just as a guide, Lime Rock is about $17,500 for a week day and a Pocono road course is about $8,000 for a weekday. You still have to buy insurance for the event at that price.
just as a guide, Lime Rock is about $17,500 for a week day and a Pocono road course is about $8,000 for a weekday. You still have to buy insurance for the event at that price.
AtticusTurbo27 wrote:wbjones wrote: “The cost of private track rental is $50,000 for an entire day.” wow just wow .....Where does it say that? MVP told us 600-650 per person for the weekend. They would need 50 car run groups to cover that, I suppose it's possible since its a big track but I dono.
http://circuitoftheamericas.com/visit/track-rental
COTA is the new hot thing. I don't think $50k for the day is out of line. It's expensive, but you're not paying for a 40 year old surface and a dirt parking lot and restrooms that are just one big trough. This is a destination. You have someone ship out your Ferrari and tires and you eat like a king and you get 5 sessions and it's awesome. As someone said before, there are plenty of tracks in Texas and some of them are closer to the "barely scrape up gas money for the tow vehicle" budget. That's not what this is. As long as they can make this a very very good experience, then it's worth the money. Now I just need a Ferrari.
Dr. Hess wrote: A couple years ago, you could rent Hallett for the day (weekday) for about two large, and that included corner workers, everything except the optional timing thingies, pics and food.
Not to threadjack, but I just have to give props to that facility. Hallett is an underappreciated gem of a track.
jg
A local track is $2.5k per day IIRC for just the track. And it's a pretty small track, the top straight that runs the length of it is less than 1/4 mile.
In reply to mazdeuce:
Great, another post that beats up Texas World Speedway. That's the worst thing about COTA. It'll turn TWS into a shopping mall within ten years. For a hundred and something bucks I can run all day on a track with a near-100-MPH lap speed and a 150-MPH straight. Racers don't appreciate venerable and interesting venues like baseball fans. It's going to be near-impossible for TWS to charge any more than "about as much as your gasoline usage" for a track day now that the fancy new publicly-supported private-club track is a hundred miles west of us.
seems to me that the $50k/day (yeah I realize that's the top price, not the "you do everything yourself price) would leave plenty of room for TWS to continue to promote track days/race days at reasonable prices and have all the business they can handle ... the Lambo/Ferrari crowd aren't who TWS goes after to begin with ....
is it ?
YEARS ago, when I ran a few HPDEs with the BMWCCA at Road Atlanta, I remember hearing it was $30k to rent. I think that was for a weekend, but that was also in the mid-90s, not today. Then again, there would be close to 100 cars there, each paying $350, IIRC.
In reply to chaparral:
I was just at TWS and their dirt parking lot is what I was there for! If anything, I think COTA has the potential to increase the number of people tracking their cars. You have a Vette (or a Mazda2) and you've never been on track. You get a chance to drive COTA for $1000 and you take it because its an awesome opportunity to do something awesome. Once you do it, you're hooked. The problem is, you don't live in the income bracket where you can drop that kind of coin on any regular basis. Now you look around and find out that TWS was right under your nose all along and is cheap and who cares about the toilets. Track time and good burgers life is awesome. That's what I predict. For me at least.
mazdeuce wrote: In reply to chaparral: I was just at TWS and their dirt parking lot is what I was there for! If anything, I think COTA has the potential to increase the number of people tracking their cars. You have a Vette (or a Mazda2) and you've never been on track. You get a chance to drive COTA for $1000 and you take it because its an awesome opportunity to do something awesome. Once you do it, you're hooked. The problem is, you don't live in the income bracket where you can drop that kind of coin on any regular basis. Now you look around and find out that TWS was right under your nose all along and is cheap and who cares about the toilets. Track time and good burgers life is awesome. That's what I predict. For me at least.
i don't know... one of my uncles has a 91 or 92 Corvette ZR1 and he took it up to Brainerd for one of their open track/classroom days a couple of years ago and said it was the most fun he's ever had with his pants on.. he said that it finally hit him about an hour and a half into his 2 hour drive home that he could have very easily balled up his expensive toy while on the track and he doesn't feel the urge to do that any more. he fits right into that income bracket that can afford to buy and own the car but can't afford to wreck it playing on a race track, and he's probably pretty typical of the kind of person that's going to own that kind of a car..
