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Exclusive TTOC track session @ Audi Driver International

793 views 13 replies 4 participants last post by  KevtoTTy  
#1 ·
#6 ·
Sadly, the costs of a club like ours hiring a full circuit for the whole day for our exclusive use are beyond our means, and are beyond the means of many clubs.

The cost would be thousands of pounds, and the committee would have to front the whole cost up front, with no guarantee of any takers, and I'm not prepared to risk both the club money and my money in that way, as we'd be personally liable if it went tits up.

ADI is a popular, well organised event, with typically 100 cars on track and it's perfect for many people to get a taste of track driving.

Compare ÂŁ25 to the typical costs here, and it's an ideal low cost choice for many people

http://www.trackdays.co.uk/calendar/
 
#7 ·
Groodles said:
ÂŁ25 for 10-15 minutes of track time?

Now if you managed to secure a circuit for an entire DAY, I might be more interested.
It's a bargain I'd say. If you pay ÂŁ200 for a track day consider how much track time you are actually using, you will likely be doing around 90 minutes worth of hot laps based on 45x2 minute laps. Coupled with the fact that it's a TT exclusive slot, what's not to like? :p
 
#8 ·
toot3954 said:
Groodles said:
ÂŁ25 for 10-15 minutes of track time?

Now if you managed to secure a circuit for an entire DAY, I might be more interested.
It's a bargain I'd say. If you pay ÂŁ200 for a track day consider how much track time you are actually using, you will likely be doing around 90 minutes worth of hot laps based on 45x2 minute laps. Coupled with the fact that it's a TT exclusive slot, what's not to like? :p
Track days generally run in two formats. Either by "Session" or "Open Pitlane".

On a "Session" day, there is usually a morning and afternoon session, each one being 4 hours. Each hour is broken down into three 20 minute sessions (beginners, intermediates, experts). Therefore if you use every 20 minute slot in your group, you have 8 x 20 minutes of time in a day, which adds up to 160 minutes of track time.

On an "Open Pitlane" day, you can join/leave the track at any time, for any amount of time. The only limiting factor is how many cars are on the track at the same time. I get a LOT more track time on an Open Pitlane day.

Therefore ÂŁ200 for a day (160+ minutes) is much better value.
 
#9 ·
phope said:
Sadly, the costs of a club like ours hiring a full circuit for the whole day for our exclusive use are beyond our means, and are beyond the means of many clubs.

The cost would be thousands of pounds, and the committee would have to front the whole cost up front, with no guarantee of any takers, and I'm not prepared to risk both the club money and my money in that way, as we'd be personally liable if it went tits up.

ADI is a popular, well organised event, with typically 100 cars on track and it's perfect for many people to get a taste of track driving.

Compare ÂŁ25 to the typical costs here, and it's an ideal low cost choice for many people

http://www.trackdays.co.uk/calendar/
I understand where you're coming from, but there are other ways of doing it.

I've attended other owners club track days where the club has organised a day within a circuit's normal track day calendar. Assuming you have enough interest from the TTOC and this forum, then just ask a circuit (I know Donnington do it!) if they will refrain from taking bookings for other models/manufacturers (for a specific date) until a set cutoff date. So long as the date is far enough in the future and you manage to fill all the places for that date then it's all good. If you dont manage to fill all the places by the agreed cutoff date, it doesn't matter, as the circuit will continue to book as normal and the day will fill naturally.

The circuit is happy as they've still filled their normal calendar date, and the club is happy because they have (hopefully) the vast majority of the cars attending on that date.

No initial outlay is required by the owners club.

Simples.
 
#10 ·
Yup, and that remains a possibility for the future. We'll see how this goes, and see what to do next.

If you know the history of this club, you'd know that a previous committee almost bankrupted the club by overextending itself, booking a large event at a track, incurring a lot of cost, which wasn't taken up nearly as well by members as was needed - hence our relative caution.

The way you describe it sounds "simples" enough but it also requires a fair amount of notice for people. This opportunity came up at relatively short notice.A couple of hundred pounds plus all the other costs of a full track day (fuel, tyres, servicing) that someone would incur is also quite a lot of money for many people, especially when times are tight and people are feeling the pinch.

You have to remember that this is not a track day, but a session at an organised event (Audi Driver International) that combines a track session, concours, club stands, traders, autojumble, gala dinner & reception. People can do as little or as much of the overall day that suits them

It's an event where many club members were going to be attending anyway, so this gives them a chance to do something else on the day, as part of an exclusive club track session, at a low cost, and they can also purchase additional slots on the day from the organisers directly if they want more track time.
 
#11 ·
Groodles said:
Track days generally run in two formats. Either by "Session" or "Open Pitlane".

On a "Session" day, there is usually a morning and afternoon session, each one being 4 hours. Each hour is broken down into three 20 minute sessions (beginners, intermediates, experts). Therefore if you use every 20 minute slot in your group, you have 8 x 20 minutes of time in a day, which adds up to 160 minutes of track time.

On an "Open Pitlane" day, you can join/leave the track at any time, for any amount of time. The only limiting factor is how many cars are on the track at the same time. I get a LOT more track time on an Open Pitlane day.

Therefore ÂŁ200 for a day (160+ minutes) is much better value.
Fair point. However, I disagree with what you say about the limiting factor. Your car is a big limiting factor. Hence my breakdown of actual time taken doing hot laps, when accounting for things such as break periods and cool down periods.