Taking you Classic to a Track Day (Goodwood?)

[cjhillman]

Merry Christmas everyone.

Who here has taken their Classics on a Track day? I've looked at Goodwoods Track days a few times over the last year and after a few Christmas Beers, it seems like a good idea . I wonder if my Capri is up to the task of getting there and being hammered around for half a day at the moment but, does anyone have any experience or any tips of anyone thinking about this? How to prep your Car and not kill it haha.

www.goodwood.com/experiences/driving/goodwood-track-days/

what it definitely wouldnt be like

[shin2chin]

I have no experience but would totally be up for this too.

[longman]

I've done a few , Goodwood is great but TBH I would do a day at Snetterton or Bedford to start with..

[cjhillman]

Great video mate! And I did wonder about Bedford, much closer to me in North London and cheaper. Also thinking is it worth doing a track day in a rented Car first rather than my own?

[Paul Y]

Goodwood is a Great circuit but is a little dull unless you are racing or in something fast.

I would second the Bedford recommendation - I used to run evening sessions there back in the mid 00’s - great circuit along with Castle Comb, Thruxton, Snetterton etc. My boys and I rented the Slip and Grip Civic last year and had a great day out, would recommend.

P.

[fraudownersclub]

Mallory park

[fraudownersclub]

Lydden hill
Good circuit bit harsh on the paint though🥺

[HoTWire]

There is a Goodwood Trackday (most likely) running on the Monday after RR Weekender next year. Which might be a good chance to do it. Goodwood is a quick track for sure.

[ChasR]

I've done a few trackdays in a few cars now. They can be alot of fun! I would probably do a few things however

1) Check for oil leaks ; If your car throws oil out on the track, you will be hated. You can guess how I know. If it's as simple as changing a sump plug or rocker cover gasket, change it.

2) Brakes ; On a quick track like Goodwood, they will be tested. As a minimum, I'd change the brake fluid and check how much meat is on the brake pads. I've not managed to destroy a set of pads on a track, but maybe I'm not trying hard enough . Some folks I know have taken another set of pads with them however. If you want a bit more of an 'insurance policy' on the brakes, put in some Super DOT 4 brake fluid, which will raise the boiling point of when the fluid gives up, and posssibly get a set of fast road pads in.

3) Check your tyre pressures. The pressures will go up alot on track, more than they do on the road. Check the pressures are at least at OEM pressures.

4) Check your coolant and oil levels. The car will be pushed harder than it is on the road, so it's good to have everything as it should be.

4) Enjoy yourself. That's the main point.

There are other things I can add, but those are the main ones.

Here's a pic of an old Ford at a track:



Bedford might the better place to start for a trackday however. That said, there is something about Goodwood .

[The Doctor]

I love taking my cars on a Track Day and have done it quite a lot in the past years.
From little, technical courses to the big Zandvoort track.





Best days when i went with my mate with a very similar (slow) car, we had so much fun all day long. The marshalls stopped waving the flags at us after a couple of laps, as they clearly could see we where together and enjoying ourselves without any dangerous actions taking place (allthough i nearly bumped him on the main strait, apparently drafting still works when both cars are 54hp 1.0 Starlets )






This is the best picture i've ever seen of my car on track, and i immediatly bought it.
My mate is behind me in his BMW 2002 and even though both cars where wildly different, we still had some fun together.





Yes, we've had some troubles with the cars breaking, but never so much we couldn't get home. A roll of ducttape and zipties go a long way

[hotfuzz]

I would echo what CashR has said and prepare your car and prepare your car again.

Bring some tools and spares if you can. If you have space get some spare track tyres and when on track only do a few laps and come in for a break, after all I’m assuming your car will be a few years old and this is the best time to check over your car in the pits without going mad and destroying your pride & joy on the first session.

I think the key is too enjoy yourself, it’s not a competition, although nowadays they are quite strict on what drivers do and for good reason.

In an ideal world go with a mate who can share the experience and have a trailer for when things go wrong.

I have done far too many track days over the years before they became more of a business. I was looking at some of my first days where I didn’t even wear a helmet!


Very retro racing a Maestro:








RAF Marham destroyed two of my engines, this image is of the pistons shortly after having it rebuilt after a bent valve which hindered my day! This is why a trailer is a good choice however I still managed to drive it home!







Bstardchild kindly donated a spare engine for me to carry on using the Monza prior to selling it on after many years of track days and ownership. I dread to think how much money I have thrown at track days but nonetheless I have enjoyed them.

[longman]

Dec 26, 2020 0:06:50 GMT cjhillman said:

Great video mate! And I did wonder about Bedford, much closer to me in North London and cheaper. Also thinking is it worth doing a track day in a rented Car first rather than my own?

What ChasR says , especially re brakes/fluid etc. You will also need visible towing eyes/straps or if ones hidden under the front point it out to the marshalls.
First track day I did was LeMans Bugatti , I spun 3 times
A point of note is noise limits , Bedford is generally 101db , my old 911 measured 104 but the marshalls recognised extra noise from the engine in the rear etc and let me on , didnt trip a driveby.
I wouldnt bother with Brands Hatch indy as its generally mobbed , a cheap evening session can work out ok though..

