Hammy Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Its 2012 and thoughts turn to any possible WSCC track day. Some of this has been aired before but ... Mallory - proper race track, can get crowded and therefore more "risky" and prone to people taking chances on over taking . Should be fixable ? RAF Cottesmore- bigger track "safer" BUT looking at my car I will need a new windscreen before the MOT this year as its completely peppered with stone chips and dangerous in the sun. This is after two sessions here. A big hidden expense . My rear wing protectors are badly pitted too . This will put some off ( me) My point in posting is really the damage I've noted from Cotesmore - typical of air field sites ?? And likely to put a lot of members off for the future ( and surely we want more members to attend track days ) Any thoughts ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreigM Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I thought Cottesmore was not an option anyway as the base is actively by the arme forces used again. To answer your question - yes, in my experience all airfield circuits are bad for stone chips - its simply down to the nature of the surface. I've never seen car on car contact at a trackday, so don't believe it is any more risky from that point of view, just more risk of an individual overdriving the car and collecting the scenery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleggy the Spyder Man Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 as everyone was saying beforehand you need to tape up your car - that argument falls flat on its face if you are saying your screen has some damage though For me I am not fussed about Mallory - not enough variety or run off to have real fun Bedford, Snetterton and Cadwell would all be very good indeed - although Snetterton is a bit out of the way for some I personally think that people would make the effort to travel to Cadwell as it has a certain "tick off the list" sheen about it, and once you have been once you will want to go again, so should get all motivated to make the effort of attending Another suggestion would maybe to advertise it right from the start as being an all "7" or light kit (fishers etc) event to get the numbers up Having said all that I would happily do Cottesmoore again if it has re-opened, although I can see why some would prefer a proper surface 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid life crisis Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Donnington :yes: :westy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I have to defend airfields. I have been to track days at Abingdon a number of times, Keevil and Hullavington - all organised by Motorsport Events - and never have I had any trouble with stones on the surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 as everyone was saying beforehand you need to tape up your car - that argument falls flat on its face if you are saying your screen has some damage though For me I am not fussed about Mallory - not enough variety or run off to have real fun Bedford, Snetterton and Cadwell would all be very good indeed - although Snetterton is a bit out of the way for some I personally think that people would make the effort to travel to Cadwell as it has a certain "tick off the list" sheen about it, and once you have been once you will want to go again, so should get all motivated to make the effort of attending Another suggestion would maybe to advertise it right from the start as being an all "7" or light kit (fishers etc) event to get the numbers up Having said all that I would happily do Cottesmoore again if it has re-opened, although I can see why some would prefer a proper surface Pretty well sums up my thoughts on the subject Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveD Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 as everyone was saying beforehand you need to tape up your car - that argument falls flat on its face if you are saying your screen has some damage though For me I am not fussed about Mallory - not enough variety or run off to have real fun Bedford, Snetterton and Cadwell would all be very good indeed - although Snetterton is a bit out of the way for some I personally think that people would make the effort to travel to Cadwell as it has a certain "tick off the list" sheen about it, and once you have been once you will want to go again, so should get all motivated to make the effort of attending Another suggestion would maybe to advertise it right from the start as being an all "7" or light kit (fishers etc) event to get the numbers up Having said all that I would happily do Cottesmoore again if it has re-opened, although I can see why some would prefer a proper surface there is more run off at mallory than there is at cadewell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleggy the Spyder Man Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 there's more corners at Cadwell to select where you wish to crash ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markcoopers Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Donnington would be a bit of a winner. Leaving aside the venue for a second, the other option woud be to use a company like Javelin or Lotus On Track to say secure 20-30 spaces at an event rather than the whole event. Perhaps a step lower would be just to secure a very good price vie a seperate company for any trackday and make sure we communicate it well on here and in WW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveD Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 are you not forgetting the cost to the club and organisation i dont think the club could