johns

A few years ago, we used to get wonderful rates for group track insurance, and the take up was excellent. The way it worked that there was a "pool" of funds available for repairs - e.g. £10k, with a £1k excess. If more than one person crashed at an event, then the maximum cover per person was £5k and so on. Cost was excellent, something like £30 for a half day session. There was however the risk that if two people crashed (unlikely), then there wasn't enough to cover the costs of both repairs. As long as you were happy with the risk, then you got cheap insurance. If for example, all 30 cars at an event got damaged, the total pot for repairs was still £10k. If however everyone is individually insured for £10k, then the potential total liability for 30 cars is £300k! Sadly, there were a few crashes (not at our events) where expensive cars met with the tyrewall/armco, and the track insurance companies made big losses. They had to look closely at the amount of money they were taking in, and weigh that up against the risk and money they were paying out. It was obvious that the group insurance thing was a huge risk to them. If the insurance was cheap, then chances are almost everyone at a track event would take it out (which was the case), however, the chances of someone going off at an event (this was a few years ago at some track down south), was something like 50%. Say they got 30 people pay £50 for a full day, they take in £1.5k, however at every second event they are paying out £5k - £10k in claims. It soon became obvious, that with cheap insurance, people would drive around the track without much care in the world, knowing that if they went off, their £50 insurance would cover any damages, whilst 99% of other track goers took out the insurance, but still drove with reasonable care and attention. The obvious thing for the insurance companies to do, was to stop group policies, and let individuals take out their own cover, so that they were individually liable, which is obviously much more expensive. As track days have become more popular, the number of crashes/claims increased, and hence costs have had to rise to compensate for this. Now you'll only be able to get individual insurance, and I'd expect to pay something in the region of £75 - £100 per event for £5k - £10k of cover with a £1k excess. From a risk point of view, it doesn't matter if the event is for 30 minutes or the full day - you are just as likely to go off in a short event as you are in a full day event. You can however build up a no-claims type bonus with some companies. Do a few events without a claim, and you'll be cheaper for later events. Have a claim (or two!), and your insurance costs will rise very sharply indeed! Sadly, as much as we would like to offer cheap insurance as part of the track event, we can't John PS The event should be in the club shop to book later this afternoon

One more to add to the list 1. Jools, Prodrive Sti MY02 2. Young KeithP, Sti MY03 3. BKS 6, Prodrive Sti MY02 4. PaulM, "the mad P1" MY00 5. Ken Ross, Sti 2 555 Limited Edition 6. Mike Abz, 2000 Accord Type R 7. Carl Davey, ?the white hot fridge? turbo 4 door MY98 8. Numptie, Prodrive Sti MY02 and/or WestyBlade 9. Shaun, turbo 4 door MY00 10. Ewan, turbo wagon MY94 11. rossyboy, 93 WRX 12. Boyakasha, STi MY03 13. simbo, 93 wrx 14. Wooosh, P1 15. JohnS, Prodrive Sti MY02d 16. Tim W, Elise 17. CT, Sti MY02 and/or Tiger Supercat 18. Craig, Clio V6 (To be confirmed) 19. Callum Wood, Evo VII 20. Andrew Whitelaw, Astra Coupe Turbo (tbc, pending offshore dates) 21. Power Junkie, Sti V5 Type R 22. Grumbler, sti v2 (jap) 23. Jockey ( Grumbler's mate) Fiat coupe turbo 20vt 24. Iain Cameron (ex Scooby owner, and still a current SIDC member), Seat Leon

Just to say I've booked up another Knockhill track event. Saturday 23rd October from 2pm to 5pm. 3 hours open pit lane, and all for only £45 for SIDC members As usual, we'll have an instructor available for use during the event for anyone needing instruction, and also the Wheels Around tyres van will be there for wheel/tyre swaps/hires/sales ect. Should be in the shop within the next day or so, and at this price, places will go quickly. Nook up quick to guarantee your slot. John

Should be OK then with the numbers we have already then I'd like (if possible) to be one of the last to run in the afternoon, as I've got a few things planned for the Sunday, and I know if I turn up early in the morning for one of the first runs, I'll probably end up staying most of the day, and not getting anything else done John

I'd be tempted to phone Overton for a 2nd hand replacment with a 3 month warranty. Halfords should also sell them new for much less than a Pug dealer, as will most of the motor factors (like Partco on George St near Hutcheon St). John

Grumbler - all welcome

23rd is the date we are looking at, but it's got to be confirmed.

Jools/Gee etc, the SIDC does indeed have postcards which you can put under wipers to let people know that the club exists etc. I'm running low on stocks at the moment (about 15 or so), but I'm happy to give these to Jools who can distribute up north If there's a local event coming up, the best idea is to write your phone number on them with details of the event, as not every owner has access to the Internet. Cheers John

Glad you all enjoyed the day out Sorry the track was a bit damp to start with, but some people prefer it that way. I'll try to book some dry events next year! A dry line did form very quickly, and by 10am, only Duffus was still slippery (though it's been like that a few events this year). A short shower around 11am, and then dry again until the end. Excellent driving standards as per normal, with no complaints made on the day. There were a few first timers out towards the end of the session, and they may not have been quite up to speed/on the ball regarding mirrors etc, so apologies if any got in anyone's way. They'll be right up to speed for the next event though [1] A few offs, which is to be expected on a greasy track, but thankfully no real damage done to any car, apart from Jonathon's Caterham, which lost it's rear wheel arch after clipping the cone at the chicane, and somehow getting tangled up behind the wheel.... Hope to see you all there at the next one[1] John [1] We've got a provisional booking for an afternoon event in late October , which I'm hoping to confirm in the next few days.

