I recently started playing assetto corsa and gravitated to this track, coincidentally with an mx-5 nd too. It's interesting seeing our differences with braking points and gears.
Great fan of your Conquer Driving channel. I look at many other instructor channels but still think yours is the best. I came across this channel only recently but will watch some of the videos.
It's wild to me finding this second channel of yours featuring your MX5 as I've been using your main one to learn manual in my NA MX5! Really a fan of the platform, and could absolutely see myself getting an ND down the line.
They do use the gp track for trackdays. It’s pretty expensive and a limited amount of times throughout the year. This is because on the residents complain about the noise. Which is stupid since the track has been there longer than the people who moved next to the track 🤦🏻♂️
Thanks for all your videos help me a lot and I passed today first time(6minors though) Bought an old MR2 MKIII, hopefully see you on track in the future ;)
Hi Richard, just want to give you a shout out and thank you for making great videos! I am from Thailand and is a car enthusiast who just got into driving. I absolutely love watching your videos both on this channel and Conquer Driving. I find your video very enjoyable and they help me tremendously in being a better driver. Even though rules and regulations here are somewhat different from the UK but I always find your videos useful. Keep up the good work. Cheers 🎉 PS. I also used to live in the UK as a student and your videos help when I miss my life in UK too lol
Hello, BH is my fave UK circuit. Have loved this place since my childhood. I usually come here for mainly the GP and a little Indy for track time on my Aprilia RSV4. In August I am here for the F4 and M4 experience. Best corner on Indy is Druids and best corner on GP has to be Surtees for me, but Stirling has to come a close second as it is sweet when you're cranked over as it's banked.
My dream is to drive the indy circuit of Brands Hatch!!! Mostly because its the only map in sim racing that I can do without crashing 😂😂 still it would be so cool to go there one day! awesome video as always!
@@RichardFanders Total cost of taking your own car for the day if the organiser charges the more normal £250 is £450-£500 if you account (most people don't) for ALL the wear and tear and for preventative maintenance and if you book £60 of instruction (which is worth £600 of go-faster parts). Add the costs of a packed lunch and plenty of water. Either hire a helmet for £30 or buy one.
Great video, I've been driving for a few years now so your regular content isn't really something that I learn from, but I still find it kinda calming to have on in the background while I work. This video is more like my usual UA-cam genre. So far I've always wanted to do a track day but avoided it because I'm not sure about how it affects insurance. Every year when I renew I'm asked if my car is gonna be used for motorsport and I always say no since I assume it will negatively affect my premium to say yes. Do you know if a non-competitive track day counts as "motorsport" and if so what do you do re insurance? Do you have 2 seperate insurances on your car, one for road and one for track? Or, do you simply tell your insurance company that you plan to use the car for motorsport?
I only have normal insurance. I have had track cover in the past but it's not really financially viable for me unless I have a car that's old enough for classic cover, then track insurance can be included. If I crash on track I pay at the moment.
The majority of people drive uninsured on track, it's not compulsory and the standard rules are that you pay for your own damage. Track day collisions are very uncommon anyway, I've done 5 days and I've never seen one, people tend to drive very respectfully.
@@olii9062 Additionally, the deductible on track insurance is usually very high. So you end up paying quite a bit out of pocket if something goes wrong anyway. Like you said, most people I've met drive uninsured on track.
@@Dylanbforthree yeah, I had a look into it once and whilst the insurance itself was only £15 for me the excess was £2000 - my car is only worth about that
Good video. I think it's a pretty interesting track, I have played it in video games and also seen recordings of races there in the past. I would like to go and race at a track one of these days, but there are not that many around here. For example, the nearest one is like 70 miles away from me and its just a dirt oval. Someone told me about a racing school in Arizona that has track days but that is like, multiple days of driving to get there. Plus, the expense of it all is a bit much for me at this period of my life.
We are lucky for tracks in the UK. There are many in England. I have to drive between 60 and 300 miles to get to most of them as they're dotted around the country.
@@RichardFanders Does Silverstone allow for Track Days? If I do, I am sure it would be pretty expensive since it's such a premium venue. Also unrelated but do you watch motorsports? If so, curious to know what classes of racing you watch and what drivers you favor the most. For me, I love to watch open wheel racing such as F1, Indycar and the new Formula E stuff is interesting as well. I also watch some NASCAR and IMSA GT & Touring car racing. My favorite driver in any series is Lewis Hamilton--godly F1 driver with a good head on his shoulders that cares about a lot more than just winning all the time.
I’m thinking of getting an MX-5 for track days but … what happens in a rollover? Is the latest build strong enough in the windscreen pillars to protect you or should you fit a roll cage? There are some scary videos of MX-5’s flipping and basically crushing the driver.
