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1st track day
Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 2:24 pm
by Karan
i wanna do a track day this summer in preparation for a ring trip, it will be my first one and i was wondering if anyone can recommend one coming up late july onwards..also dont wanna be paying silly money but am not really interested in airfield type days....
anyone recommend anyhthing?

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 2:34 pm
by tylerma
Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 3:51 pm
by Karan
cheerss
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:47 am
by JimmyC
Bedford is a good place to start, loads of run off and very safe. Also great fun as its very fast.
Also not to far from you.
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 10:10 am
by Karan
cheers dude i guess u mean bedford autodrome?
what kind of track is it?
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 10:23 am
by Taffy
Bedford is ideal but a tad boring but it does have masses of run off so you can be sure that if you push it too hard you shouldn't hit anything which is what you need for the 1st time. I'd get some instruction as well, it's costly but you'd be amazed at how much faster you'll improve even on the 1st outing.
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 11:39 am
by Wilson
Bedford is not to far from me neither, there is one October, and two in November.
http://www.trackdays.co.uk/tracks/bedford.htm
I've never been to a track day before, what is expected, do you get much track time etc
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 6:27 pm
by Taffy
depends on who you book with & what sort of day they're running, there are alot of companies out there but alot of them are crap, i use track action alot & they're very easy to deal with & professional. You'll get open pit & sessioned days, open pit is best as you can literally come in & out as you please & there fore better value. Sessiones means literally that, 2 or 3 sessions / hour so the max you'll get is 30 mins / hour but more likely to be 20 mins.
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 7:44 pm
by Wilson
Cheers Taffy, wondered what open pit meant that would be much better, would hate to pay Ԛ£100-200, and get 20 mins!!!!!!!
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:09 pm
by Taffy
Yeah, some of them are crap value, who wants to spend 20 mins on track & 40 mins sitting around?! But, you'd be suprised how many do, personally it's not my bag & i stear clear of sessioned days unless It's all that's available for testing before a race.
You'd be more than welcome to come & join us, we're out at Oulton & Donnington this month & at Bruntingthorpe, Maybe Bedford, Llandow & Snetterton next month, along with a few other E30 race cars, so we could sort of show you the ropes if you want
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:16 pm
by E30BeemerLad
Karan - try Evo magazine
evoactive trackdays I think they call them, do most of the decent circuits.
I would have thought you're more likely to get more tracktime at an airfield event. I bob my head in at Elvington on a saturday every now and again. There's usually a good variety of motors and people seem to just stay out until they or their brakes have had enough. You will run out of fuel before hitting anything off track at Elvington.
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 11:04 pm
by Wilson
Taffy wrote:You'd be more than welcome to come & join us, we're out at Oulton & Donnington this month & at Bruntingthorpe, Maybe Bedford, Llandow & Snetterton next month, along with a few other E30 race cars, so we could sort of show you the ropes if you want
I'd love to, but I certainly can't afford to even think about taking it seriously, just want to be able to get of the road and be able to have some safe fun without endangering people lives.. and more than anything be able to practice the art of drifting without thinking about kerbs and lamp posts!!!
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 1:10 pm
by Taffy
X Factor UK run a number of days in association with Motorsport Events that do lots of airfields & they're good value
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 9:57 am
by JimmyC
I do alot of trackdays in the exige, most of which are through the lotus club- but are in conjunction with Easytrack.
They are are a friendly bunch and do loads of circuits, very well organised and great VFM.
www.easytrack.co.uk
I'd def give them a big thumbs up, instructors they use are excellent as well.
Be prepared though trackdays have a massive pringle effect- once you pop you cant stop!
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 10:30 am
by Taffy
Yep, i'd 2nd that been on a few easytrack days & they are good
Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 2:32 am
by grandad318
Sorry to but in, been following the thread i on the same lines, got little circuit experiance but been driving various e30 for 2 years want to know how to get the best out of them safely any imput would be welcome
Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 8:13 am
by Taffy
get it on a track with an instructor, we use Eugene O'Brien
www.eugeneobrien.co.uk. He is not cheap but you'll learn more in 1 day than you will on 20 trackdays so in the end it's good value.
Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 1:57 pm
by hoshy
I'm lookin forward to doing my first track day some time soon also. maybe we can get a few zoners together. would be nice to go and practice some proper grip driving.
Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2005 7:43 pm
by JimmyC
i'm game when mines prepped! should be a different ball game to the exige
Did Brands last night- blinding, i love brands!
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 2:09 pm
by Taffy
Oooh, paddock Hill, the best corner in motorsport!
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 2:17 pm
by JimmyC
agreed my mate came as a pax- he screemed like a girl first few laps
some good priced evening sessions there with easytrack- very very tempted
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 8:23 pm
by gareth
JimmyC, can i ask what tyres they are in your avatar? they're cool!
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 10:13 pm
by JimmyC
they were my nice new A048's 2 months ago, but after 2 track days they are well on the way out

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 10:19 pm
by Lordschleife
Look like Yokohama A048 to me
http://www.yokohama-motorsport.de/2005/ ... ng2005.htm
You should be able to get them from George Polley in the UK, thats where I got my A032r's from
http://www.polleymotorsport.co.uk/tyres ... yres-m.asp
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 11:26 pm
by Dazzieboy
Just out of curiousity how did your 2.7 "lap numerous M3's at Brands" if youve never done a trackday.

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 9:51 am
by gareth
thought they looked a little like a032r's!
i can vouch for George Polley, he used to keep my MK2 RS2000 in tyres, when he was in heathfield, easy sussex. a damn good bloke. also very good for kent cams, engine advice and suspension setup advice. he's been building and racing on the oval since the ford anglia was released!!! a legend!
Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 11:39 pm
by JimmyC
they are 48's nothing else- promise
thanks for the suggestion but unfortunately they are only avaliable from Lotus in the sizes that I need- which is expensive and bang out of order but what can you do

Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:03 am
by hoshy
JimmyC wrote:they are 48's nothing else- promise
thanks for the suggestion but unfortunately they are only avaliable from Lotus in the sizes that I need- which is expensive and bang out of order but what can you do

buy different wheels

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 6:05 pm
by ste
Dazzieboy wrote:Just out of curiousity how did your 2.7 "lap numerous M3's at Brands" if youve never done a trackday.

That's from when I owned it.
M3s were easy meat though - it actually took some impressive scalps too.

Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 6:38 pm
by iainmac
I'm from Easytrack. Best, best, best way to enjoy a track day:
1. Make sure your car's prepped and nothing's going to fall off.
2. Tyres and brakes are crucial. You don't need mega treads for your first time, your regular road tyres will be fine. But make sure your brakes are absolutely top fettle. Uprate pads and fluid if you can. Check your tyre pressures throughout, you may find the handling goes "off" as you go faster - it's usually the tyre pressures going up with the heat. If it's an E30, then around 30psi front and rear should be OK.
3. Don't think you've got to go out and impress with a few Kimi qualifier- pace laps straight out of the pit lane: we're much more impressed (and you're more likely to stay on the black stuff) if you start slow, take advice, get some instruction, maintain consistency and get faster as the day goes on.
4. Save up. It's addictive. Bedford's a good place to start, we award gold clocks to anybody who manages to fall off the track at Elvington and actually hit anything ...
There's a "beginners' section" at
www.easytrack.co.uk where you can discover loads.[/url]