Post last updated: 14/04/07

Well now everyone should have recovered from there New Year benders it's time to start thinking about being sociable again. And what better bunch of people to be sociable with?

Rather than wait until next September/October until the next big UK meet-up I thought maybe a few people might be interested to do something a little sooner. And something a little different. Well, not really different, but a change from karting.

What
Have a look over here: Driver's Challenge.

Nothing new to any of us, it's basically a glorified LAN session dedicated to racing with cockpits and projects and what not. Please read the link, it sells the place much better than I can.
They currently only run GPL for the public but are investigating other racesims. A quick chat and I've had an email from the guy who runs the place and he will offer me a private LFS session if I can get enough people. See further down the thread for the event timetable.

All followed by pub relaxment afterwards for those who wish to stay.

Where
Location wise this is right down south in Chandlers Ford (near Southampton) so I'm not expecting a full national attendance here, but there's no reason why someone can't run another event up, oh I don't know, Newcastle way or something.

Meeting place:
The Hut is a large pub (Beefeater chain) with plenty of car parking, 2 minute walk from the race centre. Ideal. Mmm, beer. And lunch, for the non-alcoholics among us.

Travel: For anyone looking to utilise public transport, the race centre is close to Chandlers Ford train station. For transport to and from Southampton (should that be required), you can get a train from Southampton Central costs only £3.30 (return) and the journey takes 20 minutes. Trains from Southampton Central only run once per hour, from elsewhere they may be more frequent.

Cost
Pricing is £150 per hour and there are ten 'booths'. Opening times at the weekend are from 14:00 to 18:00 and we are staying for the full 4 hours. Assuming I can find 20 people interested (so you spend half the time driving and the other half watching, learning, maybe giving driving tips, and taking the piss) that's just £7.50 per hour, or £30 in total (each) for however long we choose to stay (has to be determined in advance). Please note, for every person less than 20 people that attend, the price will increase. See further down the thread for specifics.

When
(semi-)Community decided date: Saturday 14th of April 2007 - discussion thread.
Time: We will be meeting in the pub beforehand, drop in sometime between 12 and 13:00, the main event runs from 14:00 to 18:00, stay for pub and alcohol related activities for as long as you like afterwards.

Why
It's fun?

Who
You! (Maybe) And 19 others! (Hopefully)


The other freaks you're racing with:
01. Bob Smith - confirmed, deposit payer 1 of 10 - all cheques posted!
02. Madman_CZ - confirmed
03. Viper93 - confirmed, deposit payer 2 of 10 - cheque arrived
04. z3r0c00l - confirmed, deposit payer 3 of 10 (PayPal) - deposit paid
05. t1ger - confirmed, deposit payer 4 of 10 - cheque arrived
06. nihil - confirmed, deposit payer 5 of 10 - cheque arrived
07. bozo - confirmed, deposit payer 6 of 10 - cheque arrived
08. _Tux_ (aka dUmAsS) - confirmed
09. LFSn00b - confirmed BUT DIDN'T SHOW UP!!!
10. xenocracy - confirmed, deposit payer 7 of 10 - paid cash
11. peejayh - confirmed
12. need - confirmed, deposit payer 8 of 10 (PayPal) - deposit paid
13. Funnybear - confirmed, deposit payer 9 of 10 (Bank Transfer) - deposit paid
14. goode400 - confirmed, deposit payer 10 of 10 (PayPal) - deposit paid
15. dabe - confirmed
16. peejayh's son - confirmed

Were interested but have dropped out:
IReallyHateBureaucracy
MuNkEr
mr grady
P5YcHoM4N
Chris_Kerry
Rtsbasic
Tom (*unlicensed*)
NotAnIllusion
The_Angry_Angel
Bladerunner
EmmyLou
xWolfx
jamesrowe
paddy_racer

OK I just had a chat with Adrian (the race centre manager) on the phone and I can give you all some more info.

He is recommending we stay for the whole 4 hours they are open at the weekend, although I suspected as much from a salesman point of view it does sound like he'll be able to keep us busy and entertained for the duration. With 20 people attending that's (at most) 2 hours track time each, if interest is really high I think we can manage with as many as 30 people but things might become a little crowded. We will have to come up with an upper limit that can be split into 3 groups easily, or maybe even limit to 20. Perhaps that can be decided a little later once I can get people to 100% confirm.

Adrian is going to draft out a couple of different ways to run the event based on 20+ attendees and a mix of the two sims they can offer us. Usually there would be a large practise session at the start, before two qualifying heats. Once everyone is qualified, the group would be split into two for the races, with the slower drivers in one group and the faster drivers in another. Points are accumulated by all drivers across all races in both sims, the top three racers at the end of the day win a trophy. The winner also gets a bottle of something* I can't remember, though I didn't recognise the name so I can assume it's not an ale.

*only available if we stay for the full 4 hours, the trophys are available so long as we stay for at least 3 hours.

Adrian also suggested a pub just down the road to meet up at, it's large so should be able to accomodate us all. I'll post details once I get the full address. Oh and they are quite relaxed about alcohol, people can drink at the event if they want (and accept the detrimental effects to your lap times ) and likewise there's no problem having a beer at the pub with some lunch if you like.

More info to follow later.

Things we still need to decide (by poll):
* Time split between LFS and GPL, Adian was thinking 50/50 but I would have thought more of a bias towards LFS, since this is an LFS meet. Or maybe even no GPL at all...
* Track/car combos for each sim.... and how many to run.
* Where to go out drinking / where to get food (book a table for 20 peeps? :shrug

Finally, could all the people who are interested in attending please drop me a mail at <email address removed, drop me a PM if you need it> so I can send you all an email everytime I create a poll, so you can all vote (and in a timely manner). Please also mention your LFS license name. Thanks.

Edit: Updated first post with link to address of pub.

Right, time to update the sticky with some extra info:

The decided timetable for the event is as follows:


The cars we will be driving are:
GPL Session: Ferrari or Brabham at Watkins Glen
Race 1: XF GTi and XR GT at South City Town Course [11 laps]
Race 2: FXO GTR at Fern Bay Gold Reverse [16 laps]

Deposit payment details for the 9 lucky people who get to pay the £15 deposit:

Those paying by cheque, please make it payable to Sim Racing Ltd and then post it to my home address (in the email you're about to get).

Those paying by PayPal or bank transfer, please check the email for my personal details.

For clarity, here is a table of prices we will have to pay, depending on how many attendees the event has:

This is one reason I'm pushing for confirmations so we know how much we have to pay.

NB: Don't be put off by the low-attendee figures, I just added it all for completeness, there are currently 16 confirmed racers so the price that's puts the price at £37.50 each, with a possibility of dropping further still.