Paddock parking

[Al Weyman]

I have just returned from the Donington Great & British meeting and fell compelled to make a post about the available space for 'the lower order' i.e. the clubman racer in the paddock. We (CTCRC) had an allocated parking area and although I arrived there at 8.30 Saturday morning the whole allocated area and in fact over half the paddock was full with private cars and ruddy great awnings. I was lucky that one of our guys managed to squeeze me in but most of our guys had to settle for parking in the overflow carpark outside the main paddock.

What do you guys think? Is this fair, the first come, first serve free for all or should the whole thing be properly administed with passes issued relative to the race you are running in and anyone else not meant to be told to go and park in the car park, in fact should'nt all none tow cars be parked in the car park away from the competitors paddock. Oh and to name names it was the Mini guys who seemed to be the main culprits.

And just why wont those gate men take tickets to hand to guests. I invited a 10/10ths member along and they would not let me leave a couple of tickets for him, ruddy jobsworths.

Also why cant people park those ruddy motorcycles and trikes properly and not in the main exit route from parc ferme, next time I'll knock the lot over Camaros are big cars you know!

[Tim Wilkinson]

The G&B event at Castle Combe was much the same, as was the day at Brands when the DTRC was on the same bill as the FFords. Not sure what would help, tho, Al - it's different worlds, two day meetings where the teams come in force (and area). Perhaps it's worth talking to Dunlop as they're organising the days and it'll continue to be an issue unless someone in a "lesser" series lets them know it's not making people happy.

[Al Weyman]

Well hopefully the man from Dunlop, driversknow will read this and respond as there were some unhappy guys at the track who were made to feel very second class although they put on the best racing! (IMO of course but then I am biased)

[Bob Pearson]

About the only people I have met who can control this sort of thing are the TOCA organisers. Apart from the downside of receiving pages of do's and don'ts before the event and the threats of reprisals if we step over the line it was perfect when we were support race at Brands. You are right Al, the racxer has far more right then any "hanger on" in the paddock. The two tickets per entry should be firmly applied with no arguements.

What were you doing at the Great and BRITISH meeting with a Camaro.

[Al Weyman]

The Classic Touring Car Racing Club put on three races and I was out in Group 1 and pre-74. Actually we had three camaros entered in my races and one in Classic Thunder. Sadly one of them was wrecked in the first race.

[Bob Pearson]

I've just remembered, there is another place where reasonable control of parking exists. That is Pembrey, with the aid of his colourful vocabulary the curcuit manager there does a fair job of ensuring people are parked with thought for others. I don't know what Rockingham is like now, but I recall my car being cnecked for a tow bar on the morning of the race meeting to check the validity of my claim that I had delivered my car to the paddock the night before. It may seem a bit draconian, but if that is the price to pay for a little order in the paddock then I'll go along with it.

Sad about that Camaro, how easy is it to get parts for something like that?

[Al Weyman]

Actually parts are no problem as there are reems of new stuff available infact you can buy a whole new shell for a mk 1. It may not be as bad as it looks as a mate of mine dis the same in his and just replaced what the yanks call 'the front clip' which is basically a huge big subframe on the front and the bolt on bodywork. Providing the floor is still straight and the bulkhead and the roof looked OK I think it will ride again. I'll have it he don't want it:-)

[steveng]

I usually try to arrive the night before a meeting and I am often amused by the way folk 'baggy' areas of the paddock. The most irritating is the person who places coloured tape arranged around an enormous area to so-say reserve the area for his/her mates or team the following day.
I have the same attitude to this as I do to Germans and their towels on sun-loungers. Any unoccupied place is available to all. I have even had someone park a road car behind my truck so I cannot get the car out!
Most people are pretty reasonable and there is plenty of give and take in the paddock but I know of no official way to reserve places. Perhaps we should be given marked areas.

[Al Weyman]

I think we should have a pass for the area of the paddock we are assigned and if no pass is displayed on the TOW VEHICLE then it should be removed immediately.

[Bob Pearson]

Most organising clubs issue 2 vehicle passes per entry, that would be just fine, the problem is that no-one enforces it. As this population becomes steadily more lazy, then more people expect to drive their road cars into the paddock to visit their racing friends rather than park in the spectator area where they belong and walk a few hundred yards. They should try it, they will find that they feel a lot better for it.

[greenamex2]

The best example of this was the Caterham drivers at a meeting a couple years ago.

There was no official paddock plan so they made up there own one and went round harrassing people to implement it!

[COLIN STUBBS]

had same problem when we did tintops at snett the other week. someone had dumped a a35 on a trailer in front of us[not even racing there that day],and a couple of hangers ons cars appeared behind us. really had to squeeze and adjust some door mirrors to get out for the race.

[Slippy Diff]

Never had a problem with cars owned by 'hangers on' blocking our access etc. Just put them up on two trolley jacks and move them.

