RAF Marham April 2012 trackday weekend

[B'stard Child]

From the Organisers

Ladies and Gentlemen.

It is with great pleasure that we can announce our next charity track event, which is scheduled for the weekend of 28-29th April 2012.

The website has since undergone a complete redesign by the kind folk at MPR IT Solutions, who have not charged us for their services! We can't thank them enough for their work!

Now that we have a confirmed date, we can extend an invite to you and all of your members to attend our event.

We on the track day team have listen very carefully to all of your suggestions over the years and we are pleased to announce a number of improvements to our event.

The first change is the new Marham Track Days Website. This website will have all the usual facilities for booking and paying (PayPal) for entry. PLEASE DO NOT SEND CHEQUES ANYMORE. The website will also contain all driving information, maps, photos of past events and FAQs. No need for moderators to collect details anymore. We will take all the info we need from our website.

The major change is to the format of the day. For the first time in our 7 year history we will be changing the track direction half way through the day (lunch break). This means that you get 2 TRACKS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!! This should help out with tyre, suspension and brake wear too.

Prices are unchanged for 2012 at £60 per car and first driver. £10 for each additional person, up to a MAXIMUM OF 4 People in any vehicle. If you book the whole weekend your passengers come free on the second day.

E.g. Car + Driver = £60
+3 passengers = Total = £90 for one day

If coming for two days
Car + Driver = £120
+3 passengers = Total = £150 for the whole weekend saving £30

We have 180 car places per day, 360 places in total.

The website can be found at www.marhamtrackday.co.uk

The payment side of things is being finalised as we speak, and should be available to accept money very soon. Once this is working I will send out another email to inform you all of this.

We can't take any bookings until then and won't take any details over the phone or by email. Website entries/payment only.

If you have any questions or queries, please get in touch with either myself or George Denman, by emailing us at adminATmarhamtrackdayDOTcoDOTuk Or via phone on 01760 337261 x6514 or x7146.

We have a couple of other new ideas in the pipeline which I'll give you more details on at a later date.

Thank you again and we look forward to seeing you in April!!!!!

Rob Swanson

[B'stard Child]

7litrebig said:

A bit of a silly question, but...

How high are the speed bumps at the Marham entrance? - my Ultima is low and much as I'd love to attend another Marham track day I don't really want to leave the front splitter at the gate!

Cheers
Paul

Hi Paul

I'm hoping someone from the admin team at Marham will provide an answer - I haven't been on base for a year now and things sometimes do change - from memory the bumps tend to be long and flat topped and in sections of roadway where you can snake over them with zig-zag approach if you understand what I mean.

Fully loaded down with 8 wheels (with tyres), tools, 50L of fuel in cans, 5L of coolant, 5L of Oil, 1L of brake fluid, trolley jack, two axle stands, safety helmet, cameras and lenses, and plenty of spare warm clothing my lowest point on the car is the mid box and I reckon I have a max of 3 inches clearance and I zig-zag across them don't make regular contact

Example below from back in 2004 when I only used to take 4 spare wheels and tyres...... (My packing skills have improved considerably - they needed to)



We've had Ultimas on the track days before without issues that I am aware of.....

[B'stard Child]

rtv said:

Paul.

I'll do some measuring of speed bumps and get back to you mate.

Rob.

See I knew someone would be along shortly - Thanks Rob

[B'stard Child]

dom187 said:

Hi Folks, I am looking to do something like this so I can learn abit more about my 350z. Got a few questions (if this is the right place).

I'll start the replies off.....

dom187 said:

Will the track be swept prior to the event to reduce stone chips?

Marham used to have a reputation for being very chippy despite surface sweeping etc before the event but year before last they got some new kit and boy did it make a difference - in a stripped out car with no carpets it's very obvious when there are a lot of small stones about even with a safety helmet on but I didn't hear much at all

However Marham has huge space on track to accomodate a lot of cars and two long wide straights so do your overtakes there and give the car ahead plenty of room and you won't have problems in my opinion

IF you sit up the backside of other cars on any circuit you can expect to get a dose of gravel rash - Marham is no different

If you want to protect the front edge of the car - wax polish the front before the event and use a close matching colour duct tape - it'll come of easily then but provide good protection

dom187 said:

Am I guaranteed to need some new tyres before the drive home? I know alot of this is solely down to how you drive the car.

