Just got back from Spa

[Matt]

two days of glorious sunshine & no rain []
what an awesome track - gets even better at the second visit..car just gets better and better - could not want for more (except another 50bhp sometimes on the straights so pass those pesky GT3's that are straight line fast..[])

just wanted to say hi to the other '64RS owners I met over there- and also the turbo & 997 owners

realy enjoyed pass laps in a 996turbo tip - awesome speed & gearbox - hangs on well on road tyres, high speed runs in E30 M3 & 325 ex race car (excellently piloted by Steve)

also noticed the tendancy for all ferrari drivers to spend time revving their engines at every opportunity. driving in & out of garage appears to involve much throttle blipping to 6-7000rpm every time. even with the car sat in the garage involves lots of starting engines and revving for 5 minutes, then turning it off again without going anywhere. all very exciting and impressive. a couple even ventured out on track. a silver 430 was exceptionally fast on the straights - pulled clean away from the gt3 boys there...

anyway - if you've never done Spa - do it!!!!

 

[Melv]

Matt -you gotta come with us next year:-

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=371606

 

[Church]

Hi Matt,

Good to meet you and your Clubsport, hopefully we'll see each other on track again preferably without a red flag to spoil the fun next time.

Paul

 

[carreraboy]

Matt as Melv posted, where have you been the last three years mate, come and join us for the greatest Porsche Only (now club ratified for Insurance) event anywhere in Europe ..... Yes the most awesome Circuit Spa, when you get back to blighty just nothing comes even near ..... bet you have the Spa withdrawls .....

 

[Matt]

ORIGINAL: Church

Hi Matt,

Good to meet you and your Clubsport, hopefully we'll see each other on track again preferably without a red flag to spoil the fun next time.

Paul

good to meet you too Paul - might have been a good thing the flags came out..probably saved me from putting it in the armco through over-enthusiasm..

Des - the PCF days at Spa are so expensive - has always deterred me. also the fact that its groups as opposed to total freedom with open pit lane..
you're right though - i do have withdrawal symptoms...must book next track day...

 

[Melv]

900 squiddlies for three days of wall-to-wall Porsche and all the corporate 5* food and drink you can manage ain't expensive IMNVHO!!

Managed 500kms on track over the three days this year, could have done more, but that just ain't wot it is all about........ so can't complain.[]

Lets face it, I just paid £295 with PCGB at Goodwood to do 190kms and no food and drink thrown in..........[&:]

 

[Matt]

£900 is still mucho dinero when you add in the hotel costs and the like..and the time out of work

managed 450km over 1.5 days monday/tuesday this week (as we left at 2 and the track was open to 6....) in my car, plus a load of passenger laps in the e30 m3...still maintain its better value for money. Plus £15 for 2 omelettes in Francorchamps

and i forgot to add that another chap we went with had a Morgan Plus8 race car...4.6L V8 with all the suspension & brakes sorted [][][] sounds like a spitfire and goes like one too - what an awesome machine...3rd gear wheelspin out of rivage and la source..

 

[JarmoL]

Hi there,

Where can I find info about Spa trackdays? I have checked the PCF site but their prices indeed seem a little high for me. So if there are more economical ways to get to drive there.. I am all ears!

Thanks,
Jarmo

 

[Ian964]

ORIGINAL: JarmoL

Hi there,

Where can I find info about Spa trackdays? I have checked the PCF site but their prices indeed seem a little high for me. So if there are more economical ways to get to drive there.. I am all ears!

Thanks,
Jarmo

Most of the UK track day companies run a Spa event or two each year, certainly Goldtrack, Bookatrack, Autotrack and RMA do.

Dont't think Goldtrack or BaT have any more this year but see http://www.rma-limited.com/?id=spa and http://www.autotrackdays.com/Category/3/Track-Days.aspx

 

[964RS]

ORIGINAL: Matt

sounds like a spitfire and goes like one too

Shouldn't that be 'Messerschmitt BF109'? [][][]

 

[Matt]

ORIGINAL: 964RS

ORIGINAL: Matt

sounds like a spitfire and goes like one too

Shouldn't that be 'Messerschmitt BF109'? [][][]

thought I would get lynched if I ever referred to the sound of a Morgan as a Messerschmitt..Spitfire came to mind because sat in the queue to the ferry on tuesday there was a chap with two old Merlin engines on a trailer from a crashed Lancaster in Holland - looked like they had not been touched since it crashed - he was taking them back to the uk to rebuild them

back to the Morgan - the chap used to race it - so the engine revs to slightly over 7000RPM - not bad for a 4.6L V8. At first I thought things were falling off underneath the car - but it was the side exit exhaust on the overrun banging away[].
you think the RS is tough to driv - this thing is an animal..

