Are track day prices going up fast?

[rossyl]

Nampahc Niloc said:

C70R said:

E-bmw said:

bigothunter said:

E-bmw said:

Me neither, with one notable exception.

First day I ever did at Cadwell a guy rocked up with a very ratty Golf gti he bought the day before for £200 without an MOT/tax.

Needless to say he fried the brakes in the first hour or 2 and sat out most of the day.

Early Golf GTs could fry their brakes in 3 laps especially at Cadwell

Not if you spend a few hours preparing with good fluid, discs & good pads they won't, which is my point, not what the car was, but that he even thought about going on the day without doing the absolute minimum of prep.

This is precisely my point.

If you can afford to properly prep a car, by at least spending a couple of hundred quid on making sure your brakes are up to the task, it's not a big ask to spend an extra few quid on the cost of your day and protect the future of the industry.

I completely disagree with this. For those on a budget, but are keen to do track days, increasing the cost does make the difference.

What makes you think that those who want to save money on the cost of the day are just cheap all round? Only attending cheap days, means that money saved can be spent elsewhere eg. Car prep, the family, the mortgage, other hobbies.

Absolutely agree. Why would I spend more money for no greater experience? I would not for many other items I spend money on.

Paying more for a Track Day? I might prefer to spend the money on something else.

[bigothunter]

rossyl said:

Absolutely agree. Why would I spend more money for no greater experience? I would not for many other items I spend money on.

Paying more for a Track Day? I might prefer to spend the money on something else.

It's just supply and demand. Charge as much as the market will tolerate until profit is jeopardised.

[C70R]

bigothunter said:

rossyl said:

Absolutely agree. Why would I spend more money for no greater experience? I would not for many other items I spend money on.

Paying more for a Track Day? I might prefer to spend the money on something else.

It's just supply and demand. Charge as much as the market will tolerate until profit is jeopardised.

Indeed.

I suspect the market could tolerate a fairly healthy rise in prices without putting itself towards the point of suppressing demand.

[braddo]

And we're in the middle of a period of supply disruption and pent-up demand building...

[Derek182]

For me I can justify spending between £200 and £300 for a trackday without worrying that I'm depriving the wife and kids of something!
That will book almost anywhere this summer except Silverstone GP, if we get to a point where a weekday at Snetterton is over £300 then I'm not sure I will be going.
I did Silverstone a few years ago in October or November and it was considerably less than the nearly £500 it is this summer, we were lucky enough to get a dry day!

[CJ1]

Had a Full Day Trackday booked with MSV at Brands November 2020 paid £149 I think, obviously was cancelled and was given credit.

Just gone to rebook and the Brands days are £220-250! The only thing I can get for the £149 now is an Evening at Brands....

[Derek182]

I think that's partly because you had a "winter" date cancelled and are booking a "summer" date this year so it will be more expensive but Brands prices do seem to have gone a bit silly.
On Monday 19th April MSV have got Brands Indy for £289 or Snetterton 300 for £209, even without the price difference I would much rather do a trackday at Snetterton.

[04BAP]

I think they might regret the price hike long term, they might of just priced 25% of there customer base out of track days, they might be fully booked for the first 2 to 3 months but when furlough finishes and people go back to work people will get a real understanding where there money is needed, i am pretty sure it wont be just the track day owners with price hikes

[C70R]

04BAP said:

I think they might regret the price hike long term, they might of just priced 25% of there customer base out of track days, they might be fully booked for the first 2 to 3 months but when furlough finishes and people go back to work people will get a real understanding where there money is needed, i am pretty sure it wont be just the track day owners with price hikes

Interested to know how you got to that 25% number...

[04BAP]

C70R said:

Interested to know how you got to that 25% number...

The word might

[anonymous-user]

As Police forces continue to actively encourage the submission of dash cam footage, I think track days will just get more popular in time. In the before times, we could have a hoon on local roads knowing that there were cameras or mobile speed vans around. Now everyone has a dash cam “in case they get hit....” but they get so excited when they catch a near miss or some gentle hooning, it’s immediately on YouTube or submitted to plod.

Track day prices may go up but so will demand. People spend a lot of money on their track cars and they still want to use them without the gestapo on their back. It’s still buttons compared to racing too.

[04BAP]

pablo said:

As Police forces continue to actively encourage the submission of dash cam footage, I think track days will just get more popular in time. In the before times, we could have a hoon on local roads knowing that there were cameras or mobile speed vans around. Now everyone has a dash cam “in case they get hit....” but they get so excited when they catch a near miss or some gentle hooning, it’s immediately on YouTube or submitted to plod.

