L7 FST

Nick-YHM

Meteor's clear Perspex double screen is excellent IMHO!

I'd recommend these.. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Motamec-Racing-02-Formula-Side-Wing-Mirror-x2-Convex-Glass-REAL-CARBON-FIBER-Drk/231812810814?epid=23004471837&hash=item35f91ec83e:g:n8MAAOSwuxpZb0nS ​They're closely based on the Spa design but - unlike Spa mirrors - don't get knocked out of place and are easily adjustable. I've had them (or the cheaper carbon funded effect ones) on all three of my Caterhams over the years and think they're excellent - well made, efficient, & look good. Stephen

Thanks - have submitted a booking but the link to Sage doesn't seem to be working? (I'm in France but that's not usually a problem..). I'll call Sam tomorrow, I guess..

They'll sit slightly further out than standard- i.e. give you a bit more clearance on the inner side, and protrude slightly more on the outside. ET18 is usually fine.

STOP PRESS Good news for anyone who - like me - sadly can't take the 19th off work. I've just seen that Opentrack are running a track day on the day before ours (i.e. Sunday 18th), also on the GP circuit. This is priced at £275 including free tuition and is OPEN PITLANE - i.e. 7 hours of tracktime for everyone, which seems to me to be very good value, especially on a weekend. Happy days

James, you're right. Normally I'm ruthless about putting pleasure before work (Mrs L7 FST knows better than to pull a stunt like Mrs Auto Addict's), but on this occasion I'm truly in a corner.. So I shall be trying hard all day on 19/3 not to think about any of you. To make matters worse, you'll no doubt be enjoying glorious weather

Sadly for me that day coincides with a work commitment I can't move

You're right, Dave. Wet January Sunday syndrome has a lot to answer for!

I understand splitting hairs - but 'identifing'? Now you've really lost me....

Indeed: the Club's new wording precisely describes what the required track day roll bar looks like - i.e. "readily identifiable by one or two diagonal cross-members that brace the main hoop".

Er... it's called 'design'

Bob (#50) makes some interesting points. I agree it's a relief that the revised list of safety measures doesn't add any new mandatory requirements alongside the legally troublesome and therefore persistent rule about what our roll bars should look like. We're still free to drive on Club track days without gloves or visors, with remoulds or any condition of tyres we see fit, and to make our own private judgements about remaining brake pad life etc. In the event of any consequent injuries sustained on a Club track day, I suppose a good lawyer could have a field day. But common sense has prevailed. We're stuck with a very specific kind of roll bar spec not because it's the most important of all safety issues, but because it was put into the rules ages ago and it's too tricky now to take it out. A lesson has been learned, and thankfully we're not going to go down that random road in any new areas. Sadly of course we must accept that the need to keep the roll bar rule may mean that some Club members will now never take their cars on track, especially if they believe a Club track day would have been the only safe environment for a novice. But the picture Bob paints of non-Club track days doesn't chime with my own experience: the vast majority of UK track day operators run a tight ship, with a strong emphasis on safety and good conduct. I think Bob may have been watching too many race crash videos! In my 10 plus years of track days - maybe 70 in total - I've never actually once witnessed any contact between cars. (On Sunday morning blats on the road, however...... ) MSV are always excellent (I had a fantastic time just two days ago at a sunny Snetterton, open pit lane with just 38 cars including 9 Caterhams, six hours of leisurely track time and only £99!). Their 'novice only' days, which they regularly run at all their circuits, are highly recommended. They have very clear and strict safety rules, do not of course specify any particular type of roll bar, and are super-friendly. Emma and others please note! The Club has its own way of doing things, but there are alternatives..... Please don't be put off. If you have a Caterham and never go on track you're missing something wonderful.

The standard spec. MB wheels, with width and offsets as given by Richard, should be fine for an R500D,

Yes I was concerned about clearance around the rear roll bar and also on the inner side of the front wingstays, so just asked Mike to vary his standard ET by a few mm front and rear - from memory, to about ET15, meaning that the wheels protrude a little more all round than his normal spec, but giving me extra clearance on the inside. I can look up the exact numbers if you want. Mike is a top man. Delivery times and communications aren't always perfect, but the wheels really are the business..

Yes I don't think there have been any actual failures in any MB wheels made over the past few years. These days they are made to take standard wheel nuts too - not the sleeved horrors of old - which is a blessing. A couple of years ago I think I paid £1300 for a set of four, which Mike made up to my precise ET requirements. By my standards this was an extravagant purchase, but they are objects of great beauty!

