Beginners only session at Knockhill - any interest?
Discussion
A few Lotus owners have been in touch about running a beginners only session as part of the track day on Saturday 10th July from 9am to 1pm.
The proposal is that between 9:20am and 9:50am (after the driver's briefing and warm up groups), that the track will only be open to beginners (first timers, or only done a couple of events). Regulars can sit alongside as passengers, offering advice on lines, reminders to look in mirrors etc but there will also be a Knockhill instructor available to use free of charge throughout the whole event (might have to limit him to 3 or 4 laps at a time so he can get around as many casr as possible).
After about 15 minutes, one or two regulars will go out on track driving at about 80 - 90%, to give the beginners experience of being caught and overtaken etc. With about 5 to 10 minutes to go, another few regulars will go out on track, giving experience of a busier track, and some faster cars etc. We will also recommend that beginners come into the pits at least once during the session, to get used to leaving the track, and joining an open track by using the lights.
After that it will be the usual open pit lane, and everyone can go on track when they like for as long as they like.
If we get around 10 people confirmed (I think there are 5 to 7 Lotus owners already), then it will make this viable.
John
The proposal is that between 9:20am and 9:50am (after the driver's briefing and warm up groups), that the track will only be open to beginners (first timers, or only done a couple of events). Regulars can sit alongside as passengers, offering advice on lines, reminders to look in mirrors etc but there will also be a Knockhill instructor available to use free of charge throughout the whole event (might have to limit him to 3 or 4 laps at a time so he can get around as many casr as possible).
After about 15 minutes, one or two regulars will go out on track driving at about 80 - 90%, to give the beginners experience of being caught and overtaken etc. With about 5 to 10 minutes to go, another few regulars will go out on track, giving experience of a busier track, and some faster cars etc. We will also recommend that beginners come into the pits at least once during the session, to get used to leaving the track, and joining an open track by using the lights.
After that it will be the usual open pit lane, and everyone can go on track when they like for as long as they like.
If we get around 10 people confirmed (I think there are 5 to 7 Lotus owners already), then it will make this viable.
John
Think this is a great idea,
Not gonna get a much better chance to get some tuition and learn the track without feeling pressured by the more experienced lads on track.
Doesnt even need to be hard on the car as you can do 5-10 laps depending on how you/car/brakes feel and come off for a chat then go back out once things have cooled off a bit.
Just be careful you might even enjoy it, after all theres no plod waiting round the next bend, or german tourist for that matter.
Not gonna get a much better chance to get some tuition and learn the track without feeling pressured by the more experienced lads on track.
Doesnt even need to be hard on the car as you can do 5-10 laps depending on how you/car/brakes feel and come off for a chat then go back out once things have cooled off a bit.
Just be careful you might even enjoy it, after all theres no plod waiting round the next bend, or german tourist for that matter.
Hmmm. Surely everyone on track was a beginner at some point and they all managed to get out there without a half hour session dedicated to it?
I think that of the KH days, the SIDC ones are one of the best (if not THE best) for considerate driving. I would think that that alone would be sufficient to give newbies the confidence to try it out for the first time.
From a purely selfish point of view, not starting the day till 0950 means I've lost nearly an hour out of a four hour track day... not great.
Why not explain to KH what you are trying to achieve and see if they'll let you hold a quiet session from 0830 till 0900hrs?
I think that of the KH days, the SIDC ones are one of the best (if not THE best) for considerate driving. I would think that that alone would be sufficient to give newbies the confidence to try it out for the first time.
From a purely selfish point of view, not starting the day till 0950 means I've lost nearly an hour out of a four hour track day... not great.
Why not explain to KH what you are trying to achieve and see if they'll let you hold a quiet session from 0830 till 0900hrs?
Hi Matt,
points taken on board 100%, and I was already having a bit of a re-think.
The session will only happen if we get enough confirmed interest, otherwise the event would run as per normal as it is unfair on those who have booked up already to a chunk of track time. If it does goes ahead, I was planning to offer a discount to those taking part to redeem against a future event to compensate for loss of track time this time around.
Anyway, latest thoughts are as follows:
With the number of cars we have booked up to date (less than 20!!), we could easily get away with 2 warm up groups, with the novices in the 2nd group. If we let that group run for 15 - 20 minutes instead of usual 3 - 4 laps, then the open pit lane could effectively start around 9:25 and we'd probably feed in a few regulars during this time as well. This should be sufficient time for most novices to get a feel for the circuit "in isolation", as 30 minutes non-stop would probably be too long for a novice to do in their first stint of track driving as they and their car could well be tired by that point and unable to enjoy the rest of the event.
Indeed, with so few cars booked up there's an argument that the track will be virtually empty most of the time anyway!
John
points taken on board 100%, and I was already having a bit of a re-think.
The session will only happen if we get enough confirmed interest, otherwise the event would run as per normal as it is unfair on those who have booked up already to a chunk of track time. If it does goes ahead, I was planning to offer a discount to those taking part to redeem against a future event to compensate for loss of track time this time around.
