We'll have to splash out on an official bar of RTOC Soap to share round! [/quote]
im in
We'll have to splash out on an official bar of RTOC Soap to share round! [/quote]
im in
Last user has to pick the hairs out. Even the really curly ones!!
No disrespect to any RTOC Staff/Commitee but i do thing next year more Organisation could be done, too resolve some issues.
There were so many prices being told for things by one person and then another price by some one else etc
At times we didnt know were to be or what times etc but this may be down to me not reading correctly
I was at mallory this year ..wasnt on track tho.
my thoughts ..maybe make each session on experience of track driving ....me myself ive not been out on a track ..so i recon a beginners session would be a good idea ...get me used to the track ..and get a hang of everything. Id be well up for going on the track at mallory next year if we did a beginners session ..then the begginers that are confident go on with the experienced track drivers ..which would be totatly upto them. Means the driver would get a wee taste of the action
Also an idea ..maybe make a discounted price(for the beginner session) and a deposit for the beginner driver. If they wish to go the whole day ..they pay full price on the day...so if they dont like it ..they dont have to pay the full day ..maybe an idea rtoc could work on
i dont understand what you need to get used to? its just tarmac with bends like a road but a million times safer as everyone is going in the same way without all the hazards on a road. you drive to your limits and move over for faster cars when safe.
also if we stick 40 beginners out there in one session and experienced in another then the novices wont learn how things work on a track as none of you will know what your doing so go out with everyone else and learn from them if your still worried then go out in the passenger seat or with an instructor.
every year we fire up these threads and try to change things, i agree some bits did need changing a little but most of it was perfect and the organisers did a great job.
Last edited by car.crash; 20-08-2010 at 18:47.
I suppose i see your point .... suppose it would just be a case of throwing the beginners in at the deep'end ...let them learn ...its probs how the experienced drivers learnt. ignore my comment above lol ...i was thinking of the beginners ..suppose putting them in with other beginners nobody's going to learn a thing
i rekon give the guys who are unsure the first 30 mins out there at a gentle pace for £10. if they like it then they can get a ticket minus the £10 they already spent.
it really is not bad and scary as people think out there.
Driving standards were poor at times, the nova tried coming down my right hand side after devil's elbow even though i indicated right and was letting the car run out to the right. don't know if the owners a member or not and i don't really care, the marshall's were not paying enough attention.
The idea of a novices session is good, it would also be good if more experienced trackdayers (is that a word?! lol) could be a passenger to give some advice allthough i would be very nervous about being a passenger with a novice, i was a passenger with someone on their first lap of the nurburgring and was more scared than they were, it turned out fine though as the track was very quiet and their driving was better than i expected, i then took the guy out for a lap which was fine but the next day when i went out as a passenger with them i was petrified! seems they suddenly thought they 'knew' the track and had decided to go for it!
I don't really care if non-members go on track as long as driving standards are upheld by those given the responsibility to do so.
If a decision is made to increase the trackpass price for non-members and less passes are sold i would be happy to pay maybe £20 more to avoid financial losses as it's not just the tracktime i'm there for, it's also the chance to catch up with and enjoy the company of members i may only see once or twice a year and also for fun n games on the sat night
It's a shame that more members don't make the effort to attend nd and stay for the fun on sat night, i drove around 300 miles to attend so there's no excuses regarding distance.
Sat night was very quiet, i understand the weather didn't help as the year before was really good.
Could the club arrange a bbq/drinks for sat night and increase the camping price to include the food part of it to encourage people to attend the bbq, drink could be purchased and sold on at cost (don't know if we would need a liscence or to get a bar in on a sale or return basis)
That might be an incentive for people to 'come together' as there is usually a few groups around the campsite that don't make the effort to socialise with the other groups.
[quote=
It's a shame that more members don't make the effort to attend nd and stay for the fun on sat night, i drove around 300 miles to attend so there's no excuses regarding distance.
Sat night was very quiet, i understand the weather didn't help as the year before was really good.
