Bruntingthorpe TVR Track Event
The first TMS Trackday held on 29th March
report by Paul Calland


I have been a member of the TVR Car Club for many years, the membership number of 5032 gives it away. In all that time I have often thought of doing a trackday but never seemed to get round to it. Having started with a Taimar, then an S2, before working working my way up to my current TVR, a Griffith 4.3, I have enthusiastically driven many miles both in the UK and abroad. Maybe I was put off by the tales of potential visits into the scenery, fantastic tyre and brake wear in a very short space of time or just the very 'seriousness' of it all. However I finally made a decision that the only way to find out just what my TVR was capable of, was to get signed up for the next one. Consequently when the Bruntingthorpe details appeared it looked ideal as it appeared to be aimed more at the 'novice'. I signed up and went and evicted some spiders from my crash helmet - last used after a brief foray into motorbikes a few years earlier!

The day started very bright and early at Bruntingthorpe, which is an absolutely huge ex USAAF airfield apparently populated by all the spare Ford Focus's and Trucks currently for sale in the UK. All drivers have to sign in and a briefing was given by Steve Guglielmi (2002 Tuscan Champion) about rules, regulations, flags, procedures etc. This is all very straightforward and mostly common sense. After this all the participating TVRs followed Steve round the circuit on a familiarisation run. The circuit itself being part of a runway has the massive benefit of huge grass run off areas all round and more importantly no TVR unfriendly armco barriers. A couple of coned chicanes had been set out to limit speeds on the two long straights. It all looked less daunting by the minute. The paddock area was exceptionally friendly and with some 'hanging around' between runs gives you plenty of time to chat to other drivers, peer under bonnets and enjoy the really quite excellent sausage and bacon rolls from the 'burger van'. As is usual at Trackdays there was even mechanical help on hand from the organisers - although I don't think they did much business.

Cars were let out in groups by the marshals so that no more than a certain number were on the track at any one time. It was simply a matter of joining the short queue when you felt ready to do another run. I had imagined that there would be a lot of pressure from other drivers and as a 'newbie' didn't want to get in anyones way, possibly spoiling their tracktime. However as everyone seemed evenly spaced and the circuit was wide and easily visible it was much easier than I expected to get going. A lot had been mentioned about moving over to let faster cars through and although there weren't many good overtaking spots for the more cautious of us I did manage to pass a few cars. Yes OK they were indicating for me to pass and had obviously slowed down, but its a start.

During the morning I was introduced to a TVRCC member who obviously won the 'who travelled furthest' award. Mike had flown in from Ontario in Canada just for the weekend and was being shown all the sights by Richard Mayoh. As the owner of one of the only TVR Griffith 4.3's in Canada Mike was interested in comparisons with my Griff (he also owns a Wedge), so after I had done the first run round the track solo, I plucked up the courage to give him a ride round as my first passenger. I don't think you could ever wish to meet someone so enthusiastic about TVR's, and he didn't have a bad thing to say about my attempts round the circuit either. He did also get rides with 'proper' drivers who had done it before, including taking his life in his own hands by getting into another ocean haze Griff which set off a little quicker than I did, much to the dismay of his tyres (Marcus!), left nice patterns on the runway though!!



Everything stopped temporarily at lunch, which gave us time to see what else had been laid on during the day. TMS had a setup a display trailer and also had a wide range of 'shiny' bits available to buy courtesy of Leven Technology. More importantly though they had brought along a number of demo TVRs which were available for test blasts down another section of runway just for the asking. I managed a go in the new T350 - what a car, (although I do like the noise my Griff makes more) - the only thing is getting used to the floor hinged pedals, others went for the Tuscan S or Tamora. The TVR club had brought the club trailer and TVR no2, and Richard (its owner) managed to take it out for a run on the empty runway the previous evening when he arrived. There was a concours competition and I believe an autotest, although I didn't see this myself and a second 'burger van' - this was actually quite important as the paddock was on the far side of the circuit and it wasn't possible to get from one sided to the other when the track was being used.

More runs on the track in the afternoon meant that everyone got plenty of track time and definately got their moneys worth, it was a comparitively cheap trackday in the first place. Things were cut slightly shorter than actually planned when a little overexuberance on the end of the far straight left a Tuscan on the grass. It looked at first like they could just drive back on as there was no damage at all, however when the pasenger got out to push it became obvious they had come to rest 'italian job' style, balanced on a slight ridge or something. Due to the time of day the track sessions were stopped and help was sent out to recoved the Tuscan. Apart from a couple of spins earlier in the day, this was the only incident, if you could actually call it that.

The day was finished with a grand 'sprint' finale on the UKs longest runway - all two miles of it. Cars where lined up in two columns and let loose at intervals to see what terminal velocity they could reach - brilliant fun and a unique experience. There were even a few non-TVRs to add interest - although the sight of a Noble against a Ducati motorbike was definately a one off.

All in all a great introduction to trackdays. Yes I did put more miles on my tyres than I would have done driving normally, and I am sure I picked up some new stonechips - but I could never have done anything like the sort of driving I experienced anywhere else. As Steve Guglielmi had pointed out it was an ideal opportunity to see what would happen when you try different things in the corners - but in a safe environment, and after all I had bought my TVR to drive...

Thanks to the sponsors and organisers, TMS and Guglielmi Motorsport, and to Richard Mayoh from the TVRCC who helped pull it all together.

Paul Calland - Joint RO TVRCC Cumbria

PS there is another one in May - see the home page/events list for details!