[R4R]

Today i had the first of my 2 driver training days. my present employer decided to gift me £500 for being loyal to the business and doing 20 years of service!
They said i could have an expirence day like say "drive a Ferrari around a race track" day. but those that know me know that i own a Radical SR3 track car and peddle it fairly well.

so i organised 2 full day sessions with this young man.click I had never met him before and found him to be a very agreeable person to spend a day with. if any of you need his services or a group want to share a days costs and expences for tuition.

as for the day i fell i got on well. Dan gave me the confidence i needed at the start of the season to go out on circuit and press the car harder than i had done previously.

last time i was on this circuit my best time was 1:22s which i thought was very good! HOWEVER when at the end of the day i wanted to try a little harder

and managed to spin off the track and damage a starter which ended my day prematurely.

the tuition went very well. we used my Race logic Performance box to determine my progress. as part of the process of getting me to understand what the Radical could acheive i asked Dan to give me a passanger ride around the track......... I WAS NOT EXPECTING WHAT HAPPENED NEXT! i was staggered by how fast he made my car go. i "knew" that i was not fast and no race driver BUT he was F-A-S-T! with a capital "F" for frigg me!

i had no idea how slow i was. he lapped the track in 1:10 after a few laps. it was staggering...

anyway by the end of the day he had got my time down to 1:18s, so a complete 4 seconds of my previous time.

to finish the day off the Radical decided to break down and had to be tow back to the pits. i think the problem is the battery! so my run of luck has come to and end (did you hear that Dodgyken).

what did i get of the day? well its not as simple as 4 seconds although i think thats pretty good. i think that i got somebody better than me as a driver spank the t*ts off my Radical and get to understand that there is nowt wrong with the car and its all to do with the DRIVER.

soon i will be back there again for the 2nd phase of my training.... will i get another 4 seconds off the lap time...... doubt it!:P

Dario

[dxb335d]

Sounds like you had a great day Dario, if only you mentioned you were going i would have been up there like a shot to say hello.

Any pics of your day?

Carlos

[R4R]

hi carlos, i was only intrested in keeping it on the black stuff..... actually there was no official photographer at hand. i am back at snetterton on 16 of this month and you are welcome.

so long as i get the radical sorted by then!

Dario

[beemerbird]

Enjoyed reading that Dario - I've always fancied a 'days training' around a track. Was offered one with Volvo who employ an ex-racing driver, but never took them up on the offer.

You can only respect the driving skills of those guys IMO.

[R4R]

i have to say that this was teh first time that i had met Dan Eagling and almost as you would expect he was not loud (like me) he was proffessional (like me) and was good fun to be with.

i take out passangers in the radical and probably scare them although most when given an oppertunity to have another go jump at it!

when i asked Dan to go out and put a few good laps in for me so that i could compare my data against his he asked me if i wanted to go as passanger...... i'm ashamed to say that i chickened out we was so so fast that 8 seconds faster than me says little except that it was devastatingly quick. whilst it was safe the first time i thought i was going to pee my pants!

best of all if a few guys from the forum want to share him on a track day at Snetterton it can be arranged so that YOU can understand "what your car will do on track" and what he can do for you!

Dario

[Gibbo]

Dario, really good report to read and there is nothing like driver training on a track to learn a lot about what a car can do. I do not have the track experience or anything like the level of track skill you have.

I had a BMW driving day at Rockingham 2 years ago and my instructor for the day was Mat Jackson - BMW BTCC driver at the moment but he was in the Cupra cup back then. All I can have is praise for him and his level of skill was fantastic. Infact all the senior instructors were raving about Mats talent. What a really nice bloke as well very relaxed in the car and professional but fun at the same time. We drove a couple of laps with him steering the racing line from the passanger seat (quite a surreal experience) but a really quick way to learn what you are suppose to be doing.

Reading you post has got me looking forward even more to my VXR day at Brandshatch. C'mon!!!!

