Which Track Day Company?

[Chris.B]

So after having the Westfield parked up in the Garage for the last year gathering dust, and having gone to Castle Combe today to watch some mates on a Track Day with Bristol Pegasus Motor Club in the glorious sunshine, I’m now keen to get on and do some Track Days .
In the past I’ve had pretty bad luck when it comes to booking of Track Days … it’ll either pour down with rain (ok if you’re in a tin top but not so fun when you’ve got no roof and no windscreen!), or I’ll fail the sound test. Because of this I kinda lost my enthusiasm for booking Track Days.

I was just looking on the Castle Combe website at their own brand Track Days, and saw that if you fail the noise test you can get a 75% refund. This is great, and is not something I’d seen any of the BookaTrack.com etc companies offering! Castle Combe does have a bit of a reputation when it comes to cars failing noise tests, so this would definitely make me book with them directly rather than using another company (who are themselves hiring the track from Castle Combe).
Does anyone know of any other Track Day companies that offer this?

On the subject of wanting to rearrange because of rain spoiling the day, looking through Castle Combe’s terms and conditions it’s not so good. They don’t allow cancellations at all for any reason .
Does anyone know of any Track Day companies that are better with cancellations/rescheduling?

Note that I’m just using Castle Combe as the example here as that’s where I went today, other circuits and airfields are perfectly acceptable too!

Looking through BookaTrack.com’s terms and conditions they allow cancellations upto 7 days before the event for an 80% refund.
Looking through Lotus on Track’s terms and conditions they allow cancellations upto 8 days before the event for a £15 or 20% charge.
Looking through MotorSport Vision’s terms and conditions they allow rescheduling or credit towards other events upto 14 days before the event for a £20 charge.
Looking through EasyTrack’s terms and conditions they allow rescheduling if it’s 21 days before the event AND the booking was made 4 weeks before the event, for a 25% charge.
Looking through MotorSport Events terms and conditions they allow cancellations upto 28 days before the event for a refund minus £30.

So Castle Combe directly is the only one I found that will refund for failing the noise test, and none of them will refund for cancellations within time where the weather forecast will be accurate enough. I’m not necessarily after a cash refund – unless the car, or I, am badly broken, I’d be perfectly happen with rescheduling/credit for another event instead.

Any suggestions on companies/clubs to use welcome!

[Chris.B]

Actually, I’ve just re-read Castle Combe’s terms and conditions:

“Once a date is booked we are unable to accept cancellations or requests for refunds”
So no cash refunds , but that doesn’t matter aslong as I can get credit/reschedule. I'd still want a Track Day from them, just not on that day.

“However if the nominated driver is unable to attend, a replacement driver can enjoy the day, provided they arrive at the appointed time.”
Ah that could be useful, that doesn’t mention any notice required and my son’s got a RenaultSport Clio (fortunately for the rain that has a windscreen and a roof!) which he/I could use on a wet day.

“Any change of date after confirmation is subject to a £20.00 administration fee.”
That doesn’t mention any notice required for a change of date, so paying £20 the next before a wet day to change the date to the next available date is perfect!


So Castle Combe (themselves directly) offering 75% refund for failing the noise test, and not requiring any notice to change the date for a charge of £20, is exactly what I want! I guess they can offer this as unlike other Track Day companies they're not paying to hire the venue as they own it.

[Jubal]

If it's a car engine then just sort the noise out! Or go to tracks where there's less scrutiny. A noise test at Anglesey is still rare. Castle Combe is 100db so a lot quieter than most at 105db.

I'm not sure you'll find anyone else offering weather or noise test refunds. All that does is put the price up for everyone.

[Stephanie Plum]

Speaking as one of the TDOs you've quoted, remember that the track doesn't get any cheaper for us to hire if it's raining....

[nxi20]

Jubal said:

If it's a car engine then just sort the noise out! Or go to tracks where there's less scrutiny. A noise test at Anglesey is still rare. Castle Combe is 100db so a lot quieter than most at 105db.

It's worth remembering that Combe only test at 4500RPM. As an example, my GT3 recorded 98dB there on Friday whereas at Oulton or Snetts it's always bang on 105dB.

[Steve H]

Stephanie Plum said:

Speaking as one of the TDOs you've quoted, remember that the track doesn't get any cheaper for us to hire if it's raining....

Speaking as a Westfield owner, they are no less fun to drive in the wet.

[David White 10]

Chris, if you are not too far from the circuit you could get down there and get the car tested when Combe have their noise tester there. If you give the circuit a call they will let you know the days they have something suitable going on and the guys are very happy to do it for you and give advice as well if needed.