The PS4 is an amazing tyre, good at so much and confidence inspiring. I would say it breaks away more gradually. But getting them coincided with me doing 112 laps of a drift circuit, so I can't be surely if the tyre is better or my skill is better.
What are the stock tyres? Tyre Reviews on YT places a fair amount of focus on performance tyres and he's managed to get within 1s of Gordon Sheddon at Knockhill on the same car/tyres, so isn't too slow.
@@tyrantworm7392 Bridgestone Potenza S001. Not a bad tire, but I've heard good things from everyone who switches to PS4's. Personally I'm not a fan of the way it loses grip. Not progressive enough, especially with the way the miata will get into the bumpstops on the stock suspension.
Hi, I believe you are wrongly using the word Apex instead of Curb/Kerb. Apex is the point on the inside of the corner where you are the closest to the inside. Good video though :)
I've never considered this circuit as it looks too busy to me. I don't like it when they mix road cars with track cars, the speed difference is too much, it gets dangerous. I had a session at Thruxton, and even in a Porsche Cayman I felt like I was standing still as all these track cars flew past! Have a go at Castle Combe, see if you can beat my 100mph down the straight in my ND 160. I reckon you need a BBR 220 conversion next.
After a few hundred track days you get used to having to use the mirrors for a lot of the time so you can get out of the way of quicker cars. Even then you'll still get drivers of faster cars (not faster drivers) complaining that you hold your line in the braking zone, where they are not allowed to overtake. A partial solution is to book a coach who sets the mirrors for him to see from the passenger seat. I wonder if it would also be good if he had a board to hold up saying "MY CORNER - BACK OFF". The challenge for track day organisers is that margins for them are very slim and restricting days to, for instance, only cars with 150-250-hp and with closed-in wheels, would result in large losses.
I have a question. Why do you brake with your left foot? Even though you aren't rev-matching. You don't use the right foot, but brake with the left. Sorry if the answer is obvious, I'm just seeing it for the first time.
Speed 👌 Wasting time when shifting your right foot from pedal to pedal. Sometimes you want throttle input 0.01 sec after braking which cant be done with one foot
It removes split seconds of "dead" time, which is time when you're neither accelerating nor braking. Less dead time means more speed. It also smooths the weight transition around the car. The smoother you keep that transition the less the car will be upset.
Richard. Dealer group announces second showroom closure in a fortnight as boss again hits out at manufacturers chasing online sales Underwoods Vauxhall Colchester to close down after 25 years in business
Hi Richard, great video, thanks! Some questions as I'm interested in taking my car to a track day, but a bit nervous. I don't have the space/tools to change pads myself, so should I pay to change to higher temp track pads and just leave them on my car full time? Likewise with tyres, do I need to change my current road tyres for a track day? If I get higher spec tyres, can I just leave them on full time? And a question about helmets, did you rent yours at the track? Cheers!
My helmet is mine, I don't advise helmet hire for hygiene and you can get helmets for a reasonable price. I don't recommend road legal track tyres for the road, I rather use road tyres on track and just be slower but not lose my road safety. Many people use track pads on the road but I don't think it's legal as some pads aren't certified for road use. I highly recommend finding a way to change them, if you're doing track days it's essential that you can work on your own brakes. It's not too difficult but saves you a lot of money and gives you the flexibility to change them when you want. Track pads on the road can be scary as they need heat, also, they can be loud.
Also, you can't do track days on road pads, I've tried several times and failed. Two or three laps in and they overheat. Fresh brake fluid is essential too.
I recently started playing assetto corsa and gravitated to this track, coincidentally with an mx-5 nd too. It's interesting seeing our differences with braking points and gears.
In real life with a car I paid £30k for I guess I'm braking earlier 😄
@@RichardFanders Oh for sure, understandably. To be honest they're very similar!
use the street tyres
Great fan of your Conquer Driving channel. I look at many other instructor channels but still think yours is the best. I came across this channel only recently but will watch some of the videos.
It's wild to me finding this second channel of yours featuring your MX5 as I've been using your main one to learn manual in my NA MX5! Really a fan of the platform, and could absolutely see myself getting an ND down the line.
Amazing footage! And you were narrating throughout; talk about multitasking! I enjoyed this more than I anticipated. Thanks.👍
They do use the gp track for trackdays. It’s pretty expensive and a limited amount of times throughout the year. This is because on the residents complain about the noise. Which is stupid since the track has been there longer than the people who moved next to the track 🤦🏻♂️
Gotta love the beautiful little MX-5!
I FINALLY FOUND YOUR TRACK CHANNEL IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR IT FOR AGES
Thanks for all your videos help me a lot and I passed today first time(6minors though)
Bought an old MR2 MKIII, hopefully see you on track in the future ;)
That's fantastic news! Congratulations on passing! The first car I took to track days was an MR2 MKIII, brilliant car.
