- Joined
- Oct 31, 2007
- Messages
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Yesterday morning I was in 2 minds as to whether to go to Audi Driver International. At 6am I couldn't be bothered to wash the car as it was drizzling over West Berkshire, and it was freezing cold.
Under duress I decided to go to give the Audi a clear out, so got on the road to join the AudiSport.net forum pre-meet at a pub in Old Sodbury.
As I drove up the M4 the sky turned blue, the clouds rolled back, and with the tunes banging I could tell it was going to be a great day. (Ice Cube's It was a Good Day was typically not on my iPod when I needed it
)
So I get to the event, meet some people, catch up with the guys at Revo and then pop out and do some track time see photos here
I come back, have a spot of lunch and decide to call it a day and go home as the wife and I wanted to go and get a new mattress in the afternoon from IKEA.
So I get in the car and start driving home. About 4 miles out of Combe towards Chippenham the mobile rings, and it's an unknown number. So I think, "nah, I'm not answering that". It continues to ring and in the end I thought I'll answer it (on Bluetooth car kit I must clarify here).
"Hello is that Mr Cox"
Yes
"Are you driving?"
Yes
"You're not out on the track are you?"
(At this point I'm thinking, WTF is this about), so I answer No, I'm on my way home
"It's ***** from Castle Combe Audi Day, you've won a high speed experience drive with Allan McNish"
Needless to say the Audi was turned round and re-pointed in the direction of Combe pretty fast, then the return 4 miles were dispatched much quicker than those leaving the circuit (as I only had a few minutes to get there).
All credit to Allan, he'd flown from him home in the South of France that morning to do the flying laps. He was enlightening, entertaining, cheerful, engaging, intelligent, and incredibly had no sense of arrogance. A fantastic ambassador for the brand.
As we went round the track laps in the RS6 because we'd chatted whilst waiting to go out in the car he gave full instructions of the braking and acceleration points, almost like a tuition session. Afterwards he even got out of the car so I could have my photo taken with him (he was supposed to just drop one off, pick up up - there were 5 winners).
Needless to say he caned the $h1t out of the RS6, and noted that Combe is a particularly unforgiving track given its tight corners and undulations. The car was incredibly rapid, and a WORLD away from the S3. There is no substitute for cubic capacity. The other area where I was staggered by the car is the RS6 brakes are almost fade free - absolutely immense that they could stop a 2 ton car from 150+mph in next to no time. The tyres were actually by far the limiting factor.
Some pics of the session
Needless to say these were some very precious moments, so a massive thanks to Autometrix and Audi UK for making this opportunity available to us. Supposedly I may even get my chops in Audi Driver Magazines coverage of ADI 2009.
If I had't answered the phone......
Under duress I decided to go to give the Audi a clear out, so got on the road to join the AudiSport.net forum pre-meet at a pub in Old Sodbury.
As I drove up the M4 the sky turned blue, the clouds rolled back, and with the tunes banging I could tell it was going to be a great day. (Ice Cube's It was a Good Day was typically not on my iPod when I needed it
)So I get to the event, meet some people, catch up with the guys at Revo and then pop out and do some track time see photos here
I come back, have a spot of lunch and decide to call it a day and go home as the wife and I wanted to go and get a new mattress in the afternoon from IKEA.
So I get in the car and start driving home. About 4 miles out of Combe towards Chippenham the mobile rings, and it's an unknown number. So I think, "nah, I'm not answering that". It continues to ring and in the end I thought I'll answer it (on Bluetooth car kit I must clarify here).
"Hello is that Mr Cox"
Yes
"Are you driving?"
Yes
"You're not out on the track are you?"
(At this point I'm thinking, WTF is this about), so I answer No, I'm on my way home
"It's ***** from Castle Combe Audi Day, you've won a high speed experience drive with Allan McNish"
Needless to say the Audi was turned round and re-pointed in the direction of Combe pretty fast, then the return 4 miles were dispatched much quicker than those leaving the circuit (as I only had a few minutes to get there).
All credit to Allan, he'd flown from him home in the South of France that morning to do the flying laps. He was enlightening, entertaining, cheerful, engaging, intelligent, and incredibly had no sense of arrogance. A fantastic ambassador for the brand.
As we went round the track laps in the RS6 because we'd chatted whilst waiting to go out in the car he gave full instructions of the braking and acceleration points, almost like a tuition session. Afterwards he even got out of the car so I could have my photo taken with him (he was supposed to just drop one off, pick up up - there were 5 winners).
Needless to say he caned the $h1t out of the RS6, and noted that Combe is a particularly unforgiving track given its tight corners and undulations. The car was incredibly rapid, and a WORLD away from the S3. There is no substitute for cubic capacity. The other area where I was staggered by the car is the RS6 brakes are almost fade free - absolutely immense that they could stop a 2 ton car from 150+mph in next to no time. The tyres were actually by far the limiting factor.
Some pics of the session
Needless to say these were some very precious moments, so a massive thanks to Autometrix and Audi UK for making this opportunity available to us. Supposedly I may even get my chops in Audi Driver Magazines coverage of ADI 2009.
If I had't answered the phone......
