track day cancellation Lotus on track

[baja1969]

HI all,

was at the autosports int show yesterday and decided to show my face on the Lotus On Track stand, was made to feel welcome as i explained that i had a VX220 turbo and was booked on one of their days at croft on tees 4th april, all was going smoothly until i happened to mention that i had sold the VX and was now the proud owner of a 2010 PR6, at this point all changed, apparently radicals are not welcome on LOT track days, news to me i thought, so after a brief conversation Paul from LOT offered me a full refund on my money

so to the point of this thread, are there any other track day organisers that are the same as LOT, just so that i done waste my time and money to get told your car is to fast for us so your not allowed on track or are they the only ones, also I've tried various email addresses to request my refund but all the ones from there web site just bounce back

[BrotherMouzone]

baja1969 said:

.... apparently radicals are not welcome on LOT track days, news to me i thought.....

It's on their FAQs.

http://www.lotus-on-track.com/faq/

[baja1969]

BrotherMouzone said:

baja1969 said:

.... apparently radicals are not welcome on LOT track days, news to me i thought.....

It's on their FAQs.

http://www.lotus-on-track.com/faq/

At the time when i booked the day i still had the VX220 so didn't bother with the FAQ section, their explanation was that the cornering and approach speeds of the Radical cars is far quicker than the Lotus cars, obviously hasn't seen my driving yet LOL, I'd get passed by a robin reliant. I did understand Pauls explanation though maybe they have had a bad experience with another radical driver and this is why they don't allow them on their days, its the first time i had heard of it though.

[schrodinger]

I think RMA may not be too keen either, again due to the speed disparity. But I think they are flexible - depends on the driver.

[Mobsy]

Motorsport Events also give Radicals a special mention :-
"Our events are for like minded enthusiast drivers in 'road type' cars. Please note that we do not allow any out and out, dedicated race or competition cars to participate, our events are track days and not test days for race cars. There are of course cross over cars (Road Saloons, some Rally Cars and of course many Kit type such as Caterhams and Westfields) which attend our events and whilst they may not be used on the road they could be; these cars are very welcome as long as they are well prepared and safe. What we don't allow are GT race cars, single seaters, sports racing cars (such as Radicals unless road legal) etc. If you have any doubts about the suitability of your car please ask in advance."

[Elderly]

Re the refund; you were offered the refund yesterday, today is Sunday ........ how quickly do you think they can act, especially as they were probably at the show today?

[MagicalTrevor]

Sounds like a very reasonable Track day organiser to me, without looking at the FAQ I would expect Lotus-on-Track to exclude non-Lotus cars (except the VX220 for obvious reasons).

The fact that they've refunded without penalty is more than should be expected seeing as they may well not sell that place.

[baja1969]

Elderly said:

Re the refund; you were offered the refund yesterday, today is Sunday ........ how quickly do you think they can act, especially as they were probably at the show today?

obviously i wasn't expecting a refund so quickly, I was asked by Paul of LOT to email him with my details of the booking for him to arrange a refund, my issue is not with the speed of the refund as i haven't officially asked for it yet, my issue is the lack of working emails on their web site to send my booking details to them.

[rallycross]

If you have a Radical you should race it - no point pissing around on track days with a car that quick.

[baja1969]

rallycross said:

If you have a Radical you should race it - no point pissing around on track days with a car that quick.

thats my future plan to go racing with it, but i want to get used to the car first, about 6 or 7 track days early this year, go for my msa group B license then have a go at the 750 bikesports series, I started with a clio 172 cup early last year, then the VX220 and now the radical, wanted to learn the craft first then go racing not being a hinderance to other racers LOL

[Stephanie Plum]

baja1969 said:

Elderly said:

Re the refund; you were offered the refund yesterday, today is Sunday ........ how quickly do you think they can act, especially as they were probably at the show today?

obviously i wasn't expecting a refund so quickly, I was asked by Paul of LOT to email him with my details of the booking for him to arrange a refund, my issue is not with the speed of the refund as i haven't officially asked for it yet, my issue is the lack of working emails on their web site to send my booking details to them.

Emails work fine for me. I suspect it's probably something to do with your email IP as to why they are bouncing back. Try sending him a U2U as you're a member of LOT?

[baja1969]

Stephanie Plum said:

Emails work fine for me. I suspect it's probably something to do with your email IP as to why they are bouncing back. Try sending him a U2U as you're a member of LOT?

