Driving practice - oversteer control (Scotland)

[theprisioner]

I have been thinking about organising this for my own purposes for some time, I now need your help as the costs doing it on my own are getting painful.

 

I am trying to gauge interest in a number of us hiring Crail air field + instructor to work on the control of over steer problem particularly on lift-off. Sometimes known as drift control. I think I am close to a solution to organising this but I needed some help with the cost and organisation.

 

1) It would have to be mid-week to fit in with the instructor requirements.

2) 4 hours of instruction shared between drivers, although the field would be available all day.

3) The cost would be in the order of £107/person (calculated based on three people).

4) Maximum of three drivers although I would consider going ahead and do it if there were only two of us.

5) First come first served (it will be arranged in the next few weeks)

 

If I get enough interest I can always arrange another event for those disappointed assuming the first event it is a success.

 

Please post your comments and if willing to commit then state "please consider me for this"

 

I have some more information on the instructor etc if interested.

 

 

 

[Rab (bombero) Reid]

Hi Alastair, I'd definitely be interested as previously discussed but not in the next few weeks .. later in the year for me :-)

[clansman]

Mmmm could also be interested Alistair but not in the next few weeks toooooooooo busy ....is it in own car or their's?  

[theprisioner]

Definitely your own car.

[Hornet600]

Hi alistair I would like to do this so please count me in. Only potential problem is very difficult to 100% without a date. So if date ok then I'm in

[Welly Jen]

Sounds a good idea. An alternative for those who can't make this is to go on a factory drift day, where you learn to induce and control lift off oversteer. One of the reasons I did one some years back was to get experience with a car being completely out of shape in a controlled environment, so I might stand more of a chance of controlling it if it happened on the road. The other reason was to be a complete hooligan with someone elses car and tyres!

 

 

Jen

[theprisioner]

The dates are currently flexible, it will be restricted to either a tue/wed/thurs and the date will be in a few weeks time. I am totally flexible being retired so it is currently up to you, give me some dates:

 

currently

 

1) Hornet600 (depending on dates)

2) Alastair Reynolds(flexible on dates)

3) One other first come first served?

[Wee Dov]

Sorry Al can't do midweek ,got to earn the bucks£

[theprisioner]

The driving skills day at Crail took place today. The attendees were John Hornet600 and myself. This was set up through Sitech Racing in Rosyth.

 

Simon Smail is the owner of a small tuning company in Rosyth near Edinburgh called Sitech Racing. In his own words “They a proven track record of race/road car geometry (gained in F1, sports cars, GT, BTCC,WTC and Oval racing) and comprehensively understand what is required to

make your car do what you need it to do”.

 

He has had in the past a MSA national B licence and competed in his own right. He was formerly the chief mechanic for HTML, and race engineer for Simon Harrison. He also spent four years oing F1 setup with McLaren.

 

Simon agreed to sit with us on the various driving circuits and gave useful instruction and goals for the afternoons activities.

 

Crail is a ww2 air field and is showing it's age. Despite that they have at least three circuits (Road Race, Sprint 1/4 mile and drifting). The most useful for today was the drifting track it is a smooth figure of eight where you can practice the change of centre of gravity as you change gear, let the cluch in and apply power while negotiating the course. As it is a fairly tight course the corner speeds are limited and so is the damage if it all goes wrong.

 

The Road Race track is a large figure of eight and is quite a fact track doing over 90 on the straight. In places the track is a little bumpy but no less fun for that.

 

The basic safety of the track is it's wide open aspect and the strategically placed tyres surrounding the circuit. If you do go off then don't hit the tyres. The speedy parts of the track are quite wide so is reasonably forgiving to driver error.

 

Would I do it again yes but my driving is moving on now so I would concentrate on other aspects. I would be happy to go with or  without instruction.

 

If you want to experience Crail then let John or myself know your thoughts.

[Hornet600]

What a fab day. Learnt lots and highly recommend Simon and his team for Geo set up etc as well as tuition. Worth pointing out that all three tracks were available from 9am to 5pm for........ Wait for it....... Only £40 per person. I spun off twice but no worries whatsoever due to the runoff. Would be a good day out although has to be midweek for the club..

[Rab (bombero) Reid]

Guys, thanks for the update on your day and it sounds like you had a very enjoyable and educational time! I, for one, would be interested when the next one is organised!

[theprisioner]

There appears to be two interested other than myself and John

 

1) Nick Schneeberger (on my facebook page)

2) Bombero

 

This all comes down to dates in the end. I am retired and Hornet600 is very flexible. This has to be done mid week. The best way of proceeding is to suggest dates and then knock them down. I have a quietish slot early June and mid July however I don't actually have to be there John could be there as an old hand. I am prepared to negotiate with Simon at Sitech. The tuition is expensive and 3-4 people  is optimal for that part. We have not had the final bill yet but factor in £40 per person track fees and £270? from Simon (Total divided up). I have not asked Simon yet what the charges would be for another course (he is after all in business to make money).

 

In my opinion the best way of doing this is to start communicating dates either here, email or facebook.

[Doug Dastardly]

Sounds good. I'd be interested too and mid week is not a problem, although finding the time full stop might be, especially as I'd need a couple of days off to do it.

 

July prob suits me better but let me know the date and I'll either commit or not.

 

Doug