Could the club arrange a bbq/drinks for sat night and increase the camping price to include the food part of it to encourage people to attend the bbq, drink could be purchased and sold on at cost (don't know if we would need a liscence or to get a bar in on a sale or return basis)
That might be an incentive for people to 'come together' as there is usually a few groups around the campsite that don't make the effort to socialise with the other groups.[/quote]
Night before national day is normally better.. in my eyes anyway and been that way for years.
making the effort and no excuses... yeah camping in pissing rain fri night, and getting cold all saturday... i went home... friday night was the lick.. as for people making effort, alot have familys and kids and it can be a real challenge for them
Yes as i said it wasn't much fun because of the weather but i didn't just sit in my tent and moan about it or go home i took some beers and went for a wander with Miller on sat night, yes our feet were muddy and wet but ND only happens once a year so we were gonna make the best of it.
I only really have a couple of beers on the fri as i like to keep a clear head for going on track on the sat so can't really comment on whether fri or sat is better.
If there weather was too bad for you and you weren't enjoying it JRP then fair enough for going home, my comments are merely that, comments not digs.
Last year there was a good crowd at the big fire but there were still groups that kept themselves to themselves so my ideas were just a way of trying to create a good atmosphere and encourage people to mix a bit more, i'm a shy person and find it hard to walk up to a group i don't know to talk to them, if there's a big group it's easier to mix with more people.
Dont be shy then dude, just stroll up and tell them you own the place... or just who you are.. and you will get straight in there! i wanderd round all friday with a few people good times, although admitadly i stayed put down in the marqee (or how ever its spelt) with the fire, and old faces.... i guess people just stay where they feel comfortable..
New poster! (less than 10 posts)
Excuse my ignorance, but I'm not sure who you were? I spoke to quite a few new faces on the day. Thanks anyway
I guess I'm guilty of joining the club mainly for the ND, I'll not deny that, however it's in the interest of the club to attract new members and I had a thoroughly enjoyable time over the weekend, soggy camping included. I'm a paid up member on 5 Renault based clubs (crikey ) and I've found myself browsing the RTOC more than any since the ND, that can only be a good thing.
The track time was positive on the whole. I attend a fair amount of regular trackdays and made a few observations throughout the day, most of which have already been covered in this thread. Briefing was far too brief. Was the chap doing the briefing part of the club or part of Mallory? Perhaps if the latter then it'd be a better idea for an experienced member/CM to hold the briefing as it'd be more specific to the interests of the club. Other briefings can last half an hour or so - whilst ever so slightly boring it's all useful info and helps with the running of the day.
As has been mentioned, experienced trackdayers (I'll include myself in that) have no problems whatsoever with slower drivers. If we stick to the rules (comes back to the lack of briefing) then we'd all get along and passing/moving aside wouldn't be a problem and cause minimal delays on both parts. I'll add the black early shape Impreza to the VX/Spider 'mare to get past' list .
Thanks from me to those responsible for organising and making me feel welcome, very much appreciated. Dawno I think it was me you spoke to when you asked the Clio lot to join in for pics .
Chris (Grey primered Mk1 Clio)
Don't worry I'm used to not making any impact on people during conversations!
That's the way I roll!
New poster! (less than 10 posts)
Good job this ain't a cowboy film or i'd be hung already
I'm a paid up member & several friends are on here also with 5's & other cars.
I only purchased my ticket, but i did mention this day to several of the mazda guys.
I had several walks round the Renaults, clios & turbos.
I'm on several forums & participated in many trackdays over various forums.
My main outlet for trackdays is circuit-days & the committee members should come along & see how a properly organised event is CONTROLLED
Your day was very enjoyable only spoiled by weather & few clueless drivers.
The briefing was shocking! Lets just call it a brief, the worst i've ever encountered.
I & many others were left clueless.
No mention of overtaking by consent or when safe to on the straights only etc.
Some were overtaking anywhere & everywhere.
This is where you lay down the rules & ENFORCE them!
