Preparing for my first Track Day
Yeah I know that I previously told that I wouldn't partake in any racing with my 170S, afraid of breaking the engine after the upgrades and all. We're 9000km later, and it proves to be as reliable as it has always been, with the engine temperature really kept under control and no sign of anything to worry about.
So here we are. As I was hinting my friends at House of Speed yesterday that they didn't really have had a proper try with my car yet, they told me there would be a track day next week, and that it would be the best place to have a go. I knew there's usually one in October, but I hadn't seen or heard anything about that recently. The HoS newsletter was actually written already, and was sent soon after that talk.
Twice a year, Belgians On Track do schedule a track day at the Mettet circuit. It's not their only gig but the other one is in France, thus a bit further away. I've met one of the organizers a bunch of times already, and he convinced me it was a nice place to come and play with other gentlemen drivers and newbies like myself.
Unlike Spa-Francochamps, the circuit is rather short at 2.2km, and not too fast. A great place for classic Mini, Lotus Elise and Sevens. The weather forecast looked promising so I registered and paid the very fair admission fee right away.
Time for preparation then...
Since the last edition in April, I had time to watch Youtube videos from a friend with a yellow Westfield who drove there on that day. I also did set up Assetto Corsa (a video game) with custom assets like the Mettet circuit and about all Caterhams cars I could find. Even with a full-stock Caterham 160, it felt adequate in the game. As my 170S has about 50% more power and is lighter too, I shouldn't be too far off from videos I've found of heavier/standard 140bhp Caterhams. That's that for mental preparation.
Last winter I actually got myself the Haynes "Track Day Manual", which scared me off more than anything. From tyres, oil, brakes and all kind of wear and tear and things to think about and need assistance for. There's a Caterham on the front cover, but it covers a wider audience. I will re-read it this week-end, but my biggest takeaway is that I need tow straps to be fitted to my car.
My Seven won't sip much gas and I doubt it will wear its tyres or ceramic brake pads in any significant way. I could maybe bring some of my specific Suzuki blue coolant as my car tends to spit a bit from the pressure cap on the expansion tank. For the rest House of Speed will be there anyway.
Registering to the event, they say I will need a crash helmet (still have mine from the motorcycle era), gloves (I got new ones when I got the car, they live under the front of my seat), and wear long sleeves. I actually don't need anything new.
But they also state that at least one tow hook has to be fitted to the car. Mine comes equipped with one metal eyelet on the front right of the chassis, and one on the left side under the fuel tank on the back. I know from readings a bunch of blogs and from looking at race cars at House of Speed that race Caterhams are equipped with visible tow straps.
So I spotted a pair of yellow "OMP" 2 tons straps from Amazon but didn't really know how to attach them to the chassis. This blog post cleared that up and I decided to copy them by using schackles, in 8mm stainless steel. For 25€ I got a pair of straps and a set of four schackles, not bad at all.
I've padded the shackles with two layers of heat shrink tubing to prevent a direct metal on metal contact with the eyelets of the chassis. That should protect them and prevent any rattle. Zip-ties take care of keeping the straps folded and secured to the chassis.
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