Pembray - wots it like?

[THR]

in two weeks time we are racing at pembray for a double header formula Renault meeting.

thing is we have never been there b4.

Has anyone raced there?
Wots it like to drive on?
How bumpy is it compared to Mallory and silverstone?
What sorta speed is it?
Slow corners or fast ones?

Any help on setup you can give us would be really nice


Cheers

[THR]

Well like a few of asked me to, im replying to my own post!
how sad am i..

We race a 96 Formula Reanault
Pembray is a nice circuit.
paddock to small.
organistion good.
curcuit bumpyer than mallory, smoother than silverstone
Fast circuit
120mph i think.
average of 86mph
leaders doing a 56sec lap

double header this one was for us.
good it twas.
20mins qualifying
14laps race on each day.
qualifying was messy for sunday, cars everywhere.
race on sat was fine. no BIG incidences. few spins usual ****.
sundays race was red flagged when 5 or 6 went off on the first lap. most made it round to the restart.
then it went ahead as normal.
close race, 3secs covering top 3.
we had a feul starvation problem in the 2nd race, which dropped us to last, but still finished.
car was improved over the weekend by good engineering skill (ahem).
gearbox was repaired after idiot selected reverse while spinning.

2nd hairpin hard to get right apparently. first one easy to out break ya self.
last corner is worth lots if took fast.
lean on them tires man!!
some peoplese slick were going off towards the end.

the whole layout is ****.
really really really ****.
involves a lot of walking for the pit crew, (me)
good size pit lane.

anything else u wanna know?

[f1mech]

Pembrey? Tell me about it!

I was down there a few weekends ago for the junior Formula Ford and radical festival. I work for Martin Donnelly racing at the moment (racing Jnr FFords) and we were based by the collecting area; had to drag the tyre trolley all the way down to the pitlane, took 10 mins each time, knackered by the time I got to the pitlane!

From a mechanics point of view the track shook the hell out of the left rear suspension (you know the exit curb fom the last corner??!!) - we had to tighten the left rear suspension all the time. Sausage, beans and chips in the canteen was good though...!!

Llanelli nightlife was a bit dull for us kiddies, a winebar full of 50 year olds in leathers (?!) was all we could find....!!

[Peter Mallett]

Originally posted by f1mech
Pembrey? Tell me about it!

I was down there a few weekends ago for the junior Formula Ford and radical festival. I work for Martin Donnelly racing at the moment (racing Jnr FFords) and we were based by the collecting area; had to drag the tyre trolley all the way down to the pitlane, took 10 mins each time, knackered by the time I got to the pitlane!

From a mechanics point of view the track shook the hell out of the left rear suspension (you know the exit curb fom the last corner??!!) - we had to tighten the left rear suspension all the time. Sausage, beans and chips in the canteen was good though...!!

Llanelli nightlife was a bit dull for us kiddies, a winebar full of 50 year olds in leathers (?!) was all we could find....!!

I like Pembrey. It's not the easiest of tracks to get right. They always make us feel welcome but as to Llanelli? Well you have to make your own entertainment.

BTW. Welcome to the forum F1Mech.

[Stacy]

Originally posted by THR
Well like a few of asked me to, im replying to my own post!
how sad am i..

We race a 96 Formula Reanault
Pembray is a nice circuit.
paddock to small.
organistion good.
curcuit bumpyer than mallory, smoother than silverstone
Fast circuit
120mph i think.
average of 86mph
leaders doing a 56sec lap

I quite like the place. It has some tricky corners, and although I'm not keen on the hairpin the rest is quite challenging. We usually have the full weekend with testing Friday, a championship race on the Saturday and the 1hr two driver on Sunday which makes it reasonable value for money.

A couple of years ago all bar on of us on the BMW grid were pulled to the clerk of the course about kerb usage. The one who wasn't using them, was last. It made for an amusing telling off. In that race I qualified 4th overall in a class D car, but converted that (a first time it had been done I think) into looking a right tit by catching a drain while using the drop on the inside of Honda on lap 2. The car popped out and speared left across the track in front of the chasing pack. Ended up on the outside facing in half on the track with the pack pouring round Honda. One or two lost splitters taking to the grass which I was very grateful for.

Rejoined last and made my way by virtue of a longish race to 2nd in class if I recall, but suitably chastised.

Well, it worked in qualifying.. ;-)

[RickP:Clio51]

I'm sorry, but if they make the kerbs big enuff to get a whole car on and therefore cut the corner, then you use them...
Clerks of the Course in the UK seem very anal when you spend a while racing in Europe, in Monza, if you didn't use the kerbs (inside of the bollards and corner markers, along the edge of the gravel traps) you were 2 secs off the pace minimum...
RickP

[Chris Y]

If we're talking bollards - all of us Mighty Mini racers got severely *******ed by the Combe officials for taking out *every single bollard* on the first lap of practice.

It did lower the lap times by about a second though

I agree with Rick - if they build big kerbs, there's more temptation to use them.

[Stacy]

Originally posted by RickP:Clio51
I'm sorry, but if they make the kerbs big enuff to get a whole car on and therefore cut the corner, then you use them...
Clerks of the Course in the UK seem very anal when you spend a while racing in Europe, in Monza, if you didn't use the kerbs (inside of the bollards and corner markers, along the edge of the gravel traps) you were 2 secs off the pace minimum...
RickP

Quite, they pointed to the standing regs which contained a clause about not using the kerbs. Of course when one uses them..

I seem to recall in Zolder taking all the kerb on the first chicane, and a fair bit of grass too.. ;-)

Stacy

[THR]

A thing to notice about kerbs is..

the last corner at pembray has a wide kerb, with biggish saw teeth on it.
one of the FR was way over the kerb and over the other side.
this shook the rear suspension enough to break the casting that was holding the rear suspension to the gearbox, thus spinning it just missing the pit wall and causing a fair amount of damage to the car.

oh and i didnt mean to sound like i dont like pembray
its just that it has a few small problems.
and no garages.

[Stacy]

Originally posted by THR
A thing to notice about kerbs is..

the last corner at pembray has a wide kerb, with biggish saw teeth on it.

That's Honda. The kerbs we were using were the Dibeni and the following one. Depends on your suspension of course.

Yes, it does have it's faults - location being the biggest one IMHO - but then if you look at most of the national circuits we use then you'd struggle to find a faultless one.

Stacy