Trackdays - stupid question time...

I see a lot of the car clubs require to have a instructor in the vehicle the first time and to get singed off for higher classes. How does that work if you have a single seater track car? Ie formula car, etc.

A lot of clubs don't allow formula cars at their track days. It's a bad idea to have formula cars sharing the track with full bodied cars, and there usually aren't have enough formula cars to justify having their own run groups.

Says the guy who would own a formula car if he had a place to run track days with one...

The groups around me won't let open wheelers on track at the same time as production-based cars for safety reasons, so I have yet to see one at a track day. However if someone out there does allow it, my personal presumption would be that if you are showing up to a track day with a formula car, you either have a proper competition license already and shouldn't need instruction, or you are potentially in over your head and need to go through the steps of getting one (as I'm told that single-seat open wheelers are very tricky).

Typically if you already have a comp license or a wealth of experience you can bypass the in-car instruction phase. If you have neither of those I think you'd raise a lot of eyebrows showing up with a formula car!

Woody wrote: A lot of clubs don't allow formula cars at their track days. It's a bad idea to have formula cars sharing the track with full bodied cars, and there usually aren't have enough formula cars to justify having their own run groups. Says the guy who would own a formula car if he had a place to run track days with one...

x2. Open wheel cars aren't generally allowed.

I've shared the track with some Formula Fords. It's a bit spooky. They're tiny little things. Plus their mirrors don't work

What I'm actually thinking about is a asphalt modified like Kevin Gale has in projects section. Full on race car that I can use in track days, time trial and hill climb. But if I show up at a trackday and they wanna stick me with a instructor that's gonna be a problem.

In reply to MattW:

What you need to do is contact the group you plan to run with and see if they will even allow the car. If they will, then discuss your experience level and see if they will let you out without an instructor. If you've never run the track before, I would not count on them saying yes unless you have very significant track experience elsewhere. Even then, they might want you to run a few sessions in a full-bodied car before sending you out in a single-seater. Having someone in-car to point out proper approaches to blind corners and other potentially dangerous track areas is critical to learning a new track, IMO.

It would help to know where you are located to get an idea of what is available in your area. I have seen thunder roadsters run in HPDE groups here in the South East but only in the upper level solo groups. We have definitely had the single seat stock cars run in solo groups as well, but there is no good way to accommodate a single seater race car in the instructed groups. Most organizations will not allow you to drive solo without serious verified on track experience. Lastly a stock car is a whole lot of car for a first time track car. Now that is assuming you don't have extensive circle track experience, but stock cars are often some of the fastest cars at the track.

What about an Exocet, they seem to be allowed most places. While not totally "open wheel" like a formula car, without fenders is would have the same effect as a formula car, just larger.

Thanks Ross

I'm in the southeast. I have no car track experience, which I know is gonna go over like a lead brick around here. I did couple of Auto-x events years back. For the better part of last ten years I've been road racing sportbikes, I am very familiar with wheel to wheel competition and most of the tracks in the southeast. I still love to do it but with two kids and multiple injuries over the years I want to find something to do that has a lower risk threshold. Bills need to paid and kids taken care of but daddy still wants to have something he can play with.

I know that most would recommend starting with some very mild but racing fire breathing 200BHP superbikes kinda moves your sense of what real performance is. Really though main reason I'm leaning to stock/modified cars is the bang vs. buck ratio. I have no time or desire to buy a street car and then have to take the time to modify or tend to something that wasn't really designed to be a track car in the first place.

And lets keep it in perspective, until the racebike is sold this is all in infant stages of a pipe dream right now.

TIA.

Some clubs will do a lead-follow session. After I gutted my M3 leaving only one seat, they offered to do a lead-follow check out to move up a class.

Ross413 wrote: What about an Exocet, they seem to be allowed most places. While not totally "open wheel" like a formula car, without fenders is would have the same effect as a formula car, just larger. Thanks Ross

Some clubs require Exocets to have fenders. Moves them from being an open wheeler to...not.

But really, Exocets are the size of Miatas. They're not as small, as spindly or as low as most open wheelers. So they get treated differently.

The issues with open wheel cars aren't purely about them not having fenders. They're much smaller, lighter, and more fragile than your average production street car, so any formula-vs-street-car contact is likely to end badly for the formula car driver. Street cars can rub fenders and just do body/paint damage, formula cars are likely to tear off corners.

They're also at a higher risk of car-to-car contact when running with street cars. They're smaller and harder to see. They're faster through the corners, but probably not as fast down the straight (at least, not comparing things like Formula Fords with Corvettes), so they're going to catch up to street cars in unusual places and surprise the street car driver. They're also uncommon which contributes to the surprise factor.

Exocets are closer to street cars than they are to formula cars. Sports racers such as a Radical are similar to formula cars (except for having fenders), and I can say from experience that you have to pay extra attention when sharing a track with them because they can go from a faint dot in your mirror at the end of the straight to right behind you waiting to pass in just a few corners.

If you're in the Southeast check out Chin Motorsports, I have run Sebring with an open wheel car, it was the last session where all groups run together. I'm pretty sure he was running advanced group, but a competition license will help your cause.

MattW wrote: For the better part of last ten years I've been road racing sportbikes, I am very familiar with wheel to wheel competition and most of the tracks in the southeast.

Can you document that experience. I am sure that would help make your case with any group.

Track day with open wheel cars The second car is a Chevrolet engined 70's Gurney Indy Eagle. His rear tire had more surface area than my Miata. You really had to watch out for the two of them. They were polite, and careful, and popped up suddenly behind you.