Donington Historic Festival 2012, 5/6 May

[deadsquirrel]

Originally Posted by theracegypsy

provide a hot meal after. I'm not expecting that at Donny I will be there.

You want sandwiches for tea then? ;-)

[Ianwales]

Hi all

I was thinking of applying, but, with a 1945 finish then I'm glad I didn't, coupled with a 0400 start from home it would have made a rather long day, bit disappointed as it looks a good meeting.

Ian

[theracegypsy]

Originally Posted by deadsquirrel

You want sandwiches for tea then? ;-)

Hot toasted, of course LOL

[Justin Moran]

Double post but the one below is spelled correctly!

[Justin Moran]

Im definitely coming and as Im sure the current owners have ploughed all the available funds into the track, paddock three will be it usual self, so I took the opportunity to book myself into the travelodge up the road. Soft bed and a hot shower makes me one happy fella!
Dont care about late finishes on saturdays as Im an endurance nut anyway so I love long days and provision myself accordingly! Resupply might be interesting for Sunday but Im sure I'll resolve that issue too. No dodgy burgers for me matey!
The Group C cars are my favourite but I just love old sportscars so its pretty much my idea of a utopian weekend.

Cant bloomin wait!

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by Ianwales

Hi all

I was thinking of applying, but, with a 1945 finish then I'm glad I didn't, coupled with a 0400 start from home it would have made a rather long day, bit disappointed as it looks a good meeting.

Ian

Well, there you go, another interested and (I´m sure) very capable marshal opting not to attend a meeting because of a day running too long (from his perspective anyway). There are others too, I believe.

Could this have been different for you Ian if - let´s say - you were offered the possibility to skip one or two sessions at the end of the day (or the start for that matter)?

I´m not trying to turn marshaling into some sort of part-time activity but just wondering if a practical solution can be brought forward to include those who are not able/willing to complete a extraordinary long day without losing them for the entire event. That way you could run a meeting with f.e. 4 folks 90% of the time instead of 3 people 100% of the time. Kind of working in shifts.

Any thoughts?

[deadsquirrel]

Coach EP, very sensible idea, I'd be happy to have the extra help for most of the day.

I'm sure for 99% of marshals it would work well, and we'd soon work out the ones who abuse the chance of leaving early!

[Greem]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Well, there you go, another interested and (I´m sure) very capable marshal opting not to attend a meeting because of a day running too long (from his perspective anyway). There are others too, I believe.

Better that than deciding to attend with no advance notice of the timetable, to find it overruns and finishes at 1945 and makes everyone so upset that they decide not to attend any meetings at that circuit in future.

Better still is your suggestion - and I don't believe there's anything stopping folks saying to the chief marshal at sign-on (or in the days before the event) "I have to leave at 6pm I'm afraid". I saw people do it - at Donington - on two or three occasions on posts I was on during 2011. Definitely the path of least resistance!

[RCMADD]

i have left before a day ends on a couple of occasions due to them overrunning.. once whilst on as snatch..

[Ianwales]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Well, there you go, another interested and (I´m sure) very capable marshal opting not to attend a meeting because of a day running too long (from his perspective anyway). There are others too, I believe.

Could this have been different for you Ian if - let´s say - you were offered the possibility to skip one or two sessions at the end of the day
Any thoughts?

A very Sensible idea I think, the early start doesn't bother me as I am regularly up in the early hours to start my shift on the railways, but, I am also aware of how tired I can get by 6 in the evening after a 0400 start, it is then you get the possibility of making mistakes which isn't fair on fellow marshals, the competitors or my intergirity as a marshal.

Ian

[mark_l]

I am sorry if this has already been covered but being an ex-marshal, I thought of you folks when I read this in the latest issue of Motor Sport magazine.

"A feature race into the evening on Saturday will be one of the highlights of the Second Donington Festival.....The hour long race for Pre-1972 sports-racing cars, which is part of the 1000km series, will start at 6.45pm and finish shortly before sunset."

Hope you bring your sleeping bags to post, it is going to be a long day.

