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This track day organiser attracts a good group of like minded folks, who are out to have fun on track in a safe and respectful way. I'll be going out with them again!
I think Bookatrack is by far the best track day company. They are proffesional yet extremely friendly and helpful and you know where you stand reagrding what is expected of you and your driving standards. If you have done lots of track days and raced, you can still put your self and car through it's paces. Equally if it's your first time on a track you could not be in a safer and more structured enviroment. My advice to a friend who has never been on a track before, don't waste your money on a " Driving Experience" where you pay a lot of money to drive in a straight line or around some cones for 5 minutes. Hire a Bookatrack Caterham with a friend for the day and have some instruction from them. Only problem is you will be hooked !!. Jonny's briefings are comprehensive but with humour and I beleive he wouldn't tolerate unexceptable driving standards from any one whether, you were his best customer or an F1 ace. From my experience all the other drivers have been really good and fair and that's because we know where we stand.
Did a trackday on Monday 6th May at Donington in 23 degrees of loveley sunshine with not a cloud in site so it should be a fairly free flowing day!
However Bookatrack hire out Caterham's to complete Novice's and wannabe Schumacher's who spent their time in the gravel.....great way for them to make money but not great as a trackday user. I've had less red flags during the winter in full wet conditions!
Was a good day apart from the red flags, good mix of cars which meant car speeds were fairly different and not to difficult to overtake or be overtaken......still a few trackday bods who need to look in their mirrors a little more.....the free tea\coffee and biscuits is a nice touch!
Very well organised and smooth running day with good quality of courteous fellow attendees. Top of the TDO list.
The best track day company, very well organised, helpful staff.
Highly recommended.
Excellent: well organised, good tuition from Richard. As a near track day virgin couldnt really ask for me
a clear and concise briefing...
punctual start
good adherence to safety and a tap on the shoulder for anyone being silly
The track was excellent. The car was amazing. Best of all was the staff: our instructor, mechanic, and the the marshalls all came together to make it a cracking day.
Donington National is my second favourite track (after Brands GP), and BookaTrack is my favourite organiser -- professional, friendly and approachable. For me, though, the day was marred by two things: the number of red-flag stoppages, and the performance differences of cars on track. Re stoppages, we counted over 10! In my experience, just one or two would be more usual. Re performance differences, some of the out-and-out racers had maybe twice the speed of some road cars, and the occasional "bullying" tactics applied against slower cars was unwelcome, especially given that all participants had paid the same fee to attend, and thus had an equal right to be out on track. Maybe it was no coincidence that most of the cars ending up in the gravel appeared to be the non-road cars. It was as though some drivers had forgotten they were on a trackday rather than in a competitive race!
I've no doubt that commercial pressures mean that a trackday prior to a weekend race meeting is likely to be more popular than, say, a midweek event. However, from the point of view of someone who attends trackdays in order to stretch the legs and explore the performance of a quick road car, I'd like to suggest that maybe part of the part of the day could be run in sessions, one for the road cars and one for the race-oriented ones.
PS: I'd like to say thankyou to Jonny for calling by our garage (#17) at the end of the day to ask how we'd got on. That gesture was much appreciated.
The day was well organised, plenty of track time and engineering support was there when I needed it.
Good times. Not too may cars. Met some good people.
My only complaint would be with the corporate driven cars, which I appreciate have every right to be on the track aswell, but it was very difficult to get past them when trying to give them space through the corners, but still catching them and then having them blast away in the straight because my car isn't as powerful only to then to catch them up again through the corners! This can be frustrating.
Bookatrack track days are not cheap, but they are well organised, safe and the bookatrack team are very friendly and helpful. Jonny in particular does not take any nonsense, so if anyone gets a bit hot-headed and starts ignoring the basic rules of the day (which are very fair and reasonable) then he will have no quarms about pulling them into line or removing them from the track, so as not to spoil everyone else's enjoyment of the day. The track is never over-crowded, so obey the basic rules on overtaking and you can always be sure of a bit of free space to go at your own speed.
