For the Nova’s first outing it, a track day seemed a logical choice, no real competition just a chance to shake down and get to grips with the handling.

Mallory Park in Leicesteshire is circuit with some history, originally a grass track oval it has become a bit of an iconic circuit. It’s a simple lay out, relatively short with the famous Gerard’s bend making up a good part of the total. The paddock is in the middle of the circuit so a short drive the wrong way around the track with the trailer was in order, slightly unnerving for the first timer.

I was joined for the day by Phil in a BMW 318i Compact and by 3 other Nova’s and their owners from the Performance Nova Group all experienced track day drivers. Following the obligatory briefing at 8.30am, we were ready to go.

I tiptoed round in the first session, convinced something was going fall off or break. But nothing did and I increased the pace a bit after that. The track became damp after light rain, Phil took things  even more carefully than me. I took some video of the session but the camera was too low, you can still get a feel for it though. Iain’s video is much better. Check out the videos YouTube Channel. I took a passenger ride with Iain and he is quick, the car is a 2.0 16v red top on R1 bike carbs and quite a weapon. I was happy to give mine a go again with Phil as a passenger. Eventually I was finding the limit on braking with the back end twitching a little and a faster exit on some corners.

Sadly Phil had problems after lunch with the BMW not wanting to tick over properly. It wasn’t something we could resolve so that was the end the day for that car. I got a couple more runs before needing to load the trailer for home. Worth knowing that at Mallory there are set gate breaks in the afternoon to get from the paddock out of the circuit. Before leaving we got some pics of the Nova by the lake, not likey to get a collection like that any time soon.

Now we need to plan for the next outing, Cadwell Park? Or a sprint?For rallying the car still needs tank and sump guards plus one or two other bits and a Competition Car Log Book. More soon!