Now please do not laugh at me, I will be nervous enough.
Have booked for a track day with javelin at Elvington for Saturday the 3rd December. So hope the weather is not too bad.
Will give car a full check over and ensure I have enough fuel, oil, water etc. Plan to take car on trailer have a few spare wheels in case of
punctures etc.
Tools, duck tape, and anything I can think of.
Any recommendations?
Adrian
thats where i did my 1st trackday, loads of space to see what your car is made of. check all the nuts and bolts as the extra vibration can undo stuff?
but most importantly try and check how loud your car is. elvington has quite a low sound limit. your trackday supplier will tell you what it will be
on the day. the best way to check your db level is to go to a local trackday a few weeks before the trackday that you have booked and get them to test
it for you
HTH
Ed
did my first one on a short track in Germany only 13 miles or so loved every minute. Just remember drive to your limits dont be bullied o pressured .
Have a look over the car and just take the tools that you might need, even for the jobs you dont think youll have to do.
For the Car
Trolley jack and axle stands,
Some heavy duty cable ties,
a torch,
Spare Oil,
Brake Fluid,
Spare Fuel,
Bottles of water (Not cold)
Coolant
For You
Crash Helmet & Gloves
Sandwiches and flask of soup
Bottles of drinking water
Cardboard to lie on if you need to get under the car with it on stands
Latex Gloves and an old towel
Overalls
Laptop and Charger (for in between sessions or MS tuning if you have it)
240V Inverter
Waterproofs (Just in case)
Clean Towel (Just in case)
Dont forget your sense of humour. You Might need it, but hopefully not.
A lot of the above are comfort items, but why rough it?
I took the car to Phoenix Mootorsport in Accrington and at 3/4 max rpm they measured 91 dB.
So I hope I have met that requirement. Would be nice to go to a prior event to have a look around and for more piece of mind.
Richard, thanks for the tips. I guess my estate car is going to get full.
Adrian
[Edited on 21-11-11 by AdrianH]
More fuel than you think you'll need
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
More fuel than you think you'll need
On my last open pit lane trackday I burned a full tank of 6 gals before lunch.
Change of trousers?
quote:
Originally posted by AdrianH
Would be nice to go to a prior event to have a look around and for more piece of mind.
[Edited on 21-11-11 by AdrianH]
Nice one Adrian, make sure you relax and have lots of fun.
Good lucky and hope you have a smashing time
Just take it easy. You get some right prats at trackdays so be careful and let people past if you are uncomforatble.
Stu
Take it slowly at first, avoid the temptation to be the first on the track if open pit lane then jam your foot down to keep up.
Do not let people hassle you on bends, move over to the side in your own time to let them by.
Its a war out there in the morning, by the afternoon the nobs have broken down and numbers dwindled, at which point you have settled down and can
concentrate on your lines and positioning, when it all starts to feel smooth you will see your times dropping.
Braking, you do this much later than on the road, ideally really hard on the brakes up to the apex of the bend, as you exit then then get your foot
down as fast as possible.
Work out who is experienced and fluent out there, watch there lines and try and emulate.
Have fun
quote:
Originally posted by AdrianH
I took the car to Phoenix Mootorsport in Accrington and at 3/4 max rpm they measured 91 dB.
So I hope I have met that requirement. Would be nice to go to a prior event to have a look around and for more piece of mind.
Richard, thanks for the tips. I guess my estate car is going to get full.
Adrian
[Edited on 21-11-11 by AdrianH]
quote:
Originally posted by MakeEverything
Have a look over the car and just take the tools that you might need, even for the jobs you dont think youll have to do.
For the Car
Trolley jack and axle stands,
Some heavy duty cable ties,
a torch,
Spare Oil,
Brake Fluid,
Spare Fuel,
Bottles of water (Not cold)
Coolant
For You
Crash Helmet & Gloves
Sandwiches and flask of soup
Bottles of drinking water
Cardboard to lie on if you need to get under the car with it on stands
Latex Gloves and an old towel
Overalls
Laptop and Charger (for in between sessions or MS tuning if you have it)
240V Inverter
Waterproofs (Just in case)
Clean Towel (Just in case)
Dont forget your sense of humour. You Might need it, but hopefully not.
A lot of the above are comfort items, but why rough it?
