Can you drive around a racing circuit?

wadewade

Do I remember seeing a programme where Jeremy Paxo drove a car around the Nurembergring motor race circuit just by paying over a handful of euros? So are there any circuits on the continent where a few enthusiasts could take their cars to in order to do a few circuits? Might there even be any packages available - ferry/hotel/admission? Thanks

Debt_Free_Chick

Not sure about driving your own car, but Silverstone have a number of "driving experiences"

trigger_mike

Rockingham do track days http://www.rockingham.co.uk/track/track.php
Run What Ya Brung (RWYB) days at santa pod for 1/4 race http://www.rwyb.co.uk/

trigger_mike

Check out this site as well, run your car around Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Snetterton, Cadwell Park or Bedford Autodrome from £115.
http://www.motorsportvision.co.uk/snetterton/trackdays/MSV-trackdays.asp

moonrakerz

Or this one !

http://www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk/

mystic_trev

Needless to say if you use your own car you won't be covered by your Insurance. I know of someone who wrote his £25,000 car off some 15 years ago!

todderz

Most race circuits are available to drive on "track days". These are organised by a company or club, you pay your fee and get some amount of track time with a limited number of other drivers / riders. Your car insurance will almost certainly not cover you.

As suggested already, many circuits allow you to pay them lots of money in order to drive their race cars and get instruction. This is probably the safest thing to do if you haven't been on track before.

The Nurburgring in Germany is the greatest and most challenging race track in the world. At just over 14 very demanding miles through the Eiffel mountains it is admired, feared and always respected the world over.

The Ring is unique in that at certain times it is open for "Touristenfahrt" - literally tourist driving - when it has the status of a derestricted (no speed limit) toll road. Unlike a track day, this is deemed by the German authorities as a public road, and German traffic law applies (drive on the right, accidents and dangerous driving will be investigated and prosecuted, your car must be road-registered, road legal, and insured).

Public days at the ring are quite something. Thousands of enthusiasts from all over the world descend on the local towns to spend a weekend driving simply the greatest race track in the world. It's more like a mountain road than a race track.

It is very, very popular. It can get very busy, and out on track you will be mixing it with 180mph motorbikes, race-prepared Porsches, tour coaches full of old ladies, and everything from experienced drivers in Ferraris to pimply youths in one litre Saxos.

It is very dangerous. Many people are killed or seriously injured there every year. Do not do it without first reading everything at https://www.nurburgring.org.uk. Whilst German laws consider it a public road, insurance is a grey area. You may or may not be covered by your insurance. Many insurers now exclude it by some mechanism eg by excluding "derestricted toll roads". Excluding track days does matter, because it's not a track day. You would have to be prepared to cover the cost of your car being written off, and be prepared for tricky insurance wrangling if you are involved in a crash with someone else. Many breakdown companies won't help you if you've been on the ring. Some travel insurance schemes will not help you, citing "abnormal risk". Your UK insurance will probably only give you third party cover in europe. You also have to pay for any damage to the circuit barriers, and for recovery and cleanup of oils spills etc. One person had a bill for 15,000 euro after taking out a stretch of armco (writing off thier car and narrowly avoiding death in the process)

It isn't cheap. Tickets start at 15 euro for one lap, going up to 700 euro for a season ticket. Some companies operate guided tour packages - don't waste your money, just read the above mentioned site and do it yourself.

Some companies hire the track and run a standard track day. This has the advantage of less traffic and a little more control, but is expensive.

The ring is the greatest place in the world. I and many others are addicted and would sell a kidney to keep going there. It is very expensive to do regularly - why do you think I'm on this site? - but is worth every penny. However you really should not go into it unless you know what you are doing. I've seen people die right in front of me, and seen many people taken away by ambulance, helicopter, or just with their demolished car on the back of a recovery lorry.

Hope that helps!

nelly_2

mystic_trev wrote:

Needless to say if you use your own car you won't be covered by your Insurance. I know of someone who wrote his £25,000 car off some 15 years ago!

Thats got to smart a bit!

What happened?

no_debts_no_more

The Nurburgring is a one-off and there's nowhere else like it. It has the advantage that you can just turn up, pay your money and hurtle around (for varying values of hurtle) as you wish.
Alternatives in this country are hillclimbs, "run-wot-you-brung" events, "autotest" days and track days. The first three are usually run by enthusiast clubs, or racing organisations. You'd need to look at the relevant specialist press to find out about them, but they can be a surprisingly cheap way of thrashing your motor in a safe-ish and legal manner.

Trackdays can be run by commercial organisations, who make them open to anyone willing to pay, or occasionally owners clubs and the like. One run by the latter may be a good introduction if you're willing to play nicely, as they may need extra numbers to spread the circuit hire cost. It would probably help to "know someone"

Some trackday organisers are branching out to foreign circuits. I'm more interested in motorbikes, and get regular emailings from outfits offering events at major circuits in France and Spain. The main advantage is the likelihood of better weather, and that Grand Prix type circuits seem to be cheaper to hire outside the UK.

From your initial query, a trip to the Nurburgring sounds like the best bet. Use the website above (I'm featured on there in a very small way) to find out about public days and join the forums to perhaps make a few contacts. Driving around it is not that dangerous IMO (as opposed to riding around where an oilspill can take you out) if you know your limits. You'll see a few supercars and classics being driven quite sedately as the owners don't want to crash. The whole region is also quite nice, so you don't just have to drive around the circuit.

mystic_trev

nelly wrote:

Thats got to smart a bit!

What happened?

To make matters worse it was a Company car - and the Company made him pay every penny back.

ffs

mystic_trev wrote:

Needless to say if you use your own car you won't be covered by your Insurance. I know of someone who wrote his £25,000 car off some 15 years ago!

But you can take out Track Day Insurance. I have used Eggar Lawson, Tel. 0115 941 5255. Best of all you can call them on the day if you make a last minute decision to take part (when sometimes discount rates are available). Cost is approx £10 per £1000 insured with an excess of perhaps £1500.