Thanks I'll try from my work PC tomorrow instead.

[baja1969]

Just had an email and a full refund from Lotus On Track, cant beat that for service Cheers

[philevo6]

rallycross said:

If you have a Radical you should race it - no point pissing around on track days with a car that quick.

Totally disagree with that.

So the radical is penalised on trackdays because its quick?.....a big power evo or skyline will murder a radical on the straights on any circuit,but they aren't penalised,so why should the radical be?...they are awesome machines and great to watch sometimes.

Ive seen radicals driving ultra slow on most trackdays anyway.

Seems like sour grapes or jealousy to me "he has a faster car than me so shouldn't be allowed"

[Uncle Gueber]

philevo6 said:

Seems like sour grapes or jealousy to me "he has a faster car than me so shouldn't be allowed"

Almost without exception, I’ve always found radicals to be a PITA on trackdays.

Nothing to do with jealousy, I really don’t care who has a faster car than me, after all it’s a trackday not a race. The difference between a radical and a skyline is they are seriously quick through the corners as well as on the straights, so the closing speed is in a different league.

I shared a garage with radical on a day last summer and surprise surprise, the driver got a bking for diving through on the inside of a corner. Truth is he was pretty decent bloke and I found it interesting to get his view of the incident. He simply got caught out with the rate he was catching the car in front through a series of corners. He was obviously going at a fair pace and backing out would have caused him to lose the aero effect mid corner, so decided to keep the foot in. He wasn’t trying to be aggressive or be a knob, he simply misjudged the situation.

But I’d still prefer to days without them in attendance.

[philevo6]

So whats the cut off then?...how fast till your car is excluded from trackdays?!!...atoms in the right hands can be as quick as radicals...skylines can match lap times and speed on some circuits and there are modified evo's and cossies that ive seen stuck to the back of radicals lap after lap.

Its a hayabusa powered car...so ban all quick bike engined stuff?....no way

There are fast peddlers in various cars and slow drivers in radicals.

Id rather have a radical than some total nonce with a £500 scrapper who doesn't give a toss about his car,drifting it everywhere!..with no consideration.

Just let everyone play is my view BUT if its a full race team timing etc etc..then that's another matter.

Edited by philevo6 on Monday 13th January 22:59

[philevo6]

Plus the fact,80% of radicals on the trackdays ive been on have sat in the garage most of the day....either broke or waiting for the rain to stop....so they aren't a problem at all.

[upsidedownmark]

Hang on.. in fairness, this is *lotus on track*.

Never had anything to do with them, but from looking at their FAQ from this thread, it seems that they're running trackdays primarily for lotus cars, and allowing 'lotus like' cars, such as the vx220, caterhams etc, and ask you to talk to them before booking anything else. I'd guess the 'big power skyline' would be less than welcome too. If their selling point is they're running trackdays for 'similar' cars, then that's their prerogative, no?

[thegreenhell]

philevo6 said:

Totally disagree with that.

So the radical is penalised on trackdays because its quick?.....a big power evo or skyline will murder a radical on the straights on any circuit,but they aren't penalised,so why should the radical be?...they are awesome machines and great to watch sometimes.

Ive seen radicals driving ultra slow on most trackdays anyway.

Seems like sour grapes or jealousy to me "he has a faster car than me so shouldn't be allowed"

I don't believe the issue is anything to do with power or straight line speed. It's more that such cars, with their light weight and downforce, have far greater potential cornering and braking performance than any 'normal' roadcar. This, combined with the usual trackday rule of no overtaking in the braking zones or corners, exactly where these cars' performance advantage is greatest, can create frustration with drivers of all cars when the two are mixed on the same day.

Personally, if I owned a Radical or similar, I wouldn't want to be on a trackday where I would be stuck behind other cars that may be so much slower in the corners and not be allowed to overtake them.

[baja1969]

crikey I've stirred up a right hornets nest here LOL, to be fair the main purpose for this thread was to find out if other TDO have the same opinion of the the radical marque, The reason I am attempting track days in the Radical is only so that i can get enough driving experience and time in the driving seat to start to do lessons for my ARDS test with a view either later this year entering the 750 bike sports race series or doing a few sprint event. What i didnt want was to get my license enter some races and be really slow or incompetent and cause a issue with other racers. In the VX220 and the Clio 172 before it I have done loads of track days, moving up to the Radical is a massive step from the previous cars so time in the seat is big thing for me.