December 22, 2019
It's addictive
Going motor racing is one of the most addictive sports I have ever competed in. The highs, lows, passions, competition, time and energy required is not something to step into lightly. This blog is my mind dump on all things racing; from the first initial track day(s), building a workshop so I had space to house a car in the garage, researching which championship to enter, buying a car, building a car, fixing a car…… its all here for people to see.
Hopefully my ramblings will help others into the sport or give you guidance on anything that I may have struggled with when searching for info.
My first track day
It all started in 2012, when I'd got to a point in my IT career, where I had enough disposable income to put a proverbial toe in the water of driving as fast as I could round a bit of tarmac. But it wouldn't be until I joined Rackspace in 2016 that I went back to the track.
So I jumped into the whole racing scene by going on a track day. It was a cold damp December back in 2012 and I'd decided to try out a hire car at (my now favorite) track, Donington Park. Bookatrack.com had a special deal on which had tempted me into a Caterham R300 for the day. In hind sight it wasn't the best time of year or vehicle to go on your first track day, as the resulting sessions knocked my confidence somewhat. But “hey !” it's all part of the learning process.
Why did it knock my confidence ? Well… I made three mistakes. The first was not booking any instruction until the end of the day. I'd never driven a Caterham before. This wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the fact that the R300 was also shod in Toyo R888 tyres. These are track tyres with very little grip until they get up to temperature. This leads on to my second mistake. Track days in December are cheap for a reason, and a cold damp day along with a lack of experience put paid to my attempts to get the tyres warm. The final mistake ? Well that was booking a rear wheel drive car with loads of power and very little weight. Up to that day all my experience of “driving fast” was either FWD or 4WD, so RWD was very new to me.
Result ? I ended up side ways going through Craner Curves behind a very sedately driven Mazda 5 MPS safety car on the sighting lap. I can only put it down to my time in karts that I managed to save the slide using full opposite lock in front of nearly all the other track day attendees. Needless to say, I spent the rest of the day nanny-ing the car around praying I wouldn't have an off or spin in front of someone.
So my advice is to do your first track day in the summer, in a car you know and with some instruction as well.
Theres loads more to say on the subject, so keep coming back for more articles as I work my way up to going racing.