If your looking for another venue you could do far worse, but then again Doningtons back
Sorry you felt so strongly, but whens it's pissing it down it's hard to mingle
so are we agreed that one of the main prolems was a sh1t brief and no blue and black flags. if we can get mallory to withold those rules which shouldnt be an issue as they probably do it on most track days we are heading in the right direction. alot of people with bad driving out there may not know any better if its their first outing if they are not told the rules in the briefing.
I'm not annoyed with anybody for not mingling this year because the weather was sh*te, just trying to come up with idea for future ND's to maybe bring together us all as members, to create a more integrated community, my that was deep wasn't it!
If members or non-members hear about what a great time we all have on fri/sat night they may get a bit envious an decide to join in a bit more the following year
Wow, didn't expect a passing observation made about a event I didn't even attend (because I do not have a working renault turbo) on another thread to cause this large debate, sorry didnt mean to cause a fuss!!
However I think perhaps some of the difficulties (lack of member interest) arrise because of the reativley small membership & the trend towards restorations & "oe" might have a bearing on people wanting to risk there now very valuable classic on track.
Just a thought but does the club have a marketing budget? I remember the good old days where every car mag you picked up had a r5gtoc advert in it, I know times have moved on & I don't buy maxpower anymore, but surley theres a modern equivilent, (banner on pistonheads or something?)
I'll be back as it was a good day out.
My mate with 'car 25' needs some space for his van, trailer etc, as when wet he drives in the trailer as no roof at all. This don't help us out either, as only being curtious to park out of the main arena.
He does some awesome passenger laps as i found out, i'm not nervous normally but he's one hell of a driver.
His datalogger don't lie even in the wet!
Steve, Don't take this personally, i don't know you from Adam, and your probably a top bloke, but this really pisses me off. I am, what I would call a true Renault Turbo owner / enthusiast, you sir are not.
I've checked your stats, its easy to do its on your profile. You have made 10 posts, all are to do with National Day, what its going to cost you etc, and a couple to say it was a good day. What have you bought or shared with the club that is any way related to Renault turbos? oh that's right you had one back in the 80's.
The reason you joined is to come to our track day......end of.
Your paid up because it's cheap at £25......end of.
This also goes for the BMW owners (Jaffa / Brose not included - see below) and others out on track in other randoms, (VX220, impreza's, MX5's etc)
I have more respect for the Clio boy's, as at the end of the day, most of them who turned up, are what I would consider active members.
I also understand some Uber RTOC members (i.e. Mart, Adam L, Duncan G, Bill J etc) have moved on with respect to their transport, HOWEVER for example, Mart is one of the most active and knowledgeable people on here, his involvement in this club is huge, therefore if Mart wants to blast round track all day long in his "heave Ho" (nice one Big S) he's more than entitled to, he's ****in earned it.
I believe when the tickets go on sale, they should be monitored more closely as to who they are going to. For example, to have a ticket you must have a 50 post count??? this would stop people signing up just for the track day...........wouldn't it?
An argument could be you have been a member for years but don't hardly post. that's fine, just add that to the above..........i.e. 50 posts or 3 years membership.
I'm on a role.
The argument for intimidation on track is a little lame, at the end of the day your in front, the guy behind can't go past until you move over, just make sure you do if your slower than them in a place you are comfortable to do so.............its very simple.
If you don't move for a couple of corners fine, they will have to wait and they know that, its the people who just don't move after lap after lap that are the problem. they know who they are, they do it deliberately. Its either down to them being retarded, stupid or ignorant.
Finally, Big Steve, increasing the track price to £100 will not stop the track enthusiast none members, or just signed up to be a member for this reason. It will instead just stop people in the club who are unsure in going on track buying their ticket. Hence some of the reply's below your suggestion. £100 is still a cheap track day for people who do this regularly.
I'm off to get another beer..........
So what's the plan or location for next year then?
Hopefully we won't be going back to Mallory...
