track reviews - Saxperience

AlexB^p · 15th October 2010, 21:37

how about this one for a thread as not all of us know which tracks we may want to try and which we might find a little harder mor challengine ect

so what about if a few people knock together a review of there favourite/most recent tracks so that those whove not been there can see and guage what to expect from the days at them

may be helpful to the newer track goers like myself ive only dont a few laps of mallory and the ring so i cant really contribute in my own thread except to say the ring is the ring we all know its nuts

mallory was a nice starter track gerards proved tricky for me though as im a pleb but the marshalls and recovery crews are top notch as are the paramedics who made sure i was ok before letting me leave even leet the guy from the recovery firm across the track in the flatbed haha!!

but in all serious maybe a small paragraph about each track maybe see if we can get all in the uk reviewed

ryanmt · 15th October 2010, 21:49

donnington was my fave circuit. It was fairly quick without smaller engine cars running out of puff like they do at silverstone. The corners were quick and there was lots of runoff so it was forgiving to newbies. RIP

I hope it gets rebuilt one day as it really is gutting it got dug up. This was my fave track.

Rockingham is a good circuit, depends if you get the inner + outer or just the inner. The inners very good, its a close circuit lots of tight corners one after another so if you screw up one you are slow for the next 3. Hard work to put a good lap in but rewarding when you do.

Silverstones good, but not my fave really. Its a bit too big for a saxo or ax imo and you run out of puff on the long straight though. Good mix of corners, the last one before the start finish is harder than it looks to get right.

Brunters is Ok for a cheap track day, loads and loads of room and worse you can do is hit somebody else or a cone. Not the best surface and it will demolish the tyres.

Castle combe is ace, very quick circuit. If you drive beyond your limit it will kick you in the face though. Quite common to have a few crashes each track day there, the first corner after the pits is a complicated one, with a slight crest in it. Get your braking wrong here and you will be in the wall, theres only a few meters of run off before tyres and concrete, its especially tricky since most people do their overtaking there and its quite easy to hit 110+ on it . If you get in the zone though you can really fly on this track.

Reechard · 15th October 2010, 22:13

I have only been round Combe so far as a driver.

Its a great track, some quick laps can be done. Obviously Avon rise and Quarry corner are the two main 'tricky' sections. However people underestimate Camp corner. In my first session there I came round and got caught out. Span and hit the barrier.
It wrote off my car and I messed up my leg.

Combe is notorious for poor run off so the entire track is one to becareful on.

I have been round Llandow as a passenger, mainly due to my car breaking the night before, its a good track. Very demanding on tyres, brakes and the driver. You are pretty much constantly adjusting your positioning or attacking a corner.
The bus stop entrance always catches people out, a nice tight series of 90 degree corners linked together.

I'll try and post up more once I have taken the car to other tracks.

AlexB^p · 16th October 2010, 09:27

Spot on guys perfect replies so fa

sexy_gt · 16th October 2010, 10:16

CADWELL PARK *****
my local, feel very at home here. a lot of people are afraid of it due to the narrow run off. its tight and a lot of corners are off camber and blind. its great when you know your way round. i wouldnt say its a high speed track.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DU2JXiiOHs

BEDFORD GT****
love this place. 4 miles per lap if your driving the GT. mostly flat, kerbs are nice and smooth. 120mph in a standard vts max speed. its like your favourite fast A road.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2pYBX4a9N0

MALLORY PARK***
been once, loved it. was very unsure at first as it is a short track 57.00 my fastest lap (without diff). very enjoyable and very fast. worth a shot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48JojLFtJQU

OULTON PARK *****
very twisty and fast. shell hairpin is brilliant. some very high speed late apex corners. hard to perfect but still very good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjREGip3WLo

ROCKINGHAM **
nice track, ive only driven it on fcs so riddled with novices. plenty to enjoy. there are a few diffirent variants of track to chose from. fast but not as rewarding as most tracks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxlfNYqWOQk

DONINNGTON ****
fast indeed. very nasty when wet due to the high speed sweepers. plenty of room for overtaking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mME8St3gPTY

SILVERSTONE **
2 stars as i have only driven the southern curcuit. quite a dissapointment. not much to it. unfortunatly i have no footage

ELVINGTON AIRFIELD ***
the very first trackday i did. both me and my partner drove this. high speed, very wide run off. very safe. let down by rough track shredding tyres. again no footage.

i hope this helps?

sexy_gt · 16th October 2010, 10:22

i would alo like to point out something from most of those clips. the quality of manners from other drivers suck! drivers must learn to move over when a faster car is behind them.

