Bookatrack Caterham Hire - Review
Discussion
I hired a BaT Caterham Superlight SV from www.bookatrack.com for an open pitlane event on Sunday 25 November at Angelsey GP.
We arrived at the circuit in time to sign on and be blown away by the lovely views before making our way into the clubhouse for a thorough briefing, for track-day virgins this was extremely helpful and covered everything from driving etiquette to flags. After the briefing the track was open for 15 minutes for sighting only, this took place behind a safety car, BaT kindly allowed people to take their tow vehicles on the sighting so after piling into my Focus we set off on our sighting which gave us the chance to enjoy the fantastic circuit and learn the lines. This was also a lot of fun to get the chance to drive my own road car on the track. The lines were marked out with apex cones and this was extremely helpful.
After the 15 minute sighting the real driving began and I took my seat in the Caterham. The car was fantastic and being an SV (there are a choice available) allowed for my broad shoulders (or fat stomach, depending on who you talk to) and I headed out into the pitlane. Jonny Leroux kindly installed intercoms into our helmets free of charge so my instructor and I could talk as we lapped.
As the day continued and I got faster I forgot how many times I said ''wow what fantastic value this is''. Over the course of the day I completed in excess of 80 laps and all the Caterham cost to hire was a very attractive £395, this includes VAT, fuel etc. The only additional charge is the Track day fee.
The track day itself was excellent, traffic wasn't too bad and there was a lot of good driving.
The car was professionaly prepped and we were looked after very well all day by the Bookatrack team, they were prompt with fuelling and generous with tips on how to handle the car. I have driven Caterhams in the past and this one truly was the best, with shift lights, race harnesses and excellent safety features I was truly blown away.
I deliberated for quite some time over booking an event with Bookatrack and I have absolutely no regrets, I am already dropping doing another day into conversation with my girlfriend when she is in a good mood!
Feel free to ask any questions you may have.
We arrived at the circuit in time to sign on and be blown away by the lovely views before making our way into the clubhouse for a thorough briefing, for track-day virgins this was extremely helpful and covered everything from driving etiquette to flags. After the briefing the track was open for 15 minutes for sighting only, this took place behind a safety car, BaT kindly allowed people to take their tow vehicles on the sighting so after piling into my Focus we set off on our sighting which gave us the chance to enjoy the fantastic circuit and learn the lines. This was also a lot of fun to get the chance to drive my own road car on the track. The lines were marked out with apex cones and this was extremely helpful.
After the 15 minute sighting the real driving began and I took my seat in the Caterham. The car was fantastic and being an SV (there are a choice available) allowed for my broad shoulders (or fat stomach, depending on who you talk to) and I headed out into the pitlane. Jonny Leroux kindly installed intercoms into our helmets free of charge so my instructor and I could talk as we lapped.
As the day continued and I got faster I forgot how many times I said ''wow what fantastic value this is''. Over the course of the day I completed in excess of 80 laps and all the Caterham cost to hire was a very attractive £395, this includes VAT, fuel etc. The only additional charge is the Track day fee.
The track day itself was excellent, traffic wasn't too bad and there was a lot of good driving.
The car was professionaly prepped and we were looked after very well all day by the Bookatrack team, they were prompt with fuelling and generous with tips on how to handle the car. I have driven Caterhams in the past and this one truly was the best, with shift lights, race harnesses and excellent safety features I was truly blown away.
I deliberated for quite some time over booking an event with Bookatrack and I have absolutely no regrets, I am already dropping doing another day into conversation with my girlfriend when she is in a good mood!
Feel free to ask any questions you may have.
0844abern said:
I deliberated for quite some time over booking an event with Bookatrack and I have absolutely no regrets,
I have done four BAT days this year now with my own car and I can't fault Johnny and the Bat team!My very first trackday was in February at Cadwell in the pouring rain, and as a complete novice I found the reassurance and briefing in the morning very informative and reassuring.
I was also at Anglesey last weekend, and I decided on the Saturday to pay the extra for tuition from one of the Bat instructors (Paul) and I just thought it was the most well spent £20 of mine for a while!!
Trackdays are quite a lot of money for some folks like me, but I think the grin factor is really worth it!
In comparison to other track car hire www.bookatrack.com does make it excellent value for money with their caterhams though
Yokohama A539's in 185/60/13 - as specified for the Caterham Graduate Race Championship "Classics". If they're good enough for race cars they're good enough for our track day cars. Nice progressive tyre, too. Accident damage has quartered since we moved from the Avon CR500's - a much grippier tyre but all that means is you're going faster when you lose it.
I can assure you I have not sponsored Joe's review in any way - the words "free" and "discount" are against my religion. I do however run a successful, well respected and professional business that I have worked very hard to build up over the last 10 years - when I read comments like some of those posted here I see what people mean by the phrase "victim of your own success".
Jonny
BaT
I can assure you I have not sponsored Joe's review in any way - the words "free" and "discount" are against my religion. I do however run a successful, well respected and professional business that I have worked very hard to build up over the last 10 years - when I read comments like some of those posted here I see what people mean by the phrase "victim of your own success".
