In the last post we were at Silverstone for a very wet track day. A week later and we found ourselves at Thruxton and again it was a very wet morning session.
Again the prep involved Road tyres for the same rsafety eason as before. This time we took a support car with us and loaded tools, picnic table, trolley jack water and a jet boil.
The session was being run by OpenTrack and the day before I’d completed the online driver information video and brief factual test.
After registration in the main reception it was over to the sound check.
Exhaust Noise Check
The noise check is held in the track’s Parc Ferme Area. The limit at Thruxton is 90dBA static at 3/4 of max revs. With the BBR exhaust this was clocked at 81dBA interestingly down from the 84 on the previous exhaust.
Then it was over to the restaurant for the drivers briefing then back to the Paddock to set the gear up for the day. We’d taken care to not park in puddles of which there were a few.
Sighting Laps
The weather delayed the sighting laps by half an hour or so due to standing water on the track. I elected to run the first and second sets of sighting laps to warm the car up and get a feel for the track.
Then it was back to the paddock and a quick check of suspension Softest +5 clicks and tyre pressures 1.8 bar. before heading back out.
Pit Lane Access
From the Paddock the Thruxton pit lane used to be accessed through the topmost garage which was always a test of nerve.This has now been removed and is now slightly less of a concern to drive through and has improved visibility.
This is just as well as with a full harness and HANS device on the helmet left-right visibility was limited.
Game On
We got laps in despite the changeable conditions.
At Thruxton due to the layout of the track we had not so many traction control issues as at Silverstone, and again no aquaplaning. So I can heartily recommend by Dunlop Sport Maxx’s as a wet choice.
In The Afternoon The Rain Stopped (Mostly)
As the track dried out times improved and confidence in the conditions increased.
In the lunch break we’d talked to several other Mk3 MX5 drivers, there was a beautiful blue Mk3 which had the full normally aspirated conversion with ITB’s which sounded great and went like a rocket past us on several laps.
This shared the same BBR manifold, mid-section and silencer options as my car and was a great advert for the upgrade and did nothing to undermine the potential as an option for future development on my car.
Having a wail of a time was also the driver of a lovely metallic red standard MK3 Sport which had been using Uniroyal Rainsport 5’s to good effect in the rain and Avon ZZR’s in the drier conditions; flying around Thruxton scarily fast.
This was as good an example of what can be achieved by a standard Mk3 MX5 driven with confidence as any I’ve seen; and a good indication of the distance I still have to go on my own journey to find an extra 15mph down the back sections of the track.
We were offered a passenger seat but frankly I was too scared to take him up on the offer.
I’ll be back at Thruxton soon. Hopefully the weather will be better.
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