Below is some suggestions to check before leaving your home to participate in any track session.
More experienced goers may check more than we suggest below. However this comes about from car specific issues relating to the car and owner. After a few track days you will start to discover these yourself and add them into your checklist.
Please be aware that helmets can usually be open or closed face. The only exception is that you cannot use helmets with a chin on the front of it like you would commonly see in the sport of Autocross and/or motorbike events. Organisers should communicate this with you a few days prior to your event date, so no need to panic.
Fluids are an important part of keeping your car running, making it safe and also getting through a track day without causing any incidents. Spilled fluids such as oil and coolant can be dangerous to yourself and others, causing a skid risk. This can mean that you or someone else could have a serious crash, injury or other various problems such as losing out on track time due to clean up as well.
Majority of fluids should be changed within the last 1-2 years. Otherwise you may lose items like your braking system and capability out on track due to moisture ingress. Obviously we also heavily advise to take spare fluids with you. 1L bottles of Coolant and Oil is advised as well as a 500ml bottle of Brake Fluid. Just encase of any fluid loss or overheating that occurs out on track or trackside.
What Tools Should I Take?
Tools are going to be specific to the car and modifications made on the car. There is some basic tools you may want to take however for your first track day to make sure that your day can be successful. Any major fixes from damage would most likely be carried out at home or at a garage anyways and not track side. Below, you can find a recommended list of tools to take with you:
Wheels and Tyres
Wheels and tyres are you main contact point for your car whilst out on track and on the road. Wheel nuts or bolts should always be torqued down correctly so the threads don't strip from excessive stress. If the nuts/bolts are also not torqued correctly, the wheel may fall off. Nobody wants that happening.
The torque specification for the majority of MQB cars is 120nm.
Checking your tyres fitted to the wheels is ideal as well. Make sure that you have enough tread to complete your track day. This is specific to what tyres you are running, how hard you may drive and also if you are going for a full day. The rule of thumb is that if you are attending a full day session, make sure you have more than 3mm of tread equally across all channels.
