Guide to Attending a Track Day

So you fancy getting you Coupe out on track to see what it can really do? This is the third of a series of guides aimed at helping you book up a track day, prepare your Coupe and finally attend the day itself. Hopefully you will find the information useful laugh !

Having now booked yourself onto a track day, and prepared your car for the day, it’s time to review what will happen on the day itself. Needless to say, you will be champing at the bit to get out on track, but there are some last minutes checks to do before you leave home, and a few formalities to follow when you arrive at the track.

Before You Leave Home

There are a number of things to make sure that you don’t forget on the day, otherwise you may not be able to take part. Assuming that you have followed the car preparation guide, the car should be pretty much there, but I would still suggest checking the following things:
- Fluid levels
- Tyre pressures
- Wheel nuts
- Tow Hook is present
- Unnecessary clutter removed
In addition, you need to make sure that you have your driving licence (both parts for photo ones) and are wearing clothing that covers your arms and legs (shorts or short sleeves will not be allowed on track wink ). Don't wear a thick jumper though, as you will get very hot, and your loss of fluids is also important! A long sleeved thin shirt/T-shirt is ideal.

On Arrival at the Track

Firstly, try to ensure that you arrive in plenty of time for registration. There is often a queue for this, and the sooner you arrive and register, the longer you will have to do the final prep on your car, and have a chat with the other drivers laugh . Once registered (including any additional drivers or passengers), make sure that you know where the safety briefing is being held, and at what time. If you miss this, you will not be allowed on track!

You may also have a noise test to carry out (depends upon the track). If required, attend the noise test and follow the instructions given to you about what to do with the slip of paper. As a rule, I have never heard of a Coupe failing a static noise test, but those with 3” exhausts, headwork and large turbos might have fun if the limit is set much below 98dB crazy . In reality, the test will normally only throw out race-prepped cars or highly tuned Skylines wink .

Assuming that you have registered and passed the noise test, you will probably have to attend the safety briefing next. This will take place in a closed off room and is mandatory for all drivers and passengers. Listen to the briefing carefully, and take note of what is being said, as failure to follow the rules will probably see you being told-off later in the day, and at worst thrown off the track with no refund frown . Once the briefing has finished, you will be given a wrist band to prove your attendance, which must be shown every time you want to go out on the track (passengers included).

Going out on Track

OK, you are now very close to be allowed out on track… Dependant upon the organiser/circuit/format, you may now have a number of familiarisation laps. These are designed to give you a feel for the circuit at normal road speed, and are very useful to help you understand which corners are going to be ‘interesting’ when you pick up the pace. If the circuit is wet, they will also be vital in telling you where the standing water is, and which corners are the slipperiest shocked ! The laps are sometimes behind a pace car, sometimes just subject to a speed limit, and sometimes can be taken as a passenger in a school car with an instructor driving.

Once the familiarisation session is over, the fun begins evil ! If it is OPL format, there will probably be a large queue form at the pit exit, and you can join this at any time you like. If the day is being run in sessions, it is just a case of waiting for your session to commence (watch the time, and make sure that you are lined up in the pit ready to go when your session is due to start). Before you go on track, you will be asked to show your wrist band to the Marshal (no wrist band, no track frown ).

Once on track, take the first few laps easy and get to know the circuit before lifting the pace. It is also a good idea to make sure that the car feels OK, and if in any doubt, come back into the pits and check it. For the first session of the day, this is particularly pertinent, and a quick check of everything after this is a good idea wink . Go at your own pace, but make sure that you are aware of what is going on around you, particularly regarding faster cars than you! There will be strict rules about overtaking (not in the corners), but this relies on trusting others and slower cars making way for the faster ones. This is particularly important for OPL days, as there will be all sorts of skill levels and cars out on track at once (I had a JP1 track car on my first track day, and he was so quick, you hardly had time to register him before he sailed by shocked !)

For all sessions, I would strongly advise that you do a warm up lap to get everything up to temperature, then have 2-4 hot laps, followed by a cool-down lap to get things back to normal. If you are in a long session, you might do this cycle a couple of times, as running too many hot laps in a row only leads to problems wink . Whatever happens, the last lap back into the pits is best taken at a slower pace, with plenty of time to allow your brakes to cool off a bit. Don't allow the red mist that often descends on track to entice you into chasing other cars down for lap after lap, otherwise you are in danger of clocking up 10 hot laps in a row and blowing your turbo (mentioning no names tongue !). Keep a particularly close eye on the oil temperature, as this can climb as high as 130 degrees after a few hot laps. You really don't want it above 110 degrees I would suggest.

When you get back into the paddock, it is best to leave the engine running for a while to allow the coolants to circulate and do their job. This is particularly important for turbocharged cars wink . The issue of applying or not applying the handbrake is open to some debate. If your brakes are very hot it could cause warping, or pad transfer onto the disc, so my personal recommentation is not to apply it, but make sure that you find somewhere flat to park, or take a chock laugh !

I don’t proposed to cover all of the aspects of driving on track (flags, etc.), as these will be covered in the safety briefings, but if you do have to stop on track, just stay in your car until the rescue marshals get to you (unless you think it’s on fire, in which case, get out and get behind the barriers as quickly as you can!). Well run track days will have excellent marshalling, and you will be recovered or moved off the track very quickly in my experience (which includes the above laugh !)

At the End of the Day

Once you have enjoyed yourself, there are just a couple of things to remember for the drive home:
1. Check your fluids, tyre pressures & wheel nuts again, as they may not be what they were several hard driving hours ago!
2. Bear in mind that you will be driving on the public highway on your way home. This is not a race track, so don’t treat it as such. TBH, you will probably be absolutely shattered, but the adrenaline can still be pumping, and motorway speeds can seem slow after a day at 100mph+ laugh ! If you have a long journey, make sure that you take more regular breaks than normal, as you will be a lot more tired than you think.

The Next Day/Week

Your car will have been pushed hard whilst you wer on track, so it is a good idea to give it a bit of TLC in the immediate aftermath. It is a good idea to change the oil if you have seen particularly high temperatures on track, as it has probably be running at close to it's operating limits. Brakes will also probably be glazed and very noisy for a few days/weeks. In this state, they aren't as good as the usually are, so be aware that they will take a little time to recover. If the front pads were well worn before the day, and you have the time, I would suggest taking the inner pads out and checking that they still have some meat left on them, as they tend to suffer worst. Needless to say, fluids should be checked again when everything has had a night to cool down.

All that’s left to say is enjoy yourself, don’t do anything stupid, and see you on track soon!

Phil