.
just outta intrest mate why was this for and they did not want to come along to the day?considering its a day to do with reanults im abit baffled on why there did not want to come alongas for the amount of 5s that was there i was bit suprised tbh there wasnt many.this was national day 2007 the weather was not the best but many 5s were on show
I dunno about that.i did ok going to nurburgring in 2008 there and back.also gave my 20yr old renault a blast on the ring as welli was not giving it the full beans as it was my 1st time but i made sure that i was at least was trying to go with the flow on the track the temps was all good and the car ran sweet no need to cool it down major once i come off just let it idel once i packed up for a few mins.age is nothing it just the way the car is looked after
[quote=D4WNO;172525]
We'll be putting the bands on too as there were far too many people who had their bands on extremely loosely, obviously to share with their mates (pikies - it's a cheap track day as it is)
/quote]
thats what the staff do normally on a track day. im for this.. the briefing was far to brief! and in regards to track time my 10p's worth would be to have a hr for novices so they can get used to things the 20 minute sessions on a first come first serve basis.
And then the arguement about non members... the price should be increased but as it is to cheap but as someone mentioned only 7% of members were actually on track.
Good post J8TRO!!
As stated previously this is not personal, but i refer back to my point, what have you bought to this club?
I really wouldn't have a problem if you had joined the day before and never posted or even been on the boards if you had turned up in a Renault turbo of some sort, but you didn't, you turned up in an MX5 FFS.
Your nails you perfectly, you don't care what I think, you had a cheap day. I'm quite sure i'm not the only one who feels like I do.
I think a shake up of sorts is needed for ND, the club can afford to make a small loss..
2005 at Pod = £2887 Loss
2006 at Brunters = £9403 Loss
2007 at FCS (Rockingham) = £3858 Loss
2008 at Mallory = £5806 loss
2009 at Mallory = £ Unknown as of yet???
2010 at Mallory = A small profit
20005 : Remember that POD is a preferred favorite for the majority of people but we cant get a weekend date, nor a summer date there... even so in 2005 we still made a loss... at there were more members back then, more Renault Turbo's on the road etc...
2006: Brunters was a huge loss, a great day out, but lack on camping track side meant we had to convoy early from campsite to the track (not good for those who had a heavy drinking session on Friday)
2007: A shambles really, a shared ND at FCS, sure more cars attended(as seen in pics) on the day, but a huge loss and a short amount of dedicated track time for our members (1 hour?) and a parade lap that was meant to be for just RTOC but every joe bloggs joined in....
2007-present: Mallory park has camping onsite (although basic), a large ish loss on 2008, 2009 wasnt as bad, 2010 showed a small profit... Now for sure 2010 had a brief briefing, and perhaps next year we can ask for rules to be more stricter etc (but did anyone get refused on track for excessive DB limit??
As for other other tracks/venues, try finding one that will entertain a small car club, or that is affordable... let alone one that will let us in over a whole weekend, in peak season etc....
Great above post J8TRO, and thanks for your kind comments
Maybe to keep the interest levels up, perhaps something/somewhere different is required for next year's ND then? Variety is the spice of life & all that.
Not that I'm personally saying that needs to be the case, as I find Mallory a good place for a ND - Fairly central location, camping on-site for both nights, fairly relaxed atmosphere all round, and of course it's a track based event, which is my right up my street
However, maybe there's gonna come a time in the near future when people start getting 'bored' of Mallory, in the same vane that ND @ Pod took a knock a few years back. The problem there, if the tediousness does start setting in with members, is that the club may then struggle to make good numbers for following ND's regardless of location.
Likewise, if the RTOC members are seeing their day (which is something the Committee seem to be forgetting...maybe) over-run with joe public cars instead, that might also cause the numbers to drop for future ND's.
Bottom line, imho, if future ND's continue in the same vane, I can see the weekend eventually turning into a track-based alternative to USC'esque events - In other words, a 'free for all'.
