First Track Day: What to Wear and How to Prepare

Turning up to your first track day without the right gear is the fastest way to spend the day watching from the pits. Most Australian tracks enforce their gear requirements at scrutineering. It's not a suggestion, it's a checklist someone's going to look at before they let you on the circuit.

What's usually mandatory

A one-piece leather suit is the standard requirement at most circuits, though some will accept a zip-connected two-piece as equivalent. You'll need a CE-rated back protector, either built into the suit or worn separately underneath, along with a full-face helmet in good condition and leather boots and gloves covering the ankle and wrist. Requirements shift slightly depending on the circuit and the organiser running the day, so it's worth checking the specific track day provider's gear policy before you book. A CE Level 2 one-piece suit with full armour will cover almost everything you'll run into.

Rented gear vs your own suit

Most first-timers rent or borrow a suit, which is a sensible way to try the format before committing to anything. The problem tends to show up on the second or third track day. Rented suits are sized for an average rider, not for you, and a suit that doesn't fit properly won't let the armour and sliders sit where they need to be mid-lean. Once track days become a regular thing rather than a one-off, that's usually the point where a custom race suit starts paying for itself. Fitted to your own measurements instead of whatever happened to be left on the rental rack.

Before the day

Check your gear the night before, not the morning of. Zips, sliders, visor condition, all of it. Get to scrutineering early, because the queue builds up fast once everyone else has the same idea. Bring a base layer, since leather suits get warm quickly once you're actually moving, and remember fuel and tyre pressures are on you, not the track.

Once you know track days are something you'll keep doing, it's worth reading our guide on how a race suit should actually fit before you order your own.