More details of the circuit via CROFT WEBSITE LINK (http://www.croftcircuit.co.uk/)
This trackday is being organised by Nick Dougill and his colleagues at Mazda on Track. The website price is £175 for a full Open Pitlane Day, but we have been offered a discounted price of
£159. To put this in perspective, Javelin have a trackday at Croft set for Fri 20th March at an early discount price of £179 (with our discount it would be £165) - BUT, that is March, pricing normally gets higher as we get into the Spring and Summer months, so it's a good price for Croft at that time of the year
It's a very long way for those of us down south, but obviously better suited to those based up North! I went with a group of 16 cars last year in late June and thoroughly enjoyed the day out on track there (but not the journey up and back!).
RECOMMENDED BUDGET HOTEL: Travelodge Scotch Corner A1 Southbound (DL10 6PQ). THIS LINK MAY WORK (http://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/219/Scotch-Corner-A1-Southbound-hotel&from=map)
If you want to look at the thread about last year's trip then CLICK HERE (http://mazdarotaryclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=81614.15)
If you want to see what the track is like to drive, here's a few laps from my RX-8 in-car video from last June;
Use the "gearwheel", bottom right, to select 1080p for best quality
If you are SERIOUSLY interested in this trackday, reply with a post below
I will update this first post list to keep things tidy
I'm In;
- Casey - Trackday booked, Hotel Booked 2 nights, Meal Mon & Tues
- AdamGaltress - Trackday booked, Hotel Booked 1 night, Meal Mon Buddy requested
- Neil (neil_jdmr) - Trackday booked
- C J R - Trackday booked, Hotel Booked 2 nights
- tractorboy - Trackday booked, Meal Mon
- farmboyrex - Trackday booked
- stoupaduck - Trackday booked, Hotel Booked 2 nights Buddy requested
- SolarTom- Trackday booked Buddy requested
- Ian.Mothersole - Trackday booked, Hotel Booked 1.5 nights, Meal Mon & Tues
- JoeLanger - Trackday booked
- pilerbates (+ 2 extra drivers) - Trackday booked, local - no hotel needed, Buddy requested
- Elonexxx - Trackday booked Buddy requested
- stewartm- Trackday booked
- Ranjan- Trackday booked
- lennycarloff - Trackday booked
- SubbyG00n - Trackday booked
- Dave-B - possible
I'm In;
1. Casey
2. Neil (neil_jdmr)
btw is the 6th of May not a wednesday if my phone calendar reads correctly.
:-[ Well spotted Neil, the day of the week was correct, but date was wrong :eek: Now corrected to Tues, 5th May. the perils of posting in the early hours.....
Thanks for your support :)
Yup Count me in pleez and thank you !
:clap: excellent Chris, let's hope we get the numbers to make this work!
Gwyn and I look forward to seeing you on Saturday :)
List of names updated.
BTW, as this isn't an exclusive Club day, if anyone has any friends who may wish to come along to join us, that would be great. It will bump up the numbers to make the event viable and create more of a "club+friends" day than a "wholly" public one.
How did this go Casey, please say it's going ahead as i don't want to lose anymore dates on my croft calender?
Never Done croft before, would be interested. Can you put me down as interested.
When is the usual Japfest at Castle Combe, isn't it a similar date ?
Shaun
Hi Guys
I've emailed Nick at Mazdaontrack to check if this is a confirmed date (hopefully yes!) - I'll post up as soon as I get a reply.
Shaun - Japfest is on May 16th, so 11 days later, so not too close :)
Awesome, might only be able to confirm in the new year, going to China with work at some point !
Shaun
:1rij:
This event is now confirmed. I have the discount code, reducing price from £175 to £159, and can provide this on request to anyone who wants to go :) PM's have already been sent to C J R and neil_jdmr re the code.
