Track days and weather

[firewallguy]

Booked on Anglesey with Javelin on Sunday,forecast is severe gails and heavy rain.
What are the chances of it being cancelled and getting a refund if the forecast turns out to be accurate?

[FlyingTrotter]

Their policy is on their website - needs to be very wet for any TDO to cancel but it happens i- needs the circuit covered in standing water and the circuit operators to view it as dangerous to run

[TV8]

I did a track day recently and it rained on an off most of the day. Sometimes a damp circuit, often some puddles in places you wouldnt choose and after lunch about 30 mins of dryish track. You go a lot faster in the dry but it was still a lot of fun in the wet - definitely a lot more fun than I was expecting on the run up there! Even better if you have things like ABS and the like (TVR I dont...)

[Steviesam]

Keeps changing-currently looks like light rain and sunny spells for Sunday on Anglesey.

[mmm-five]

It doesn't help when they have you waiting around all morning claiming it will dry off in an hour or so, only to be told it's cancelled and you'll have to rebook.

You usually get a refund/credit for the track day, but there's nothing they can do about your costs incurred for the hotel/petrol/day off. Pity they couldn't make the decision the day before and then you'd potentially save a bit of these costs as you'd possibly be able to cancel the hotel, not use the petrol and change your day off.

I'm not moaning, as I know this is the chance you take, and I've had some very enjoyable and nearly empty track days when the day has gone ahead but only half the attendees have turned up thinking it would be cancelled due to the weather.

[HorneyMX5]

I did a very wet Combe a few years ago. It was awesome fun!


928org260609230 by Nicholas R Horne, on Flickr


Bruce_4 by Nicholas R Horne, on Flickr


928org260609038 by Nicholas R Horne, on Flickr

[RB Will]

me at Anglesey after a large downpour at the end of the day many years ago on the old circuit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppmh9ng0C5k&lis...

Have done days at Combe and airfields where it may have been quicker to take my jetski round. In short it takes a lot of standing water to make someone cancel a day. Had one day at Combe where it was really bad and I was the only person not to have an off track excursion out of the roughly 40 people there.
Its actually not too bad if its been raining solidly for a bit its the transitions between wet and dry you need to worry about.
Just remember to start slow and gradually build yourself up.

[firewallguy]

Probably would be fun in a FWD car, not so much in a powerful, fairly lightweight RWD car with no ABS, ESP etc, although that's my problem I suppose.
The wind may be an issue, the circuit looks pretty exposed on that coast...

[RB Will]

It was a bit blowy when I was there but nothing really noticeable in the car.
You taking the Cerb? Very nice
Look for the positives. A fair few people might not turn up so it could be quiet and those who are there will probably be just as worried about the wet so wont be going too quickly. Just start slow and let your confidence build and if nobody is near you on track maybe dabble in a bit of slidey fun in the slower corners with run off.
Doing a wet trackday can be a very good way to build confidence in yourself and the car providing you don't just dive on in and have a number of offs.
Think of it more as a day to learn car control rather than set lap times. Leave yourself plenty of margin in braking zones and use the sighting laps to have a good look around for any areas of standing water to avoid/ slow down for.

[firewallguy]

Ok Will, you've almost sold it to me, all very good advice that I will definitely take onboard. It was just the video of you spinning your 4wd Impreza that didn't exactly fil me with confidence

[RB Will]

Ha yeah that was a cock up on my part. I had just had the anti roll bars/ bushes and geometry done on it to make it have a much sharper turn in. Had been enjoying it all day in the dry then the last 20 mins it just hammered down. Was only a couple of us stayed on track.
It was in those super slick transitional conditions I said about and I was a bit too slow winding off the steering lock. No harm done though just got a muddy car

[upsidedownmark]

Actually, more fun in a powerful RWD car

Lots of chance to learn how it slides at low(ish) speed without knackering the tyres, work on throttle sensitivity, balance and so on. As has been said, build into it, standing water and transition conditions are tricky as you can have a sudden absence of grip in one place whilst being flat out in others. Provided there's run off, spins are no big deal, just try to let it spin in, rather than out.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm also booked on a trackday saturday, and it's forecast wet. Problem is it's a bike - swap you

[RB Will]

bks to doing a wet day on a bike lol.

[mmm-five]

I don't think I ever had a cancellation at the old Anglesey circuit - it even went ahead when there was snow/slush down.

[RB Will]

Similarly I was on one in December at Silverstone. We were supposed to start at 9am but the track was iced over. They had silverstone marshalls driving round for 2 hours to try melting it but it eventually cleared when the sun came up at about 11am. Still had to pay for the full day though, didn't even get a free hot chocolate.

[m3jappa]

I recently did Bedford. Pissing down pretty much all day.

Awesome in the Tuscan, some nice sideways

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_YAv1bqTJY&fea...

And me being followed by a Lexus isf With some nice sideways at 4.54

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glhNTnLIy4E

[tvrolet]

Hey, wet video time I used to be put off by the wet, but being a cheapskate I couldn't stand the idea of paying for a track day and not driving. And once out the wet is fine - different fun but fun none the less. Having been out with cars with proper 'wets' they seem to make a huge difference - best I can muster for the wet 888s Wet? Just do it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgagvLwSHU0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNry0WAkz0g

[Wh00sher]

firewallguy said:

What are the chances of it being cancelled and getting a refund if the forecast turns out to be accurate?

Minimal !

As others have said, trackdays are rarely cancelled due to rain.

I`ve done loads of wet trackdays. Don`t go hoping it will be dry, you`ll just be dissapointed if it rains. Instead, take the view it`ll be wet, you can use the day to explore your car limits on a track in the wet and if it happens to dry out, that`s a bonus.

[AdamR172]

Yeah, it's very rare you'll get a track day called off for wet weather.

No matter what car you're in, treat it as an ideal learning opportunity - you will learn a LOT and it's surprising how quick you can go.

Here's a couple of my wet vids...

Blyton in heavy rain and snow, in a kit car with over 220bhp - it's absolutely amazing fun (skip to about 9 mins, and you can see my drenching my passenger at about 13:20, haha):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WvzUHHhLWs


And Cadwell also in heavy rain and snow, but in an MX-5 - the amount of sideways action really helps you learn how the car behaves at the limit of traction:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rRUou8ng0I


Just get stuck in - you will love it!

Edited by AdamR172 on Saturday 13th April 15:08

[firewallguy]

Cheers all, I'll report back after the event.