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Track Driving Course @ Oulton


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Has anyone done one of Club MSV's Track Driving courses? There's one I really want to do later this month at Oulton but I've never been on track before and don't mind admitting to being a lil bit nervous!

 

One thing that puts me off a bit is that the course is on the same day as an 'open pit lane track day' and I wouldn't want to be causing a nuisance of myself going round too slow or anything daft.

 

Also on the MSV website it seems to make a point of saying that Oulton is much more challenging track than others. However, it's literally only 15 mins from my house so rather convenient.

 

Thanks :thumbs:

 

S.

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Can I stop over then when I do a track day there then? :p

 

MSV are a very good TDO, so no fear about them running anything dodgy or unsafe. Don't worry about being slow, I can promise you that by the end of the day you'll be far from the slowest car on track, good tuition is worth seconds. A challenging track is more fun than an easy one, and if you drive within your limits you'll be fine.

 

Go do it, and enjoy yourself :thumbs:

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I had my first track day experience at Oulton Park in January. It was only for half a day with 20 minutes instruction near the end. The afternoon was great and the instructor in 20 minutes improved my driving more than I did in 3 hours.

 

I spoke to a few people and they all said that Oulton is one of the more testing circuits but I didn't have any issues as I wasn't driving like a loon on my first time there. If you drive within your limits to find what you and the car are capable of you'll be fine. I started off looking in my mirrors alot worrying about faster car but you just get used to it and stop thinking about it. You'll end up having a much better and faster experience if you just concentrate on your own driving and just let people past when it happens.

 

I'm definitely looking at going again! :thumbs:

 

Oh and the day I went to was Novice only, by the looks of some of the cars and drivers they didn't all look like novices so an open pit lane probably wouldn't be that much different, certainly nothing to be worried about!

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When is it and how much does it cost? I've not been to a track day other than doing a driving experience in a lambo and Ferrari where I couldn't even get above about 5k revs so I think some tuition would be a good idea.

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Thanks for the replies and reassuring me. As mentioned in my first post I think I'm most worried about getting in the way of the other people using the track who are non-novices but it sounds like that shouldn't be an issue :)

 

Gudzy - it's pretty expensive to be fair - £350 - and on 20th March and a full day. They seem do do half day ones from £175. Linky here: http://www.clubmsv.com/car-home/driver-training.aspx I guess March's could be full by now but they seem to run one once a month. They're also available at other MSV tracks ie Snetterton and Brands Hatch.

 

Can I stop over then when I do a track day there then? :p

that little Zedley chap is currently saying at Chateau Squee so he can give you the low down on the facilities available :lol:

 

S.

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Assuming you get a full day's tuition included, then £350 incl an open pit day isn't too bad. I think I'd be tempted to look for another (cheaper) day where you can rock up to open pit, but pay an extra £20 or so for 30 mins instruction, which would be more than enough to get you started. You can then use the rest of the day as you see fit, and if you need some more lessons then you can always pay for another 30 mins. Bookatrack are ace at this kind of stuff, worth seeking out one of their days if MSV don't do that kind of thing.

 

That said, I will reiterate that £350 for a full day with tuition is really good value, and will definitely be worth it. :)

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I did an Open Pit Lane Trackday at Oulton Park on 2nd March, cost was £150.

 

I was a complete novice and asked for tuition, and got about 15 minutes - it was really useful and completely free. If you have a full day's traiining for £350 that sounds phenomenal value - I looked at a full days CAT training and it was something like £750 so your £350 sounds excellent.

 

I never seemed to get her much over 90 as Oulton has relatively short straights - you certainly need good brakes and I think they take more wear than the engine.

 

Good Luck - have a good day!

Momo_1.jpg

Momo_2.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Those pics are awesome Ian!

 

Do Oulton have photographers there or was that done by a friend/family member?

 

I didn't do the track day in the end as it was all a bit last minute but I'm certainly going to be doing one in the next coming months as from the replies it sounds like a very good value day.

 

Thanks again for your responses :)

 

S.

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  • 1 month later...

Just thought I'd update this thread - gone ahead and booked it (although cost for the full day now £400) for later on in May. I must admit I'm terrified but well excited too ;)

 

Thanks again for your responses and encouragement all :thumbs:

 

S.

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You will love it!

 

This is funny though; me and my mate did a bike track day on monday and he did a free instructor session. They went out, the instructor fracked off and when they came in the instructor said 'I thought you were going to keep up?'

 

Anyway sure yours will be ace, enjoy!

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You will love it!

 

This is funny though; me and my mate did a bike track day on monday and he did a free instructor session. They went out, the instructor fracked off and when they came in the instructor said 'I thought you were going to keep up?'

 

Anyway sure yours will be ace, enjoy!

 

Yikes. Hope my instructor is a bit more patient than that guy!

 

S.

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Sarah, if your day is anything like mine was yesterday you will absolutely love it :p Hope for a full report when you get back!!!

 

Aw, thank you my dear :) went to get the exhaust sound checked today and it failed the circuit's standards ooops. Nothing a few bungs stuck on won't fix though I'm sure.

