This is for all those coming to the QLD MR2 Nationals that have booked and paid for the AHD, this is the track event held at Queensland Raceway on June 6th. If you haven’t booked and paid for the AHD and were interested in some track time, still have a read of this thread as there is the opportunity for you to get some track time, but at a slightly higher price than those of us already booked and paid for the AHD.
 
As it stands right now the AHD day consists of us being entered into the sprint session the afternoon of the 6th running from 1pm to 5pm. There is around 20 of us MR2’s battling out for best times around Queensland raceway in a sprint format. This event does not include any open track time or practice on the track, it’s a sprint event only.
 
For those who wish to get some open track time to practice before the event and get to know the track, there is a really good opportunity available for very little money.
 
Queensland raceway have an open practice session on the same day June 6^th running from 8am to 12:30pm. I spoke to the folks at QR this morning and for all those that have paid for the AHD sprints in the afternoon, we can also gain entry into the open practice session the morning of the 6^th for just another $55. This is extremely good value for what will be around four and a half hours of un-interrupted practice time on the track before our sprint event starts in the afternoon.
 
There is only a couple of conditions for entry which I have listed below.
 
(Clothing) Must be if not wearing a fire suit, long sleeve shirt, long pants, closed in shoes.
(Safety Gear) Helmet
 
The payment is made on the day at the track, no booking is required.
 
For those that did not make it into the AHD sprints, or just didn’t decide in time and now wanted to get some track time, the open practice session can be bought for $120. As above this price is only for those that didn’t pay and make it into the AHD sprint session, if you booked and paid for the AHD sprints the practice session is only $55. So there is an opportunity still there for people not in the AHD afternoon sprints to get some track time.
 

To all 2015 Nationals attendees,
 
just to clarify Dave_101's above post about the morning "happy laps" at Willowbank Raceway, the Nationals Organising Committee did review all possible on-track activities for the three day event but decided that the so-called Advanced Handling Day (AHD) - the individual Sprint sessions - posed a much lower risk to people and cars coming from interstate, given the need for the vehicles and drivers to be in a fit state to make the return journey home.
 
Some of the reasons that were considered against adding in the morning "open track time" at Willowbank as a formal part of the Nationals were:

• The very early start time on Saturday needed to get to Willowbank after arriving from interstate either some time late on the Friday or Saturday morning (probably around 6.00am departure given the location of the event HQ motel).
• The fact that many other none-MR2's would be running on the track at the same time in an unstructured but competitive and higher speed activity.
• The additional cost on top of all the other expenses driving from interstate.
• Combining the two Willowbank activities and adding in travelling time, waiting around, etc.; making the first day of the Nationals possibly over a 14 hour day, considering that there are also early starts on both Sunday and Monday mornings.
• The expected heavy traffic at the Willowbank Motorsports Complex early on the Saturday morning associated with the other competition events, such as the drag racing being held there over the long weekend.
• The focus of the Nationals being on a broader ownership experience of the cars, rather than just track days.

There are well developed plans in place to make sure that everyone who has paid to come to the Nationals will get to each event over the weekend under the guidance of the organising committee quickly and with the least amount of disruption as possible.
 
I wanted to thank Dave_101 for his suggestion and none of what I have said above is intended in any way to put people off going to the morning session as individuals if they want to include it as part of their Brisbane 2015 experience. 
 
However, the AHD remains the official Nationals activity for the Saturday and the program can't be altered at this late stage to manage group attendance.
 
If there are any questions about this posting or any of the events planned for the 2015 Nationals could I also please ask that they be put on the Queensland section of the Forum that has been set up for discussion of the Nationals?
 
This reduces having bits and pieces of relevant information scattered all over the Forum and also ensures that the designated Committee members can respond to any issues that might arise over the next THREE weeks before the Nationals.
 
Regards,
 
Walter
 
 
 

dave_101
 
As it stands right now the AHD day consists of us being entered into the sprint session the afternoon of the 6th running from 1pm to 5pm. There is around 20 of us MR2’s battling out for best times around Queensland raceway in a sprint format.

After chatting on FB, I've been talked into keeping my spot.
hehehe............ Battling out for best times.  is there a prize for slowest lap? lol.  Even my quickest lap will quite probably be slower that everyone else's slowest lap, if my go-carting effort a few weeks ago, is anything to go by.
 
While practice before the sprints sounds good, I think I'll give that a miss tho due to there being so many cars on the track at the same time.
 
Thanks to the committee for considering all variables for those coming from interstate.  Cost & the need to be able to get back home, etc. 

Shaz

dave_101
 
As it stands right now the AHD day consists of us being entered into the sprint session the afternoon of the 6th running from 1pm to 5pm. There is around 20 of us MR2’s battling out for best times around Queensland raceway in a sprint format.

