Did every other car club on the internet hear about a cheap subsudised trackday at rtoc's expense & roll up for a go?
Did every other car club on the internet hear about a cheap subsudised trackday at rtoc's expense & roll up for a go?
Originally Posted by Alistair Gresty
That's what I said on the day. It was only a matter of time before word got out - The interweb is a small place. There was that group of MX5's all huddled together on the other the other side of the paddock, and someone said to me on the day that they didn't seem to want to talk, or have anything to do with 'us'
this is how rumors start.
and someone said to me on the day that they didn't seem to want to talk, or have anything to do with 'us'
Exactly - And I'm tucking into my popcorn as we speakthis is how rumors start.
Lol. The Clio guys were good, I went over and invited them to join in on the big Renault car photo and they all drove over. The MX5 guys....not a single one introduced themselves or anything, bit rude
bill has popcorn... iam comming round.Exactly - And I'm tucking into my popcorn as we speak
You can try - I'm in Plymouth at the mo
bill has popcorn... iam comming round.
You can try - I'm in Plymouth at the mo
Just keep it to 5GTT next year then should get at least 15 on track
Naa just renaults would do, or we wouldnt get to see some clio actionJust keep it to 5GTT next year then should get at least 15 on track
Spoke to whiteley, he was a good chap
i was thinking the same thing, but im sitting on the fence right now.
Stick another £20 onto the non member price, at least. The club may have made a measly profit this year but if nobodies are going to turn up they deserve to pay the full price of a good, open pit lane, track day.
That knob jockey in the Spider even tried to blag a passenger ticket and class it as his track pass... **** off, mate.
i didnt see anyone checking wrist bands, i felt i could have gone the whole day out there for free.
its nice to mix it up a little with differant cars but it hardly seemed like a rtoc meet with the lack of 5's and a packed pit of non members. if the sun was shining i had a feeling they would have had to run sessions as it was very busy and that for me would have killed the entire day.
I agree, Marc. Ok, I was in a Nissan and the weather serisouly hampered me going out. But there were so many cars out on track, regardless of conditions, it would have had to be divided if it was dry.
In the AGM it was mentioned there were about 115 cars signed on.
Going back to the weather. I bet if there was sun blazing all day that would have gone up. Members knew there were tickets available on the day and simply didn't fork out because it pissed down until 4:30.
i agree change non members £20 more and only let them on track every other hour or something like that . at the end of the day its our national day and not just cheap track day.
One of the MX5's is a member of the club, so is that such a problem?
We could charge non members more to go on track but all that will do is encourage them to become members... an extra £25 one of fee and £10 there after is not alot if there is a cheap track day every year.
We could charge extra for non renault's, but then alot of members take non renault's on track so would u be happier with that rule?
Personally I think the day is to cheap, i think it should be £100 all day, £50 half day... to go out on track, which maybe alot but if most members paid that we could simply tell non members to f*ck off..
Ive been a member for at least seven years and had plenty of 5GTT turbos but i just do trackdays now,and did trackdays in the 5GTT but due to reliabilty i stepped up to a clio cup and for three years no problems on track if its a case of being highlighted on the boards that it should be a 5GTT day only and all other cars should not attend there would be lack of cars on track and a big expense to the club that wouldn,t cover the costs if it was a issue i would pay the extra £20 or more if needed,but at the end of the day some members like myself who have been around a while have non 5GTT and still support and attend events.
I think the number of 'track day' types turning up is putting off members from just having a go. I think we need "no overtaking" in the morning to encourage members to do a few laps and turn up to support the day. Screw the track dayers, there are plenty of days for them to play, but if they come, the afternoon is theirs.
So,
AM ticket, no overtaking £30
Day ticket £80
no, you can't just buy an afternoon ticket.
oh, and errr hijack...
Thats the best idea yet
I would say make it reanault turbo etc only, but then i can name a list of members with non renaults that have been around since day dot... and some that have helped the club become what it is.
ohhh wouldnt like to be in the commitee having to make decisions at the mo
This one needs a members vote to decide , not committee .
I would suggest members only + Renaults, then you can encourage other Renault clubs to attend to keep the numbers up and satisfy RTOC members who may be driving something else now....
As a "spectator" throughout the day, there were also the guys in the M3's who parked way down the bottom as well as the MX5 "pros" who wern't interested in anything to do with the National Day...
Must admit the current set-up discourages the novice as the more hard core track drivers can be a tad intimidating for the unexperienced...
We had some bulk buying this year but I let it slide . Next year we are going to restrict it to one ticket per member for track .
Getting other Renault clubs involved is not as easy as it sounds .I offered 21TOC a good deal but no one was interested ,also RAOC and only one of those turned up .
