6 August 2026. A1 Open Track Day Auto at A1 Motor Park — and one of those days where everything lines up.
Clear sky, dry asphalt, air warm but not brutal at 585 metres. The kind of day where the track owes you nothing and gives you everything anyway. No red flags on the weather, no waiting for a drying line, no compromise. Just sessions.
I drove a Nissan 370Z — rented from a friend who keeps three of them prepared specifically for track days. More on that further down, because the car is a large part of why the day worked.
The Car: A 370Z That Was Actually Ready
Not a subtle car, either — carbon bonnet with cooling vents, widebody arches, rear GT wing, and Zholics banners across the windscreen.
Renting for a track day usually means one of two things. Either you get a road car with a helmet thrown in, or you get something that has been thought about. This was the second kind.
The setup on the car I drove:
- Semi-slick tyres — the single biggest difference between a fast lap and a frustrating one at A1
- Track pads and high-temperature brake fluid — no fade across a full session, and A1 has four serious braking zones
- Coilovers with a track alignment — extra front camber, and the car turned in the same way on lap eight as it did on lap two
- Additional cooling — oil and radiator, which matters more here than most people expect
That last point deserves emphasis. A1 Motor Park sits at 585 m above sea level and the air in August is thin and hot. Engine and oil temperatures climb faster than they would at sea level, and the long full-throttle run down the 900 m main straight does not cool anything the way a flowing circuit would. A car without extra cooling spends the back half of every session managing temperatures instead of lap time.
The 370Z is a good match for this circuit. Naturally aspirated, rear-wheel drive, honest weight distribution, and enough torque out of second and third gear to pull cleanly from the slow corners. It does not flatter you and it does not surprise you. What you do with the throttle is what happens.
The Briefing — And Why It Was Held in English
The mandatory driver briefing before the first session was genuinely well run. Flags, session structure, overtaking rules, pit entry and exit, what to do if you go off, where the marshal posts are. Nothing rushed, nothing skipped.
And it was conducted in English.
That sounds like a small detail. It is not. A1 Motor Park draws drivers from across the region and beyond — Greece, Romania, Turkey, Serbia, North Macedonia, plus visitors flying into Sofia. On a track day, the briefing is the only moment where every driver on the circuit is supposed to leave with the same understanding of the rules. If half the room is guessing, that gap shows up later at a blind apex.
Running it in English removes that problem. Everyone heard the same overtaking rule. Everyone heard the same flag definitions. You feel the result on track — the traffic behaved predictably all day, and passes happened where they were supposed to happen.
If you are coming from outside Bulgaria, this is one of the strongest practical arguments for A1 as a track day destination.
On Track: 15 Corners That Do Not Give Anything Away
The circuit is 3.91 km, 15 turns, and it is more technical than the layout suggests on paper.
Sector one opens with two 180° hairpins. Heavy braking, low speed, and a real penalty for arriving a metre too deep — you compromise the exit and carry the mistake all the way to Turn 3.
Sector two is where the lap is won or lost. Turn 5 — the long carousel right — is the corner everyone talks about after their session, and for good reason. Hard braking, then patience. Get greedy with the throttle and you cook the right front tyre, which you then pay for through the rest of the middle section. Get it right and the whole sector flows.
Sector three rewards discipline. Turn 15 is the corner that matters most for lap time — exit speed there decides what you see on the speedometer at the end of the 900 m straight. Small differences in how you place the car compound into visible gaps before the next braking zone.
The technical sections live in second and third gear. Torque out of slow corners matters more here than peak power.
For entry speeds and gear selection corner by corner, the Corner-by-Corner Guide is the reference I used before the day.
Tyres: Warm Them Or Waste The Session
This is the single most important thing I would tell anyone driving A1 for the first time.
Several corners at A1 — Turn 5 above all, and the technical run into the final sector — require the front tyre to already be at temperature. On a cold tyre those corners simply do not respond. You turn in, the car understeers wide, and you slow down mid-corner to fix it. Then you do the same thing again next lap, decide the circuit does not suit you, and go home.
What actually worked:
- Two full out-laps before pushing, not one. At altitude, with morning air moving across the surface, the tyres need it.
