track day advice

[cabbron]

hi there,just about to do my first track day on saturday in my beloved s1 and any advice or top tips would be most welcome-dug deep into my shallow pit of common sense but think i may need more!!!!! thanks in advance.

[miro]

What track and whos organising it?

[kevin ritson]

Best bit of advice really is to take it easy and treat it as a fun day out. Don't worry about your speed, just enjoy yourself

Just make sure the car's fine beforehand - check oil, coolant, brakes and tyres.

[Scuffers]

kevin ritson said:

Best bit of advice really is to take it easy and treat it as a fun day out. Don't worry about your speed, just enjoy yourself

Just make sure the car's fine beforehand - check oil, coolant, brakes and tyres.

what he said...

Also, don't run the car ball's out for more than a few laps at a time, and let it cool down properly before comming back into the pits and parking, also DO NOT use the handbrake in the pit lane.

[steveavxt]

Keep your eyes on your mirrors to make sure your not holding anyone up, especially when doing warm up and cool down laps. Keep an eye on your fuel too, it goes a lot quicker than you expect

[VladTheDad]

Look for peices of junk that have fallen off other cars onto the track. For example a headlamp assembly in the middle of the main straight

[kirky135r]

Listen to what the marshalls tell you in the briefing! Very important.

Amazing how many don't

Have fun and go at your own pace, just because people go past you doesn't mean you're driving like miss daisy

[JTBUSH]

Most important thing is to drive within your and your cars capability. Take it easy, and dont try and keep up with people.

My Dad found this out to my cost. He was driving my Elise at Croft. He is a pretty handy driver, as back in the day, he used to race and do plenty of sprints, hillclimbs and tarmac rallies.

So, he gets overtaken on a straight by an Exige. He then finds he is catching it in the corners of the last complex, so pushes harder. He then realises a bit too late that the Exige has slightly better suspension and tyres than my standard Elise. Cue, coming out of the last corner, dropping a tyre off the track, spinning it, whacking a kerb and bending one of my rear wheels.

So, take your time, and learn what you and your car are capable of then push on slowly. You will be suprised how capable your car is when you first take it on track. Others will be a lot more capable though!

Also, cool down is quite important. I dont think one lap is enough after chequered flag. I normally run mine round off track for a bit to let the temps get down before switching it off.

[cabbron]

thanks to all for the replies,really looking foreward to it,i live in spain and this trackday is organised by a local loco m3 driver at the recently refurbished Guadix track near Granada,dont know how this compares but its 186 euros for the day,open pit lane-dont mean to rub ya noses in it if this top value but i do know it Will be 20 odd degrees!!!!!!thanks again.

[miro]

no nose rubbing over the price thanks to Lotus On Track but 20 Degrees ..... you lucky bd it will be closer to 2 degrees here

Edited by miro on Friday 28th November 12:21

[TIPPER]

Apart from checking the fluids its worth getting the wheels off and running a spanner/torque wrench over the suspension just to make sure everything is OK. Also check your brake pads whilst your down there. If in doubt renew them
Take a litre of oil with you and keep your eye on the level, a bag of tools, decent tyre pressure guage and plenty of water to rehydrate yourself.
Have fun.

[cabbron]

thanks again fellas,i think you must have it covered now,just need to go and enjoy now!!