First Luddenham Raceway day - not a great first experience

[PranK]

Had my first Luddenham Raceway day yesterday, I thought I'd share my experience.

We arrived a little early, I was a bit surprised at how few undercover car spots there were. It wasn't a full day but the undercover spots were almost all gone.

Registration was pretty easy but there were very few staff there, if you arrived in a group I reckon you'd be registering forever. 

Drivers briefing was held by 3 guys that looked, and sounded, 19 - 20 years old. They advised that if you wanted somebody to pass you to user your indicators or wave your arm out the window! 😮 

Our group was massive! I was in the intermediate group. Beginners had about half as many and the fast group had 3 cars. 3. At no point during the day did they try to level out the groups despite several cars in intermediate being faster (or as fast) as the guys in the fast group. I know of 1 driver who asked to move and they facilitated this. 

1 lap into the first session and a clubman comes off and lightly hits one of the only walls available to hit. Rather than wave the cars past the clubman so we could return to pit, they made a line of us stay on the track while they, very casually, grabbed the small amount of debris and used their little ATV to drag the car off to the side. Note that there was only a small amount of coolant on the track so they weren't leaving us there to clean up spilled oil.

In the fast group session before I went out on the next session an M2 came off and cracked his oil pan. He didn't know and continued around the track. He pretty much dumped his 6L of oil on the entire racing line.

A few cars went out from my group only to slide all over the place and they stopped the session.

Here's where it gets funny/strange/concerning.

The entire intermediate group were lined up to go out when the 3 kids started making noise about the oil. We were all ready to go with cars running when the kids moved to the track to look at the oil (which we didn't know about). They kept looking around while we waited. Eventually, after about 15 mins we got out of the cars as the kids started to put sand on the oil at the end of the straight. We all assumed that was the extent of the oil. Then they started moving around the track, whie we waited ready to go. We started talking amongst ourselves and noticed the oil line around the track. We had to come to the conclusion that they were going to clean the entire track. Nobody spoke to us about this. after 30 mins in line, we all moved our cars back to the under cover spots.

After about an hour and noticing how slow they were going, my mate and I thought we'd duck into town to get some early lunch, check air and fill up. But (ready?) the gate to leave was locked. No drama, my mate went down into reception to ask to get out. They didn't have a key! The only people with a key were the kids on the track cleaning up. We could not leave! 

 

The guys next to us decided to go home after about 1.5hrs but they couldn't. Told the same as us and when they requested one of the kids come back to open it, the kid said no and that he'd finish cleaning first. Apparently this was 'policy'. When this bloke stressed how bad this was he was told to calm down and that he was causing the staffer to be uncomfortable.

We were all stunned! What if there was a medical emergency? A fire? Anything! We were quite literally locked in. 

So, we decided we'd just eat there. The pie oven at the 'cafe' had a total of 3 sausage rolls and 1 pie. That was it for food. And, despite the insanely unfriendly messages everywhere about a $150 cleanup fee if you bring food in, we ordered some chow on Menu log which was excruciatingly expensive and only had 1 cafe option.

After about 2.5hrs (give or take) the track was ready to be used again. 

I only managed one more session before I got an engine light about low boost. It was ok after cooling down but I left it just incase as I know my wastegates are having problems and I didn't want to properly break anything.

The guy who broke his sump was charged $51 per bag of sand. A total of $1100. He had to settle this before anybody was let out! 

My thoughts on the track; Its very tight. I was having a hard time finding any rhythm and felt like I was just shifting the entire time. I went out as passenger in my mates 130i and it was awesome, he was doing really well and I'm sure I'd be more comfortable with more sessions under my belt. The paddles in my car are very fast but I can't hear the engine so kept thinking I'd gone down a gear and I hadn't (because car wouldn't shift down when revs are too high) which caused me to bog down and then shift more.

Couldn't believe there was no air on the premises. And, because we were locked in so much we couldn't go and adjust.