- Check pressures hot, in the pits, after every session. Semi-slicks build pressure fast in August. Two or three sessions in, they were noticeably above where they started.
- Re-warm after traffic. If you spend half a lap behind a slower car, the fronts drop off. Build one clean lap before attacking again instead of throwing away the fast one.
- Manage the right front through Turn 5. It is the tyre that limits the lap. Everything else follows from keeping it alive.
Once the tyres were in the window, the car did exactly what the circuit asked. That is the whole difference between a good track day here and an average one — and it comes down mostly to tyres and how patient you are in the first three laps.
The Night Session
6 August was also programmed as A1 Open Track Day Auto + Night Session — the daytime running is followed by a session under lights. I stayed with the day programme, but it is worth knowing the option exists when you plan your date. Cooler asphalt, different reference points, and a completely different set of photographs.
Check the Track Days page for which upcoming dates include a night session.
⭐ Renting a 370Z for a Track Day — Zholics
The car came from a friend who runs three prepared Nissan 370Z available for rent for track days.
Website: zholics.rent
Two of the three cars in the paddock, with the A1 Motor Park pit building behind.
Why this route makes sense, especially if you are flying in:
- Nothing to transport. No trailer, no tow car, no border paperwork for a race car. You land in Sofia, drive to Samokov, and the car is at the circuit.
- The prep is already done. Semi-slicks, track pads and fluid, coilovers, alignment, extra cooling. The parts of a track car that people usually discover they need after their first session.
- Three identical cars. You can bring friends and run the same machinery, which makes comparing lap times actually meaningful. It also means a spare exists if something breaks.
- Your own car stays home. No consumables burned off your daily driver, no drive back to Sofia on used pads.
- Consistency. Rear-wheel drive, naturally aspirated, no electronic safety net doing half the work. It is a good car to learn a new circuit in.
For a first visit to A1 Motor Park — or a first track day full stop — a prepared rental removes almost every variable except your driving. That was exactly what I wanted on 6 August, and it is why the day worked.
Practical Notes For The Day
- Book ahead. Open track days at A1 fill, particularly weekend dates. Current rates and dates are on the Prices page.
- Bring more water than you think you need. August, 585 m, and a helmet.
- Arrive early. Sign-on, scrutineering and the briefing all happen before the first session. Rushing that is a bad start to the day.
- Stay nearby the night before. The drive from Sofia is 55–70 minutes and you do not want to do it at 6am. See our accommodation guide.
- First track day ever? Read the First Track Day Guide before you go.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I rent a car for a track day at A1 Motor Park? Yes. zholics.rent has three Nissan 370Z prepared specifically for track days — semi-slick tyres, track brake pads and high-temperature fluid, coilovers with a track alignment, and additional oil and radiator cooling. It is the option we used on 6 August 2026 and the one we recommend for drivers flying into Sofia without a car.
Is the driver briefing at A1 Motor Park in English? Yes. The briefing at the A1 Open Track Day on 6 August 2026 was conducted in English, which makes the event accessible to drivers from Greece, Romania, Turkey, Serbia and further afield. Everyone on the circuit leaves the briefing with the same understanding of flags and overtaking rules.
What tyres do you need for A1 Motor Park? Semi-slicks make a substantial difference. Several corners — Turn 5 in particular — need the front tyre already at temperature to respond properly. Allow two full out-laps before pushing, and check hot pressures in the pits after every session.
Is A1 Motor Park a technical circuit? Yes. 3.91 km and 15 turns, with two 180° hairpins in sector one, the long Turn 5 carousel, and a technical final sector. Most of the lap is spent in second and third gear. Turn 15 exit determines your speed down the 900 m main straight.
Does altitude affect the car at A1 Motor Park? The circuit sits at 585 m above sea level. Thinner air means less aerodynamic downforce and reduced cooling efficiency. Watch oil and water temperatures through long sessions — additional cooling is worth having in summer.
When are the next open track days at A1 Motor Park? The full calendar, including which dates include night sessions, is on the Track Days page and the Events page.
See the full 2026 calendar at circuit-insider.com/events — track days, race weekends and open days at A1 Motor Park.
See also: Mastering A1 Motor Park — Track Analysis & Setup Guide →
