Some further info for you guys, from the gent helping to organise the event:
Right, to answer your questions, and to try and let you know the relevant
info.
The £175 will include public liability insurance, ambulance cover and
marshal's etc for the day, but it won't include the cost of insurance for
your car if you have an accident in it, however there is the option of
adding insurance cover on the BookaTrack site, with various levels for
varying amounts of the folding stuff.
Damage is rare at any properly run track day, and the way BookaTrack operate I think makes them the safest company by far, Honda R will not use any other, and we won't even "do it ourselves" now, even though we might be big enough to get away with it at
some of the cheaper venue's. Back to Insurance, some "normal" car policies
do cover you on trackdays, because although they are on a racetrack the
event is non competitive, and timing is not allowed, (if anyone is caught
timing they are sent home there and then as this invalidates everyone's
insurance), however it's best to check with your company, and some companies
it depends on who you speak to, i..e. Tesco.com apparently do cover you for
trackdays, but most of the front line staff don't know about it, if you can
find someone that does, I'd make sure you get it in writing before the
event. The event itself will be a week day, i.e. Monday to Friday rather
than a Saturday or Sunday, and BaT won't have any details from Donington
themselves until the start of January. A lot of people's questions can be
answered by reading the FAQ section of the BookaTrack site, but I'll be
happy to answer any that you have.
Most other people want to know about how much wear and tear you'll put on
your car, and to be honest, if it's a dry day, it will be more than the same
amount of road miles, and somewhere like Donington is hard on brake pads
especially, tyre wear on a proper circuit isn't that bad though. A lot of it
however is down to how the individual drives, be smooth and build up during
the day and get some instruction, and you'll have a huge amount of fun, and
smaller bills, drive like you think you know it all, and you're wearing
clogs, and whilst you might still have fun, it'll cost you more and your car
will not thank you for it! Apart from that make sure the car is "tight" i.e.
nothing is outstanding from the last service, the fluid levels have all been
topped off etc... and most reliable Japanese cars will take a track day in
their stride, (I'm not sure about an LS400 or 430, but if someone wants to
let me have the keys I'll give it a go for them :o).
Can I add my own personal recommendation for the BaT people here, I've done
close on 20 trackdays with various companies and BookaTrack are by far and
away the best for newbies, and a "club" event like this is even better than
their normal events as you are in amongst a bunch of like minded individuals
who value their car as much as you value yours.