Are track day prices going up fast?

[bigothunter]

Track day prices have been creeping up gradually but I've just looked at the Oulton Park Calendar 2021 and I'm stunned. During the main season, even mid-week sessions are £259 to £309. My favourite circuit may have become just too expensive

Are track days becoming elitist and for rich enthusiasts only? Or is it just me?

https://car.msvtrackdays.com/Calendar

https://www.javelintrackdays.co.uk/trackdays/Oulto...

[nickfrog]

10/11 £149 - job done.

I think supply of days to the TDOs has gone down significantly because of the lockdown so prices may have gone up because of the expected pent up demand, which may also help both the circuit owners and the TDOs to (at least partially) restore their profitability.

After the last 2 lockdowns spare places on TD got booked very quickly when the re opening announcement was made.

In fairness, TDers are saving a lot of money because of the situation so I can see how the industry may want to recapture that income.

Poor value for the billies but we do need TDOs and circuits to survive.

Normal balance of supply and demand (and therefore prices) may resume if/when we're out of this for good.

[bigothunter]

nickfrog said:

10/11 £149 - job done.

Plus £30 for a garage to keep away from the cold Cheshire November rain

[LF5335]

In a nutshell, yes. Letter attached below that’s been made public by one of the TDOs for bikes from Jonathan Palmer at MSV. I’m sure you could argue both sides of the coin with this, but it seems they’ve got no choice and the increase will be needed to make sure the tracks aren’t housing estates this time next year.

[bigothunter]

LF5335 said:

In a nutshell, yes. Letter attached below that’s been made public by one of the TDOs for bikes from Jonathan Palmer at MSV. I’m sure you could argue both sides of the coin with this, but it seems they’ve got no choice and the increase will be needed to make sure the tracks aren’t housing estates this time next year.

Thanks for sharing that letter

[bigothunter]

I'm tempted to ask how Jonathan's helicopter is going but maybe that's rather unkind?

[Fonzey]

After summer of 2020 where a fair few track time slots were sold for higher than list price on various forums/groups etc, I'm not surprised this has happened. Availability last year was bonkers once the first lockdown was relaxed. MSV probably have a point, their business will have suffered as much as any and they'll still (probably) sell out events with the new pricing, but it is a shame. Particularly if it never drops back down once we're "business as usual"...

[bigothunter]

Law of supply and demand - if you can't afford it, don't let the door hit you on the way out

[anonymous-user]

bigothunter said:

I'm tempted to ask how Jonathan's helicopter is going but maybe that's rather unkind?

He had a brand new McLaren 600LT last time I was at Brands Hatch a few years ago.

Times must be hard.

[Far Cough]

Must be across the board as we planned to book a noisy Donnington day but at £465 we bailed out. Also thinking that it will be mobbed with race teams using it as a test day.

Perhaps JP needs the heli serviced

[C70R]

bigothunter said:

Law of supply and demand - if you can't afford it, don't let the door hit you on the way out

That's a bit harsh, but given that the industry has likely taken a beating over the past 12 months it's not really a surprise to see prices going up.

Personally I've always felt that £100-150 was too cheap, and the level of service/facilities you get seem to be commensurate with that.

I'd gladly see prices rise overall to have slightly better quality days (more marshals, better facilities etc.), with the added bonus that it might keep the 'drifters' and MOT-fail, banger racers away.

I know there are more 'exclusive' days, but they tend to be thin on the ground and private/club-focused (e.g. Lotus on Track).

[anonymous-user]

Cheap track days attract poorly prepared cars and drivers of a dubious standard. I’d rather pay more and do fewer track days with organisers who have a low tolerance of fkwittery than do more track days with cheaply organisers who look the other way.

[bigothunter]

pablo said:

Cheap track days attract poorly prepared cars and drivers of a dubious standard. I’d rather pay more and do fewer track days with organisers who have a low tolerance of fkwittery than do more track days with cheaply organisers who look the other way.

C70R said:

Personally I've always felt that £100-150 was too cheap, and the level of service/facilities you get seem to be commensurate with that.

I'd gladly see prices rise overall to have slightly better quality days (more marshals, better facilities etc.), with the added bonus that it might keep the 'drifters' and MOT-fail, banger racers away.

I know there are more 'exclusive' days, but they tend to be thin on the ground and private/club-focused (e.g. Lotus on Track).

bigothunter said:

Are track days becoming elitist and for rich enthusiasts only?

The right crowd and no crowding?

[C70R]

I don't think a rise of a few quid makes them "elitist", for what it's worth.

[UTH]

pablo said:

Cheap track days attract poorly prepared cars and drivers of a dubious standard. I’d rather pay more and do fewer track days with organisers who have a low tolerance of fkwittery than do more track days with cheaply organisers who look the other way.