Excellent stuff Marc & Gavin Jools - I've collected money (full amount) from Tim and Ali at the weekend. I'll chase up some of the others as well for you. Cheers John

Scooby Dooby Blue - yes there is indeed space for another two It's just that rather than shift everything up, I just added the last two onto the bottom of the page. There are two slots available, and potentially more, as I think we can run up to 34 drivers (ie 12 karts) at once. Just add your names to the list. John PS I'd e-mail Jools about payment, as it will need to be done in advance (cheque in post), and not on the day.

Updated list again 1. Jools 2. JohnS 3. PaulM 4. Bryan Philip 5. YoungKP 6. Ken Ross 7. BKS6 8. ShaunG * 9. Tim W (Scottish Elises) 10. Ali Crozier (Scottish Elises) 11. Uldis (Scottish Elises) 12. Scottish Elise driver #4 13. CT 14. CT junior 15. Ian Ross 16. Kevin Low 17. Alisdair Considine 18. TBA #4 * 19. Brendan Watt 20. Friend of Brendan Watt

I'm expecting quite a few Scoobs to turn up to this one

Gregg, if you have bought on-line, then you'll be getting an e-mail info pack from me tomorrow giving you all the details Membership can take up to 21 days to come through, but usually it's within 2 weeks. Our hard working membership secretary Andrina generally posts out the membership packs at weekends, but depending on the numbers joining in any one week (lots of renewals to deal with as well), your pack might slip to the following week. If you have bought your membership on-line, then print out your invoice/confirmation e-mail, take it along with you, and Grant/David will be happy to do your diagnostics stuff John

Usual Date: First Tuesday of each Month Usual Place: Old Mill Inn at Maryculter - on the South Deeside Road Usual Time: from 7:30pm onwards, usually until about 9pm, sometimes until 11pm, depending no how much there is to chat about Usual People: Everyone more than welcome, member or not. Newcomers are very welcome (we don't bite ) Hope to see lots of people there as usual John

Updated list: 1. Jools 2. JohnS 3. PaulM 4. Bryan Philip 5. YoungKP 6. Ken Ross 7. BKS6 8. ShaunG * 9. Tim W (Scottish Elises) 10. Ali Crozier (Scottish Elises) 11. Uldis (Scottish Elises) 12. Scottish Elise driver #4 13. CT 14. CT junior 15. Ian Ross 16. Kevin Low 17. Alisdair Considine 18. TBA #4 * 19. TBA #5 * 20. TBA #6 *

Great stuff Jools. Will try to collect deposits/full amounts from everyone attending tomorrow night who is going to the karting. John

David, I'm well aware that there is no timing of laps permitted. However, there's nothing we can do to stop people timing cars from the side of the track, or even on in-car cameras, and looking at the results afterwards Truth be told, as long as people don't go bragging about it, and it starts getting competitive (and hence potentially dangerous), I don't see much wrong in people recording their own times, as it helps them see where they are going wrong, how a different line can let them carry more speed through certain corners etc. John

I've been just too busy at work (time spent overseas!) and at home (not long moved house) to arrange the karting. Jools has arranged one in Aberdeen later this month (only a few places left, and you may as well combine it with the rolling road event the next day and make a weekend of it - might be a few beers to be had on the Saturday evening as well ) , and there will also be an indoor karting event in October as well (details to be finalised, but keep the weekend of the 23rd/24th free ) John

Jools, a well prepared Scoob will lap around 63 seconds, perhaps high 61s if running slicks/suitable tyres and some clean laps. Fastest Scoob lap I've heard of is a low 58, but that was on a very powerful car (400+bhp), running race suspension, slicks, massive brakes etc. 51 seconds is VERY quick indeed, and faster than touring cars etc. John

Jools, do you want me to collect some deposits at the monthly meeting on Tuesday evening at the Old Mill Inn ? John

Cal, the event is almost fully sold out now, and I'm expecting to close the shop later today! Should be a fantastic event, regardless of the weather, but it does look favourable on the long term forecasts. John

Grant, looks like you've done a very fine job of that yourself, but will also make the announcement at the briefing Cheers John

Jools, looks like you can add in 4 of the Elise owners for either one or two teams depending on the format We'll probably have to look at handicapping as well, to cater for the fact that the lighter teams have a distinct advantage. If we can get driver weights from everyone, we can use the well tried and tested additional pit stops stuff we've used in the past at Raceland which works quite well. Cheers John

Count me in Jools I'll go for either option, but option 1 seems quite good to me. John