Shaun - I hope you may be able to make this one, just PM me if you need the code to book :)
Booked my place and booked hotel for 2 nights also :D
RECOMMENDED BUDGET HOTEL: Travelodge Scotch Corner A1 Southbound (DL10 6PQ). THIS LINK MAY WORK (http://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/219/Scotch-Corner-A1-Southbound-hotel&from=map)
Price was £28 for Monday night, £33 for Tuesday night, total £61 (non-refundable, or add £1.95 for cancellation insurance)
These are early booking prices, so if you want a good deal, better not delay too long :D
I'll look back at the places we ate last time and make some suggestions for food places nearer the date.
Track day and Hotel booked. (Hotel booked for 4th & 5th) ^-^
That was quick :)
List updated.
Thanks Casey, Im a deffo for this too but will have to hold off on booking for just now, ill confirm on here in a few weeks.
Thanks for the update Neil, no problem.
List in first post updated with the latest information I have.
Trackday now booked.
Got a pal who I believe is gonna book up too but I'll update the list if/when he does.
Thanks Neil, list updated :)
Getting close to this event now, so if you still want to book a place, do so asap as this one is likely to be full soon.
So far there are 12 MRC and/or RX8OC members going along, but room for more :)
Food on Monday - as this is a Bank Holiday Monday I thought I'd better book a table to make sure we had somewhere "guaranteed". On suggestion of stoupaduck, who is staying at the adjacent Holiday Inn, I've booked a table for 7.45pm at "Fratello's", which is a very short walk from the Travelodge. I almost booked this place when we went to Croft last year, so thought it worth a try, part of a small chain of Italian themed places with a reasonable choice on the menu.
I have booked for 8 people (the max I can do online), but can adjust this number up/down when I know what people want to do.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW ASAP if you want to eat here on the Monday and if you'd like to join me somewhere on Tuesday for food after the trackday - thx :)
FRATELLO's LINK HERE (http://www.fratellosrestaurants.co.uk/fratellosscotchcorner/)
Well I am close to finishing the car, all it's little niggles will be done tomorrow ,so I thought that I best see how it does on track ,it's been a while since I done a track day, and I have to say I am looking forward to it, and I have not driven croft , so double excited ;D
Put me down on your list ,booked and paid
See you all track side >:D
:) :) :) :) Fantastic news Jim - It's been a while since I've seen you. In fact, it was when I bumped into you by sheer coincidence in Leeds last year near Rotary Revs on the way back from Croft and we had lunch together :)
Be great to see you again!
Will you be driving to Croft in the morning? Do you want to join us for food at a pub after the event?
That sounds like a great idea, just finished the car so all set. ;D
Ill be arriving in the morning btw, i may join you for a bite after the day but dont book me for anything as the wife and kids will dictate my availability on that score.
I was there thursday gone and cooked my brakes so new pressies arrive tomorrow. Circuit was as always perfect so only praying for a dry sunny day now.
Cant wait eeek!!!
No problem with the meal afterwards - there's a pub a few miles south of the circuit which I will alert to a "unspecified/variable sized" group arriving, just so they are aware. It's a big place and we'll be there early on a Tuesday night, so there won't be an issue with numbers.
One more person has signed up, SubbyG00n on the RX8OC, so that makes 16 of us, plus 2 other cars (Porsche and MK sportscar), whose drivers are friends of stewartm. That's a great turnout :)
Not long to go, so time for a briefing document :D Most of the regulars will be familiar with the drill in the first part, but the second part has details of postcodes, directions, who's coming and Buddy Pairs, so worth a quick read....(doc is in PDF format, so you'll need Adobe Reader to open it).
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73704714/Croft%20Briefing%20May%202015.pdf (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73704714/Croft%20Briefing%20May%202015.pdf)
Hi just read through the pdf and ill be coming in my fd. No rx8 here im afraid
Quote from: neil_jdmr on April 28, 2015, 08:28:21 PM
Hi just read through the pdf and ill be coming in my fd. No rx8 here im afraid
Just a deliberate error to check you were reading it Neil ;) :)
passed the test lol
Day after tomorrow folks, dont forget your licence and helmet and Deffo bring sun if possible.
Well said Neil!
