2002 Spa 24hrs and V6 Clios - possible 10 Tenths trip ?

RickP:Clio51 · 7 Jan 2002, 17:35 (Ref:194977)

Looks like Nurburg 24h will be June 1st/2nd Simon

The one you've all been waiting for:

European Clio V6 Championship:

20 April Magny Cours
4th May Silverstone !
26th May Monaco
1st June Zandvoort
29th June Anderstorp
13th July Lausitzring
3rd Aug Spa
21st Sep Mugello (?)
5th Oct Valencia (?)
19th Oct Estoril (?)

As you can see the V6 beasts will be out with the FIA GT in the UK, Belgium (for the 24hrs now that has to be a 10-tenths trip?) and Sweden?

RickP

**Craig** · 7 Jan 2002, 17:45 (Ref:194976)

Silverstone, eh ?

At last... they return!! BUT... are you gonna be driving still ? Thought you were building an endurance car ??

And... handily enough it's on a day I was already planning to be there, so, wahey!

Tell us more about the Belgium idea... August 3rd ??

Carrie · 7 Jan 2002, 21:49 (Ref:195184)

Have we not got anything else planned for 3rd August then? I do quite fancy a trip to Spa

**Craig** · 7 Jan 2002, 21:56 (Ref:195189)

My trouble is holiday dates, Carrie. As you know i'm booked to do Daytona, Le Mans, Knockhill, Mondello, Croft, etc. already and, even when I persuaded the bosses to let me carry seven days of last years holiday over, I only have 1 day left to play with... I do quite fancy a trip out though...!

Having never been to Spa, can anyone say if it's feasible to drive down Friday evening/Saturday morning and leave immediately after the racing and be back in good old London town in time for work on Tuesday morning ? What is the journey like ? Camping ? Are the ferries horribly expensive (keep in mind the little list of journeys above which I need to pay for...)

Simon Pullan · 7 Jan 2002, 23:35 (Ref:195232)

Quote:

Originally posted by Craig Antill
Having never been to Spa, can anyone say if it's feasible to drive down Friday evening/Saturday morning and leave immediately after the racing and be back in good old London town in time for work on Tuesday morning ? What is the journey like ? Camping ? Are the ferries horribly expensive (keep in mind the little list of journeys above which I need to pay for...)

Easy! You'll be fine. Just get off the ferry, hit the E15 motorway and then wake up when you get to Spa. It doesn't take long at all. I don't know about camping and if there are 4 of you in the car then I'd say take the train instead of the ferry because it works out quite cheap (you pay per vehicle, not person).

**Stephen Green** · 8 Jan 2002, 12:09 (Ref:195402)

Rick, will you be driving at the Nurburg 24 hours as there's a fair chance I'll be marshalling there this year?

RickP:Clio51 · 8 Jan 2002, 13:43 (Ref:195441)

How did this manage to be a thread all on it's own???

OK, form is this:

Easy to get to Spa as Simon says, hit the E15, about 4 hours later arrive Spa.

If you come, and I am racing the V6, I will try my darndest to blag you some tickets for the weekend, the Italians owe me a few favours, but they may get used up at Silverstone we'll have to see, else it was 20 Euro to get in an 25 Euro for the Paddock pass last year. Or just £30 the lot if you pre-buy.

The ferry is cheaper, but slower, work on around £120 for the car, like the shuttle, they don't bill extra for the first 4 people.

Camping is acceptable, bear in mind the 24hr is going to go all night (never!

) so you'll want to bring something to keep the rain off and sit on and under!

The V6's are planned for the Saturday before the 24 hrs of the FIA GTs...

If you've never been to Spa... you have missed out. Nothing quite like beer, frites and mayonnaise under the big tree in the paddock in the p*ssing rain.

Should this topic be renamed "Clio V6 dates: Anyone for Spa?" since it appears able to morph on its own?

Cheers
RickP

RickP:Clio51 · 8 Jan 2002, 13:44 (Ref:195444)

Forgot to say:

Craig: It's trivial to do it as a weekend trip! No need for any time off (just like Le Mans but closer!!)

Cheers
RickP

RickP:Clio51 · 8 Jan 2002, 13:49 (Ref:195449)

Oh, and to answer the non-Spa questions:

Yes Craig, they are back!!!

I am very tempted to do a limited programme instead of the Enduro since I fancy my chances of getting in the top 30 of the Championship after 2 rounds and thus getting to go to Monaco...

I still own a V6 which is currently being reshelled... you never know...

No I won't be at the Nurburgring 24 hr even if I do decide to do the Enduro stuff as it clashes with my wedding!

Cheers
RickP

**Stephen Green** · 8 Jan 2002, 14:39 (Ref:195473)

Wow, all those posts, you will be going for the world record in a day soon hahaha.