Can't fault them really and I have been doing this a few years now.
just done my fourth trackday with bat at anglesey and once again very happy the bat team they are frendly helpfull and well organized good safety breifing and started on time to be honest ive only bin on one other trackday that wasnt a bat avent so dont have a lot of experiance to judge them against but i find the very proffesional and easy to deal with my only complaint at anglesey is there was to many racing caterhams buzzing round in groupes but apart from that it wa great anglesey is the best circuit ive bin on so far!!!!!!!!!! also the instructors are great it makes a big differance to have somebody who knows wot they are doing passing there experiance onto you saved my tyres a lot of pain!1
We attended the BookaTrack Anglesey track day at the end of March and as usual with BookaTrack we had a fantastic day out without issues. The day was well organised, briefing of drivers was thorough and the day ran smoothly.
We did mention to the BaT staff that a couple of the race caterhams weren't behaving quite as well as they should, this was dealt with immediately and the drivers in question behaved far better for the remainder of the day.
We will continue to use BaT as one of our preffered Track Day Organisers.
It was a great day. There was lots of track time, good instructors and an exciting track to drive. My only criticism is the quality of food available at the track - which was pretty dire.
Book a track are an excellent Track Day company who promote safe & courteous driving....no idiots tolerated. Fast & fun track driving at its best where drivers return time & again.
I've returned from my first trackday as a BookaTrack customer at Spa last weekend. I'd been looking forward to the weekend for months, so to find that it was snowing at the Saturday morning sign-ion and briefing in late March was disconcerting. Check-in was quick and well-organised. The food and drinks laid on was a nice touch. The briefing by Jonny was concise and pragmatic.
Once the weather had backed off enough, we were out for some sighting laps in very tricky conditions. After it was clear the snow was not going to disrupt the day too much, the track was declared open.
My first use of a new car was therefore in treacherous but improving conditions.
My (delayed) tuition after lunch came just at the right time, and I was able to put the advice to use as the racing line began to dry towards the end of the afternoon.
Unfortunately for everyone we awoke to a heavy snowfall and soon had an email confirming my worst fears that the second day would have to be abandoned.
Very happy that everything under the control of BaT was slickly organised. The lady at the end of the pitlane always managed a warm smile despite the freezing conditions!
Well not really but he may as well have been given the conditions .
Just returned from an excellent day at SPA .
As always Jonny and the BAT team were absolutely fantastic , providing a great day ( in very snowy conditions ) , sensible , adapting regulations , humour , great track support , a real willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty to help us , courtesy and most importantly Jaffa Cakes and Coffee .
A fantastic time was had by all and as a very seasoned track day veteran I cannot recommend BOOKATRACK enough .
Professional , safe and fun track day .
See you at the next day
B
James Stewart found this review useful
I ran a track day company for 10 years in Europe, so I know what it takes to succeed in this sector. Jonny, Sarah and the BAT team combine pride and passion, the net result being a professional organisation that cares about its product and clients.
They meet my needs and if they didn't. I'd do it myself !
I have driven with Jonny and his Bookatrack team for 3 events now - Silverstone, Oulton Park and Spa where I rented one of the Caterham R300s. I would recommend Bookatrack to anyone thinking of attending a well organized and disciplined track day. From a nicely detailed track briefing to the friendly staff team able to solve most problems to the strict discipline to ensure maximum safety out there on track - I have been impressed from my first event. Their quality even more shines through when the chips are down as my recent event at Spa experienced atrocious weather conditions. Bookatrack tried hard to make the day work well for everyone despite the weather conditions frustrating everyones best efforts. They went far beyond what other track day operators have done in similar circumstances from my own past personal experience. Definitely give them a try.
Attended a Spa Francorchamps weekend with bookatrack and hired one of their Caterhams. Despite the snow, ice and generally freezing cold conditions everyone remained cheerful and pleasant and everyone did all they could to ensure we enjoyed the day. Car was in good condition but it didn't take much to hit the rev limit, so be prepared to be stuffed down the straights by Supercars! Would definitely book again as long as time and money permits.
