Well what a fantastic day!
I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did!! Here's a brief write-up of my day....for anyone who's interested - not many I suspect
4.30am - trying to get dressed and negotiate the bedroom without waking the baby
Round to work to get the kettle on and wait for the team to rock up - Stephen Dobie of EVO Magazine was due to arrive at 5.45am to take his first ever drive in an Atom in the factory 300 demo - the venerable 470M.....
5.30am - Reg arrived to drive my Mercedes Vito (heavily laden with cones, stuff and an Atom on a trailer on the back!) - sent him on his way...
5.45am - 'Old Bill' arrives in his Atom 3 300 followed shortly after by Stephen from EVO and Pol and Geoffrey (P9) from Belgium....
6.10am - On the road! Nice morning for a drive, even though we took the boring route up the M5 so as to get there in plenty of time. The looks on peoples faces when they see a convoy of Atoms on the motorway are priceless - especially at that time in the morning!!
8.00am - Causing a stir in the Petrol station at Tewkesbury - there were already other Atoms there which was encouraging!!
8.30am - Arrived at the 'Hill'. What a beautiful place - made even more beautiful by huge amounts of Atoms (about 40 at one stage) all pulling in
9.00am - Up to the really rather nice Clubhouse owned and maintained by the Bugatti Owners club for coffee and excellent bacon butties with plenty of brown sauce. Followed by an introduction to our tutors/instructors for the day who were without a doubt some of the most friendly and enthusiastic people you could ever meet.
10am ish - Out of the Clubhouse to walk the hill in 4 groups. Having 'cheated' and been to this course before before I made a beeline to the group being taken up by Sandra - a lady I find fascinating. At first glance she looks like a rather nice lady in her 60's I would guess (hopefully if you ever read this Sandra I haven't got that wrong
), the sort of person you wouldn't mind being your mum. The fascination starts when you see the steely look in her eyes that singles her out as someone not to be trifled with...... This lady drives a Pilbeam single seater (Google it - mental) powered by a 600BHP ex-Mika Hakkinen Judd Formula One engine in the British Hill Climb Championship - she's a multiple champion too..................
11am ish - Convoy and individual runs begin. After 6 months away from the place I had forgotten how nadgetty, tight and tricky this course is - all too easy to get sucked into going into turns too fast, missing the apex, running wide then having to deal with the inevitable oversteer on the exit. As soon as that happens the line to the next corner is gone, then the next and the next and another precious run is ruined! By the second run I start to remember the lines and what the instructors have told us and drive as smoothly as possible - trying to ignore the fact that my third hand and on the wear bars A048's just push the front going into turns then give snap oversteer on the exit. It's a case of waiting until the car is almost completely straight before pointing and squirting to the next corner.
1pm - We break for lunch. We've only had 3 runs so far, mainly due to some mild over-exuberance by a few of our number resulting in one trip into the kitty litter/soft barriers and one excursion over the side of a very steep bank. Thankfully both escaped without damage - apart from to their egos
Lunch is as good as I remember and taken in the good company of friends and fellow owners. A fantastic atmosphere in the place.... After lunch the instructors roll out the projector and play the 'horror movie' (as one wit remarked) of our morning runs. After a decent amount of laughter and sarcy comments from the instructors we head back out to the hill for more individual runs.
2pm - It seemed to click in the afternoon. I was still pretty nervous of my past their best tyres so not exactly going hard but I was starting to string some decent runs together and lean on the car a bit more. By the end of the fourth run (no more mis-haps in the afternoon
) I'm starting to feel like I'm getting somewhere and gutted that the day is drawing to a close. Judging by the happy faces around me everyone is sharing my sentiments and just wanting one more go....it's addictive this lark.
4.30pm - We retire to the clubhouse for the presentation, tea, cakes, biscuits and the final 'video nasty'. It's glaringly obvious from the film of the afternoon runs that everyone has learnt a lot during the day and really taken on what they have been told. After a final chat and few words we're back down to the paddock to saddle up for our molecule to Whittlebury Hall Hotel near Silverstone.
5pm - Paul Yarsley sits waiting to lead the convoy on his fun route but people just start going off - so in the end he just goes for it. Doesn't help me a lot though as I'm still not even in the car let alone kitted up and ready to go!! As I end up setting off about 5 minutes after everyone else I decide to drive like a loony and try to catch up with the convoy. In doing so I catch up with Atom120 and Richard Marler doing pretty much exactly the same thing and we have a very entertaining run into the hotel.
7pm ish - Arrival at the hotel. It soon becomes clear that we are the first in - not surprising really given our spirited drive!! After checking in we decide to hit the bar instead of going to the room for a shower. Over the next hour people drift in in dribs and drabs until we have a full compliment. I find 15 mins to have a quick shower and ring the good lady - then straight back to the bar again!
9pm ish - We sit down to a very nice dinner, enjoyed by all I think. One by one the weary but happy faces drift off to bed....
2am - RS4 George, Justin Swift, Oi Oi Treacle, Reg and I decide it's time for bed (mainly I suspect because they have shut the bar!). Reg and I have a 6am start in the morning to get ready for the Hooning and Honing................
All in all
Great day, great cars, great weather, great friends, great food.....and great cider
When's the next one?