Phil Bate wrote:Dan - I will definately be up for this. Conann told me about [urlw=
http://www.llandow.com/?page_id=50]Llandow[/urlw] circuit in the Cardiff area (I didn't know that was there), could be a fun quiet one to get some sneaky practice/tuition in early next year.
Like many circuits in the UK, this is an old airfield. The advantage is these circuits are generally flat, cheap to book, and with little to hit if you skid off. The track surface may not be as good as a "proper" track. Blyton is an old airfield too, which used to have a very "dirty" concrete surface until lovely new tarmac was laid last year.
Although not essential, I think it's good to start with just "flat bends" before progressing to the likes of Brands Hatch with it's jaw dropping BLIND Paddock HILL corner with an enormous gradient, right at the end of the (~120mph)fast pit straight
At the bottom of that hill the car springs get very compressed at you climb for Druid's, a hairpin bend!
One thing to be wary of, if the track runs "Open Pit Lane" (and this applies to all tracks, with different numbers); Llandow says it has a limit on track of 10 cars. Some greedy trackday operators may book 50 cars for the day and then there will be a lot of unhappy drivers sitting in queues waiting to get out on track. As a (very) rough rule, a maximum factor of 3:1 (cars booked to track limit) should be the norm. Most cars need to cool down for at least 50% of the day (I find nearer 70% is preferable), which means queuing should be acceptable.
It Llandow runs "sessioned" times, then check what you are getting for your money. I'd expect maybe one 15 minute session per hour, which also gives plenty of time to cool down. If there are two or more people then it also adds to the fun as if you get say, the 00.00 and 00.30 sessions, you can passenger in each other's cars and have time to chnage over easily.
I should add that this circuit should favour the RX-8, being short, with no long straights (for the turbo to pull away) and lots of corners