Croft Track day 18/9/04 Report

[jay12329]

As I left the house on Friday it began to rain, a great start to the weekend.
I arrived at the B&B with no real dramas at about 7:30pm. Checked my phone and korn and bendy were at a pub some where on the A1 about and hour away! So I got sorted with a room and hug around waiting for them. They eventually turned up at about 9:30. We chatted for a bit and went to bed.
Next morning I woke up to be greeted with gray clouds and drops of rain on the window. As we eat breakfast we noticed a number of bikes go by and the rain slowly got worse. At the track the picture wasn’t any better.
Korn went out first with the rest of the inters and reported back that the track was flooded in one area, both cold and wet bendy and myself sat miserable while we waited for our first session. Once out it wasn’t that bad the track was quickly developing a dry line. It was all going well until a Muppet on his 3rd sighting lap decided to bin it big stylie out of a chicane and leave oil all over the track, just as I was starting my first proper lap. After the delay we were sent out for a full 20mins. The track was excellent damp in places but a lot of fun.
After an early lunch so they could clean up the oil the action started up again. When the novices got back on the track it was almost dry with only a few wet patches off the main line. I was really getting into it and towards the end of one of my faster laps I was getting stuck behind someone I decided to poke it down the inside on the brakes just as I went for the gap he started to move over into the gap I was going for, I slammed the brakes on the back stepped out and started to skip along the ground. I crawled around the next 2 turns and went into the pits for a clean set of trousers. As the afternoon progressed I was getting more confident even managed to get my knee down for the fist time in the corner I tried to kill myself on earlier. I got my knee down quite a bit after I knew I could.
All in all a great day, there were a few nobs in the group, one of which went past me in through a gap that didn’t exist going into a corner next lap round who was lying in the gravel trap in the same place?! No one from BCF binned it.
We have to go to go to croft again such a great track.
J

[iCraig]

Sounds like a good day .

[Bendy]

BCF Go Norf.

As all the other southerners had wussed out (you know who you are) it was just myself and Korn making the trip up to North Yorkshire. With weather forecasts looking iffy and a 255 mile schlepp ahead of us, morale was not high. M1 sucked more than it usually does but eventually we're on the A1. Place names start looking familiar and we realise we're in the territory of The Northerners.

The realisation that Dean's pub is somewhere nearby slowly dawns, and just as Korn says "I reckon we're getting very near the BCF boozer..." I spot the sign. Quick u-ie and nearly stacking the trailer down the potholed road, we arrive at the Boot & Shoe. Wander in and give Dean and Chez a fright, and get free food! Bonus.

Onwards up the A1, looking for the B&B. Slight detour (ahem) to a 3 house village called Ashby-Wiske, and we arrive at the B&B which is only a mile and a half down the road from the circuit itself. Chill and sleep.

Saturday morning we're rudely awoken at 7am and open the curtains to find... big black clouds. Bugger.

We get our shit together and head up to the circuit to find there are very few garages (and they've all been taken) and no power for Korn's newly aquired tyre warmers. We retire to a corner of the paddock and stand around grumbling and looking at the sky.

Briefing's the usual stuff, except for the rain hammering on the roof of the garage. I notice that for the first time on a trackday, I'm the only girl riding - all the other members of my gender clearly have more sense...

After watching the intermediate and fast groups toddling around in the rain, the novices are up. Three sighting laps behind the instructor, taken nice and slowly so you can see where the puddles are and scope out the wet leaves round the back of the circuit. Get the green flag, hack it up the straight, round the corner and am greeted by a marshall running across the track towards a 'blade on it's side. Red flag cos some eejit at the back of the sighting lap has managed to bin it before even getting started. Trundle back to the pits and sit around for ages while they pick him and his bike up, chuck some sand down to soak up the oil and cone off the spill which is fortunately just off the racing line. They fiddle the times though, and we get sent out for our full 20 minute session.

It's wet, but it's not too bad until the rain actually starts to fall towards the end. Since it's early in the day, everyone's taking it easy and just learning the circuit, so I just wander round finding where the grip is and where it isn't.

I think we got one more session in before the early lunch - by now there was a big blue hole in the cloud and the previous groups had worn a clear dry line around the track at the beginning of the session... by the end the wet bits were the minority although you still had to be careful of those leaves. Careful doesn't mean you can't ride over them though, as I had a guy on a Fazer thou round the outside over them.

Lunch is called so the marshalls can have a crack at the oil from the earlier 'blade crash. Swaffs and co. turn up to watch and by now it's got really rather pleasant - sunny with a bit of a wind, but the wind's helping things to dry out.