[R4R]

Originally Posted by Gibbo

Dario, really good report to read and there is nothing like driver training on a track to learn a lot about what a car can do. I do not have the track experience or anything like the level of track skill you have.

I had a BMW driving day at Rockingham 2 years ago and my instructor for the day was Mat Jackson - BMW BTCC driver at the moment but he was in the Cupra cup back then. All I can have is praise for him and his level of skill was fantastic. Infact all the senior instructors were raving about Mats talent. What a really nice bloke as well very relaxed in the car and professional but fun at the same time. We drove a couple of laps with him steering the racing line from the passanger seat (quite a surreal experience) but a really quick way to learn what you are suppose to be doing.

Reading you post has got me looking forward even more to my VXR day at Brandshatch. C'mon!!!!

ooh Brands Hatch on a wet day.... . thats is one scary place in the wet when you plung down paddock hill bend its squeeky bum time! Idid it in December 2007 in my Z4 3.0 i have attached the report below. it might be of intrest.

report form last year

on thursday i decided to have a track day at Brands Hatch and break my cherry for that circuit!

i had always avoided any opportunity to drive on this circuit thinking it was too short to have any fun on. how wrong was i about that. the Radical is parked up at the moment (too cold o get the tyres to work) so the Z4 got put in to service for this event. i have just installed a new set of grooved front disk and was raring to see what the improvements would be. i stopped short of upgrading the brake lines at the moment as i am trying to keep it as close to stock as possible (except for the engine re map and the full Miltek exhausts and the H&R ARB's and the tyres and the Air filter yada yada yada). anyway these disk came from Motorsport world (16 groove and manufactured by a company called Nitrac). i fitted some standard OEM pads to keep thinks simple.

this was a BMW day with loads of BMW E3(0 something or other)! some fast ones (a couple) and a new white E92 ///M3. The ///M3 was superb in the way it went around the track. it looked effortless!

i was at this event with Dodgy Ken and his dad Richard (bl**dy nice bloke) and a friend of mine from work who hardly ever takes fun time off. we shared the driving and he did a not too shabby job considering it was his first time behind the wheel of a Z4 (day car is a Lexus 220CDI)

Dodgy Ken was out in his E3(0 something) but he was running on the sh*te tyres that came with is alpina lookalike rims. good knows what make the tyres are but i dont think ther're much cop!

the weather was just awful it was wet and slidy (just the way i like it if i'm in the Z4) through the day it stopped raing a little which was just enough to get the roof down for quite a few laps. this supprised a few folks but what the hay i like it with the roof down.

anyway as usual not many cars could keep up or hold up my trusty Z4 3.0 except for that E92///M3 and those race kitted out E3(0 somethings). there was a pesky silver Z8 that just would not pull out of the way when the car behind was clearly faster. (take note if a car catches you in a couple laps its faster than you. pull over slightly and let the faster car go by..... but don't put your foot down on the straight just because you have a bigger engine)

i think only 1 E46//M3 caught and passed me which i am ok about but the remainder were caught and passed.

this Z4 in the wet shod with Michelin PS2's is just fantastic. as for the new brake disks...... they were crap! i have complained about them and they are sending a replacement set. on lap 2 of the indy circuit the hard braek application thats needed for paddock hill bend was enough to make the front disks shake and wobble like mad. they would be the same until they had cooled in the pits and then after 2 laps they would shake again when the brake was applied. i have never had anything like it before. in the past when disks were deformed they stayed deformed. this would be ok after each cooldown. goodness knows what the next set will be like!

how did i do with track times. very wet i was acheiving about 1.08 seconds consistent then as it stopped raining it was down to 1.03.65. my friend was acheiving about 1.08. i think that Dodgy Ken was getting 1.17 with those poor tyres.

all in all it was a good day made better by the wet condition the Collision Avoidence Systems (left firmly on). best bit about the rain is that it minimises the wear and tear on the tyres and brakes..... if the brakes were any good!

if you do get a chance to go and do the Indy circuit it is worth while as it is easy to learn and not too technical!

can't wait to waz the Radical around in the dry i wonder if i can get near the BTCC Fastest Race Lap: 2006, Tom Chilton, Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch – 49.190s......... i wonder!

