Track day donington

[wuckfitracing]

Going to try my first trackday with my 430 Chimaera at Donington on the 30th December.
Any advice from you guys would be welcome.

[Quietlybonkers]

Hope you have a great time and good weather.

[TV8]

If there is an option for instruction, take it. Ideally at least twice during the day with a good few laps inbetween to practice.

[Quietlybonkers]

You have raced before, so you should know this.......but

Put all your necessary kit in the car the night before. This includes the paperwork for the event, your driving licence (both parts), your crash helmet, money for fuel, drinks and snacks (or drinks and snacks themselves) and make sure you have prepared the car, tyres,oil water etc and including brimming it with fuel. You won't be driving without your licence, fuel or your crash hat.

If there is a lunch break, use it to refuel., which might well involve going off circuit. You will be surprised how much fuel you use. I didn't run out as such, but found that hard long left bends with a one third full tank caused a major stuttering of the engine, as my fuel was all over on the right side of the tank and the fuel pipes connect to the left side! Donnington is right handed, which will help.

Finally, consider your car. It's not a race, you aren't usually allowed to time yourself, so warm the tyres up thoroughly before giving it too much speed into corners, and don't feel you have to drive every straight flat out. Give the engine regular chances to cool and watch your gauges.
And observe the rules regarding overtaking etc and watch who s around you. It's about being safe and having a lot of fun in the corners. Armco and tyre walls will end your day and cost you a lot of money.

Edited by Quietlybonkers on Saturday 8th December 06:42

Edited by Quietlybonkers on Saturday 8th December 06:46

[Alun Ivor]

Winter, seriously slick, I'd treat it like a skid pan!! Steady eddie that's my advice. Jee I must be getting old, great fun I'd say, can't wait to get my old girl out there sometime. I reckon it's the only place you can really find out what TVR's are all about,goodluck.

[wuckfitracing]

Cheers any advice is welcome , Yep ive raced offroad for a few years but never really driven a track day, so I hope my offroad experience might not be needed too much.

[Alun Ivor]

Sounds like a great date, will try to pop up and have a watch? To my mind it's pretty simple overpowered and very very light on the back, soft feet needed, if you can get the setup right then I reckon it would be a blast, rear tyres are the key to it, I ain't got a clue really. Can't wait to find out myself. I'm gonna try a place with massive run offs. An airport, gotta find the limit safely then remember it?

[Quietlybonkers]

Alun Ivor said:

Sounds like a great date, will try to pop up and have a watch? To my mind it's pretty simple overpowered and very very light on the back, soft feet needed, if you can get the setup right then I reckon it would be a blast, rear tyres are the key to it, I ain't got a clue really. Can't wait to find out myself. I'm gonna try a place with massive run offs. An airport, gotta find the limit safely then remember it?

Spot on Alun. Resist the temptation to start on a big name racetrack and go to an airfield instead. That way you can drive at 101% and do no damage when you spin it, finding the limits. Cones are softer than Armco......

Good tyres all around, but appropriate for the conditions. No point using dry weather track tyres if the circuit is wet. IMHO the standard Chimaera brakes are pretty good, it's the tyres that will be the weak point and cause you to lock up when you brake hard in anything other than totally dry conditions.

One final thing, and this is a general point - a Chimaera handles a lot better if the wheels are properly aligned, so it is worth taking it to a TVR specialist with a four wheel alignment set up, getting them to check the suspension and steering joints first, and then perform a four wheel alignment.

[LuckyLucky]

I filched this from another member some years ago and it makes a good starter list you can build on!

You should see what I can take in a chim boot!

Here's the list of stuff I take to track days...

Clothing:

Helmet
Neck brace
Gloves
Light fleece
Waterproof coat
Spare change of clothes - inc pants for passenger rides with loons
Sunglasses - ones that are comfortable under helmet

Paperwork:

Driving licence plastic part &, ideally, also paper part
Indemnity forms - both filled in
AA/RAC Card

Tools:

Tyre pressure gauge, tread gauge and air pump.
Duct or similar tape
Cable ties
Mole grips
Spanners in popular sizes from 8 to 17mm
Multi-ended screwdriver
Trolley jack
Wheel brace
Axle stands
Chocks
Any other useful tools like socket set
Windcreen cleaning stuff.

Fluids:

Petrol/Jerry cans - full
Spare engine oil
Spare PAS fluid
Spare anti-freeze

Misc:

Earplugs
Camera - think cards/charged etc.
Sat Nav
Mobile phone
Car charger(s) for above
Tel number and postcode of venue
Portable seat
Road map

Don't forget at last minute:

Wallet

In the winter, don't forget those all important long Johns!

[GasMunkey]

Woolley gloves ?

[wuckfitracing]

Thanks for the list, saved me doing one. I will be taking it on my trailer with my defender so loads of tools in the back as it gets lots of recovery work from mates breaking things.

[Alun Ivor]

Top gear stylie, throw em at the scenery and see what happens, you gotta know what it's limits are. Tracks are so damn narrow it's alot to do, me thinks attack the slower stuff so if you go over it your not to fast! A wet drifting/ braking session would be good, whatever it does in the wet, it's likely a good gauge as to it's basic handling characteristic altogether! It's balance. More to the point so much fun, money I need so much money.

[Quietlybonkers]

By all was attack corners with plenty of run off, but let someone else remodel the Armco and tyre walls, it will cost you the car if you do it yourself

[wuckfitracing]

Im kind of used to the raging bull style of racing so i might go down this route and see what happens. It cant be that different from drifting a 300+BHP Landrover Tomcat across a muddy field, can it. (just had a thought, no roll cage, no 6 point harnesses, no fire extinguishers, )
This could not go too well.Ah well Im quite good at fibreglass repairs.

[LuckyLucky]

I had a short ride in a Bowler Wildcat and the driver leapt in a similar fashion!

Funny thing was, I was holding a camera in one hand with the intention of taking a video clip. I never released the roll cage to use the camera and I'm sure I heard a girlie scream from somewhere close .

[wuckfitracing]

Ive tried an end over end in it at 65 to 70 mph, boy does that give you a new slant on life. Also a lot of respect for the trees i missed, i did have to retire at that event much to my disapointment. Bit difficult to continue with no windscreen, bonnet, roof,wings,steering.etc

[Chris71]

This is probably stating the obvious, but have you checked if your car passes the noise limit? Not sure what it's like an Donington, but I've had to cheat a little to get cars through the noise tests elsewhere, even on standard pipes.

[wuckfitracing]

This could be a problem , so already planning exhaust tip inserts. Removable of course. However if you have any ideas that would be good to hear.

[Quietlybonkers]

wuckfitracing said:

This could be a problem , so already planning exhaust tip inserts. Removable of course. However if you have any ideas that would be good to hear.

Phone the track. I was worried that I wouldn't pass the limit at Snetterton, but they kindly said to pop along any day they were there and they would check it for me so that I wouldn't get turned away. These guys are car nuts - they will help you if they can and you ask nicely.

[Chris71]

wuckfitracing said:

This could be a problem , so already planning exhaust tip inserts. Removable of course. However if you have any ideas that would be good to hear.

If you're running a standardish car and it's a 105 dB day I suspect you'd pass, but do check as mentioned above. If not, I think big enough bolt-on silencers will bring pretty much anything down to the required levels. I've seen quite a few people using them - most seem to just attach to the end of the tail pipe with an exhaust clamp.