72 replies to this topic

[Madmax]

i believe its too late to change anything now

if we were to postpone the run we would possibly loose runners, and as we are below 50 anyway, that isnt a great idea

i also believe marks had everything especially arranged for the 1st to the 6th

i dunno, i think we should stick to what weve got

[marksmini]

i hear you i do, and if i could i would love to change dates.

only problem was the ring info only came out a couple of months ago, and because theres lots of planing and trying to pull people in t suport the run we had to guess at a date best for the run, hence 1-6th sept.

i am realy sorry if you dont end up haven hours of fun on the track, but i promis you will have some time on there.
plus everyones crossings have already been payed for now.


as for time scale of things i will look at it again for you, but im not promiseing anything becouse theres lots of things to take into acount.

here some,

*the temp over there at the time of the run, very hot,
*the minis being driven for a min of 5 hours from the ferrys, is a long drive,
* i was hopeing to pull off the main roads and do some driifrant driveing with maybe some sight seeing...
*maybe stop off and raise some money in small towns???
*also got to remember some members like nick (brawlyrox) driven up from
lands end, its going to take him about 8/9 hours just to get to B/Hatch, and will take me 3/4 hours, so adding 5 hours driven in a foren place in the heat, hopeing we have no traffic, no brake downs, is very hard to promise.
*it would be nice to do the lot in one drive. but i reckon people will enjoy the drive more at a slower pace, relaxed drive over 2 days, in no real rush and no falling asleep thinking, "i aint doing this again"..

but i will promis to have another look at it fo you, but i cant promis it changeing

after all its for macmillan and im going to do it for mine and my partners family who have been hit with cancer. so even if we doing do ANY track driven, im not fussed because its the money we raise i will be happy with end of the day.

[themaninthesuitcase]

fair play to the man for me this trip isnt just about seeign who can do the most laps but haveing a good time with some fellow enthusiasts (read: nutters) and also raise some dosh for a charity! once i pay my finnal wack and i am sure i am goin i am going to annoy SO many people its not even funny trying to raise $$

[marksmini]

thats what i want to here, some sponcer ship fund raiseing tactacts

im going to get lots of people, to sponcer me, plus places like my local paper if i can..

maybe , infact just so i dont take it off topic i will post up a new post...

[Alburglar]

Well I can't see a problem with track times. We have a couple of evening sessions to get into the swing of things. then on sunday it's 0800 - 1930.

Am I right in thinking that we don't start to travel back till monday?

[themaninthesuitcase]

Yeah mark i was thinking of selling ad space on the car...just need to make a letter up at some point and send it to a few companies...Tho speaking of this have we got a better idea of coverage yet as more coveage mean it will be easier to get ads...

[neil_g]

surely we cant go changing dates now, people have gone and booked time off etc :erm:

[andrewinlondon]

Please accept that I didn't want to create any great controversy with my suggestions.

I just wanted to make sure we're optimising our experience there.

I've e-mailed Ben Lovejoy who runs the nurburgring.org website and who is a regular there about how big the lines are to get on to the track at public access times.

I thought it would be useful to hear from him.

I'll post his reply if it comes through.

Cheers,

[andrewinlondon]

Here's Ben Lovejoy's replies to my queries:

> I am in a group of 50 classic mini drivers planning to visit the 'Ring in early September.

Cool

> So can you please give me idea of what sort of demand there is for the
public sessions (1) at night and (2) at weekends?

The weekends are very busy, the evenings are usually quiet. If you can make it for an evening session, that would definitely be best.

> With the single entry system, is there much of a wait in the lines to
get your car onto the track (1) at night and (2) on weekends?

The main queue when busy is to get off the track.

> Do you think the regular users of the 'Ring would cope with a bunch of
minis driving around at moderate speeds, and keeping well right?

The main thing is not to go round as one long convoy, as those are always a pain to pass, but to go out in small groups. In an evening session, though, it shouldn't be an issue.

> So on a typical Sunday, how many laps would you average during an all
day public session?

Depends mostly on closures. Could be up to 25, could be half a dozen.
 
Ben

--
www.benlovejoy.com | www.nurburgring.org.uk

[andrewinlondon]

And here is a final follow-up question I put to him:

> Do you think the regular users of the 'Ring would cope easily with the
50 minis fighting for 'Ring time, or do you think there could be some
tension with the "regulars" having to line up for much longer, and
then avoid the minis all day around the track?

There was a large convoy of Audis a couple of times who were making no friends, but that was largely because they went out as a single long convoy. That said, if you can get there for an evening session, it will be better for all - and far more enjoyable for you guys!

Ben

So, based on these responses, I leave it open now to the TMF organisers and the rest of the 'Ringers to debate what's the best timing for us to max our experience from this trip.....

"Consensus rules....!"

[marksmini]

well all we can do is try our best once out there.

leigh in germany has been chating to the ring people too and he's been told as long as one evening when the track aint super busy, they MAY be able to give us a 10 min head start on the other cars....

but we have lots of nights to get on there, i realy dont think there will be a problem, but,
we can all but try, and if it dont work out, we will no for the following year what to do to make sure it works that year.

its good to read what you have asked, good questions they are and nice to here differant answers from differant people.

[Zippeyrude]

i have every confidence there will not be a problem