On the track

We all drive our cars, some people do more miles then others. But have you driven your car on a track already ? I have ! A fantastic experience I can say. So far I drove on Francorchamps, Zolder, Lelystad and Zandvoort in the Netherlands and Mallory Park and Silverstone in UK.

As I don't see myself as a race driver and since my car is definitely not a race car, I have been careful each time. There is no fun in coming home with a damaged car or overheated brakes or any other problems.

So how does it feel ? The first thing which I noticed was the actual road: it is smooth, very smooth (Belgium having some of the worst roads in Europe that alone is FUN) and no cars coming from the other side (ok, some people might overtake you, but nobody is coming from the other direction). The speed experience is also different. Tracks tend to be quite wide, so even at 100 it doesn't feel like you are going fast. Only when you get close to that chicane you realise that you are actually driving 100km/h and that you have to brake hard. And that's were the difference is: braking ! While on the "normal" road, you don't really need to brake hard. (unless you drive like mad). But on the track you do need to brake hard, before every corner, lap after lap. Cause don't think you will drive slowly, oh no, you will put your foot down and make speed. So that's where you have to be careful: the braking. If you do that carefully you can enjoy the track.

Once you are making some speed and taking those corners in a relatively fast way, you will notice how poor the supension of a mustang is. (compared to modern car or a race car). Depending on your ride height, springs, shock absorbers and the conditions of all those the car will lean hard in the corners. And those 4 tires will be getting hot as well ! Since the tires are the only thing keeping you on the track, they will get a hard time.

Take care of these things and you will have a blast ! Nothing more fun then smashing the accelerator and no need to worry about speed tickets. It offers a whole new experience.

Find some pics of my fastback on the track:

Francorchamps, the most beautiful track in the world ? Thanks to the BFOV, I was able to do one lap in 2007 during the 6 hours event. More than 200 classic cars were on the track on that beautiful day. The straight and the famous radillon were taken at "speed". An amazing experience !!!!

In 2014, for the 50th Anniversary 70 Mustangs were allowed 3 laps on the track. And I was there again of course ! I borrowed a GoPro camera and filmed it all:

Video 1 - Video 2

In 2009 I visited the meeting of the MOCGB in UK (after having English participants @ Flanders Mustang Event). They organised a track day on Mallory Park (this on Saturday and the show and shine on Sunday). After having driven 500km and crossing the Channel to get there (and driving on the left side of the road), I took all the luggage out, put a helmet on did a 15min session on the track. Again great fun, especially coming out of the hairpin !!!

Thanks to the BMCC I was able to participate in an event at Zolder in 2009. 30 minutes on the track surounded by 106's, 205's, Puma's, etc. Needless to say that the mustang was outclassed by these little but fast cars. (they have got much better brakes.....). The Zolder track is difficult and hard on the brakes and with all these other cars it was tense. But I enjoyed it anyway.

With the dutch Mustangclub (TMCN) I drove on the Midlandcircuit in Lelystad in 2012. It is a very small oval and it was set up for slalom. So precision driving was more important then pure speed. Still you try to put your foot down but the risk is minimal as the speed stays quite low. Great fun it was and I had to work very hard turning the steering wheel.

In 2014 celebrating 50 year Mustang I participate in the Silverstone Classic event. Thanks to the MOCGB we were able to drive a parade lap with 150 Mustangs. Also 2 P-51's flew over and of course the 2015 was there too.

In 2014 TMCN (the Dutch Mustang Club) organised a big event on the Zandvoort track. Besides 30 minutes track time (going fast) I also drove several laps for the "Timeline Cars" and at the very end 305 cars (!!) did several parade laps under a beautiful sun. The best weekend of the whole season !

In 2017 TMCN offered to drive on the Venray track. This is an oval track where the European Nascar races take place as well. We had to drive in groups and behind the pace car and overtaking was not allowed (for the better). As you are surrounded by concrete walls, room for error is non-existant. Quite a tense experience. Thank you Mustangdriver Jan for the actions shots of my car.

In 2018, thanks to Daisy, I visited the Mustang Nat's meeting in France. There was also the opportunity to drive on the track of La Ferté Gauché. As the track was unknown to me it was not easy to drive. Still we had fun. Thanks to Marc who took the only "action" shot of the fastback.