Brands Hatch in an R8

[Kent Border Kenny]

I’ve booked a track day in early December at Brands, doing the Indy circuit in a first-generation R8 Plus.

Does anyone have any tips or advice? I’m not timing myself, I just want some fun and to get to know the car a but better.

Is it worth getting track tyres, is there any preparation needed for the car, and anything worth knowing to make the day a bit more fun?

I’m tempted to take my little Abarth 595 in the morning, and the R8 in the afternoon, but am not sure if you’re allowed to drive two different cars.

[Kent Border Kenny]

trickywoo said:

I’m sure you’ll have a good time and cars are different to bikes but I did my first track day there on a bike and it was horrific.

I was in the novice group, naturally, but there were people flying round. Lots and lots of crashes too. There was somehow a three bike crash on the little straight behind the pits. It was mad.

I did a tuition day there on bikes in 1994, taught by Ron Haslam. FZ600s I think.

That was the last time I’ve been on that circuit.

[Kent Border Kenny]

I’m curious as to what sort of other cars to expect on a December open pit lane session. It’ll also be interesting to see how the very well driven “normal” sporty cars will be lapping relative to me in a very fast road car who’s not going to be going flat out.

I’m also interested as to whether I’ll come away viewing my car in a different light. I’m looking at a few alternatives with four seats (Taycan, FF, RS6, AMG GT S Saloon) and have no idea what I’m giving up by going to what are all less “sporting” cars.

[Kent Border Kenny]

braddo said:

I think you’ll be surprised by how much more braking distance your car needs versus lighter and track prepped stuff. Your brakes might also start fading fairly quickly so maybe keep to short 15 minute stints and see how it goes. Make sure you do 1 or 2 full cool down laps to help your brakes.

Too tip - do not use the handbrake when you park up or the pads can stick to hot discs and/or damage the discs.

Have a tyre gauge and pump and keep an eye on pressures after each stint. You will end up letting a fair bit of air out of your tyres and will need to pump them back up at the end.

The car will be fine, i doubt you have to any prep as such.

Enjoy!

It’s a Plus, so has the ceramic rotors, but yes, still a relatively heavy road car.

To be honest, given that they are something like £10,000 per set I’ll likely be doing a fair amount of lifting and coasting rather than trying to be the last of the late breakers.

[Kent Border Kenny]

Thanks for the tip on Goodwood, I’ll give it a try.

[Kent Border Kenny]

I wonder if I have to pay extra if I switch to a different car for the afternoon. I’ll drop them a line and ask.

[Kent Border Kenny]

PGNSagaris said:

Usually not. Let them know in the office and just noise test and move the sticker to the new car

Thanks. I’ve an Abarth 595 that I’d like to try out too.

It’s also a good idea from a cost perspective, the little hatchback wears far cheaper tyres than the Audi.

[Kent Border Kenny]

Thanks very much for the tips everyone. It was chilly, and started damp, but the track was nearly dry by lunch.

I was a bit worried that I’d be a mobile chicane, but other than during the tuition no-one caught me, so I was doing fine and not holding anyone up.

The engine, as you’d expect, was amazing, but the rest of the car cooed pretty well too. The tyres were fried by the end but the brakes held up very well, only going slightly spongy once.

In the end I didn’t have the chance to bring the Abarth as I had to pop off in the afternoon to get my SL63, but I had a really good day out.