It was an early start, with an arranged rendezvous with my friend Russ and his Accord Type-R at the Boreham services just after 7:00am. A quick jaunt up the A12/A14 later followed by some fun in the Norfolk countryside and we arrived at the Lotus factory at Hethel.
Following the usual Book-a-Track briefing we were ready to taste the track. Having already driven the circuit back in October 2002 (albeit in the pouring rain) I was keen to build on the experience I gained then, and within a few laps the lines and apexes came flooding back. The weather also played it's part this time, with a dry, crisp spring day. The extra grip up front compared to the previous visit was amazing, even allowing for the fact that I had opted for cheaper part-worns instead of new Proxies. It gave me the confidence to really attack the tighter corners, such as Clark, Chapman and the North Hairpin. Although it has to be mentioned that the was plenty of squealing in such corners - turning heads and widening grins.
Unlike the last visit, there were no major dramas (from either of us anyways), just a few "moments" and some back end playing. The Golf still lacked real guts down the straights, but Hethel strikes a pretty good balance between power/cornering so time can be made back with good braking and gear selection.
Overall I was very pleased with the day's track-time, the Golf had performed beyond expectations and thanks to the loan of a video camera and mount, there was bags of quality footage from both cars including a great chase sequence. Additionally, those nice people from PicMan were there and their CD made an excellent memento of the day (and provided most of these pictures!).
Words & pictures by Tris.