Hi Richard, just want to give you a shout out and thank you for making great videos! I am from Thailand and is a car enthusiast who just got into driving. I absolutely love watching your videos both on this channel and Conquer Driving. I find your video very enjoyable and they help me tremendously in being a better driver. Even though rules and regulations here are somewhat different from the UK but I always find your videos useful.
Keep up the good work. Cheers 🎉
PS. I also used to live in the UK as a student and your videos help when I miss my life in UK too lol
The tip and toe is already impressively done to begin with, but while driving so quickly and precisely AND talking for the video, that's crazy 😂👍
Terrific driving and narration 👍🏼
Hello, BH is my fave UK circuit. Have loved this place since my childhood. I usually come here for mainly the GP and a little Indy for track time on my Aprilia RSV4. In August I am here for the F4 and M4 experience. Best corner on Indy is Druids and best corner on GP has to be Surtees for me, but Stirling has to come a close second as it is sweet when you're cranked over as it's banked.
My dream is to drive the indy circuit of Brands Hatch!!! Mostly because its the only map in sim racing that I can do without crashing 😂😂 still it would be so cool to go there one day! awesome video as always!
Oh my god! Only seen your driving instructing videos until now.
Just bought a mk2 MX-5 and looking to get into track days, interesting to know the costs
This was a lower cost day. I have mentioned the cost in some of my other track day videos also.
@@RichardFanders Total cost of taking your own car for the day if the organiser charges the more normal £250 is £450-£500 if you account (most people don't) for ALL the wear and tear and for preventative maintenance and if you book £60 of instruction (which is worth £600 of go-faster parts). Add the costs of a packed lunch and plenty of water. Either hire a helmet for £30 or buy one.
amazing driving Richard :)
what a nice circuit, looks to be fun
Great video, I've been driving for a few years now so your regular content isn't really something that I learn from, but I still find it kinda calming to have on in the background while I work. This video is more like my usual UA-cam genre.
So far I've always wanted to do a track day but avoided it because I'm not sure about how it affects insurance. Every year when I renew I'm asked if my car is gonna be used for motorsport and I always say no since I assume it will negatively affect my premium to say yes. Do you know if a non-competitive track day counts as "motorsport" and if so what do you do re insurance? Do you have 2 seperate insurances on your car, one for road and one for track? Or, do you simply tell your insurance company that you plan to use the car for motorsport?
I only have normal insurance. I have had track cover in the past but it's not really financially viable for me unless I have a car that's old enough for classic cover, then track insurance can be included. If I crash on track I pay at the moment.
The majority of people drive uninsured on track, it's not compulsory and the standard rules are that you pay for your own damage. Track day collisions are very uncommon anyway, I've done 5 days and I've never seen one, people tend to drive very respectfully.
@@olii9062 Additionally, the deductible on track insurance is usually very high. So you end up paying quite a bit out of pocket if something goes wrong anyway.
Like you said, most people I've met drive uninsured on track.
@@Dylanbforthree yeah, I had a look into it once and whilst the insurance itself was only £15 for me the excess was £2000 - my car is only worth about that
Great stuff. I drove that circuit many times in my youth playing Acornsoft’s Revs on the BBC Micro. Looks fun.
Very helpful vid thankyou 👏. Think I'll check Bedford out for my maiden voyage now.
Good video. I think it's a pretty interesting track, I have played it in video games and also seen recordings of races there in the past.
I would like to go and race at a track one of these days, but there are not that many around here. For example, the nearest one is like 70 miles away from me and its just a dirt oval. Someone told me about a racing school in Arizona that has track days but that is like, multiple days of driving to get there. Plus, the expense of it all is a bit much for me at this period of my life.
We are lucky for tracks in the UK. There are many in England. I have to drive between 60 and 300 miles to get to most of them as they're dotted around the country.
@@RichardFanders Does Silverstone allow for Track Days? If I do, I am sure it would be pretty expensive since it's such a premium venue.
Also unrelated but do you watch motorsports? If so, curious to know what classes of racing you watch and what drivers you favor the most. For me, I love to watch open wheel racing such as F1, Indycar and the new Formula E stuff is interesting as well. I also watch some NASCAR and IMSA GT & Touring car racing. My favorite driver in any series is Lewis Hamilton--godly F1 driver with a good head on his shoulders that cares about a lot more than just winning all the time.
I’m thinking of getting an MX-5 for track days but … what happens in a rollover? Is the latest build strong enough in the windscreen pillars to protect you or should you fit a roll cage? There are some scary videos of MX-5’s flipping and basically crushing the driver.
How do you like the PS4's vs the stock tire? Do they break away more progressively when oversteering?
Great track day video, thanks for the upload!
The PS4 is an amazing tyre, good at so much and confidence inspiring. I would say it breaks away more gradually. But getting them coincided with me doing 112 laps of a drift circuit, so I can't be surely if the tyre is better or my skill is better.
