Please can you all complete THIS SURVEY to give myself & the rest of committee some thoughts on what you want for your national day 2012??
As Before, the password is rtoc (Lower Case)
This time you will be able to follow the results after you complete it yourself!
As before, the survey is open for a week and will end on Wednesday 13th July
I think we need a bit more info about some of the options please Steve
Good idea CleeOriginally Posted by clee
I think we need a bit more info about some of the options please Steve
1) Mallory Park
We all know about this, what it offers the club having done it for the past few years.
2) Blyton Park Trackday
I visited Blyton Park track this week to see shat they could offer the RTOC for our National Day 2012.
Blyton Park is situated just outside the small village of Blyton in Lincolnshire and is fairly easy to find if you just put Blyton in your Sat Nav & find it from there. A Marks the spot...
The entrance to the track is well highlighted with flags & signs & is closed off by two large lockable gates:
Through the gates it's about a mile along what is left of the old Blyton USAF Base before you get to the track itself.
At the corner of the Track Entrance there is a Log Cabin which doubles as the Track Office and HQ:
Beside the Log Cabin is a large Metal Barn which is now part of the Blyton Park Complex... more about that later!!
The owner of Blyton Park is a guy called Richard Usher who was the previuous owner of Auto Windscreens and someone who's been involved in Motorsport for many years running teams & he even spent 4 years in the Indie Car Series in the USA.
Richard showed me around the pit complex and explained the history. Richard started the Track project several years ago becasue he has done a number of track-days himself and was fed up with the poor track etiquette he'd seen on other events. He tool on the lease in March 2011 and since then has set up the facility but explained that it's not as easy as he first thought!!
The track was designed with the help of John Barker of EVO Magazine and another racing driver who he used to manage. The surface of the track has recently had £250K worth of fresh tarmac laid on the old Concrete surface of the Blyton USAF Runways. The track was designed with ROAD CAR'S in mind and optimised to give the best test of a standard car with plenty of run-off areas around the whole track.
The track is the same width as Cadwell Park and a strict overtaking only on straights policy is enforced to ensure no issues...
Richard then took me out for a couple of laps with me driving my Mondeo!!Obviously two laps didn't give me a real great feel for the track, but I can certainly confirm that it's both longer than Mallory and a lot more technical with some corners that give you somthing to think about. However there is no gradient change anywhere around the circuit as it was build on a flat Runway.
We then returned to the pits and richard showed me the facilities in-between the log cabin & consist of Ladies, Disabled & Gentlemen's toilets WITH SHOWERS!!
Answers to some of the questions I asked:
1) How much for venue Hire including Marshals and Insurance?
2) Does it have camping on-site & how much for two night
- To hire the venue for a Saturday Track Day sometime in Summer 2012 the cost would be approx £5 - £6K which is about £5 - £4K less than Mallory is charging! I see the RTOC could run a day & not lose money here?!
- Yes there are camping facilities right next to the large barn AND there are several power hook-ups which we would be able to avail of if needed. Richard told me that he would probably charge a nominal fee for the camping but I'm sure we could negotiate this??
- In addition to the campsite, Blyton Park have offered us the use of the Large Barn and Richard offered that not only would it give us a nice place to shelter if the weather was a bit grim, it would also be a good place to have a "Hot Roast" inside?? I think you agree that there would be plenty of room inside the barn for us to sit in if the weather was bad??
3) Saturday hire in the months of June to August.
4) Can we have spectators in the paddock?
- Yes that's no problem as the 2012 calendar is still pretty empty, HOWEVER he has been approached by both the BMW Car Club and the Peugeot Sports Club for weekend events in 2012 so I imagine the earlier we can make a decision if we want to go with this facility the better chance we would have to get a good date??
