TRACKDAY and ACTIVITY WEEKEND! *Rockingham 22nd/23rd Sept*

[jonb-]

gather that timing yourself / others is frowned upon or even banned.

Officially it's a swift goodnight if you're caught timing yourself with a traditional device as it invalidates their insurance.

[Harry]

Bedford, Donnington, Silverstone, Brands, I was bored before the end of the day in all my first times out there. Unless I've someone to race with / timing, which BAT are a bit sharper at spotting than other TDOs, half a day is more than enough.

Soiunds like trackdays aren't for you then if you find Donington boring.
Sure you're actually a petrol head? Traffic light GP's more your thing?

Ehy?

Meaning?

[Tomiam]

gather that timing yourself / others is frowned upon or even banned.

Officially it's a swift goodnight if you're caught timing yourself with a traditional device as it invalidates their insurance.

Sounds reasonable. Thank you for the info.

[vashy]

*does a double take*

Mr Vashy, where have you been hiding all this time? - how's the mk1 going?

oh, um... hiding! in the university library mostly! finished it now though!
got a hole near the front anti-roll bar mount (eeek!) getting welded up tomorrow, gotta fix my knocking drop link now I have a stumpy allen key that'll get in the tight space and my clutch is slowly drinking fluid (not sure why yet) ... but... it's fast!! (:

[Lauren]

On a similar, though less confrontational theme, this will be my first track day and Im looking forward to watching my lap times go down during the day. I can see both sides of the "track days get boring" argument, especially if there is no basis of comparison to see if your times are getting quicker.
Now.. having said that I gather that timing yourself / others is frowned upon or even banned. Can someone with BaT experience tell me if this is true please? Is it a case of video it and then time it at home?
What generally happens then, pick a car in front and try to catch it / over take? If so, Im aiming BIG! That Ferrari bloke looks doable....

I worked for Bat for three years so i know the score. Any evidence of you timing yourself will result in you being swiftly removed from the circuit. There is nothing more dangerous than having people on track who are chasing tenths of a second.

FWIW you do not need timing to tell if you are improving and driving more quickly. It really just is not necessary. The basis of comparison is stark, staringly obvious: You know if you get it 'right' through a given corner, if you can't tell that timing will tell you nothing.

If you film your day, then there is nothing stopping you working out how long it took you to get round when you get home. Woe betide you though if you post that up on a public forum.

There is nothing wrong in seeing a car in the distance and trying to catch up with it, as long as you are sensible and don't endanger others or obviously drive danagerously.

What you should remember is that catching up with a GT3 does not mean your car is faster than a GT3 (it isn't), it just means you are driving more quickly at that point than the GT3 driver. Trackdays put the focus firmly on the driver.

This is your first trackday, so don't try to walk before you can run. Just take it easy, get a feeling for the car, try and see if you can work out lines through a corner, look ahead, see if you can understand what the car is doing and don't worry if you can't catch so and so or if so and so catches you. Just be courteous let faster cars past and keep it safe.

Trackdays are not ego fests, there will always be someone quicker than you. Remember also, it is NOT a race. There are no awards for lapping everyone, Ron Dennis won't be standing on the pitlane casting a longing eye at you.

[System-G]

gather that timing yourself / others is frowned upon or even banned.

Officially it's a swift goodnight if you're caught timing yourself with a traditional device as it invalidates their insurance.

Sounds reasonable. Thank you for the info.

Not only does it invalidate the Track Day Organisers (TDO) insurance, it invalidates any public liability cover the TDO has, any other drivers track day cover they may have taken out and also invalidates the circuits public liability and insurance.

BaT operate a very strict policy anyone caught or even suspected of timing will be instantly removed from the event and barred from future BaT days.

The only way you will "get away" with "timing" is if you have an on-board video camera and then edit footage later at home. If you are spotted checking times on the video equipment on the day, you will suffer the same consequences.

But I think anyone who has done a track day before will know that they progressively get quicker as the day goes on. You can feel it as well as note the pace you are with other cars.

I also find that tuition helps massively. Even some renound (sp?) racers say they still take on tuition fairly regularly.
Or sometimes going out with a regular trackdayer/racer in a similar car to your own, you can learn a lot too.