 

I've seen your thread/report (and replied). Sounds like you had a blast :)

 

S.

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Sarah, if your day is anything like mine was yesterday you will absolutely love it :p Hope for a full report when you get back!!!

 

Aw, thank you my dear :) went to get the exhaust sound checked today and it failed the circuit's standards ooops. Nothing a few bungs stuck on won't fix though I'm sure.

 

I've seen your thread/report (and replied). Sounds like you had a blast :)

 

S.

What was the dB level limit Sarah? I passed 100db test at Combe, I really shouldn't have though lol

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Sarah, I had no idea that tracks even imposed a decibel level until I read that :blush: Mr Zedbelly is completely unmodified at the moment although I have bought a few bits and pieces to improve him aesthetically. Just need to ask my nice friend up in the village if he will fit everything for me ;)

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Well, I survived the track day!....and despite being utter sh!te in the morning absolutely loved it :)

 

Unfortunately the day started badly due to a balls up (not my fault I might add) which meant that my instructor and I went out on track a few minutes late so I didn't get to have a sighting lap. I was properly terrified when I first got out on track as I joined mid session when the other drivers were getting fully 'stuck in' and really going for it.

 

My driving lines were dreadful and my braking even worse. I've never driven on track before and wasn't use to all the hard braking stuff. I really was a complete pile of crap! But thankfully after the lunch break everything just clicked and by the end of the day I think I was a million times better. I was still one of the slowest on the track but did overtake a couple of cars in the afternoon session. I was concentrating on the track so much I wasn't keeping an eye on the speedo but had a few cheeky glances and was getting over 100mph which apparently is pretty fast for Oulton. And I didn't crash :#1:

 

Part of the track driver training day was classroom stuff which meant watching a DVD detailing the circuits' corners which was way above my level as I was still struggling with the basics! Other people on the course who had done track days also found it hard to follow the DVD, particularly as we watched it early on in the morning - it would have been better if it was later on in the day when we knew the layout so could recognise the corners better.

 

There were two instructors per four people on the course for most of the day so we each had 20 min stints then sat 20 mins out which worked out well. The instructors were great, I had a guy called Bill Hewitt who must have had the patience of a saint to get through the day with me.

 

I am definitely going to do another track day, probably novice one next time, and be greedy and buy two or maybe three 20 min instructor sessions. So all in all a successful day despite the bad start - I had tremendous fun and learned a lot! And also got to meet a fellow forum member CrumbMC :wave: (hope you got home safely and had a good day despite the few niggles).

 

S.

 

PS - waiting for the official photos to be uploaded so pics will follow :)

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Glad you enjoyed yourself Sarah and no longer a track virgin :#1:

 

The fear will wear off eventually and you will be able to enjoy yourself out there.

 

Bet you had the best sounding car out there!! Id have slipped the bungs out when they weren't looking :ninja::not_me:

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I think your playing yourself down a bit, looked like you were giving it some when i saw you go past. I think you would definately benefit from having some track time on your own without an instructor. after learning the lines etc of the session i had this morning it was nice to be able to go hell-for-leather without him going 'brake, brake BRAKEEE!!!' a bit earlier than i had to - maybe that's why i kept boiling my fluid :shrug::doh::blush: also i found that by going too fast into some corners you learn from the mistakes and how to control the body roll and understeer much better next time round.

 

I just had a look and there's another open pit lane there on 4th of july. might get myself booked in for that one too. think i will get another bit of tuition as well as my building of speed probably also developed a few errors that i wasnt making with my instructor session first thing this morning.

 

My car is fine. I just needed to let the brakes (and myself) cool down a bit between sessions. Brake pedal was good and firm by the time i got on the road to go home. i'm sure it will be much better when i finally get the new lines and fluid fitted.

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I think your playing yourself down a bit, looked like you were giving it some when i saw you go past. I think you would definately benefit from having some track time on your own without an instructor. after learning the lines etc of the session i had this morning it was nice to be able to go hell-for-leather without him going 'brake, brake BRAKEEE!!!' a bit earlier than i had to - maybe that's why i kept boiling my fluid :shrug::doh::blush: also i found that by going too fast into some corners you learn from the mistakes and how to control the body roll and understeer much better next time round.

 

I just had a look and there's another open pit lane there on 4th of july. might get myself booked in for that one too. think i will get another bit of tuition as well as my building of speed probably also developed a few errors that i wasnt making with my instructor session first thing this morning.

 

My car is fine. I just needed to let the brakes (and myself) cool down a bit between sessions. Brake pedal was good and firm by the time i got on the road to go home. i'm sure it will be much better when i finally get the new lines and fluid fitted.

 

Aw, thanks for the vote of confidence :blush: yeah next time I'll make sure that I ditch the instructor for a few laps!

 

Glad your car is all ok :thumbs:

 

You've probably noticed it yourself on Oulton's website, but they do publish a list of all car trackdays not just the ClubMSV ones but they are hidden away as I guess they want to promote their own ClubMSV days:

 

http://www.oultonpark.co.uk/trackdays/car-calendar.aspx

 

Dunno which I'll be going next but unfortunately can't do the 4th July. Pah!

 

S.

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