Trackdays for road legal Only Cars

[TVRMARKUB]

Do any TDO's do this so you don't have to deal with the Lewis Hamilton wannabes/FunCup cars etc who lets face it should stick to testdays.

[318is boy]

not seen raod legal onlys. and yes i agree about race cars should stick to test days - the problem is where do you draw the line as many track day cars are either ex race cars or are atleast running with cages, coilys, big brakes and slicks....

i would have thought it is also frustrating for racers who have to go out on track with joe public when he doesnt have the car or experience to keep a similar pace and ineviatably ends up holding him or her up when they are on a quick one...

[TVRMARKUB]

318is boy said:

i would have thought it is also frustrating for racers who have to go out on track with joe public when he doesnt have the car or experience to keep a similar pace and ineviatably ends up holding him or her up when they are on a quick one...

I find it's the racers without experience/talent who don't use mirrors to be the biggest problem, the worst days I have been on have been days with Funcup cars on em, though on the other side the talented guys in quick stuff are just so much quicker it's dangerous, why these guys would want to do trackdays is beyond me.

[t11ner]

As suggested above, a lot of very good trackday toys are either ex-race cars or have been prepped so that they are no longer very suitable for road use so it's hard to know where to draw the line. You've also got to wonder if such a restriction would help anything - there are idiots driving all sorts of cars

Bottom line is that if you have a problem with anyone else on the track it's down to you to go and tell the organisers about it - let them do their job and the standards will improve both on that day and overall.

[benny.c]

t11ner said:

As suggested above, a lot of very good trackday toys are either ex-race cars or have been prepped so that they are no longer very suitable for road use so it's hard to know where to draw the line.

I've often thought that TDO's may go this route eventually to stop race teams testing for cheap. As you rightly point out though, it's hard to draw the line. Apart from a bag tank, my BMW track car is a race car and isn't MOT'd. If the rules changed I'd simply get it MOT'd and still use it in exactly the same way. It's for this reason that I declare it SORN each year rather than tell the DVLA that it has been scrapped.

If the TDO's started banning cages then that would obviously be an issue for me. If they banned slicks I'd cope, but it wouldn't be as much fun

I agree with the OP though, it's annoying when you get a full on race team there, often clearly timing laps......and I've no idea how half of them pass the noise test.

[Herman Toothrot]

benny.c said:

I agree with the OP though, it's annoying when you get a full on race team there, often clearly timing laps......and I've no idea how half of them pass the noise test.

I've never seen "a race team" at a trackday. I've seen the odd race car and driver thats new to racing practicing or never been to a circuit before so doing a trackday before the race weekend but in my eyes thats no different to anyone else on a trackday.

I really don't see any problem with people being fast on a trackday, or being in a race car. Is a Clio Cup Race car something that upsets you? Whereas a 430 Scuderia is no problem as its a road car?

[fastfreddy]

Thruxton, Croft and Motorsport Events trackdays fit the bill.

Pretty much all trackdays at the other main circuits attract race cars for a bit of cheap testing.

MSV novice days are also possibly worth looking at.

[Mrs Muttleysnoop]

Last year at Snetts there was a Caterham race team timing at a track day. Racing drivers should stick to test days.

[jleroux]

for me, the cut off point has always been 'paid staff'. as soon as you have a paid member of staff on a track day with you then it ceases to be recreational and becomes testing.

that criteria has covered a multitude of circumstances over the years but always seems to fit the bill for me.

Jonny
BaT

[benny.c]

Herman Toothrot said:

I've never seen "a race team" at a trackday. I've seen the odd race car and driver thats new to racing practicing or never been to a circuit before so doing a trackday before the race weekend but in my eyes thats no different to anyone else on a trackday.

I really don't see any problem with people being fast on a trackday, or being in a race car. Is a Clio Cup Race car something that upsets you? Whereas a 430 Scuderia is no problem as its a road car?

No problem with cars being fast, race cars or cars made specifically for the track. I just don't think it's in the spirit of track days when teams use a trackday to save a couple of hundred quid, when they should be testing with other racers. I've seen cars at Oulton with teams of eight or ten guys, fueling rigs, four sets of wheels etc. TBH it's not going to spoil my day, but I just don't agree with it.

jleroux said:

for me, the cut off point has always been 'paid staff'. as soon as you have a paid member of staff on a track day with you then it ceases to be recreational and becomes testing.

that criteria has covered a multitude of circumstances over the years but always seems to fit the bill for me.

