FChat Romandie track day - Circuit du Lacquais

I am considering the organisation of a trackday at the Circuit du Lacquais, in Champier (200km from Lausanne, 140km from Geneva).
http://www.circuitdulaquais.com/
The idea is:
- informal event, drive, have fun, and bring the car safely home in the evening
- week day in May or early June, preferably Monday or Friday
- around 20 participants (friends & colleagues)
- NOT a Ferrari-only event
- 100€/150CHF fee, lunch not included

Trying to gauge if I can gather enough 'interested in principle' participants to investigate further.

So who would be in ? Any friends interested as well ?

 

Cool
It's not a big/famous track so the prices are very reasonable.
They are also forbidden to accept motorcycles (which account for a huge chunk of the trackday biz in France, Lédenon for instance is always full), and are subjected to strict noise controls. The whole project was delayed for almost a year due to oppositions from green party people in Lyon.
So all in all, I guess that they are forced to practice friendly pricing.
Week day rate helps too.

And finally, I don't plan to make any profit

 

@Wolfgang, indeed, it's a long way for you. If I manage to do this on a Friday, you could extend the week-end with some touring around lake Geneva and "welschland", there is amazing scenery and very nice roads around here.

Overall, I think that semi-private track days are the way to go. Not too many cars, reasonable fees, very ... FFOS !

 

Unfortunately, a Saturday has several downsides, the track is significantly more expensive (which makes it necessary to find more participants, which in turn makes it a bit less safe) and I am not sure at all that I can secure a free date. This is why I am aiming at a week day, ideally a Friday or a Monday.

Still quite short of reaching a chorum. Counting on the inevitable late cancellations, I need to find another 15 brave candidates. Didier, Chris, Brian ?

 

Thanks, Christophe. Your 5 friends and yourself will be most welcome, moreover it's quite close for you.
1st half of June looks indeed like a better period for many people.
Still have some way to go to find enough people, though.
Will keep everyone posted !

 

Thanks, Chris. I am still far from the chorum and hunting for other participants.
David - what about this NSX ?

 

Hi all,
I have to humbly apologize for my inexperience and slightly downgrade my proposal. I've been unable to find a date where the track is available around the 2nd week of June (time frame where attendance was likely to be maximal).
I think it would have been difficult to gather enough participants to reach my initial 100€/150CHF target, but that's another story.

Anyway, this is not a total decommitment ! The only alternative I found was ... a free practice day on Tuesday June 15th. The track is open for free practice, 80€ for half a day, 115€ for a full day, 9-12, 14-18. Of course, this is not as 'secure' (at least psychologically) as a private session, but I'd be surprised if a week day session was packed with weirdos. I went to many bike free trials and never had an issue, but bikes are easier to pass so ...
Anyhow, I'll be there, and happy to meet those interested to join.

I also found out meanwhile about OSCA, http://www.osca-suisse.com and registered for the track day in Charade: http://www.charade.fr/
Never been there, but been told that the track is absolutely fabulous. Not too far (400km), with the bonus of some sightseeing in Auvergne before or after. My concierge goes there frequently and says it's a cool and friendly bunch, with all sorts of cars, a good reference. Again, those interested to join ...

 

Reminder to all interested, informal track day (open test session) at the Circuit du Lacquais, meeting point for those who want to drive in convoy is the Bardonnex customs after the french checkpoint, on Tue 06/15 at 7h30. Convoy leaves at 7h40 sharp.

Itinerary enclosed (starts from Geneva airport).

 

So said track day took place, not as many Ferraris as expected since yfc found out the day before that a new set of tires was on the agenda (great planning ;-) ) and my colleague ze_dahu left this 360 in the park (but he took great pictures so he's excused.
The convoy included as well an Elise S1, a Z3M, a Boxster and a 911 Carrera.

The track is nice, quite technical and fairly safe except for 3 turns where you just don't want to get out. Three turns in 2nd, esses in 3rd, 4th at redline on the straight (pass the 5th if you're really brave). Several turns are quite tricky, bent and bumped hairpin breaking zones make things spicy.
The kind of track where following a well driven Elise is quite a challenge.

For a week day, the track was not overly busy, although attendance is quite ... varied in nature. Two spanking new GT3s, a couple of Elises, a couple of various formulas single seaters (with nasty drivers), 4 diesel sedans following a driving course, a Renault Espace minivan (!), a 406 supertourisme, a super seven, etc ... . Said to be a lot worse during week-ends.

I posted one pic in http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=67332490&postcount=1

 

Not anxious, no, but a bit uncomfortable. First time I use this helmet in the 355 and, against all odds, seems I have furtherless headroom than with my motorcycle helmet. Had to exagerately recline the seat and bend the back, spine is all twisted now.

No problem with tires, Expedia S01s may not be the stickiest, but they don't let you down on D-day ... ;-)