Could well be doing my first trackday very soon!

Matt Sayle

Matt Sayle

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Matt Sayle
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May be doing a Novice day at Oulton Park on the 5th of August. Have to see what funds I have and what they allow. I think I will be on track though ;) I cant wiat!!

Wonder how the car will hold up? :lol:
 
So the next time we see it, it will be along the lines of.....













3720933553_2f5827f0c7.jpg



:lol::lol::lol:
 
Love Oulton Park - the International circuit (the full one) there is one of my favourites to drive.
 
Keeping the marshalls fit then Matt? (if you break down)

I hope all goes well and the Corsa runs smoothly
 
:lol: I think the pink prowler may come to an (un?)timely end somewhere around Druids
 
i think your likely to do a hell of a lot of damage to a car at a track day if it is not properly maintained, and the frequency of breakdowns your suffering in the crapsta says to me that its not very suited to being driven around quickly


just my 2 pence.

at the very least you want to do a damn good service, possibly check the brakes, wheel bearings and suspension bushes as well to ensure they arent on the way out
 
get your wheels properly aligned - worth 1-2 seconds a lap.........
 
lawrie29 said:
get your wheels properly aligned - worth 1-2 seconds a lap.........
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Sod the seconds.......correct alignment will ensure true rolling motion is achieved, thus giving the marshals an easier time pushing it off the track.
 
Matt take a piece of advise DONT DO IT


WHY

Simple your brakes arnt up to it
Your tyres are not up to it
No PROPER SEAT
No racing harness

Need I go on !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Dave
 
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It is a novice day so I wont be exaclty giving it beans. the plan is to do the novice day slowly in the corsa then in future buy an £100 shed and thrash the arse out of it and scrap it. I am just learning the course in the corsa so it shouldnt get to badly trashed!!
 
Matt Sayle said:
It is a novice day so I wont be exaclty giving it beans. the plan is to do the novice day slowly in the corsa then in future buy an £100 shed and thrash the arse out of it and scrap it. I am just learning the course in the corsa so it shouldnt get to badly trashed!!
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Well, you can learn stuff in any car i.e. lines/smoothness etc so it's not a total waste of time, however the first thing you'll learn is that your corsa is not meant to go on track! If you do drive it hard your brakes will probably give up after a couple of laps so that may restrict how many laps you can do in any one session.

Re buying £100 shed to thrash - I don't think that's a good idea. Driving on a track demands a car that is in very good mechanical order. Imagine watching a GT3 RS slide into the armco on the oil or coolant your car just dumped on the track. £100 cars tend to have knackered bushes, knackered shocks, dodgy tyres and probably a selection of mechanical defects. Not to mention the fact that tyres/brakes/suspension really need to be uprated for you to get any real pleasure and long term enjoyment out of it.

Cheap track cars are either a liability or end up costing lots to get up to spec imo (which is no bad thing if you're ready for it, it's a fun experience)

I got an old E30 325 with most of the right bits already done to it and it's a cracker on track. I paid £1700 about 18 months ago and have spent probably £800 since on making it go, stop and handle better.

E30.jpg


And a lap of Cadwell: Click
 
There's a bloke at the bottom of the road who races sheds. Welds the doors up, bangs a cage in it, fuel cell, number flag on the roof and off he goes. He races on short ovals, although it looks like he may do a bit of figure 8 stuff as well.

Personally, I would far rather do a day of race tuition than a track day (even if I did have something worth tracking with!) - far better to learn how to do it properly than to drive round in an old banger and "thrash the arse out of it and scrap it".

If you do go for it, see if you can talk someone into trailing your Corsa there and back - many people have driven to track days and ended up with no transport to get them home, either as a result of the arse being thrashed out of it and it ending up as a steaming heap of scrap on wheels or as a result of enthusiasm being far in excess of talent and the car ending up as a steaming pile of scrap on fewer wheels than the designer intended...
 