Jonny
BaT

That seems a common sense approach. Would you turf someone off who was clearly testing, even if you didn't catch them timing? I guess if they driving OK then there would be no grounds, or does it effect your insurance?

Edited by benny.c on Tuesday 30th March 23:47

[Mark in Ireland]

I've never had any problems when teams are 'testing'. Sometimes if in the right place different lines can be observed by watching how more experienced (?)drivers get their cars round. My only moan is people who lack even basic road skills driving expensive exotica and seem to think they are driving gods and cannot bring themselves to move over to allow the 'lower' class people thru...

[y2blade]

Thruxton is the only one that springs to mind (I was there the other week) due to the ridiculously low noise regs

see here for the next one
http://res.goldtrack.co.uk/res_website.asp?supplie...

[MGRacer]

Aside from people timing on track days which I do not agree with, I'm not sure what the problem is as long as everyone abides by the rules. If they dont tell the organiser.

The reason that we use trackday's is that they are normally open pit lane whereas test days are not which makes it easier to change something do a few laps and come back in. When you are also a 1 man or 2 man band it can be hard to make the changes and get out for the next session on test days. They are also better value for money.

Fun Cup Car's are hard to see what is behind you and they do have mirrors, from my recollection when I drove one. So that is some of the issue with them getting out of the way.

What I find to be the biggest problem is the EGO of a minority of trackday drivers who seem to think that something which couldn't pass them on the road wants to come past their expensive and v. fast ROAD car. The fast road car then insist on not letting you through even though you are mm's from their bumper and have been for lap after lap.

Live and let live. There is plenty of room for everyone if we all stick to the rules.

[NTEL]

Come on Mark, is this a wind up?

[edh]

My (ex) race car is road legal, MOT'd and insured. I don't have a team running it for me so i guess I'm OK

I used to enjoy the Donington track evenings before race meetings when you'd often be sharing the track with historic race cars.

I don't car who's on track as long as they observe the rules. (I'd echo the comments about fun cup cars - seems to be a problem at Oulton)

For me the more disconcerting cars are the sports prototypes like radicals which can be very quick and also hard to spot - one minute there's nothing there, the next they are under your bumper & very low so hard to see in the mirrors. I wouldn't have thought it's much fun for them, hopping between slower cars on each straight without much opportunity to put together clean laps.

[MGRacer]

NTEL said:

Come on Mark, is this a wind up?

Which bit do you think is a potential wind up? None of it is I can assure you, it is just my view.

[Chris71]

Have to say I've never had a problem with racers on track days - been on track with groups of Porsche Cup and Caterham Roadsport competitors several times and they've always been very well behaved.

If it's very high performance sports racing cars up against low powered production cars I agree the speed differential could get a little dodgy, but that would be the same if you had a road going supercar against a mk2 Golf or something.

The worst driving I've seen has consistently come from the owners of standard road-trimmed variants of a certain German sports car, apparently not supplied with mirrors. I'd gladly swap every Carrera 4 on the planet for its stripped-out Porsche Cup equivalent!

[chevy-stu]

worse driving I've seen was by two different Nissan GTR drivers on two different days. Both times looked they'd just bought the car and were showing it off to mates..

The race car guys generally give a bit more space and are more patient..

[NTEL]

MGRacer said:

NTEL said:

Come on Mark, is this a wind up?

Which bit do you think is a potential wind up? None of it is I can assure you, it is just my view.

Sorry Mark, I was referring to the OP who I know very well, not you. Sorry for the confusion

[thegreenhell]

jleroux said:

for me, the cut off point has always been 'paid staff'. as soon as you have a paid member of staff on a track day with you then it ceases to be recreational and becomes testing.

that criteria has covered a multitude of circumstances over the years but always seems to fit the bill for me.

Jonny
BaT

How do you tell the 'paid staff' from the volunteers? I've been on at least one BaT day where there was a Porsche GT3 Cup car, complete with air jacks, air wrenches etc, and at least a couple of 'helpers' doing tyre changes throughout the day.

I personally don't have a problem with it, so long as they follow the driving etiquette appropriate to a trackday, rather than treating it as a full-on test session and being a pain in the arse for the genuine recreational drivers who have paid to be there.