Lightness Revisited - A 172 Cup Adventure.

[NickReilly063]

loving the write ups Ed - they makes you feel like you’re actually there in the moment too.

Wheels look awesome

 

[photo_ed]

loving the write ups Ed - they makes you feel like you’re actually there in the moment too.

Wheels look awesome

Thanks Nick. Very kind of you to say.

I’m pleased with how the wheels turned out. They’re quite similar to a Turini in style so shouldn’t look too out of place on the car. I’ll only be using them on the track for dry runs in any case. With the price the tyres are, I’m not wearing them out on the road!

 

[photo_ed]

Just watching this video about the 172 Cup and I couldn't get over the sound of it.

Whatever exhaust is on it, I thought it sounded like an epic little thing.

See around 2:30 as an example....

Thanks for sharing that Francis. It looks like that car has either an old Ktec (when they were decent) or Pure Motorsport ‘stealth’ exhaust. They do sound good. Jill has a vid of me barreling through the farm buildings on the hill and the car sounds really great ‘on song’!

 

[photo_ed]

More Mid-Season Malarky.

July 2026.

The sticky tyres arrived about a fortnight ago, yet due to work commitments and life in general getting in the way, they snoozed at the unit in a little stack until finally, this Friday, an opportunity for an early finish found me on the phone to my tyre fitting friend.


A wipe over with a cloth for the new rubber..

Mark in our local town, used to fit tyres for my Mini's 30 odd years ago, so we have a great rapport. He's doing a lot of stuff for Caterhams lately, so he knows his onions and is a master of his craft. I turned up mid afternoon and spent a pleasant 40 minutes chatting whilst he slipped the Yoko's onto the fancy Spanish wheels. This wheel and tyre combo is looking great now to my eyes and think it will suit the Cup in it's competition guise, just the right amount of aesthetic purposefulness without looking overly aggressive. Mark even fitted some little stubby motorcycle valves.... to save the odd gram and look a bit trick. A thoughtful touch.


My.... what a dinky valve!

The wheels are now clogging up the dining room at home and really I'm itching to test fit them on the Cup. Tomorrow looks wet, so I've half a plan forming to pop to the unit and have a play, I need to check how the offset is looking, I'm crossing fingers my 14mm of increased track isn't going to foul any arches!

 

[NickReilly063]

Very cool Ed - I looked at yesterday’s Harewood driver lineup to see if you had entered.

 

[photo_ed]

Very cool Ed - I looked at yesterday’s Harewood driver lineup to see if you had entered.

Cheers Nick.

We're not running this weekend. The BHC events don't include rounds for the Harewood Championship so the usual class structure isn't in place. A few of our gang are there, but the majority are saving the cars for 'our' rounds.

Back to it in August with my raft of minor tweaks...

 

[photo_ed]

The Cup goes to Cadwell.
Part 1.

CSF, Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire, July 2026.


3 Wheelin' (photo credit: Paul Hart @ Motion Ratio Media)

My internal alarm clock pings me awake at 4:20am, I’ve not had a great deal of sleep, up late tinkering around with the car. By 5am we’re on the road pointing the car Eastwards on the M62, it’s an utterly glorious early morning, continuing the good weather of late and the early start pretty consistent with a normal work day currently. I just wish things hadn’t been such a rush towards this point.

I’ve been considering a trip to Cliosport Festival for a few years now, but in previous years the drive to and from Anglesey would have been too much in the day which would have necessitated the extra expense of accommodation, which seemed a little extravagant for a trackday. When it was announced that it was moving to Cadwell, my interest was piqued, spurred on by a chat with Nick Reilly who convinced me it was do-able there and back in the day I duly booked tickets for the Saturday, the track time and a passenger pass for Jill.

I’d mulled over the options with the cars and settled on the 172 Cup, but in the few days running up to the event start started to question things; should I be ‘saving’ the 172 for the Hillclimb action really and it’s only on road pads, we’ve had the 200 Cup on track before and know how well suited it is and it has trackday pads fitted, wouldn’t it be fun to go round in the Trophy - similarly sporting the appropriate pads for trackday stuff. The pros and cons were all spiralling in my brain. I did a poll on our little WhatsApp group, the Trophy coming out on top by a mile with precisely zero votes for the 172. So, that decided it, the Trophy it was, I popped the car on charge all day Thursday to avoid any unwanted issues, only to find that when putting it to bed the bonnet wouldn’t close, the latch on the slam panel having seized in the open position, oh for God’s Sake! I was back to the drawing board, I stood in the unit and looked from the 200 to the 172, it would have to be the blue car really and risk it with the standard pads. I bought the 172 to do exactly this sort of thing in after all and it would be a good shake down for the new geo settings.

