The Cryptolambo had gone to the moon... Time for Cryptolambo 2!!!

Sgarrista
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Hey all!

So went to Donington today with @Gibbo and a bunch of the GTR boys for a private day. And wow, what a day.

Lets start with the conditions.

If you disrespected the track today at all it spat you out hard. The snow last night with no rain and with it staying cold and wet all day meant it was like driving on ice as all the oil and aviation fuel was just sat on the track all day. I have helpfully renamed the corners to give you an idea:

Donington-Park-Circuit-map-GPDestinations-com-scaled.jpg




Of particular note was esses, hairpin and goddards. These were absolutely terrifying, Goddards managed to roll a mini and eat a seat.

The backend completely lost it a few times, fortunately the worst was down mcleans as I tried to trail-brake in and it just went "nope, not today". Spun me around and ended up pointing in the right direction so carried on.

Despite that, we only had those 2 red flags, and I managed to hammer out a good 50+ laps, most of which were 5-6 people out, it was so low grip people just didnt want to drive it, which was great for those maniacs who did.

Gibbo got a couple of vids of my flybys, and theres some in car footage of mine to come, including where I cooked the brake fluid off and lost all brakes. So had to engine brake to make it back into the pits, that was a scary moment when youre traveling 100+mph down the back straight, in tragic conditions and manage to lose any ability to stop.



Many more pics and vids to come, including moments like this:

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Man of Honour
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I did a track day there in the wet last year in my old R8 and my mates MX5 race car. Great fun was had but it's very slippy. R8 was peerless in the wet, really very clever but had to be careful with the front and under brakes is it was torrential and cold for July!

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You were on the full GP which I don't like because it cooks brakes due to adding 2 hairpins. National is a superb track.
 
OcUK Staff
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I did a track day there in the wet last year in my old R8 and my mates MX5 race car. Great fun was had but it's very slippy. R8 was peerless in the wet, really very clever but had to be careful with the front and under brakes is it was torrential and cold for July!

LNXjdOF.jpg

eI0rjK2.jpg
XZ4B70N.jpg

You were on the full GP which I don't like because it cooks brakes due to adding 2 hairpins. National is a superb track.



@Housey trust me this was nothing like a typical wet Donnington, I’ve done a lot of wet days there before but today was just absolute terrible.

If it had rained consistently today everybody would be far better off. The problem was there was no water as such on the track it was just covered in aviation fuel and very greasy. It was pretty terrifying, no car today on track had any pace at all apart from one guy in a full prep Lotus Exige race car running Dunlop racing wet tyres. Every other car was all over the place lol.

However it was epic fun!

I have an in car video but it’s not fast but I’ll post it up but the Exige was very slippy, front end was terrible, understeer and locking up so easy under braking. Slowest I’ve ever driven Donnington by some margin!

And yes GP layout I hate it because it just does not flow as well.


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bJN

bJN

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Pictures look good!

I thought the whole aviation fuel debacle was a myth? Surely all the grass would be dead if that were the case? :p
 
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Pictures look good!

I thought the whole aviation fuel debacle was a myth? Surely all the grass would be dead if that were the case? :p

The instructors and the guys who race there don’t seem to think so and judging by yesterdays hilarious levels of grip I’d say it’s certainly no myth at all.


Recorded a few laps at the end:



Still great fun just a shame could not push the car hopefully next when will be dry or full wet conditions.
 
Man of Honour
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I went for a drive yesterday and the combination of damp, cold and muck made for hilariously sideways driving everywhere. Cup tyres need heat to function and dryness and I could not find either. Race tracks always seem slippier to me when the roads are like that so it doesn’t surprise me.

I remember a test session I had at Silverstone years back. It was soaking and leaving the pits I nearly spun with a throttle input that wouldn’t scare a milk float.
 
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I went for a drive yesterday and the combination of damp, cold and muck made for hilariously sideways driving everywhere. Cup tyres need heat to function and dryness and I could not find either. Race tracks always seem slippier to me when the roads are like that so it doesn’t surprise me.

I remember a test session I had at Silverstone years back. It was soaking and leaving the pits I nearly spun with a throttle input that wouldn’t scare a milk float.


Yeah it was not nice mate, but I learnt the car, turned the traction totally off for last few laps as track was empty and the low speed stuff seems very manageable but the medium to high speed the Exige seems to be very aggressive it just lets go all of a sudden. The steering that is not so great on the road does really feel awesome though on the track.

Jumped in the Yaris to go IKEA and the difference just immediate grip from the first turn of the wheel.

If I start doing a lot of track days in the Exige I will look into another set of wheels with a focused wet tyre, maybe something like Rainsport 5’s etc.
 
Man of Honour
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When it’s dry and warm the cups come into their own. When it’s not either it’s hard work. Race wet tyres are what you want. Their grip level is off the scale to a road tyre.
 
Man of Honour
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Good on you for taking the car out on a track like that, let alone on a track. I don't think I have ever seen one on track, Lambo drivers are not common on track days sadly.
 
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Good on you for taking the car out on a track like that, let alone on a track. I don't think I have ever seen one on track, Lambo drivers are not common on track days sadly.

Jon is not your typical Lambo owner like you say they are a rare site at track days.
 
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