How Did You Begin Your Track Racing Hobby?

[SargeRX8]

Ive never done track work in my life. Ive done go karting and really, I was shit scared lol(I was 15). Ive watched a fair few videos of trackwork in Sydney and Melbourne and even the videos get me nervous. On the street I don't race, I don't speed through traffic. Really all I might do is the boost when its quiet or just to overtake a some cars. Anyone can floor it in a straight line or a bendy road but I want to do that slide around the corner shit, come out straight and fight dragons n shit.

What got you started and how did you start? If I wanted to start, where do I begin? I'm concerned not only about my health and safety but also others on the track and that of the car I drive. I see sooooo many close calls on the tracks. I see the constant handbrake being pulled around a turn and some f**king insane steering going on. I don't even do that stuff in Need for Speed lol.

Any pointers/advice? I hate to ask but have there ever been any major injuries or fatalities on track work within this or any other known club? It all makes me nervous but I am keen to try it. I just don't know where you got all that practice from. Ive watched a few videos on drifting techniques and how to get your car to slide into turns n what not. Sure it looks easy in the video but I am still shit scared to try it out and on top of that I wouldn't know where to try it out. I would be embarrassing my self taking the car to the track for the first time. Are there places which conduct private lessons and what not?

Guide me, link me, show me, take me!

Also my cars brakes are currently no good so obviously I want to do the theory part first as I sort out the brakes and then do the practical lol.

[N1GTR]

One problem with new people hearing about trackdays is that you dont realise that bad news travels fast, but trackdays happen every day around the country at different tracks without incident - you dont hear about them cause nothing goes wrong and no one says "Hey man did you hear nothing went wrong today at Wakefield? Yeah, it was a great day and everyone had fun".

Fix your brakes, they will cop a hammering and going quick with crap brakes is just dumb.

Once you've done that, go to any day by John Boston and he can teach you the basics or go to any SAUNSW days where tuition is on offer. Wakefield is the best choice of places to go to learn, dont go to MDTC unless you're sure you'll stay on the black stuff.

Are you sure circuits are your thing? Some guys seem to prefer skidpans (myself included thesedays) and there's a huge section of guys that do both.

[Yo-Yo]

skidpans are a relatively safe & fun way to get the feel of your car's handling & limits

tracking your car is a whole other ball game to do it properly, it's all in prepping your car right, maybe find a track day that will have proper instructors who can sit in the car with you to give you pointers

come along to an sau nsw event, there are plenty of friendly folks there willing to give you advice (just have to sort the good advice from the mostly crap )

joking!

[Pezhead]

You've actually already started down the right track - recognising that performance driving are skills that are developed through theory, practice and critique.

This club in particular is one of the best I've been involved with in terms of providing great events and opportunity to explore the limits of your car. Safety is top of mind and there are lots of experienced guys here to learn from.

I started my track experience some years ago in America. I had a modestly modified Celica at the time, Jap motor, street tyres, stock brakes & suspension. I learned a lot from my first outing and am still learning lots.

In my opinion there is one golden rule of club level sport - be conscious of the limits of your car and conditions. There's lots of other stuff to learn but if you understand this one concept you have a good base to chase down speed, drift, skid pan - what ever.

And how to you learn how to read when your car is telling you it's at it's limits? Well real world practice of course. The best way to start your journey is to build up your skills through practical experience in environments where you are controlling a few elements at a time. So in other words - work up to a full on speed event through other events first.

First advice is to come to a Texi (skid pan days we run at Nirimba Tafe). We set out cones and you memorise the course and run it. It's all 1st and 2nd gear work but don't let that fool you. Learning how to manage 1500kg of sliding mass takes a bit of practice. You'll also learn how your car handles without as much danger from high speed. You'll be amazed that a car even with the best tyres and handling mods will massively understeer when you try to do a 45km 180 degree turn around a cone. Learning to brake, enter, control and exit on a skid pan accentuates the kind of driving you do on a road course. Learning how your car behaves on this accentuated/extreme condition at low speed will help you feel what your car tells you more subtly at the track.

