I’m visiting Taipei this March for about ten days, and I’m trying to find some info on doing trackdays (car or motorcycle) while I’m there. I’ve read a bit of the threads about the GAMFA trackdays, and it sounds pretty great… except that I don’t have access to a car/moto in Taiwan, so I’d have to figure out something to do with rental or something else. I also only have a US (California) driver’s license (including M1). Are there possibilities, or am I just out of luck? Other related activities like short road trips with fun roads are great too, but trackdays are really where it’s at.
Some background, if anyone cares… I was born in Taiwan, but moved to the US when I was 3. I like to refer to myself as an “undercover foreigner”. I can speak conversational Mandarin with an American accent, but my vocabulary is really limited. My parents live in Taipei, I live in California. I’ve done a few auto-x events in an LS1 Camaro and several Miatas of various years. I have about 2 years of street motorcycle riding experience on a '95 Triumph Speed Triple, a Ninja 250, and my current '07 CBR600RR, and have done 5 trackdays (at Thunderhill and Reno-Fernley Raceway, all on the Triumph). I ride about a nice, slow C+ pace… I’m faster and a lot more confident on 4 wheels than on 2.
Anyway, enough talk! Thanks in advance, even if you guys just tell me I’m screwed.
EDIT: Oh yeah, and if age matters for licenses or renting or whatnot, I’ll be 26 at the time.
If you just want to drive on the track in Longtan well it is really relaxed. You don’t even need to show a license or an I.D…you just sign your name. It is a tiny track and IMO not a track for cars. We usually go out there on the weekends, but it is open during the week. During practice seasons there really are not that many rules, especially if you go out there during the week. You can pretty much do what you want. There is no ambulance out there, so it is all at your own risk. During practice seasons there is only one flag guy, and he is usually doing other things instead of watching the riders. It is nothing like the tracks back home with all the rules and regulations. Also each 20-30 min season costs $150nt and you have to pay another $100nt to get in the gates of the track. I used to do NASA, AZRA events for over 7 years back home with my race Civic and VW GTI. This track is pretty dilapidated, but shit it works. It is a great little motorcycle track though. I know of a 150cc NSR stroke that isn’t been used at the moment. That might be a candidate for you to use. I think you would much rather ride a motorcycle then drive a car on that track. I am sure between some of us, we could let you ride a session.
I also wanted to let you know that motorcycle riding on the Longtan track is a niche market. Not many people come out there, especially now because the the racing season is taking a break. I think it starts up again around March. I am not totally sure. It might be February.
weekends is the best time to come, but it will be nothing like your track experiences back home. There are only a handfull of us foreigners that even come out there. We all have different schedule too, so it is rare to have more than 4 foreigners out there practicing at once. I don’t want to give you the impression that these are huge events with loads of Taiwanese and foreigners out there. If you were wanting to check it out, you should contact myself, Temple. or Beast just to make sure we would be out there too. During the past weeks, Saturdays have only brought about 20 people. I am never out there Sunday, but I think more “big” bikes go out there then. IMO this track isn’t that great for 600, 1000cc’s because the track is pretty small.