Sorry I won't see you at the Nurburg Rick, but the wedding sounds far more important. I hope everything goes well for you and your wife to be.

RickP:Clio51 · 8 Jan 2002, 16:20 (Ref:195508)

Ok, just call me Sherlock,

seems the date above are still under review to some degree. (But the ones we care about are ok)

As discussed elsewhere, the reserve date should anything go wrong is the Valencia weekend, which would be at Donington Park!!!

The Zandvoort date is dependant on them upgrading their track licence and the Italian round looks more likely to be at Enna-Pergusa which if I remember my trivia is famous for a plague of frogs there one year...
It is also famous for being a very very long way from anywhere....

according to Shellgeostar.com, it is a mere 1580miles from Calais which is a lot of racetruck fuel and time(at a mere 31.6 hours at 50mph)!

It also means that the two furthest rounds apart are Enna and Anderstorp which are a mere 1925 miles apart... won't be going to those me thinks...

Cheers
RickP

Minardi fan · 9 Jan 2002, 00:56 (Ref:195829)

Spa? Well, it would be a shame not to visit it this year...

RickP:Clio51 · 9 Jan 2002, 11:30 (Ref:195938)

So we will be supporting the GTs at all our rounds bar Monaco where we will with the F1 (obviously)! I am awaiting confirmation, but I think this will mean live Eurosport coverage of the V6 races for all the folks in the UK, during the Saturday broadcast.

I can officially confirm that I will be out in the V6 for a minimum of 3 rounds next year (Magny-Cours, Silverstone and Spa). We will obviously go to Monaco if we qualify, and money permitting will do the Iberian double-header at the end of the year!

You read it here first.

Now all we need is a sponsor who wants some pan European coverage to bump up the number of outings to a full year...

RickP

Les · 9 Jan 2002, 12:50 (Ref:195955)

So Silverstone here we come... and reading my Octagon pass it says nothing about excluding FIAGT so no dosh to find!!!!
Silverstone Saturday/Sunday, Thruxton Sunday/Monday for the BTCC

Can it get any better than this?

**Craig** · 9 Jan 2002, 14:01 (Ref:195988)

Rick,
Put a small 10 Tenths posse down as possible... all depends on the cost of the ferry as much as anything else I reckon. Will look into that shortly...

Anyone have any idea what time the flag drops on the Sunday ? And is it easy to get out of the circuit and back to the ferry port ? Obviously important if we are able to do this as a real weekender...

Cheers

Craig.

**Craig** · 9 Jan 2002, 14:33 (Ref:196000)

Okay, rough return prices as a guide...

Hoverspeed Seacat Dover-Ostende by car 4-up = £232 or in motorhome = £322 (I prefer this method despite the cost!) This is a 2 hour crossing and would mean sailing at 1900 on Friday evening which is fine. However... in order to see the end of the race it would mean taking Monday off as the last return crossing is 1700 ?! on Sunday. 0845 on Monday is available however.

Eurotunnel from Folkestone by car 4-up = £177 (special offer) or in motorhome = £438 (yeah, right!) Eurotunnel don't allow you to book specific departure slots as they run upto 3 times an hour and you simply get on the next available. We could depart Folkestone on Friday evening or even Saturday morning, drive from Calais (how far ??) and return Sunday evening.

Obviously these prices would be split four ways between the passengers, as would fuel, but they do look a little expensive ? Anyone else with a bit more experience of booking cross channel travel offer any insights or a cheaper method of travel ?

RickP:Clio51 · 9 Jan 2002, 14:50 (Ref:196008)

Craig!

The cheapest way is to take a ferry. If you ask Cool_running nicely nearer the time, she might be able to swing something with Sea France (for the official fan club!!!) if they come back on board as sponsors.
Else P+O/Stena (www.pandostena.com I think) will do you a crossing for £120-175 depending on time of sailing, they go every 45mins all day and night roughly.
£177 for Eurotunnel is top end really for what you'd have to pay, but although only takes 35 mins roughly can take a long while to queue to get on...

It's 300 ish miles, Calais - Spa (go to www.shellgeostar.com, put in Calais as departure point, Spa-Francorchamps as destination, select distance in miles and fast speed (even the race truck beats their idea of slow) and it'll give you all the gen)

I would aim to head off after work, pick up an evening boat, say 8 oclock, means 75 minute crossing, plus hour difference, on the road at 10.15PM, should be at Spa for about 2AM? Might not be able to get into circuit at that time so will be crashing in car or in hastily assembled tent in surrounding forest...

Option of leaving early morning, need to hit say a 4am boat, on the road 6.30ish local time, in Spa about 10AM (as the bar opens...) Would do Friday evening myself.