Then build up more and more confidence and learning until you feel prepared for a track day. There are also lots of guys that go out for a track day right away too. I just felt that since you asked what we though was the "right" approach - I'd offer the suggestion.

Steve's advice is also so true - there's no substitute for getting in a course with a performance driving professional. You'll learn heaps more, more quickly at one of those events. Well worth the investment for a bit extra, but make sure it's one where you have plenty of access to a driving instructor - not just one session.

I could go on and on but that should get you started.

[tweety bird]

keen to know this stuff to, i have been thinking about buying a track car so i can learn to drive/ have some fun.

[evil_weevil]

you dont need a track car or even a performance car to start track days.

I had my first taste back in 2001/02 at EC for a driver day with motoconcepts. Duncan and fatz did these days too and quite a few old members.

I did it in a VT commodore. this was my only car.

I did 2 track days in it, and 2 skid pan days.

the two skid pan days were great and learnt a lot on how to handle a car.

I then sold the VT,

bought an R33 and joined SAU NSW

did a couple more practice days at EC and skid pan days. these days were done with Automotion (Aaron McGill) and other days with autosports and John Boston. best bang for buck mod? seat time + driving instructor.

then decided I wanted to go a bit further.

modified the R33 for a bit of performance and safety. bought a daily drive so R33 if got damaged I could still get around.

joined the southern sporting car club and started to do supersprints. a good entry level motorsport class.

R33 became a money pit

sold R33

bought MX5 race car (still rego'd too!). still have a daily drive and trailer.

did more supersprints (won my class in 2009 - 2B)

now doing door to door in the MX5.

its not cheap, its hell fun, and it is dangerous.

if you have a level head on your shoulders you'll be right.

I have had some damage out there, not as bad as others but it does happen and be prepared for it.

CSH!

edit - sarge - brakes are only as good as the tyres you have...no point in having awesome brakes and the tyres not holding up to their task...

a good freshen up - DBA slotted, QFM pads, dot5 fluid, braided lines and a good set of street tyres

[oweban]

Federal 595's *cough SAU NSW members cough*

[Galois]

Maybe worth doing an advanced drivers course to get some confidence up? Better to be under-confident than over-confident though. I haven't been to a track day, but I bet the members above have seen A LOT of over-confident young blokes embarrass themselves by trying to drive like lewis hamilton.

Once I get an interesting car again I'll be right into an advanced drivers course and track days. I used to do some karting, never raced only did practise days. Absolutely loved it! Cheapest competitive motorsport out there.

If you want to just get some quicker driving your belt, maybe try some karting? Some tracks/places lease out 9hp karts, which are the slowest class of the australian karting association. Would feel pretty quick getting out of a road car and into one though. Might be an easy way to build up some basic skill as slowly as you want without risking your car. Obviously a kart handles quite differently to a road car, but things like recognising some oversteer and understeer might ease your mind a little.

[GTR-N1]

......................................... and fight dragons n shit.........................

I think I've seen this phrase before.

Could you please explain to an old timer like me what this means?

[hamiltonau]

A LOT of over-confident young blokes embarrass themselves by trying to drive like lewis hamilton.

Me for the first six years of my trackdays,

probably still me

[niZmO_Man]

First get your car up to scratch so it doesn't die on the track day. Redo (if you have to) brakes, suspension, tyres, bushes, etc.

I'd recommend changing your oil (plus filter) just before and after the track day.

Don't use cheap parts on your car. I have first hand experience when the [cheap] front pads on my car died very quickly, resulting in the piston coming out of the caliper as I was thrashing around Oran Park late last year.

I converted the front brakes to R33 4 pots that afternoon in the car park . (For those that went, White/grey R31 Skyline, used a hammer to create clearance for the discs hehehe).

Once you do a track day, you'll be hooked! You'll learn a lot about your car and more about yourself and your driving.

Look after your car during the day, don't redline every gear change if the motor isn't built for it, back off it you have to, etc.

Good luck and have fun. Don't be afraid to go out and have a fang.

[Galois]

Me for the first six years of my trackdays,

probably still me

Don't get me wrong there, I sure will too. Just hoping to take it easy, stay on the black stuff and not get in anyone's way!