afford it tbh , i dont think some realise what it costs to hire a circuit ,then you need marshalls ,medics etc etc , i would imagine donnington would be around the 9k mark if not more ,i know oulton was 9k for the full circuit 10 years ago ,so work that out for yourselves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt nossiter Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I managed to do a few track days last year ( Cadwell , Oulton , Donington , Mallory , Bedford , Cottesmore and the sprint school at Curborough ) . This is what I thought of them Cadwell is a lovely track but the paddock leaves alot to be desired with not alot of hard standing and no garages ,its a 3 hour drive each way for me so I stayed overnight so makes it more expensive but will be doing it again . Oulton is another 3 hour trip each way so I stay overnight for this but in my opinion its better to drive than Cadwell and the paddock facilties are second to none . Donny was very slippery in the wet but good fun in the dry especially craners / the old harpin . The paddocks all hard standing with loads of garages available . Mallory is alot shorter than the other tracks and it can get quite busy on track , but I still found it really good fun and now theyve resurfaced the paddock its alot better . Bedford is the nearest track to me that I've done and also the longest ( gt track ) at just over 4 miles long . Although you havn't got the undulations of the other tracks I found it had a nice mix of fast , medium and slow corners , but the back straight can get to be abit tedious at 1 km long . The paddocks at Bedford can be a pain though , if your towing a trailer your relagated to parking it in another paddock a 5 minute walk away . I was looking forward to Cottesmore ( WSCC track day ) and supporting the club and I know the weather didnt help on that day either but I found it really dissapointing . I know its effectively a temporary track and paddock but the facilities were very poor and I didnt find driving round cones which defined the track as much fun . The damage to the car from the stone chips was also dissapointing . I'm trying to be constructive with my criticisms here and I do appreciate the time and effort that went into organising the day and the reasons why that venue was chosen but I wouldn't go back there . Another WSCC event I did was the sprint school , I thought this was really well organised and a nice introduction to what sprinting is about and would reccomend this to anyone . Overall I would say Oulton was my favorite track I did last year but if anyone is worried about run off areas then try Bedford as theres plenty and the tracks fun to drive as well . I would like to try Silverstone ( local to me ) , Brands Hatch and Snetterton this year as well and would be interested in other peoples opinions of them . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markcoopers Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Very mindful of the club costs Seve, hence the use of a 3rd party as the organiser rather than us. True we as members will pay for this, but set against this would be any discount we as the WSCC could agree. Thus as a member of WSCC we still get cheaper track days and perhaps at good circuits? More of an idea at the mo, but been looking into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Algar - Competition Secretary Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Just to let you know what I have been arranging for this year, which I hope will meet with general approval, certainly gives you more options. First some background as I see it:- 1) in today's climate it is difficult for the club to orgainse a WSCC only trackday that does not make a significant loss 2) A lot of club members like to do trackdays and would prefer there to be other WSCC guys around for the social side / support / similar cars on track So given the above I have been speaking to 3 trackday orgainsers and am putting together a Calendar of approx 1 trackday per month that will be a nominated WSCC track-day for that month. This calendar will be published in the Magazine as well as the Boardroom and an individual thread will be started by me for each day in the events section. The orgainsers for that day will be free to post comments on that day they are orgainising. Also in the discussions I have had so far every orgainser is prepared to offer a discount to WSCC members for this. Hopefully this will be a positive move to allow more WSCC members to meet up, but it in no way excludes other from doing there own thing and orgainsing joint days etc, so please carry on with doing so. Some Dates for your diaries so far:- 1) 2nd March 2012 - Oulton Park - Trac Action 2) Friday 20th July - Blyton Park - WSCC 3) Friday 2nd Nov 2012 - Oulton Park - Trac Action Further dates to be added soon, suggested dates gratefully received. Nick 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt nossiter Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Sounds good Nick , it is nice to meet up with other members on track days and learn from them . Have done a few Trackaction days and theyre well run and enjoyable , if i get my car sorted I'll be going to Oulton in March and also looking to support the club at Blyton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dombanks Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 (edited) Ive not heard of the damage when doing a air field day? how bad is it? why would the sirface have lots of stones on it? how much are you looking at to do the track day? Edited January 8, 2012 by dombanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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