[cjhillman]

Thanks for all the information guys. If I was going to use my Car I would use my 2.0 Capri. Over the summer I replaced brake Callipers, braided hoses, fluid, pads, rebuilt the carb and oil/filter, coolant change so I thought I could take that for a gentle thrashing. Would need new tyres though. Probably be a lot more if than my Escort 1.1 😂
I have a sportex exhaust on the Capri, I’ll have to check the DBs. It’s loud but might not be that loud.

How does it work with insurance and the price of these sessions? I guess normal car insurance doesn’t include tracks from the small print. It seems like all these tracks are about £100+ . Is anything included in that or is it just renting space on the track? Are there any cheaper ways of getting onto tracks too? Just thinking at £100 it’s not something most people can do regularly to get used to this kind of thing ?

[ChasR]

I don't think many, if any insurers actively include trackday cover.

A number of people won't insure themselves, and it will be a gentleman's agreement (i.e goodwill) to if folks get hit on track by each other. If you go into a wall, obviously it will be the cost of your car and your pride. I don't think recovery is charge from removal from UK tracks but I'll let others confirm.

Most decent days do tend to be £100+. Tracks are far from a cheap think to keep in the UK, and once you do a few 'taster' sessions for 30 mins or so at £40, a trackday for £150 soon seems like amazing values for a multitude of reasons, including:

-More strict briefings due to more time
-Better calibre of driver, generally down to having to last a day, in addition to potentially losing out on an entire trackday if you get black flagged; you can't really black flag someone within a 30 minute session
-More space overall.

One of the worst trackdays I went on was a Castle Combe taster day on a Forge Motorsport day. Granted, I should have seen the writing on the wall of such an event but I really wished I didn't do that day.

On the flipside other days have been great including
-Pistonhead's 30 mins Sunday Service Days; Some folks didn't group themselves right due to underestimating their ability, but they went well on the whole
-Javelin's days at a number of locations for most of the time
-OpenTrack's again, same caveat as Javelin.
-Destination Nurburgring ; Their days are very well setup, albeit the venues are limited and the prices are not cheap!

I don't do trackdays all of the time but I probably do one or two a year. They seem expensive to me too, but then again, I probably spend my cash on that much in other areas without thinking about it. Beer for example can get pricey, as can tech at home etc. etc.

[ferny]

Goodwood is where I found out my brakes last half a lap, my six month old n/s/f damper wasn't strong enough and leaked and my less then 15k mile Exedy clutch couldn't cope with full boost and would slip like crazy along the straight. I'd only fitted the turbo couple of weeks before though...

I've torn the bum off the car at the Nürburgring before to the point of having to adjust the valve gaps after a lap and the car had done plenty of autosolo's and runs down Santa's Pod without the turbo so what it showed me most was that each type of motorsport is very specific on how it tests a car and each modification just leads onto more. So be aware it may cost you more in "upgrades" after the event. Mine included adjustable dampers, brake mods and a ceramic clutch with a lightweight flywheel. I also needed new tyres when I later realised the car was faster than the tyre rating at the time and I still need to increase the wheel size so I can fit faster ones before I next go on a proper track.

Oh, and 6mpg. I wasn't expecting that one. 🤣

[slipngripross]

Hi Guys,

Bit of advice on insurance for trackdays. Yes you can insure your car no problem. The likes of Reis Motorsport insurance can either insure you for a single trackday or when you renew your cover they can create a package for road risk that includes several trackdays a year as well.

We team up with RR each season now to offer you guys special Retro trackdays at Castle Combe. we only run 12 cars on track at a time so plenty of space to focus on your own driving and we have free instructon and photography.

www.slipandgripautomotive.co.uk/event/classic-retro-trackday-castle-combe/10-05-2021/195

When you consider its around £170 per car but you will see atleast 8 sessions during the day of 15 mins it works out at no more than £21 per session. When you consider the cost of running a trackday company, circuit hire, insurance, permits, staff etc etc its an absolute bargain.

Avoid taster sessions at all costs they are generally filled with idiots attempting to be heroes within a 15 minute session.

If you can afford good pads, brake fluid and tyres that will set you up nicely to enjoy you first days on track.

[ChasR]

Without derailing too much,

Are you sessions open pitlane or session based slipngripross ? I know some venues dictate session only now like Anglesey, but it would be good to look at other TDOs besides the couple I use .

[slipngripross]

Yes we tend to run open pitlane on all our days. the only time we move to sessions is if there is a long delay due to an incident which results in a long queue in which case we will run 10 minute sessions until the line dies down a bit.

[bjornagn]

Done a few with the MGB GT. Always arranged to tow the car there and it has paid off as there was always something that broke and would have stranded me at the track. Lots of fun, but an expensive day when all summed up for travel and repairs.

[cortinaman]

I did a track day at Goodwood a few years ago in the Cortina. It was pouring with rain and a couple of people spun off (one chap in a Modern Maserati who had been tip-toeing round all day gave it a bit too much right foot coming out of the chicane and kissed the barrier - I did feel for him).

A couple of things:
You can take out track day insurance - I used Moris trackday.moris.co.uk/ I didn't need to claim but thought it worthwhile more for other people's mistakes than mine!
Goodwood have quite a low noise limit on most track days and test the noise level of your car before you are allowed on the track - if you have a loud exhaust it is worth checking the dB level before you get there!
I would make sure the car is serviced and checked over before you go.

Have fun!

Cortinaman