Mondello Track Day 7th Aug

Mayshine

Anyone from boards going to this?

Gerry

Might be, still not sure if I can make it though. Was at the last one, great crack

mloc123

Anymore information about it? Who/where organised it?

Gerry

http://www.mondello.ie/one.php?page=track_cars

Its organised by mondello themselves.

Mayshine

I'm in on this one, my first track day so will be taking it easy (ish).

ANyone who has been, got any opinions or tips on the day?

lightening

yeah! more info! Anyone ever done this? Do you need a new set of tyres after it? Do you get bumped by other cars? Does your car get wrecked? is a golf Gti to slow for it?

Chaz

I am keen to do it this on Monday .... missed the previous ones.

Gerry

Yeah, I've done it twice now. Myself and a friend bought a bmw 325i between us, just for the track. You will wear your tyres out a bit, depending on how hard you go. But, considering that tyres might last 10 or 20 thousand miles, you'll have a really tough time wearing them out completely. You might do a few thousand miles worth of wear over the course of the day.
The rubber on our car is old, seems have gone hard, and refuses to wear out. This also means its not very grippy unfortunately.
The main concern is brakes, if you drive hard, you will wear out the brake pads quite a bit, and possibly boil the fluid. Neither pads or fluid are terribly expensive, but you don't want to wear out the pads completely, like we did the first day. You don't want to do this:

Bumping: The first trackday we took the car to was the bmw owners club day. This had, for the most part, mature drivers.
We were a bit wary going to the full open day, as you don't know if there will be scumbags there or what. But, I was pleasantly surprised. There wasn't much in the way of messing on the track. Do remember that your car insurane more than likely won't cover you. Just try to keep away from other cars under braking, and follow the rules ( overtake on the left ).

A golf gti will not be too slow. A lot of the cars will be faster, but its not a race. Its about enjoying yourself.

If you want to go, here are some tips:

Book or arrive very early. Give them a ring tomorrow, or turn up very early on the day, I'd advise ringing tomorrow morning.

As mentioned above, the brakes need to be in good condition. If the pads are worn, get them sorted. If the fluid has not been changed in a long time, change it.

Start off slow, and keep watching your mirrors, let faster cars past. After a while you will get the hang of it, and gradually build up speed.

When coming in after a session, do not stop completely with the brakes on, as the pads will be red hot, and will warp the discs.

Theres loads of things, can't remember them all now. Let me know if you are going, ask more questions send a pm or whatever, and I'll supply more info

Heres a video of me doing 2 laps, its from march, and is poor quality. I'll be putting up a much better video of the june session shortly.
Click here to see Video

Photos of the car here

Some videos on thispage.

5500

Ive attended the last few and im not sure if anyone else spectating has noticed the amount of scobes wlaking round with cans and smoking hash in the stands?

Security seem to walk around oblivious to it.Also watch your wheels,two of my mates walked back to there cars which were parked to the side/rear of the viewing stand to find some little ****s prying off the centre caps on there wheels so be carefull

SGKM

If your insurance doesnt cover you,what do you do for insurance? Do mondello give you insurance?
Would it be possible to buy something like an old 325i or Golf GTi and not have it taxed,insured or NCT'd and just bring it down on a trailer to do the trackday or do mondello insist that you have the car insured?

dubtom

I went to one a couple of months back, my mate brought two cars, a probe and a celica. He works there so knew the track and showed me the line, which was actually the best bit,setting a time and trying to beat it as opposed to just trying to drive fast and not paying attention to how each corner should be taken,there was quite a few who just flew around regardless of the line. Unfortunatly there was a few off's that day,which basically means less track time for everyone, I only got out twice,I should have had four runs.Expensive though very rewarding, gave me a goo bigtime.

ando

i'd be well up for this. its the first I heard of it though but yea I'll go

Chaz

Emailed them to book and find out if we need to prepay ....

Hate for it to be pissing rain - could be more fun - esp with my wheels ...

Henry Ford III

Prices are silly. I can do a full day open pit lane in the UK for STG £90.

Chaz

That is also an option - Mondello aint cheap.

I am in Dundalk - so going up North is easy. Recommended places for cars? Kirkistown i am aware of ....

Mayshine

CHeers Gerry,


Looks like I'll be off checking the brakes out in the morning.

Andrewf20

And just to add, dont put the handbrake on after finishing a session, just put the car in gear with the handbrake off (warped discs etc.).

If you need new pads, dont buy crappy stuff as likely to be eaten badly, depending on how hard you push. EBC greenstuffs or Pagid fastroads are good pads.

lightening

Great post Gerry, lots and lots of info there. I don't think I will be doing it this time round. The video of you is great.

Chaz

They wanted a photo of the car (before 12h30) and card details .....

There goes my chance - to late to dig up a photo now. Will problably look at going up North anyways.

dubtom

As far as I recall you can turn up and register on the day, they send out four groups of about 15 cars each session so you may be lucky if there isn't large numbers there. Bring licence and money,they like money.

Mayshine

Well if anyone is going to the morning session, say hi to me - I'll be in the black S2000

Chaz

I havent pre booked but might be there. Blue SAAB Viggen.