Yes I have to agree it was a good post by J8TRO. I've been itching to add my thoughts but after my one and only ND so far and one that was full of mini disasters I wasn't sure if my thoughts were that valid. I do think it should be resticted to members and maybe invited clubs, that way no one can complain about the what make the cars are and it may improve the etiquette a little as well as we all "know" each other. I also think it's a good idea to have a beginners session (i would take advantage of this) and also maybe a black cross in the rear window to warn trackday regulars.
I don't think raising the cost a litttle will upset too many. As remarked upon it is very very cheap for a trackday. And although it's a club not for profit its always good to have money to fund other things and losses like those above surely are not sustainable in the long run.
Old skool turbo power, I know what you are saying I thought I would see more as well (though left mine at home) I would have loved to have brought mine to show off but it was just too far in that weather so brought the Trophy but that then brings up the ND/trackday conundrum, there is no way that i would take J510 on track but if the weather had been better after watching the fun everyone was having I think I would have given the T a few laps.
Btw thanks again to everyone who gives up their time to organise this stuff for those of us who can hardly get off their arses.
Last edited by Hoolio; 21-08-2010 at 12:39. Reason: Spelling
We're looking for a tricky balance here - we dont want too many freeloaders but we dont want to make too much of a loss as a club.
Personally, i think we have a good balance of camping/facilities/entertainment (especially when it rains!) and cars currently but do agree that the whole MX5 thing was terrible. I support the idea of looking into how we sell the tickets and to who. Might not be that easy but perhaps there could be a brief online form to complete? Whats your car, length of membership? Now to be honest, my friend signed up to the club so he could get a track pass for this year. This situation might warrant the need for the application to be supported by an existing member?
Just some thoughts on it...
J8TRO, god speed fella I have tought you well
snap!
i haven't fully read all posts in here, just had a scan through.
i was unable to attend this year which really annoyed me but there wasn't a lot i could do about it as i had to work due to my friend, who was meant to cover for me being diagnosed with a brain tumour so i really couldn't get upset about it, as proved, there are worse things in life than missing a national day.
i was annoyed however that people were joining just for the fact they could do a cheap track day, it's not what national day is about. how do we stop this though? i joined ztoc for free as i was doing some research into buying one, it took them two weeks to authorize my membership, that may stop the last min.com people coming who hear about it on the grapevine.
maybe a sliding pay scale so the earlier you buy the cheaper but as it gets a month or so away up the price to what a normal track day would cost?
last year was my first time on track and i was more nervous about wiping someone else out than my car (i got track insurance). once i got into it, it was great but annoying when people were holding me up and not moving, i think a novice/warm up session would be the way forward, then open pit lane.
jaffa ya coooont !!!
what a very dissapointing thread and so many points that i was going to reply on but tbh there are so many i wouldnt know were to start..........i have pm those who i have questions for in regards to comments........i await some replies.....i truely am sat here shaking my head out of dis belief of what utter drivel has been wrote,i would be ashamed to be associated with you if thats your view and im sure if other car forums and clubs if they could read these posts......well laughing stock comes to mind.........
there are a few key things on this thread
1.lack of even turning up to national day and commenting.
2.lack of going on track and commenting
3.lack of mis information or knowledge whichever ran out first
and a big one 4. lack of even going to the agm then having the barefaced cheek to comment on this thread regarding the club national day and it future!!!!!
a joke a bloody joke.
You raise some very valid points their Jaffa!
Well since ive joined the club ive attended the nationals day, and i plan to do so, so no matter what happens ill be there, plus ill be pushing any friends with r5s to come.
Would it not be possible to not allow so many freelancers track time , but maybe advertise the nd somewhat as a spectator event for joe blogs to keep it financially viable.
I mean i wasnt on track as i didnt trust my 5 yet and im skint however i £20 for the full weekend, got to see track action, have a mouch around cars, camp , have a bqq, have a laugh with a few folks etc etc. It costs you £10 a night now just to camp on a farmers field so why not pay a bit more and have somthing to do and camp at mallory.
Im sure a lot of the retro rides lads and similar would be more than willing to pay he £20 for a bit of a beer fest and some action on track if only they were made aware of it, heck im sure you can still limit numbers to keep things in order.