Mazda Rotary Club

I’ve always wanted to drive the Croft circuit and this year I intend to do it  :D

"Croft Circuit - set in the beautiful North Yorkshire countryside. This superb 2.1 mile circuit has been developed for over 50 years into a top-flight racing venue which hosts prestigious Motorsport events such as British Touring Cars (BTCC) as well as the most competitive club level racing. The super-fast sweeping curves of the Jim Clark Esses and Barcroft are a genuine white-knuckle, seat of the pants challenge, taken at 115mph and 130mph respectively in a current Formula Ford car. These sections combined with long straights followed by slow corners make for a scintillating track for both testing and racing."

I wanted to book a date that didn\'t clash with any other major event and at a time of the year with (hopefully) more chance of dry and warm weather. So, I\'ve opted for Tuesday, 24 June. The trackday is Open Pit Lane** format with Javelin Trackdays and a current “early booking” price of £189. Croft operate “Noisy” (105dBA) and “Quiet” (98dBA) days and this is one of the Noisy days, so the "normal" level for most trackdays in the UK.

** “Open Pit Lane” means you are free to drive on the circuit when you like, for as much as you like, subject to safe numbers on circuit. Expect to get about 10-15 minutes on track with around 25-30 minutes to “cool-off”, else you, your engine, tyres and brakes will overheat!

Javelin details and booking page can be found ON THIS LINK (http://www.javelintrackdays.co.uk/trackday/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=818itemid&vmcchk=1&Itemid=1) - hold back from booking at the moment as I have emailed Javelin to see if they can offer any group discounts  :D

Never done a trackday before? As on all trackdays, they are well managed and marshalled. There will be a comprehensive, compulsory, safety briefing at the start of the day for all drivers, followed by some slow “sighting laps” behind a lead car. I\'m sure there will be plenty of experienced trackheads present who will be only too happy give assistance to any novices.

REQUIREMENTS: Helmets are required (and can be hired on the day for ~£10), and you MUST bring along your driving license (both parts if you have them) on the day for inspection.
BOOKING THIS EVENT: Via the above link
INSURANCE: Insurance is not compulsory, but your normal road insurance is unlikely to cover you. Please look at the separate “Trackday Insurance” thread for advice and make your own judgement.
INSTRUCTION:  Will be available on the day.
LOCAL ACCOMMODATION: Several of us are staying at the Travelodge, Scotch Corner (Southbound) on 23rd and 24th June. Details ON THIS LINK (http://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/219/Scotch-Corner-A1-Southbound-hotel). Price currently only £21/night ;)
TRACK LOCATION AND DIRECTIONS OF HOW TO GET THERE: CLICK HERE (http://www.croftcircuit.co.uk/circuit_information.html)
MORE INFORMATION ON THE VENUE: CLICK HERE (http://www.croftcircuit.co.uk/index.html)

QUESTIONS: That’s what I’m here for! I’ll do my best to answer any questions you post on this thread, or PM me.

I want to do this;
(PLEASE don’t cut and paste the list, just briefly post up your interest in this thread, or PM me, and I\'ll edit this "first post" list to keep things tidy) :D
1. Casey (Malcolm) - T\'DAY Booked,  Garage 1 Booked, Travelodge A1 Scotch Corner Booked 23/24
2. Ian.M (Ian) - T\'DAY Booked,  Garage 2 Booked, Travelodge A1 Scotch Corner Booked 23/24
3. GSB (Nigel) - T\'DAY Booked,  Garage 3 Booked, Travelodge A1 Scotch Corner Booked 23/24
4. Ranjan (Ranjan) - T\'DAY Booked, Garage 4 Booked, Travelodge A1 Scotch Corner Booked 23 (arriving late)
5. stewartm (Stewart) + KJB (Katie) - T\'DAY Booked
6. Tractorboy (Bob) - T\'DAY Booked, Travelodge A1 Scotch Corner Booked 23
7. Zarterone (Paul) - T\'DAY Booked, Travelodge A1 Scotch Corner Booked 23/24
8. Hypothermia (Ian) - T\'DAY Booked, Travelodge A1 Scotch Corner Booked 23/24
9. bigpete (Pete) - T\'DAY Booked
10. Zongoose (Gavin) + Mad, 2nd driver - T\'DAY Booked, Travelodge A1 Scotch Corner Booked 23
11. C J R (Chris) - FD - T\'DAY Booked,  Garage 5 Booked
12. Arnie_O (Aston) - T\'DAY Booked
13. Harrizone (Ray) - T\'DAY Booked,  Garage 6 Booked, Travelodge A1 Scotch Corner Booked 23/24
14. Nutty_Chappie - T\'DAY Booked,  Travelodge A1 Scotch Corner Booked 23(&24?)
15. Mike the W - FD - T\'DAY Booked
16. farmboyrex - T\'DAY Booked, Travelodge A1 Scotch Corner Booked 23/24
17. YiannyRX8 (Yiannis)
18. Devastator - possible
19. TiddlesRX7 (Adrian) FC

Here\'s a lap in a Caterham (best camera angle and weather video I could find  :lol: )

^^ Names updated. Javelin have been in touch and I\'m hoping to post something up re a possible discount code latre, so hold fire on booking the trackday.

