Andrew Kitson 19 Oct 2002, 14:25 The 'old' Snett was 2.71 miles and had the fast Norwich Straight alongside the A11. A race car landing on the garage forecourt via the hedge at trackside persuaded the powers that be to shorten the circuit using the old runway through the centre, as it is today. The outright lap record set in 1973 was held by Brett Lunger in a Sid Taylor Racing F5000 Trojan T101 at 1m 18.4 secs, about 124 mph average.
Unfortunately no grandstands remain and the circuit access bridge has been moved. A shadow of its former self that used to host big International meetings in those days. Did anyone on the forum race there, marshal or spectate at the old circuit?
paulzinho 19 Oct 2002, 19:50 Thanks for that one Andrew, shame that a garage forecourt caused it to lose the straight, the esses must have been great fun!
The Esses were interesting. I vaguely remember Chris Maries (later of TVR, GT etc fame) hitting the underside of the bridge in his Mini 7 (1973?) and walking (or crawling) away from the most mangled Mini imaginable. I also remember one Mini 7 old timer (possibly Graham Wenham or Graham Woskett, or maybe the "Mad Miser" Chris Tyrrell) telling me they used to stop off at the Hairpin on the way out and gather up all the loose change that had fallen out of the pockets of drivers who'd rolled there during the day!
Does anyone happen to know when and who it was that wound up on the garage forecourt?
Hmm - thinks: The garage is closed down now - an opportunity for some clever soul to reinstate the straight? It would mean losing the Sunday market, but that seems a price worth paying....
Andrew Kitson 20 Oct 2002, 07:56 Problem is I think the land now occupied by the market has been sold off. I can't remember who or what it was that went through the hedge.
Andrew Kitson 20 Oct 2002, 08:02 Another Mini story:
I remember sitting in the Esses stand as a young kid - must have been 1966 I guess, a Mini hit the bank at the second part of the Esses ( now named the Bombhole) and rolled over and over. Fuel was spilling everywhere from the filler cap. The driver emerged, threw his helmet down and kicked the car...hard! He then got onto the grass as the car was in the middle of the track and collapsed. Turns out he survived unscathed but broke his foot upon kicking the car!
Fred Scatley 22 Oct 2002, 23:25 This may be one of the mini crashes at the bomb hole
Fred Scatley 22 Oct 2002, 23:27 Another view of the car
Andrew Kitson 22 Oct 2002, 23:31 Blimey, that's a mess! Don't think it was that one I saw, the car ended up half way down the short straight just before Coram!
Andrew Kitson 22 Oct 2002, 23:45 From the map above, you can see how close the A11 road was to the original circuit. The tarmac still exists at the old Sear corner, the new Sear from 1974 turns right 50 yards earlier.
However, as of last week the circuit is no longer visible from the road. Another section of the new dual carriageway is now in use set in a cutting just north of the old A11 which will now be redundant.
zefarelly 23 Oct 2002, 13:44 bl**dy hell . . . .how did he get out of that!
a hydraulic crusher wouldnt do much more than that!
and those where the days of 1/4" diameter roll bars and garden twine harnesses
it must have been the beard that saved him :-)
Thanks Fred - that was the Chris Maries shunt I was referring to!
Flagman 24 Oct 2002, 13:55 bl**dy hell . . . .how did he get out of that!
At Oulton Park - us marshals reckon the quickest way to get Chris out of a car is to drop a fiver on the ground....
zefarelly 24 Oct 2002, 14:52 a generous 'first to the bar' kind of bloke is he?
or related to Jack Charlton?
The 'old' Snett is brilliant on GP legends (circuit download). Its got a real mix of fast & slow corners.
The sign for 'that' petrol station is even visible though the hedge on the Norwich straight.
AllonFS 28 Oct 2002, 10:35 ISK, thanks for that, I downloaded the track at the weekend and it is great fun. :beer:
GPL and the way it is still evolving never ceases to amaze me. If you haven't already, check out the many threads on GPL in the Armchair Enthusiasts forum.
racer69 29 Oct 2002, 11:54 I think Snetterton as it is now is a pretty good circuit, but the old layout looks fantastic.
How much of the Norwich Straight and so on remains, the tarmac on the outside of Sear as was stated earlier is part of the old track.
Andrew Kitson 29 Oct 2002, 12:08 The tarmac was dug up from to just past the old Sear to about a third of the way up the old Norwich straight. This happened only a year ago. The rest of the straight remains, about as far as the filling station and is occupied by the Sunday market. The hairpin area now contains a new roundabout and access to the circuit/market. The home straight is also intact - used as another part of the market and ends about 100m from the esses.
RAT CATCHER 4 Nov 2002, 07:51 Wow That pic , bet he did not fix THAT
zefarelly 6 Nov 2002, 12:47 just off to get my black and whites from the other week . . . . . .If any of tham are any god I'll post them
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