Majority of the circuit is very very grippy and consequently abrasive on tyres if you are over driving the car - the planned "reverse circuit" for the afternoon should even the tyre wear out but you really should consider a second set of wheels to open your options

On a big heavy front engined rear wheel drive Opel if I'm running part worns 2-3mm I'll need two sets of tyres to last a day - on part worn slicks I can do the whole day before hitting canvas but then I do lean on the tyres a lot!!!

dom187 said:

Is there alot of road cars at the event?

I'd say a higher proportion are road cars with a track bias rather than out and out track cars

dom187 said:

Basic equipment I will need, fitted fire extinguisher, helmet, new pants! Anything else?

Plenty of warm clothing it gets a bit breezy on an airfield, some oil top top up if you need too, coolant is never a bad idea either

Edited by B'stard Child on Saturday 11th February 19:50

[B'stard Child]

Marham is a friendly place/event - if you want someone to sit with you on your early laps to get a feel for the lines and gain some confidenceon track there will be several regular attendees who will be happy to do that (mainly the weekend crew who do both days and know they will get more than enough track time to be able to help and guide new attendees) alternatively blag a pass lap with one of the regulars in their car on the first session

[B'stard Child]

dom187 said:

7litrebig said:

My personal view From my prior visits to Marham, this is probably the best opportunity for you to have some fun and not risk smashing your pride and joy up - wide open spaces, long track, lots of space for everyone and no solid objects. Of course tyre wear is dependant on your driving style. The other thing is that it's a very cheap way to see if you like taking it on track - if it's not your cup of tea then just park her up in the paddock. You'll find there'll be lots of others similarly nervous / first timers with a huge variety of cars - so always someone or something interesting to see.

Thanks for the reply chap I think I will give it a go, I have seen you can get track day insurance do people bother with this?

I believe most don't bother

I certainly don't as I'd rather have it in the back of my mind that if I bin it it's my problem rather than driving thinking I'm all covered and not care - probably phrased that wrong but hopefully you'll get my point

[B'stard Child]

pantera chris said:

My car is worth more in peices than it is as a whole car, so if I binned it properly id break it for parts. Would be heartbreaking none the less but still a better option than going down the insurance route with the big excesses etc.

Similar here - when I converted my Monza to track car 5 years ago I thought if I get a couple of years fun out of it I'd be doing well........

[B'stard Child]

Spottedlaurel said:

What are the collective thoughts on using an auto for a trackday? I used my other road car today, first time for a few weeks, and with a 24v V6 reminded myself that it is amusingly brisk. Trouble is, it only really picks up beyond 3500-4000rpm and doing that too often on the road is going to get me into trouble one way or another. So, that lovely big straight at Marham is rather attractive.

I appreciate driving an auto will be a little different, depending on how much manual shifting I do, but will I suffer the oil overheating from a day on the track?

Surpringly it's nearly as much fun and I did find you have much more time to concentrate on braking points as well as lines thro the corners

I never had a gearbox cooling issue - the oil probably gets hotter when towing than on track

[B'stard Child]

2woody said:

who remembers my Jag XJR saloon ? that was auto. does that pre-date you ?

it's actually very good on track - based on the over-rev controls and the full-throttle shifting.

coming into corners, you can manually down-shift whilst you're still on the straight, knowing that it won't actually select the next lower gear until the revs are right - and it'll do it automatically. You can time it so that this downshift is in the braking zone, when your hands are full with other stuff. In mine, it'll also kick out the tail a little which you can use to your advantage.

Coming out of corners, upselect and just allow kickdown to do the rest.....

Of course, not all auto transmissions are set up the same.

never had fluid temp problems. Generally speaking, the manufacturer will have had cars running in 40 degree temperatures for days flat-out with trailer as a proving exercise.

I remember it - made me seriously think about dropping an XJR engine in the Monza

[B'stard Child]

Monza was totally ready for Marham on Friday

However after Saturdays track day it needs some work.....