It's a long drag for some of us, so I'm setting off at 10.30am tomorrow to make the trip up. There may be some Bank Holiday traffic so I'm not planning on rushing up :)
I'll see some of you tomorrow night at the hotel, or Fratellos' - they have a bar, so I plan to get there a little earlier than the 7.45pm booking (if the traffic wasn't too bad!), all welcome to join me for a drink before we sit down to eat.
Otherwise I'll see everyone on Tuesday; weather wet to start with, but looking to dry out sometime during the day (if the BBC is correct).
A mixed bag on the weather, just the way I like it >:D
Well, bit of drama today as I got ready to travel to the hotel before Croft tomorrow.
Finished changing the brake fluid and bolting other bits back on the FD, went for a test drive, (private road), reached about 130mph and the new front splitter folded under the front of the car !!! that made a loud scraping noise ???
Managed to unfold it enough to get the FD home, spent the last few hours removing the mangled mess and fitting an old splitter/under tray for tomorrow. Couldn't fit any canards, so I'll have lots of understeer to contend with. Oh well another track day season wouldn't be the same without some drama !!
Hope you all have a good day. Fingers crossed with the weather too.
I keep saying it but soon I will be out on track again !
Shaun
Arrgggggggg, sorry to hear that Chris, I was looking forward to seeing your Mercedes F1 style front wing.
Great day with testing times in the wet for the first half and full throttle laps for the second half once the sun dried up the track.
Was lovely to meet everyone and ogle some cars.
Sweet...any vids and did Clive have a trouble free day ?
There was plenty people with cameras and camcorders so hopefully some will appear soon.
^^ Neil, I have a short bit of video footage of me following you and C J R in the afternoon, just before my camera stopped working - so I'll lost that up later. Stewart got a few great shots too, including this one of my car;
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73704714/16761726854_28d813a75d_b.jpg)
Well, I'm now back at home, but very tired after yesterday, plus the 5 hour journey back today. Goodness knows what Ian.M must be like as he left the hotel at 4am to get back to work at 9am this morning ???
Firstly, huge thanks again to everyone who came along to make this an exceptionally enjoyable day, both on track and around the garages. Really great to see the usual “addicts†plus quite a few new faces too. I hope some of new faces might come along again to future Trackdays with the club.
I'm so glad I booked the garages (given the weather, and the need for work on several cars). Apologies it was a tight fit. When I realised the numbers of us were increasing I tried to get an extra garage, but they were sold out. I hadn't realised there are only 22 garages at Croft, so we had 27% of them to our group! At least it was cosy!
I really enjoyed the pre-event meal and company at Fratello’s on Monday evening. Thanks to stoupaduck (John) for recommending it, especially as it was only a short walk from the Travelodge.
I really felt for tractorboy (Bob); having sorted out his diff oil leak issue and driven all the way from Ipswich to be with us, only to suffer an engine issue which he could not solve on the day, meaning he wasn’t even able to get a single lap of the circuit before driving home…..I was glad to hear he’s got home safely at least and can do further work to figure out the root cause of the “no revving over 6,500†issue.
Also, Ranjan maintained his smile and sense of humour throughout the day â€" after rushing back from France overnight, collecting and trailering the Locoblade all the way from Birmingham to Croft, only to find it would not steer in the straight line! He was great though - going out as a passenger and helping out from his racing experience with sevral of us (mantra, "must brake later..." :D ).
Wasn’t it a day of two halves â€" heavy rain overnight had left standing water around the circuit such that some apexes and a few feet of adjacent track were just huge puddles. The rain continued throughout the morning and made the track very interesting. I don’t usually bother with instruction on Trackdays now (getting too old to change my ways..) BUT when I saw;
1. Instruction was FREE
2. The very wet conditions
3. One of the two instructors was Adam Morgan (currently 8th in the 2015 BTCC championship)
I thought, why not. He was great, advising on experimenting with “wet†lines through corners that carried far more grip than the “classic†lines, which I’d initially tried and resulted in huge understeer.
