Hey Callum
No worries, I seem to remember all in all that it probably cost me about £500 in all - that's petrol there, ferry crossings, food, hotels and laps of the track. We also went on a weekend where there was a double tourist-day, so we could drive on the Saturday and the Sunday.
My car needed no new tyres or anything, that's entirely down to how you drive and believe me in a coupe especially you will *not* be throwing it into corners, because if you do you will die
Thing is with the ring, it's absolutely nothing like a UK track. It doesn't have any sharp bends, no tight corners, in my mate's Evo I don't think we went below about 40 even on the tightest of bends and once you know the track there's next to no braking.
You buy tokens when you're there then go up to a barrier and put your token in - barrier goes up and you're on the ring. Don't know how it would be with current exchange rates, but it was about a tenner a lap. In a good car with a bit of experience you could do a lap in around ten minutes, and you wouldn't want to do more than two laps in the coupe before taking a break to let it cool down - it'll completely fry your brakes, especially until you get to know the track.
The karousell is the only bit that's hard on your car - in fact even the racing instructor we took out said he cannot see the appeal at all and I agree - it's a very sharp banked hairpin bend with a purposely rough surface that completely fcuks up all your bushes and suspension if you're in a normal road car. Luckily, you can just go around the top of it instead - doesn't do any wonders for your lap time but then to be honest the lap you start timing yourself is the one where you'll have an off and be taking a trip to the hospital.
It's an enormous track and it's amazing fun, just make sure you've got good tyres, european breakdown cover and a decent hotel to stay in - after a day on the track we were absolutely shattered. Consider it a holiday and budget for it being just that - there really isn't any way to do it on the cheap without making yourself miserable. Save up, prepare your car, go out and have a damn good time!
O.