But Mike Barnby's iconic R500 split rim wheels cost very little more than the Meteors and are IMHO the best of the lot....

I remember when I bought my first Caterham (from CC) in 2005, the salesman told me that a standard rollover bar was safer than a cross-braced one for road use. He said that in the event of an accident on the road, you'd be more likely to injure your head if you had cross bracing than if you didn't. He said that's why the standard bar is specified for road use (he didn't mention the IVA test visibility issue). I don't know whether it was true, but that's what he said... So, given that this whole area is now under our scrutiny for The Report, would it be wise to ask our manufacturer, CC, to give their comments on the suitability of standard bars for trackday use, and trackday bars for road use? I would have thought from a legal point of view that the manufacturer's thoughts and recommendations would be considered highly relevant.

Re Andrew's point about the legal issues, I too am certainly hoping that the report will be more than a verdict on whether the so-called FIA bar is stronger and more desirable for track days than the standard bar. It doesn't take a genius to work out that it almost certainly is. But that - of course - is not what the real debate is about... As I think more or less everyone now accepts, it's about, firstly, whether it's logical for the Club to carry on making a very specific stipulation in one area (roll over protection) and not in a myriad of others (helmet spec, clothing, tyre choice, engine power......etc etc.), And given that, no, it clearly isn't at all logical, but is the result of an anachronistic decision that has now become something of a millstone, the second question is can the Club reasonably now drop it without incurring excessive legal risk? The report will certainly need to address these knotty core issues in some detail, not just the engineering ones... I'm confident it will!

Would it be worth starting a new thread on Chitchat, if we're in search of a show of potential hands? I have a feeling that Spa could well appeal to parts of the membership that other tracks might not reach!

James I'd absolutely love to do a Club trackday in Europe! The easiest to reach 'day trip' venues, that is to say the ones within a couple hours of Calais (Croix, Abbeville, and Folembray), are all fine but not particularly exciting, and if you're making the effort to cross the water you want it it to be really special.... so I too would (of course) vote for Spa... I did an open pitlane track day there with Lotus-on-Track in the summer - my second visit, and by some margin the best day on track I've ever had, helped along by glorious sunny weather (unlike my previous visit, when it rained all day..). The downside (apart from the risk of poor weather, as Mark says) is that you won't get much change from £1000 by the time you've factored in Channel crossings, fuel and accommodation, so Mark's estimate of realistically getting together a group of about 20 seems about right to me, and that's obviously too few for an exclusive Club day. The suggestion of partnering up with another operator is a good one - NOT for a session, please God; Spa is made for OPL! - but simply reserving an agreed number of places within their day? As you may know, I'm a great fan of Lotus-on-Track (http://www.lotus-on-track.com/lotshop/): they're super-safe, friendly, and very keenly priced, and they usually do three or four Spa days a year. None in their 2018 calendar yet, so all to play for.... Possible? Stephen

6Sel - YHM

Congratulations both - you put on fantastic programme and have well and truly put track days back on our Club map! It must have been a huge amount of work and it's greatly appreciated by us all. As for next year, you've set the bar very high with such a great list of circuits this year! Any chance of working Snetterton in for 2018 (and maybe Croft?). I'm sure others will have their own preferences and suggestions too..but really I think we're all happy to go with whatever you can achieve.. May I make another couple of requests? First, I'm hoping you'll keep a very keen eye on pricing next year (there are a lot of other track day operators out there running great events at great prices) especially where the day is sessioned rather than open pit lane. (The Club session at Oulton Park this year was way, way above the going rate - although, to be fair, Brands GP was spot on.) And second, if it's an OPL day that starts out with sessions, it would be good to have some clarity in advance about how much OPL time there'll actually be. Cadwell Park's event this year was billed and priced as OPL, but in the event ran in sessions from 9-4pm. This significant limit on track time suited the vocal minority of first timers there, but didn't please all! And of course I know you'll never please all. The more experienced members tend to prefer OPL events, which are much more relaxed (with no queuing) and have the possibility of unlimited track time, and they are more likely to notice if the pricing levels are above the going rate . The less experienced, however, are probably less price sensitive and more attracted to sessions. The third category are those members - sadly the majority - who've not yet ventured on track at all. You've definitely started to attract some of them now with your excellent programme and strong welcoming messages, but I fear the dreaded FIA bar rule still prevents most of them from putting a toe in the water. But I'm definitely not going to mention that... Many thanks again Stephen

Ian - you can't escape National Treasure status now, you realise?

Hmm: good drive, comfortable place to sit, not hugely quick.... This doesn't sound like a real sports car at all. Don't do it, John: you're not old yet!