Insurance for Spa

[winshent]

For those who have been on track at Spa.. who do you insure with..

I'm insured with Greenlight, and as far as i'm aware, they only cover UK track days..

[_Neal_]

I think Competition Car Insurance cover Spa, although it may depend on who the track day organiser is.

[m1nky]

I filled in an online form last night for a quote with Ryan Motorport Insurance to cover me at Spa. They haven't got back to me yet but I'll let you know what they quote to see if it's competitive.

[Masher964]

_Neal_ said:

I think Competition Car Insurance cover Spa, although it may depend on who the track day organiser is.

I checked with them about this the other day. It was BAT that is running the day I am planning to attend and that's covered as one of two overseas track days allowed per year (of five total covered). I got the impresssion they would cover if it is a UK track day organiser but maybe not if the organiser is not UK based.

[Terzo204]

I went to Spa last year with RMA and I got cover from Competition Car Insurance

Mike

[winshent]

Who's been to Spa recently.. Is it slippery when its wet or is there still good grip?

I've been quoted £112 for 10k of cover, with a 10% excess.. I guess I should go for it, but I wonder if that cash would be better spent on tuition, which is roughly £1/minute

I've got around 12 track days under my belt, so know the limits of both my car and also driving ability..

[Trev450]

winshent said:

Who's been to Spa recently.. Is it slippery when its wet or is there still good grip?

I've been quoted £112 for 10k of cover, with a 10% excess.. I guess I should go for it, but I wonder if that cash would be better spent on tuition, which is roughly £1/minute

I've got around 12 track days under my belt, so know the limits of both my car and also driving ability..

If, as you say, you know the limits of your car and also your driving ability, then the only benefit to be gained from tution would be learning the track and correct lines. A few hours on Playstation would be a lot less expensive

[winshent]

So, in the wet at Spa... Is there plenty of grip like at Brands Hatch, or is it mega slippery like at Rockingham?

[jonnyleroux]

winshent said:

So, in the wet at Spa... Is there plenty of grip like at Brands Hatch, or is it mega slippery like at Rockingham?

I'm confused, why does the level of grip in the wet affect your decision to buy insurance if you know the limit of yours and the cars abilities? Are you saying you only know the cars limits in the dry? Or on certain types of tarmac?

Jonny
BaT

[winshent]

jonnyleroux said:

I'm confused, why does the level of grip in the wet affect your decision to buy insurance if you know the limit of yours and the cars abilities? Are you saying you only know the cars limits in the dry? Or on certain types of tarmac?

Jonny
BaT

If the track is slippery, then there is more chance of being hit thats for sure..

I probably will go for insurance, but just for my first time there, but I just want to get an idea of what the grip is like in the wet..

Not sure why your confused, its a simple question..

[jonnyleroux]

winshent said:

If the track is slippery, then there is more chance of being hit thats for sure..

Our statistics from the last 12+ years would certainly disagree with that. Off the top of my head I think we've had ~15 on-track car-to-car contacts in that time, of which I can't remember a single one of them that's been in wet conditions. I'm not saying it's not happened, but the first dozen that spring to mind were *all* in the dry.

Jonny
BaT

[winshent]

jonnyleroux said:

Our statistics from the last 12+ years would certainly disagree with that. Off the top of my head I think we've had ~15 on-track car-to-car contacts in that time, of which I can't remember a single one of them that's been in wet conditions. I'm not saying it's not happened, but the first dozen that spring to mind were *all* in the dry.

Jonny
BaT

Okay.. fair enough..

If you can shed any light on how slippery it is there when wet then I'd appreciate it.. Is it stupidly slippery in the wet like Rockingham is, or is there still good levels of grip?

[HustleRussell]

I think Rockingham is the odd one out in that the track's surface uses a totally different material from most other circuits (as required by the yanky racers the circuit was supposed to attract).
I expect you'd find that Spa offers considerably more grip than Rocky, especially since it seems to get a thorough washing on a regular basis!

That said, I have to say that the 15 minute qualifying session in the wet at Rockingham earlier this season was about the most fun I've ever had on a race track!

Edited by HustleRussell on Thursday 6th September 16:06

[jonnyleroux]

winshent said:

Okay.. fair enough..

If you can shed any light on how slippery it is there when wet then I'd appreciate it.. Is it stupidly slippery in the wet like Rockingham is, or is there still good levels of grip?

Under identical conditions (amount of water, temperature etc) then Spa will have more grip than Rockingham (as will most circuits to be fair!). However, in my experience it's not the "absolute" grip levels that cause accidents, it's the "delta". By that I mean that one greasy part of the track can be significanlty more dangerous if the rest of the track is bone dry (witness Druids at Oulton from October to March).

Spa is a circuit where it's not uncommon to have rain at one half and sunshine at the other half. When the whole track is completely soaked, we'll get fewer shunts than when the circuit is patchy, which is my point about your question - you're trying to solve the wrong problem.

Jonny
BaT

[winshent]

Ok, cheers guys..

I think i'll opt to go for insurance, but its good to know what I can expect in terms of grip..

I've just been doing the sums and it gets mighty expensive doesn't it !! Currently working out at £860 without food and accommodation !!

spa trackday.........£300
insurance............£112
tunnel...............£90
fuel to/ from spa....£150
fuel on track........£150
1hr instruction......£60