Dario

[Gibbo]

Thanks for the report I thought the same about Brands Indy and nearly did Thruxton. The date decided it for me and the fact that I watched F1 there as a kid in the 80's. I new I had to drive this track one day.

cheers for the report all good stuff. Hope it's dry on my day.

[Gibbo]

Dario

Can I ask who you do your track insurance with and is it on a event by event basis or a blanket annual cover. I have made a couple of speculative enquiries recently and insurance companies have wanted experience of 5 or 6 track days with instruction in the last 12 months. How did you start your track insurance - any advice?

[R4R]

Originally Posted by Gibbo

Dario

Can I ask who you do your track insurance with and is it on a event by event basis or a blanket annual cover. I have made a couple of speculative enquiries recently and insurance companies have wanted experience of 5 or 6 track days with instruction in the last 12 months. How did you start your track insurance - any advice?

realistically i dont bother. i have done probably some 30-40 days so far and i have no doubt that one day my luck might run out. however on the balance of probabilities with everybody running the same direction and if etiquet good i think in my circumstance it has paid off.

they did want about £300 per day and £5000 excess (what do you think of those apples?)

some insurance companies like Performance Marque do offer it on some of their high net worth policies it adds to the cost, but all you have to do is inform them before the event.

Dario

[Gibbo]

Thanks for the info. I used to be with Performance Marque with my Boxster. I was told insurance based on experience (which is hard to get if they won't insure you) and also excess goes up so like you say makes you think twice.

cheers

[NFS]

Originally Posted by R4R

Today i had the first of my 2 driver training days. my present employer decided to gift me £500 for being loyal to the business and doing 20 years of service!
They said i could have an expirence day like say "drive a Ferrari around a race track" day. but those that know me know that i own a Radical SR3 track car and peddle it fairly well.

so i organised 2 full day sessions with this young man.click I had never met him before and found him to be a very agreeable person to spend a day with. if any of you need his services or a group want to share a days costs and expences for tuition.

as for the day i fell i got on well. Dan gave me the confidence i needed at the start of the season to go out on circuit and press the car harder than i had done previously.

last time i was on this circuit my best time was 1:22s which i thought was very good! HOWEVER when at the end of the day i wanted to try a little harder

and managed to spin off the track and damage a starter which ended my day prematurely.

the tuition went very well. we used my Race logic Performance box to determine my progress. as part of the process of getting me to understand what the Radical could acheive i asked Dan to give me a passanger ride around the track......... I WAS NOT EXPECTING WHAT HAPPENED NEXT! i was staggered by how fast he made my car go. i "knew" that i was not fast and no race driver BUT he was F-A-S-T! with a capital "F" for frigg me!

i had no idea how slow i was. he lapped the track in 1:10 after a few laps. it was staggering...

anyway by the end of the day he had got my time down to 1:18s, so a complete 4 seconds of my previous time.

to finish the day off the Radical decided to break down and had to be tow back to the pits. i think the problem is the battery! so my run of luck has come to and end (did you hear that Dodgyken).

what did i get of the day? well its not as simple as 4 seconds although i think thats pretty good. i think that i got somebody better than me as a driver spank the t*ts off my Radical and get to understand that there is nowt wrong with the car and its all to do with the DRIVER.

soon i will be back there again for the 2nd phase of my training.... will i get another 4 seconds off the lap time...... doubt it!:P

Dario

Cracking post. I'm off on a Palmersport day soon and this put me right in the mood

[booforty]

Originally Posted by needforspeed

Cracking post. I'm off on a Palmersport day soon and this put me right in the mood

Would love to the Palmersport day. You lucky sod (again)!