Trackdays - how do I do them?

Equipment that may be needed plus general information on track days.
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pilerbates
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Trackdays - how do I do them?

Post by pilerbates »

I've never been on a trackday. It looks like fun but I’m not sure how to go about it. Do you just turn up or book? Do you need anything like helmet, roll cage, competition licence or special training? Can my kids have a go (they have a full licence)? Insurance? What if I bend it? Is there anywhere up north – I live in Harrogate? What are the rules? Which is the best for a novice?
A friend of mine took his Porsche 911 on a track day and needed a new set of rear tyres before he could drive home! Is he just a bad driver or do I need to bring a spare set?

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Re: Trackdays

Post by Nerdstrike »

No you don't need insurance. You sign a waver of responsibility, and the track is private land and thus exempt from standard traffic laws. However, if you bend it, you pay for it. Totalling a 911 would be very costly, unless you opt for trackday insurance which is pretty expensive but will cover you for a total loss (minus a hefty excess). This is valuable for race-prepped cars as you can declare a value higher than the market value to account for all the mods.

You will need a helmet on, but no rollcage. Helmets are often available for hire, and can vary from very good to decidedly funky. If you're likely to go again, buy a cheapish open face helmet to fit you. Closed helmets are for people on bikes and possibly open top cars.

The rules are simple. It's strictly non-competitive, so no live timing (stopwatches and such), no wheel-to-wheel action with other participants, and generally only passing on the left. People can still make a mess of things, but by far and away the main cause of incidents is running out of talent and getting too excited. After that it's mechanical failure. There are very few car collisions on normal trackdays. There are novice days, but my experience of one was that it was flooded with muppets, and you are limited to sessions. The classic open pitlane is a bit more relaxed and you can go out when you want for however long you want, as long as the circuit is safe and not too busy. There are occasional red flags while an accident gets cleaned up.

As for tyres, I did bake my fronts last time, but they are quite soft road tyres, and they're still good for road, just not quite as good as they were. In general provided you avoid heroics, you'll burn some tread but the tyres will survive many trackdays and a year or two of motoring as well. A 911 is a much braver car to drive, with much higher speeds, hence they tyres will work harder and a heavy hand will smoke rubber. The RX8 has more grip than power, so the only way to nuke your tyres is to go waaaay too fast into corners or drift. I recommend you keep your DSC turned on until you're confident on track, and then think twice unless it starts to limit you. You don't want uncontrollable oversteer tossing you into a tyre wall!
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pilerbates (Thu Nov 27, 2014 2:55 pm)
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Re: Trackdays

Post by Nerdstrike »

Oh yeah, and get somebody who knows the circuit (maybe an instruction session) to ride with you while youlearn the layout and help you manage all the mental load. It's not easy to go flat out, keep an eye behind, hit the racing lane, observe flags, and manage your car's condition all at once. It takes two or three trackdays to get fully accustomed to the higher speeds that things happen. Whatever the case, there is always someone faster out there, and it's good manners to get out of there way before they get impatient and pull some risky overtaking.
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pilerbates (Thu Nov 27, 2014 2:56 pm)
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Re: Trackdays

Post by Shagrington »

There is some good discussion here [urlw=http://www.rx8ownersclub.co.uk/forum/vi ... 00&t=47963]What is holding you back?[/urlw] about track days for people who have never done one.

If one of the trackdays where there will be club members about is within striking distance, I would highly recommend going to one of them. Look here for the 2015 list [urlw=http://www.rx8ownersclub.co.uk/forum/vi ... 00&t=61515]***TRACKDAYS 2015***[/urlw] Malcolm (casey) will set you up with a buddy (another club member with good experience of track days etc) to guide you through the day if possible at one of those days.
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pilerbates (Thu Nov 27, 2014 2:56 pm)
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Re: Trackdays - how do I do them?

Post by stewartm »

Car allowing, I go to plenty of track days. If you get a chance, come along to the Yorkshire monthly meet if you want a chat. Am off for the last run of the season down at Brands Hatch in a week. Keep an eye out around Spring time, as people wil start heading out again with the improving weather and join us. :)
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pilerbates (Thu Nov 27, 2014 9:34 pm)
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Re: Trackdays - how do I do them?

Post by Bulldog »

I've been to a lot of tracks now it's a fantastic way to spend a day.

I am meant to be at oulton park on the 6th December
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pilerbates (Sat Nov 29, 2014 8:02 pm)
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Re: Trackdays - how do I do them?

Post by tractorboy »

You're not too far from Croft and Oulton Park if you fancy crossing to the Dark side ;) Both cracking tracks. However as others have said, best to go to one of the club outings where you can get loads of support and advice. There's a thread on here "what's holding you back?" which is very useful and it's what got me on track.

