Brooklands 21 June

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

My first foray over to the circuit at Mercedes Benz world at Brooklands, and it was, well, interesting.

The circuit is extremely tight and twisty with 2 * 180 bends a straight bit and the rest just cornering all the time. Cornering used to be the one area where I could save time by sweeping round bends faster than the others, but having been out for a couple of years, had a nervous start, and everyone suddenly seemed much quicker than me, with a long sweeping right hander that I was struggling to get round and sprinting every lap to close the gap. After 10 laps, the E12's caught us and I managed to hang on to them for a couple of laps, then they in turn caught the 4ths, and got caught behind a slower rider into the wind and couldn't make up the gap. Resigned to dropping back to the group coming up which was essentially the group I started in.
Confidence was now growing and cornering speed improving (the surface is really grippy), clipped my left pedal on the ground and a couple of laps later the right, which is a bit unsettling.
Coming to the last lap, our group was fighting for the finish and I got it all wrong going up the outside and unable to make up places, whereas the shadow sneaked up the inside and got a perfect position, whereby he sprinted hard and won the sprint from our group to take 9th place overall Well done Steve. Nice bike as well I rolled in at the back for 15th, after a hard but in a massochistic sort of way, enjoyable race.

[-Adam-]

[quote="mrpvt"]clipped my left pedal on the ground and a couple of laps later the right, which is a bit unsettling.

[Stu Merckx Man]

well done paul and steve, great result for steve!

i did that course a few weeks ago with paul H.

it was good fun to start off with, but then i found it a bit boring after a while, as it seamed a bit monotonous, it was also pretty tough considering the flatness, as it was a bit breezy, and a lot of sprinting out corners!...although i did end up lapping paul...yep you all heard it right...i lapped paul

[Ian A4size]

[quote]i lapped paul

[Andrew G]

Nice work fellas. Good stuff Steve, looks like Palace is paying off when you hit a flatter circuit.

[Steve B]

Well that was interesting
25 laps of a very twisty, turny, leany over a lot track

3 from Addiscombe, Me Paul and Fred?(sorry if I'm wrong).
I quite liked the track really, as there was always something to keep your mind occupied, never any time to get bored because the next corner would be right on top of you. As for the corners, they were all different, but in their own way, all challenging. Because of it being a car testing track there was alot of rubber laid down in the corners and as a result you could lean over a huge amount with confidence that the tyres would stick. I think there was a lot more speed in the corners if you really had the bottle, but I wasn't prepared to test this out.

We set off first, as 4th cats, 3rds a minute or so after and then the rest.
I ended up on the front doing 85-90% of the work, which was ok cos I felt quite good (no hills you see), but I didn't bust a gut as I knew that eventually we would get caught. However this took a lot longer than I first thought, and when we did it was the 1's and 2's and not the 3rds.
Me and one other guy jumped in as they overtook us, and we managed to hang on for a couple of laps until the elastic band broke. I went first and the other guy just after.

So I was on my own now, but jumping in on the fast guy had opened up the gap back to the 3rds. Turned out to be a bad thing because it just meant cycling into the strong wind up the long straight more than if I was in a group.

When the group behind got closer I eased up, and as they went passed I tucked in. "Take a rest", Paul said as he went passed me, and so I did.
Sitting in the group was indeed a good rest compared to the previous 16or17 laps. Paul looked quite strong and comfortable in the group and I decided to make sure I was close to him, as I knew he would be right up there at the finish. With guys pulling off at the front I found myself doing a bit of work again but with still a few laps to go this was ok.

2 laps to go and the pace picked up, as it always does. One guy got 20m on us but came back as quick as he went off, and then another 2 went but with no conviction. Past the finish line with 1 lap to go, I found myself about 10th in the group and realised I had to move in to the top 5 by the end of the straight as there wasn't much chance of overtaking on the bends, and I didn't want to be too far back out of the tight 180 degree bend at the botom of the finishing straight. I made a great move up the inside and found myself in 4th. One guy opened up his legs and strung out the group round all the bends and in to the finishing straight. Pick the right gear now and start sprinting. Damn, wrong gear, legs spinning. I'd already overtaken 1 guy, but still 2 in front of me. Quick flick of the shifter and I was off. With 30m still to go I managed to take both of the other riders for a nice sprint win (albeit for 9th place in the race).

I don't think I would like to race there all the time but every now and again would be just fine

Steve

[Andrew G]

Some great bike banking [url=http://www.dgs-photography.co.uk/cyclingphotos/index.asp?Mainpage=../cyclingphotos/eventthumbs.asp?Foldername=mbws210607&Index=1]photos[/url] chaps.

[Ian A4size]

Nice find Andrew.

Page 5 for shadow and Paul testing their grip.

[Paul H]

Stu - you did not lap me. You had half a lap headstart.

When done Paul and Steve - I think that it was the hardest course I've done.

[Toks]

Well done Steve. You've kept everyone waiting for at least three years but you're finally turning into a Road Racer now

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

[url]http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/content/unitedkingdom/mpc/mpc_unitedkingdom_website/en/home_mpc/MB_World_Brooklands/home/drive/driving_experiences.html#mainnav[/url]

Can see in small shot on main page the twisty circuit.