The traffic is light on the M62 and we make good time, turning right onto the M18 then left onto the M180, it’s been a beautiful sunny morning but as we delve further Southeast a light morning mist turns into a denser sort of sea-fret. Jill is in charge of navigation and finds us some delightful lanes through the murky Lincolnshire Wolds, getting us to the Circuit for bang on 7:30. It seems deserted, we’d expected to see some other Clio’s on the way by now, but nothing, we wonder whether we’ve arrived on the right day as we roll in. All I can see are folk fiddling about with motorbikes. We trundle down to the Paddock past some Radicals and ‘Caterfield’ type things, then spot a couple of Clio’s and pull up next to another very tidy looking 172 Cup. We are on the right day after-all.


Flying Frenchies... (photo credit: Paul Hart @ Motion Ratio Media)

We duly get noise tested, signed on, grab a bacon sandwich and dense black coffee, then go in search of a helmet for Jill to hire, dashing back to the Clubhouse in time for the Drivers briefing. A couple of familiar faces have appeared by now and it’s great to have a good old catch up with Nick Reilly and Andy Eder. The Drivers briefing over (a longer affair than the usual one at Harewood), it’s back to the car to don our helmets and hop in for our first session. It looks like there’s around 75 or so cars on track today and we’ve been split into 3 groups of 20 mins within the hour. I’ve never been to Cadwell before and only watched one video on you-tube of someone going round in a Ferrari 458 Speciale, so it’s all a bit new! We trundle down to the assembly area, the form being a couple of sedate sighting laps behind the pace car then we’re off. I’m not sure if I’m caught napping out of the blocks, but the ‘sighting laps’ are anything but… Hall bends are tricky and as I try and play immediate catch-up I have no idea where the road is going on the approach to the Hairpin and get it all wrong, Dear Lord! The rest of the out lap is lost in a blur, but by the second time around I’m beginning to dial in. I gradually build some heat into the car and confidence throughout the session, working up to what feels like a decent pace.

We roll back into the paddock and debrief. Debrief quickly turns to mild panic as when checking tyre pressures I find the offside front rocking 40psi with air escaping rapidly from the valve! In a bizarre turn of events the valve centre has undone itself! It’s something I’ve never experienced before and quickly replace the valve cap, thinking the worst that the day is over before it’s properly got going. Nick Reilly comes to the rescue, searching out a valve tool from some kind soul on the other side of the paddock, what an absolute star! I tighten it up and re-set it to the correct pressure. I still have no explanation as how it happened other than perhaps being heat related. A very close eye is kept on pressures for the rest of the day.


Out of the Hairpin (photo credit: Andy Eder @SharkyUK )

We head out for session two, it’s another cracker, I’m getting the hang of Cadwell a bit more now. Jill is finding the elevation and direction changes through the ‘Mountain’ and Hall Bends sections a bit challenging as a passenger though, so I head out solo for a few sessions. It’s inevitable that one pushes a bit harder without a passenger alongside and I ramp up the pace. The Cup is going really well, we’re knocking on the door of 100+ on the start-finish straight and I get pulled along up to around 110 on the back straight by tucking in closely behind the Radical as it comes past. I’m having an absolute ball, the Circuit is really suited to the Clio, and with such variety is a joy to learn. I’m in my element into the Mountain, getting confident enough to slide the Cup (on three wheels according to the photos I see later!) through the initial left before the sharp right up the rise. Absolutely relishing how the track closes in through Hall and narrows down to the hairpin, this is oddly where I’m most comfortable, taking good liberties with curbs. The other side of the circuit with the long fast sweepers foxes me for the majority of the day, it’s just not what I’m used to and the Cup feels a bit too up on it’s tip-toes through these sections on the PS3’s - on a knife edge of adhesion. On a more track orientated tyre, I’d have more confidence to carry the speed that it’s clearly capable of but I’m struggling with the commitment needed on this more open stuff, I blame it on being used to the tight confines of the Hillclimb or indeed a Northern B-road.