Bob
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pilerbates (Sat Nov 29, 2014 8:02 pm)
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Re: Trackdays - how do I do them?

Post by RX8Head »

All the above advise is great and pretty much covers everything. The only thing I would add is if you're unsure then it might be worth going to a track day that a few club members will be at to see how it runs and I'm sure you'll be able to grab a few passenger rides as well as having a chat face to face with a few regular track dayers.
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pilerbates (Tue Dec 02, 2014 4:38 pm)
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Re: Trackdays - how do I do them?

Post by AdamGaltress »

I went to croft as a passenger and it gave me a good insight for my first bit of track time, I'd recommend going as a passenger first too
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pilerbates (Sat Nov 29, 2014 8:03 pm)
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Re: Trackdays - how do I do them?

Post by GreySilver Beast »

Its a pity you live miles away from Brands Hatch as I am driving the Indy Circuit twice this coming week :P

On Tuesday without the RX-8OC present and then on Friday with all the guys and gals present :P

You could then had as many passenger rides as you wanted then :lol:

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Re: Trackdays - how do I do them?

Post by macgtech »

The first thing to do is to book a day - a sessioned day with Novice, Inter, Experienced groups will probably be best as it is a little less intimidating if you choose the appropriate group than going to an open pitlane day when people of all abilities and speeds are on track at once - an open pitlane day is essentially a free for all with a maximum number of cars allowed on the track at once.

Other than checking all fluids and monitoring tyre wear, a stock car should be fine. Remember to put your towing eyes in!

We have a little section on track prep here if you are interested. The first page has some info on what to expect, the second on the vehicle and bits and pieces it would be worth taking:

http://www.macgracing.co.uk/trackdays_tips.shtml

Good luck and enjoy!
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Re: Trackdays - how do I do them?

Post by RX8Head »

You'd think a novice sessioned day would be good especailly for novices but having done a "novice only day" a few years back with a few novice guys and girls from the club(wasn't my first one and I lied a little bit about only having done three track days before) it wasn't great :( . The problems were you had to go out when your session was out and if there was a red flag you end up missing out on track time. Everyone would queue up to get out on track as soon as their session started and if you end up at the back of the queue you'd find it hard to get a clear lap where on an open pit lane one you could just come in and back out of the pits. There was wasted time in getting the group that was already on track off the track, also there appear to be more people at it than on an open pit lane day. You still end up with a few knobheads and there were a few trailered/race preped cars on track as well [-X . I think just about everyone who went said it wasn't bad value for money as it was cheap than an open pit lane day but that next they go with an open pit lane day.
Having said all that when we did have are club track days up at Bylton with a novice session to start off the day that did work well but I guess that might have been in part due to the fact of lower numbers and it being for club members only maybe we just have a better class of driver :P .
I'd say try and get along to one where club members will be at either driving or as a passenger as imo it makes the day so much more enjoyable plus they'll be able to share with you their years of wisdom on track days :lol: .
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pilerbates (Tue Dec 02, 2014 4:45 pm)
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Re: Trackdays - how do I do them?

Post by tractorboy »

I started with a Novice sessioned day at Snetterton. Bad idea! Too much time pressure all day, loads of experienced drivers. I nearly gave up there and then.
Bob
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Re: Trackdays - how do I do them?

Post by casey »

I agree, sessioned days are, in theory, a great idea. In practice, I've found Open Pit Lane days far preferable, due to all the problems with sessioned days mentioned above. By far the best way to start is to come along to a day when there is a group of Club members at a trackday and got through the whole experience with them; noise testing process, safety briefing, sighting laps, then take some passenger rides. That way, you'll know exactly what to expect as 90% of trackdays follow the same procedures.

Or, sign up for a day when there are a group of experienced track day Club members driving and we can offer a "Buddy". The buddy will be someone who has done >5 trackdays, is familiar with the specific circuit and will accompany the newbie for as long as they like at the start of the day, giving/taking passenger rides and offering advice on the circuit lines (but we always advise taking a paid tuition session with an ARDS qualified instructor too on the day).
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pilerbates (Tue Dec 02, 2014 4:46 pm)
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Re: Trackdays - how do I do them?

Post by RX8Head »

tractorboy wrote:I started with a Novice sessioned day at Snetterton. Bad idea! Too much time pressure all day, loads of experienced drivers. I nearly gave up there and then.
Bob
That was exactly the one I was talking about glad it didn't put you off Bob :D .
For anyone else the views on the day can be read [urlw=http://www.rx8ownersclub.co.uk/forum/vi ... &start=141]here.[/urlw]
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Re: Trackdays - how do I do them?

Post by pilerbates »

Thanks for all the advice. I will follow the track days notices and sign up for one up north when advertised.
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