1st track day essentials

1st track day essentials

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Discussion

M5GT

Original Poster:

78 posts

202 months

Friday 23rd January 2015
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Hi booked first track day at brands got a car 3 drivers and a garage booked. Firstly does a registered driver automatically become eligible as passenger. Do we need to bring fuel or do they sell there. And what other essentials do we need to bring.

M5GT

Original Poster:

78 posts

202 months

Friday 23rd January 2015
quotequote all
Oh yeh insurance????

911p

2,334 posts

180 months

Friday 23rd January 2015
quotequote all
Drivers are fine as passengers, no need to pay extra for a passenger wrist band too. There is a Texaco garage 2 minutes down the road from Brands, if you need V-Power there is a Shell in Longfield about 10 minutes away, so no need to bring fuel. Insurance is up to you, if you bin it on track your road insurance won't cover you.

Essentials are just oil and fluids, tyre pressure pump/gauge (I use this) as your pressures will shoot up when they get hot on track, and lastly a torque wrench to keep an eye on wheel nuts. Don't forget your license. Enjoy!

Robert Elise

956 posts

145 months

Friday 23rd January 2015
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911p said:
and lastly a torque wrench to keep an eye on wheel nuts.
i get sloppy on this myself and never check. last week at Snett there was a red flag when a smart looking BMW came to a halt with 45 deg neg camber...on one wheel. I got out and checked! note to self.

andyiley

9,195 posts

152 months

Friday 23rd January 2015
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Make sure you have long sleeves & trousers/jeans and a helmet for everyone in the car at any time.

Take spare brake pads & change the brake fluid before going.

boxsey

3,574 posts

210 months

Friday 23rd January 2015
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With one driver most of us will do a 20 minute session on track, come in and let the car (and driver) cool for 20 to 30 minutes before going out again. The temptation with 3 drivers will be to change over and go out straight away to maximize time on track. Do this with most cars and they will soon break! So I would advise you insist on rests between driver changes.

gruffalo

7,520 posts

226 months

Friday 23rd January 2015
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Instruction!

Itsallicanafford

2,764 posts

159 months

Saturday 24th January 2015
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boxsey said:
With one driver most of us will do a 20 minute session on track, come in and let the car (and driver) cool for 20 to 30 minutes before going out again. The temptation with 3 drivers will be to change over and go out straight away to maximize time on track. Do this with most cars and they will soon break! So I would advise you insist on rests between driver changes.
This is good advice, especially when it comes to tyres, I found road tyres starting to melt after 4-5 laps. Maybe a warm up lap, 3 quick laps and a cool down lap each with 20 minutes off In between, with the handbrake left off when stationary and I usually keep the engine running to allow the cooling system to do its thing (people might disagree with this)

I would try to get each driver to do the sighting laps, this might be difficult as they usually run only two sighting lap sessions.
Paddock hill bend is difficult to get right, everytime I have been to brans, the track day is usually stopped within the first 15 minutes as somebody ends up in the gravel.

Have the conversation about what happens if you bin it, assuming it is one persons car with no insurance, might be a good idea, you would be unlucky but it might happen..

M5GT

Original Poster:

78 posts

202 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
Oh yeh insurance????

supertouring

2,228 posts

233 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
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Book on with an instructor for some laps. Money well spent.

QBee

20,953 posts

144 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
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Helmet and licence have both been mentioned - they are the two things without which you don't go on track.
If you forget your helmet you can hire one at the track.

Remember you have all day, so take it steady at first and get your eye in. And passenger with each other or blag passenger rides when not driving. It will help you give the car a rest between drivers.
I haven't seen any mention of brakes - take it easy on the brakes or you may find yourself running out of them, though it is fair to say there is not so much need for heavy repeated braking on the Brands Indy circuit. I have seen a 911 arrive back in the pits on a full circuit track day with the brakes on fire......

Watch your tyre wear- you need them to stay legal to get you home. And that point about not using the handbrake is important - it can warp your disks.

I think you may find it tricky to get track day insurance - many insurers only include it with comprehensive annual policies or not at all.

Hol

8,403 posts

200 months

Tuesday 27th January 2015
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Front left wears quickly on brands.
Make sure the spare is facing the same way if it's a directional tyre.

Or swap front and rear over at lunch time, if they are low tread.