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Ooops

Edited by B'stard Child on Monday 27th February 12:00

[B'stard Child]

markCSC said:

that'll buff out Glad you are OK though

Yeah even the French participants got the T-Cut Joke

[B'stard Child]

I got an email

RAF Marham Organisers said:

Ladies and Gents.

Registration and payment is now open and working through our website!! Please can you update your respective forums. It has been tested in firefox and internet explorer and works fine, however, other browsers might have issues. If this is the case please get in touch with us via the details on the contact us page.

We look forward to welcoming you back to our tarmac in April!

Regards

Rob Swanson

RAF Marham Track Day Team

PS using the slight time advantage I had as a result of the email I'm booked in now and paid up already

Edited by B'stard Child on Tuesday 28th February 13:18

[B'stard Child]

threesixty said:

Registered!

Despite owning a GT3 for over a year this is going to be my first trackday

What's held you back??

threesixty said:

Quick question regarding saftey equipment for those in the know! Whats the line with helmets? Any specific saftey standard that they must conform to?

Nope just a good fit - no std is applied - it's your head at then end of the day - they might not appreciate an ex WWII tin helmet

threesixty said:

Same again with fire extinguishers, can I just borrow a mini one from work or is there something I should be looking for specificaly?

I use a light weight alloy dry powder one but any car one will do - halfrauds or other moor factors sometimes have them on offer - the important thing is that it is well secured and easily accessible - mine is cable tied to the roll cage just beside the drivers seat. The other think is to make sure if you already have one that the pressure is still in the green and not in the red.

[B'stard Child]

rtv said:

There is not a standard or benchmark that helmets must comply to. We just insist that everyone driving or travelling as a passenger on track must wear one. It's your head that we are trying to protect should you roll, what helmet you chose to protect it with is up to you.

Likewise, a fire extinguisher is mandatory in all cars. Halfords do a couple at farily good prices. It must be secured though in the car though, not bouncing around in the footwell, because in the event of a roll, that will be the first thing that tests the strength of the 1940's tank commander helmet you shouldn't have chosen to wear!

Safety is key to us, but so is common sense.

[B'stard Child]

2woody said:

oh - he's going......!

[B'stard Child]

pantera chris said:

Are they any noise limits / noise testing on the day?

Marham is home to some very fast and noisy jets however the noise from them is limited to take off and landing I guess - you don't get them going round and round the taxiways and runways all day

So there is a noise limit and Marham do have testing equipment however I've yet to see it needed to be used.

Bottom line is you would have to have a really seriously noisy car to trigger a test request and without speaking for the organisers you'd probably get the opportunity to add additional silencing or possibly agree to a lower rpm limit on track.

Without dragging an old thread up to the top I seem to remember that an MX3 with a side exit exhaust and "minimal" silencing (it had a silencer box in the system I'm sure but it wasn't doing much) triggered the noise limit implementation to appease local residents. It was quite loud at the higher rpms although it actually sounded quite good.....

George/Rob please correct me if I've got this wrong

Edited by B'stard Child on Monday 5th March 16:06

[B'stard Child]

vxnath said:

booked up for the sunday with dawsonz.
really looking forward to taking the 220 round, be my first time to on track.

i take it there will be a garage near by for fuel?
and i will be taking a new set of rear with me.

looking forward to it!

There is time in the lunch break to pop out for fuel and get back for the afternoon session

[B'stard Child]

vxnath said:

will there be tyre fitters there?

I understand that there will be

[B'stard Child]

scatty72 said:

hopefully have acouple of the chaps from midland lotus coming. with regards to driving license/ passport. one of the chaps will have a european one, will this be ok on the day as i.d??????

Has it got a photo? If so yes but he can always play it safe and bring a passport too

[B'stard Child]

2woody said:

so, it'll be Granger snr in the Holden and Granger jnr in the Nova, although he might not bring it for both days.

I just need to reassemble the engine now - I have a bunch of, er, "aftermarket" parts waiting to go onto it.

must also try to find some silencers, too. Just in case.

What about David or is he overseas?