May 2004. This was my first ever trip with members of the GTR Forum

A selection of cars met up at Euro Tunnel at 10am , Cem in his new Porsche GT3 RS, Howsie R34, Andy and Rob Barnes (SumoPower) in their Turbocharged Honda Civic and Evo 6, Blade in his BMW M3 CSL, Gav in his R32 and Myself in my R33, to name but a few. After a fast charge across Belgium with speeds upto 170mph (256kph) and a couple of petrol stops we arrived at our hotel. After unpacking we drove down to the picturesque town of Spa for a beer and dinner. 

The next morning i woke at 6am, butterflys in my stomach,  Others who had been before were already fitting their racing slick tyres to their cars. After the sign in and safety talk we were aloud 2 siteing laps. Not that they helped me much as i was enjoying the view.Being my first time at a trackday i thought it would be sensible to get in a few passenger laps with a couple of the more experienced drivers. Blade was the first to take me around in his BMW M3 CSL. It was much faster than i ever imagined, just awesome, and the engine noise was  just astonishing.

 Next i jumped into Howsie`s R34, 600bhp and on racing slick tyres. What an experience. 

After a few passenger laps i took to the track in my own car. One thing that i never anticipated was how hot i would get with the combination of excitement, adreneline and nerves. I was sweating bucklet loads inside the car with the helmet on. 

After an hour or two i found that i was driving far to fast for my ability and spun the car a complete 720 degrees at 90 mph. Smoke everywhere, and all that was going through my head was "OH SHIT", i drove steadily back to the pits and promtly lost the contents of my stomach. 

Howsie was the first to congratulate me with a hearty pat on the back and a "well done that man" This seemed like the right time for a lunch break and have a walk around to see some of the other cars.

I really wasn`t all that keen on going out on track again as i had obviously come to a track day that was far to advanced for my humble ability, i had already seen 3 Porsche`s crash and lost count of the number of Ferrari`s that had been towed back into the pits with body panels missing. But the guys gave me plenty of encouragement and later that afternoon i took to the track again. The track at Spa is over 4 miles long and so i decided that i would drive fast for the first half and then steady for the second half. This was superb and it quickly dawned on me that this is what trackdays are all about, not racing, just driving fast, under control and having lots of fun.

I would like to thank all those who encouraged me through the day. 

Thanks to Moleman for the video`s 

Bullet Cam View                                                                                   

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vacG2VTW6Q4

Flames At Spa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2dvyynU_3U