Jonny
BaT
Edited by jleroux on Tuesday 4th December 17:38
In answer to the tyre question:
My track day was in the dry and the tyres were fantastic, I have a decent amount of experience of track day cars and tyres, I did not consider the tyres to be flawed at any point. As Jonny said, if they are good enough to race.....
And as for the ''sponsor'' comment. . . . I know that before I hired a caterham from bookatrack I looked thoroughly on PH for a review and found nothing, that is why I posted this (isn't that the whole point of forums), not for sponsor or reward.
Joe
My track day was in the dry and the tyres were fantastic, I have a decent amount of experience of track day cars and tyres, I did not consider the tyres to be flawed at any point. As Jonny said, if they are good enough to race.....
And as for the ''sponsor'' comment. . . . I know that before I hired a caterham from bookatrack I looked thoroughly on PH for a review and found nothing, that is why I posted this (isn't that the whole point of forums), not for sponsor or reward.
Joe
They deserve the good publicity because they do a good job its as simple as that.
Must agree Bat are good.
Have done 5+ with them, 1 in a BAT caterham. On circuits and airfields.
Couldn't fault anything, unlike other ones I've been to with underzealous marshalls expecting eveyone to be a schumacher and ignoring really dangerous overtaking.
That last thing you want is someone in a shed trying to pass you in corners and nearly crashing into your pride and joy. BAT must be given credit for their approach to saftey (of vehicles)in this respect.
Have done 5+ with them, 1 in a BAT caterham. On circuits and airfields.
Couldn't fault anything, unlike other ones I've been to with underzealous marshalls expecting eveyone to be a schumacher and ignoring really dangerous overtaking.
That last thing you want is someone in a shed trying to pass you in corners and nearly crashing into your pride and joy. BAT must be given credit for their approach to saftey (of vehicles)in this respect.
Another big thumbs up for the bookatrack hire cars.
Tyres wise, I have pretty much tried everything that fits the 13" wheels on a caterham. For dry grip, slicks are obviously the quickest way around a track but they will also bite. ACB10's are a great tyre offering good all round grip etc. but again, unless they are in the right temperature range, they are not as progressive as a road biased tyre. The 539 as used on the batcats is by far the most progressive tyre I have tried on the caterham and does not tend to be snatchy at the limit like many other tyres are. The 539 used on the batcats gives the best compromise between grip and fun that I have encountered for anyone who has done less than 25 days in a caterham on track. I still use these tyres on some circuits for the benefits over the acb10.
In the wet! A caterham doesn't have much weight to push it into the track so with the best will in the world, grip levels aren;t going to be fantastic. Again, the 539 is as good as anything I have used in the wet without resorting to race wets or the yokohama a021'r, which I don't think is made any more.
If anyone has any doubts about the tyres ability then I would not hesitate to grab a passenger ride with Jonny or one of his staff at an event.
Tyres wise, I have pretty much tried everything that fits the 13" wheels on a caterham. For dry grip, slicks are obviously the quickest way around a track but they will also bite. ACB10's are a great tyre offering good all round grip etc. but again, unless they are in the right temperature range, they are not as progressive as a road biased tyre. The 539 as used on the batcats is by far the most progressive tyre I have tried on the caterham and does not tend to be snatchy at the limit like many other tyres are. The 539 used on the batcats gives the best compromise between grip and fun that I have encountered for anyone who has done less than 25 days in a caterham on track. I still use these tyres on some circuits for the benefits over the acb10.
In the wet! A caterham doesn't have much weight to push it into the track so with the best will in the world, grip levels aren;t going to be fantastic. Again, the 539 is as good as anything I have used in the wet without resorting to race wets or the yokohama a021'r, which I don't think is made any more.
If anyone has any doubts about the tyres ability then I would not hesitate to grab a passenger ride with Jonny or one of his staff at an event.
Not half as expensive as it would be for bat if you stacked one of their cars.
If you have half an idea what you are doing, you should be able to manage a day without going into the walls and if you are capable of following a few basic rules, you should be able to avoid the other cars on track.
If you have half an idea what you are doing, you should be able to manage a day without going into the walls and if you are capable of following a few basic rules, you should be able to avoid the other cars on track.
chris7676 said:
Hope they didn't sponosor your beautiful review.
I noticed they have them with some medium grim Yokohamas (forgot the name), apparently not that good in the wet - how would you comment on that ?
The 539s they run are as good as anything else in the wet on a Caterham and are fine in the dry. Sure they're entertaining and not as good as CR500's, but in all honesty, for the vast majority of people, they're perfectly adequate...I noticed they have them with some medium grim Yokohamas (forgot the name), apparently not that good in the wet - how would you comment on that ?
In fact, I've got a couple of vids that can demonstrate this (please be gentle): This is me in a BaT6 (superlight on A539s) playing with someone in BaT1 (R400 on CR500s) Vid 1 and this one is in the wet, the car in the way is an Impreza, still in BaT6... Admittedly messing about quite a bit (you'll have to back off the volume as the recorder was in the boot and all you get is tyre squeal) Vid 2
...and I'm another happy bathire customer who would love some sort of endorsement discount... :-)
Edited by juansolo on Wednesday 19th December 16:08
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