- Yes the set-up is not like Mallory where the Paddock is in the centre of the track, all of the paddock & camping area is outside the track. There are spectator banks around the edge of this part of the circuit to allow non-drivers to have a good look. I took some pictures of the view from the top of the spectator bank so could get a feel for the views (The pictures are taken in sequence panning from left to right)
There is also another viewing bank next to the track control tower which gives you a view along one of the straights also shown in the last picture above
5) Is it a proper circuit/surface i.e. Tarmac not an abondoned airfield like the ****hole that is Brunters?
6) Does the club need to be recognised with a motorsport body?
- Yes it's has £250K of new Tarmac laid recently.
In addition to the above Q&A, I also wrote my thougts down & created a list of FOR & AGAINST:
- No
FOR
- £5 - £6K Cost is immediately cheaper than Mallory Park
- Large Barn included in the hire of the Venue which we could use for some added attraction
- Quiet location in the middle of no-where
- Blyton Dairy Ice Cream Parlour, Cafe & Bistro all just up the road which we could use for lunch
- WOK Star Chinese & English Take-Away & a couple of pubs in the village of Blyton
- Good On-Site Toilet & Shower Facilities
- Tesco's store approx 15 mins away in Gainsborough
- Ability to have an on-site catering facility
- Power Hook-Ups & Lighting in Barn
AGAINST3) MSV Trackday
- No Cafe inside the circuit (although I did spot some bottles of drink for sale in the log cabin) so no food on-site
- No shops in walking distance
- No on-site petrol station so refuelling requires a trip out.
- No Hotel's/B&B's Just up the road - For those who don't fancy camping.. Millie... Who said that?
- Might see some complaints/reduction in attendance because we have moved the event further North & it's going to be a long way for the likes of Jesus to attend??
This is a trackday at one of the MSV sites throughout the country & the price list is attached to the bottom of this thread for your reading pleasure.
4) Hillclimb/Sprint
Not sure quite how this works as It looks like we have to belong to an existing afilliated club to do this?? More homework needed on this idea or more input from someone who might have an idea how it works??
5) Go-Karting/Activity day
Theirs a place not far from me near Newmarket called Wildtracks and at this site they have a number of activities which we could do as a club for a day such as:
We could make it like a BIG Stag weekend & everyone could bring along their famlies and we would have a "Fun Day" followed by a centralised camping somewhere nearby after the day.
- Go Karting - One of largest circuits in UK
- Archery
- Clay Pigeon Shooting
- Quad Biking
- Crossbows
- Battlefield Live - Like paintball
6) French Day National Day
As per my THREAD we make our National Day the weekend trip to France for the Frenchies National Day
The club could look into subsidising the trip & costs for the members, we see if we can get an agreement with Norfolk Line for the crossing, organise a big feck off campsite with Xenon for us all?
Baguette's & Beer 2012??
7) Dragstrip day on a Saturday At Shakespere Raceway
We know what we get at Santa Pod but also know that we can't get a Saturday. Why not get a Saturday at Shakey & we do the whole Dragstrip day together with a small handling course or something??
8) Subsidised Stay Over
The club (although god knows how we would do it) hires out a campsite or pays to hire a field & we all just chill out in the (Hopeful) sunshine with a few Festival Ciders??
Just some food for thought guys
Warpspeed, Bigfoot & djinuk - I've just deleted your posts to tidy up the start of this thread to show the options clearer
i'm liking the look of Blyton Park, but just one question, that barn, if we keep it tidy and made sure not to spill any oil or anything would those of us who might break something be allowed to use it as a sort of unoffical pit garafe?
I like the look of blyton park also. Seems alot more going for it than mallory imo and a substantial saving for the club as well its gotta be a win win:-)
Its certainly a possibility Ipswich, but on a Hot Day it would be like an oven in there & on a cold wet day I'd want it to be sheltering the people & not the cars.
Something we could look at though.
Just wanted to mention that its also the 10th Birthday of The National Day and the hope that we might get a few clubs from foreign soil coming over!
I like the sound of Shakey or Blyton
I voted for the French trip before I saw the complete picture.
