First Trackday - any advice ?

[Rafferj]

Hey guys, newbie here!

Any advice for first trackday? Taking my car up to Knockhill this wkend for the first time, any hints or tips much appreciated.

When I booked it in, girl advised I should be fine with Top Marques event - true ? (hope so!!)

I'm hoping to hire a helmet up there, and will obviously fill up with V power before the event, and remove any loose objects from the cabin - anything other than that I should be thinking about ?

Cheers !

[Stang]

Stay away for a tail happy Grey Stang

I am heading over on Sat and "if" I go on the track it will be my second time. Its not as bad as I had thought and once I got a few laps in I loved it. Just pull to the right to let others pass if you feel you want to.

I was terribly nervous as I took to heading out on the track and breathed a sigh of relief when the black flag came out and stopped me at the red light. That relief then turned quickly to fear as I saw everyone come off the track and end up sitting behind me.

Pop over and say hi. Won't be able to miss us as I will also be down with a Yellow Diablo.

[AMD87]

if your unsure about it or are nervious you could always ask one of the knockhill guys to come out in the car with you and they can give you advice on your driving,where to brake etc.

said:

Pop over and say hi. Won't be able to miss us as I will also be down with a Yellow Diablo.

passenger ride please?

Edited by AMD87 on Tuesday 12th February 16:12

[Rafferj]

Good advice guys thanks!

Take it you get some sort of safety debrief first ?

When they say 1-4pm, do they mean be there for 1pm or be there before ? I've got football in Greenock in the morning, won't get off the park till almost 12 :O I'll probably find myself going faster to get to knockhill than I will once I get there

I'll keep my eyes open for you stang, you'l probably be rocketing past me while I'm snailing it round

[AMD87]

Rafferj said:

Good advice guys thanks!

Take it you get some sort of safety debrief first ?

When they say 1-4pm, do they mean be there for 1pm or be there before ? I've got football in Greenock in the morning, won't get off the park till almost 12 :O I'll probably find myself going faster to get to knockhill than I will once I get there

On track for 1pm the briefing is usually 15-20mins before the trackday is due to start.

[Rafferj]

Cheers for that info.

Hmm, gives me around 40 mins to get there from Greenock, oh the joys! :O

Think I'll be feigning injury around the 70 min mark and going for an early shower

See you guys there !

[GetCarter]

Rafferj said:

...any hints or tips much appreciated.

Hi there

I put this up a few years back now. 90% will be relevant. Have fun!

http://www.stevecarter.com/track-day-beginners.htm

Steve

[kenwood]

I heard some good advice for newbies a while from a mate, apparently the best advice he had heard.

"When you start to think you are getting good, come in. Because you're NOT!"

Might sound slightly patronising but thats when ambition overtakes talent and big offs can happen.

Above all enjoy yourself and build up your pace gradually.
Check your mirrors for faster traffic coming up behind, holding them up gets frustrating but as long as you move over generally etiquette is good and they will give you plenty of space.
Dont feel you have to jump out the way as soon as you see them, often those new to it feel that all they are doing is constantly moving over.
Trick is to get into the habit of lifting off as early as possible after a corner NOT at the end of the straight. That way both cars lose the least time. And already mentioned, watch your brakes, as soon as it starts to go spongy come in, dont be tempted for one more lap. The brake pedal going straight to the floor approaching Duffus at 115mph is not fun.

GetCarter said:

I put this up a few years back now. 90% will be relevant. Have fun!

http://www.stevecarter.com/track-day-beginners.htm

Steve

You mention on that guide that it is generally accepted that most drivers increase the tyre pressure slightly? I always thought the generally accepted was slightly lower than road pressures, certainly thats what all Lotus drivers and most others I have spoken to do. As heat gets into the tyres the pressure tends to increase so start off a few psi lower plus you absolutely kill your tyres with higher pressure on the track.

Edited by kenwood on Tuesday 12th February 20:52

[GetCarter]

kenwood said:

I heard some good advice for newbies a while from a mate, apparently the best advice he had heard.

"When you start to think you are getting good, come in. Because you're NOT!"

Might sound slightly patronising but thats when ambition overtakes talent and big offs can happen.

Above all enjoy yourself and build up your pace gradually.
Check your mirrors for faster traffic coming up behind, holding them up gets frustrating but as long as you move over generally etiquette is good and they will give you plenty of space.
Dont feel you have to jump out the way as soon as you see them, often those new to it feel that all they are doing is constantly moving over.
Trick is to get into the habit of lifting off as early as possible after a corner NOT at the end of the straight. That way both cars lose the least time. And already mentioned, watch your brakes, as soon as it starts to go spongy come in, dont be tempted for one more lap. The brake pedal going straight to the floor approaching Duffus at 115mph is not fun.

