Snetterton-22nd March

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:36 pm

duncan wrote:or tuition - they will both have the same effect.

Have you got Phil Glew's number?

Post by **Stuart** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:37 pm

Micared wrote: But i'm still intrigued to know why the marshall's let the guy continue to act this way all day? Is it because of the credit crunch and the organisers are too scared to uphold the saftey briefing for fear of certain drivers/clubs etc not attending again or is this how all trackdays are? If so, then whats the point of the saftey brief? Liability insurance? I really enjoyed the on track etiquette displayed by 99.9% of the drivers and felt proud to be involved with the day as a whole. But why let some tit spoil it for the others? It seems to me that if you want to drive like a complete twat, you are given carte blanche to do so and the rules mean nothing. Sunday was one of the best days out i've had in a long long time, really superb. Shame it was tarnished by the above.
I'm sorry if i sound unexperienced and naive, but having only attended two trackdays i am as green as they come. Rant over :oops:

You don't sound inexperienced Jon, you sound frustrated, which is understandable. Ok, my perspective;

The safety briefing is there to provide a guideline for etiquette and acceptable behaviour. This is an opportunity for the TDO (Track day organiser) to stamp their authority on the day but in truth, it's difficult at this stage to truly influence much that happens on the circuit.

Marshall's are employed by the circuit not the TDO and they're there to maintain safety at all times. How black flags are treated varies from TDO to TDO. I always use a two hit rule which has served me very well. Everyone and anyone can do something silly so this means that you get one black flag when you do something silly and the next one sends you home. I have no idea what Javelin do. Once the guy in the Caterham got a black flag, he should have come into the pits and got a roasting for the error of his ways. From that point on, he or she's on a final warning; behave or go home.

No, not all track days are the same. Javelin have been running events for years and their reputation is very good. My personal experience of the only day I've done with them, was that there was too big a difference between bad drivers in quick cars and good drivers in quick cars. This disparity caused problems much as it did on Sunday. Some people experienced it, many didn't and that's on both days.

Essentially I wouldn't worry too much about your recent day out, but I would urge you to get back out there again as soon as you can. Maybe a different track, maybe a different organiser. I'm lucky enough to have been doing this for years but I'm still loving it after all of these years and a handful of shitty days out too.

I hope a different perspective helps Jon. Keep plugging away mate

ginger ninja · Post by **ginger ninja** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:40 pm

Micared wrote:I apologise in advance for the 2nd rant of the night

But i'm still intrigued to know why the marshall's let the guy continue to act this way all day? Is it because of the credit crunch and the organisers are too scared to uphold the saftey briefing for fear of certain drivers/clubs etc not attending again or is this how all trackdays are? If so, then whats the point of the saftey brief? Liability insurance?
I really enjoyed the on track etiquette displayed by 99.9% of the drivers and felt proud to be involved with the day as a whole. But why let some tit spoil it for the others? It seems to me that if you want to drive like a complete twat, you are given carte blanche to do so and the rules mean nothing. Sunday was one of the best days out i've had in a long long time, really superb. Shame it was tarnished by the above.
I'm sorry if i sound unexperienced and naive, but having only attended two trackdays i am as green as they come. Rant over :oops:

No need to apologise Jon, what you said is true, that guy was a complete idiot but there did seem that there was more sensible drivers there this time than there was in January, I know Gary was ranting about that one.

When I was waiting in the pit lane in Garys car the marshal did black flag the bloke in the caterham and when we passed the marshal Gary clapped at him for doing it :lol:
Just a shame that an idiot like that has to spoil things but thankfully he didnt cause a major incident.

P20SPD · Post by **P20SPD** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 7:42 am

I made the mistake of doing an "open track session" after the saturday time attack session at donington in 2007, to try and get to grips with craner.

Christ on a bike, i have never ever seen driving like it my life. It was like dodgems, seriously. That taught me early on, that properly organised track days are often very very good in comparison.

Will NEVER do an open track session again.

duncan · Post by **duncan** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:11 am

I did the same at Silverstone the year before last. Scarey.

But .... nothing can compare to Hochenheim last year - 140 cars on track at the same time, 6 abreast going into the first hairpin trying to outbrake each other

duncan · Post by **duncan** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:18 am

Nige video from that:

http://www.vimeo.com/1660897

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:15 pm

Mikey,S wrote:Well Done Harry and Russ hope that all went well.....it's brilliant ain't it! I did a Sprint at North Weald Sunday 15th just me And Logan in the class but it was good to come second!!

Hello Mike, good to hear from you especialy as your day went as well as ours, very happy with the way the car performed I didnt make any adjustments to the suspension as I wanted to get a feel for the handling as it is. before experimenting so any set up advice would be gratefully received. I dont know if you have driven Snetteron but I felt I was down on RPM going down Revet only managed to pull 5500 perhaps I need to get out of sears a bit quicker
The new car looks good perhaps I will be ready for a trade up in a couple of years
Again thanks

Nige · Post by **Nige** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:37 pm

As the TDO said in the briefing, if there is an issue, TELL THEM ABOUT IT. They don`t have eyes everywhere and need the other drivers to let them know if there is an issue. What we may think is obvious on track, may not appear so from the pitwall...

I have more problems than most on this forum with slower cars, I don`t have the power you guys do (160 HP) to get past on the straights, frustrating doesn`t come close at times :lol: , however, i`ve done enough trackdays to not get hot headed, OK I may drive close to let them know that they really ARE holding me up and I could go quicker, sometimes its the only way to make them move. The blue flags can`t be relied on either.

Here are a couple of incar laps from Snetterton on Sunday, you`ll see what I mean with the scooby, you can hear I`m on part throttle on lap 2 compared to lap one, but on the straights, he leaves me. I need more power

oh and watch for Duncans short appearance at the end :-D

http://www.vimeo.com/3853276

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:59 pm

Nige wrote:As the TDO said in the briefing, if there is an issue, TELL THEM ABOUT IT. They don`t have eyes everywhere and need the other drivers to let them know if there is an issue. What we may think is obvious on track, may not appear so from the pitwall...

I know that the "issue" was brought up several times by more than one driver, yet little/nothing seemed to be done about it?

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:06 pm

stuart wrote:
Micared wrote: But i'm still intrigued to know why the marshall's let the guy continue to act this way all day? Is it because of the credit crunch and the organisers are too scared to uphold the saftey briefing for fear of certain drivers/clubs etc not attending again or is this how all trackdays are? If so, then whats the point of the saftey brief? Liability insurance? I really enjoyed the on track etiquette displayed by 99.9% of the drivers and felt proud to be involved with the day as a whole. But why let some tit spoil it for the others? It seems to me that if you want to drive like a complete twat, you are given carte blanche to do so and the rules mean nothing. Sunday was one of the best days out i've had in a long long time, really superb. Shame it was tarnished by the above.
I'm sorry if i sound unexperienced and naive, but having only attended two trackdays i am as green as they come. Rant over :oops:

You don't sound inexperienced Jon, you sound frustrated, which is understandable. Ok, my perspective]