Ok I've re-set the Survey to ensure we get a more accurate result now that I have posted all of the information about the different events above.I like the sound of Shakey or Blyton
I voted for the French trip before I saw the complete picture.
PLEASE CAN YOU ALL RE-SUBMIT YOUR ANSWERS!!
Great work Steve and all involved!!!!
Blyton Park has got to be the one
Really good price and the extras make it look VERY attractive!
Power hook up so will steal my friend motorhome and trailer the car behind that - WIN!
DG
Blyton park looks a complete no brainer imo and its a track iv never been to looks much more set up for a national day than mallory to me. A little thought i had was to maybe get a few stores down there eg detailing etc
blyton looks really good, however its big and i think we would need a large turn out to get the atmosphere, maybe push the advertising a little harder?, in turn bumping profit up for rtoc?
Blyton does look good. we could use the barn for some evening entertainment:????
An RTOC ball????????????? lol The RTOC Barn Ball?
So what's the state of play on the vote? (as if i couldn't guess) You can only view the once and I did mine early on.
Btw I don't think some of those ideas should be thrown on the scrapheap just because they they don't fair well in a one vote one idea/venue vote if you see what I mean.
Bryton looks good mate, well done Steve!
If we do go for that will make a change from Mallory which for me i am getting slightly bored of now.
I think having little more space will be bonus, for me Mallory parking does get little cramped. I know i wne ton about it last year but with more space maybe we could arrange the parking little better, tracks cars one side and then show cars the other. The show and shine aspect of Nat Day for has always been a let down for me, i'm personally not into it but it nice to actually have a wander round and have alook at the gleaming examples of Renault out there is quite interesting but at Mallory we don't tend to have areas set asside for it or even cordened off.
I know some people say its hard to arrange parking but sod it if you want someone to arrange it i'll do it
With the barn, is there plenty of lights in there or does it not have any? Just thinking of different uses that could be used for it, club shop? Display area for few various Renaults? Or use for night time antics!
Would be great to get some of the foreign clubs over too since we're planning to join them on there Nat Day too.
As its 10th Nat Day i say lets push boat out abit and make it little different
You can check the results of the Survey to date if you click on the PDF at the bottom of this post
Would the clerk please add that to the Record? Mr Markey Mark will have a special "Parking Monitor" High Vis Vest and control the Parking at ND 2012I know some people say its hard to arrange parking but sod it if you want someone to arrange it i'll do it
Yes it's got lights mate & they work a treat! Definately enough illumination for us to point Kris in the direction of his coolbox for (yet) another Cider!With the barn, is there plenty of lights in there or does it not have any? Just thinking of different uses that could be used for it, club shop? Display area for few various Renaults? Or use for night time antics!
Organisation on the day is something we are really going to concentrate on next year. Parking, show & shine, etc will all be done exquisitely but I will be calling on the help of each Area Rep to help us with this as it needs to be a complete team effort.Bryton looks good mate, well done Steve!
If we do go for that will make a change from Mallory which for me i am getting slightly bored of now.
I think having little more space will be bonus, for me Mallory parking does get little cramped. I know i wne ton about it last year but with more space maybe we could arrange the parking little better, tracks cars one side and then show cars the other. The show and shine aspect of Nat Day for has always been a let down for me, i'm personally not into it but it nice to actually have a wander round and have alook at the gleaming examples of Renault out there is quite interesting but at Mallory we don't tend to have areas set asside for it or even cordened off.
I know some people say its hard to arrange parking but sod it if you want someone to arrange it i'll do it
With the barn, is there plenty of lights in there or does it not have any? Just thinking of different uses that could be used for it, club shop? Display area for few various Renaults? Or use for night time antics!
Would be great to get some of the foreign clubs over too since we're planning to join them on there Nat Day too.
As its 10th Nat Day i say lets push boat out abit and make it little different
We hope the European Clubs will be in attendance and if the truth be known I've already spoken to someone in the Dutch Owners Club who is very very keen to get his mob over hereIts one of the reasons its so important that we book this sooner rather than later so people can plan.
