11th March was the first Trackday of 2024 for the Fairthorpe Zeta, the event was an MG`s On Track run day on the full Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. I last drove round Silverstone in anger in 1987, that was on the old club circuit with the proper Woodcote corner, i was competing in a 10 lap Handicap race in the Electron Minor i was running at the time which had a 1300cc Ford Crosflow engine in it. There were two Fairthorpes in the race and i am pleased to say we placed 1st and 2nd with me leading home a hard charging Jake Dodd in his HSCC RoadSports EM know by many as the `Yellow Peril`.
This was to be my third Trackday in the Zeta having done Cadwell Park and Donington Park last year, luckily for all those competing the rain held off but the circuit was wet and greasy from the previous day`s rain and it did not start to dry properly till after the lunch break. I am pleased to say we didn`t get passed by any other cars in the three morning sessions which added up to an hour on track, i did however find the limit of the available grip in the wettest first session with a quick spin at Copse corner which meant having to re pass a couple of cars that had already been dispatched once! In the afternoon sessions i was passed by a modern MG ZS 180 which had been uprated to 192bhp and had vented brake discs on along with it`s modern suspension and wider tyres etc. I spent one session having some chase each other laps with a race prepped MGA which had a similar power output to the Zeta, first i passed him then he passed me, there didn`t seem to be much between the cars and only slower cars made the gap open and close as there is no overtaking under braking or in corners on a Trackday. All others i came across were no match and luckily i captured it all on my GoPro so some of it will get uploaded to Youtube including my spin! Here are a few pictures taken by the professional photographer on the day, next event is at Cadwell Park in six weeks time.