Anyway, latest thoughts are as follows:
With the number of cars we have booked up to date (less than 20!!), we could easily get away with 2 warm up groups, with the novices in the 2nd group. If we let that group run for 15 - 20 minutes instead of usual 3 - 4 laps, then the open pit lane could effectively start around 9:25 and we'd probably feed in a few regulars during this time as well. This should be sufficient time for most novices to get a feel for the circuit "in isolation", as 30 minutes non-stop would probably be too long for a novice to do in their first stint of track driving as they and their car could well be tired by that point and unable to enjoy the rest of the event.
Indeed, with so few cars booked up there's an argument that the track will be virtually empty most of the time anyway!
John
Just a word of warning to those atending this: T in the Park is that weekend and the roads around the whole area will be very busy. I'm pretty sure the buses use the road from the Kincardine Bridge up to Balado which is also a common route for KH users. And the traffic can build up for miles from Kinross back towards the Forth Rd Bridge and in the opposite direction back towards Perth.
May be ok early in the morning for a 9am start, but would be adviseable to leave plenty of time to get there.
HTH
Iain
May be ok early in the morning for a 9am start, but would be adviseable to leave plenty of time to get there.
HTH
Iain
Why so few cars out I wonder John? Bad time for holidays? Everyone off to T in the park?
come on people - the SIDC sessions are the best organised and best behaved sessions at KH! If you've not been on track before this is the ideal opportunuty.
PS is you want talking ballast for beginner sessions I'm happy to help out - but RWD only
Never driven (or even been in) a 4wd/Fwd car on a track day so wouldn't really know what to advise.
come on people - the SIDC sessions are the best organised and best behaved sessions at KH! If you've not been on track before this is the ideal opportunuty.PS is you want talking ballast for beginner sessions I'm happy to help out - but RWD only
Never driven (or even been in) a 4wd/Fwd car on a track day so wouldn't really know what to advise.Adrenochrome said:
Really want to come to this but still waiting to see if my car is going to be ready in time 
I think it's an excellent idea to have a short time for the newbies (like me) to get accustomed to the track
And a TVR from your profile?I think it's an excellent idea to have a short time for the newbies (like me) to get accustomed to the track
Make sure it's ready!
It's getting pretty lonely out there flying the TVR flag against all the Loti & Scoobs.
tvrolet said:
Adrenochrome said:
Really want to come to this but still waiting to see if my car is going to be ready in time
I think it's an excellent idea to have a short time for the newbies (like me) to get accustomed to the track
And a TVR from your profile?I think it's an excellent idea to have a short time for the newbies (like me) to get accustomed to the track
Make sure it's ready!
It's getting pretty lonely out there flying the TVR flag against all the Loti & Scoobs.
Changing the subject very slightly, a good option for newbies is to do one of the £100 "own car" sessions. You get 25 laps with an instructor on a very quiet track. I've done 2 or 3 of these and 3 or 4 trackdays. The instruction sessions are great value and very helpful for "noobs" like me.
Lefty 200 Drams said:
Changing the subject very slightly, a good option for newbies is to do one of the £100 "own car" sessions. You get 25 laps with an instructor on a very quiet track. I've done 2 or 3 of these and 3 or 4 trackdays. The instruction sessions are great value and very helpful for "noobs" like me.
Shameless plug, but I have a voucher I'm looking to sell for exactly this tvrolet said:
Why so few cars out I wonder John? Bad time for holidays? Everyone off to T in the park?
come on people - the SIDC sessions are the best organised and best behaved sessions at KH! If you've not been on track before this is the ideal opportunuty.
PS is you want talking ballast for beginner sessions I'm happy to help out - but RWD only Never driven (or even been in) a 4wd/Fwd car on a track day so wouldn't really know what to advise.
Hi Willie, come on people - the SIDC sessions are the best organised and best behaved sessions at KH! If you've not been on track before this is the ideal opportunuty.PS is you want talking ballast for beginner sessions I'm happy to help out - but RWD only
Never driven (or even been in) a 4wd/Fwd car on a track day so wouldn't really know what to advise.no idea why no-one has booked up this date. Maybe holidays, maybe T in the Park, maybe too many track events recently or coming up?
I'm hoping that we'll get a last minute surge of booking to at least get us somewhwat closer to break even point!
John
Lefty 200 Drams said:
I could probably do with another instruction session, i'll take it off your hands...
Got a date confirmed yet or is it just the voucher?
Someone else has contacted me, but if it doesn't work out it's yours for £95, retails at £119. Got a date confirmed yet or is it just the voucher?
Just a voucher, has to be used by Dec this year, or you need to pay to carry it over. Means you can arrange the date yourself
Edited by scz4 on Friday 2nd July 12:01
scz4 said:
Lefty 200 Drams said:
I could probably do with another instruction session, i'll take it off your hands...
Got a date confirmed yet or is it just the voucher?
Someone else has contacted me, but if it doesn't work out it's yours for £95, retails at £119. Got a date confirmed yet or is it just the voucher?
Just a voucher, has to be used by Dec this year, or you need to pay to carry it over. Means you can arrange the date yourself
Edited by scz4 on Friday 2nd July 12:01
Gassing Station | Scotland | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff