Track Days: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

28/04/20 11:59

A Petrolhead, a Supercar, and a Racing Circuit: What Could Go Wrong?

According to the famous adage commonly known as Murphy's law, if anything can go wrong, it will. The question is: Is Murphy's law inevitable on track days and supercar driving experiences?

Because of the very nature of track days, things going wrong are not uncommon with drivers pushing triple-digit speeds behind the wheel of powerful motors. You can be the best driver in the world, but there's always the risk that the guy behind gets it wrong and crashes into you. Given these conditions, one would expect that Murphy would strike more often than not during track days. Extremes are rarely good. Neither blind pessimism nor its polar opposite, extreme optimism, are healthy or effective. Ideally, Murphy's law should validate the need to constantly expect the unexpected and be prepared.

What Could Go Wrong During a Track Day?

Track days aren't easy. Things will sometimes go wrong, and that's how you typically learn. These are some frequent mishaps and misfortunes that might happen over the course of a track day.

Another driver makes a mistake and crashes into you.

That was unexpected! Another driver made a mistake and crashed into your car. Be aware that you are responsible for the costs of repairing your vehicle in all track day accidents even if another driver is at-fault. If you don't have track day insurance, their policy will not cover damage to your car.

You lose control of your car and crash.

Most track toys have a ton of power and with great power comes great responsibility. Part of that responsibility is to have control over your mean machine.

Unfortunately, drivers sometimes forget that 1000 kg of metal is often subjected to forces out of their reach. A few reasons for losing control of a car are high speeds, mechanical failure, poor driving skills, dangerous circuits or just bad luck.

A split-second mistake can pitch your car into a spin and smash it into the barriers. To avoid spending thousands of pounds should you lose control of vehicle, make sure to take out a track day insurance policy before venturing onto the circuit.

You hit a patch of oil from the car ahead and crash.

Ah, yes! A driver's worst nightmare. During a track day or public day, there's always the chance of an oil leak or spill. And that's an issue that impacts every vehicle on track, not just the car it happens to.

Just imagine the car ahead starting its engine and spilling most of the oil on the circuit. Maybe you manage to avoid it. Perhaps you go straight off track and hope that the gravel trap will drag your out-of-control car to a stop before hitting the barriers. Or perhaps you run into the patch of oil, spin off, hit a barrier and are left with a hefty bill. Having a back-up plan means being more relaxed, knowing that even if the worst-case scenario happens, everything will be alright. Our track day insurance policies help prepare for the worst and bring you peace of mind.

Your additional driver drops the ball and crashes.

Over time, we have come to experience that the biggest accidents — you know, the ones people are lucky to walk away from, do come from additional drivers.

Why is this? Driving on a circuit cannot be compared with driving on the road. Circuits tend to be fast open places where speed is not fully appreciated — until it is all going horribly wrong! If additional drivers are not familiar with the car they are driving then this really increases the chances of an accident.

Oh, yes… and if the additional driver feels inclined to want to better your abilities on a circuit in an attempt to demonstrate how it's really done, then he will crash. It is pretty much a slam dunk deal.

Even if the additional driver is the one crashing, as the main policyholder, you are the one who needs to make the claim. This can increase your next track day insurance premium since you will have to mention the claim.

Plenty of things can go wrong on a track day. Just imagine the stress of running into one of these situations. Most people believe it won't happen to them, until it does. Properly protecting your pride and joy while on track is critical and that is why we recommend to take out one-day or multi-day accident damage cover. Not only will you secure the needed protection, but this is also one of the best ways to combat Murphy's Law.

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