Harewood hillclimb school

[Shaun_E]

As the cat was let out of the bag on another thread , I thought I'd let you know how our day at Harewood went.

Gill and I, Tam and Michael, Martin and Julie decided to get some instruction (or sneaky practice as some of you might see it ) at the Harewood hillclimb school yesterday. The four southerners stayed in a Travel Inn Wednesday night and arrived bright and early at the venue (before the locals of course ). After coffee and registration there was a short briefing and introduction to the course and how to drive it. We were then divided into groups of 5 or 6 people to one instructor and walked the course. This took around 3/4 of an hour and was very detailed. Cones had been placed for turn in, apex and exit and we were all surprised at just how late the turn in and apex are - we were told that it was almost impossible to turn in too late! Next we each had a run up the hill with the instructor in the car. We were asked not to go flat out but to concentrate on getting the turn in and lines right and then had a debrief and pointers as to what to try on the next runs. We had another 3 runs up the hill and the instructors were happy to come out with us at any point - I found this very useful and had as many runs as I could with our instructor (Richard Spedding) in the car. Richard helped me get the first corner right (I was turning in too early) and gave me some great tips on Quarry (the final corner). I also got a very good line through the esses allowing me to get on the power much earlier up towards Country.

At lunch (very good!) we watched video shot from various corners showing just how wrong we got them and then were back on the course for more runs, this time without the cones. Sadly, the rain set in for the afternoon but we got lots of practice at driving in the wet. Our assessed runs were in the wet which made things tricky 😳. There was more video debriefing at the end of the day before certificates were handed out. All in all an excellent course.

Yellow trowel awards go to Michael (luckliy cosmetic damage only and a car full of gravel) and to Gill for hitting all three markers into the esses.

The rain was falling hard as we left and Drowned Rat Racing lived up to their name. Gill and I put the half hood up for the first time in over a year but poor Tam and Michael got absolutely drenched crawling through the traffic around Leeds. By our first petrol stop they were soaked to the skin, freezing cold and looking forward to a hot bath, cup of tea and a large whisky!

Despite the rain it was a fantastic day and I can definitely recommend the course.

 

Yellow SL #32 - member of Drowned Rat Racing

 

Edited by - Shaun_E on 27 Jun 2008 10:55:05

[KenEvans]

Dave Wilson and Joy Hoyle from the Midland Hillclimb Championship were there too in the pink 2.0Vx. I believe they chatted to some of the L7C gang. I wish I could have gone.

[Tam]

Dave and Joy were in our group - nice people It was fun watching the tin tops go up the hill too - including a merc estate!

 

It was a really good day, it a rather wet and cold drive home. I had to order a chicken jalfrezi for supper to warm me up 😬

 

Tam

Drowned Rat Racing

[robmar]

Merc Estate - I wondered why Adrian was late for curry last night 😬

[Adrian Williams]

Cover blown 😔

 

Adrian

[The Comp Sec]

Thats the Captain for you. He new it was going to rain you see

[Harry No Sheds Flatters]

...and I had given the Merc a quick polish to reduce the drag

 

 

[Simon.Rogers1]

But it does drag things rather fast or so I've been told. 😬