Inters are first out after lunch so I take a wander to take some pics of Korn. This is a big plus for Croft - there's loads of easily accessible places to watch and you can get right up to the armco if you like. There's also a huge curving mound, quite high, that you can see a lot of the circuit from the top of. Had a laugh watching Korn passing lots of people round the outside, including some of the 100% instructors.

https://www.evilbendy.co.uk/gallery/albums/croft/normal_PICT0040.JPG

Back out for novices... I'm having trouble remembering what happened in which session so I'll summarise. Had a good battle with a gixxer 600, I'd pass him, he'd pass me, I'd pass him again, he'd pass me again, went on for quite a few corners. Got overtaken by an idiot on another gixxer 6 who decided to use the shrinking foot and a half between me and the kerb instead of the massive space on my left - mate, you're lucky I heard you coming. . The last couple of sessions were my best, the final one I was the last bike to line up to go out (lots of people went home early) so I just hung back a bit and got about 4 or 5 laps with no-one in front and no-one behind, so just worked on my gears and braking points.

https://www.evilbendy.co.uk/gallery/albums/croft/normal_PICT0074.JPG

Very pleased with the circuit in general, it's a nice mix of fast and slow corners with enough room to have a go at things, without being as vast as Silverstone. Few bumpy patches though that you have to pay attention to, and a nice bump on the straight that I got an ickle power wheelie off a few times - simple things like that please me.

https://www.evilbendy.co.uk/gallery/albums/croft/normal_PICT0170.JPG

We took our time packing up, all rather relieved no-one had stacked it as certainly me and Korn were both feeling a little overdue. No huge drive home that night, so we went back to the B&B for a bit then hit the bright lights of Northallerton. Mmmm.

6 hours back down the M1 this morning, job done. Plans are already being made for another northern expedition in the summer.

Check out some more pictures at https://www.evilbendy.co.uk/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=35

[Keith]

Sounds like you had a good day. Hopefully i'll be able to join in next time.

I was going to come along and watch but I didn't get my bike back from the workshop until after 12 and the strong wind put me off.

Some nice pics you also got.
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Aprilia RSV Mille R Edwards Replica - Aprilia RS250 - Suzuki GSXR600 Supersport Race Bike

[Korn]

The journey up seemed to be one big traffic jam, with the rain coming down most of the way - but once we arrived in the vicinity of the circuit we had none of the usual "sleeping in a field" woes and promptly got settled into our nice little B&B. Warm, dry, and with en suite miniature ponies... sorted

https://www.kornel.com/pics/Croft/t1.jpg

Having rolled out of bed, showered and eaten breakfast the next morning we took a look at the grim dark skies outside and headed off gingerly down the 1 mile road to the circuit to try and bag a pit garage. Ha, no chance! Although Croft does have a full set of garages nearly all of them were being used to store cars and so locked, with the two or three that were up for grabs having already been bagsied and full of bikes.

https://www.kornel.com/pics/Croft/t2.jpg

The rain had been falling overnight but was at tolerable minor drizzle levels, until the briefing where it seemed that as soon as the bloke from 100% started his talk - water poured from the skies outside and tried to drown out his lecture. With the briefing done and the rain somewhat subsided I was in the first group due out on track. Having never done a trackday in anything but the dry and not bringing the right gizmo to plug in my tyre warmers into the only available power I was, err, a little bit nervous

https://www.kornel.com/pics/Croft/t3.jpg

The first session was very wet with one part of the track being under a puddle, but the rain had almost stopped and because of a brisk wind things were drying rapidly. By the time Jay & Bendy got out on track things were improving with an almost-dry line through some corners thanks to the fast group and their wet weather tyres.

https://www.kornel.com/pics/Croft/t4.jpg

Lunch was called early due to a dumped fireblade-full of oil on one of the chicanes so while the marshals worked to cement over and cone off the spill we sat around watching the skies turn a brilliant shade of blue. The first session out after lunch the track was basically dry, and having had time in the slow pace wet sessions to learn the circuit and plot a few lines I had a right good laugh carving my way around

https://www.kornel.com/pics/Croft/t5.jpg

Post 12 o'clock our rain-sodden gloomy trackday had turned into a gorgeous sunny affair with stacks of grip. The circuit proved brilliant fun with slow hairpins & chicanes and very fast technical corners. The chicane leading onto the start/finish straight stood out as a great laugh for me, pulling huge wheelies past the bemused marshall stood at the start of the pit wall. (well, they did mention in the briefing that you might have the front come up a bit out of there )

https://www.kornel.com/pics/Croft/t6.jpg

Having finished the day with no casualties and only a few ohshit moments between us, we retired to Royston Vasey and took in the night life. After visiting the local goth pub, meeting hoardes of made up slappers, eating takeaway that would make your arteries cry and driving 20 miles through the pitch black countryside for a piss - we called it a night and beat a path back to the B&B.

In the morning we said goodbye to Jay and started the long slog back home, taking in the entire M1 from junction 48 down to 1 - and then some. The drive went smoothly thanks to a combination of a decent night's sleep, a flowing motorway and a caravan stabiliser fitted to the bike trailer which allowed us to really take the piss and achieve three figure towing speeds.

https://www.kornel.com/pics/Croft/t7.jpg

So, all in all, a fantastic weekend! Thanks to Jay & Bendy for braving the weather and Swaffs 'n co for providing paddock companionship. Even considering the epic distance - my car's tripmeter now reads 660 miles - Croft is a great circuit and we need to do it again, this time with the full posse in attendance
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3516 Miles, 11 Countries

[Diehard]

Well count me in! I'll av to get a few in before next summer then I can call it my 'home' circuit, and act like I know it well . Was sitting in work gazing out of the window over the fields towards the circuit and feeling very depressed! Glad yas had a good time. Might be able to reccomend some good places to stay and go for yas next time too.
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If I Die... I Die!