On Friday 4th May at about 3:30pm with DMOFSR loaded I made my way down to Hampton Downs to meet Andrew, Hamish and Brett for our first ever track day at night.
Playday on track was hosting their first ever event at night. We arrived close to dusk and by the time we had done the paper work and the briefing it was time to get in the cars ready for the first 15min session.
Gary from Playday had organised the four Frasers into our own grid. We went off for a warm up lap and then we were into it and the first session was over before it got truly dark, so by the time we got back in and had a debrief amongst ourselves the other group had done their session and it was time for our second.
It was now truly dark! We left as per last time with a warm up lap but then our first fast lap was an experience, driving at speed in the dark even on a familiar track doesn’t count for a thing, corners start later, they also finish earlier and braking points disappear. But aside from this what an amazing experience, it is a experience that needs to be had.
Brake dust sparking off the wheels like a sparkler at Guy Fawkes, exhausts shooting flames that light up the night sky, another sense that is overloaded. After our first session we came in buzzing and couldn’t stop laughing and trading stories about how familiar corners all of a sudden became unfamiliar, but we all survived.
We had two more sessions before the night was over and it only got better the cars performed with the colder, dense air, the stories kept coming and the event only got better. All in all we had approx one hours worth of track time with most of it in the dark and so much fun with the only casualty of the night being the bird that Brett caught with his headlight, that was a bit slow off the mark, although in the night what was left of the bird made a good point for the headlights to pick up and head for.
Playday have another night event coming up on the 8th June it’s $75 per driver and it’s worth every cent. We will definitely be going again and we will send out another email to remind everyone closer to the night. It would be great to get a heap of Frasers out there experiencing it together. Thanks to Andrew for organising us all.
Scott Tristram
