So, i booked a trackday at Brands Hatch for Saturday,
I didn't fancy driving round there early in the morning so i booked a hotel and decided to travel round on Friday evening.

The car is usually taken to tracks on a trailer but as Brands isn't too far away and the weather was lovely on Friday i decided to drive the car there and my other half would follow me round in the Integra.

So for 1 reason and another we got held up and didn't set off untill about quarter to 8 in the evening,

Cruising round the M25 in the outside lane doing somewhere around 75 ish, Just as i pass jct 8 the car wanders over towards the central reservation, i try to correct it and nothing, I apply a little more left hand down and again the car does not respond,
Realising somethings very wrong i apply the brakes and slow the car to about 50mph before coming into contact with the barriers, I was then bounced back over into the fast lane, The car was dragged back towards the barriers and came to a stop with the nose against the barrier and the back end in the fast lane,

Luckily my partner was the car behind and without thought for her own safety she managed to stop and position her car in such a way that if anything hit her she wouldn't be pushed into me, this gave me the time to get the straps off, climb out and get in between the barriers in the centre of the motorway , She then drove round the MNR and stopped, letting me get into the car before getting us safely over onto the hard shoulder where we called the emergancy services who had the lane closed via overhead signs within seconds.

I've not had a chance to look at the car but i noticed while it was being recovered that the steering wheel was having no effect on the left hand side wheel either so somethings failed, worked loose, god knows.

We continued to Brands Hatch, had a wonderful meal and a great nights sleep,
Decided to do the trackday in the Integra DC5 which spun big end bearing number 3 after about an hr.

Defo a weekend to forget,

[Edited on 27/8/12 by gaz_gaz]

Just to add I walked away without even a bruise despite the whole side of the car being ripped apart.
I'm genuinely surprised how well it took the impact.
So glad I had the full cage with side bars

i know how you feel. a couple of years back i bent the rear hub carrier on the roadster hitting a kerb at 50+ mph. got that fixed the same day then went out to catch up with the rest of the guys on the road trip and spun all 4 big end shells.

Sounds like you had a lucky escape! Could have been a lot worse

I regularly check my Nuts and have found stuff which has come loose in the past.
Glad your'e both ok, shame about the MNR, but think of the fun of building a new one

sorry to hear about the car but im glad you n the other half are safe.

DJ

Bummer about the car dude.
You have a very sensible lady there, look after that one.
Glad you both walked away OK.
On the plus side , you now have a new project.

that sounds like a lucky escape gary, but i guess at least it happened when you could make use of the central reservation and not on paddock hill bend!

Certainly sounds like a weekend you would rather have again, but as said atleast your ok. Im in the kitcar today and will deffonatly be inspecting my trackrods before the dirve home, something we should all proberbly do more often and not just on the kitcar but its easier said than done.

Read the thread and thought the company had gone bump!


Daniel

[Edited on 27/8/2012 by dhutch]

I was told to regularly check my nuts too, Might start looking at the car too.
Glad your ok.

Sounds like a horrible experience - but it could have been so, SO much worse - your partner being just behind has stopped you becoming just another statistic - you need to get her a nice bunch of flowers or something! How is the car - presumably it is reasonably fixable?

Who did the DC05 belong to? That sounds like a rebuild or replacement engine needed? My son had the earlier Integra (W plate) which he managed to throw a rod through the crankcase with (think he thought the redline on the rev counter (at 9500) was too LOW!!)

Glad you are both OK.

[Edited on 27/8/12 by stevegough]

Sorry to hear about your car, very glad to hear you are still in the land of the living.

I too thought the thread was about MNR as a company going tits up, it might be an idea to revise the title of your thread.

cheers

it might be an idea to revise the title of your thread.



I suspect he's got better things to do..

i have to agree with you, she done a fantastic job. pretty, smart, racing driver who makes great decisions with no time to spare, perhaps i should keep her around

I'm not too sure how the car is too be honest, she defo lost a corner, i'm going for a look in the morning,

thanks everyone else for the kind words

I once spun the GTM.

I was only doing about 45, but as I was going sideways I looked up to see the road sign that as I was heading towards.
I had enough time to realise that the point of impact was going to be the middle of the sill.
Bear in mind this was a GRP monocoque with no door bars or cage at all.

It stopped just short of the upright of the road sign.

Proceeded with caution back home.

I had also been heading to a venue, in my case Forrestburn Hillclimb.

I never drove the car again until I worked out what had caused the problem.
In my case, an incorrect balljoint had been fitted which gave toe out on the back.

Go over it in forensic detail.
You need to know exactly what went wrong.