Track day insurance

S

schpikster

Member
 Banstead, Surrey
Hi all,

Got my first track day on Saturday at Bedford, looking forward to it especially as its going to be wet so should be able to slide around a bit (occasionally even on purpose!) Wondered what people's thoughts are on track day insurance - is it worth it and/or necessary? If so, any recommendations for suitable companies? I found one that quoted me £85 for one day which I thought was quite steep coupled with the associated £700 excess.

As an aside, should I do anything to the car to prepare, eg over inflate tyres slightly, bring a litre of oil etc. I've heard lots of things but no idea what's good advice in the real world!

finally, anything I should be worried about re over stressing my lovely zed? I assume regular breaks to prevent over cooking the brakes?

Thanks

Mike
 
I'll be interested to read answers to this. Cheapest single day insurance I've managed to find for my car is £166!
 
It's normally £10-£15 per £1000 of cover, and the excess is 10% of the cover. So a £10k car would cost £100 to cover, with a £1000 excess. Sometimes with a discount if you do bulk bookings.

Of course there are then add-ons for personal injury, excess waiver, etc. which can add another £20-£100.

I normally use MORIS as they'd also do public days at the 'Ring - but then only for tracks I'm not totally comfortable with or when I've got an unfamiliar car. Won't be using them this year though as my current insurer does a track day add-on for existing customers for £60/day.
 
£85 seems like a bargain to me - the likelihood of having an accident on a track is thousands of times higher than on a public road. I always assumed track days were just like visiting the Nurburgring - your insurance doesn't cover it, and if you crash you pay for it all yourself.
 
I've done a few over the years - cars and bikes, but only one in the Z4. I paid £85 at Moris for trackday insurance in December (Brandshatch) but that was increased quite a lot due to adding a named driver. I would say £85 is worth it for peace of mind. Given the other costs (tyre-life, fuel and the trackday itself) this seemed releatively cheap to me...

In terms of prep, make sure you have your screw in tow hook. They may or may not let you out on track without it... but if it's not there, the recovery guys will hook onto "whatever they can" to pull you out as quickly as possible. I would also recommend taking a torque wrench to check your wheel bolts between each session.

Also - I presume you have a helmet? & it's not really relevant this time of year, but you can't have bare arms, so ensure you have full length sleaves...

Make sure you get first in the queue to get the noise level check done (normally after the briefing).

In terms of caution on the track, unless you have a track prepp'ed car (ceramic brakes, better brake fluid etc), things like your brakes may fade and you will likely cook your brake fluid if you spend too much time on circuit. If they are running the day in sessions, they are usually split into 3x20mins each hour anyway... but if it's an open pit lane, I would recommend taking a break to allow things to cool down after no more than 20mins on track.

Aside from that - have fun....
 
danmiddle2 said:
In terms of prep, make sure you have your screw in tow hook. They may or may not let you out on track without it... but if it's not there, the recovery guys will hook onto "whatever they can" to pull you out as quickly as possible. I would also recommend taking a torque wrench to check your wheel bolts between each session.
Click to expand...
To add to that...I have 2 tow hooks so it's even easier to be pulled out.

Although I've only once had any of my cars stuck in the gravel - which was in my e34 M5 after a pissed-off late braking overtake of a Cerbera that wouldn't move over to let me past - would have worked fine if it hadn't been for the last minute realisation that the corner was damper/greasier this lap than the last. The tow rope/chain broke and catapulted the hook back at the car. Luckily it only smashed the number plate and left a dent in the boot (which was covered by the new numberplate).
 
have a good read around the net about track day insurance and the waivers you sign etc there was a case last year that made it all a bit uncertain. basic jist is car crashes into caterham, caterham gets paid out on his insurance to fix his car, insurance goes after the other car owner for costs, insurance wins case guy says he'll go bankrupt and the car forums have a big moan resulting in the insurance dropping the claim saying they did it to "highlight the problems with track day insurance"

its a good idea if you value your car but remember it wont cover 3rd party damage. :thumbsup:


have fun on the track day, there should be no overtaking without permission unless the other party is being a c**t so the risk of damage is reduced.
 
