Brakes overheating on trackdays

[ChrisW.]

And it should be said that it takes time to become confident enough to brake late and on the limit whilst maintaining a smooth transition of weight on the front to bleed the car into the corner --- and avoiding any possibility of bounce ---

[Steve Rance]

gadgit said:

Just out of interest, when I did test days the advice given was that 10 laps was regarded as about enough for a run, and then rest.
When I ran a f3 car it was also advised that on testing you should run 2 laps quite hard and then come in and check the brake temperatures. If all is good, then off you go for ten laps.
Concerning pads, if you want great brakes you are going to produce more heat, and I'm sure you understand that something is going to get hot.
My question is, as I have never done a track day, what do they advise at the briefing about times on the track and how to control your brake temperatures.
Or don't they bother?
Just be intetesting to know.

Gadgitn

That’s interesting. I’ve thought about this. When I started racing 10 lap sessions were about spot on. Latterly, often the running budget for the team came mainly from team mates and external sponsors and I generally got the ‘go out for 5 Laps and tell us what it’s doing’. Then it was ‘go out for 3 Laps and tell us what’s it’s doing. In the end it was 2 laps.

I suppose seat time costs money and if someone else is paying you don’t get a lot of it. You are still expected to get results though. Both in set up and race. At track days I generally feel spoiled if I get 5 lap sessions and I’m the idiot who’s paying! Generally by 5 Laos the tyres are going off anyway.