In the end though, massive bad taste in my mouth. Felt like nothing was being taken seriously and that ultimately, nobody that worked there gave 2 shits about our experience. If I was paying to do an escape room I could still get out if I needed to. Being locked in was just absurd. Many drivers just kept talking about how much better Wakefield is. Word is, its opening in November, so I probably wont return to Luddenham after this day.

[PranK]

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Yeah been once, never again.

I prefer Sydney Motorsport Park, knowledgeable staff, no silly BS about bringing in your own F&B, you can leave/come as you please, they don't need to hold onto your physical license, they don't lock any gates, etc.

Luddenham isn't cheap either.

[GTSBoy]

Remember, locks are only there to stop the law abiding criminals. A padlock can usually be shimmed or jiggled, or at worst, single pin picked in a few minutes. Always keep your lock bypassing kit on you and these things stop being a problem.

[Kinkstaah]

I don't know how it is up there in strange north land, but down here it isn't so much the TRACK but the event organizers. There's an incredible world of difference with how days go depending on the organization running them, even if the track itself is obviously the same track.

Tampered for example, is utter garbage and you should do ANY track day with ANY other organization.

[hattori hanzo]

alot of wahhh for what is grass roots level track day stuff

 

 was it 3 young guys having a crack at running a day?

 

 

 

 

[PranK]

1 hour ago, GTSBoy said:

Remember, locks are only there to stop the law abiding criminals. A padlock can usually be shimmed or jiggled, or at worst, single pin picked in a few minutes. Always keep your lock bypassing kit on you and these things stop being a problem.

Good thing I've been keeping up with The Lock Picking Lawyer videos. 

[PranK]

1 minute ago, hattori hanzo said:

alot of wahhh for what is grass roots level track day stuff

 

 was it 3 young guys having a crack at running a day?

 

 

 

 

Nope, 3 young guys who were staff at Ludddnham. Besides them there were 3 others manning the desk and coffee machine. 

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

The whole locking gate thing does my head in, and the whole you can only fill up your car at this bay is a pain in the arse. Not to mention it's so fking hard to get up there without scrapping shit!

I found that reversing up on a very extreme angle worked, other than that you'll scrape everything underneath. 

[benm]

Luddenham has been a shithole since day dot. What clown thought it would be a great idea to have a deep ditch 1m off the side of the track, or a pit area that is on the side of a hill or a fuel fill up area that is up a gutter also on a slope. 

Went there once as a spectator to check out the facilities and how the day was run and left after an hour never to return again.

Hopefully a civil construction company heading for the new airport mix up the address and bulldoze it by accident.

 

[robbo_rb180]

sounds like operational issues and bottom of the barrel staff who haven't been trained/no life experience and probably paid peanuts.
I have had issues with one local track and how they were running events after the track manager left. A quick chat at the event and a few emails with a few points on procedure had it all sorted for their next event. Sometimes an email with the issues and a few fixes helps a lot.  

It shit no staff told the group and they stuffed around. Not letting customers leave to grab a feed is bullshit too.

Edited August 17, 2023 by robbo_rb180

[hattori hanzo]

17 hours ago, robbo_rb180 said:

sounds like operational issues and bottom of the barrel staff who haven't been trained/no life experience and probably paid peanuts.
I have had issues with one local track and how they were running events after the track manager left. A quick chat at the event and a few emails with a few points on procedure had it all sorted for their next event. Sometimes an email with the issues and a few fixes helps a lot.  

It shit no staff told the group and they stuffed around. Not letting customers leave to grab a feed is bullshit too.

have been meaning to get out to a skid control event now i am brisbane based! look good and of good frequency 

[34GeeTeeTee]

I dunno why people go to Luddenham after the stories I've heard from the place!

Go and support the guys at Pheasant Wood Circuit that put their money where their mouth is and took on Wakefield Park.

The money they are investing into both PWC and Wakie will need the support of car clubs and members.

We ran an open pit lane day on Friday with only 2xR34s and one Swift track car all day on open pit lane.

Unlimited track time for only $170 and staff and facilities are great! Take your own food, do your own thing!

Can't wait to see the extensions at PWC and also the tweaks to the facility at Wakefield! Good times ahead 😎