First time track day
 

Hey guys,

I wanted to get involved this summer in some track days.

Any recommendations for a newbie ?

Thanks!

TMP usually does open lapping day. If you follow them on instagram or check their website they always post available dates + prices.


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I highly suggest the following schools for bang for buck reasons:

- Pinnacle Advanced Driving Academy (http://www.pinnacledriving.com/)
- Ontario Time Attack School (http://time-attack.ca/)
- SPDA Advanced Driving Clinic (open house at JRP on April 1st) [EDIT - March 24, 2017]
- BMW Trillium Car Club

I built a thread where I review all the schools I've been to (CLICK HERE for the thread) and while I haven't been to the OTA school, I've been to their events at least once to gauge how they run their operations. In fact, I will review the OTA school when I attend their May session at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Driver Development Track (DDT) and follow up their June CTMP Grand Prix course session. I've met a few OTA folks before and you have your own @wparsons here on this forum helping everyone out. All of them as class acts!

BMW Trillium club also runs a CTMP Grand Prix course three times a year and I've heard nothing but good things about their course. Some of the best instructors operate out of that joint and they do offer a newbie price for your first event. However, since it's at the Grand Prix course, it might be too much too quickly for your first event.

FULL DISCLAIMER: I'm an instructor with Pinnacle Advanced Driving Academy (PADA). Take what you will from that but I'm an enthusiast first and foremost and want more people entering this sport than retiring from it!

That being said, Colin and Jay have founded PADA (http://www.pinnacledriving.com/) and the goal of the school is cater to newbies to safely get them onto the track and keep track of their progress. This way you can come, soak in as much as you can and we'll remember where you left off when you return to the track with any of us. We have a few innovative ideas that I've personally never seen at any schools which will make it easier slipping onto the track for the first time. Check us out at the website above or PM me. We run out of Toronto Motorsports Park (TMP / Cayuga).

The last option that I am not too keen on is to show up to an open lapping day. User experience will highly vary from great (OTA / SPDA ATTS lapping days are fantastic and you will find me at most if not all of them this year) to completely garbage (I won't name the group - but it's a free-for-all at times).

I highly suggest that you attend a school event first before going out on your own.

Again, if you need advice, just ask!

Cheers.

Kevin / Frost / LemonJus

If you have no high performance driving experience at all, I'd also suggest signing up for the SPDA ADC or similar. They're car control schools in a parking lot / auto x environment with lower speeds (and lower consequences).

The OTA school also has skidpad/braking/autox sessions as part of the curriculum.

Being comfortable with the car sliding will make you way more comfortable in a track setting when the speeds get faster.

www.hansoninternationaldriving.com is a good introduction to car control. There is ample track time and some skid pad time. Getting to listen to Derek in the classroom share his wealth of knowledge is worth the price of admission alone.

To add to what Wparsons said, I'd recommend you do the following in the order listed

- SPDA Advanced Driving Clinic (sign up on April 1st at JRP in person)
- some sort of track school
- lapping days

The SPDA ADC will teach you the idea of threshold braking and rotating your car at low speeds. Something you want to do before moving up to a track and doing it at likely double the speeds.

Thanks guys! I will look into it!!!

why sign up in person? cheaper?

Not sure why but they've done it for the last few years that I've been part of.

Plus the SPDA event sells out SUPER FAST as per my review of all the schools. Show up early to ensure you don't lose a spot and sign up for BOTH days!

check out youtube videos of people tracking ddt/Cayuga/shannonville, preferably frs/brz

Hooked on Driving is a really good program if you have the money.