The old towel will be to mop up any spills I assume if needing to work on the car. Oil, coolant or brake fluid, then it can be thrown away after.
Wondering if there is a 'Novice Back Off' sticker I can get?
tul24 hope to see you around, or anyone for that matter.
I am wondering how many entries there needs to be for the event to run
Adrian
quote:
Originally posted by AdrianH
Wondering if there is a 'Novice Back Off' sticker I can get?
Adrian
quote:
Originally posted by Stott
quote:
Originally posted by AdrianH
Wondering if there is a 'Novice Back Off' sticker I can get?
Adrian
Yep that's what the yellow box with a black X in it is on the back of many race cars. As for the back off bit, you'll have to scribble it on with a Sharpie
Don't forget, as Ricky Bobby's dad said, "if you're not first, your last" (joke)
[Edited on 22/11/11 by Stott]
See if you can book a couple of sessions out with one of the instructors. They're there to help you and make sure you're nice and smooth
with the right lines, rather than getting you around faster than everyone else. Just dont spend all day looking in your mirrors for other cars, try
and look forwards most of the time 
Colin and the guys at Javelin are a really good bunch of guys, and Elvington is a big open space. Dont worry too much, you'll love it!
Brake pads?
The one and only bit of advice I've ever been able to give about track days is to leave the handbrake off when you park up after a session. Stick
some chocks or blocks of wood under the wheels instead. The discs will be extra hot, and leaving the handbrake on could warp them by cooling down
unevenly. It's probably not so relevant if you have rear drums.
In all seriousness, one thing key thing is patience.
During the briefing in the morning, listen carefully to the instructions they could give out key information such as oil or slippery track sections,
how incidents will be dealt with etc. All good stuff.
Also observe the other attendees and their attitude during the briefing - it will probably reflect their driving out on the track.
I like to take my time in the morning then go for the really fast laps in thhe afternoon - that way if something breaks or I bend it, I have got my
moneys worth in the morning.
At the end of the day, it is *not* a competition just go out and have some fun.
Other tips: use the checkered flag lap(s) to cool everything down, coast around the lap for as much as possible to let your brakes, engine etc get
some cool air.
Oh, and as the previous poster said, don't use the handbrake - it could stick on!
I do plan to have some instruction and left a message to the effect when booking so not quite sure if it can be booked on the day say after the first
20 minute run or something if I have to do it in advance. I guess I will book in advance.
I have ordered a few novice stickers, and I know it is not a race, but might as well let others know i'm new at it.
I would like to bet there are loads of builders that would like to do track days but are just the same as me when it comes to trying it.
Adrian
....so, how did you get on. I never had time to pop across but you had a great day for it!
Yep, had a very good day, no pictures or vidio sorry I do not have a decent camera or mount to use.
It was fun, I was very nervous to start with, I did loose it, and spun the car out and was very pleased to note the car did nothing other then loose
tread off the tyres.
I had two sets of tuition from a guy called Sam I think his name was. The low numbers of cars on site meant that around 10 cars on was the maximum,
if you waited for around 15 to 20 minutes then the numbers would drop to 4 or 5 a times, so plenty of space.
I did spend a lot of time watching the mirrors to the point the instructor told me off, said the ones behind would sort themselves out on corners.
Think I used around 30 litres fuel, one full tank and a good part of a 20 litre jerry can, also took the rear tyres close to the wear bars lost
around 2 mm, will have another check on that tomorrow.
The car lacks the Umph at the top end struggles to get over the 90 mark. Total track length was around 1.2 miles with a long back straight and best I
could achieve before hard braking was 105 on the speedo and that is most likely a high reading. The better engine cars such as Porshe, R2000,
Caterham, Lotus etc could easily pass me at speed.
But for me as my first track day it was fun, got the blood pumping a few times harder then I would wish and yes would probably do it again when funds
permit. The weather stayed dry, but cold and very windy at the end, I stopped and packed up at 3 pm, took me 4 hours to get back home on Motorways
heay'ish rain over the tops and this side of the Pennines and I needed a kip in services before I trashed myself.
Adrian
[Edited on 3-12-11 by AdrianH]
Well done Adrian. Sounds like a good day out
They say that if you dont spin, you werent pushing hard enough