I'm turning my Alfa into a track car and was advised to change the brake fluid for stuff with a higher boiling point. Have also got some braided hoses and ferodo ds2500 pads waiting to go on too.
 
Thanks for all your advice. The only concern i've got is around the tow hook - no idea if there are any behind the panels and not got time to get any fitted anyway. will just have to hope i stay on the track...

I've got a helmet, or at least i'll be borrowing one from a colleague.

Need to check with my current insurance provider re: track days, hadn't thought of that. Moris quoted me £95 but with a higher excess so might just stick with the £85 quote, though need to read the small print.

Will let you know how i get on!

Mike
 
Who gave you the cheaper quote?
I always insure my ///M but never my Westfield. It's simply a matter of cost to insure vs cost of potential total loss. I've not seen a single collision between two vehicles in a decade of trackdays, but I have seen a couple of unfortunate "offs" that would have cost thousands to rectify.
 
Would definitely take the insurance, especially on a wet track. £85 sounds about right (mine was around the same last year) but check what you are insured for - does it cover third party hitting you, costs for a third party vehicle repair etc?

On the day remember not to put your handbrake on after each session - saw a guy in an SLK AMG do this, and pretty embarrassing when the brakes seize. Oh, and remember that you will need plenty of fuel - many tracks have a pump on site, but it's expensive and may not be at the correct RON for your car.

Most important of all - take the first session easy, build confidence, gradually ease in the speed, and have fun!
 
Btw - your towing eye is in your (sparse) BMW toolkit in the car, usually stored near the battery. It screws in when you remove the front blanking plate on your bumper (just to the left of your number plate, looking at the front of your car). You can see the area on the photo below:

adedeget.jpg
 
good advice about the handbrake, just put it in gear or park on level ground.

im by no means a track day veteran. if offered i tend to take the novice sticker.

the most improtant thing is to have fun,

if tuition is offered take it early on. figure out the track and your lines at a speed your comfortable with, let everyone else go past and ignore them. your speed will build as you gain confidence and get to grips with it.

i would aslo say from my experience that 20-30 min stints are more than enough. for me it was roughly a tank of fuel in the westy :D

mostly have fun, you will be going much faster than you expect from the off.
 
How did your track day go? I've just booked my first in the Z at Bedford next week. Don't know the circuit but I hear there's plenty of run off... How did you find it?
 
Aah I really want to do a track day. Definitely going to give it a go when the weather gets better. If theres a first timer/Zed meetup, I might get involved. Wanted to do it last year but never got round to it.


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johnnymarrsbarres said:
Aah I really want to do a track day. Definitely going to give it a go when the weather gets better. If theres a first timer/Zed meetup, I might get involved. Wanted to do it last year but never got round to it.


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My thought is to get one in whilst the weather is bad and so get to know the car at its most unstable. Also should keep the mechanical wear and tear down to a minimum.


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johnnymarrsbarres said:
Aah I really want to do a track day. Definitely going to give it a go when the weather gets better. If theres a first timer/Zed meetup, I might get involved. Wanted to do it last year but never got round to it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


you should do even if its just once. i dont do many and the last one i did was in NOV at oulton park. cold damp/wet track in the westfield. the weather was a bit poo so in the morning it was slippy but started to dry but not much. it rained about lunch and then dired out loads over the afternoon till just at 5pm as it went dark the track was the driest.

funnily enough i enjoyed the really damp slippy bits as much as the fast dry (dusk) bit at the end. i couldnt go fast, coming out of the corners you had to feed the power in or else the back went. coming out of corners seemed to take an age to get the power down and then you were feeding it in rather than gunning it. there were lots of cars going much faster than me as they could get the power down (OR were fwd). it really tested my ability.
 
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