I think I agree with you here. Last year the only days I did were afternoons at Goodwood.....£190 which is pretty steep compared with many others. The quality of the cars on show was very high, and not a single issue with how anyone was driving etc.

[320d is all you need]

bigothunter said:

pablo said:

Cheap track days attract poorly prepared cars and drivers of a dubious standard. I’d rather pay more and do fewer track days with organisers who have a low tolerance of fkwittery than do more track days with cheaply organisers who look the other way.

C70R said:

Personally I've always felt that £100-150 was too cheap, and the level of service/facilities you get seem to be commensurate with that.

I'd gladly see prices rise overall to have slightly better quality days (more marshals, better facilities etc.), with the added bonus that it might keep the 'drifters' and MOT-fail, banger racers away.

I know there are more 'exclusive' days, but they tend to be thin on the ground and private/club-focused (e.g. Lotus on Track).

bigothunter said:

Are track days becoming elitist and for rich enthusiasts only?

The right crowd and no crowding?

It's ironic on another thread C70R bangs on about how "trackdays should be all inclusive and not for elite and rich people" and "everyone should be welcome irrespective of ability or what they drive" (I'm paraphrasing but that's the gist of it) and then says he doesn't like people who can drift (I presume he can't) and those who are in what he deems un road worthy cars, and would welcome a price rise which no doubt would impact a reasonable percentage of the track day users.




I came on to this to post the same picture posted above, prices rising unfortunately due to the market conditions.
I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner to be honest given the Covid rubbish, that being said I am also saddened they felt the need to remove 50 members of staff cutting their workforce effectively by 25% , despite the fact that the Government has a furlough scheme, and I would argue that Motorsport support staff are EXACTLY the kind of staff for whom the Furlough scheme would be perfect.

i know for a fact that in 2020 from , what , May to October (when there was no additional lockdowns and we were effectively under the "rule of 6") that nearly every track day from most major providers was "sold out" and in fact additional days were added!


As for cheap prices = crap attendees

I attended an early year track day a few years ago, it cost £119, the day had under 30 cars on it (I guess we were lucky), it was sunny (and 7c in February) , and the marshalls had no problems with me drifting

compare that to another day which was a mid-Summer day at Silverstone which was around £400 from memory and there were probably in total 2 hours of track closures due to red flags and the day was very over subscribed so the queuing was insane.

I also attended as a spectator to a "test day" type track day which was around £1000 to enter, and I'd guess 75% of the paddock turning up in huge race vans, presumably their drivers had race licenses also, and yet despite this, one GT3 car managed to smash into a Caterham cup car causing the track to be shut for an hour and another briefing to be held reminding the drivers to grow up (that was the standard of driving).

So the long and short of it is that you can't judge the quality of the day by price alone.

[E-bmw]

320d is all you need said:

So the long and short of it is that you can't judge the quality of the day by price alone.

This all day every day, I have been on as many expensive days that have been ruined by idiots as I have cheap days that have been perfect.

You get just as many idiots with money as you do without it.

[C70R]

320d is all you need said:

It's ironic on another thread C70R bangs on about how "trackdays should be all inclusive and not for elite and rich people" and "everyone should be welcome irrespective of ability or what they drive" (I'm paraphrasing but that's the gist of it)

This sentence tells me that you don't know the difference between "paraphrasing" and deliberately misrepresenting.

Putting things inside inverted commas implies a quote (see my previous sentence for an example of this), FYI. I'm sure you'll be able to dig up that quote.

Thanks for stalking me though. Suggest some English lessons first.
__

Back on topic - trackday prices haven't really risen significantly for a number of years. I'm sure there was a time in the 90s where you could rock up to Knockhill in an MOT failure and rag it all day for £30, but prices have hovered around the same mark for a good few years.

The consequence of this is that tracks are struggling to thrive as commercial enterprises, and struggling to justify use of land (see Rockingham).

If prices don't rise after the last 12 months of hardship for tracks and TDOs, we'll probably be looking at a pretty bleak future as people who enjoy trackdays.

If the only consequence of this is that we exclude a small minority of people for whom an entry point of £150 is too high, then so be it. Trackdays are an expensive hobby - but the majority of that expense should be spent on preparing and maintaining a car.

If people are looking at an extra £40-50 a day as being the tipping point for making the hobby viable, it was probably too much of a stretch in the first place.

That's not an "elite and rich people" view. That's the view of someone who still wants to be doing trackdays in 5 years' time.

[nickfrog]

320d is all you need said:

he doesn't like people who can drift

Thankfully, drifting is not allowed on track days.

[bigothunter]

C70R said:

I don't think a rise of a few quid makes them "elitist", for what it's worth.

Far Cough said:

Must be across the board as we planned to book a noisy Donnington day but at £465 we bailed out.

£465 is not affordable to me either