Below are some videos of various track days Alex has done in the MR2 both in 2007 and 2008, in chronological order.
Bedford Autodrome October 2008. - Alex had a test day at Bedford Autodrome GT Circuit to test the new engine in the car. Thankfully, it seemed to perform very well. Alex also had tuition with Sam Maher-Loughanan who helped to improve things such as steering smoothness and trail-braking. The MR2 once again upset some more expensive, exotic cars on the twisties as most could not keep up. However, everything was faster on the straights. In this video you can see Alex behind an Intergra Type-R who is trying to keep ahead.
Mallory Park 2008 - TVR. Graham Walden from BlackCatRacing generously made his TVR Tuscan race car available for Alex to use for a while during a test day at Mallory. Alex really enjoyed driving this, it was a completely different experience to anything else he’d ever driven. The main differences were the huge amounts of power and grip (it was running on full slicks) compared to anything he’d ever driven before. Alex manage to put in some very competitive times and was very consistent throughout the morning. He also commented how it was nice to be the one overtaking most of the cars on track for a change!
RAF Odiham 2008.We were invited with a few other MR2 drivers to bring our cars along to Odiham as they were having a track day and wanted us to give some demo rides. Unfortunately, our MR2 couldn’t make it, so we went along in Dad’s ALPINA B10 V8 with 347 bhp instead. Alex got to grips with handling this much more powerful car very quickly, and really enjoyed driving it, showing up some much more exotic and nimble machinery through the chicanes!
Silverstone 2008. This was the meet and greet / shakedown day for the Red Dragon Race and Track Club and the MR2 Racing series. There were a lot of other Mk1 MR2s lapping, most of whom are competing in the series this year. Alex is chasing one of them down throughout the video. At 4:35 in the video, he manages to catch a huge slide which was caused by giving it a bit too much power too early in the corner in the greasy conditions.
Rockingham 2008. Alex did a test day at Rockingham, and from this point onwards the MR2 has its racing suspension and tyres which are semi-slicks. As it was a test day, there were a lot of other race cars there, including at huge number of Clios and also Mike / Andrew Jordan in their BTCC Integras (can be seen at the start of the video). There are also a couple of ‘moments’ in the video, one at 0:25 and one at 4:10.
Brands Hatch 2008. This was a track day, and Alex’s first outing at Brands Hatch, and his first time tackling the legendary Paddock Hill Bend. The best bits in the video are at 0:35, where he carried a little bit too much speed into the corner resulting in a lock up, and 4:15 where you can see he has to correct a slide at Druids.
Mallory Park 2008. First ever test day, and first ever time at Mallory Park. It’s not the most complicated circuit in the world, but still a challenge to get some of the corners right, especially the hairpin.
Cadwell Park 2007. First ever time out at Cadwell, and Alex really enjoyed driving the circuit. It’s called the ‘Mini-Nurburgring’ for a good reason! It was drizzling most of the day, but as both Alex and the MR2 are very good in the wet, nothing else out on track seemed to be faster than them (except the one Peugeot that passes them in the video). Instructor was Ben Elliot again.
Donington 2007. Second ever outing on track, and this time it was pouring with rain. The MR2’s tyres were pretty much slicks, so it made for a lot of sideways moments caught on video. The last one down Craner Curves was especially sideways, resulting in full opposite-lock to catch it. Not once did Alex spin the car, whereas many other people did. The instructor was Sam Maher-Loughnan,
Silverstone 2007. Alex’s first ever outing on a track day and in the MR2. This is from the first session of the day, where he was trying to get to know both the car and the track itself. The car didn’t have the same suspension, exhaust, wheels, tyres or steering wheel as it does now. There’s a good bit at 7:25 in the video where he catches a slide. The instructor in the passenger seat was Ben Elliot from Ben Elliot Racing.
