Skidpan at Lakeside! (1st Nov)

[sabretooth]

So who's in? There's a skidpan day at Lakeside on Sat for which I've signed up.

Clearly one week between skidpan days is too much for me.

[Boags]

Naturally, I'll be there.

Make sure you call QLD Raceways if you haven't got a AASA licence!

See you there.

[Boags]

Fatty is coming too. Paid and ready to go.

[JBT]

For all those intending to attend - please pay your entry fee ASAP. Bank details are on the club website.

[AJ]

I'll be there ............Kim transferred the money last night.........after I kept the boot out of the Isuzu this week & gained some fuel economy

[rwf]

see you there paid up weeks ago lol

[NMX516]

Anyone who's anyone will be there!

Fatty heard about this and soon realised he had to make the journey north.

[rwf]

that was great day so much fun love driving like that

and a flat 24 on the skid pan got to be happy with that

[timk]

What an awesome day! I was really sad I had to leave at 12 but I must say I was very impressed with how today was run. I went in with low expectations due to the QR skidpan day (if you can call it that) but ended up having a blast!!

Thanks to everyone involved!

[JBT]

The QR day was a skid pan / motorkhana and was the first one that I had seen run by the club (and not a surrogate organisation) since 2003. It was very attractively priced but the area was more cramped than expected and attendance exceeded expectations. It was also run pretty much single handed by someone who should have been home or in hospital with the lurgy. That person didn't get a drive at all.

The Lakeside facility had already been booked by then for this last event and a lot of behind the scenes work went in by many people to get it organised. A lot of work went on during the day to make this one successful too. In both cases there wasn't actually a tidal wave of people volunteering to help on the day to relieve time keepers etc.

Constructive suggestions, offers of help and timely payment of entry money are always welcome though.

[CapitalF]

Pics anyone??

My 2c worth.

The QR carpark is wider and more suited to spirited driving and the "larger" motorkhana tests. Lakeside rectangular skidpan - partic with the row of tyres there - really limits the motorkhana tests that can be done to tighter, straighter, slower, more technical tests.

I for one though was certainly happy with the balance of activities and use of the rest of the track which was more like "Autocross" events the yanks run at old airports. Many would probably like more of the latter, ie more use of more of that track in various combinations. Let Boags know your preference for next time that location is used.

I think all appreciated having two activities running at once and shorter waiting times / more activity. Initially Boags and I thought we might fit two activities at the rectangular skidpan but it was not large enough. (Plus would have needed more timekeepers.)

Peter

(And a big thanks to John for relieving me from timekeeping duties after his runs)

[Tezzax5]

Thanks to everyone who put this together..

Thinking i would try and save a bit of time i pre-purchased my day license from QR about 10 days earlier only to be chewed out about YOU CAN ONLY BUY AND USE A DAY LICENSE ON THE DAY OF ISSUEthen getting harrassed about purchasing another for the day(It was implied that i had already used the license).If i hadn't setup my shade shelter i more than likely would of told clownshoe's to shove the whole thing up his NOS hole.

Lesson learnt(purchase either a year license or just buy on the day)

Nevermind....back to the hills for me.

Fatty.....It was nice to meet you and watch you turn a wheel in anger

And yes i have some pretty cool video of most people!!!

[Boags]

Terry,

That's aweful; I had no idea that went on. You should have called me over. Did you end up having to pay a second time?

Please PM me with details.

A massive thanks to Peter for running the day!! It would not have been anywhere near as successful without your guidence.

Thanks to those who helped out in many different ways, including relieving Peter and I so we could also get a good drive on the day.

Terry, get that video of my car up please!

[Fatty]

first off i would like to say a big thankyou to CapitalF / Peter for all his hard work on the day. I told him on the day what a great time i had, but forgot to actually thank him ... sorry about that mate.

The biggest thanks must of course go to Boags (and Bec.... mainly for the yummy sandwiches ). not just for putting me up for the weekend, or taking me for a run with the boys on friday night, or all his hard work in organising the skidpan event, but mainly for letting me drive his car for the weekend! i was very impressed with the performance of the nb8b (i'd never dríven one before) , which is a very refined car compared to what i'm accustomed to (my rough as guts na6). the engine was just super sweet and sounded absolutely horn with that air intake. it's amazing what a good car the nb8b is straight out of the box. the only mods were the intake and some sway bars, but it feels just about perfect (altho a set of teins wouldn't go astray ... )

second biggest thanks must go to Andrew / 1red5 who also handed me the keys to his car for a couple of runs on the skidpan. i felt more "at home" in this car as it more what i'm used to (an na6 into an na8 is not such a huge jump), and it has given me a real point of reference and a target to aim for with my ongoing suspension / chassis tuning efforts. it felt rock solid, extremely well balanced, and was so easy to correct if i ever got a little unshapely. again, thank you Andrew for handing me the keys, that was a very nice surprise!!! the fact that my times in the na8 were actually faster than in the nb8b goes to show what a good job you've done in setting the car up.

i'd also like to thank JBT for standing out on the hot concrete under a blazing sun for so long, performing time keeping duties. thanks for introducing yourself and making me feel very welcome too. and guys, as JBT said earlier, it's not a bad idea to offer to help out in any way you can. the timekeepers etc are all volunteers / club members who would probably rather be out there driving, and it's really not that hard to share the duties around a bit. jump on the stop watch for 15 minutes or so while you catch your breath between runs... it's actually really good fun and i enjoyed manning the clip board briefly while boags stole "MY" car for his runs

tezza, was nice to meet you too, i enjoyed our chats. now hurry up and post some pics / vids! and thank you so much for bringing some shade !!! they really should build some shelters down by the skidpan, that sun was just ludicrous (says the pastey white Melbournite) .

thanks also to Gerard, Tim, Andrew (again) , and ummm.........Saffa (edit.. can only remeber your forum name) who came for the run, and dinner, on friday night. that was a great introduction to some fabulous QLD roads...

I know this is turning into a bit of an Oscars Acceptance Speech (but hey i'm on a roll, and i need to write this all down while it's fresh in my mind, so i can "cut and paste" it for when i write my article for the ragtop review )

Now, and this one's important, i must say many many thanks to that crotchety old bastard AJ / Clive , and the lovely Kim, for their hospitality (and beers) as well. Clive, you did a pretty good job of incinerating all those lovely sausages that Kim bought for us, well done. i enjoyed that meal immensely (mmmm home made salsa). It was very nice to meet you mate, and it was nice to find out that, in person, you really aren't as much of a wanker as you seem to be on the forum

so in the tradition of the Oscars Speech "oh god i hope i haven't forgotten anyone" .... oh yeah. Spy / Mark / Mr Prez , thankyou and very nice to meet you. nice club you have there, keep up the good work! from what i've seen, you've got things heading in a good direction up there.

I go back to work tomorrow, after 4 weeks of annual leave spent mainly in Paris, then Spain, London, and finally Brisbane. My final morning , this morning, before returning to work was spent driving Boag's awesome nb8b over Mt Mee ... i don't think you could ask for a better finish to a holiday than that! You guys really do have some nice roads up there.... as Arney would say, "I'll be back" .

Cheers,

James

[Steampunk]

it was great to put a face to the name, Fatty. Thank you for the compliments and You are most welcome re having a go in my car, and you should've asked for more. Thanks a million to Boags and capitalf for running a totally fun filled day! We definitely have to organise more than 2 a year.