2014 track day advice?

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Jam_s160
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2014 track day advice?

Post by Jam_s160 » Sun Jan 12, 2014 9:42 am

Hi all, I'm hoping to do 3-4 track days this year at Knockhill... Being a novice compared to most of you and I want my wife Georgie to do them to with me for the first time... What days at Knockhill should I look out for to take our Elise along too.

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Justin
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Re: 2014 track day advice?

Post by Justin » Sun Jan 12, 2014 10:22 am

SIDC and TrackScotland seem to be the two popular ones on here :)

I've done a few SIDC ones and thought they were great. Never done a TS though

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ed
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Re: 2014 track day advice?

Post by ed » Sun Jan 12, 2014 10:29 am

SIDC always has great driver etiquette and is my preference. HTH cheers ed
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Re: 2014 track day advice?

Post by tut » Sun Jan 12, 2014 1:26 pm

John Stewart arranges four a year, so these would be ideal for you and there would be 15 or more of us there.

First one is in March and John will post on here shortly giving booking details. There will be a KH instructor on hand for free instruction, and it is also a good idea to go out with one of the experienced Elise drivers as pax which will get you up to speed faster than if you initially went out on your own.

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Re: 2014 track day advice?

Post by Dominic » Sun Jan 12, 2014 2:47 pm

ed wrote:SIDC always has great driver etiquette and is my preference. HTH cheers ed
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Although it's a Subaru Imreza Drivers Club day, there are usually more Lotuses than anything else. There are the events where you'll see most SE'rs IMHO. :thumbsup

Edit - If you are planning to do an SIDC day, book sooner than later as they are often over subscribed. :thumbsup
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hendeg
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2014 track day advice?

Post by hendeg » Sun Jan 12, 2014 3:00 pm

I'm in a similar boat as Pauline is keen to do some track driving. I can't remember if she's been to one or two. The only problem with Knockhill is that the weather is often poor so doesn't make for the best first track day.

SIDC days are definitely the place to start in terms of etiquette. The instruction is also a huge bonus.
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Jam_s160
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Re: 2014 track day advice?

Post by Jam_s160 » Sun Jan 12, 2014 6:58 pm

Cheers folks SIDC it seems to be then... That was my concern to find track days with decent people not too intimidating or poor behaviour. Keen not to scare Georgie until she builds confidence.

I'll keep an eye out for the dates :cheers

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Re: 2014 track day advice?

Post by Jam_s160 » Sun Jan 12, 2014 7:00 pm

hendeg wrote:I'm in a similar boat as Pauline is keen to do some track driving. I can't remember if she's been to one or two. The only problem with Knockhill is that the weather is often poor so doesn't make for the best first track day.

SIDC days are definitely the place to start in terms of etiquette. The instruction is also a huge bonus.
Weather is less of an issue for us as only adds to the challenge / fun. My concern would have been other drives who might intimidate when we are trying to learn what track days are all about... :D

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Re: 2014 track day advice?

Post by Shug » Mon Jan 13, 2014 10:26 am

One thing to be very clear about at KH (and I'm not at all trying to put you off, just giving my experience) is that it's small and a very busy lap. What I found with my other half, who was fine at East Fortune (who don't do car days now), is that she got stressed as it was a very busy lap - lots of corners, not many straights and lots of faster guys. Etiquette was great, but she still felt pressured to be constantly moving over when she didn't know the track.

Now, not knowing your missus, I can't say if she'd be the same, but what I intend to do with Elaine, before she's out again at KH, is get her to one of the driver training days (Performance Driving, they call it now) Sadly, it's a bit pricey at £125 for an hour, but it's a one-to-one session on a quiet track with an instructor showing the lines. The quiet track thing is key for me - means she would be confident of the gears, braking and corners before going in with traffic.

I used to be of the school that said - just jump in on an SIDC, but for some people (male and female, BTW) I think getting to know the track with less pressure first is a very good thing. Then when you are on an open trackday, you're not wasting so much mental energy concentrating on the rear view mirrror, that you learn nothing about the track and get frustrated.

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Edit to include - SIDC are by far the best etiquette I've seen at KH - its superb, but it still applies that it's a small track with a complex of corners that magnifies the speed difference between those with experience of it and those without - so even people not being antsy about getting past can come up very quick in the mirrors!
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Re: 2014 track day advice?

Post by Andy G » Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:40 am

another option on this might to be do a trackday with MSVR who do "Novice Only Days" - I think KH might even still run some also?

They go through trackday "do's and don'ts, racing line, flags, safety etc". All fairly obvious but you'd be surprised how many people still make errors.

Thats a good way of getting on track with other people in the same boat. Shugs idea is actually what i did when getting in amongst trackdays at first, then continued it with driver training of a more car control nature down south with Carlimits.

SIDC should be great fun, and they also have an instructor FOC on the day. I'd be tempted to sign up of that and make sure both of you grab the instructor first time out, or hop in with an experienced SE'er. (there was a practice of putting a yellow post-it in the rear window to signify novice driver)

Other tips - dont stay out for too long for either yourself or the car, and as the session goes on be aware that confidence and talent are not one and the same - i think we've all had that pointed out at one stage or another!
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Re: 2014 track day advice?

Post by duggiesmith » Mon Jan 13, 2014 9:17 pm

I've only ever done SIDC trackdays (plus 1 TrackScotland and a couple of AMP3 charity days). Etiquette was spot on at all.
My tip would be to get a few pax laps first to get an idea of the lines, then go out with an experienced driver paxing to help fine tune your lines.
Probably also best to avoid the first and last half hour as they can be busier.
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pete
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Re: 2014 track day advice?

Post by pete » Mon Jan 13, 2014 9:22 pm

My advice would be just try it. Good thing about KH is it's not too fast.

SIDC are a well behaved bunch...
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2014 track day advice?

Post by Lazydonkey » Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:30 pm

Im with shug tbh.....sidc are the most well behaved days but if you dont even know which way the track goes you will feel very out of your depth. I did a KH drivers experience day to learn the track, the lines and generally get comfy and i wad much much more relaxed (and faster) next time out.
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