David
BHP

[Jubal]

nxi20 said:

It's worth remembering that Combe only test at 4500RPM. As an example, my GT3 recorded 98dB there on Friday whereas at Oulton or Snetts it's always bang on 105dB.

Interesting. The OP must have a noisy old car.

[e8_pack]

I have a noisy old car, seemed to be ok though, wasn't as noisy as some of the newer cars either.

[e8_pack]

Just for the record, i use Javelin, had a good day at an airfield with them and would use again.

[spyderman8]

I've used Gold Track, Opentrack, BookaTrack and Club MSV and would recommend them. I suggest you stick with members of the ATDO since some insurers require it.

[ukkid35]

T&Cs are for lawyers; what you need is to develop a relationship with the TDO so they feel happy to offer you a credit against a different date if something goes awry.

[Hark]

Going by this Summer alone, I'd either suck it up and enjoy it in the wet like many caterfield owners seem to, or buy something with a roof.

I've done 4 trackdays this year and it's rained on two of them, one very heavily.

[jonnyleroux]

ukkid35 said:

T&Cs are for lawyers; what you need is to develop a relationship with the TDO so they feel happy to offer you a credit against a different date if something goes awry.

This ^^

Can't speak for any of the other TDO's, but I know both BaT and GTDC are very flexible with regular clients. Show some loyalty to the TDO and that will undoubtedly be rewarded at some point.

Jonny
BaT

[motco]

Steve H said:

Stephanie Plum said:

Speaking as one of the TDOs you've quoted, remember that the track doesn't get any cheaper for us to hire if it's raining....

Speaking as a Westfield owner, they are no less fun to drive in the wet.

Speaking as another Westfield owner I agree provided that you have wipers on the inside AND outside of the windscreen! Hullavington recently was a complete washout for me but great fun for my son with his Z4M Coupé - tyres and brakes preserved to a large degree compared with in the dry, and plenty of sideways!

[ringweekends]

motco said:

Steve H said:

Stephanie Plum said:

Speaking as one of the TDOs you've quoted, remember that the track doesn't get any cheaper for us to hire if it's raining....

Speaking as a Westfield owner, they are no less fun to drive in the wet.

Speaking as another Westfield owner I agree provided that you have wipers on the inside AND outside of the windscreen! Hullavington recently was a complete washout for me but great fun for my son with his Z4M Coupé - tyres and brakes preserved to a large degree compared with in the dry, and plenty of sideways!

Windscreen?

[motco]

ringweekends said:

motco said:

Steve H said:

Stephanie Plum said:

Speaking as one of the TDOs you've quoted, remember that the track doesn't get any cheaper for us to hire if it's raining....

Speaking as a Westfield owner, they are no less fun to drive in the wet.

Speaking as another Westfield owner I agree provided that you have wipers on the inside AND outside of the windscreen! Hullavington recently was a complete washout for me but great fun for my son with his Z4M Coupé - tyres and brakes preserved to a large degree compared with in the dry, and plenty of sideways!

Windscreen?

Yes, but I have been thinking of an aero - after I've fitted the recently acquired fibreglass bucket seats in lieu of the poorly supporting vinyl seats currently in place. My tonneau is becoming less of a fit and more of a tack-over cover! RAC rollbar, high back seats without removable head restraints, and now (maybe) aeroscreen.

[David White 10]

Just to echo what Jonny said above, we also always try to be flexible with our customers.

David
BHP

[Steve H]

motco said:

ringweekends said:

motco said:

Steve H said:

Stephanie Plum said:

Speaking as one of the TDOs you've quoted, remember that the track doesn't get any cheaper for us to hire if it's raining....

Speaking as a Westfield owner, they are no less fun to drive in the wet.

Speaking as another Westfield owner I agree provided that you have wipers on the inside AND outside of the windscreen! Hullavington recently was a complete washout for me but great fun for my son with his Z4M Coupé - tyres and brakes preserved to a large degree compared with in the dry, and plenty of sideways!

Windscreen?

Yes, but I have been thinking of an aero - after I've fitted the recently acquired fibreglass bucket seats in lieu of the poorly supporting vinyl seats currently in place. My tonneau is becoming less of a fit and more of a tack-over cover! RAC rollbar, high back seats without removable head restraints, and now (maybe) aeroscreen.

Aero is the way to go

[GTiFrank]

Ring up Westfield Parts, get yourself a 6.5 inch repack-able exhaust. Problem solved.