1st track day

[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?

[tylerma]

could try these mate

http://www.trackdays.co.uk/

http://www.uktrackdays.co.uk/

[Karan]

cheerss

[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.

[Karan]

cheers dude i guess u mean bedford autodrome?

what kind of track is it?

[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.

[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

[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.

[Wilson]

Cheers Taffy, wondered what open pit meant that would be much better, would hate to pay Ԛ£100-200, and get 20 mins!!!!!!!

[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

[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.

[Wilson]

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!!!

[Taffy]

X Factor UK run a number of days in association with Motorsport Events that do lots of airfields & they're good value

[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!

[Taffy]

Yep, i'd 2nd that been on a few easytrack days & they are good

[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

[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.

[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.

[JimmyC]

i'm game when mines prepped! should be a different ball game to the exige

Did Brands last night- blinding, i love brands!

[Taffy]

Oooh, paddock Hill, the best corner in motorsport!

[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

[gareth]

JimmyC, can i ask what tyres they are in your avatar? they're cool!

[JimmyC]

they were my nice new A048's 2 months ago, but after 2 track days they are well on the way out

[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

[Dazzieboy]

Just out of curiousity how did your 2.7 "lap numerous M3's at Brands" if youve never done a trackday.

[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!

[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

[hoshy]

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

[ste]

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.

[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]