Is Donington expensive to test?...

Is Donington expensive to test?...

Author
Discussion

BertBert

Original Poster:

18,955 posts

210 months

Monday 6th March 2017
quotequote all
...at £456 a day for OPL?

Feels a lot to me.

Bert

ginettajoe

2,106 posts

217 months

Monday 6th March 2017
quotequote all
Once JP, and his company Motorsport Vision start to organise all the days, rather than the muppet that has been organising them recently, the costs should come down to a reasonable level!!! Watch this space!!!

BertBert

Original Poster:

18,955 posts

210 months

Monday 6th March 2017
quotequote all
I was hoping that JP might have got going quicker!! Anyway out for a pre season run around on Thursday. Been a while since I've been there.

djroadboy

1,173 posts

235 months

Monday 6th March 2017
quotequote all
Doesn't seem that far out of the way for an OPL day.

MSV days aren't exactly cheap for sessioned days with a lot less track time available. £290 for 4 x 30 minute sessions at Oulton.

Can't see prices coming down when MSV take over.

Dan


andrewcliffe

936 posts

223 months

Tuesday 7th March 2017
quotequote all
Donington testing has always been semi-exclusive open pit lane. They'd make a lot more money if they used the session based format that MSV use for their other circuits, which would make a lot of competitors happier.


BertBert

Original Poster:

18,955 posts

210 months

Tuesday 7th March 2017
quotequote all
I quite like the OPL format for testing. We've got two new cars to test, brake pads to heat cycle, setup to do. So probably we'll do quite a few shortish runs.

Mark Benson

7,498 posts

268 months

Tuesday 7th March 2017
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Everywhere seems expensive to test these days. You can certainly rack up the costs on an MSV day - second driver, garage etc. and you're no cheaper than Donington.

Plus sessions mean I always feel rushed, especially if there's something that needs looking at early in the session - all of a sudden the clock is ticking......

OPL means you can pootle in and out as you need to - also with 2 or more drivers you can be a bit more relaxed about who drives when, we'll possibly have 4 sharing when the C1 is ready and we're testing for an endurance race.

djroadboy

1,173 posts

235 months

Tuesday 7th March 2017
quotequote all
Problem is, the trackday companies buy up all the days so they is very little to choose from for testing. Then they complain when you take your race car on a trackday. biggrin

Mark, for endurance testing I would recommend Blyton Park.

Dan


djroadboy

1,173 posts

235 months

Tuesday 7th March 2017
quotequote all
Not a fan of sessioned testing at all. As said above. You're always under pressure to run to the timetable. Can't do longer or shorter runs if you want. And also, all it takes is a couple of red flag incidents and you've lost half of your running time for the day.

Dan

Mark Benson

7,498 posts

268 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
quotequote all
djroadboy said:
Problem is, the trackday companies buy up all the days so they is very little to choose from for testing. Then they complain when you take your race car on a trackday. biggrin

Mark, for endurance testing I would recommend Blyton Park.

Dan
Good call Dan, I'd forgotten about Blyton.

Plus the C1 is still road registered so I can do a lot of she shakedown for the price of insurance - might bring it up your way when it's ready.

andrewcliffe

936 posts

223 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
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Single seaters without alternators quite like the sessioned format as you get 30 minutes on track and then you've got an hour between sessions to recharge batteries, fill the car full of fuel, fill the driver full of tea, make adjustments and go through datalogging and video with the driver, and you don't feel you're missing out on valuable tracktime.


BertBert

Original Poster:

18,955 posts

210 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
quotequote all
I think it depends on what you are up to in testing and personal preference. Tomorrow we have two new cars. One new to us and one completely rebuilt with a new chassis from last season.

I expect we'll do a lot of short runs in the morning adjusting everything in sight, bedding in new disks and pads, seating, setup etc and then maybe move on to some longer runs in the afternoon.

So for us OPL tomorrow is very handy!

Bert
andrewcliffe said:
Single seaters without alternators quite like the sessioned format as you get 30 minutes on track and then you've got an hour between sessions to recharge batteries, fill the car full of fuel, fill the driver full of tea, make adjustments and go through datalogging and video with the driver, and you don't feel you're missing out on valuable tracktime.

djroadboy

1,173 posts

235 months

Wednesday 8th March 2017
quotequote all
Mark Benson said:
djroadboy said:
Problem is, the trackday companies buy up all the days so they is very little to choose from for testing. Then they complain when you take your race car on a trackday. biggrin

Mark, for endurance testing I would recommend Blyton Park.

Dan
Good call Dan, I'd forgotten about Blyton.

Plus the C1 is still road registered so I can do a lot of she shakedown for the price of insurance - might bring it up your way when it's ready.
Was there a couple of weeks ago. Really good for long run testing. Just pounding round all day with no traffic.

Dan