Track day prices may go up but so will demand. People spend a lot of money on their track cars and they still want to use them without the gestapo on their back. It’s still buttons compared to racing too.

Interesting theory on the dash cam making track days more popular

Edited by 04BAP on Sunday 21st February 14:14

[anonymous-user]

Not necessarily making track days more popular but imho they increase the risk of getting into hot water through mild hooning, just takes one old fart with a dash cam to take umbrage with an overtake, submit it to plod etc etc. ,

[C70R]

04BAP said:

pablo said:

As Police forces continue to actively encourage the submission of dash cam footage, I think track days will just get more popular in time. In the before times, we could have a hoon on local roads knowing that there were cameras or mobile speed vans around. Now everyone has a dash cam “in case they get hit....” but they get so excited when they catch a near miss or some gentle hooning, it’s immediately on YouTube or submitted to plod.

Track day prices may go up but so will demand. People spend a lot of money on their track cars and they still want to use them without the gestapo on their back. It’s still buttons compared to racing too.

Interesting theory on the dash cam making track days more popular

Edited by 04BAP on Sunday 21st February 14:14

Feels like taking two completely unrelated things and tenuously linking them to me...

[iguana]

Yes can't quite get my head round msv going from £199 to £289 for brands hatch indy!

[bigothunter]

iguana said:

Yes can't quite get my head round msv going from £199 to £289 for brands hatch indy!

What? That's only a 45% increase

[worldwidewebs]

Just looking through some of my MSV bookings for Oulton last year
15 Feb - £139
07 March - £229
02 June - £259
15 July - £259
26 August - £259
23 September - £259
14 November - £169
05 December - £139

Contrast that with the following that they have available now
07 April - £299
20 April - £299
12 May - £309
25 May - £309

I can only guess that the summer dates will be even more expensive!

I normally do 10-15 days a year (did 12 last year I think) but I'll certainly be doing fewer this year as I'm starting to question the value. Given that all their Oulton dates still have availability, it's looking like many are having the same feelings as me

[bigothunter]

worldwidewebs said:

Just looking through some of my MSV bookings for Oulton last year
15 Feb - £139
07 March - £229
02 June - £259
15 July - £259
26 August - £259
23 September - £259
14 November - £169
05 December - £139

Contrast that with the following that they have available now
07 April - £299
20 April - £299
12 May - £309
25 May - £309

I can only guess that the summer dates will be even more expensive!

I normally do 10-15 days a year (did 12 last year I think) but I'll certainly be doing fewer this year as I'm starting to question the value. Given that all their Oulton dates still have availability, it's looking like many are having the same feelings as me

Seems £400 could be the 'going rate' for a regular track day soon The market will not tolerate that for long. Prices must reduce otherwise numbers will decline, jeopardising profit.

[C70R]

bigothunter said:

Seems £400 could be the 'going rate' for a regular track day soon

I can't see where on earth you're drawing that conclusion from. Unless you're just pulling numbers out of thin air to make a pretend point?

Almost all of the trackdays on Javelin's site are between £150-250. The post you quoted showed that the May/June comparable date had gone up £50 vs last year, likely to accommodate all of the sessions they haven't been able to run.

I'm intrigued at how much people think a trackday should cost, and how much profit they feel like their ideal model would allow a track and operator to make.

Edited by C70R on Thursday 25th February 13:30

[bigothunter]

C70R said:

bigothunter said:

Seems £400 could be the 'going rate' for a regular track day soon

I can't see where on earth you're drawing that conclusion from. Unless you're just pulling numbers out of thin air to make a pretend point?

Almost all of the trackdays on Javelin's site are between £150-250. The post you quoted showed that the May/June comparable date had gone up £50 vs last year, likely to accommodate all of the sessions they haven't been able to run.

I'm intrigued at how much people think a trackday should cost, and how much profit they feel like their ideal model would allow a track and operator to make.

My words 'seems' and 'could' are the clue. They indicate an observed trend not a conclusion. Apologies if that is too subtle for you

Not unrealistic for £309 on Tuesday May 25th to translate to over £400 for a weekend track day in peak season. Genuinely hope I'm wrong but writing is on the wall for all to see

Would be surprised if TDOs are the root cause of these price increases. Much more likely to sit with the circuit owners. TDO business overheads can be small unlike circuit owners.