Ryan^p · 16th October 2010, 14:45

Brands - often people feel its not a good track because the indy circuit is so short. However the track has a multitude of cambers with off camber high speed blind turn in points at paddock, and fast flowing S' bend through surtees. The track flows nicely and has a few areas where grip isnt great (exit of clearways being one that season after season seems to need replacing). Not to bad on tyres, be careful in the wet as the various cambers can result in standing water just where you dont want it. A good track which can be easy to learn the basics of but very easy to loose time in a couple of places. If you can lap sub 1min here in a saxo you are doing well.

Llandow - for me its not the best track, but then again most days there in car clubs its around £60-80 a day per driver. So cheap as chips, very abrasive material used which will kill tyres on a day there. Its not a difficult circuit nor demanding you can lap for hours there without much fatigue, the bus stop is the only notable part of the track which has a few corners, the rest of it is 2 long straights as it was an old airfield from the war. Run off down the bottom end from the longest straight isnt the best. A giggle but easy to get bored at.

Silverstone GP - A long circuit which is very wide due to its use in FIA motorsport events. A real power circuit, having a nimble car here isnt that great when theres a series of longish straights, and corners with so much run off even a barge can get round it without to much hassle. Its a good fun circuit mind, with some nice flowing corners and plenty of run off incase a mistake is made. Wont kill tyres but the curbs if you abuse them to much can punish the car a touch.

Bruntingthorpe - Very poor surface, will damage tyres and is very bumpy due to the nature of the airfield material. Quite bad with stones, so a place where when following other cars closely dont be surprised if you end up with damage to the paint or glass on the front end of the car. Again a real power circuit due to the nature of the long straights due to being an airfield.

The Ring - For me over rated, lots of fast traffic with no track etiquate from the continent. Bikers doing silly things and loads of track stoppages due to incidents from the above. The track has some great corners but the experience is easy to be mared and the costs of a mistake by you/someone else can be very very big.

VTR_Craig · 16th October 2010, 19:09

Cadwell park -

Fantastic track well suited to saxo's due to its twisty nature and lack of high speed straights. Very rewarding when you get it right. Very tight in some areas with only a few overtaking points. As said before a few blind corners that makes it exciting when you know where to aim. Fun for passengers that don't know where your aiming. 2 main straights where you are touching about 100mph (in a cammed VTR). Very hilly (if thats a word) but no chance to relax going round.

VTR_Craig · 16th October 2010, 19:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by sexy_gt

i would alo like to point out something from most of those clips. the quality of manners from other drivers suck! drivers must learn to move over when a faster car is behind them.

That seat completely ruined that session for you on cadwell.

when i was on in august there was a big jag that didnt have a clue about lines etc but down the straight he just kept his foot planted and i couldnt get past.

Completely ruins the session, leave ego's in the paddock and use your mirrors to let others enjoy themselves!!

jonathon5 · 16th October 2010, 23:26

Croft : Reasonably quick, only a couple of corners can leave a std vts floundering inbetween gears. Back section of the course is very quick & flowing, overall very very good. Hampered by noise restrictions though.

Teesside autodrome : Reasonable straight the only place to pass, all of the corrners are slow & when it gets when its like an ice rink.

Elvington : Good straight Std VTS hits 115 to 120 mph, surface is very abrasive, lots of run off .

The Nurburgring : Quite simply on the right day in the right car its on another level, nothing compares. However get it wrong & you will never forget it for all the wrong reasons. Not for the inexperienced. Can get so busy its like a procession,

jpsaxo · 17th October 2010, 10:13

Mallory Park, thought i'd add this to our reviews seeing as I've been there heaps of times

So firstly a picture of the track...

And description:-

Starting on the start finish line in 4th gear about 110mph heading down towards Gerards one of the longest right hander turns in the UK, changing down into third just before turning in then accelerating round the corner changing up to 4th just as the exit of the corner appears to be close and coming out of the corner about 100mph down the Stebbe straight up to 115mph heading towards the Dunlop esses. Changing down into third just before taking the right hander running out as wide as possible to cut the short left hander and accelerating up to 4th and about 105mph down to Shaws Corner. Hard onto the brakes down all the way to 2nd and about 20mph for the very tight right hander and accelerting out of the corner again running as wide as possible to gain as much speed for the left hander Devils elbow coming up. Change into 3rd accelerating hard all the way out of Shaws Croner dropping down the hill on devils elbow and changing into 4th as you hit the bottom of the hill and across the start finish line doing about 110mph

P.s this is with my old VTS final drive and 7,800rpm limiter.

What happens when you get Gerards wrong...

+ I went off there, and plenty of others!

Start finish Straight

Devils elbow

And a small video my mate made up

Lap in the wet in my mango

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t=MOV00287.flv

AlexB^p · 17th October 2010, 17:52

Nice pic of mine there josh

adamskiTNR · 17th October 2010, 21:51

Mallory is a great little track. I was there all this weekend with the formula renault racing in formula 4. Some very tricky parts that like to upset the car a lot on the track. And be prepared to wear you left hand tyres out pronto. The trickiest part is the exit of the hairpin, as on the exit you have to go across a lateral ridge and makes it hard to put the power down. (this is with a rwd formula car so may not be as bad with a saxo)

jpsaxo · 17th October 2010, 22:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamskiTNR

Mallory is a great little track. I was there all this weekend with the formula renault racing in formula 4. Some very tricky parts that like to upset the car a lot on the track. And be prepared to wear you left hand tyres out pronto. The trickiest part is the exit of the hairpin, as on the exit you have to go across a lateral ridge and makes it hard to put the power down. (this is with a rwd formula car so may not be as bad with a saxo)

You should have let me know I live literally a few fields away from mallory. In fact it was prob you blasting around the track I could hear lol

adamskiTNR · 17th October 2010, 22:49

It was quite a racket lol. There was an old skool formula ford there that must have known the sound testers. It was crazy loud

jsdvtr · 18th October 2010, 10:48

Some good infomation here for new people to trackdays

What do you guys think would be a good track for starting out on for the inexperienced? And why?

I personally would like to do croft as my first trackday as it seems to be not very busy so wouldnt have to worry so much about people overtaking all the time and can concentrate abit more ahead of you rather than looking behind all the time. Its not a fairly fast track and a main concern for me would be the run offs.

jpsaxo · 18th October 2010, 10:52

Llandow is good for first timer, enough to get your teeth stuck in but if you don't enjoy
it you will have only wasted 70-80quid

jsdvtr · 18th October 2010, 10:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpsaxo

Llandow is good for first timer, enough to get your teeth stuck in but if you don't enjoy
it you will have only wasted 70-80quid

That is not a bad price thought for a trackday. A mate of mine is really into his trackdays although he's in the raf but they do trackdays on a airfield which would maybe worth considering.

Reechard · 18th October 2010, 15:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsdvtr

That is not a bad price thought for a trackday. A mate of mine is really into his trackdays although he's in the raf but they do trackdays on a airfield which would maybe worth considering.

Airfield days are generally pretty good to get started on. Normally lots of run off and you can learn how your car handles without worrying as much about other cars.

My advice to people new to track would be go slow, let people pass you, and just learn the lines of tracks. Then as you go round add a little bit of speed as you feel confident.
This can also be applied to any new track you visit.

gavin_t · 18th October 2010, 21:45

Popped my track cherry at Brands hatch and I think its still my fave.

The first time you drop into paddock hill and feel the compression at the bottom is

Nice range of corners there and its just been resurfaced so is tip top condition. Some of the best marshalls there too very friendly and helpful

One of those tracks you can learn quickly due to its sort lenght but still spend ages mastering. Still cant quite get druids right haha.

Castle coombe I have done many quick action day sessions there. I like it as well as its got a bit of everything.

Mallory park. Only been here once for PPC show but thought it was good as well. Very short but again has good variety and something to test all aspects of your car. Only downer is its a bit easy to get stuck behind a slower car here unless you have the go to get past on the straights

Silverstone. Done the new GP track at trax for two sessions wasnt really feeling it. Very wide and I think you need a fast car to get the feel for it. Although I may be been biased due to the bad organisation and knob ends that were on track at the time.

Nurburgring
Massivly impressive track to drive on and I still have no idea of the complete thing after two trips. Shame you cant fully enjoy it due to bikes and camacasy drivers. It bites without warning too and leaves you with a hefty bill as I have found out in the past

I still go though mainly for the holiday and atmasphere. If you like cars you will love it there

Nurburgring GP track

Better the the actul thing for flat out fun. 30 euros sees you a 20-30 min session and go on a quite weekday evening and there will probably be only 5 cars on it. All our UK cars on our time haha.
Bit like silverstone as its a big wide track but alot of fun just to blast round especially the chicaine

Was like our own little BTCC session when we were all on it together haha

Bedford autodrome GT

Ideal if you are new to it our trying out a new car/setup. Long curcuit so cuts down on having to overtake and traffic. Also loads of run off area. Bit flat though and lack of scenery .

Doing Oulton on the 6th so will update you on that