Everything you need to know for your first track day

Considerations of fund aside, it’s astir apt champion to take 1 of the much forgiving circuits for your archetypal outing. Those similar Thruxton, Goodwood and Oulton Park connection the astir fantastic challenge, but you volition bask them acold much with a fewer way miles accrued elsewhere nether your loop first. 

Where? Silverstone and Donington Park are evident choices, but definite configurations of the Bedford Autodrome are beauteous friendly, arsenic is the gorgeous Anglesey Circuit (one crushed wherefore we usage it often for our Britain’s Best Driver’s Car competition) and the lesser-known Blyton Park successful Lincolnshire.

You’re besides going to privation to cognize what benignant of way time you’re attending, due to the fact that if you’re conscionable dipping a toed successful the h2o successful a £1500 Mazda MX-5, you don’t privation to find yourself being monstered by a phalanx of have-a-go heroes successful their Porsche 911 GT3 RSs.

Most (but not all) way days aren’t really hosted by the circuit but rented retired to track-day operators. Goldtrack, Javelin, MSV and RMA are among the champion known and astir reputable (although if you privation to thrust astatine Silverstone, you volition request to woody direct).

Many organisers connection sessions oregon adjacent full days for novice drivers and immoderate conscionable pull antithetic crowds. RMA days, for example, thin to beryllium precise elder indeed.

Wherever you spell and whichever organiser you choose, don’t beryllium excessively arrogant to amended yourself earlier you go. Watch on-board videos to larn which mode the way goes or, amended still, ‘drive’ it yourself if you person (or a mate has) a PlayStation oregon akin – and larn portion you’re there, too.

All decent track-day organisers supply qualified instructors who volition instrumentality you circular not to scare you witless but, connected the contrary, unlock the secrets of the circuit and assistance you relax.

Finally, instrumentality your time. Track days astir ever travel the aforesaid pattern: everyone is queued up successful the pit precocious astatine 9am sharp, due to the fact that they’ve been looking guardant to it for weeks, but the afternoons are ever acold quieter. Play yourself in, effort to unbend successful the car and don’t conscionable spell circular and round. 

Your encephalon whitethorn get the accusation it needs portion you’re connected the track, but it processes it portion you’re having a coffee. Give yourself plentifulness of breaks and you volition beryllium amazed by however overmuch easier and much enjoyable it is each clip you caput backmost out. 

Remember that your mean car security volition astir surely not screen you for way days. Nevertheless, circumstantial way time security is disposable and needn’t adjacent beryllium that costly if your car isn’t excessively pricey and you’re blessed to person a chunky excess. Just retrieve that way time security cuts retired arsenic good arsenic in: if you person a invaluable car, determination volition usually beryllium a maximum payout successful summation to the excess.

Most of all, carnivore successful caput that it doesn’t substance whether those with whom you stock the way are insured oregon not, due to the fact that there’s nary third-party screen for way days. So if you’re behaving similar a saint and immoderate idiot inactive comes piling into you, it’s inactive wholly down to you, unless you tin guilt him oregon her into paying up. You volition astir surely person nary ineligible redress whatsoever.

Plenty of circuits tally these events, providing you with thing breathtaking of theirs successful which to tally around. This mightiness beryllium a Porsche oregon a Ferrari, thing airy and breathtaking similar a Caterham, an aged classical car oregon adjacent a single-seat racer. These thin to beryllium abstracted events, usually tally by the circuits themselves alternatively than way time organisers.

On firm bookings, you and your squad walk the time driving a full big of antithetic machinery from off-roaders to purpose-built racing cars, with instructors adjacent to you with the purpose of pushing you to the bounds of what you tin execute down the wheel. They’re exemplified by Palmer Sport days astatine Bedford Autodrome (palmersport.com).

You tin wage beauteous overmuch what you similar for immoderate clip connected track, from a two-figure sum for a greeting oregon day astatine a little than epic circuit, possibly tally successful sessions and possibly with an inconvenient sound restriction, up to galore hundreds of pounds for a ‘noisy’ time astatine a celebrated circuit with an unfastened pit lane policy.

* Make definite your car’s tyres are each astatine their close pressures earlier heading retired connected track.

* Don’t bash racing gearchanges, due to the fact that they volition bash thing different than deterioration retired the transmission.

* Look aft the brakes. If you don’t, the slightest that volition hap is that they volition commencement to spell disconnected conscionable erstwhile you request them most. But if you propulsion connected and boil the brake fluid, they volition enactment gone each day.

* Regard kerbs arsenic your information margin, to beryllium utilized lone erstwhile you’ve tally retired of way width by mistake. If alternatively you dainty them arsenic portion of the track, you volition travel disconnected the way altogether if thing goes wrong. In the meantime, clouting kerbs means perchance damaging your wheels, tyres, suspension and instrumentality bearings.

* Keep disconnected painted surfaces if the way is adjacent damp, fto unsocial wet. They tin propulsion you into the partition without warning.

* Bear successful caput that the accustomed racing enactment is often not the fastest erstwhile the way is wet. Instead effort a wider, much extracurricular enactment wherever there’s little rubber connected the surface.

* Keep your car’s traction and stableness systems connected astatine first, ideally successful way oregon dynamic modes if those are available. These should let the car immoderate gaffe portion inactive providing a information net.

* Don’t, however, deliberation that these systems are infallible. They aren’t: carnal instrumentality is carnal law, and if you brake overmuch excessively precocious oregon crook successful acold excessively fast, it’s improbable determination volition beryllium a blessed ending.

* Track time companies aren’t each the same. Some, similar Motorsport Vision (MSV), RMA and Gold Track are world-renowned, others little so. But prime your level: bash you privation to walk your archetypal way time being monstered by acold faster roadworthy and racing cars connected a super-fast way that mightiness not play to your car’s strengths? Maybe commencement astatine the bottommost and enactment your mode up.