HOTEL - several of us have booked at a Travelodge ~5 miles from the circuit at just £18/night :)

Still some rooms showing at £18 as I write this - LINK HERE (http://www.travelodge.co.uk/search_and_book/index.php?locationCode=h219&location=Scotch%20Corner%20A1%20Southbound%20Travelodge&checkInDate=23/06/2014&checkOutDate=25/06/2014&no_of_rooms=1&adults_1=1&children_1=0&adults_2=1&children_2=0&adults_3=1&children_3=0&adults_4=1&children_4=0&adults_5=1&children_5=0&adults_6=1&children_6=0&adults_7=1&children_7=0&adults_8=1&children_8=0&adults_9=1&children_9=0&action=search&check_form=)

Be quick if you want to stay here, as these £18 offers have limited spaces!

Everyone who has so far indicated an interest in taking their car to this trackday should now have a PM (MRC and/or RX8OC) from me with a discount code. The PM reads;

"I have managed to secure a 7.5% discount code to use against the Croft Trackday on 24 June. In fact, this code will work on ANY Javelin product/service, so if you want to do another trackday with Javelin the code will remain valid until withdrawn. The code to use at the checkout is;

(NOT SHOWN ON FORUM, PM ONLY)

The booking page for this event is ON THIS LINK (http://www.javelintrackdays.co.uk/trackday/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=818itemid&vmcchk=1&Itemid=1)

Garages can be pre-booked at £30 (less 7.5%) and these will be reserved on the day by adding one to your booking. Or, any unreserved garages can be taken on the day at no cost, but the risk is that all are pre-booked and none are available. I suggest we pre-book garages to ensure we have cover and storage for the day, instead of risking no availability. I will also work with Javelin to ensure we get a "block" of garages together, to help the social aspect of the day! Assuming the garages are the standard size I recommend 1 garage per three cars and we share costs accordingly. I can\'t think of an easy way to make this work, but I suggest that the early bookers include a garage on their booking and IMMEDIATELY post this fact on the forum thread. When 5 people have booked garages I suggest the rest hold back adding a garage until we see how the bookings progress. I will monitor this and try to manage garage numbers as we get closer to the event. On the day, those who want to take a garage should pay the person who booked the garage their share of £27.75 (cost after discount).

Please note:
1. DO NOT release this code into the public domain. It is for use by RX8OC and MRC members only. If the code is found to leak into the public domain it will be cancelled.
2. Javelin operate an “Early Booking” discount policy. Once a certain number of places at an event are booked, the price will RISE. The code will still operate on the new price, but BOOKING EARLY will secure the best overall price.

So, get booking!"

I have booked a garage and updated the first post in this thread to confirm my booking. Please post up on here when you have a booked a place, and if a garage is included on your booking. Thanks.

List in first post updated. Still plenty of spaces for more at this fantastic circuit :D Just post up on here and follow the instructions above to book your place.

Anyone needing the discount code can PM me or request it by posting up on here.

I think we\'ve got enough garages booked for now, so suggest no more are booked until we see how the numbers progress (unless anyone needs a garage to themselves ;))

If anyone knows a good place to eat near Scotch Corner on the A1 then let me know. I\'ve found a few places but they are all quite on the expensive side so far.

Bump - price still at early booking rate for trackday. Hotel price has gone upf form £18/night to £21/night ;)

Bump - 14 of us now booked on this event, so it should be a good social day too :Thumbs-up

It\'s now less than 4 weeks to go, so if you haven\'t booked and want to go then I wouldn\'t leave it too long as;

(a) the price will go up nearer the date (Javelin operate an "early booking discount") and
(b) it may well sell out of places

I\'ve updated the list in the first post with the names and booking details that I\'m aware of - let me know if I\'ve missed anything or made an error.

Is there anyone who hasn\'t paid for their place yet and can help out another member who has some Javelin gift vouchers he can\'t use?

