FocusCanada Forums

In the track day pic's thread a few people mentioned they'd be interested running their car at a local track. I've gone to two events that Derek (Dip) has run at the Dunnville Autodrome in Dunnville and had a lot of fun.

To sign-up contact Derek @ Dips Track Day's - http://www.dipstrackdays.com

Sign-Up contact details

Dunnville Autodrome - http://www.dunnvilleautodrome.com/




Derek will explain the rules before you can go on the course.

Quote:The Rules:
- All Events are Rain or Shine.
- All vehicles must be “safe”.  Any vehicle deemed not track worthy by Dip will not be allowed on the track. If its not safe enough to drive on the street I wont allow it on the track.
- No passing except on straights.
- Pass on the LEFT HAND SIDE and only AFTER receiving a signal from vehicle ahead.
- When being passed, pull to the right of the road and slow to allow for a safe and easy pass.
- Helmets are absolutely mandatory.  A helmet can be had for $100 new, even cheaper used.  Your life is worth it.
- If you have no track experience or have never been to the venue before you will be required to go for a ride-a-long with an experienced driver.
- Anyone not playing by the rules will be removed from the venue and banned from all future events
- For those newbies, Both Jimmy and Sasha have offered to take people out to help them get to know the track and proper technique

This is from Derek's website:

Quote:July 15th 8-12pm - Dunnville - GRIP ONLY Sunday
8:00AM - 12:00PM will be GRIP ONLY
Cost: $70 per car - $25 for a second driver. Pre Paid.
Limit: 30 cars

Spots remaining: 20

Let everyone know if you've signed up.

I went to the last Track day and it was a hell of a lot of fun!

im so in its not even funny!! :):)

when do we have to pay by?

Looks great to me. Much cheaper than the SVTOA event. Anyone have a spare XL helmet?

I'll be signing up this morning and paying via CC. Looking forward to meeting a few Focus owners as well.

yea....i'll need a helmet as well....

http://www.dipstrackdays.com/?page_id=25
I'm calling Derek(dip) today to sign up for this Sunday. Motorcycle helmets are allowed.
The Marauder handled better than expected at Shannonville, but I think the tight course at Dunnville may eat my brakes and tires.
I'll have to remember to take out the two car seats before I leave to help cut down on the 4500lb weight. At least the SS flex lines will hold up better than the old rubber ones, I hope.

Hmmm ... interesting ... the SVTOA event at the same track specifically excludes M class helmets (motorcycle) ... we're required to have SA (special application) that includes a fire-retardant that isn't in the motorcycle helmets.

CanadaSVT,Jul 9 2007, 10:56 AM Wrote:http://www.dipstrackdays.com/?page_id=25
I'm calling Derek(dip) today to sign up for this Sunday.  Motorcycle helmets are allowed.
The Marauder handled better than expected at Shannonville, but I think the tight course at Dunnville may eat my brakes and tires.
I'll have to remember to take out the two car seats before I leave to help cut down on the 4500lb weight.  At least the SS flex lines will hold up better than the old rubber ones, I hope.
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ZTWsquared,Jul 9 2007, 02:42 PM Wrote:Hmmm ... interesting ... the SVTOA event at the same track specifically excludes M class helmets (motorcycle) ... we're required to have SA (special application) that includes a fire-retardant that isn't in the motorcycle helmets.
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Yep, that's why I emailed Derek and he said M class was okay with them. If you look at some of the pics posted on the other thread you'll even notice some of these guys leave the facesheild attached, and even one guy has it down :lol:
I trust my helmet and it's the reason I can afford to go this Sunday.
Made my payment today.

I'm all signed up and almost ready to go!

My new brake rotors, rebuilt 4 piston calipers and ceramic pads have arrived at the shop and going on tonight.

I'll have to drive a lot between tonight and Sunday as ceramic pads take longer to seat then regular pads.

BTW: I use an 'M' class helmet without visor.

It was a really good day @ the track except for the fact that it was crowded and a few (very few) drivers who didn't follow the rules.

I showed up in my 1991 Nissan 240sx (I know, I know, I own a Focus but don't track it)...

CanadaSVT, it was nice to meet you, that marauder is awesome!

If anyone is worried about running on the track and screwing up, please come to one of Dip's days. This is an introduction to running a car on a track and 1/2 of the drivers are new or new to the track and screw up all the time.

No one has a "race" line but everyone is looking for it. People were discussing heal-toe, how to tackle the carousel and what exit speeds they were coming out of on curve grande.

I also overhead and participatetd in conversations on brakes and tires. There's a wealth of information regarding tires @ these events. Personally I was running Dunlop FM-901's ... not that they helped as I was running on the wear bars before I got to the track.



When I first ran the track (last year) the Len's wasn't paved and we had to go through Dagmar's curves. In my opinion, it was the as challaging as the kink/carousel combination.

My favourite is curve grande and the paddock. I could exit curve grande at 123km/hr+/-5km/hr, shift into fourth and book it to the paddock. Right were you see "front straight" I'm at 152km/hr +/-2km/hr and hard braking down to 3rd gear to enter the paddock and again downshift to second to get around the club.

On one lap, while approaching the paddock I was sliding on all 4 tires since I shifted the weight of my car in such a peculiar way that I had no control (i had more grip on the inner wheels). Thankfully I recovered and got around the club in a less stressful fashion.

There's one rule of thumb for all new drivers attending a track event. Do not let go of the steering wheel.

Had a great time. Good to meet ya roast and nice 240. Was there a Nissan club there?
I'll have to clean off the brake dust on my wheels. Wish I had an incar video of a late 90's Civic trying to run away from me. If he'd known my brakes were beginning to fade I'm sure he would have surrendered sooner.
I listened to guys talking about the speeds they were getting on different portions of the track. I kept telling myself to check my speeds next time out but I always forgot as I was too busy looking ahead and trying to keep the tank on the track.

CanadaSVT,Jul 16 2007, 08:19 AM Wrote:Had a great time. Good to meet ya roast and nice 240.  Was there a Nissan club there?
I'll have to clean off the brake dust on my wheels.  Wish I had an incar video of a late 90's Civic trying to run away from me.  If he'd known my brakes were beginning to fade I'm sure he would have surrendered sooner.
I listened to guys talking about the speeds they were getting on different portions of the track.  I kept telling myself to check my speeds next time out but I always forgot as I was too busy looking ahead and trying to keep the tank on the track.
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Derek is involved (or was) with the Nissan community and a few people were from the Southern Ontarion Nissan 240sx club.

Man, was there a lot of brake dust on my wheels!

Did you get a chance to talk to Neil (Mustang GT)? I'd really like to know how the tank matched up to the GT!

roast,Jul 16 2007, 08:49 AM Wrote:Did you get a chance to talk to Neil (Mustang GT)? I'd really like to know how the tank matched up to the GT!
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Yep, talked with Neil. His GT had the usual Mustang engine enhancements plus the suspension was done. It handled great even with new cheapie tires.
He signed up to acquaint himself with the track, as he has joined the SVTOA On-Track event at the end of the month.