jon hill

ok - I want to expand my car track days from just donnington and airfields to some other uk circuits. So which are good circuits for car track days ? reasonabley safe, with plenty of run-off. And which give you no chance of driving away if you loose it ?

To start:

Donnington - generally lots of run off (with the exception of Goddards which puts you into the pit wall)

Goodwood - pretty horrible all round; very fast and lots of solid objects very near the track

Thruxton - (only been round on the bike, so wasnt paying much attention to run off) but seem to remember it being fairly open

Brands - (again, just on the bike) Pretty good, Clearways exit is a bit nasty - cant remember what druids was like though.

Lydden Hill - (bike, again) slow, but not much space if it goes wrong

Mallory - (yep, bike, yawn) Gerrards i think would be ok in a car, but the hairpin and busstop had no run-off


So where should i go next ?

jon

GCollier

Jon,

Not strictly related, but something to bear in mind...

I've recently been making enquires about track-day insurance, and the level of risk (which I guess is what you are interested in at the end of the day?) is also based on the reputation of the organiser of the trackday, and how safe and controlled their trackdays are. RMA, BookATrack and (I think) Gold Track (or something like it) generally organised controlled track days which result in few claims. Some other companies apparently (no names were mentioned) organise track-days more akin to free for all sessions with everyone "racing" everyone else

Gary.

Dave T-S

Bedford Autodrome, loadsa grass runoff, SIDC day on 25 May - see the thread in Trackday forum....

jon hill

yep - been round bedford a couple of times and its great. There are only a couple of tight left handers which have no run-off (but are well marked). Some guy parked his 911 into the first one last time I was there...

The advantage the real circuits have over the airfields though is the changes in elevation - think paddock hill, craners, etc


Fair point about the organisation - i've been to a couple of track days where I havent been happy with the those on the track with me. The more expensive ones seem to be better; i guess Mr GT3 is less inclined to trash his car than Mr 10 year old 205... If you want to race, then go racing.

Gary Foster

On Goodwood, yeah I know what you mean, however I have driven this 8 times now and although people come off (myself included) there has only been one incident when someone hit something (Porker GT2 into the bank opposite the pit wall - write off)

I don't know what to infer from this however.

Gary

jon hill

i've only done goodwood once. I didnt like the chicain before the start finish straight - i tended to just cruise through that section, but that also spoilt the right hander before the chicain. The down hill left hander round the back of the circuit is great, but someone pointed out that there is a huge block of concrete in the grass... ouch

I think i'm just very paranoid...

mjr

If you can make it up North heres my recommendations:

Oulton park is good (Cheshire), but depends on which circuit you take. Plenty of run off, but saw a freak accident at an SIDC day in which a car flipped, but you'd have to be doing somthing special to recreate that!!

Elvington in York is fantastic. Try Bookatrack.com. They are very relaxed but very saftey concious in a freindly way. It's on old disused airfeild and the track is different every time. Insurance is cheap too - but if your a regualr get blanket cover from your insurer (Stress no racing timing, rallying or hill climbing, and argue, (but an extra £100 covered me for the year)

The big difference (as I'm sure you know) is that circuits are cambered into the corners making it more difficult to come off, airfileds aren't, so go for plenty of run off. Anglesey is great example of this. Fantastic track, but most of the corners are cambered the wrong way as it's a covnereted army base. Again surf around the bookatrack site. They have maps of each track, and some even have video footage to downlaod which drives you around the circuit so you can asses it yourself.

I've never used them but I also hear easytrack.com, are quite friendly, although they do sseem to allow more cars out at once that bookatrack, which can only lead to one thing. Look at the new TOCA format for examples!!

Have fun!!

Rich_R

Jon,

I spun it in the wet coming out of the chicane and hit the tyre wall backwards on the left

Cadwell is seriously good fun but can be a bit tricky in places (eg. mountain) until you are familiar with the circuit. Also quite narrow (bike circuit) and no run-off's at the hairpins

Then there is the Nurburgring...

Rich.

jon hill

ouch... thats the problem, whats the point in going to a track if you're afraid of pushing on ?

Never been to Cadwell but it looks very scarey from TV footage of superbikes & touring cars, and the odd track day video shot. Be more inclinde to take the bike round it - lots of run-off is a bit less relevant, as you've already trashed your bike before it gets to the wall....

Gary Foster

I also ponce around the Goodwood chicane, there is a nasty lump on the exit which you don't want to be going sideways at.

You're talking about St Mary's (Stirling Moss ) I have been in a car thats spun there in the wet and we hardly even came of the track into the infield - you (I !) can only enter it at 60 ish so it's not too fast.

I've come off at Madgwick (the nearly 90mph entry 110 mph exit, double apex, with a lump in the middle, after the Pit Straight) and even at nearly 100mph I only came of the track by a car length.

I think (tm) the track is quite wide in most places - and you scrub of speed quicker spinning on tarmac than soggy grass.

Gary

MattOz

The Nurburgring!

Matt

TRIGGER

Rich_R - I remember you going off at Goodwood - hope repairs werent too bad.

I've done Goodwood abt 5 times now and never been off - in the dry it is quite safe - wide track etc but in the damp/wet you have to be careful. It doesnt take long to get onto the grass and then quickly the barriers !!

Trackdays have dangers but if you're happy at Donno I dont think anywhere will cause real problems.

GEJL

I've known someone take the side off a Caterham at St Mary's at Goodwood. Spun to the outside of the circuit, I seem to remember, which is the opposite of what you'd expect. But generally pretty open; very fast though, so you'd potentially go a long way...

Cadwell is iffy for the first few corners after the start line. Don't want to miss your braking points...

Brands can be a bit hairy in places (exit of Druids, Graham Hill). Not done the full GP yet (next month ).

Thruxton I seem to remember as pretty open, except maybe the exit onto the start/finish straight. Another very fast circuit, though

Silverstone is wide open. Designed for 200mph cars...

Castle Combe is pretty open, though I think there are a couple of corners where, again, you wouldn't want to miss your braking points.

Guess there's no such thing as a 'safe' circuit...!

I've heard Snetteton has a very rough in-field. Caterhams losing sumps etc.

JohnS

iTrader: (1)

Cadwell Park - large run off at some corners, zero at others (e.g. mountain section, where there is zero feet to a concrete/tyre wall!) Great fun, and fast in places.

Knockhill - offs are quite rare here, especially now that they have revised all the kerbs. Only once seen someone spin off and hit anything. Run-off doesn't seem much in places, but it's more than adequate for the speeds that you take some of the corners (lower than some other tracks) unless you are being really silly.