See HERE (http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?p=879707&posted=1#post879707)

booked up hptel via the link you provided Malcolm.
night of 23 and 24th

whats this about garages?

Quote from: Arnie_O;879719whats this about garages?

With 14 of us booked so far, we have 6 garages paid for - plenty (I reckon) to share, stow gear, and keep costs down. I\'d ask those that share with the "payer" pay their share to them on the day (half/third or whatever). When we get closer to the date I\'ll suggest some garage shares to make it easier when we arrive on the day to know what we are doing and save time stowing gear.

I am up for sharing a garage

Early booking price of £189 now finished, price is now showing on Javelin website as £229 :2eek  (+£40)

Total confirmed cars at present 16; a good turnout  :D

FOOD!

I\'m planning to book a table to eat for anyone who wants to join me on the evenings before and after the trackday. I\'m still looking to finalise the 2nd venue, but the plan is;

Monday 23rd; "Shoulder of Mutton", Middleton Tyas (MENUS and details LINK HERE (http://www.shoulderofmuttonmiddletontyas.co.uk/menus-8615.html)) ~800m walking distance of the Travelodge many of us are staying at, eating at 7.30pm to allow people to arrive.
Tuesday 24th; somewhere near the circuit, eating at 6.00pm, so that people can drive straight from the track and eat before setting off home or back to the hotel.

To help me book space, can you please indicate below if you want to join me (if with friend/partner/spouse, please indicate x2 or whatever  :D ).

(if you\'ve already posted up on the RX8OC thread then no need to post here)

Eating 7.30pm on 23rd, near A1 Travelodge;
Casey
Ian.M
GSB
Zarterone
farmboyrex
Harrizone

Eating 6.00pm on 24th, near Croft circuit;
Casey
Ian.M
GSB
Zarterone
stewartm & KJB
farmboyrex
Harrizone

Please "quote" this entire post, add your details and remove

Quoteat start and finish - thanks[/color]

FOOD!

Venues to eat on 23rd and 24th now booked - I just need the accurate numbers to confirmed with them later

Monday 23rd; "Shoulder of Mutton", Middleton Tyas (MENUS and details LINK HERE (http://www.shoulderofmuttonmiddletontyas.co.uk/menus-8615.html)) ~800m walking distance of the Travelodge many of us are staying at, eating at 7.30pm to allow people to arrive.
Tuesday 24th; "The Beeswing Country Inn" (East Cowton), ~10 mins from the circuit, eating at 6.00pm, so that people can drive straight from the track and eat before setting off home or back to the hotel.

The England v Costa Rica World Cup match kicks off at 5pm on 24th and WILL be screened in the pub :Party We may miss the start, but we\'ll be there for most of the match!

To help me book space, can you please indicate below if you want to join me (if with friend/partner/spouse, please indicate x2 or whatever  :D ).

Eating 7.30pm on 23rd, "Shoulder of Mutton", walking distance from Travelodge;
Casey
Ian.M
GSB
Zarterone
farmboyrex
Harrizone
Nutty
C J R
Tractorboy

Eating 6.00pm on 24th, "The Beeswing Country Inn", ~10 mins from Croft circuit;
Casey
Ian.M
GSB
Zarterone
stewartm & KJB
farmboyrex
Harrizone
Nutty
C J R
Tractorboy

Please "quote" this entire post, add your details and remove

Quoteat start and finish - thanks[/color]

Not to be missed at this event is a passenger ride with Chris (CJR) in the yellow peril, if he permits you, but bring a neck brace.:rollin Oh! and do expect him to come pass you at some stage. ;)

This event is now shown as FULL on the Javelin website!

TRACKDAY BRIEFING NOW ISSUED - ON THIS LINK (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73704714/Croft%20Briefing%20June%202014%20v1.pdf)

Postcodes for hotel, pubs and Croft are there, so you can program your SatNavs in advance.

Let me know if you spot any errors or may have omitted something.

Only 10 days to go, looking forward to it :Thumbs-up

There appears to be some seriously quick cars due on the day I think we will have to rely on the RX7\'s to keep our end up.:Giggle

Everyone who has signed up for this event should be receiving an email from Javelin. Just in case you don\'t received it, here is the text and links to the documents referred to;

"Hi,

Thank you for booking our event, please find attached the event instructions and read the relevant sections for your booking.

