V8 racing at Wakefield park?

borizuka said :

Having driven my own cars at Wakefield I can tell you that 6 laps is nothing and in my opinion not a good value for money. In addition I have seen some of their V8 cars and they are not new or anything.

My bet would be look at Eastern Creek or the RallySchool courses.

Further to that, it may be of benefit to do a track day(s) at Wakefield first in any old car to learn the track. As noted 6 laps is not a lot and if you have to factor in learning the best lines as well then that could be a big wasted effort.

Wakefield is not an especially difficult track to learn in terms of getting value for money at a later date in someone else’s car, but it still takes more than 6 laps.

pirate_taco said :

CanberraRIDERS occasionally runs introductory ride days, and I had a go at Wakefield a few months ago through them (thanks Mark!)
Marulan is a good beginners track…etc….

Thanks Glen, interesting.

Having driven my own cars at Wakefield I can tell you that 6 laps is nothing and in my opinion not a good value for money. In addition I have seen some of their V8 cars and they are not new or anything.

My bet would be look at Eastern Creek or the RallySchool courses.

p1 said :

Does anyone have a link to info on track days for motorcycles? It is not something I have ever done, but I would like to give it a whack some time.

CanberraRIDERS occasionally runs introductory ride days, and I had a go at Wakefield a few months ago through them (thanks Mark!)
Marulan is a good beginners track, it is small with tight corners so you never really get high speeds up, but it is more like doing the clyde if there was no oncoming traffic and safe run offs, and I learnt a lot about handling my cruiser doing a ride day there just after I got my Ps.

The websites of the facilities themselves advertise the next public track days, and there will always be groups for all ability levels too.
To be in a fast group you will always need one or two piece leathers, but I believe most of the beginner groups have more relaxed requirements.

Glen Takkenberg
Pirate Party ACT for Ginninderra

Does anyone have a link to info on track days for motorcycles? It is not something I have ever done, but I would like to give it a whack some time.

Another consideration is the advanced driver training or race car experience offered through Fifth Gear Motoring.

The on-track time is substantially more than what is offered by the V8 experience, and the guys from Fifth Gear are really helpful in terms of advice/coaching.

#9
While there are no shortage of high horsepower street machines,they can’t match the cornering speed of the claytons supercars.Going into turn one at Eastern Creek at 160 km/h,for a novice,is quite a rush.So it’s not the acceleration but the cornering speed and late braking that one gets the biggest adrenaline hit from in this particular experience.

Cheap said :

Go with eastern creek, their cars are 450bhp. To the poster above – they don’t “limit” you to 3rd and 4th, those are just the only gears you need on that track. The instructor will only use those gears too except on the straight where he’ll use 5th briefly. Also why are you complaining about observation laps in a tarago? The idea is to see the track, not enjoy the ride.

I realise that they need to bring things down to the lower level to suit the punters that have never driven more than an automatic Camry and a Manual Hyundai Getz and the ride in the Tarago wasn’t that bad. (Taragos can be fun. Trust me, i own one) My point was more that 450hp isn’t entirely uncommon in street cars today and there are a fair few people out there for whom the experience may be a bit underwhelming. Underwhelming is fine for a $20 gokart session but you’re talking some serious dollars for the v8experience. Have you ever been in a situation where someone’s given you a present that they think is the bees knees and you don’t have the heart to tell them you’ve got one already because you know how much it was? Im just tying to ensure that the gift giver doesn’t get put in that situation. The ads make it look like you’re “racing a v8 super car” but it’s not quite like that.

Got six laps as a wedding pressie last year, went and did them on Friday last week. Great fun. Hard to do well though! They have markers for you as you’re driving around to indicate where to brake, where to turn in, where the apex is and where to point the car for the exit.

You will be given a race suit to wear and a helmet that has speakers. If driving you will also be given a coach in the passenger seat who gives good instruction on things like – ‘stay left, okay turn in now, short shift up to fourth’ – things like that.

It’s a great experience that will show just how hard it is to drive a big V8 fast around a track, but is heaps of fun at the same time.

Also remember that going around the track doesn’t take too long – only a couple of minutes, but driving to Goulburn takes about an hour or so.

If I was to go again, I’d consider more than six laps, but break it up into a couple of sessions. But as I didn’t pay I won’t complain one bit!

Go with eastern creek, their cars are 450bhp. To the poster above – they don’t “limit” you to 3rd and 4th, those are just the only gears you need on that track. The instructor will only use those gears too except on the straight where he’ll use 5th briefly. Also why are you complaining about observation laps in a tarago? The idea is to see the track, not enjoy the ride.