Anglesey is a coastal circuit in north Wales, and the only thing putting me off was the forecast of nothing but heavy rain from Thursday to the following Tuesday. There was not even a window of dry weather, and we then found out that Anglesey do not have any pit garages. I have been looking forward to doing a wet track day for a long time, but not when there is nowhere to shelter. Once you're wet, you stay wet, and with nowhere to shelter I got Matt to call up Circuit Days and see if we could take a credit not for another day.
They explained that with so many kit cars that attend, they do not allow cancellations unless they are over 7 days before the event since no one would turn up if the weather looked bad. This is fair enough, so on Saturday we made a few tweaks to the car (routine maintenance), and then loaded up the trailer and tools.We headed down to Jonny's house who was coming with us in his BMW 135i, and bringing up 2 of his friends. Around 2pm we left Jonny's and then headed up. Matt and I had covered the car with a waterproof sheet over the cockpit so the inside of the car would stay dry in the rain that was certain along the way. We tried a basic car cover on the trip before to Oulton Park, but we failed miserably. The air got underneath within just a few metres, and we drove under a mile at 25mph and the car cover ballooned up and we thought it would take off, so we abandoned it, and luckily it didn't rain.
This trip was different though - we KNEW it would rain, and heavily, so the second go at weather gear (codenamed WG2) had to work a lot better. The sheet was wedged under the bonnet, and then just covered the cockpit - the idea being the air would pass over it and hold the sheet down, as opposed to WG1, where the air got underneath and blew it up.
We had about 5 hours of driving ahead of us, and once onto the M25 the cover looked pretty good - certainly much better than the old one. However, within a few miles, the sides and rear started flapping about loads. We were tempted to pull over and fix it, but we decided it wasn't going anywhere, so we made it to Toddington Services on the M1 after about 1 hour and fixed it there.
Jonny had a really good idea. The front was fine, but he punched a hole in the cover at the sides, wrapped the cover around the roll cage, and then cable tied it. We did 2 each side, and then one at the rear. Any air that did get under the cover could easily escape out of the rear, so no pressure would build up at all. High pressure in - low pressure out. We code named this WG2.1 since it wasn't a completely new revision, but just modified a little. Jonny did an excellent job, as it stayed on perfectly.
Many miles later the weather was still looking fine, that was until we arrived at the RAC control centre on the M6 when the sky turned BLACK and just opened up. The rain was so heavy that a few cars had pulled over as they didn't deem it safe to drive, but WG2.1 looked as stable as ever. We thought that a puddle might have formed on top though so we planned a stop once in Wales to remove the puddle on the cover.
The rain didn't last long, and blue sky was ahead so we carried on into Wales. My girlfriend went to uni in Wales and always told me how beautiful it was, but I just thought, "How good could it be?" Once we arrived on the A5 I was just amazed at how beautiful the drive was. Rock faces right next to you, amazing scenery, vast hills, and everything so green. The rest of the journey seemed easy since there was so much to take in.The plan was to drive along the A5 and then do a lap of the "Evo Traiangle" which is a favorite road section of the evo magazine staff that joins up into a triangle. Unfortunately it was raining though, so we decided to leave the Busa on the trailer and press on, so we only drove one of the 3 sides of the triangle.
We arrived at Bangor Travelodge around 9:30pm and it was pouring with rain. It looked like none had made it into the cabin though which was brilliant. We stopped at the petrol station next door first so we didn't get wet. We locked the Busa to the trailer, covered the entire car with the car cover used for WG1 (it works just fine at stand-still), and then parked up in the car park. We had something to eat, watched the rest of the Eurovision Song Contest (the Norway song was useless but hey, you can't control the politics of international voting), and then went to bed.
Waking up the next morning, the weather showed that Anglesey was the only place that wasn't going to get rain. We made our way to the circuit and a few miles away it started to rail heavily - so much for the weather report! We got to Anglesey and left the Busa on the trailer covered up to avoid it taking in too much water. The weather was terrible, and nowhere for the cars to stay dry. Circuit Days said it was fine to use the MG (the tow car) if we wanted to. We did the sighting laps in the MG so we would take in the track, and then the rain started to ease. No one else seemed to care about keeping their cars dry though. Caterhams with open tops etc. were just left to get soaked! Maybe we were worrying too much.The rain stopped and the circuit was soaked, but this was ideal for me as I really wanted to try it out in the wet. I have been looking forward to a wet track day for a while now. I did the first session and it was exactly how I imagined it. We softened off the suspension damping and headed out. You go into the corner carefully and apply smooth steering lock, and then when you power, do it smoothly. If the car is pushing too wide in a corner, you can just dab the power and it will bring the rear round really nicely. You can't go fast, but it's really great fun guiding the Westfield through the corners. I did about 8 laps, and then came off to let Matt have a go.
He had a good time too, but was heavily frustrated that he just couldn't go the pace he was used to going. The rain had stopped though and there was a definite dry line forming, and the sun was out.
I couldn't believe how beautiful the circuit was. After Peel corner, the view over the sea with the sun out and the mountains in the background was just breathtaking. Without doubt the best views I have ever experienced from a racing circuit.
On my second session, the track was mostly dry but wet in places. I increased the pace massively from my last session, but still managed to run out of grip in places, so kept my pace to a reasonable level. Once I came off though the circuit was almost bone dry.We decided to firm things up to the settings we like on the car, and Matt went out with one of Jonny's passengers and absolutely destroyed the circuit. He came in really hyped up at how much speed he was able to carry compared to the last session.
Whilst Matt was out Jonny took me out in the 135i with the new brake setup we had just fitted, and they performed brilliantly. Jonny drove very well indeed. He's a lot smoother with the 135i than he used to be in the Clio, and the car handles extremely well given its size, and the fact it's totally uncompromised on the road.
I then took Jonny out in the dry in the Busa and had a fantastic session. The car handles so well and was definitely one of the fastest cars on the track. That took us up to lunch, so we headed out to get some petrol.
After lunch it started to rain again. Matt and I managed a few more sessions each in a mixture of wet and dry conditions. The rain was not heavy so sometimes would dry very quickly. We sat in the car between sessions with an umbrella which keeps the car dry and was a lot like being in a tent.
Once we reached 4pm the rain was not letting up so we put the car on the trailer and put WG2.1 back on. As soon as we had packed everything up, the sun came out, so Jonny and his passengers headed off, and Matt and I stayed to watch the track for a little longer before we left.After 15 minutes Jonny rang to say a woman had pulled out on him at a junction (totally her fault) and caused quite a bit of front end damage to his car. The car looked pretty bad but it's all superficial stuff. The only problem was it had cracked the radiator so the car could not be driven home :( He did everything he could to avoid it, but when someone pulls out on you on a wet road there is little you can do! We drove to meet them, waited for the recovery truck and then headed off. The car didn't look too pretty, but a new bumper, a new bonnet, and BMW's finest bodywork staff will have it back to brand new condition in no time. Not a great end to the day.
Anglesey is a brilliant circuit though. It's a very long drive, so next time I would stay there for an extra night and spend some more time in Wales. There are plenty of good roads to be found, and lots of scenery to take in. Looking forward to the next trip too.
Photo album of the trip can be found below:
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| Anglesey trackday 17 May 2009 |