DRIVERS
•   Please print and complete the Javelin Driver Form and then bring it along to signing on.
•   Please remember to bring the card part of your licence with you (or the older paper licences), we cannot accept photocopies. If you do not have your licence then it can be verified with the DVLA before the event so please call us on 01469 560574 at least 24 hours in advance. In exceptional circumstances this can be done on the day but only Mon-Sat so please call to avoid delays.
•   Additional Drivers can be added on the day, please have them complete forms prior to arrival where possible and have them arrive in good time for the briefing & sighting laps.
•   Each vehicle is limited to 3 drivers in total so one main driver and two additional drivers.
•   Please note that being a driver automatically qualifies to you to be  passenger as well so no additional forms are required to be completed.

PASSENGERS
•   Please print and complete the Javelin Passenger Form and then bring it along to signing on.
•   Passengers are able to sign up on the day, please have them complete forms prior to arrival where possible to make signing on easier.
•   Although we think it is beneficial for passengers to attend the briefing it is not a requirement and they can arrive at a later time.
•   Passengers must be at least 16 years old and a parent must be present to sign for them if they are under 18.

Please forward these instructions and forms to any additional drivers or other drivers/passengers you have booked for.

To view these files you will need to have Adobe Reader installed, it is available from http://get.adobe.com/reader/. If you are unable to print these forms then copies will be available at Signing On but it will help greatly if you can bring them along with you.

Javelin

LINKS:

Croft - Javelin Briefing (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73704714/Croft%2024.06.14.pdf)
Driver Form (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73704714/Driver_Form.pdf)
Passenger Form (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73704714/Passenger_Form.pdf)

FOOD!

Venues to eat on 23rd and 24th now booked - I just need the accurate numbers to confirmed with them later

Monday 23rd; "Shoulder of Mutton", Middleton Tyas (MENUS and details LINK HERE (http://www.shoulderofmuttonmiddletontyas.co.uk/menus-8615.html)) ~800m walking distance of the Travelodge many of us are staying at, eating at 7.30pm to allow people to arrive.
Tuesday 24th; "The Beeswing Country Inn" (East Cowton), ~10 mins from the circuit, eating at 6.00pm, so that people can drive straight from the track and eat before setting off home or back to the hotel.

The England v Costa Rica World Cup match kicks off at 5pm on 24th and WILL be screened in the pub :Party We may miss the start, but we\'ll be there for most of the match!

To help me book space, can you please indicate below if you want to join me (if with friend/partner/spouse, please indicate x2 or whatever  :D ).

Eating 7.30pm on 23rd, "Shoulder of Mutton", walking distance from Travelodge;
Casey
Ian.M
GSB
Zarterone
farmboyrex
Harrizone
Nutty
C J R
Tractorboy
Arnie_O + Tadpole

Eating 6.00pm on 24th, "The Beeswing Country Inn", ~10 mins from Croft circuit;
Casey
Ian.M
GSB
Zarterone
stewartm & KJB
farmboyrex
Harrizone
Nutty
C J R
Tractorboy
Arnie_O + Tadpole

Please "quote" this entire post, add your details and remove

Quoteat start and finish - thanks[/color]

Final briefing from me, amendments made to reflect information in the Javelin briefing.

LINK TO BRIEFING (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73704714/Croft%20Briefing%20June%202014%20v19June.pdf)

GARAGES

We have 6 garages to share between the 16 cars we\'ll be bringing. I\'ve requested that Javelin allocate 6 adjacent garages (no reply yet - chased this morning).

Whatever happens, Javelin should place names of the people who booked garages on the garage doors before we arrive. Those names will be as in the list below, and to make it easier on the day, I\'ve allocated people to share a "home" garage, see below. In reality, it gives everyone the chance to stow their gear asap without wasting time on arrival. As the day progresses and we are on/off the track, we should use our "home" garage if possible, but if it\'s full, feel free to use an adjacent one in our allocation (but please don\'t wander too far if you\'ve blocked in another car!). There should be plenty of space in the paddock area around the garage in the event of a "Red Flag" and we all end up back at the garages.

The first named person on the list has stumped up £30 in advance to secure a garage, so I would ask "sharers" to pay their share to them on the day.

Name on Garage - sharer(s)
Malcolm Case - Ian.Mothersole, Hypothermia
Ray Harrison - Zarterone, tractorboy
Nigel Tietjen - Stewartm (+Katie)
Ranjan Chakraborty - Zongoose (+Mad)
Chris Riordan - Mike_the_W, Arnie_O
Peter Taylor - bigpete, farmboyrex

I\'ll be leaving home about 12.15pm tomorrow (Monday) to travel up for this. I will check back on here in the morning before I go, in case there are any last minute questions, otherwise I see most of you tomorrow night and the rest on Tuesday morning.