[hamiltonau]

you will be right, im sure they will put you in the noobs group and after a few sessions you will be chomping at the bit for people to get out of your way!

follow nismo mans advice re the car bits, i dont know if i have ever had my 'bushes' checked but i have managed to stay out of them so far so must be doing something right..

[tweety bird]

i don't mean full on track car i ment car that is more trackable like a gtst or a silvia. at the moment i have a honda prelude and it's a auto, the auto transmission in my car is well known to destroy it self when pushed and because of that i don't want to push it.

[MBS206]

I would have to disagree with one thing that has been said in this thread, and that that is that you should NOT avoid our MDTC day.

You sound like you're the under confident guy an as such, will fit in with the rookie group perfectly. You're not going to attempt to throw the car as hard as possible, so you don't have much of a chane at coming off, and if you do it's not going to be at 100mph so you'll be fine.

This would be a good day as a starting point, as would our texikhana in September. Both days are cheap, and you will learn HEAPS!!! Plus, SAUNSW is all about introducing members (and non members) into motorsport the correct way, with guidance at safe and fun locations.

[Pezhead]

So are you wanting to get into Drift or Grip driving? Two totally different driving sytles/technique.

If you just want to go fast, then yeah track days are great and an opportunity for you to go as quick as you feel is safe.

If you want to learn to drift then that's totally different. Most tracks don't let you drift while normal grip driving is taking place - it's too dangerous to have both on the track at the same time. If you want to drift then check out drift school at adrenalin. They run deals all the time and you rent their prepared cars so you don't even need to thrash your car first off.

As other have said, be absolutly sure that your car is in mechanical tip top shape before bringing it out. I don't recall you saying what car you have. If it is a Skyline then be sure to get some decent brake pads. Skylines weigh a fair bit and are therefore hard on brakes. It is one of the scaryest feelings when your brakes glaze over. If you have a silvia or lighter nissan, they are easier on brakes but I believe it is better to be safe then sorry. Aggro Dave thought his brakes were good - right up until they glazed at the end of the straight at Wakefield.

Come along to one of our social events and pull up a chair for a chat. We're all friendly and happy to have the chat.

Or come out to the MDTC day just to watch (not sure if we can offer rides at that event or not). Also come to the Texi Day in September and ride along with a few people. I'll be there and happy to give you a ride in the car so you can experience what it feels like. That's free experience learning!

This is a great club with plenty of people to help you out.

[DaveO74]

I did my first track day with SAU last year at wakefield. I had been in a similar situation go you Sarge, wasn't confident, worried about making a fool of myself etc etc.

The guys there (big thanks to chubbs, ando, matty and Ryan) helped me out so much with advise and where they thought I could go better that the nerves where gone after the second session. I had the best day and had a blast.

Don't be worried about coming off the track at a place like wakie either, so much runoff that you will just spin out onto the grass. Hell I came off with Chubbs in the car on my very first lap, not to mention a few other times that day.

No one gave me shit and all the guys were nothing but helpful, they have all been newbs once too mate.

I say get the car in good order and give it a go, you will love it.

Advanced driving course wouldnt hurt as mentioned above, I did one many years a go at amaroo park when I got my p's and they are very valuable.

Just do it!!!!!!!!

[The Bogan]

Usually there is a first timers lap at the beginning of the day where a experienced driver will show you the braking points and lines, my first day was with SAU at MDTS, from there I did days at Oran Park, Wakefield and Eastern Creek, Im loving it, though I should have focused on learning the stock car first and then upgraded the brakes suspension and kept the power upgrading till later, but no as I'm stupid and now have a overpowered car with a underskilled driver.

And yes its stupid fun.

My mantra is," All The gear with no idea"

[tweety bird]

stupid question

what's the difference between the mdtc track days and another track day like the rensw vs saunsw track day at the start of the year?

[MBS206]

Completely different track.

MDTC is a different venue.

The MDTC day is being run under our old philosophy of just head out and learn. After December our Wakie days will turn back this way again also and not have the timing so we can run passenger sessions all dayto help with training and fun!