After chatting on FB, I've been talked into keeping my spot.
hehehe............ Battling out for best times.  is there a prize for slowest lap? lol.  Even my quickest lap will quite probably be slower that everyone else's slowest lap, if my go-carting effort a few weeks ago, is anything to go by.
 
While practice before the sprints sounds good, I think I'll give that a miss tho due to there being so many cars on the track at the same time.
 
Thanks to the committee for considering all variables for those coming from interstate.  Cost & the need to be able to get back home, etc. 

 
I am really glad to hear you are going to have a go at the sprints Sharon. :)
 
Like I was saying yesterday, the sprints really are the best way for anyone new to track events to put their feet in the water. The format of how they work provides an environment with the least amount of intimidation of any type of track event, even less so than happy laps which it sounds like you have done before.
 
The fact that cars are let on in small groups, those groups can be organized by driver experience and the time delay between cars being let out on the track all sets a really friendly and safe environment for new comers. You won’t need to worry about lots of cars passing you, or even catching up to lots of cars in front of you and having to pass.
 
Try not to worry so much about lap times or how fast you are compared to other people, it’s not really what it’s about at the end of the day. It’s like Dom said, it’s a fun and safe environment to just enjoy the cars that we all love and something different to experience.
 
The true winner of the day isn’t the person with the fastest lap time, it’s the one with the biggest smile on their face after the event. ;)
 

Not worried about lap times at all.  Hopefully tho, I will get a little quicker between the first & last.
My "happy lap"  experiences are mostly from the passenger seat.  woooohooooo. lots of fun.  The "cruise laps" around Wakefield were very much speed limited,  Altho, the first year, with someone in the passenger seat telling me not to back off, I did take some of the corners a little quicker than I otherwise would have.

Sharon, you will find the sprints are a lot tamer then they sound and you will find after your first run your confidence will boost as you complete each lap.
At QR, the sprints are like driving on the M2 here in Sydney, big straights, a couple of corner to stop you falling asleep and plenty of emergency pull up spots. There are no police to fine you for sitting over 100km/h, no traffic to slow you down and instead of tolls you just get lap times :)
 
While your name does go on the list of lap times and a winner is calculated from that, the only person you need to beat is yourself.

Must agree, I have done the Happy Laps thing at QR and there were so many cars it was crazy. I videod the whole thing, must find it to show you guys, but we were allowed to go like hell on the straights and had to slow down and no overtaking in the corners. So, i found myself zipping past V8's in the twisty bits , and them passing me back on the straights. Looking forward to the AHD I think it will be so much better.

Urmm... I think your mixing "Happy Laps" and General Practice up....
 
Happy Laps / Circuit'n'Coffee is a pretty relaxed setup where you can put a few mates in the car and go for a blast around the track while trying to street race everyone. They don't have any safety requirements other then seat belts, a drivers license and no trailer-ed in cars (no track cars or paddock bashers)
 
General practice on the other hand has officials, safety requirements (helmets etc etc) and is more about getting practice on the track, working out racing lines and improving your driving.
 
5-6 of us went to QR for a general practice day last year and had a blast (despite the rain!)
http://www.mr2australia.com/mr2play/tm.aspx?m=107568
Watch me do 360's @ 110km/h in a completely safe environment :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvjNuAWJNhI
 
After the couple of accidents on the MR2 club runs this year, I think seeing some people getting some track time would be a good thing. The sprint sessions is a great initiative from the club and I believe the morning practice session will compliment this even further.
 
 
 

If my original post wasn’t clear enough sorry about that. What I have posted about is *not* an official part of the Nationals AHD event the same afternoon. It’s also *not* in any way meant to be a competing event either.
 
This thread is just a friendly notice to people entered into the official Nationals AHD event that are more motorsport orientated if they wish to get some general practice in before the official event they can. For those wanting to take a competitive stance to the AHD event in the afternoon, a general practice prior to the event may be something they are interested in, especially those from out of state that have never driven the track before. Also for those not entered into the AHD, but are familiar with general practice track events and wanted to get some track time in while they are up here for the nationals they can.
 
Spyder, this is actually not happy laps as Aaron also pointed out, Walter got a little mixed up there. Happy laps are sessions like Downshift, Torque Time, they are sessions where no safety equipment is required and just cruising around the track and no racing. These happy lap sessions you do still get some speed up, but it’s not like general practice which is more serious.
 
General practice requires helmets, long sleeve shirts, jeans, closed in shoes. It’s a mix of street cars and race cars allowed to properly practice on the track.
 
The few times I have seen the beginnings of general practice sessions there was considerably less cars out for them compared to Downshift or Torque time happy laps, the happy laps stuff does tend to have a LOT of cars on the track at once. Not saying that won’t also be the case on the day for us at general practice, impossible to predict, but it should have a lower density of cars compared to a happy laps sessions. This general practice is going to be more for those who have had track experience before and wish to get some real practice in before the official AHD event, or if not booked into that the opportunity to get some track time in while they are here for the Nationals