Weather is looking generally good, with just a chance of a light shower around 9-10 am, otherwise dry and high of 15 degrees :)

All,
Latest update, still recovering from the infection, but have been cleared to drive at the end of last week. Just need to take things steady for a while, so what better tonic than a track day at Croft !!

I still have lots of work to do on the FD before I can set off on Monday.

Concluded a fantastic mapping session with Jaydee on Saturday. Unlocked more bhp, now running 1.25bar boost !! It\' s amazing how a little more boost affects the FD.

We experienced a major event during mapping.......high speed down force resulted in the rear carbon Mazdaspeed wing bending like a banana !!!!

So I\'m busy converting an Afflux aluminium wing to fit.

Look forward to seeing you on Monday at the hotel.

Chris

Chris, how much power do you have now? So much that your FD is going warpspeed and your wing cant take it ;)

:D:D Fantastic news Chris (phew!). Take it easy today and I\'ll see you at the hotel later:Thumbs-up

:D:burnout What a fantastic day at Croft. Excellent attendance from the \'boys down sarff\', unfortunately not a good turn out from the \'boys up north\'.
Still we had a high number of car (RX8\'s) and 2, yes 2 FD\'s.
 
What an excellent track, challenging in sections with longish high speed straights and bends.
 
A very laid back paddock with a lot of \'banter\'.
 
Personally I had a great day (evidenced by driving the FD home again). FD performed brilliantly on track (many thanks to Kerim and Jaydee for the advice and mapping).
 
Hopefully my mini cam took some video, if it worked I\'ll post up shortly.
 
Hope you all made/make it home safely.
 
Chris

Sorry I wasn\'t there, car is slowly getting there (dash is now talking to ECU !)

Have to get my finger out and get it sorted soon, forgot what the car feels like :p

Shaun

Yes, that was a fantastic day!

Thanks to Chris, Aston and Ryan for being my buddies on my very first trackday, thanks to Casey for organising it and thanks to everyone else who was there for being cool dudes and splendid chaps. :cheers

My camera sort of worked - the mount was on the :censored: so I had to use my awesome video processing skillz to fix it :Typing

Here\'s Chris generating flames, rubbishy video but if you squint you can sort of just about make them out:


Here\'s me trundling round:


Not quite sure exactly what went wrong here but we finished up pointing the wrong way with the wipers on! :2Confused (No harm done though)

:) Thanks for posting those videos - great to watch; I\'ll pop up a few videos that I\'ve got shortly.

I think the spin was down to changing down to 2nd in the corner :confused: Nicely held though, so well done - REALLY pleased to see two FD\'s out on track, having fun and driving home safely at the end of the day. I wish more FD drivers would come along to trackdays with us as they look and sound awesome.

Great to meet you Mike, and to chat in the paddock when we got a chance. I hope you\'ll take your car out on track again soon.

C J R\'s car finally managed a full day of action on track without any issues. It looked and sounded gorgeous out there :mmmm So pleased for you Chris, after all the troubles you\'ve had getting to this point!

Another great circuit, with lots of challenges. For anyone up north, you really have another cracker venue for a fun trackday in the vicinity. It took a while to learn the back part of the circuit as features were few and far between, but by the end of the day it was flat out in 4th on that section though several bends (Jim Clark Esses). I\'ve no idea what speed we were doing as it required total concentration on the lines to stay on the tarmac, plus very precise braking at the end  :D

Mostly, thanks again for everyone who took the time out to partake, and to Adam for coming along with his helmet for some passenger rides. I sense everyone enjoyed it, so it makes all the organisation worthwhile.

Stewartm - really bad luck with your car, but soooo pleased you got 3 good track sessions finished in the morning. You were certainly flying when I saw you on track, so no problem with performance when the engine decided to behave. And a big thumbs up to Rotary Revs because, on our detour to RR on the way back today from Croft, we saw Stewart\'s engine already out on a hoist. Then, less than an hour later the engine had been stripped and Ben showed us the stuck side seal that was causing the problem.

Next trip for me looks like Japfest 2 and Donington. The surface at Croft was very grippy, which took a heavy toll on my tyres, which had already seen 6 trackdays and ~2,500 road miles! Not to worry though, I ordered some new Federals last night on my smartphone  :wink:  (Mytyres, £86.40 a corner, delivered  =D> ).

A few videos for your delectation :)

First two are snippets of other other RX\'s caught on my camera, plus other bits I enjoyed, like chasing Porsches, etc.

The last one is me chasing Harrizone/Rote8 (aka Ray). It\'s amazing when you see another RX in front or behind how it makes you try just that bit harder to go faster :)

To view best quality, use the Youtube link (bottom right), play full screen and select the 1080p option from the gearwheel.