Marshalling for BaT this weekend really showed a lot of things. You could see the drivers who had tuition, took it on board and improve imensely.
You could spot the drivers who took tuition, improved for a while and then got worse again when they reverted to old habbits
And then you could also spot the drivers who "had all the gear and no idea"

[Harry]

"Dress like a Pro Play like fool"... ..."had all the gear and no idea"

Who is the person here to Email for a possible, on the reserve list?

Good comments about track etiquette

Harry

[Tomiam]

"Dont time yourself or race - just learn the car" message clearly understood.
Thanks for the info. Hope its as enjoyable a day as what Im imagining it to be.

[jonb-]

Hopefully Tonys setup should give you a nice balance

[Tomiam]

**crosses fingers! Just saw your reply on the WIM forums during my lunch break
Im not happy pushing the boundries on public roads, around here you never know when a car / horse / kiddie is going to be right around the corner. There arent many open "clear view" roads.

Rockingham should be awesome Booked myself in with an instructor too so all being well, he should be able to tell me how crap Im doing and put me on the right track (pun intended ) before I set off on the wrong one.

[Turbo-G]

Looking forward to this now, MR2 track virgin also

Just changed my oil tonight and fitted my oil temp guage, apart from that the car seems to be in decent mechanical order. I have the odd knock etc from the stock suspension but its still a firm, flattish ride so im sure I'll be ok out there.

Just must remember to stay calm out there and keep things smooth, im sure its oh too easy to get carried away in the moment and make silly mistakes. Im just hoping it stays dry out there

[System-G]

"Dress like a Pro Play like fool"... ..."had all the gear and no idea"

Who is the person here to Email for a possible, on the reserve list?

Good comments about track etiquette

Harry

Put yourself down on the reserve list on bookatrack.com and then send a PM or email to Anna who's running this event on part of the MR2's

[anna]

Right - i've just sent a pm to all those who want to do accomodation and/or activities.

If you haven't received the pm, but would like to do acc/activities, then please post here - it's possible I've missed you!

I'll be out for a week, but System-G is uber good at answering Q's (cheers Garrick!)

[jonb-]

I only live 45 mins away but thanks anyway

See everyone sunday, looking forward to some good ontrack fun.

[vashy]

so... off roading, quads an clay pidgeon shooting, sounds good!

is anyone else camping it?

[nicedude1976]

btw, could i grab some passenger laps in a someone's good powered supercharged MK1 (like 160hp+) ? - just want to know what the power difference feels like to the NA...

[System-G]

btw, could i grab some passenger laps in a someone's good powered supercharged MK1 (like 160hp+) ? - just want to know what the power difference feels like to the NA...

Hopefully we'll have our 180bhp SC with lsd there. Although it will have a stock manifold and stock system so may be down a few ponies (custom manifold bu88ered).

But strangely, we're quicker around track in our N/Ail. Probably because, we're not afraid to give it some in the N/Ail as the SC is also a daily drive. Also the handling is slightly better tweeked on the N/Ail than the SC.

We could take you out in both and make your own mind up from there

[nicedude1976]

I will be in my white F729... NA, so would like to know how an SC manages as I may want to get one sometime:) See you there.
Chris.

[System-G]

I will be in my white F729... NA, so would like to know how an SC manages as I may want to get one sometime:) See you there.
Chris.

Aaahhh... I knew I knew the name from somewhere...

PH?

[System-G]

Just heard from Jonny at Book-a-Track.

There are currently 4 places left for BatCat (Caterham) hire only

More details on BatCat hire can be found here:
http://bookatrack.com/-pb?54

Also if there is any one still interested in driving their own car on track, please sign up on the reserve list and note the following:

everyone on the reserve list gets emailed at the same time if there's any cancellations - so any interested parties should sign up via the site to make sure they get notified.

You'll then need to be quick off the mark to ensure you get booked on fully.

If you are lucky enough to confirm a booking and get paid up in full, please let either Anna or myself know via PM as soon as so Anna can make necessary arrangements through "MR2 On Track"