Autoshite track day?

[straightSix]

Evening all. Basically I've got a track toy and enjoy the occasional day but it can be a little lonesome doing it on my own. Any other day track goers on here fancy having a bit of an autoshite track day out? I'm Midlands based so Donnington/Mallory Park/Bedford are all fairly local but happy to travel further afield if there's an appetite for it.

Here's a pic for attention:

Ps. I absolutely guarantee you will be faster than me

[twosmoke300]

Got two booked this year already . On a bike tho !

[sutty2006]

I’ve never done one and I’d love to loose my virginity* with the manta. Wanted to do Nurburgring but don’t have the balls yet. 
 

 

*not in that way you dirty devil!

[horriblemercedes]

I do quite a few track days and I'm in the West Midlands. I've done Donington and Mallory and raced at them too but never been to Bedford. Would be happy to organise something. I think I'd find May/June easier as I'm waiting for my car back from some paint work and I need to do brakes and other bits and pieces 

 

PS I like the 306. Very cool

[horriblemercedes]

32 minutes ago, sutty2006 said:

I’ve never done one and I’d love to loose my virginity* with the manta. Wanted to do Nurburgring but don’t have the balls yet. 
 

 

*not in that way you dirty devil!

It is daunting but when you're there, you'll realise it's so much more welcoming than you expect. I love it there. Just an amazing atmosphere around the place. I can't wait to go again 

[sutty2006]

Do you take spares n tyres n shit? I don’t like the idea of my tool box rattling round the boot while I’m battering the asphalt 

[Liggle]

Yeah I'd be up for that! I'm about 10 mins from Mallory Park but they only do track days on a Thurs or Fri so means a day off work

[straightSix]

6 hours ago, horriblemercedes said:

I do quite a few track days and I'm in the West Midlands. I've done Donington and Mallory and raced at them too but never been to Bedford. Would be happy to organise something. I think I'd find May/June easier as I'm waiting for my car back from some paint work and I need to do brakes and other bits and pieces 

 

PS I like the 306. Very cool

Excellent. Bedford is decent but an old airfield so pretty flat although there is a super long straight.

And cheers, it's only an 8V xsi so not fast but handles so well

2 hours ago, Liggle said:

Yeah I'd be up for that! I'm about 10 mins from Mallory Park but they only do track days on a Thurs or Fri so means a day off work

Great! We could look at doing a day sometime in June?

[flat4alfa]

Bedford is quite close to me, not done a track day in years

Shall I bring the Ford along this time?

Might* be competitive

[Heidel_Kakao]

Can you do a track day in a classic without fear of it being damaged? Or is it best to do it in something that's not irreplaceable?

[straightSix]

2 hours ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

Can you do a track day in a classic without fear of it being damaged? Or is it best to do it in something that's not irreplaceable?

You occasionally get the odd MG midget or spitfire or the like. But I've seen everything from C1s to McLaren's going around. And you can get insurance to cover you if anything did happen but it is obviously a bit of a risk

[hairnet]

On 4/14/2021 at 5:43 PM, Heidel_Kakao said:

Can you do a track day in a classic without fear of it being damaged? Or is it best to do it in something that's not irreplaceable?

just cos track day doesnt mean you have to bounce it off the limiter everywhere

went to zandvoort and waiting in the queue to get on behind us was a gs break :D

have used vtech honda panda various bikes and a fiesta so you can do it in anything - and although i drove to the places to have a go - worrying about it breaking - nah didnt think about that - if you worry like that then i wouldnt take it - take something else :)

 

[Crackers]

I think if I took either of my cars to a trackday I'd set better laptimes on foot.

[dollywobbler]

I did a track day at Silverstone in my 90bhp Mazda 323F 1.5. It was an absolute riot! Tracks are larger than they look, so there's plenty of space to avoid getting in people's way or colliding with others. Astonished me how hot the brakes got though! (not helped by some weird policy that saw us get the chequered flag, then come straight off the track with no cool-down lap).

