Britcar 24 hours of Silverstone [merged]

[Mike Kelly 1]

Originally Posted by C9/89

We call that "pot mess" in the forces! Tastes bloody gorgeous after a long day on your feet! Except we used tinned new potatoes not smash, its easier!

Justin we called it "range stew" in the Army. Always good to see the CQMS / SQMS turn up during night firing with a load of hay boxes or Norwegian containers full of stew.

Any way, back to the thread. No one has said make sure you bring a sense of humour!

[Justin Moran]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly 1

Justin we called it "range stew" in the Army. Always good to see the CQMS / SQMS turn up during night firing with a load of hay boxes or Norwegian containers full of stew.

Any way, back to the thread. No one has said make sure you bring a sense of humour!

Mate the sense of humour is an absolute prerequisite! Bring it or be a miserable Twa... so and so

[Mike Kelly 1]

Originally Posted by C9/89

Mate the sense of humour is an absolute prerequisite! Bring it or be a miserable Twa... so and so

Judging by the 2008 Britcar 24 i think that some marshals not only forgot their sense of humour, i think that they never had one (along with any sort of man management skills!) in the first place! Thats the reason why, apart from the GP, that i do not marshal at Silverstone any more.

[Shelagh]

Mike,

You can always be assured that I will provide some humour during the night over the radio - intended or not

Hope to see you at the 24Hrs.

[Mike Kelly 1]

Originally Posted by Shelagh

Mike, Hope to see you at the 24Hrs.

No Shelagh, i'm driving 100 miles past Sillystone to Snetterton that weekend. As i said, i don't do Silverstone meetings

[Justin Moran]

Well it looks like I wont be able to make it due to the shift pattern Im on now. I have hope that a better job will come along and I can be there but at the moment its a non starter. Rats.

[Justin Moran]

Well miracles do actually happen!
I have just landed a dream job and will be working normal weekdays again, so I CAN come and play!

[Power Bulge]

Originally Posted by Red_08

That's a good point mate yeah. I was thinking of bringing one of those cool boxes that you can top up on a car charger. Well worth thinking in advance though.

They are really good. Well, for keeping beer cold, anyway, so I see no reason why they cannot be pressed into a more mundane service such as preventing food from going off. Just one word of caution: they chew their way through a car battery like you wouldn't believe. If it weren't for Sparky Steve, I'd still be at Anglesey with a lifeless van because I left the cooler box plugged in overnight - it wouldn't even light up the ignition warning light, much less turn over the engine.

I could always leave the engine on throughout the 24 hours, or until I run out of fuel, whichever happens first!!

[The STIG]

Originally Posted by C9/89

Well miracles do actually happen!
I have just landed a dream job and will be working normal weekdays again, so I CAN come and play!

Nice one! I hope that your new job is good to you! Roll on the 24 hours...

... If I've actually applied...

[Red_08]

Originally Posted by Power Bulge

Just one word of caution: they chew their way through a car battery like you wouldn't believe. If it weren't for Sparky Steve, I'd still be at Anglesey with a lifeless van because I left the cooler box plugged in overnight - it wouldn't even light up the ignition warning light, much less turn over the engine.

Well worth mentioning that. I think if I take one I'll use it for food and just have it topping up on short runs around the in-roads etc or for short periods on tick-over.
As for some refreshing ales during off-duty times, I'm thinking it will be cool enough to leave them outside chilling by themselves.

[Red_08]

Originally Posted by C9/89

Well miracles do actually happen!
I have just landed a dream job and will be working normal weekdays again, so I CAN come and play!

Well done C9/89 !! Congratulations.

We can't leave you behind when the North West crew go on our travels.

[Paul Newns]

Congratulations, Justin. It'll be good to see you back.

[alimcb]

Originally Posted by Power Bulge

They are really good. Well, for keeping beer cold, anyway, so I see no reason why they cannot be pressed into a more mundane service such as preventing food from going off. Just one word of caution: they chew their way through a car battery like you wouldn't believe. If it weren't for Sparky Steve, I'd still be at Anglesey with a lifeless van because I left the cooler box plugged in overnight - it wouldn't even light up the ignition warning light, much less turn over the engine.