General rule of thumb in the paddock; more money you have the bigger your motor home hence you take up more space than you rightfully need. The upper classes have done just this through the ages, how do you think they all happen to own dirty great piles in the country with 3000 acres...

[Peter Mallett]

Its fair to say that we all take up more space these days. I've got the race shuttle and a 6mX3m awning. I also try to reserve spaces for my mates (however I am reasonable about it I know some aren't).

The best organisation I've seen is at Spa where the paddock marshal alllocates the spaces and will allow you to reserve a space if you ask.

Everybody gets a space and nobody can complain.

The hangers on thing is annoying in the extreme because they just get in the way.

Motorhomes are not a problem if they are used by reasonable people. I know of a couple of arrogant pricks (both banned from the CTCRC) one of them forced me to back my car and trailer so that he could get through a gate with mere inches to spare. If he'd let me through instead of pulling out on me we'd both have had enough room.

BTW that arrogant prick races a Camaro.

We had to use the trolley jacks on a Golf at silverstone this year. The idiot parked in front of the awning next to a trailer and tow truck so even if I'd moved the awning I wouldn't have got the car out.

[Alan Raine]

On a couple of occasions I came back from practise to find somebody had parked their road car in the space where my race car went. Once somebody moved the quick lift and other bits blocking the space so he could park his Porsche in front of my trailer. It took several Tannoy messages and the threat of a tow truck before he moved it about an hour later! What made it worse was that he was a driver in the main race of the day and he didn't give a toss about a little guy in his Formula Ford.

What he didn't know at the time was that we had poured pepper into his air vent

[Al Weyman]

BTW that arrogant prick races a Camaro.

Hey steady on Peter, don't name names but at least stress it was'nt me! I mean Prick maybe but arrogant, never! I wonder if thats the same person that bought my mates Camaro and has got banned from the modprods for decimating half the field in his first race after starting from the back and after speaking to someone from the CSCC was also banned by them for turning up 'a little worse for wear' shall we say to put it politely.

At one stage on Sunday I thought I would not be able to get out for the race as someone had blocked me in (in a private car I stress), fortunately she was sitting in the Cafe sensibly monitoring the situation and came running out when she see me getting into a flap and moved her car.

Also see a fair old bit of young kids charging around on trikes and peds and those silly little Mini-bikes at teh weekend, owners of such kids please note, a 1450kgs Camaro makes an awful mess of a child!

[greenamex2]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Hey steady on Peter, don't name names but at least stress it was'nt me! I mean Prick maybe but arrogant, never!

Are you sure he WASN'T referring to you

[Peter Mallett]

Waiting for you to pick up on that. (rofl) You don't drive a motorhome either.

[Al Weyman]

Naw you should have stuck an old kipper on his exhaust!

[Alan Raine]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Naw you should have stuck an old kipper on his exhaust!

That was my breakfast!

[greenamex2]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Naw you should have stuck an old kipper on his exhaust!

Are we back on the noisy exhaust thread?

[Piglet]

As a race admin bod can I add my tuppence worth?

I don't have enough fingers, toes or other appendages to count the number of "racers" who come into race admin at every circuit I work at over a season and ***** (loudly and rudely in most cases) because they haven't been able to get their car into the Paddock because security won't let it in because a)it's not a van/truck or b) doesn't have a towbar - they without fail claim that they've towed the car down with another car (or a truck) and this is the car that has all the tools and the important spares in it and if they can't get in then they might as well go home and it's just the final straw on top of the entry fee they've paid us etc. etc. (you need to add the sound effect of toys hitting the floor here for the right atmosphere )

So I applaud your approach to it - the Paddock is a working area and should have working vehicles in it, I really hate messy paddocks. The trouble is it's the competitors that abuse this and if security do enforce it we get a constant stream of people complaining about it.

I'm not sure if the answer is to enforce passes - but then they just get switched from car to car or to enforce the type of vehicle (and I do accept that there are people who do use their private tow-barless car in the way they describe).

(I'm looking for EP's rant over smilie but I can't find it )

[Al Weyman]

No funny enough she came in at 103 decibles, in qualifing blew a silencer and fortunately they never retested me not that its noisy on on the track anyhow.

I wonder would it be possible to have an extra bod at the paddock entrance t ensure only support vehicles allowed in and also to issue a vehicle pass especially for support vehicles only and only one per entrant, the rest can go and park up properly.

[andy97]

Have experienced problems at several meetings where people have tested on friday and have had a garage have then thought that it was OK for them to leave their cars in the garage over night (squatters rights!) despite the fact that those garages have not been allocated to them for the subsequent sat race day

Some people testing on testing on friday, but racing on sunday, also seem to think its OK to leave their cars in the paddock/ in garages/ in the bl00dy way throughout saturday, despite the fact that there is another meeting on tha sat which does not involve them.

[Al Weyman]

I will say as well though despite all this negative comment, its a bloody fine track Donington, isn't it?