chrispayze

Evenin' all,

I was kindly given some Book-a-track vouchers for Xmas/birthday by my girlfriend & parents. I've looked at the calendar and narrowed our (I'm taking the gf) available dates to Sat/Sun at Donnington or Rockingham. I've not driven either of them, so was wondering if anyone had driven both (MB, Aquila?) and which you thought was the most interesting/fun. Donnington seems to be the GP circuit and Rockingham is the International.

I've done a few airfield days (Hullavington, Colerne and Keevil), plus a couple of 'proper' track days at Oulton Park, so I'm not a novice. At my recent airfield day (Keevil), my instructor got me started on trail braking and was pleased that I progressed with good smooth car balance/weight transfer, so hopefully that gives you an idea of my skill level (intermediate, I'd guess), if that has any bearing on the choice.

Any (experience-based) information is appreciated.

Cheers
Chris

GavB

Donington without a doubt for me.

MB

Hi Chris,

Both great tracks.

Rockingham is very hard on brakes, so make sure you have a decent setup or it may cut your day short.

Donington is a superb circuit, and feels like a proper race track. It's forgiving for a novice, but I tend to tire of how short it feels after a few hours.

I'd probably opt for Rockingham if you have brakes to handle it - I do like it there, and it's a bit more technical.

Some vids in my you tube link of both.

Dembo

Donington is too fast, and the lap is over too quickly. And the GP circuit is hard on the brakes too. Rockingham is much more fun.

MB

vtecdirect

Donnington much more technical in my opinion, some really great combination bends with off camber etc to learn, you wont get close to being good at donnington in less than a full day.
Rockingham hard on brakes and tyres, a little easier to learn but not as technical or exciting, again just opinion.

lovegroova

I prefer Donington, although the GP circuit is less fun than the National - the extra bits aren't much fun really.

Craner Curves is much more exciting than anything at Rockingham - gradient really makes a circuit so much better.

GP Circuit Vid here:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kROutFRqyMw[/media]

chrispayze

Some interesting opinions, thanks guys.

There do seem to be a lot of high speed, balancing throttle, low margin for error but high consequences corners at Donnington. I'm getting the feeling the twisty nature of Rockingham would be more fun, in terms of more hard accel, then hard braking into corners, with tighter corners to explore understeer/oversteer a bit more.

I'm currently running Redstuff on DBA4000 front and standard rear discs with no heat shields, which are 'good enough', at least for 10-15 min sessions at Keevil where there are three 100mph braking zones. but I'm planning to upgrade to DS2500 pads and possibly install some simple ducting, so I should be good for either track by then.

I'm erring on the side of Rockingham at the moment, but I have always wanted to drive Donnington (always loved it on driving games when I was younger for some reason!). Deliberations...!

MB

Do both

lovegroova

Do neither, and use up your Bookatrack vouchers at Spa in July!