Scottish Elises

Anyone else on the list going to the Dreadnought night on Friday? Iain B and I are both going, so is Russell P with the Morgan.

A few more Loti would be good. Weather looks as if it might hold as well.

6 - 8 £65, contact Dreadnought to book.

Paul G

Afraid i cant make it! Hope the weather holds for you!

Paul

Booked on yesterday, Claire said there was only one more space left?!

Then managed to clip a kerb and damage the tyre....

New tyre being fitted tommorrow tho so should be good for Fri - hoping the weather lasts!!!!!

Cheers

Barrie

Really starting to miss the car.

Must be all this great sunshine in ABZ.

Roll on next Friday/Saturday.

Scotty C

Will phone dreadnought 1st thing tomorrow, hope the space remains.... Hopefully see y'all there, colin

Not on track tonight... but booked on for 18th May. Will be up there tonight for a look tho'..

Andy

Quick Summary of last night at KH.

The night was fully booked with 35 reservists turning up as well!!!

Paul G and I arrived in plenty time to register, but this was in vain as there was no sign of any representatives from Dreadnought until 20 mins before start.
Jason D of Y*HOO fame was doing his best to keep everyone informed of the impending arrival of the Dreadnought staff

The car park was packed with a myriad of different cars ranging from Hot Hatches /race cars/ American Muscle cars/Drift Cars and my personal favourites .....the impeccable GT3 RS's from Glasgow.The
Loti contingent was well represented with Graham from MMC "observing" four immaculate exiges , two 340R's and at least 4 other elises. I noticed one brave chap "running in" his 07 plated car and no doubt invalidating whatever warranty he has ....albeit at a modest pace
I only recognised a few regulars from the assembled drivers so made a mental note to be prepared to make allowances for a novice drivers.

The very quick briefing stated that overtaking was allowed on both sides (only on the straights)

The track opened at 1810 with everyone out at once and what was quickly apparent was that most of the drivers hadn't a clue on the following:-

Their driving ability
Their vehicle's capability
Racing Line
Use of Mirrors
General Track Etiquette

Cars were hurtled into corners three abreast and any thought of overtaking slower vehicles was done on the basis that the drivers would not be looking in their mirrors..... and certainly would not understand what the nice chaps waving the blue flags were all about

Anyone who has competed in or attended the annual Formula Ford festival will get the picture.

There were the usual early casualties (after three laps!!) with drivers finding the limitations of standard brakes /tyres and suspension . This also covered the track with gravel at the places where you least wanted it.

Most of the two hours were taken up with separate convoys of vehicles being held up with either slower vehicles... or the hugely modified cars which were fast in a straight line and slow on the corners. The usual gaps that one expects on a track day, where the number of drivers reduce and get into packs of similar ability, never transpired .....and the track always appeared busy.

Dreadnought were doing pax laps in the MG race car which spewed petrol all night long and gave me an extreme sideways moment at Clarks when following it

In summary
Whilst you have to make allowances for novices at any tracknight, the overall standard was dire.

Badly Organised
Scary Driving
Overtaking on both sides only works if everyone uses mirrors
No more Dreadnought nights for me

Amen

Bad luck Iain.

Are you coming along to the SIDC on the 26th of May?!

Hi Ed

Hope So

Currently negotating with "The Boss" to move another diary commitment

The last one I did was three years ago after I had the Honda fitted, and that was fine, but it looks as if they have gone down hill now.

On that one Brian even closed the track so that Paul and I could compete for fastest lap against each other, which was novel.

tut

I remember the overtaking being a bit hairy on my last one (someone overtook me through the chicane) but that really does sound badly run.

The last one I did was three years ago after I had the Honda fitted, and that was fine, but it looks as if they have gone down hill now.

Tut /Paul

Agreed.
Like yourselves have attended 4/5 Dreadnought nights..... and whilst they have not been organized to SIDC John's immaculate standards ...they have been OK.
You sometimes get lulled into a false sense of security when driving regularly with people who enjoy themselves but in a reasonably safe manner.

Cars suddenly changing lines prior to corners...... when you have passed or are about to pass......certainly keeps me on my toes.
There must have been 4/5 separate occasions last night where I had to take evasive action to avoid an expensive collision.


I joked with Russell P about him and his beloved Morgan being in the kitty litter...... and he replied that he had no option... as another driver had cut across him without warning..... leaving him no place to go!

My only regret is that I did not count how many cars were on track at any one time............it felt extremely busy ???????

And to cap it all, we got kicked off track at 7.45, due to a red flag incident, and the track never reopened, so with the late start, we only got abot 1.5 hours on track.

However the weather was good, and track in good nick. Amazingly no accidents, although quite a few near misses.

Pity John Stewart wasnt there to advise on the organising!!!

Remember that there are CE Motorsport nights starting in May

I was there spectating and chatting to some of the guys that are regulars on my nights and the general consensus seems to be the same, so don't feel too bad!

Brunty