Passengers on track days
Discussion
What do people think about having passengers on track days? You try so hard to shed weight off the car, and then a 80kg passenger sits in your car lol. When you have a track day booked, and a really heavy 120kg mate wants to come with you....your pretty much screwed for any fast laps lol
T89 Callan said:
You're not meant to be timing anyway.
It's meant to be a fun day so I don't really mind.
We mix it up, some solo and some with a sack of spuds in the seat beside you. There are 3 of us who drive the Radical apart from friends, guests, clients etc etc who we invite along, so we will often be two up.It's meant to be a fun day so I don't really mind.
Bloody thing goes fast enough for me 2 up anyway and seeing peoples reactions more than makes up for it. I don't think we get close to what the car can do anyway, in fact I KNOW we don't having been out in ours with a very quick driver, so the difference is to a large degree irrelevant. We get quite a few other attendees at track days who, when you've been chatting or sharing a garage with are itching for a ride, why the devil not is what I say.
I do appreciate that you aren't saying one shouldn't give rides, I'm just saying that times lost (in theory) is compensated for in other ways.
My OH came with me as passenger on my last track day. She weighs so little it made no difference but, after a dozen laps she got out when I stopped, telling me I wasn't driving as fast with her in it.
You may find you drive a little more gently to avoid throwing the passenger about too much.
You may find you drive a little more gently to avoid throwing the passenger about too much.
This reminds me of a Ford Mustang Club autocross that I went to about 8 yrs ago.It is a timed couple of laps of a Kart track and I was using a 7 clone as opposed to the big heavy Mustangs, camaros etc.
They kept on encouraging teens to cadge for pax rides in futile attempts to stop me from cleaning their clocks.
m
T89 Callan said:
You're not meant to be timing anyway.
It's meant to be a fun day so I don't really mind.
It's meant to be a fun day so I don't really mind.
I enjoy spending time driving my cars on track days. I like to share that enjoyment with friends and family, and also like to ride with them in sessions to learn from their experience, give tips on lines, or just to go fast.
When I've queued for sessions on my own, I've had people ask for a passenger ride a couple of times and taken them out. I've done this only a couple of times, as I think we all love cars and driving and being driven on tracks .... There always does beg the question about what would happen if the worst happened and they were injured however.
I'll happily take passengers out, but I state that on the first sign of them screaming or trying to grab the wheel that I'll return to the paddock and ask them to get out.
I actually prefer having a passenger in the Z4 as (to me) it makes the balance much better and 'felt' faster/smoother than when fat old me is alone in the driver's seat.
I actually prefer having a passenger in the Z4 as (to me) it makes the balance much better and 'felt' faster/smoother than when fat old me is alone in the driver's seat.
hyperblue said:
I enjoy having passengers, it's fun seeing peoples reactions, especially those who haven't been on track before.
The best look I got was at Oulton Park where the passenger attempted to grab for the roof grab handles only to find there was none. This was at the same time as I had to tighten my line due to the car in front deciding at the last minute to let me past at Island, and meant I completely screwed up my line in (and thus out). Luckily it was the two unladen tyres that went across the grass at 100mph+, so no great drama.Edited by mmm-five on Sunday 18th October 20:32
A passenger slows my car down a fair bit but I always have one. I don't enjoy lapping by myself anywhere near as much, otherwise you get in and have nothing to talk about, nobody saw what you want them to see etc. Same goes for people you see turning upto trackdays alone, something I would never do. I always go with other cars/people, I enjoy the whole day out rather than just the driving part. I prefer taking somebody out to enjoy the experience with me, it is all about fun at the end of the day.
On a related note - whats the liability if you crash and the passenger is injured? I remember the case in the US when the Carrera GT was wiped out killing the driver and the passenger - if I recall the passenger's family successfully sued the estate of the driver.
This concern has stopped me taking out strangers in the past....
This concern has stopped me taking out strangers in the past....
I really enjoy taking passengers out. After a session following a very similar paced car, those laps where both drivers are very similar in cars with almost the same / power, I find it adds to the enjoyment to be able to talk about it afterwards with my passenger.
The extra weight doesn`t bother me, I can tell the difference, but its only a Track Day...
The extra weight doesn`t bother me, I can tell the difference, but its only a Track Day...
shim said:
you have the protection of the declaration they sign that they are there at their own risk and i usually tell them the same (probably on video)
If you read a lot of these disclaimers, they only protect the track and organiser and certainly wouldn't prevent a claim against a driver...there was a big thread on here a couple of months back about a crashed Aston and GT3 where the detail of the disclaimer was examined and it was almost a polar opposite of what most people thought they were signing.Gassing Station | Track Days | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff