Croft Skills Day June 2021

As typical of the NE of England it was a very warm and sunny day. Could not have wished for better weather to have a skills day.

The format of the IAM Roadsmart skills day consist of AM & PM sessions. I arrived early to have a look about and a coffee prior to the 0845 briefing. The sessions were fully booked with about 30 cars each session. The briefing by ASDM Sean Cronin went into detail about safety and the rules of the track including paying attention to marshal’s and the flags. A 90mph speed limit was set but not sure I would be looking at my instruments as car lets you know when you hit the limiter. Overtaken is permitted when safe to do so.

I was allocated my instructor who was a right ‘Piston head’ and teamed up with the other driver Dave Chapman. His car was a JCW Clubman at 300BHP and mine the Mini JCW 285BHP. Another briefing by my instructor John Gregory (host his own Youtube channel) called ‘Reg Local’. Part of his brief is saying he is not into being overtaken!

We then took it in turns out on the track doing about 6 laps before coming back in. John would jump out one car then into other and so on through out morning.

John made me push the car but not out of my comfort zone. Never braked my car to that extent before or cornered that hard. Only hit forth gear on about three areas of the track, after the chicane, foot to the floor through the John Clark Esses and the start finish straight. The car was on the limiter 2nd 3rd and 4th. Hairpin is a 2nd gear corner and requires a very fast 3rd to 2nd gear change. My car has a ‘auto rev’ so that helped.

John pushed me all the time with good commentary on the corning and hitting the apex with wheels hitting rumble strips on several occasions. Regards the speeds, I was hitting about 105 mph along start finish straight with car hitting the limiter in forth before some extremely heavy braking for the Clervaux and Hawthorn bends.

It was a fantastic day, when in the pits and parked up while the other Dave was out you could smell the brakes and feel the heat coming off them. The electric fan also running. My JCW did 12 mpg and used half a tank of Momentum fuel.

Would I do it again…..Oh yes. Was I overtaken…..No. 

David Pittock