Motors TV Donington

[dave vass]

From my view in the commentary box and with the aid of the live TV feed I thought that that driving standards on display from the competitors was of a very high standard. I only saw 3 black and white flags all weekend!
The racing that you all contributed to was most enjoyable.
A special mention to Al Weyman; I can't remember seeing you go so well before, and the Camaro sounded great!

[Al Weyman]

Thanks very much Dave, shame about the crash in the damp on Saturday but despite slipping clutch I think I put on a good show for the cameras, here is some incar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E__0dRQ-hIA

BTW sorry about the swearing, turns out the guy I nearly rammed had stalled the engine or was having problems.

[Al Weyman]

Race 1 in the wet! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-iHGZJmawU

[tim dodwell]

Tried to watch Sunday's races on MotorsTV (the freeview version). Total rubbish - could hardly make anything out. The commentary on the leading cars was good, but not a lot on the rest of the packed field. Gave up after the second race.
If this is what being televised is - forget it IMHO.

[Chigley]

Al, can you wash and polish your windscreen, inside and out, before the next incar footage. Before you ask I'll be too busy.

[Mike Harte]

One of the major problems with advancing years is that you lose touch with what is being taught to the younger generations.

I am damned sure that we didn't have to learn to use the hand signals that Al was demonstrating when I took my driving test. Everything seems so complicated nowadays, even with all the new technology.

[Alfaholic]

Al, was that crash on the Saturday with the Peugeot you were parked next to in the Paddock - that must have been fun afterwards!

Donington seems to be missing a few things this year - infield access, the spark plug, Starkey's bridge (and all the bits on it), Starkey's bar (long closed but an effective wind/rain break which would have been useful over the weekend).

[gary396]

Seen a couple of mentions that the in-field was closed - very disappointing to hear, presume it's a temporary measure - anyone have any timescale? I noticed the mud-heap in the centre seems even bigger this year but looked like some sort of roadway was emerging - are they planning anything for that area?

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by gary396

Seen a couple of mentions that the in-field was closed - very disappointing to hear, presume it's a temporary measure - anyone have any timescale? I noticed the mud-heap in the centre seems even bigger this year but looked like some sort of roadway was emerging - are they planning anything for that area?

I was half listening when the MD of Donington was being interviewed, and I think that I heard him say that they are shaping spectator banks on the in-field, and also a flat solid surface area to be used as an outside exhibition/marketing area.

I also think that he said that the wet weather suffered in the last few months has obviously delayed the ground-works, and they are way behind schedule. I believe I heard that he was hoping that all the work would be completed towards the end of thios season, but depending on the coming weather, that it may still go into next year.

I hope that I have got it right.

[gary396]

Thanks Mike, good to hear that they are at last improving things there.

[Greem]

Al, your IROC-Z was a bit squashy down the Craner Curves. I was down at the Old Hairpin and you were very smoky down the hill on Sunday. Great car though

As for the infield: the management have taken a long view; get it right first time. Brown it may be right now but it looks great, and will be better when the grass eventually establishes.

[grantp]

As Dave Vass said, Al, it looked like you were going well on Sunday in the dry - both your video and the TV coverage. Quite a bit of smoke on the left handers but otherwise good. From the video it looked like you lost some grip around mid race but the lap times suggest otherwise.

Thanks for posting the videos - and I had no problem seeing through the screen despite Chigley's comments. You're getting some flare from the large crack though. Still, it adds to the spectacle.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

I was half listening when the MD of Donington was being interviewed, and I think that I heard him say that they are shaping spectator banks on the in-field, and also a flat solid surface area to be used as an outside exhibition/marketing area.

I also think that he said that the wet weather suffered in the last few months has obviously delayed the ground-works, and they are way behind schedule. I believe I heard that he was hoping that all the work would be completed towards the end of thios season, but depending on the coming weather, that it may still go into next year.

I hope that I have got it right.

That's right Mike.

The infield development was scheduled to be a 2 year project. There is, yet again, a lot of material being brought in - several large trucks a day - from various places with various materials. I had heard number of over 100 trucks a day. Major works. I posted something about it recently.

He also mentioned the building of the Formula E Base units just inside the paddock. That's quite an interesting development from a commercial perspective (maybe not so much from a long term racing sport perspective). Presumably these things will be quiet enough (or could be) that they could run testing at any time without pushing the boundaries of the noise regulations for planning purposes.

Apparently the old bridge had to go as it was becoming dangerous. The Sparkplug was offered around, so I heard, but most thought it a liability rather than useful memorabilia.

The last time I can remember seeing Starkey's Bar open was when they were hosting the Free Renault events a few years back. They maybe used it for the MotoGP as well but with the ever more sophisticated temporary hospitality units available these days I doubt it makes sense to have permanent infrastructure in place and under maintenance for one or two days of use per year.

I was told that the new tunnel has now been further developed - pretty much to what it should have been in the first place. The trucks are using it to deliver materials to the infield (It would have been a mess to do it without the tunnel ....) and once they are done it will be properly finished off. Two way access to the infield will, hopefully, be a superb asset to the place.

Let's hope we have sensible weather this spring and summer so that the work can be pushed forward as quickly as possible.



Tim,

I found an internet feed for the Motors broadcast and commentary seemed OK to me. That said I probably only joined in from about race 5 on Sunday (13 on the timetable). Were the morning races broadcast as well?

I had the TSL live timing available too although I would love to see that expanded to use more of their capabilities. Timing coverage of most European events that I have looked at from time to time seems to offer so much more information. I guess it's down to budget.

[Al Weyman]

Originally Posted by Alfaholic

Al, was that crash on the Saturday with the Peugeot you were parked next to in the Paddock - that must have been fun afterwards!

Donington seems to be missing a few things this year - infield access, the spark plug, Starkey's bridge (and all the bits on it), Starkey's bar (long closed but an effective wind/rain break which would have been useful over the weekend).

Yes he is one of my best mates duh!

[Al Weyman]

Originally Posted by grantp

As Dave Vass said, Al, it looked like you were going well on Sunday in the dry - both your video and the TV coverage. Quite a bit of smoke on the left handers but otherwise good. From the video it looked like you lost some grip around mid race but the lap times suggest otherwise.

Thanks for posting the videos - and I had no problem seeing through the screen despite Chigley's comments. You're getting some flare from the large crack though. Still, it adds to the spectacle.

The clutch started slipping I wasn't loosing traction actually, also contributed to the smoke. Interesting the comment was when I went through lefthanders as it backs up what I think was going on, its leaking oil out of one of the rocker breathers which would throw out on a left hander and running on to the hot manifold. I had this problem on my other car and have completely cured it but welding a fitting into the alloy covers so will do the same on this car. I had the shockers set a bit soft for the wet conditions.

[Race4Fun]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Race 1 in the wet! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-iHGZJmawU

Thanks for posting the video, Al, I liked the last bit

I was hoping for more wet!

[Race4Fun]

Sorry Signature didn't seem to be there, so it would not make much sense.

Hopefully, all OK now.

Jerry