In July this year, Lotus Cars Australia held another exclusive track day at Wakefield Park Raceway near Goulburn. Owners had the whole racing circuit to themselves for the day. Owners of sports cars like the Lotus Elise, Evora or Exige are encouraged by Lotus sports car dealerships around Australian to enjoy their performance cars at track days, driving events or even participating in a Targa Rally. Lotus also holds days at other circuits around Australia like Phillip Island, Mount Panorama Bathurst, Sydney Motorsport Park Eastern Creek and Winton Raceway.
The Wakefield Park racing circuit is about a 2 hour drive south of Sydney and typically what most owners do for this event is drive down on the Friday afternoon, have dinner together as a group on Friday night & then be ready first thing in the morning on Saturday to get out on the track with their vehicle. It becomes a social event as well as a track day driving experience. Wakefield Park Raceway is a 2.2 km motor racing circuit that was named after Charles Cheers Wakefield, the founder of Castrol Oil.
The majorty of drivers use their road registered vehicle and for people doing a track day for the first time, Lotus includes driving instruction with a professional racing driver sitting in the passenger seat with you on the track. The other element that makes Wakefield Park Raceway the perfect track for beginners is that there is lots of run off areas and very few walls. It means if you do make a mistake that in most cases you will go off into the grass and avoid damaging your vehicle.
Beginner, intermedia and experienced track day driving groups
This Experience Lotus event was a great success with more than 50 Lotus owners enjoying each other’s company, great weather and a challenging racetrack. The driving standard on the day was excellent across all groups with the usual perfect mix of speed and courtesy on display.
First up on the agender was the drivers briefing and the unveiling of the Gulf Oil Australia Lotus Exige race car. The impressive livery stole the moment and set the stage for a day of exciting track activities.
It was pleasing to see the rookies making the most of the mentoring on offer to covert nervous excitement into sheer joy. The only measure applied to the untimed drive group is smiling on faces, by that measure everyone had a great day as the smiles grew bigger and more plentiful as the day went on.
The regular sprint groups made the most of the excellent conditions posting some impressive lap times. Low track densities with similarly paced cars combined with excellent track conditions saw many drivers post personal best efforts.
The new Sprint R group with some well-timed handicap releases from the dummy grid in the last two sessions proved to be a massive hit with the experienced sprinters that are looking for something different. It was also a big hit with the spectators. Some experienced racers were heard proclaiming it was the most fun they’d had in a car for years. Having to string eight fast laps together chasing a Lotus further down the road while minimising time lost in traffic is a tremendous yet fun challenge for a driver. Some shined, others realised how much skill is required. For a few mixing it up in this group of experienced drivers helped them shave seconds off their previous personal best times.
Off the track, the Simply Sports Cars and Lotus Melbourne support crews did a great job ensuring the cars were running smoothly and had the correct tyre pressures. Fortunately, most of the cars were well prepared, and the boys didn’t have too much work to do, allowing them to enjoy the on-track action. Race Solutions were brilliant as usual, keeping the day running to plan to make sure everyone had more than enough track time.
Thank you to everyone that came along and helped make the day such an enjoyable one.
Lotus track day frequently asked questions
The Drive Track Day group is perfectly suited for beginners who are doing their first track day so you can experience one of the worlds greatest race tracks without the pressures of being timed. There is no safer opportunity to do so than in this track day group where you have access to professional driving instructors who will be providing out of car tuition and tips to help increase your confidence when you go out on track. You will get expert guidance and advice about the dynamics and balance of your Lotus, correct driving lines, braking points and more. You’re guaranteed to go home a better driver.
For the faster or more experienced drivers we will have two Sprint Track Day groups which receive full timing during the day. For those who are a little more competitive or would like to test themselves against the clock all drivers are sorted into a fastest to slowest running order to ensure you get to make the most of your time on Australia’s best racing circuit.
All drivers in the Sprint Track Day groups will receive a timing transmitter so that lap times can be accurately recorded during your 6 sessions of 20 minutes each.
No, you don’t have to have a specific racing license but you will be required to have a Motorsport Australia L2S License which can be purchased online form their website
Yes, we use the full Mount Panorama Racing Circuit just like you see on TV where Australia’s best racing drivers have been before. This is not a hill climb event that uses just a section, the complete track will be closed.
No, this is a track day for road registered Lotus sports cars. There may be a couple of Lotus racing cars but these will be put into different groups to ensure driver speed and experience is not mixed between drivers.
This is not a competitive racing event and all cars will be spaced out on the track as best as possible to ensure it is safe.
This is not a speed limited track day so you can go as fast as you are comfortable driving.
A Lotus Exige sports car will reach over 250km/h down Mountain Straight and we will try and group drivers into relevant groups based on experience and our knowledge of their previously demonstrated driving performance on a race track.
This is not a competitive racing event and all cars will be spaced out on the track as best as possible to ensure it is safe.
No, passengers are not allowed to be taken on the track.
If this is your very first track day we would probably recommend doing a few days prior to this one before attempting to drive on Mount Panorama. This race track is one of the fastest in the world and is essentially a road lined with concrete walls. Unlike other race tracks in Australia there is very little run off.
So while it is possible for a beginner to attempt this track day we would suggest getting some prior experience first to ensure you are comfortable and confident.
