Friday 13th April 2007

Palmer JP1 for hire

Track day firm offer drive days in JP1

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JP1 for hire, sign up here

Track-club has added a Palmer JP1 to their fleet of race cars for hire. The firm specialises in the hiring and support of sports cars for track day enthusiasts and the running of motorsport events.

To celebrate the arrival of the JP1, they’re offering a specific ‘JP1 day’ where four people will be able to experience the thrill of the 285bhp Jaguar-engined car with its sequential gearbox, stack display and slicks and wings. The participants will be using the car at a standard track day along with full support from track-club.

Included in the cost of £500 per person is: delivery and collection of the JP1, all fuel, instruction, intercoms, helmets (if required) and all the track fees. As a participant on the day all you need to do is arrive on time for the briefing and track-club aim to take care of everything else.

In addition to the JP1, track-club will also be bringing along another member of their fleet (probably the Clio 182 Cup or their Lotus Elise) which will be used for track familiarisation, additional tuition, and can be driven when the JP1 is being used by another member of the group.

The dates available are: Saturday 5th May at Bedford Autodrome with MSV, Thursday 10th May at Snetterton with MSV, and Monday 21st May at Donington with Goldtrack.

Contact details for track-Club are:

 [phone]

http://www.track-club.com

[jon-]

Insurance excess?

Very brave move considering the break away characteristics of a winged car, much much harder on the limit compared to something like a caternail.

[subaqua]

Seconded.... I spent 8 laps breaking away in one of the JP1s last year.

Good job someone else was paying

Edited by subaqua on Friday 13th April 14:08

[scotty_dog]

Sorry Guys, Dont really see the problem.

I have spent two days blatting round in this car, and have not had the car so much as even twitch, it is extremely stable, and corners like its on rails.

Am totally confident that at the pace the car is going to be driven at, there will be quite a bit in reserve, and is not going to be close to the "limit"

Scotty

[Craigy_97elise]

scotty_dog said:

Sorry Guys, Dont really see the problem.

I have spent two days blatting round in this car, and have not had the car so much as even twitch, it is extremely stable, and corners like its on rails.

Am totally confident that at the pace the car is going to be driven at, there will be quite a bit in reserve, and is not going to be close to the "limit"

Scotty

Sounds pretty boring to me, if you're not on the limit. Then again, I routinely injure myself in karts, so who am I to judge?

C

[E38]

If this car is anything like how it handles on TOCA3 you will never come close to spinning it. Turn in at almost any speed and the worst that can happen is a bit of velocity scrubbed off, 'on rails' is a perfect description.
I would love to have a go

[scotty_dog]

Craigy_97elise said:

scotty_dog said:

Sorry Guys, Dont really see the problem.

I have spent two days blatting round in this car, and have not had the car so much as even twitch, it is extremely stable, and corners like its on rails.

Am totally confident that at the pace the car is going to be driven at, there will be quite a bit in reserve, and is not going to be close to the "limit"

Scotty

Sounds pretty boring to me, if you're not on the limit. Then again, I routinely injure myself in karts, so who am I to judge?

C

Not saying that you could not get near the limit, but as I said I have been driving the car closing on my limit for 2 days, and have not had any near misses.

I firmly believe that the limit of this car is well beyond the level that most normal drivers would be prepared to push to, and as such would require a major faux pas, to cause any problems.

Scotty

[jon-]

Maybe, but after spinning a winged formula Renault in my first outing some of us do like to push to the limit, winged or not.

If the excess is reasonable sign me up (and watch me spin)

[scotty_dog]

jon- said:

Maybe, but after spinning a winged formula Renault in my first outing some of us do like to push to the limit, winged or not.

If the excess is reasonable sign me up (and watch me spin)

Think you`ll find that a single seater is much more of a knife edge handling wise, and require a significantly higher level of skill to get even close to their limit, this has very little to do solely with the wings, and more to do with the requirement for ultimate pace, which in turn requires that the car is set up to be very unforgiving, they are very sensitive to all forms of input and any little errors are rewarded with a spin dry moment.

This car is much more forgiving, and does give you a little more warning, before firing you off.

The key is knowing the difference between your limit and the cars, and for the most part it is the drivers limit that is reached first, which means they make a mistake, which then causes a spin, the car may be capable of significantly more if driven correctly, and even though you have had a moment, you are not at the "limit"

Scotty

[volte]

Very Understeery!

I was lucky enough to drive one of these for 2 sessions on a (blagged) corporate trackday at Bedford Autodrome, but it was seriously pesisting down all day.

The JP1 understeered like crazy. I guess they are set up like this for these corporate days, and hopefully it's not as bad in the dry, but I suspect this trackday hire one may be the same.

Still it was very exciting, and I did have one major spin as the mad Danish instructor was really getting me to push and push for a better time. That's the beauty of Bedford Autodrome, the circuits feel like "real" circuit but with massive run-off areas. Not sure they'll be so keen at other circuits.

[doof]

Volte,

Those corporate days are just a blast aren't they! I managed to blag it twice and remember coming out the JP1 shaking from head to toe the first time...thats probably because i was thrown into it so quickly that i wasn't comfortable with my seating position and pedal positions as i hammered down the straight at 120+

Handling on them is just superb, i often had a few slides going at silly speeds but it was just like a go kart, quick flick of the wheel and it was all under control.

Now wheres that £500 i misplaced!

[sprinter885]

oooh that sounds like a b***dy good use of £500 to me-just wish I had the time. (better value than £400 I spent hiring a DB7 for 1/2 day too)

[jon-]

Thinking about the numbers it's a far bit of money for 1/4 day with the car. £250 an hour plus.

[richardb.jones]

I was thinking it's pretty reasonable actually considering what you get included.

Track Day : £200
Fuel : £50
Instruction : £50
Insurance : £100
Tyres / Brake Pads : £50

So we are up to £450 already if you took your own car ...

Track days have a lot of hidden costs, it not just the initial outlay ..

[nickfrog]

jon- said:

Thinking about the numbers it's a far bit of money for 1/4 day with the car. £250 an hour plus.

I think that's cheap when you consider how often they rebuild the hewland for instance and change expensive/bespoke bits.

[KeithR]

I did the old Palmer corporate trackday a couple of years ago and, after spending 3 and a half hours getting to the place early in the morning, was put straight into the seat of the JP1 with the track still damp with early morning dew. That woke me up!! Spun it a few times, but never got anywhere near close to the limit of the car. You could spend years trying to find the limit in one of those I would have thought. Great day though!

By the way, the cars are tuned well down for corporate trackdays and are nowhere near 285bhp. Same with the FPA cars.

[GnuBee]

Please note that this car is not detuned like the Palmer cars; this is the "full fat" 285bhp version.

In terms of the cost I think it's worth restating that basically what you are getting is 4 people sharing 2 cars for £500 each; the cost includes the track day, delivery, collection, fuel, instruction and as mentioned above this is not your typical corporate track day JP1.

[gtdc]

Sounds cheap as chips to me. It's a good car - I'd book that if I didn't just drive a pick-up and a mouse!

Melindi
www.goldtrack.co.uk

[scotty_dog]

Booked for the 5th

Really must stop, but I can`t help myself!!

Scotty