Porsche RS Trackday, Oulton Park, 15 Mar 08

With the weather always likely to be dodgy I was glad the car was still wearing its normal road tyres which I'll keep until they're worn out. The track was extremely slippery in the morning. Allied to the fact that most of the Porsches there were more powerful than the bath tub and therefore I had to move off line a lot, I never pushed the car too far because I didn't want to end the day with anything bent. So really, it turned into a bit of shake down to see how the winter changes had affected the car.

The plus points were that the new brakes worked extremely well. No hint of fade at any point and plenty of pedal. I could have worked them harder if I wanted. There was perceptively less roll in the corners since putting on the new ARB bushes (seems also to be born out by the on track photos I've got). And it felt a tiny, tiny bit quicker out of the corners due to it losing a few pounds (no hard evidence to back this up though).

The only down side is that I've still got the 964 Achilles heel of minor oil leaks when the car gets hot which results in spots of oil dropping to the exhaust and causing some very embaressing smoking as you drive back into the pits. A quick checkover the car the following day showed the exact point it had got on the exhaust and I'm pretty sure I now know the region of the engine where it's originating from. I'm now getting to need to remove the airbox, AFM and part of the intake manifold to inspect further to see what oil seal or line I need to replace.

Photos from the day: