Brands Hatch Indy Circuit Novice Evening 13 June

Anyone attending this? I will be there in my slug - Hyundai S Coupe Turbo. It would be good to see a Coupe in action.

£99 @ http://www.clubmsv.com/car-home/event-details.aspx?productid=832

The Brands Indy circuit is possibly the worst suiting for a coop in the UK, tight, twisty, never really the right gear, constantly in between 2nd/3rd.

Saying that I did the novice session when I first started track days. It's good value and good experience in a friendly relaxed environment. Anyone who's ever wanted to take their coop onto a track, can do so here without feeling bullied!

Fun isnt in a straightline Dannyboy.

Is this worse than Oulton park for a coupe?

Yup, fun isn't in a straightline

This is going to be my first track day and so I am very much looking to it. Any advice would be muchly appreciated.

take your time and build up speed through subsequent laps.
dont be consumed by the adrenaline devil on the first lap or you risk an off.

study the apexes, establish your braking zones and turning in points.

fast drivers are most often not the 'point and squirt' drivers. as a general rule, in order to carry speed through corners you want to move the steering wheel as little as is necessary as over-turning will scrub your speed.

I completely agree. No need for those unreliable big bhp setups where the turbo comes in late then

I did enjoy the new Snetterton 300 circuit, with it's new 1 mile internal section chock full of twisties.

Back on track, +1 for what Rudidudi has advised. Learn the circuit, gradually build up your speed as you go. And stick to 20 minute sessions, let the car, and you, cool down between blasts. Oh, and have fun!

Thanks guys, muchly appreciated. Hopefully the car will cope just fine

Left foot braking mate.Keeps the turbo spooling all the time.
Thats why i kept lapping you at Mallory,and i even sent you the link on facebook.

I couldn't imagine taking a coupe round here. I drove the brands indy circuit in a Caterham 1.6 Roadsport and was faster than most things.. including a 500bhp Evo 8 and 'race spec' Golf GTI. (Circa 400bhp).

C'mon boys Brands is fun and a very tehnical and demanding circuit. I had fun in mine!!

http://youtu.be/CaCoxoS3gDk

Ho ho i forgot just how much fun it was.

This is with a standard 6 speed gearbox too.

Got to agree! I had great fun in my Coupe round the Indy circuit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNMAeuBVsIc

Paddock is a massively tricky corner to get round quickly (and quickly scarey when you do ), and the Surtees/ Maclaren/ Clark combination is extremely hard to put together consistently.

BOT ... Dan's advice is spot-on: "learn the circuit, gradually build up your speed as you go. Stick to 20 minute sessions, let the car, and you, cool down between blasts."

I took my plus round this track a few years ago, I had never done it before.

Totally enjoyed it, it's not a complicated track and you learn the bends, braking and turning points quite early on, allows you to just enjoy giving the coupe some stick without worrying about getting nicked for speeding. Well worth the money.

I had uprated front disks and pads. I highly advise this

Do you have the option of a session with an instructor, well worth it if you do.

Looking at Sparcos video the track would be fine for a coupe.
The thing that concerns me is the amount of traffic on such a short circuit.
That ruined it for me last time at Mallory to the point where i got kicked off for undertaking rubbish cars.

Agreed - one 2nd gear hairpin, brief squirt in 4th on the straight, otherwise third all the time unless you are on a very big turbo and raised rev limit.

It's not long so easy to learn and have fun with trying different things though.

I will take it slowly at the begining but then I will drive it like it's stolen. Traffic shouldn't be a problem as there will be 4 sessions with limited number of cars on the track.

I have done some work already to improve braking like: MTEC grooved and dimpled discs, Predator fast road pads, ATE Super Blue racing brake fluid and the car is lowered. Also, I gave it a proper service including cambelt & tensioner, fan belts, water pump, coolant, oil, air & fuel filter, and Valvoline oil. Just for that extra peace of mind

I had the option of a session with an instructor but decided against it. I will watch as many videos on youtube as possible and study the track myself.

Read my recent post on my first track day. Read the advice!!!

lowering the car wont help you that much, but all the rest of the work will do well for you - biggest thing to watch out for is brake fade on the stock brakes, or boiling the fluid, so swapping the stock stuff out for 5.1 is a good idea.