GetCarter said:

I put this up a few years back now. 90% will be relevant. Have fun!

http://www.stevecarter.com/track-day-beginners.htm

Steve

You mention on that guide that it is generally accepted that most drivers increase the tyre pressure slightly? I always thought the generally accepted was slightly lower than road pressures, certainly thats what all Lotus drivers and most others I have spoken to do. As heat gets into the tyres the pressure tends to increase so start off a few psi lower plus you absolutely kill your tyres with higher pressure on the track.

Edited by kenwood on Tuesday 12th February 20:52

Sorry or the delay - just seen this.

Well on track with My lotus or my Caterhams - this would indeed be the case, as they are 'stiff' enough and light enough not to roll onto the 'shoulder' of tyre - unlike most road cars. I drove M3s on track many times and it was a bloody nightmare, as they would just erase rubber from the corner between the tread and the wall. The only way to slow down this process was to slightly 'up' the pressure, to stop the tyre from deforming on the corners.

Most road cars will see this bit of their tyre degrade first - Luckilly, lightweight sportscars are much less likely to.


My 'tips for trackday novices' was aimed at road cars a while back, as 90% of cars on track in 2000 (or thereabouts) were heavy and unsuited to track. As you well know, nowerdays, there is much more money spent on 'proper' trackday cars (like yours) which won't suffer the same problems.

As I said in my post, most of it will be useful, the tyre pressures only relate to heavy road cars (like the OH so heavy M3 E46) - 5 new tyres in one trackday in 2003!!

Steve

ETA - oh and before any M3 owners jump in - I was told by a very famous race driver/track instructor (no names, but you might well guess), that if you did more than 10 laps in an E46 M3 and you didn't need new pads and possibly tyres, you were just driving WAY too slow.

Sad but true (see my spat with BMW for more on this!)

Edited by GetCarter on Wednesday 13th February 16:19

[r055]

best advice i got (when i was worrying about holding people up) was to go at your own pace but check the mirrors at certain places for the track tarts to vent their frustration...

These are the recognised overtaking points...
1st check - just before the chicane - if cars behind you pull into the right after the chicane and lift foot off the gas, indicate right and let them past, look in the mirror again to move out to the left prior to going round the next corner

2nd check - just after the corner above, pull into the right if you think your under-powered for others on track

3rd check - just after the hairpin

These might be obvious, but i was more worried about people behind me after the first corner

4th check - look out for a shoeless war veteran driving a yellow fire-spitting elise at all times!!!!

HTH

[Wanta996(Gotta)]

Rafferj said:

Cheers for that info.

Hmm, gives me around 40 mins to get there from Greenock, oh the joys! :O

Think I'll be feigning injury around the 70 min mark and going for an early shower

See you guys there !

Hi, you wont get to Knockhill in 40mins from Greenock - No chance. Especially as Kingston bridge will be busy around 12:30 and you are only half way there. Safety breifing is essential if its your first time on track and its down to the Knockhill guys descretion if they let you on without the safety breifing.

Weather forcast looks good and if you do make it though i doubt you will then have a great day as it is a fantastic experience. You will really appreciate all the hype with Porsches after you take it out on track.

[Rafferj]

[quote=Wanta996(Gotta)]

Rafferj said:

Cheers for that info.

Hmm, gives me around 40 mins to get there from Greenock, oh the joys! :O

Think I'll be feigning injury around the 70 min mark and going for an early shower

See you guys there !

Hi, you wont get to Knockhill in 40mins from Greenock - No chance. Especially as Kingston bridge will be busy around 12:30 and you are only half way there. Safety breifing is essential if its your first time on track and its down to the Knockhill guys descretion if they let you on without the safety breifing.

Weather forcast looks good and if you do make it though i doubt you will then have a great day as it is a fantastic experience. You will really appreciate all the hype with Porsches after you take it out on track.

Yea I realise that I'm gonna try leave about half 11 and make haste! Sat nav says 1 hour 20, so I'll just have to shave off the 20

[7SS]

Rafferj said:

[quote=Wanta996(Gotta)]

Rafferj said:

Cheers for that info.

Hmm, gives me around 40 mins to get there from Greenock, oh the joys! :O

Think I'll be feigning injury around the 70 min mark and going for an early shower

See you guys there !

Hi, you wont get to Knockhill in 40mins from Greenock - No chance. Especially as Kingston bridge will be busy around 12:30 and you are only half way there. Safety breifing is essential if its your first time on track and its down to the Knockhill guys descretion if they let you on without the safety breifing.

Weather forcast looks good and if you do make it though i doubt you will then have a great day as it is a fantastic experience. You will really appreciate all the hype with Porsches after you take it out on track.

Yea I realise that I'm gonna try leave about half 11 and make haste! Sat nav says 1 hour 20, so I'll just have to shave off the 20

No need to break any records to get there. I've turned up late before & they were happy to give me a seperate safety brief.

[Rafferj]

Thats good to know, thanks.

I'm going to leave as early as physically possible, so will hopefully be there on time or nearly on time.

Spoke to a helpful lady at Knockhill today who said I can do registration anytime between 12-1.

Is helpful to know I should be ok to get a later safety briefing If I get held up.

Be gentle with me guys