johns

Just been informed that we can now participate on a track event at Jurby on the Saturday as part of the 2003 Manx Classic Cavalcade The cost will be £100 for the whole day (last year was £50 for the half day, but we stayed on a little bit longer ), and will be strictly limited to a maximum of 80 cars. With over 400 cars expected to be taking part on the event, I'd advise anyone who is thinking about doing it, to pre-book the event as early as possible. The event will be run from 9am to 5pm, and probably without a formal 1 hour lunch break (ie you can keep going all day!) Booking forms for the track event will be available from Magic Holidays/FAD Promotions next week, and we'll get them up on the SIDC website asap for people to download. John

Stuart - just let us know when you'll be back across. We can even arrange fro your car to be at the OMI, and we can post up some photos for you to remind you of it Hope things are going well in Houston John

See everyone there

Just to let you all know that we've been invited to take part in a charity run from Aberdeen, up through the Lecht and onto Glenshee. The meeting point is the Shepherd's Rest pub in Westhill, and is being organised by the Mini Owners Club in Aberdeen, and is going under the name of the Mad March Run. All other car clubs and enthusiasts have been invited along to take part, and help them raise money for the Mountain Rescue Team. There will be a minimum donation of £5 per car taking part (you can donate more if you wish), and at Glenshee, there will be a meeting with the Mountain Rescue team (possiblt press presence there as well so have your car shiny!), to hand over the money raised. Should be a good fun event (most mini owners will be coming in fancy dress or wearing a crazy hat !!). Meet at the pub just before 12. John

Our next karting event is being held at Raceland on Saturday 19th April, starting at 12:30pm. It will be a 2 hour endurance race for teams of 4 people, with a 30 minute practice session prior to the race. It will be held on Raceland's excellent 930m outdoor track, using twin engined pro-karts capable of up to 70mph You can enter as an individual, or as a team of up to 4, and we'll sort out the teams as necessary. Cost will be approximately £35/£40 per driver. Trophies and bubbly for the winning teams. Please e-mail me on john@sidc.co.uk for a booking form or more details. We'll also be using our finely tuned handicap system to even things out so that the lighter/more experienced teams don't walk away with it, and indeed the heaviest team has won in the past! Like all our karting events, this one will be fully subscribed, so remember to book up quickly if you want a chance to take part. John

Details have just been announced for the Isle of Man 2003 event in September this year. It will be for many car clubs, so places will be limited, and allocated on a first come first served basis. The price is a little more than we paid last year (which everyone will agree was superb value for money), but includes some different events to do. The full details are listed in an e-mail attachment which I was sent (364Kb), which I'll happily e-mail to anyone that requests it. Summary info: 18th - 22nd September Ferry Travel from the mainland Welcome Reception Discover the Druidale Trail Gala Dinner evening Gaiety Theatre Evening Drive the TT Mountain Course (closed for our exclusive use of course ) Ferry Travel home All hotels, and many meals included £365 per person, based on two people sharing. John

Info will be posted up here as soon as we hear anything!

Hi all, just a short note to say that the SIDC Knockhill events for 2003 are now available in our online club shop. SIDC Club Shop There is a small supplement to cover credit card fees of about £3 per booking made via the on-line shop, but you will be able to book using a booking form and cheque in the normal manner. Please request a booking form from me at john@sidc.co.uk if you wish to pay by cheque. There are different rates for members and non-members of the club, so please choose the correct option when booking. By popular request, we've also introduced the concept of a "season ticket" for all our Knockhill events this year. If you intend to book all the events, then the season ticket will save you about £30 in total over the course of the year. There's also an option to book all 4 events, and join the club if you aren't a member, which still works out cheaper than joining the club, and then booking all 4 events individually. These latter two options are at the end of the track day events section, and availability will be limited. As usual, all our events will be open pit lane, and we should have at least one instructor available for free use throughout the event. We should also have the ever popular Wheels Around van there,offering wheel and tyre changing facilities, as well new tyres at discounted prices, and even a limited amount of slicks for hire (pre-mounted on Subaru wheels, or fitted to your own wheels). Willie Ball (of yellow TVR Cerbera fame), has also started a track day hire business, and is kindly offering his Westfield Megablade (also bright yellow!) for hire at any of our track days at discounted rates for SIDC members. It will be possible to share the car hire with other members (each getting an hour for example) if you wish. More info on the car including prices at: Track Day Hire See you there on the 8th March! Regards John john@sidc.co.uk

Richard, I'll happily propose and/or second you as regional organiser Sorry to hear about the Type-R John

Andrew Walsh (from www.1stlotus.com) will be up in Scotland in march (Crail airfield), to do some of hs very popular advanced driver training courses. The following is the availability from yesterday, so if you are interested, I'd book up quick. Sunday March 16th (1 space available on a 2 person day) Tuesday March 18th (can be booked as either a 2 or 4 person day) Wednesday March 19th (can be booked as either a 2 or 4 person day) Friday March 21st (3 spaces on a 4 person day) Contact details at their website 1stlotus John

