Clio Cup and an amazing Jaguar XKR which was an unbelievable best. I will also be going again soon as I was lucky enough to win a second time so just waiting for them to confirm the date. Glad you enjoyed it.

 

[Peter DLM]

I'm going to upload all the in-car video footage up to YouTube. Cool thing is that you get every second recorded and data log traces also.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I bet your Smart car felt like a rocket when you got back in it!

Wait a minute....

Good to hear that you had a good day, the only thing with these track days is it leaves you wanting more...

 

[stevieb15]

Back in a previous life I was fortunate enough to get an invite from a supplier every year to a Palmer corporate day when it was based at Bruntingthorpe, they were good enough to invite my wife as well.
The last year we went was 1997, from memory each event allowed for 30 or so and I know the supplier got a very healthy discount for taking most of the places, so if enough are interested in doing it I'm sure a block booking would reduce the price.
When we went the vehicles were Nissan Terrano, Caterham 7, Lotus Elise, E Class AMG, formula 2000, Volkswagen Corrado, go karts and a Ford Fiesta smooth driving test, a brilliant day out, Jamie Campbell Walter was an instructor one year!

 

[seven]

Might be an idea to see how many people would be interested in something like this. I would for one.

 

[wemorgan]

PS - have a very good reputation on the Lotus forum - and they're a fussy bunch when it comes to track days.

Glad you enjoyed it.

 

[SavMan]

I'm going to upload all the in-car video footage up to YouTube. Cool thing is that you get every second recorded and data log traces also.

Dont be disappointed when you first see the video it normally looks much slower than you remember it.

 

[gmk666]

I was taken to this a few years ago by a supplier. Great fun. Like you, my weight is in the high-teens, so my lap times were often a little uninspiring. Until it rained, that is. While we were out in the Jaguar Sports Prototypes. I surprised myself by being second quickest overall (and as you can tell, I'm still quite proud of that).

I'll never forget my first lap, in the Clio Cup. It was my first time in a car with a sequential box. I forgot what to do with my feet, and got told off by the instructor for attempting a bit of left foot braking...

 

[BTB 500]

Yup I did a JP day at Bruntingthorpe years ago, and it was fantastic. I got in because a (male) colleague didn't want to go

 

[Sp!ke]

I did this in 2006 - an excellent day, I heartilly recommend it. I came away mentally shattered and with a newfound awe of the skill of professional race drivers.

This is me piloting a single seater on the day..

 

[gmk666]

SNAP!
(Although your pose looks rather more purposeful than mine.)

 

[Nickellese]

After 5 laps, and 3 spins, I'd listened to the instructor and begain to bang in good laps. What an utterly amazing toy though *loves*

QUOTE]



Im really jelous, Ive heard from a few friends what a good day out it is, really must get round to booking myself in soon. One question though, how did the instructor deal with your spins?

I had one of the track day Atom experiences bought for me once and I have to say the instructor made it a really crappy experience to the point where, after the first lap I was shown back into the pits to recieve a bollocking for not following every single one of the 20 hand commands quickly explained to me before I jumped in...

 

[gmk666]

One question though, how did the instructor deal with your spins?

If I may jump in, I had different instructors throughout the day, and their attitudes differed accordingly. The guy in Jaguar was a bit snotty when I spun under braking in the wet. "What part of 'stay away from the white line' did you not understand?" were his exact words. Fair enough, I suppose. My mistake could have resulted in me damaging the car or more importantly, us.

The guy in a Caterham on the other hand was much more relaxed. The helmet intercom packed up in the rain, so he had resorted to using hand signals. He took one spin as an opportunity to explain how to do those standing start U-turns you see the proper racing drivers doing. Fun! Fun!! FUN!!!

 

[BTB 500]

When I went (years ago) we drove various M-Bs too including CLKs and SLKs and a 'skid pan' car (with outriggers) that was either an S Class or E class. Somebody had managed to roll a CLK there a few weeks previously

It was raining when we drove the Caterhams, which was fun!

 

[theogeor]

Having done the ParlerSports twice so far I can understand why you loved it. Its great... I am looking for a reason to do it again (last time it was my brothers 40th)
In comparison with other driving days you get more for your money as you end up driving a lot. My brother says that this is the best present he ever had and will remember it for ever

Theo

 

[Nickellese]

If I may jump in, I had different instructors throughout the day, and their attitudes differed accordingly. The guy in Jaguar was a bit snotty when I spun under braking in the wet. "What part of 'stay away from the white line' did you not understand?" were his exact words. Fair enough, I suppose. My mistake could have resulted in me damaging the car or more importantly, us.

The guy in a Caterham on the other hand was much more relaxed. The helmet intercom packed up in the rain, so he had resorted to using hand signals. He took one spin as an opportunity to explain how to do those standing start U-turns you see the proper racing drivers doing. Fun! Fun!! FUN!!!

Good to know thank you chap, I think I might have misinterpreted the feedback given by my instructor as too strict but I think I was disappointed that he couldn't have taken a slightly more patient approach considering we had already discussed I was fairly new to track driving.

Me thinks a thick skin might be required!