This year was the worse level of track etiquette I have seen at RTOC track days and other track days for that matter
I can see how it would def put some people off having a go and not helped by a lot of members going more track focused over the years and also having a lot faster cars
It is a difficult one to know what is best in the future - maybe it is morning members only? But no overtaking does not really work and would be everyone going round at the slowest driver pace
Poss sessions? VX220 ND breaks into ability level and at the break reviews and moves people around in groups if required (quicker cars / better on track than they thought they would be etc) this is to try and keep similar pace / ability to the correct groups and last 1/4 of day is open pit lane
Seemed to work wwell imo but a bigger track than mallory
DG
I have moved all these posts to a new thread as it's turning into a National Day 2011 Discussion.
No overtaking wouldn't work especially at Mallory . Novice in the morning or even ditch open pit lane and do alternate sessions based on experience .
edit .......Someone at the door ...yeh wot DG said
I do think that perhaps we can do 20mins stints in for beginner's... say the first 20mins of the hour?? allows them 20 mins of quiet track, clear overtaking rules etc...
Then the next 40 mins is as per normal - abit of respect towards others on track would help...
If you wish to over take you should signal to overtake, and the person to be overtaken should indicate to let the person pass...
Also one ticket per member is a must, cant have a member buying for all his friends etc.
Right then gentlemen, let me just reply to some of your posts:
I understand what your getting at Andrew, but if I don't for one minute we could enforce a non overtaking rule added to the fact that if we did enforce it the day would feel like every other day on the M25
Yes that's exactly it, As Bod182 pointed out, he's got a Clio 182 now & Mart's got his Heave Ho, Jaffa's got his M3 and Adam L has... well whatever he has that week
I agree that long standing members should be bringing what they want as long as they are still involved in the club.
Yes i think that their were a few minorities that turned up and got a cheapie track day but Clee & I will be enforcing the ticket purchasing procedure a lot tighter next year to stop individual members purchasing umpteen tickets for their friends/family.
I'm not a track driving god in any way shape or form but I didn't think that the day was intimidating at all??
I'm shocked to read you post that mate, especially as you weren't driving out their all day as usual?? I was out their for 80% of the day and saw nothing which gave me concerns??
The last 2 trackdays at mallory seemed fine to me but this year was much busyer due to many other car clubs jumping in with groups and luckily the rain kept the track numbers down. If a paying member wants to drive one of their non Renault cars I think it's fine as it spreads the field a little and stops bunching up on the track but having a fleet of mx5s, m3's etc turning up is just people taking advantage of our cheap track day which IMO is not a proper trackday as most people out there do it as a one off and not intending to hit massive speeds or find the limits of their car. If a member wants a mate to come along and have a go and there are spare tickets then we should sell them to help our costs but letting another club order a batch is a big no for me especially if they don't know anyone from rtoc or have any future interest in our club other than mallory and pod.
I'd just like to add....
2010 was the first time in a long time (maybe ever) that the RTOC ND didn't make a loss which for me is a great thing
And we did this on a track day which was pi$$ing down with rain!
If we could sell all the necessary tickets to RTOC members with a Renault Turbo then the world would be a wonderful place, however as I pointed out in my "Shakeup" thread the number of Renault Turbo's which are up to a Trackday are ever reducing so if we don't start to diversify and welcome new cars/members then we will not have the funds to hold future trackdays.
If the club members cannot support a track day alone then should we go to the effort and expense of putting one on??
That's the question we all need to ask ourselves before we start complaining about a few people who attended ND10 who were obviously not members?
Exactly how many non members were there steve?
That's a good question Marc....?
I'm not sure if Clee has got a tally of tickets sold to Members vs. Non Members but their were a few people purchasing several tickets using their member ID & obviously distributing the tickets to their friends.
So it's a bit of a difficult one to answer.
I thought it was a very well planned day...yes your going to get the odd gripe here and there but hey you cant please all the people all the time....
im not into track (at the min) but its all about turning up and supporting the club and fellow members
the weather was a bit of a pain but thats Britain for you
I look forward to more Strip days and track days in the future........
i will put my 10p worth in and say it would be nice to try shakespear raceway for a change maybe...?????
Steve maybe not a fair statement, your right I was not really out this year (as usual - cheeky gitI'm shocked to read you post that mate, especially as you weren't driving out their all day as usual?? I was out their for 80% of the day and saw nothing which gave me concerns??
DG
Next year though....
there is nothing to stop you backing off and having a go on some free track, equally there is nothing to stop the guy 'pulling the train' running through the pits. I think you'll also find the track emptier without a few folks doing over 100 laps.I understand what your getting at Andrew, but if I don't for one minute we could enforce a non overtaking rule added to the fact that if we did enforce it the day would feel like every other day on the M25
Personally I don't think it's any more disruptive to catch a slower car and have to back off a bit than it is to have to back off to let a faster car past.
And of you really don't like it have yourself some coffee and bacon sarnies and wait until the afternoon.
I don't like the idea of 20 mins of this, 20 mins of that, nobody will have any idea what's going on.