Matt Sayle said:
It is a novice day so I wont be exaclty giving it beans. the plan is to do the novice day slowly in the corsa then in future buy an £100 shed and thrash the arse out of it and scrap it. I am just learning the course in the corsa so it shouldnt get to badly trashed!!
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no idea how much oyu paid for the corsa, but you are struggling to keep that going on normal roads, i doubt a £100 shed is going to fair much better for you
 
Nod said:
If you do go for it, see if you can talk someone into trailing your Corsa there and back - many people have driven to track days and ended up with no transport to get them home, either as a result of the arse being thrashed out of it and it ending up as a steaming heap of scrap on wheels or as a result of enthusiasm being far in excess of talent and the car ending up as a steaming pile of scrap on fewer wheels than the designer intended...
Click to expand...

I came back from Cadwell on no less than 3 separate recovery trucks! Wheel bearing collapsed 5 mins before the day finished. Worked out ok, limped to a local pub, had some food and a beer then rang AA. They said "We're a bit busy, it may be 2 hours til we get to you sir"

:beer::beer::beer::beer: :)
 
Corsa said:
Matt take a piece of advise DONT DO IT


WHY

Simple your brakes arnt up to it
Your tyres are not up to it
No PROPER SEAT
No racing harness

Need I go on !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Dave
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It's a trackday. You don't need proper seats, racing harnesses etc. Brakes is a different matter.

i was at a trackday last year and 4 lads turned up in a 1.6 diesel nova they'd paid £200 for. They drove it like they'd nicked it, thrashing it around circuit all day long, but getting out of the way of quicker people well.

They left with it running on 3 1/2 cylinders but it got them home as well.

Just remember to listen carefully to the briefing and which side cars overtake on, then keep an eye on your mirrors for the faster stuff. It'll come up quick.
 
wanna borrow my coilover's and wheels you can corner better and faster :lol:
 
My advice would be drive as smooth as you can.

Listen really carefull when they show you where to apex the corners, etc. This will make you quicker then just caning the arse off of it.

Even a slow car driven well can be quite fast.
 
Anyone think we should run a book on this? :p

I give it 4 laps. :p

One tip I heard Jackie Stewart say once, may help, Dont push down on the accelerator in a corner till the point in the corner where you wont have to lift off anymore.

Shame there isn't another car you could use, corsa's under-steer like a bitch :s

Regards, James
 
I'm soooooooooooooooooo tempted to book the day off work to watch your progress Matt

:D

If you're lucky i might even lend a hand.....................................pushing :D
 
Im my opinion, people take track days far too seriously these days.

If you want to have a ponced up... sorry I mean nicely prepped car and worry about just how fast your going then all the beans in the world to you. ;)

There are still some of us that just want to have a days fun. Sometimes it's the worst cars that are the biggest giggle to drive.

There's no good reason not to take any car on track, so go for it and have some fun. You'll learn heaps about your driving and your car, whether you want to or not.

Each to their own way I reckon and peace to everyone..... as long as you get out of my way. :lol:
 
sypix said:
Hope you're insured to go on track ;)
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you done need insurance for track days.
Most insurance companies don't cover you for it anyway, so if you want it you have to go to a specialist trackday insurance company.
 
You may not need it BUT I'm pretty sure that if you damage someone else's car (or even worse, THEM), you are responsible financially. I think some tracks also charge for any damage to armco, tows off the track etc.
 
Ste L said:
you done need insurance for track days.
Most insurance companies don't cover you for it anyway, so if you want it you have to go to a specialist trackday insurance company.
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That's what I was implying. Has Matt got the specialist cover to go on track. As you say most normal insurance companies will not cover it, so you will be uninsured on the track. And as Nod says, it could turn out expensive, if there is an incident. If there are no others involved, I've heard that people push their cars away from the circuit, and claim it happened on the road ... :nono: I've also heard that insurance companies sometimes have spies at track days, recording reg numbers, and that's why you'll see quite a few cars with there details blanked out, in real life, not photoshopped!!
 
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Jamesbuk said:
Shame there isn't another car you could use, corsa's under-steer like a bitch :s

Regards, James
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At least that should stop him rolling it ***, well with any luck!
 
Nod said:
You may not need it BUT I'm pretty sure that if you damage someone else's car (or even worse, THEM), you are responsible financially. I think some tracks also charge for any damage to armco, tows off the track etc.
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Whilst using your car on track you do so at your own risk. Although the track has public liability insurance cover, it is entirely your choice as to whether you buy insurance to cover damage to your vehicle.
 
you'd be better off watching and practicing panning techniques on slow moving cars...
 
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