20th February 2007 First Test

Any new car needs running in and a racing car is no different.

A day at Oulton Park at 80% throttle was a good shakedown for the Radical SR4 to make sure nothing fell off (it didn't) and to start to get to grips with the handling characteristics of the new car.

The day dawned dry but with a wet track and several tours in I could immediately sense the huge amount of extra grip this type of car offered. Every lap was getting faster and more assured as I was shortening my braking points, heel and toeing on the downshifts and carrying ever increasing speeds into the corners.

By lunchtime the track had dried and we were out on slicks and starting to push a little bit harder. The test day was in two sessions, single seaters and saloons/sports of which we were in the latter. This can be something of an issue as the Radical is much quicker than the average saloon racer it can cause some on track problems, particularly as there were about a dozen new Clio Cup cars testing I didn't fancy the irony of still managing to be hit by one! However my decision to have a full lighting set installed on the car was soon vindicated, the truth was I just think the car looks much better with lights, but having them on warned other cars on my impending arrival and most got out of the way in a most professional manner.

By the afternoon I was really starting to get on with the car, it is incredibly rewarding to drive and soon reassured me that it wasn't going to spit me off the road, in fact it filled me with confidence and I was soon lapping Oulton at a pace I'd only ever managed previously on a video game. Acceleration is, of course amazing given the power to weight ratio, the grip from the F3 size Dunlop tyre is huge and when added to the aerodynamic grip the car has, it makes your neck ache. The only downsides on the day were a jammed throttle which left me stranded on the far side of the circuit for a while and a constant pad knock off which made for an inconsistent brake pedal, one had to keep pumping the brake pedal with the left foot between corners. Other than that I was very pleased with the car, the team were very helpful although we couldn't get the data logger to work and we are all looking forward to the next test at Donington on the 15th of March.

So the first taste was very successful and the weather was unbelievably nice, it was on the drive home I realised that this was going to be a very different experience. Of course I am used to saloons with servo assisted everything and very low g forces, suddenly I have no power steering, no servo brakes as well as being exposed to much higher braking and cornering forces, in a word I was knackered!