At first it seems a bit pricey but for what you are getting it looks like a good deal if you like this kind of racing experience. They are catering to the caviar crowd. Note that they limit t to 24 people (cars?)
I would love to drive the place but strip out all the fluff and make it a hot dog and hamburger affair with cold beer and I would like it even better.
Your Circuit of The Americas Private Track Rental will include: •Exclusive use of the Circuit of The Americas full Grand Prix road racing course. •Pit access, designated paddock loft access, garage access and track access for an entire day. •Bring your cars and your friends – your group can include up to 24 people. •Fully staffed track, including track manager, driving instructor, timing system, corner workers and emergency workers. •Create your own experience: structured race program with practice, qualifying and race session (timed or open racing) or create your own agenda. •Catered lunch. •Transportation to track from Austin area hotel. •Concierge service for hotel, dinner reservations, spa and shopping. The cost of private track rental is $50,000 for entire day.
24 cars? That track is HUGE! We put 20 cars on track for a session at Hallett and its only 1.8 miles.
Yeah I'm sure the deals might be ironed out a little different with the track day rental. 24 is not a lot of cars for open lapping on a almost 3 mile course.
For reference Mid-Ohio I know is 38,000 for a weekend, and Road Atlanta is $40,000 in the fall. Track prices actually very depending on the time of year you are renting, price is higher in the spring or fall.
chaparral wrote: In reply to mazdeuce: Great, another post that beats up Texas World Speedway. That's the worst thing about COTA. It'll turn TWS into a shopping mall within ten years. For a hundred and something bucks I can run all day on a track with a near-100-MPH lap speed and a 150-MPH straight. Racers don't appreciate venerable and interesting venues like baseball fans. It's going to be near-impossible for TWS to charge any more than "about as much as your gasoline usage" for a track day now that the fancy new publicly-supported private-club track is a hundred miles west of us.
I'll still run TWS. Love that place. Weeds growing out of the cracks in the asphalt and all.
off the OP's subject, we were at TWS a couple weekends ago for ChumpCar. it was worth the 20-hour one-way tow. fun track for sure.
Burt Levy once described TWS as like racing in the ruins of the Coliseum.
Looks like my vintage group is SOL for COTA. We were negotiating for a date...
AtticusTurbo27 wrote: Yeah I'm sure the deals might be ironed out a little different with the track day rental. 24 is not a lot of cars for open lapping on a almost 3 mile course. For reference Mid-Ohio I know is 38,000 for a weekend, and Road Atlanta is $40,000 in the fall. Track prices actually very depending on the time of year you are renting, price is higher in the spring or fall.
granted those are just for the track ( maybe some safety folk ) lacking all the whizz-bangs that COTA's is offering .. but they're also $10 - $12000 less and twice the amount of days .... weekend vs single day
but when it's the latest/newest shiny thing ....
Yeah that is the lot, track, facilities and all track workers including safety. No free lunch like COTA is offering though. :/
he said that it finally hit him about an hour and a half into his 2 hour drive home that he could have very easily balled up his expensive toy while on the track and he doesn't feel the urge to do that any more.
I think you just have to assume that financial idiocy and unrealistic risk assessment are a foregone conclusion for anyone who chooses to race on a road course. Even if you race a $500 car the potential medical bills from even a mild injury can easily exceed the value of a fairly expensive car, and if you really get messed up you might rack up a cool mil in bills that has to come from somewhere. Maybe you have an arrangement with some company where if you decide to cost a million dollars zooming around for fun, it wont ruin you for life (well, physically, but not financially) and will come off the back of some large group of people who dont know you, but really if you get down to it doing ANYTHING remotely dangerous to people is a bad financial proposition and the car's value is a fairly small part of that problem.
I guess its a good thing we dont let that stop us. 
Hmmmm, $50k....
I wonder how many of that truly rarefied group... called the auto enthusiast of the 1%....
Will rent the track for themselves.........???????????
If I had Enzo type money I totally rent the whole place for a day. At a certain wealth level (probably the guys who buy and drive Enzos/Veyrons) $50k just isn't that much. It would be fun to take a few of your business buddies for a ride around a real F1 track.
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