Morning all, do you mind if it pick your brains on something. I have my first track day booked for tomorrow at Brands Hatch, open pitlane, which i am very excited about (so excited that work is really suffering today!)…
I am running a Mk1 1800 with no mods (apart from new solid discs and Greenstuff pads all around, front chassis brace bar ) , its on 14 inch Toyo T1-r all around. Conditions will be dry, chance of rain, what tyre pressures should i run…i’ve read about 26 Psi for road, is this the same for track use?
Anybody got any experience of the track or any last minute advice? (slighly worried about being eaten alive by 911’s)
Thanks alot in advance
James
If it is open pitlane you should get loads of track time.
The front nearside tyre is the one that will get most wear so might benefit from a few extra lbs.
However if its your first time I wouldn’t worry much about tyre pressures, other than maybe do about 5 laps, come in and set them to 30lb warm all round. That will do as a good base.
Far and away the most important thing to concentrate on is learning the proper racing lines.
I’m very familiar with Brands (albeit it was my first time in my standard Mk1 1.6) and did the end of January Mazda track day and was amazed at the variations taken by some and despite being there all day long some people just didn’t seem to improve or look at what others were doing and trying their lines.
Being super smooth and taking the right lines will completely overshadow any miniscule differences that minor tyre pressure adjustments might make.
Enjoy!
(Oh, and as for being eaten by 911s - yes, they will blast past on the straights, so do make sure you stay well to the right where practical, but don’t be surprised to find that they then get in your way under braking and around the corners! )
Andy, Many thanks for this, this is great advice, super smooth and carry as much speed through the corners as possible. 30Psi it is. Hoping to improve on my times as the day goes on and will stay well away from the quick stuff… Will let you know how i get on!
Cheers
James
How did you do James,
Fancy another day out come join the MOT lot at bedford
with R888 im currently down to about 22psi Cold and 30 to 32 hot
Andy and others
Just a quick update on the track day, it was a total blast! Far from being daunted by the open pitlane as i was the slowest car by quite some margin, i am a bit of a car spotter so to be overtaken by a 430 Scud at full chat and then watch him change down for the next corner was awesome…the 5 was also brilliant, quick in the corners and when i did get things a bit wrong (at the end of the pit striaght when you turn right and decend into the valley), i felt like i could back off with little more than a wiggle from the back end. Anyway, will see if i can build up a little more speed over the next few track days. Would post some pics but don’t know how…
Cheers for the advice Andy…
That would be Paddock Hill bend then one of the best !
Glad you had a good day!
Thanks Geoff, hope this works…
The following photos show either me (white lid) or my brother Jon (Silver lid)…one annoying thing we found out during the day is that Jon is alot quicker than me! He managed to hold off a couple of Elises for a whole 5-6 lap stint which was pretty impressive…
The ‘5’ in the pit straight
DSC_6860 by james and Katie, on Flickr
The Clio in the distance was by far the best driven all day, see DB5 race car, value unknown!
DSC_6822 by james and Katie, on Flickr
Jon at the wheel, started off my taking this one in 4th but i learn’t to stay on the power in 3rd and then break hard for the corner before the pit straight…
DSC_6851 by james and Katie, on Flickr
Atom with supercharger whinning…
DSC_6801 by james and Katie, on Flickr
…Neck and neck into the corner…
DSC_6818 by james and Katie, on Flickr
Following a 200K, 599 into the corners…get a move on!
DSC_6920 by james and Katie, on Flickr
I hope these where of interest, i’m sure that to the experienced track day campaigners these are a little tame, but we had a brilliant day…
Cheers
James
Good photos, looks like you had a great time mingling with some much more expensive machinery! Brands is a fantastic track for the MX5.
I’m off to Silverstone tomorrow so I hope to get some photos too!
…i have to say half the buzz was looking in the rear view mirror and seeing an x-bow gaining fast…have a good time at Silverstone, let me know what it like for a 5 and it might go on the list for the next day…
glad you had a good day, lol not sure i like things passing me but thats just me he he.
the new gt silverstone is great another i would say is a must is Cadwell park.
Mazda on track have a day there on the 19th April defo work trip up there is a hidden gem of a track.
James,
Please put Silverstone down on your list to try - it’s fantastic! Tracked the South circuit on Thurs 24th, which takes in 2 decent wide straights (plenty of opportunity for the faster motors not to be impeded) and some fantastic, fast sweeping bends. Initially I was quite intimidated by the arrival of most of the other cars being on trailers (race spec cars, slick tyres etc) but soon settled in. With the addition of my recent coilovers & Yellowstuff pads the '5 felt ready to be pushed really hard, able to brake late and with minimal body roll through the corners I gained the confidence to attack the bends and most importantly carry as much speed through the corners as possible. Being surrounded by some rather fast & expensive machinery possibly helped push me. For example, apart from the obvious M3s, Porsches, Imprezzas, Caterhams etc, there was a …
And an extremely quick…
Mingling with my poor old Molly…
NB that’s a construction digger in the background, it’s not a toy on top of my car.
Then after lunch I was grateful to receive 20 mins tuition by a race instructor who really pushed me & Molly to the limits. Introduced me to the positive results of trail braking through corners and then getting on the power much earlier than I was doing.
And then, just to top off an already fantastic day, I scrounged half-a-dozen laps as a passenger with Alan Henderson in his Ma5da Racing championship car…
Oh yes, he’s damn quick. And a top bloke!
Errr, sorry, tyre pressures for track: think mine were 30 psi when hot.
These pics are great, Looks like you had a good time, will put this one on the list, will need to earn a few browne points first from the wife…By the way your 5 looks in fine shape…
I’m sure that DB5 was the same one that was in the garage next to me at Brands…there cannot be too many of those around…and the Noble, would definetly be on my list of fantasy cars in the 20-30K bracket…
I think for 5 is a little further along the line in terms of mods than mine…(its stock apart from greenstuff pads + new discs + toyo’s all around) how do you your coil overs feel on the road? I was toying with looking at the suspension as my next project, but i really do not want to spoil the 5’s road manners. After a couple of fast 3 series on 19 inch runflats, the 5’s suspension is like breath of fresh air…And i am also miles alway from feeling the car is holding me back at the moment…
Cheers
James
The DB5 was a real flyer, whereas the guy in the Noble was taking it fairly steady (understandably so!).
The coilovers on the road are a little stiffer than before, on smooth roads fantastic, but I do my upmost to avoid potholes because then it’s rather jarring. As it’s not my daily drive I can live with that.
Bring on the next rackdays - it’s getting addictive! 