Track Days

Berger · 14 Feb 2011 at 21:33

Before you start bragging about how fast your car is blah blah blah.

Actually go to a track day

When you get passed by all sorts of stuff being driven on the door handles by people who know the track you realise there is a bit more to it than that!

Joshy · 14 Feb 2011 at 21:54

Berger said:
Before you start bragging about how fast your car is blah blah blah.

Actually go to a track day

When you get passed by all sorts of stuff being driven on the door handles by people who know the track you realise there is a bit more to it than that!

Exactly!

When I turned up for my first track day in the 16v 205 and was surrounded by MX5s and other seemingly low powered/'slow' cars I thought "Whey, I'm going to be quick :cool:

". I then proceeded to be just about the slowest thing on track

spaz · 14 Feb 2011 at 22:01

Must admit I'm quite blasé about track days, rock up with some sandwiches, a camera and my helmet pretty much every time I go and that's it

Never had insurance either but tbh I've never at any point felt like I've needed it, 95% of people on the days are in the same boat so there is a sort of mutual understanding of what could happen. There are occasionally dicks that go, but I could probably count on 1 hand the number I have personally seen (even when going along just to take pictures etc).

Just go along and have fun!

Berger · 14 Feb 2011 at 22:03

spaz said:
Must admit I'm quite blasé about track days, rock up with some sandwiches, a camera and my helmet pretty much every time I go and that's it

Never had insurance either but tbh I've never at any point felt like I've needed it, 95% of people on the days are in the same boat so there is a sort of mutual understanding of what could happen. There are occasionally dicks that go, but I could probably count on 1 hand the number I have personally seen (even when going along just to take pictures etc).

Just go along and have fun!

You have a new car though

I have tracked three french ones.....

spaz · 14 Feb 2011 at 22:05

Berger said:
You have a new car though

I have tracked three french ones.....

Tbh that is a very big part of it, but being French it's still a bit of a risk

Mucky_Pup · 14 Feb 2011 at 22:56

I've got two slots on Silverstone at Ford Fair this year, should be good fun.

Leeum · 14 Feb 2011 at 23:09

Myself and a few friends are off to Knockhill next month. Hope to hell we don't end up with a bunch of nutters in our group.

sigma · 14 Feb 2011 at 23:23

Not sure if it's been mentioned but I'd change all fluids; brake, clutch, coolant oil etc too and new (worn in) pads as well.

Turbo-G · 15 Feb 2011 at 11:45

Overtaking will be by consent only (indicated by the driver in front indicating and pulling over to one side of the track to allow the pass), so in theory, contact with another car should be near impossible.

I've done a few open pit day/evenings with BaT at Donnington Park and Rockingham and found them to be a well organised day, with people generally playing by the rules and having a good time.

I hope to do another this year if possible but we'll see.

bLuEuK · 15 Feb 2011 at 12:05

Planning to do my first trackday at Bedford on the 28th, will certainly be taking on board what's been said here. The only thing concerning me was seeing the list of people running.

I believe it was 80 people signed up for the open pit day, does anyone know how they handle this? do they stagger people going out or limit the amount of cars on track at any one time?

Either way i'm sure i'll get my fill, will certainly be interesting to see how the car holds up. I know people have said limit yourself to around 20 mins on track at any one time, but is there a set rest period between these stints? i.e. 20 mins on 20 mins off etc? as I imagine you'd need a reasonable break for brakes and the like to cool.

Overlag · 15 Feb 2011 at 12:13

on a open day you can do it how you want. On a sessioned day, it will be 20minutes per hour normally.

They normally say keep a max of 20minutes on the track at any time, then come in to cool off (both you and the car). This also allows other people onto the track. Depending on how well the day is running they will have loads of cars on track at the same time. However if everyone is misbehaving (like on a day i did once, the one i even spun on) they will limit it to 10-15 cars so there are not any accidents.

Just remember to ease into the fast pace to allow your car to warm up, and do the oposite at the end, do a slower lap, keeping in a higher gear not braking as much so everything cools down. DO NOT put your hand brake on in the pits. Stop the engine, and leave it in gear.

bLuEuK · 15 Feb 2011 at 12:49

Ah right that's good to know, i'm sure most will be taking it easy and behaving as I believe almost everyone is flagged as a novice so we should all be in the same boat.

I will certainly be doing a few warm up laps first to get the car up to temp as you say but more importantly to learn the course, I don't want to find myself heading down an access road or anything by mistake

I'll also make sure I take it easy on the last couple of laps too and i've already been told about no handbrake so will be leaving it in gear and taking a wheel chock in case I want to leave the engine running while waiting, as some people have suggested leaving heaters on full when in pits to help keep the car cool, I don't know how much of an effect it has but we shall see.

Thanks for the pointers

Overlag · 15 Feb 2011 at 12:58

bLuEuK said:
as some people have suggested leaving heaters on full when in pits to help keep the car cool, I don't know how much of an effect it has but we shall see.

could do that on the slow down lap with the windows open?

bLuEuK · 15 Feb 2011 at 13:05

Overlag said:
could do that on the slow down lap with the windows open?

That would be a lot easier and wouldn't require me hanging around the car in the pits the entire time, for some reason I assumed I had to have the windows up when out on track

Overlag · 15 Feb 2011 at 13:26

bLuEuK said:
That would be a lot easier and wouldn't require me hanging around the car in the pits the entire time, for some reason I assumed I had to have the windows up when out on track

you do, they normally say a max of about 2inches open

-Ad- · 15 Feb 2011 at 13:37

bLuEuK said:
Planning to do my first trackday at Bedford on the 28th, will certainly be taking on board what's been said here. The only thing concerning me was seeing the list of people running.

I believe it was 80 people signed up for the open pit day, does anyone know how they handle this? do they stagger people going out or limit the amount of cars on track at any one time?

Either way i'm sure i'll get my fill, will certainly be interesting to see how the car holds up. I know people have said limit yourself to around 20 mins on track at any one time, but is there a set rest period between these stints? i.e. 20 mins on 20 mins off etc? as I imagine you'd need a reasonable break for brakes and the like to cool.

Who did you book through?

Might do my first one on that day as it gives me a few weeks to get the car prepped.

bLuEuK · 15 Feb 2011 at 13:49

-Ad- said:
Who did you book through?

Might do my first one on that day as it gives me a few weeks to get the car prepped.

Booked through trackdays.co.uk a month or so back now, with the actual confirmation and all other correspondence coming from javelin trackdays.

-Ad- · 15 Feb 2011 at 14:06

bLuEuK said:
Booked through trackdays.co.uk a month or so back now, with the actual confirmation and all other correspondence coming from javelin trackdays.

Cheers, will go have a browse.

spaz · 15 Feb 2011 at 14:56

At Bedford they allow 40 cars out on track at once (for the GT circuit), as it is quite a long circuit (4 miles give or take), after the initial rush at the beginning of the day you'll tend to be able to just go out as and when you please as people naturally start to stagger themselves out, maybe have to wait for 1 or 2 minutes in a queue but nothing outrageous.