BTRDA March 6th (Postponed)

[Peter Mallett]

I'll merge this with the 6th March Thread.

[leonidas]

Originally Posted by PhilChicken

It would be interesting to see how long and how much £ it cost to put the rough back in shape after the relitively low powered clubmans cars had a day at it.

Phil.

Yes, I think the problem is that it is difficult to justify spending money on a track that, at most, is going to be used a couple of times a year. Its not like a shale stock car track or football pitch which you are going to be using every week and generating a regular weekly income to defray the capital expenditure.

If there was driver support for a decent winter series it would probably be worth investing in ONE track (flattening, new base, relaying the drainage etc) to make it 'all weather'. However after the poor support for this years winter series I guess you can't blame promoters for being a bit reluctant to make this sort of investment.

[chris cake]

Originally Posted by PhilChicken

Chris,



It would be interesting to see how long and how much £ it cost to put the rough back in shape after the relitively low powered clubmans cars had a day at it.

Phil.

Yes Phil it would , but surely the regrading of the loose surface after a meeting is reflected in the track hire ? If work is carried out during the day
it should not take that long afterwards if the correct machinery is used.

[BertMk2]

Wok done during the day itself would only be running repairs (as seen at Lydden recently - filling in the holes that appeared in the loose at paddock).

A more permanent repair would involve a lot more work (again as seen at Lydden - I believe it was dug down to the chalk and rebuilt from scratch), I guess though this is factored into the cost of hiring the circuit in the first place.

Would ice cause more of a problem with damage to the loose? Water would soak in but ice could form causing bigger chunks to get ripped out and thrown about? (this is pure speculation). Certainly the circuit must be worried about some serious damage being done for the event to be called off (and they ran at Croft in the snow last year didn't they? What's changed? Or did that cause significant damage leading to this years postponement?)

[Peter Mallett]

Ice generally creates "heave" thus the surface will be broken up before the cars get to it.

[chris cake]

[QUOTE=BertMk2]

A more permanent repair would involve a lot more work (again as seen at Lydden - I believe it was dug down to the chalk and rebuilt from scratch), I guess though this is factored into the cost of hiring the circuit in the first place.


Repair work such as Lydden had to be carry out i believe is due to the fact that the rallycross loose sections are used by the supermoto meetings with jumps
made etc. This goes for other tracks which we go too! Some years ago we
didn't have much in the way of entries a bike club came along with bikes and quads , which were great to see but caused large berms on the corners and generally cut the track up . The worst one i can remember was at Croft , i was driving a minicross car and sometimes you could not see where you was going as the holes where so big , remember the Green and White mini with a heavy landing minus a front wheel on tv?
The surfaces are generally good but once the top layer is mixed with the subbase the track will turn to mush quickly.
Its no good just regrading ,the holes must be filled in with the subbase first
then topped of with the fine coat.
As i said earlier Croft is run very well and does not mean that the track has been worked on in this way infact at the GP everything was VERY smooth.

[Steve Gibson]

Yes regrading of the track is reflected in the hire price but run after the snow and rain over the last two weeks and you would rip the guts out of the track and i don't think that the circuit owners would spend 10 to 20k to rebuild the track which probably only generates 15k income a year, I would expect them to Grass it over.

[chris cake]

Originally Posted by Steve Gibson

Yes regrading of the track is reflected in the hire price but run after the snow and rain over the last two weeks and you would rip the guts out of the track and i don't think that the circuit owners would spend 10 to 20k to rebuild the track which probably only generates 15k income a year, I would expect them to Grass it over.

Steve
Next time croft want any work done on the loose sections please call me .
I would very happy to rework these sections for that kind off money !
I must remember to charge more for me work down here !
As for grassing it over , time the loose is ripped up and top soil layed and seeded / rolled etc we must be into the 20k area? [northern prices]

[silver bullet]

Originally Posted by Steve Gibson

Yes regrading of the track is reflected in the hire price but run after the snow and rain over the last two weeks and you would rip the guts out of the track and i don't think that the circuit owners would spend 10 to 20k to rebuild the track which probably only generates 15k income a year, I would expect them to Grass it over.

Surely the circuit owners would relay the loose even if it costs 20k, because if it generates 15k a year its more than paid for itself inside 2 years.

[flagwaver]

One problem with relaying "loose" is getting it right, this can be a costly buisness it is not a case of bloggs builder turning up with a roller. Drainage is a big broblem, once you have taken it off the track where does it go? Bearing in mind it is full of silt etc, it would not take long to block conventional drains. Even if it did not block the drains the silt would prohibit it from joining any mains drainage. Silver bullet yes they may get the 20k it would cost in 2 years, but why spend it at at all? (20k more profit)

[chris cake]

The drainage can be sorted if the base is right . If this is done eg dig out line of track fill with hardcore to create a soakaway a layer of a subbase rolled , top of with a fine coat .
Anther idea is like Wildtracks have done , camber the track to one side!
We have made lots of areas which get used daily by all kinds of machinery/lorries and cars with no problem!

[oaf]

yes but he wont be having any nut for a bit?