What are the stock tyres? Tyre Reviews on YT places a fair amount of focus on performance tyres and he's managed to get within 1s of Gordon Sheddon at Knockhill on the same car/tyres, so isn't too slow.
@@tyrantworm7392 Bridgestone Potenza S001. Not a bad tire, but I've heard good things from everyone who switches to PS4's.
Personally I'm not a fan of the way it loses grip. Not progressive enough, especially with the way the miata will get into the bumpstops on the stock suspension.
Could you do a Snetterton track day review? I've seen that you've uploaded a lot of videos there but not a review yet, it'd be great to see!
I may do in the future, thank you for your suggestion.
Hi, I believe you are wrongly using the word Apex instead of Curb/Kerb. Apex is the point on the inside of the corner where you are the closest to the inside.
Good video though :)
I've never considered this circuit as it looks too busy to me.
I don't like it when they mix road cars with track cars, the speed difference is too much, it gets dangerous.
I had a session at Thruxton, and even in a Porsche Cayman I felt like I was standing still as all these track cars flew past!
Have a go at Castle Combe, see if you can beat my 100mph down the straight in my ND 160.
I reckon you need a BBR 220 conversion next.
Here is a video I made at castle combe. I can't remember the speed but you may be able to see it.
105 in a stock 144hp Mk2.5 might trump your 100? It does require a squeaky bum time as you leave the brakes as late as possible.
After a few hundred track days you get used to having to use the mirrors for a lot of the time so you can get out of the way of quicker cars. Even then you'll still get drivers of faster cars (not faster drivers) complaining that you hold your line in the braking zone, where they are not allowed to overtake. A partial solution is to book a coach who sets the mirrors for him to see from the passenger seat. I wonder if it would also be good if he had a board to hold up saying "MY CORNER - BACK OFF".
The challenge for track day organisers is that margins for them are very slim and restricting days to, for instance, only cars with 150-250-hp and with closed-in wheels, would result in large losses.
Richard what fuel do you use, E10 or premium?
The cheapest stuff I can find most of the time.
@@RichardFanders My Mazda prefers esso, that's why i asked. It doesn't like shell
@@kurtgabbidon2666 AFAIK all the differently branded tankers fill up at the same refineries.
I have a question. Why do you brake with your left foot? Even though you aren't rev-matching. You don't use the right foot, but brake with the left. Sorry if the answer is obvious, I'm just seeing it for the first time.
Speed 👌 Wasting time when shifting your right foot from pedal to pedal. Sometimes you want throttle input 0.01 sec after braking which cant be done with one foot
It's so I can transition between brake and gas more quickly.
It removes split seconds of "dead" time, which is time when you're neither accelerating nor braking. Less dead time means more speed. It also smooths the weight transition around the car. The smoother you keep that transition the less the car will be upset.
Is braking and accelerating at the same time bad for the clutch?
It puts everything under strain, it doesn't burn the clutch but I don't advise doing it, I try to be fully off the gas when I touch the brake.
Richard.
Dealer group announces second showroom closure in a fortnight as boss again hits out at manufacturers chasing online sales
Underwoods Vauxhall Colchester to close down after 25 years in business
Ever been to the nurburgring?
Not yet, maybe one day.
Hi Richard, great video, thanks! Some questions as I'm interested in taking my car to a track day, but a bit nervous.
I don't have the space/tools to change pads myself, so should I pay to change to higher temp track pads and just leave them on my car full time?
Likewise with tyres, do I need to change my current road tyres for a track day? If I get higher spec tyres, can I just leave them on full time?
And a question about helmets, did you rent yours at the track?
Cheers!
My helmet is mine, I don't advise helmet hire for hygiene and you can get helmets for a reasonable price. I don't recommend road legal track tyres for the road, I rather use road tyres on track and just be slower but not lose my road safety. Many people use track pads on the road but I don't think it's legal as some pads aren't certified for road use. I highly recommend finding a way to change them, if you're doing track days it's essential that you can work on your own brakes. It's not too difficult but saves you a lot of money and gives you the flexibility to change them when you want. Track pads on the road can be scary as they need heat, also, they can be loud.
Also, you can't do track days on road pads, I've tried several times and failed. Two or three laps in and they overheat. Fresh brake fluid is essential too.
@@RichardFanders Thanks! Do you put your track pads on at home then drive to the track, or bring everything to the track on the day?
Yes
Nice socks
Its a track day stop looking at your mirrors and drive 😂
You must be one of the guys who blocks MX5s going along the twisty bits?
Did your girlfriend know you took her car to brands?
How quickly do you get your road car round Brands?
You’re only jealous because you haven’t got one. (Girlfriend, MX-5 , take your pick!)