Dave H and me at Castle Combe

['The Gaffer']

Bit of a BMW fest here but the club is open to sports and performance cars

Joined by Dave H in his M3, I did my first trackday in the Alpina Roadster S at Castle Combe circuit recently and have to say I was quite impressed with the car. I am still a novice but was happy with my performance too. The track was wet with cold drizzle all day so not the best for a first time outing but I took it reasonably steady and practiced driving very smoothly - with not a single spin all day. This was probably helped by some tuition from Tim at BHP, without his help I doubt whether I would have ventured out on track at all in those conditions.

The only mods done were to change the pads and brake fluid, I reckon the standard pads would have only lasted a couple of laps before frying and the fluid was changed just to be safe to avoid boiling. I trialled some Carbone Lorraine pads and was very pleased with them. A very big thanks to Dave H for doing this job for me.

My previous trackdays have been done in a kit car weighing no more than 460kg so I was expecting the Roadster to be very different.

Different it was, but in a nice way, the car flowed nicely and was very smooth. Cornering felt stable with very little body roll. No problem with power, the car pulled very well and induced some 'interesting' wheelspin in higher gears on the wet surface.

Great fun was had and cant wait to try again, but in the dry. And best of all? Unlike the kit car, I now have a roof and a heater

Here's a few pics of Dave and I having some fun...

[robp]

Heh, nice photos.  Glad to see you had a good time at Combe.  You're brave lads pushing it around there in the wet.  It can get very greasy in those conditions.

[David H]

Awesome day!

Wheel spin at 90 in the wet at Combe was terrifying.

It was very slippery so I found discipline was the order of the day. I was so tired from concentrating keeping the M on the black stuff that I fell asleep as soon as I got home. The day has taught me a lot about my cars handling.

Hardly any tyre wear and the car was hardly stretched.

Well done Phil, great drive. And wasn't it comfortable mate!

Heating on......

[Daley Down Under]

Angelsey next I hear?

Adrian

[David H]

O yes... Saturday!!

Its cold here by the way.

[Daley Down Under]

Not a problem with a roof and a heater