You might find that after a morning of diving with no overtaking the virgins will sign up for the afternoon.
You got it Steve - with trailer and track car. Stopping for fuel only!!!!
Hope the weather is better not sure how the new creation would cope in those conditions but guess I will just have to stop my fear or river flowing across the track conditions lol
I vote Spa for next years ND and happy to pay a bit extra for the track time
We sold 77 track tickets online and I guesstimate 15/20 odd ended up on non-member's wrists .
Depending upon the type of diving their may not be any virgins left!?
I agree with your comments though Andrew. I think next year I will try to include some Track Novice stickers with the tickets so those of us who feel a bit unsure on track can make it known and everyone should back off of those displaying the stickers!
and you think a 'no overtaking' rule couldn't be enforced
No, not a no overtaking rule, but everyone should give those with the novice stickers in their back windows some more room?and you think a 'no overtaking' rule couldn't be enforced
exactly, and that's enforced how? Surely that's just normal track etiquette, and shouldn't require a sticker, it's a club day not a race meet.
We have a club of ~1000 members, 77 bought track tickets, of those probably 10% joined because of the track day. So only 7% of the membership are interested in driving on track as it stands. You have to ask why over 900 members didn't want to turn up and drive on track.
They seem quite keen to join the convoy at Silverstone. How many club cars that would never be used on track do that?
Perhaps then we shift the National day back to Pod and Mallory becomes a track event ?
I can see far more members willing to do a couple of strip blasts
146 tickets sold for track and entry ,don't know how many sold on the gate ?
I'm with Andy on the split session idea.
Maybe we could do an 1 hr of novices only track time, the next hour could be people who are more experienced etc.
That way people will know who and what will be on track. It'll improve awareness and people will enjoy being on track instead of checking their mirrors to see what is trying to overtake twice the speed they are!
You could clearly see the division of people who wanted to go on track and see what their car was like and capable of against the people who do track days regularly and know where the lines are, where to brake etc
Mallory Park looked like a free for all on track and thats not exactly confidence inspiring
I mentioned this in the 'Thank you' thread, but to say again, I thought this year's track etiquette was cr8p to be honest.
I said I wasn't going to name names/cars, but feck it, the c*ck in the Spider cut me up twice on different laps, made it hard to overtake (even though I had caught him up relatively quickly), and nearly shoved me on the grass before Gerrards because he wasn't using his mirrors!
And then there's the guy in the yellow VX220 - Last year he wouldn't let Alex in his CSL overtake him for lap after lap, then surprise surprise I come up behind him in the Evo this year, and then proceeded to follow him around for 10 or so laps, until he had had enough & decided to pit.
I'm not risking my life or car trying to overtake or out-brake someone in wet conditions just because they're too fecking ignorant/arrogant to let a quicker car pass them.
Sure, I could've came in for half hour, and then tried going out on track again, but what with the weather, the number of cars on track, and the general lack of track etiquette, it probably wouldn't have made feck all difference anyway
Ray came up with a good idea - Have RTOC member cars only on track of the morning, until lunchtime, then allow everyone/non-members on track for the afternoon session.
And one thing I'd like is a more thorough drivers' briefing, in particular mentioning about over-taking/pulling over when faster cars come up behind you.
could we not do a grand prix type of thing that ppl could enter? fastest lap fastest 10 laps different league for beginners and more experienced...????
just an idea
i know you dont want too make it too competitive but a bit of friendly rivalry?
I think the sessions will ruin it and it will take another person to stand about all day and enforce it. The manners out there were ok from what I saw, at the end of the day it's a track and if people are put off by it then they won't come out anyway regardless of sessions. Maybe we need a more srict briefing on what we can and can't do and get the marshals to enforce the blue and black flags for idiots who won't move over or are too aggressive and state no overtaking on corners like every other track I have been to.
Edit. I just see marts post above and I agree on the stricter briefing as it's a free for all somtimes with the marshals enforcing no rules IMO.
Hook, line, sinker.
I don't think it's a Mallory/Pod question, in fact I think Mallory is the better venue for the Nat day, it's just how to convince members to bring their club cars along rather than leave them at home because it's a 'track day'.Perhaps then we shift the National day back to Pod and Mallory becomes a track event ?
I can see far more members willing to do a couple of strip blasts
146 tickets sold for track and entry ,don't know how many sold on the gate ?
Why didn't the club cars that were there not go on track?
Why did members with club cars not bring them? (I was there on Sunday morning explaining to the French guys, whilst pointing to various non club cars, that their owners had club cars at home.)
What stopped the missing majority of club members from being there?
*I'm using the term 'club cars' as I'm not sure what they are any more, I'm inclined to think of us as the 'renault tinkerers club' rather than RTOC or R5 GT Turbo owner's.
I've been thinking about popping along to a RWYB this year, feel free to arrange something
now, is it Long Marston, Avon Park, or Shakespeare Raceway this week
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