We suffered the inevitable Red Flags, mostly due to the conditions being underestimated by drivers, but the marshals did an excellent job of clearing these quickly :)
The afternoon saw high winds to start with, which helped to clear the clouds, brought out the sun and the track dried out incredibly quickly (apart from one apex puddle!). This enabled everyone to really push their cars harder and faster, back onto (most of) the dry lines and much quicker times.
I was ready to go out for a final session around 4.30pm when there was an enormous “thud†to be heard from behind the garages. On taking a look we could see from the paddock that a race-prepped black/pink MR2 (which was in a garage next to me) had ploughed in an armco barrier at some speed. The driver was OK, although she had a slight limp on getting out and it took a while for the marshals to clear that incident, which involved much bashing of the Armco! The track was re-opened at about 4.45, so time for one last session! I was out having fun with loads of other cars when the red flags came out just before the scheduld end of the day. On getting back to the garages we were down-heartened to see lennycarloff’s (Jim’s) RX-7 FC being towed back. At first it looked like a simple issue of a coolant expansion pipe having split, but on restarting his engine it sounded like a bag of nails, maybe running on just one rotor. Plugs were removed and checked and Jim decided he’d drive it home, about an hour away. I was pleased to get a text later to say he’d made it back OK and can set about fixing the problem.
That left just five of us to go to the "Beeswing" pub for what turned out to be a really superb meal, with excellent table service in our own little private corner. A really fantastic way to wind down after the day on track.
C J R, farmboyrex and myself were the only ones left staying overnight at the Travelodge and we agreed to meet up for breakfast this morning at the adjacent Costa. But, farmboyrex (Nigel) had a call this morning to say get back to work asap so we just said our goodbyes in the car park. That left just C J R (Chris) and I had to have a leisurely breakfast before we had a mini-convoy down the A1 until we split at the A1/M1 junction.
I'll hopefully post up a bit of video later, but my camera power supply was playing up in the afternoon, so I've got very little footage after lunch :( I think the dampness got to it in the morning : :lol:
Here's a picture of Adam Morgan:
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73704714/adam.JPG)
Ooop, sorry, here's a picture of Adam Morgan - he's the one in front :wink:
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73704714/grid_girl.jpg)
Be good to see some footage and pics. I hope I did the 3rd gen rx7s proud on the day. Many of the rx8 owners had the opinion that 7s didnt handle so well so I was glad to take a few of the guys out for a passenger ride.
It was my third time around croft and I had a great day
It was really great to meet and see you at Croft Neil. Your car was flying round the circuit :). I didn't go out with you but was most impressed seeing your car from the pit wall, and following you later in the day (short vid to post up when I can edit it). That's why I don't understand why not more RX-7's come along to trackdays.
After the splitter drama prior to Croft plus the forecast of wet weather and lack of front down force, I decided caution was the best approach to the day. Fitted an untested mix of tyres with the idea of testing myself instead of the grip in the wet.
For me the day went very well, had some butt clenching moments in the morning, heavy braking with full right hand lock and car aiming straight !! or skipping side ways towards the opposite side of the track and the grass. All dramas ended without contact with anything solid, result.
Afternoon session allowed conditions to push the tyres a little more and gauge grip levels (which were pretty low), dispite experimenting with tyre pressures. But had some great fun out on track, love the fast flowing course at Croft.
Great to see Neil's FD on track, that was fast all day.
In summary another well organised (thanks Malcolm) track day with a great bunch of guys. Fantastic philosophy of helping each other, whether giving advice, tuition, tools or labour, thanks to everyone in the group.
Looking forward to the next session (hopefully with improved front down force and tyres).
Glad you got home OK Chris - with the car in the same state as left; only a slight modification to your rear diffuser (and even that didn't happen on track!), a rare event :)
A short compilation, which has captured some views of your FD and Neil's, plus some other "highlights".
Best to click on the Youtube link, bottom right, then full screen and use the cogwheel to select 1080p for best quality.
Thats brilliant, thanks for uploading and sharing