Latest race is going to finish is 4PM, it's trivial to get out and back to the motorway, in Calais by 8 worst case, say 8.30 boat means 9 oclock in the road in the UK (gain the hour) No problems!!!!

Rick "over excited already" P

**Craig** · 9 Jan 2002, 15:14 (Ref:196022)

Aha...! For some reason only thought Stena sailed to Calais so didn't really look too much into them... duh!

Okay... as most of you will probably realise (apart from me it seems) they actually sail to Zeebrugge, and the town of Francorchamps is approx 140-150 miles south east of there. There are three problems with this - 1/ you have to go through/around Brussels 2/ it is a 4.5 hour crossing (though this does give some time for rest/sleep 3/ the ferry departure times are tricky due to availability at that time (according to their website at least.)

There is however one major bonus - it's a lot cheaper! I checked pricing based on the same criteria as above and for a car it was £114 but for a camper it was just £144 - based on sailing horribly early (4.30am) on Saturday morning and departing at 19.30 local time on the Sunday evening. Would need to be at port 45 minutes prior to sailing to check in.... so would be tightish on return leg. Of course we would have the motorhome to sleep in at Dover on Friday evening, so 4.30am isn't *quite* as bad if we start off in the town rather than having to make our way down from home...

I will look into the possibility of the Calais sailing but, even if the sailing is 1/3 as long, it will have to be a bloody sight cheaper/more convenient to make it worth driving those extra 150 miles through Europe...

**Craig** · 9 Jan 2002, 15:17 (Ref:196025)

PS - useful info:

Quote:

Sailing Timetable: Dover - Zeebrugge 2002

All times are local.
Check in 45 minutes before departure at Dover.
Check in 45 minutes before departure at Zeebrugge.
Crossing times are approximately 4.5 hours.

from Dover to Zeebrugge
00:30
04:30
12:30
16:30
20:30

from Zeebrugge to Dover
03:30
07:30
11:30
19:30
23:30

Details of route Zeebrugge- Francorchamps: http://www.maporama.com/affiliates/p...SEARCH_ITI.y=0

P&O Stena: www.posl.com

**Craig** · 9 Jan 2002, 17:50 (Ref:196119)

Okay... Dover-Calais... further to drive, but not as far as I thought... Approx 210 miles according to this site and Minardi Fan assures me that it doesn't take all that long as he's been that way before.

Costs are reduced again to 119 squids. Check in time is reduced to 20 minutes and crossing time reduce to 75 minutes. If we happen to miss our designated crossing, then there are, as Rick said, dozens of crossings a day. Why didn't I just look at Stena to start with ?!

Here's the quote I got based on taking the motorhome:

Quote:

Cost: 119.00 GBP
Method of Travel: Motorhome
Passengers: Adults: 4 Seniors: 0 Children: 0 Infants: 0 Pets: 0
Outbound Route: Dover to Calais
Outward Date: Fri 2 Aug 2002
Outward Time: 19:45
Return Route: Calais to Dover
Return Date: Sun 4 Aug 2002
Return Time: 21:00

Reckon it should fit our needs pretty damned well, don't you ? Add a splash of diesel, a little extra to cover extra insurance and breakdown cover, camping fees, tickets, etc. and I reckon, at a total guess so don't hold me to it, around a hundred quid a head.

I will obviously speak to those who have expressed an interest initially and if there is a space, i'll post here again. However, if there's a larger group interested in going (and this will hopefully make the prices cheaper) then we could look into a different method of transport. So if you're in the least bit interested, post here!

RickP:Clio51 · 10 Jan 2002, 08:29 (Ref:196414)

Glad to see you got there eventually!!!!

Cheers
Rick

Speedworx · 12 Jan 2002, 22:18 (Ref:197681)

Having looked at the leaflet I got at the show. I have discovered that Donington Park has the Eurosport Super Racing Weekend on Oct 5/6.

Does this include the Clios? I hope so, as I might be able to go.

**bella** · 13 Jan 2002, 19:23 (Ref:198145)

count me in for spa. it'd make a cracking 3 months late wo-hoo-exams-are-over type affair...

RickP:Clio51 · 14 Jan 2002, 08:19 (Ref:198410)

If Donny really does get the Eurosport Super Racing Weekend, we'll be there with the Beastly Bread Vans (also known as Clio V6s)
Cheers
RickP

BAR Babe · 14 Jan 2002, 21:00 (Ref:198721)

Just like to say......

I will SOOOOOOO be there with bells on!!!

I've always wanted to go to Spa, and if i stay in this country i'll only end up going to Harewood Hillclimb. Um? Do I NEED say more?
Think.... NO.... Know i'm going to Spa.

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