Trying to fly off the Mountain! (photo credit: Paul Hart @ Motion Ratio Media).

Part 2 below...

 

[photo_ed]

The Cup goes to Cadwell.
Part 2.

CSF, Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire, July 2026.


Paddock time.

Lunch arrives just at the right time as the fuel gauge is dropping alarmingly towards empty, we toddle off to Horncastle in search of V-Power, Jill observes it feels really weird going at normal road speeds after hammering at full tilt round a race track. We have a good chuckle as we bowl along through the pretty Lincolnshire countryside. Tank brimmed we head back to grab a bite to eat before heading back out on track. The cool morning has given way to a sunnier afternoon and the temps are climbing, Jill hops in for another roller-coaster experience, but what with the lunch and the increased heat and pace, goes a bit quiet. When the car unexpectedly snaps completely sideways on the exit of Barn about 8 laps in I elect to call the session early. Worried by the sudden break away from the Cup being another tyre issue, we trundle in and I give everything a good looking over but thankfully find no issues whatsoever. It’s a good opportunity to catch up with pals and let the car have a rest, Will has relocated his Trophy to the show and shine and is now pedalling his lovely Alpine at a searing pace round the track.


It is the Trophy forum after all... @Will_Beddoe gives @NickReilly063 a Trophy demonstration (photo credit: Paul Hart @ Motion's Ratio Media).

I’m running solo again for the rest of the day and it’s a lot of fun, the Cup is standing up excellently. I’m astounded that the standard brakes and road tyres are doing so well. It’s the tyres that start to go first, they do about 4 hot laps before they start to go all squirmy, I find that half pedalling for a couple of laps brings them back to an acceptable state. The brakes I don’t have a peep out of all day, they perform perfectly, no long pedal, no sponginess, I’m really surprised. When I’ve done Oulton in the 200 Cup running the Brembo’s with standard pads they’ve been only good for two hot laps before deteriorating. I can only put it down to the Cup being so light and having the ability to carry momentum through the tight twisty bits without too much intervention from the brake pedal.


Mini Nurburgring? Bloody Brilliant! (photo credit: Paul Hart @ Motion Ratio Media).

By the penultimate session I can feel myself starting to tire, I get a bit of weird object fixation on a bollard going through the Gooseneck, then a lap or two later end up out on the grass at Chris Curve as I get excited watching Will coming up behind in the Alpine with Andy riding shotgun.. I look at the mirror precisely long enough to put the two nearside wheels on the grass and that’s it, I'm off doing a bit of mowing with a Clio Cup, we’re all laughing as I bounce along the grass for a bit as they pass by on the black stuff! It’s time for me to rein it in.


Final fling! Last session of the day. (photo credit: Jill with her iPhone).

The last session of the day is lovely, myself and a couple of others are going round at a slightly more tempered pace in the delightful late afternoon sun, a fitting way to finish off a great day. Saying our various goodbyes, we point the Cup back Northwards, tired but happy.

I’d been a little apprehensive about attending ClioFest, and the track time, but it was nothing short of brilliant. The Track, the socialising, the standard of driving and track etiquette were all superb. The whole day was a real credit to the organisers, so hats off for serving up such a great experience. I’ve definitely got the taste for it, and also the taste for Cadwell…

What a track! I’ll be back!


Cup mileage now: somewhere North of 108,000 !

 

[NickReilly063]

What an amazing day we all had Ed, never been to Cadwell before but what an incredible circuit, weather was perfect too as it was loads cooler due to the coastline not far away, and also a lovely treat after the scorching heatwave of the previous week

Cup looked stunning and definitely got my approval with it’s shiny blue paintwork.

Great to catch up with some other T members which really made my day too.

 

[Big Dave]

Such a fun circuit is Cadwell, been there many times, and had some serious fun there...Glad you all had a great day, and the Cup is looking splendid......

 

[photo_ed]

Such a fun circuit is Cadwell, been there many times, and had some serious fun there...Glad you all had a great day, and the Cup is looking splendid......

Thanks Dave.