Oran Park has a massive reputation amongst motorsport fans. You can see the whole circuit from the grandstand, so it's great to watch from, and the course is easily the most fun of the choices in NSW. That's rarely disputed.
Over the last couple of years, I've been here to watch drift and time attack, and I just had to get on to the track before it's closure. The land has been sold to housing developers, and as of January 2010, the Oran Park circuit will no longer exist.
I was also super keen to try out the latest investment for the car: a set of track only rims, and some semi slick tyres for extra grip. The tyres on the new rims were second hand, but that suited me fine. The driving style on semi slicks is quite different to on road tyres and given the price, I didn't want to damage a new set while I was re-learning how to brake and corner.
The weather in Sydney had been great (and very hot) in the days leading up to the event, and the Sunday was no different. It was cloudy but fine, and quite hot - around 30 degrees. I wanted to get stuck into it straight away, but first session out, I took it easy while I learnt the new layout.
I pushed a little toward the end of the first session, and had a bit of a half spin from being a little too eager on the throttle. I also had driver trainer Dave Sieders in the car with me. Dave drives V8 super cars in the Fujitsu feeder series, and had some useful words of wisdom for me. He also drove my car for a few laps, which was totally exhilarating. It gave me a benchmark to chase for the rest of the day, and showed me how much potential my car has, even in it's current form!
My thoughts on the day? Fantastic, for a number of reasons. First, the track layout is fast and flowing. Once you are comfortable with the layout, you can really push yourself a little at a time to get the most out of it. It rewards a little bit more bravery, but also you're always conscious that a mistake could find you in one of the many walls that line the circuit. I can see why the track has been so popular over the years - the bumps, quick changes of direction, and constant elevation changes all give the circuit a real character. If i'm lucky, maybe i'll be able to drive the full Grand Prix circuit before it closes.
Second, driving on semi slicks (even old ones) is so much more fun than radial tyres. After two or three laps when radial tyres are starting to overheat and get slippery, semi slicks are just switching on! They feel so much more stable, and allow you to corner with greater speed and confidence. I don't think I can go back to radial tyres now!
According to the time sheets, my best was 52.3, but that was with Dave at the wheel. After seeing an individual breakdown of the times, I found my best was a 54.9, showing there's a great deal of room for improvement. Better to save that money I was going to spend on the car and enter a few more track days I think!
One final note. Today I passed a little experience milstone - my 10th track day. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was taking my humble little non-turbo S13 to Eastern Creek to play with the "big boys". On my first ever Wakefield day (2nd track day), I lapped in a best of 1:21.9. I can now do it a full 9 seconds faster than that. I guess experience does count for something.
Over the last couple of years, I've been here to watch drift and time attack, and I just had to get on to the track before it's closure. The land has been sold to housing developers, and as of January 2010, the Oran Park circuit will no longer exist.
I was also super keen to try out the latest investment for the car: a set of track only rims, and some semi slick tyres for extra grip. The tyres on the new rims were second hand, but that suited me fine. The driving style on semi slicks is quite different to on road tyres and given the price, I didn't want to damage a new set while I was re-learning how to brake and corner.
The weather in Sydney had been great (and very hot) in the days leading up to the event, and the Sunday was no different. It was cloudy but fine, and quite hot - around 30 degrees. I wanted to get stuck into it straight away, but first session out, I took it easy while I learnt the new layout.
I pushed a little toward the end of the first session, and had a bit of a half spin from being a little too eager on the throttle. I also had driver trainer Dave Sieders in the car with me. Dave drives V8 super cars in the Fujitsu feeder series, and had some useful words of wisdom for me. He also drove my car for a few laps, which was totally exhilarating. It gave me a benchmark to chase for the rest of the day, and showed me how much potential my car has, even in it's current form!
My thoughts on the day? Fantastic, for a number of reasons. First, the track layout is fast and flowing. Once you are comfortable with the layout, you can really push yourself a little at a time to get the most out of it. It rewards a little bit more bravery, but also you're always conscious that a mistake could find you in one of the many walls that line the circuit. I can see why the track has been so popular over the years - the bumps, quick changes of direction, and constant elevation changes all give the circuit a real character. If i'm lucky, maybe i'll be able to drive the full Grand Prix circuit before it closes.
Second, driving on semi slicks (even old ones) is so much more fun than radial tyres. After two or three laps when radial tyres are starting to overheat and get slippery, semi slicks are just switching on! They feel so much more stable, and allow you to corner with greater speed and confidence. I don't think I can go back to radial tyres now!
According to the time sheets, my best was 52.3, but that was with Dave at the wheel. After seeing an individual breakdown of the times, I found my best was a 54.9, showing there's a great deal of room for improvement. Better to save that money I was going to spend on the car and enter a few more track days I think!
One final note. Today I passed a little experience milstone - my 10th track day. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was taking my humble little non-turbo S13 to Eastern Creek to play with the "big boys". On my first ever Wakefield day (2nd track day), I lapped in a best of 1:21.9. I can now do it a full 9 seconds faster than that. I guess experience does count for something.
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