[flat4alfa]

Ah yes, good point- budget on a new set of discs as they'll finish up warped

Expect a good few stone chips to the front too

[J-T]

I could be up for that if I’ve still got my Alfa by then. I’ve been saying I’m going to do a track day for years and never have. 

[gm]

plenty of trackday action (up north) here  

 

 

I've been doing trackdays for a good few years now, mostly in my various mx5s but on the few occasions I took my Porsche 944 on track, it wasn't as much fun - I was too worried I'd wreck it to enjoy myself. And, if i'm brutally honest, the car was too powerful for me. I went back the next week with my £500 mx5 and thrashed the nuts off it, I had way more fun. Never looked back, it's mx5s all the way now.

When I lived in Scotland, I spent many a happy day up at Knockhill, now I'm exiled to the North East, I have to make do with Teeside or Croft - both good circuits but neither a patch on Knockers.

regarding insurance, the only time I bothered was when my classic policy gave me four days cover as part of a deal, otherwise, I'm just sensible* and stay out of trouble - I've had a few moments when things haven't gone according to plan but a bit of gravel rash and / or the tow of shame back to the pit are the worst I've endured.

 

[mercedade]

I'd be well up for this - I've been checking the Three Sisters Circuit trackday page, but the events seem to be organised by Barry'sCruizeBoyz or something, and I'm not sure my 820 is going to mix it with the endless procession of Audi S3s.

[tom13]

How much do you have to budget for a track day at somewhere like Bedford?

Take the cars consumables out of it, fuel, pads etc.

Im thinking price to enter, I assume a proper certified helmet (would my motorcycle hemlet pass?), what else is there?

Cheers

[flat4alfa]

29 minutes ago, tom13 said:

How much do you have to budget for a track day at somewhere like Bedford?

It depends on which organisation is running it but you're looking at £180 high season, £100 in the pits of winter

[J-T]

3 hours ago, mercedade said:

I'd be well up for this - I've been checking the Three Sisters Circuit trackday page, but the events seem to be organised by Barry'sCruizeBoyz or something, and I'm not sure my 820 is going to mix it with the endless procession of Audi S3s.

I wouldn’t bother with three sisters. I did one of those driving experience days there and it was pretty rubbish. It’s a karting track really, it’s too small.

[Cheezey]

I’m about to do my first track day at Knockhill on Wednesday 28th. Really looking forward to it. 
I went round the Nurburgring a few times years ago. 
I tried to set up a private hire of Driftland for a bit of fun but it all got a bit complicated and not great value in the end. 
I’m keen to try doing one of the Crail ones as they seem good value. 

[straightSix]

3 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

It depends on which organisation is running it but you're looking at £180 high season, £100 in the pits of winter

Basically this. No-one checks your helmet so it's obviously up to you how much you want to spend on one

[hairnet]

all the circuits run by msv oulton brands etc are not cheap 150 or more for cars

but then places like llandow or blyton can be barg - 60 quid for the bike at llandow i think (cant remember it was a while ago)

helmets - most things with ec or bs mark are fine as long as its not an mx helmet - which is nuts as normal bike helmets are fine

@gm will have to be the stig to use the exo :D

 

[flat4alfa]

To be fair it was £90-£150 well over ten years ago, so not bad really

[Spottedlaurel]

A selection of the unsuitable things Wuvvum and I have taken to various airfield trackdays:

The Innocenti wasn't used on track!

 

 

 

 

The Laurel was less than ideal, but I wanted to enjoy the atmosphere of a Marham trackday.

The LS400 was obviously the fastest, I used it a couple of times. Not sure if my current, earlier version would be so good with it smaller brakes and skinny 205 tyres.

With the Camrys I certainly needed a set of spare tyres. I would finish off a set on abrasive airfield surfaces, but admittedly they were part-worns or getting close to needing replacement anyway.