Anyone at Bedford tomorrow (Mon 1/8)?
Discussion
Well, what a bloody brilliant day! The weather was great, the track was fantastic, the day was well organised (and attended) and the car went brilliantly.
Although the 4am start and day's exertions left us shattered, it was comfortably the most fun I've had in a car in almost 20 years of driving.
As two novices on a first outing with a new car, the day was an unqualified success. Fellow trackgoers were largely courteous (despite us running out of steam on the longer straights), and we found our feet fairly quickly and completed around 40 laps gaining in speed/smoothness/confidence during the course of the day.
Apologies for being the cause of the only (albeit brief - 5min) red flag of the day. After around 30 laps our (road-spec) rear tyres had taken a hammering, and we (I) locked the back end under braking/downshifting for the last right-hander. A 'graceful' pirouette and a low-speed nudge into the tyres brought about a pleasant (but embarrassing) chat with the marshal and medical staff, while the tyres were moved back into position. No real damage to the car, meaning we were able to carry on to the end of the day.
Spent some fantastic cool-down time in the pits chatting to the owners of a new Mustang, a grey Ibiza, a 911 Turbo, an A45 and an i8 - all of whom seemed fairly (or politely) impressed with our steed.
The to-do list for our next outing:
Although the 4am start and day's exertions left us shattered, it was comfortably the most fun I've had in a car in almost 20 years of driving.
As two novices on a first outing with a new car, the day was an unqualified success. Fellow trackgoers were largely courteous (despite us running out of steam on the longer straights), and we found our feet fairly quickly and completed around 40 laps gaining in speed/smoothness/confidence during the course of the day.
Apologies for being the cause of the only (albeit brief - 5min) red flag of the day. After around 30 laps our (road-spec) rear tyres had taken a hammering, and we (I) locked the back end under braking/downshifting for the last right-hander. A 'graceful' pirouette and a low-speed nudge into the tyres brought about a pleasant (but embarrassing) chat with the marshal and medical staff, while the tyres were moved back into position. No real damage to the car, meaning we were able to carry on to the end of the day.
Spent some fantastic cool-down time in the pits chatting to the owners of a new Mustang, a grey Ibiza, a 911 Turbo, an A45 and an i8 - all of whom seemed fairly (or politely) impressed with our steed.
The to-do list for our next outing:
- A pair of track-spec tyres for the rear to match the fronts
- Uprated front pads and a brake fluid change
- Pulling a small dent out of the front wing (optional)
- Purchase helmets
Sounds like a great day! I'm there on the 15th and am hoping for good weather too. It was where I did my first track day too, and I'm glad I picked it as it's a great place to gain some confidence, and mistakes aren't going to cost you too much.
To improve speed on a track day the biggest gains are found in the following order:
Driver practice and learning
...
...
Tyres
Brakes
...
Snug fitting seat & harnesses
...
Tyre pyrometer & accurate bleeder gauge
Alignment changes
...
...
...
...
Adjustable ARBs
Suspension changes (including lowering depending on how car is used)
...
...
...
Genuine aero parts, even though they can look a bit tacky
...
...
...
...
...
Engine work costing your annual wage
...
...
...
...
...
...
Lucky charm dangling from mirror
...
New exhaust and intake kit
Also, if changing your brake fluid, see if there is a high temperature version you can put in it's place! I've put some Castrol high temperature DOT4 in my old Mazda that exceeds the temperature rating of decent DOT5 while having the right viscosity to work with my system.
To improve speed on a track day the biggest gains are found in the following order:
Driver practice and learning
...
...
Tyres
Brakes
...
Snug fitting seat & harnesses
...
Tyre pyrometer & accurate bleeder gauge
Alignment changes
...
...
...
...
Adjustable ARBs
Suspension changes (including lowering depending on how car is used)
...
...
...
Genuine aero parts, even though they can look a bit tacky
...
...
...
...
...
Engine work costing your annual wage
...
...
...
...
...
...
Lucky charm dangling from mirror
...
New exhaust and intake kit
Also, if changing your brake fluid, see if there is a high temperature version you can put in it's place! I've put some Castrol high temperature DOT4 in my old Mazda that exceeds the temperature rating of decent DOT5 while having the right viscosity to work with my system.
Edited by routari on Tuesday 2nd August 12:55
routari said:
Sounds like a great day! I'm there on the 15th and am hoping for good weather too. It was where I did my first track day too, and I'm glad I picked it as it's a great place to gain some confidence, and mistakes aren't going to cost you too much.
To improve speed on a track day the biggest gains are found in the following order:
Driver practice and learning
...
...
Tyres
Brakes
Exactly our plan - good to hear it.To improve speed on a track day the biggest gains are found in the following order:
Driver practice and learning
...
...
Tyres
Brakes
Hopefully the 15th goes as well as yesterday.
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