Yes, all members more than welcome. Looks like the 22nd is by far the most popular date so far based on the e-mail replies I've had so far. John

Happy new year everyone. Apologies for the delay in getting the next endurance karting event sorted out, but we've now got a choice of two dates. The venue is Racing Karts in Livingston - those of you with long memories will remember our first event there about 3 or 4 years ago! Their website is: Racing Karts Website The event will be a 3 hour endurance race, on their indoor track, in teams of 4 drivers. We will use our tried and tested handicap system to give us close racing right to the end. The cost will be £140 per team (£35 each for a team of 4), and we have a maximum of 10 teams permitted. The two possible dates are: a) Friday 7th February, 6pm arrival, practice starts prompt at 6:15, with the race starting at 7pm. No doubt we'll have the usual curry and beers afterwards! Saturday 22nd February, 10:30am arrival, practice starts prompt at 10:45am, with the race starting promptly at 11:30am (there is another event starting at 3pm, so no slippage allowed!). Potential for an evening out afterwards with an overnight stay for non-locals. Could you please reply if you are interested with the following info: a) Friday 7th Feb only Saturday 22nd Feb only or c) Either date suits. The option with the most votes within the next two days will be chosen, and I'll send out a booking form. As usual, there will be at least one or two teams made up of individual entries, so please don't feel left out if you can't make up a team. Best Regards John

Sorry ot hear of the cancellation Derek, but moving it to the spring will undoubtedly give us a much bigger audience. I am still up for attending, and I think that perhaps we shoudl try and get a few more events like this started across Scotland. Keep up the excellent work John

Usual time, usual place Old Mill Inn, 7:30pm See you all there John

I've done a one day First Aid course before, but it was about 4 years ago. I'd be happy to go on another course just to keep me up to date. Ross is probably the best person to advice us, as he actually runs these courses when he's onshore. John

Hotel does sound rather accomodating

I'm not aware of any. You could always import them yourself though, as the exchange rate is still very good, though it would take a few days to arrive. John

Just a short reminder that there is a monthly SIDC meeting at the Old Mill Inn at Maryculter (on the South Deeside Road) on Tuesday 3rd December, starting at 7:30pm. Everyone welcome to join us for a chat, plan future events etc. I'll also have my stock of SIDC clothing (t-shirts, polo shirts, and now winter fleeces) for sale, if anyone wants to treat themselves to an Xmas present :-) Things to be discussed: Xmas night out or lunch - enough interest ?, if so, where and when etc. Karting - enough interest for an Aberdeen karting event, possibly mid January ? Other events: what sort of things could we plan for next year (Ring trip is one suggestion). Hope to see lots of you there as usual. John

Derek, do it on the cheap and come as a passenger/co-driver with someone else. There will be quite a few passenger seats available no doubt! John

It depends on which side of the Forth Road bridge you start, and at what time of the day I've no doubt that it's a short journey when the roads are quiet, but the last time I did it, we got caught in traffic at Newcastle, and also at Edinburgh Anyone else up for this trip ? John

A-J, yes the Newcastle ferry is another option we'll have to consider. It's not too far away if you live near Edinburgh, as it's only about 3 hours or so drive there, but from Aberdeen (where me and Numptie live), it would be a 5 hour minimum drive. We'd need to work out the overall costs, journey times etc. Chances are we'll have a number of options, and people can choose the route that suits them best John

Well done Derek

Derek, thought I replied to a poll, and said Yes I was definitely interested. It's an excellent idea, and I'd go for a date in mid to late Jan. We'll get the publicity bandwagon going before then to get us a good turn out. John

We had planned to hold our next outdoor karting event on the evening of Friday 22nd November, but that date was no longer available when we went to book it. However, we have been offered a Saturday afternoon slot the next day (23rd November) at 3:30pm. Unfortunately this clashes with a planned trip north for some of you, though I'm not sure if you could perhaps do this after the karting - it would certainly work up a thirst ;-) The options we have are: a) Hold the event on Saturday 23rd November, starting at 3:30pm Hold the event on Friday 6th December, starting at 6pm The event will be an outdoor endurance event, using the twin engined pro-karts on the full 930m track. It will be for teams of 4 drivers, and our tried and tested handicap system based on weight and driver experience will be used to even things up a bit. The cost will be our usual discounted rate of £35 - £40 per driver, depending on the number teams taking part. Can you please let me know if: 1) You are interested 2) You would prefer the 23rd November, 6th December or either 3) Do you want to enter as a team, or an individual (we'll make up teams of individuals) Best Regards John

This event has now been confirmed The cost will be a mere £50 for SIDC members, and £55 for guests. 4 hours open pit lane fun, at Scotland permium motorsports venue. Ideal for sharpening up those winter driving skills. Should be available to book up online in the club shop later today or tomorrow, or you can post me through a cheque made payable to SIDC with a booking form (please send an e-mail to request). See you all there John