[ascarracinguk]

Asking as the grid size is ok and there's a bit of a break beforehand then I don't see a problem as it is a Saturday rather than Sunday

[Greem]

We talked about this a month or so ago here:

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=131825

[Woolley]

Now merged.

[Stack]

Originally Posted by mark_l

I am sorry if this has already been covered but being an ex-marshal, I thought of you folks when I read this in the latest issue of Motor Sport magazine.

"A feature race into the evening on Saturday will be one of the highlights of the Second Donington Festival.....The hour long race for Pre-1972 sports-racing cars, which is part of the 1000km series, will start at 6.45pm and finish shortly before sunset."

Hope you bring your sleeping bags to post, it is going to be a long day.

Think you/Motor Sport may have got the wrong end of the stick. It's not a 1000km race but part of a series
From the time table.....
18:45 - 19:45 60mins race ‘1000km’ for pre-72 sports-racing cars

[kipper]

Originally Posted by ascarracinguk

Asking as the grid size is ok and there's a bit of a break beforehand then I don't see a problem as it is a Saturday rather than Sunday

The provisional timetable shows a 15 minute gap between the finish of the preceeding race and the start of the '1000km' series race, which allowing for slowing down laps, recoveries, etc means that there probably won't be much of a break.

[Middle_BBG]

Yes, it's going to be a long day, but we were aware of this before we volunteered. We're fortunate that we will be staying in a local hotel so all a late finish means to us is that we won't be going out for a couple of beers. Anyway, a long day at a racetrack beats a shorter day in the office.

[Alan Crook]

Entry list looking very good, only one race with a small grid. Anyone else wishing to volunteer PM either myself or Fay.

[Shelagh]

I have volunteered (if Fay has seen the e-mail) as "Pit-Lane-Hooter Lady" (so long as I can sit inside in Race Control).

So hope to see some of you at sign-on!

[grantp]

Certainly looks like another good entry list. Let's hope the weather makes for a pleasant evening session.

A couple of thoughts related to some of the comments in earlier posts (some MUCH earlier).

If anyone needs to replenish 'supplies' at odd hours the closest option are probably the Services at J23a M1 - open 24hrs afaik - and in Donington one or other of the 2 Co-Op stores which I think are open until mid evening on a Saturday.

For anyone wanting an evening snack there are 3 Curry houses, a Chippy/Kebab/etc outlet and a Chinese takeaway just down the road in Donington village. Other places around as well of course but the point is that I'm fairly sure that at least 2 if not all 3 of the Curry shops will deliver and the prices always seem to be reasonable and the quality good.

It would also be good if the Paddock Diner and bar could stay open or some of the racers could organise an end of day barbie ... maybe some of these options could be considered bearing in mind the late evening?

[Hepatic]

oh man, i've been looking forward to this for a while but having worked out some travel details and a few stops i need to make on the way i've realised i need to leave the house at 5am. OUCH! With a near 8pm finish that is one long day, really hope the the racing doesn't disappoint. Will be my first trip trackside this year, looks like i'll get about 2 months of marshalling in within a weekend!

[Greem]

Looks like it's going to be crisp & chilly with sunny intervals and a chance of showers on both days. So that's thermals, shades, sun cream *and* waterproofs needed then!

See y'all tomorrow.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Greem

Looks like it's going to be crisp & chilly with sunny intervals and a chance of showers on both days. So that's thermals, shades, sun cream *and* waterproofs needed then!

See y'all tomorrow.

Look on the bright side ...

Accuweather is not predicting much in the way of decent temps (Single figures both days) but suggests both days as 'partly sunny with showers'. I think that is very positive (compared to what they were suggesting yesterday ....)

[Greem]

That was an interesting day. On my own on post 21 in unrelenting freezing cold wind, acutely aware of the fact that I simply couldn't look to post 19 and post 23 simultaneously. Sorry to both posts if I was later than you'd have liked with following or preceding flags...

The racing was pretty good though. Hope everyone else has thawed out before signon tomorrow

[ascarracinguk]

Cracking weekend, nuff said!