Saab Trackday 2004: report

Saabscene Trackday 2004 Report

Unbounded enthusiasm, thousands of horsepower, thirty track Saabs, three professional instructors, one track, one very special day: Saabscene Trackday 2004!

Tafarn Y Rhos in Rhostrehwfa, Llangefni was the unpronounceable destination and rendezvous for participants and spectators on Thursday 8th July. Storm force winds and torrential rain over much of the British Isles did not come close to dampening the enthusiasm of those who had made the journey to the edge of the cloud in Anglesey . Participants and spectators came from as far as The Netherlands, Belgium and Yorkshire!

Friday 9th July. What a day, glorious sunshine and a dry track for Saabscene's second annual trackday event. Independently organised, SSc TD04 is an entirely non-profit making event that is organised by a small team of dedicated Saab petrolheads. The event aims to provide professional instruction and the potential to exploit your Saab's power in a safe and properly marshalled environment.

Following signing on, Mark Edgar introduced everyone to the event and to the instructors. An explanation of the circuit, safety and some words of advice and we were ready for our sessions. The aim of the event was to be friendly and relaxed with people being allocated to three 20 minute sessions each in the morning and then an open pit session in the afternoon. This ensured that those with similar circuit driving experience were together in the morning and then a mix of people in the afternoon as we learnt the circuit.

At just 1.057 miles long, Anglesey circuit is a championship racing circuit with an undulating and twisting tractive surface that will not shred tyres in the way that concrete does. The series of curves are easy to learn but difficult to master with some fairly technical corners providing an interesting challenge all day.

The track machines varied from Bill Jones ' Saab 90 to some serious 9000 Aeros, including George Clarkson's Maptun Stage Six 450bhp 9000 Aero via lots of interesting machinery such as Malbrad's stripped out, naturally aspirated classic 900 and Danny Bindra's Abbott GM900. Getting round the corners efficiently was the order of the day as BillJ proved, in his 100bhp Saab 90, that power was not the be-all and end-all.

The day ended with a trackside barbeque expertly arranged by Fred Lane and cooked, in large part, by George Clarkson. People relaxed in the trackside bar, swapped stories and contributed video footage to Mark Anderson for an excellent film that was completed within 24 hours!

Thanks for TD04 are due to Mark Edgar , Jason McCarthy, Leon Murphy and Andrew Wright for organising the event and to all the participants who made it such a success. Thanks are also due in no small part to West Midlands Saab Specialists in Erdington who subsidised every entrant and to the Saab Owners Club who provided publicity and sponsorship for each participating SOC member.

With a success like this is it best to leave you with some thoughts from the day:

"Ty Croes is a great circuit, which really lived up to its reputation as a hidden gem.", Alastair Philpott

"Just goes to show power isn't everything, especially at Anglesey .", Bill Jones

"Great day, great weather and great people sums it up for me. ", Pete Kolowski

"It certainly was an excellent day - and that's just from the perspective of a spectator.", Keith Warburton

"The best day out I've had in years and certainly the best trackday I've ever been too.", Jason McCarthy

"What a very pleasant day we had, very worth the 830 km trip .", Tijn , Netherlands

"I had an absolute blast .Well done to the organising team for a great day.", Nev C.