Very good to work with, fast communications with a high degree of ethics in my view. I will certainly book again with Bookatrack.
We had difficult weather conditions at Spa for the whole weekend, and the BookaTrack team handled things calmly, sensibly and professionally. A classy operation and I will definitely go back to them whenever I can. Highly recommended
Another great trackday courtesy of Jonny, Sarah & co, despite the weather doing its best to ruin things. Professional and friendly as always, good to see you again and I'll have to get another day booked up soon!
After briefing i look around and i can see only very powerful cars like Porsche, Ferrari etc. I am afraid that i will be the turtle on the track with my blue french 200bhp.The day started with snow. Perfect conditions to drive on a fast track like SPA specially if you have some semi slicks mounted.... First round the 4th corner was a spin :-)))). OK so i will drive now with electronic help ESP etc.
Trying to go faster and faster the weather helps me because the track will dry a little.
Perfect in the last turn "Blanchimont" goes nearly full pull and "Eau rouge" with 100mph if you take a little shortcut ;-)
End of the day i am very happy, because i was not ridiculous on the track, a friend of mine who was also driving with my car had a lot of fun and i was 3 seconds faster as him :-).
Finally all my respect for the perfect organization and the way all the people did behave on the track. BookaTrack must just spent more money in warm weather :-)))).
See you soon in Spa, maybe next time with my yellow ZZZZZZZZZZ
Everyone dislikes the briefings but know that they have to be done, and are glad that the other drivers have had it! It's time for a few new gags though, some are now old enough to go to school
Well organised day with a good drivers briefing & tea/bisuits a nice touch. Whole day ran well & was great fun despite the miserable weather!
First class trip, our first. Will be coming back. Friendly people good organisation and restricted numbers added up to a very enjoyable experience.
Really enjoyed it, very professional team and very helpful.
Frequent attendee at BaT track days, always found all the staff to be very helpful but also a well run ship, minor driving indiscretions are piicked up and addressed very quickly before they become an issue. May not be as cheap as some other track day organisers but are generally fewer red flag stoppages so in all offers better value for money.
This was a well organised and friendly track day, with fewer cars registered than is the case with some other operators. There was plenty of space on track and no queues to get on circuit at any time. Despite some big speed differentials passing etiquette seemed to be well observed, so a stress-free session with few red flag interruptions.
This was BRILLIANT. Friendly, well organised, well run, well controlled and given the open pit lane and the vast speed differencials of the cars absolutley no issues what so ever, I will be doing it again.
Contrast my first trackday (with another company at Donnington) that resulted in me being scared stupid out on track (not easily done I race cars, have climbed mountains and parachuted) - this was BRILLIANT. Everything a track day should be, FUN FUN FUN and some SUN as a bonus.
ps the extra £20 for the photos, which we add after the event, is very good value excellent quality - 99 specific photos and another 40 general.
The day lived up to my expectations. Facilities were good, briefing session was informative and concise, cars were well maintained and problem free. The track was in great condition and I had all the driving time I wanted. Staff were friendly and helpful throughout the day and provided good tuition. One slight disappointment was that we were told at the beginning of the day that there was a photographer who would get plenty of pictures of everyone and post on a website so most of us didn't bother using our own cameras. There were indeed some good pictures posted at the end of the day but we weren't told we would have to pay for these and I think having spent 900 GBP on the day, to have to pay extra for these photos was a bit of a let down. Overall though a great day and would recommend this to my friends.
As always Jonny, Sarah and the team provided an excellent friendly service, very happy to recommend Bookatrack to my friends.
Excellent well run day, great track Snetterton now its been modified (wasn't over keen before) helped by a car that didn't falter.
Could have done with more batpics though (55) considering the car had two drivers and was on track pretty much all day.
Cheers the BAT team.
Only 40 cars, very few slow cars and all well driven after the very good briefing. I've heard it so many times but the BookaTrack guy is a very good presenter of this stuff and it shows on the track compared to other trackday co.s rambling "umm guys" stuff.
Always a well run day and an excellent web site, well worth the extra few quid