Snetterton 300 on April 14th with Opentrack

[PetrolHeadSeb]

Is anyone else going to this?

Me and PHer fast eddy will be there in his well fettled Metro so come and say hello

[kin quick]

I'll be there with a bunch of Scoobs, red 944 and a blue Datsun R34, think there are nine of us going.

Will keep an eye out for you, pop over if you see us, may have some hot drinks on the go

[Crippo]

I'm going in my Cosworth Fury kit car...its black with a yellow stripe in case you havnt got a clue what one looks like.

[PetrolHeadSeb]

kin quick said:

pop over if you see us, may have some hot drinks on the go

Will do, sounds good

Crippo said:

I'm going in my Cosworth Fury kit car...its black with a yellow stripe in case you havnt got a clue what one looks like.

Sounds like fun, have you got any pictures? May well come over for a look around that

[shaun fulcrum]

I will be there in my Fulcrum. First time out this year and first time at the new snetterton layout. Will be good to see some phers there

[Crippo]

here you go..taken last year at Oulton Park. This'll be first go at Snetterton

[shaun fulcrum]

Well I had a great day! Shame about the red flags, but they are inevitable on a new track I suppose
I got a couple of vids so will post a link when they are loaded to YouTube think I saw all of you out on track but as usual I never get round to speaking to people! Busy busy, lol.

[pw32]

How come the caterhams were excluded at 4pm? Also heard noone was letting them past.... Heard from a couple of friends who were out it wasn't a great day.

[Sid123]

I had left by the time the Caterhams were banned. It got worse as the day went on to be honest. Most people were friendly and would quickly move over for the faster car, whereas some clearly couldn't be bothered to look in their mirror. I always waved to say thanks to those that moved over courteously. To those that couldn't be bothered I didn't.

[shaun fulcrum]

From the horses mouth (David organiser), there were 19 black flags for forcing gaps and 16! Were caterhams, also out of 5 red flags, 2 were caterhams. So I guess there trackday manners were not up to standard?! Though I don't think all of them were at it. I thought it was a good day and well run considering, though you will always get moaners (personally think you get what you pay for and this was a cheap day with a lot thrown in), maybe they need to pay more for queiter days (I like traffic to catch up to). Will never please everyone

[GTR Cook]

Hi,

Think i saw most of you out on track but didnt get time to say hello in the pits.

I thought it was a good day all round, shame about the stopage's- think there were three red flags before i even got to go out.

[GTR Cook]

There will always be two sides to the Cateram discussion and them being excluded in the last hour.

They were very quick through the corners and i tried to let them through where possible- wont always be possible and sorry if i held any of you up. I let a number through only to go flying past them on the straights.

I think the main issue was with a minority of drivers who forgot it was a track day and not a test/race day. I had one behind me on the "sighting laps" trying to take the same apex i was going for at the same time i was- no need for that on sighting laps. Most were courteous and drove very well, others i cannot say the same for.

Was a good day overall i thought.

[Sid123]

I was one of those in a Caterham and was not black flagged and didn't push past anyone. To ban all the Caterhams is silly. You have to identify the individuals and deal with them not tar everyone with the same brush. I had already left but had you excluded me when I had not done anything wrong, I would have demanded a refund.

The problem of the day was the diversity of driver ability. Some had clearly never been on a track before, which is absolutely fine. We all paid the same money for the same track time. What is not fine is when some selfish sod cannot be bothered to look in the mirror and have the decency to let a car that will lap 1 minute quicker than them by. There were a couple of cars that I remember beligerantly refusing to move over for 3 corners or so, not just once but every time you came up to them. I can see whay some cars clearly ended up getting frustrated. It's a shame really as these days should be great fun.

[Sid123]

For example the guy in the blue Skyline always moved over right away despite being quicker down the straight. There were plenty of others too, but he was a gent and clearly understands how a track day SHOULD work.

[GTR Cook]

Sid123 said:

For example the guy in the blue Skyline always moved over right away despite being quicker down the straight. There were plenty of others too, but he was a gent and clearly understands how a track day SHOULD work.

Thanks mate, i remember you going past quite alot!

[pw32]

lots of black flags not good. I don't condome it at all, but a lot of the time is due to people not obeying the rules of observing quicker drivers and racing drivers just get so frustrated. I feel sorry for 120/130bhp caterhams as they are so much quicker over the lap, but usless down the straights in comparison with a lot of kit out there and the day is a waste unless you get cooperation from other drivers.

Whilst it isn't a timed test day, racing drivers will still want to evaluate and learn the track to the max.

I think they must be a lot of the caterham graduate series as they are racing there this weekend. ho humm.

[Sid123]

GTR Cook said:

Thanks mate, i remember you going past quite alot!

I was a black Caterham, blue race suit, Sevenoaks Sound and Vision on the back. You're right it's the cornering speed differential that is massive compared to a 'normal' road car, but also the braking. It can be easy to get caught out as you close very quickly......... But that's why the Caterham is one of the most cost-effectice track cars. You can drive it all day. No worn brakes, discs, tyres. The beauty of no weight.

[GTR Cook]

pw32 said:

lots of black flags not good. I don't condome it at all, but a lot of the time is due to people not obeying the rules of observing quicker drivers and racing drivers just get so frustrated. I feel sorry for 120/130bhp caterhams as they are so much quicker over the lap, but usless down the straights in comparison with a lot of kit out there and the day is a waste unless you get cooperation from other drivers.

Whilst it isn't a timed test day, racing drivers will still want to evaluate and learn the track to the max.

I think they must be a lot of the caterham graduate series as they are racing there this weekend. ho humm.

I can understand racing drivers getting frustrated but speaking to the trackday drivers i was with, they all got annoyed with Caterhams trying to squeeze through on the apex instead of waiting till the straight for us to move over and let you through. Its the manner in which some (not all) that went about overtaking that got you excluded.

Some people i was with had to turn out of corners to avoid hitting a Caterham flying up the inside.

I do understand they want to evaluate there cars but they have to co operate with us and let us have the corner and give us a chance to let you pass not just expect us to move over when we see you in the distance.

[GTR Cook]

Sid123 said:

I was a black Caterham, blue race suit, Sevenoaks Sound and Vision on the back. You're right it's the cornering speed differential that is massive compared to a 'normal' road car, but also the braking. It can be easy to get caught out as you close very quickly......... But that's why the Caterham is one of the most cost-effectice track cars. You can drive it all day. No worn brakes, discs, tyres. The beauty of no weight.

Yeah i remember you putting your hand up as you went by- not many did that.

I did look into a Caterham a little while ago, as you say for a cost effective track car theres not much that can touch it.

[jonnyleroux]

racing drivers who get wound up by track day driving standards should stick to test days. track day drivers who get scared sh!tless by racing drivers don't have the luxury of an alternative.

i'm not saying it's black & white by any stretch of the imagination (half the time a lack of observation/use of mirrors is as much to blame as impatient driving) but the race licence holders are the ones out of place on a track day, not the track day drivers.

90% of racing drivers are as good as gold on track days, likewise 90% of track day drivers are attentive with mirrors. sadly that last 10% of each can cause some real f**kin headaches!

Jonny
BaT