 

[carreraboy]

ORIGINAL: Melv

900 squiddlies for three days of wall-to-wall Porsche and all the corporate 5* food and drink you can manage ain't expensive IMNVHO!!

Managed 500kms on track over the three days this year, could have done more, but that just ain't wot it is all about........ so can't complain.[]

Lets face it, I just paid £295 with PCGB at Goodwood to do 190kms and no food and drink thrown in..........[&:]

Managed nearly 800 clicks on track drove it there and back and did not miss a beat .... []

 

[carreraboy]

ORIGINAL: Matt

£900 is still mucho dinero when you add in the hotel costs and the like..and the time out of work

managed 450km over 1.5 days monday/tuesday this week (as we left at 2 and the track was open to 6....) in my car, plus a load of passenger laps in the e30 m3...still maintain its better value for money. Plus £15 for 2 omelettes in Francorchamps

and i forgot to add that another chap we went with had a Morgan Plus8 race car...4.6L V8 with all the suspension & brakes sorted [][][] sounds like a spitfire and goes like one too - what an awesome machine...3rd gear wheelspin out of rivage and la source..

It was £800 actually and worth every single Euro .... Matt you got to try it and YOU WILL view every other Track Day as second or third best ... []

 

[Laurence Gibbs]

I made it £763 + 20 swift tranfer fee for 3 day package(at the prevailing rate of the time). Plus about £150 for 3 days garage or £311 per day . But bear in mind Sunday is much reduced track time! This figure includes a VERY sumptous lunch and afternoon tea (broad term) and a few sherberts after the sessions end each day. If you take the garaging off it's financially equivalent to any of the other players. granted you will get more track time open pit. All the other players are around the £240/250 per day range now, so it's difficult to view PCF days as costly when you compare like for like. Realistically you could have done two Autotrack days and had plenty of tracktime and been quids in. You pays yer money and takes yer choice.
Then there is crossing, fuel and B&B and insurance if your not already covered. I reckon my four days cost about £1600-1700 all in.

 

[carreraboy]

£2 A CLICK .... ALL IN

 

[oldtimer]

Hi Matt , been reading the thread , I'd agree that Spa is addictive if you enjoy trackdays , and also that if you go to Spa you need at least 2 days on the track when you get there. You make a point about cost in comparing PCF days with say Autotrack days , and its true that PCF days are inherently more expensive and whats more are inherently more restricted on track time. The max you can get with no reds and staying out all session is 4x1hr = 4 hours/day. In reality you'd do very well to get 2.5 hrs /day as no-one could stay out in an RSCS for 60 minutes at a time [] not even Des ......
However , do not directly compare the 3 day '£800' package with the typical 2 day '£500' package from say Autotrack , I forget what the 2 day PCF pack cost but it wont be '£800'.
Final word on cost from me is that trackdays are almost one of the most expensive hobbies available ( racing is much more expensive ) , and an all in budget for a single UK trackday on a proper track is rarely less than £500 . If you look at a year's 'tracking' then costs of tyres discs pads fuel repairs (!!) on top of insurance+ travel+ trackday and tuition fees (optional extra?) soon pushes the total over £10,000 []
So it ain't cheap , part of cost of 964RS ownership is that our cars are best enjoyed on track. You might get some of it back when you sell []
So I guess you Matt could do PCF days at the expense of not doing some alternative UK day or even an alternative ATDO Spa day. The USP ( business jargon) for PCF is that its almost 100% Porsche with cars you would never otherwise see on track and the actual spectating isn't dead time. The actual tracktime is very exciting with race type conditions of unrestricted overtaking ( in some cases blocking) apparently applying .
I did both PCF and Autotrack this year , in both cases I was fortunate enough to be there with some really great people for the 'apres-track' , plus I didn't have the responsibility of having to chaperone my eldest daughter......Not planned next year yet maybe we can start a Spa 2009 thread to get a collective going on 'intent' ahead of knowing actual dates ?

 

[Melv]

ORIGINAL: oldtimer
.....plus I didn't have the responsibility of having to chaperone my eldest daughter......

Phone number, picture, likely running costs????[]

 

[carreraboy]

Good comment John, but who unless your name is Derek Bell can do more than say a twenty - thirty minute non-stop stint!! The lovely thing with a 1 hour slot, you find you do two quality twenty minute focussed stints, or am wrong? was actually totally f***e* after twenty minutes - thirty minute... but we do have the hardest most involving road legal Porsche .. suppose an airconned Kettle is a bit easier[]