johns

Most people on here will recommend the products by Mark Underwood (Swissol), or Zymol. These give fantastic results, but are a bit on the pricy side. For almost as good results, try the range of products at www.iauto.co.uk. The Speed polish followed up by the wax plus 3 stuff will give great results for about 1/3 of the price of the Swissol/Zymol ranges. The application technique is as important as the product itself. I'm sure you'll get lots of replies from other owners explaining the best way of applying these products, and which ones they use John

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

Everyone is meeting at AWD Motorsport in Perth. Give them a call - or look them up on their website: www.awdmotorsport.co.uk Should be anotehr great day out. Cheers John

As Richard will no doubt tell you next time you pop in, we had a fantastic time on the Island, and are looking forward to a return visit next year

Right everyone, spoke to Mary McLennan at the Isle of Glencoe Hotel yesterday, and she is eagerly awaiting our bookings :-) Can you please call her on 01855 821582 to confirm your booking, and have your credit/debit card handy (to secure the booking - you can pay by a different means once you get there). We have a special rate of £67.50 per person per night in the deluxe rooms in the new part of the hotel, or £65 per person per night for the standard rooms in the old part. I would strongly recommend that everyone book the rooms ni the new part of the hotel though, so we are all together. The event itself will follow the tried and tested format of: Friday (from lunchtime onwards) arrive from all over the UK. Relax (or do some driving if you wish), have a few drinks, welcome everyone else as they arrive at the hotel. Around 7:30 - 8pm we usually have dinner, but those arriving later will be accomodated until about 9:45pm, after which the hotel can only provide some soup and sandwiches. The food is excellent, so well worth arrivin early for. Around the bar afterwards, we'll get everyone sorted out into driving groups, depending on where you want to go, how far and how fast you want to drive etc. Some people like to drive fast, but stop regularly for lots of spectacular photo opportunities, and others like to simply drive fast, and only stop for fuel and food ;-) Saturday morning sees an early start for some people, as they head off for their days driving. With a bit of luck, most of the groups will meet up around lunchtime (Ullapool is a good spot for lunch and fuel), before going their separate ways again and meeting up back at the hotel again later in the day. Traditionally, we would take to the pool/jacuzzi to relax after the long days drive, before getting ready for our dinner. We'll dine as a group, and it will start around 8pm. Dress code is smart casual, unless your name is Tut, in which case you can wear your training shoes with your jogging bottoms ;-) Saturday evening/Sunday morning is usually when the bar sees a busy spell (it will stay open as long as you keep drinking, and I think the record is about 4am!) Sunday morning sees the last of the excellent eat all you can breakfasts, and we check out of the hotel and head off in small groups again for our lunch spot (to be confirmed within the next few days), where we shall all meet up for a final lunch together, after another fantastic drive. It is then we sadly say goodbye to friends old and new, before departing for another year and head off home again. I must also add that the Isle of Glencoe would be happy to extend the stays for anyone wishing to stay longer at the same excellent rate. The countdown has started. John PS Once you have booked with the hotel, could you please let myself know the details (ie name, car details, type of room Twin/Double/Single), so I know who all to expect at the hotel :-)

Please note that for the next few months at least (and probably permanently), we'll be changing the Aberdeen monthly meeting to the first Tuesday of every month. Same place (Old Mill Inn), same time (7:30pm), same people plus hopefully a few others who can't make Wednesday evenings. See you all there John

Got a possibility of a winter track event at Knockhill on Saturday 16th November from about 12pm to 4pm (for those who say I don't know what afternoons are!). Guaranteed to be cold and very probably wet, but could still be lots of fun if you wrap up warm. Time to hone those essential winter driving skills Costs - we would need about 30 people brave enough to pay £50 for a whole afternoons fun on track to make it worthwhile. Can you let me know asap if you think it's a good idea or not. John

Well, it will be Wednesday this month (can't make Tuesday myself ), and we'll take a vote on it then whether to switch permanently to a Tuesday, or just every other one ? Also, I've now received stocks of the SIDC clothing (T-shirts, polo shirts, hats etc), which you can purchase from me on the night. Remember to bring your cheque books with you John

Most of us will be at Knockhill this Saturday morning, so probably the best chance for a while to meet everyone and arrange some stuff for the winter months. Also got the Tour d'Ecosse in the eary part of November, and hopefully a karting event in October if I can find the time to get the arrangements done. John