I could always leave the engine on throughout the 24 hours, or until I run out of fuel, whichever happens first!!

A cool box typically draws about 4 amps, so a fully charged 40Ah car battery should be able to run one for 10 hours. So, not really feasible to run one off your car battery for a weekend. Cool boxes use a thing called a peltier device which is not particularly efficient- a bit like a lightbulb, most of the energy it draws is wasted as heat. Which is a bit of a problem when what you're trying to do is cool something down.

Yes I am an engineer...

[warweezil]

Originally Posted by alimcb

A cool box typically draws about 4 amps, so a fully charged 40Ah car battery should be able to run one for 10 hours. So, not really feasible to run one off your car battery for a weekend.

For next year I am going to scavenge a split charging unit from a scrap car that has been fitted with it for a caravan, and a spare battery. that will give me a nice separate 12v system that I can drain without affecting the car.

[Guinness2702]

Originally Posted by alimcb

Yes I am an engineer...

And I was just gonna say that they're crap

Seriously, I have one, and after 2 or 3 hours, your beer will be cooled down a little so it's not entirely worthless, but your best bet is to stick lots of ice/freezer packs in before you leave, or find someone with a fridge. An electric cool box will help keep food/beer cooler for longer if it's cool when you put it in there, especially useful if you're travelling for a few hours to get somewhere, but it is not a substitute for a fridge.

Originally Posted by Red_08

Well worth mentioning that. I think if I take one I'll use it for food and just have it topping up on short runs around the in-roads etc or for short periods on tick-over.

10 minutes will do nothing. You need 2-3 hours of it, just to cool the beer a little, and it won't get any colder. Leaving beer outside in the cold is a much better plan. I used to run mine at regular meetings for 3 or 4 hours after I got back from post, but I'd sit in the car and run the engine for at least an hour later in the evening. Also remember car batteries are damaged if you drain them and recharge them, and it'll reduce the life of your battery, so really you're best to run the engine the whole time.

[Guinness2702]

Originally Posted by warweezil

For next year I am going to scavenge a split charging unit from a scrap car that has been fitted with it for a caravan, and a spare battery. that will give me a nice separate 12v system that I can drain without affecting the car.

Nice idea and something I once considered doing, but, notwithstanding battery damage issues, something like the following battery drain protector is much cheaper and easier to use. I used to run a few things on 12v (cooler, DVD player, phone charger, satnav, etc...), so something like this is probably a good idea. I still use it today, even though I have a caravan now and don't generally leave 12v things running when I'm not in the car.

This is the one I have, unfortunately discontinued, but you can find similar things easily enough with a bit of googling.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=37962

[blueoval2]

I know we are still a few weeks away but has anyone got any idea on the support races,Previous years tell me that we normally have a good support package.

[mattt]

Im sure i read somewhere the monopostos are racing there

[kipper]

By my reckoning (and could be proved wrong), the meeting will feature races for Alfa Romeos, Ma5da MX5s, VW Golf GTIs, VAG Trophy, Sports 2000s, Porsche Club, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup and as said previously, Monopostos.

[mattt]

Originally Posted by kipper

By my reckoning (and could be proved wrong), the meeting will feature races for Alfa Romeos, Ma5da MX5s, VW Golf GTIs, VAG Trophy, Sports 2000s, Porsche Club, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup and as said previously, Monopostos.

Well according to each of the series websites they are there

[flying muppet]

GTIs and VAG Trophy definitely there!

But it's strange that this meeting does not appear on the BRSCC's website under 'Future Meetings'...

[andrewc]

Monoposto have IIRC one quali and two races.

[stuart thompson]

No Toyo saloons this year?

[PapaJuliet]

Originally Posted by kipper

By my reckoning (and could be proved wrong), the meeting will feature races for Alfa Romeos, Ma5da MX5s, VW Golf GTIs, VAG Trophy, Sports 2000s, Porsche Club, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup and as said previously, Monopostos.

Whimper.

PJ

[Simon Davey]

Monoposto will have full grids for this meeting. It's nominated as our annual Ray Dackombe Memorial Trophy event and we have been inundated with entries.

Simon Davey
Monoposto Racing Club
Administrator