24 people voted now - Woohoo
Time for a mass email maybe...24 people voted now - Woohoo
Just figured out how to share the LIVE RESULTS of the location survey with you
bryton looks good to me.as markey says mallory is getting a slightly boring.it be nice to give it a rest even if it's for only 1 year,and try some wear new.and if every one was in the barn at night,it would save walking around a campsite to see who's there.but i don't think a bonfire in the middle will go down to well
Blyton looks like a cracking venue.
Just need to encourage more traders along like Ice Cream van/ burger van etc to cover the lack of cafe and maybe even get a large Burco type boiler and provide tea and coffee facilities ourselves as per World Series.
The camping on site with power hookup allows more fridges for COLD beers.
I think with the lower cost of the venue the cost per person could be much lower to members and stay more expensive for the extra trackday only types.
A hogroast or similar is also a cracking idea to bring members together more and I know they are not mega expensive to sort.
Fully agree with seperated Show and Shine etc but if the show-ers fancy a quick blast on track how about a closed 15-20 minute session just for them so there is no-one out there to stone chip them etc. Maybe first session then they have time to clean the car which will no doubt be dirty from the trip up anyway.
If you need any help I should have more time spare this coming year.
New poster! (less than 10 posts)
Not that there was anything wrong with Mallory Park, but Blyton Park does look a great venue.
Anything with track time is good!
I will have much more time this year (and next hopefully) and will be attending plenty of things, so count me in if you need any help with organising / marshalling etc.
Al
there's an interesting point, what will be the situation for providing mashalls and first aid cover at Blyton?
All part of the hire costs Warpity Warp!
two words warehouse rave
two others 80,s disco
two others 80,s disco
I really like the voting system RTOC uses on subjects such as this.
Pat on the back guys and girls from a long suffering member.
Will the mashalls be members of the BMMC? What level of first-aid cover will be provided? sorry to be pernickity but these are important questions that need answered properly Steve.All part of the hire costs Warpity Warp!
Scott; this isn't someone's backyard that we're going to be thrashing around, they hold official Trackdays and Rallycross events.
I'll ask the questions though
and long sufferedI really like the voting system RTOC uses on subjects such as this.
Pat on the back guys and girls from a long suffering member.
two others 80,s disco
Whats the special ideas for 10 years then??? Which of the french clubs are heading over? Are we likely to get any of the gordini lot coming?
Can we do a rally cross hour? AWESOME!
I'll ask the questions though
Think you got your clubs mixed up
Think you got your clubs mixed up
We've got a few Ideas Tony but are not going to release them until we've got things a little more firmed up....
So GET VOTING all you guys who haven't already!!
LOLand long suffered
Thank you.
I'll ask the questions though
New poster! (less than 10 posts)
The marshals and medical cover needs to be at least as good as Mallory. We have all seen what can happen, so it is a serious question.
cette journée national de RTOC , si je comprend bien , il y as :
circuit et exposition , c'est bien sa ??
si l'on me donne les infos nécessaire "rapidement" je ferais ce qui faut pour faire venir les français !!
en tout cas moi personnellement et mes amis sa nous intéresse fortement !!
les anglais en France le 2juin 2012 , et les français chez vous juste derrière , sa serais le top !!!
this day national of RTOC, if I understand well, it there ace:
is circuit and exposure, it well its??
if one gives me the information necessary “quickly” I would make what is necessary to make come French!!
in any case me personally and my friends its strongly interests us!!
English in France on June 2nd, 2012, and French on your premise just behind, his would be the signal!!!
I havent been to a nat day yet so I cant say im bored of mallory! Blyton does look very good though.. Its all about the rave
That's an interesting post.I havent been to a nat day yet so I cant say im bored of mallory! Blyton does look very good though.. Its all about the rave
So some evening entertainment would make you come to the event more-so than the actual car event in the daytime??
Worth more of a discussion on the Committe Boards that.
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