johns

As announced in True Grip (out today), the SIDC are celebrating their 5th birthday in style this year, with an organised trip to the Isle of Man, the home of British Motorsport. Isle of Man This is a 5 day trip to the Island, with an fantastic itenerary of events lined up for our members to enjoy. The trip will take place between the 12th and 16th of September (Thursday - Monday inclusive). The schedule is as follows: Thursday - arrive on the island via Seacat or ferry from Liverpool of Heysham. Crossings from Ireland are also available. See Steam Packet Company for more info. Thursday evening. Welcome reception party at the House of Manannan museum in Peel with wine and nibbles included. This fantastic museum has won many awards, including Museum of the year quite recently. More details at House of Manannan Friday morning - you have the option of a track event at Jurby airfield, or an organised Treasure Hunt taking you to many points of interest around the Island. Friday afternoon will be left free (you can continue at the track all day if you wish), so that you can explore the Island, and do one of many activities which can be arranged for us. These include horse riding, scuba diving, golf tournaments (6 courses to choose from), cycling, mountain biking, sea boat trips (seal colony/basking sharks etc), numerous sporting activities, hillclimbing, fishing etc etc. Friday evening. BBQ and party night A chance to let your hair down, and enjoy a BBQ and party evening at one of the many good quality restaurants on the Island. Mini-buses/taxis can be arranged if you don't want to drive. Saturday morning. Drive the original 1902 TT circuit, which comprises 52 miles of the best roads on the Island. This is an extention of the existing TT circuit. The route will be signposted with club logos, so you don't get lost, and there will be a few stops en-route to obtain signature which prove you ahve done the whole circuit. Some people may wish to drive the route twice before lunch, which will be a buffet lunch at one of the hotels near the TT route. The latter part of Saturday afternoon is again left free for other activites, such as shopping, sporting events, etc, or just a chance to relax and enjoy the leisure facilities on offer at both of the hotels we have chosen for our base. Saturday evening is also free, and will allow you the chance to enjoy the best that the island has to offer in terms of high quality restaurants, pubs and nightlife. The casino at the Hilton will also be open until 4am if you fancy a spot of gambling! Sunday morning: Perhaps the best part of the trip. The government will close the mountain section of the TT circuit (about 8 Km) for our exclusive use. There will be no other traffic permitted on the road, so you have the guarantee that nothing will be coming in the other direction, and of course with no speed limits in place, you can enjoy the driving experience of a lifetime. Following the mountain section, we will have a photo call at the TT grandstand in Douglas, which is again reserved for our use during the day. Sunday afternoon will again be free for that last round of golf, last minute bargains at the shops, or those memorable final few trips across the mountain section of the TT circuit. On Sunday evening, we will be having a grand gala dinner at the Hilton in Douglas (black tie preferred but not essential), with possibly some speeches, prizes and special awards etc. Monday - the sad day when we all depart for home again, or you can if you prefer, stay on at any of the hotels for a few more days at the same incredibly low room rates on offer. We are also in talks with a company who plan to make a film of the event, with videos and DVDs of the event being produced (your chance to star on TV! ). The two hotels we have chosen for the trip, are the Mount Murray, which is situated just outside Douglas (5 minutes drive). This has a fantastic gym and leisure complex, with squash courts, several swimming pools, aerobics halls, tennis courts, 18 hole golf course on site etc. Full details at Mount Murray Web Site The other hotel is the Hilton in Douglas. 3 star hotel, offering all the usual Hilton refinements. I can personally vouch for the breakfasts being superb . Swimming pool, leisure complex, casino, two restaurants, and a bar which is open until 3:30am every morning! Centrally located, so ideal for the younger crowd who wish to explore the Douglas nightlife and pub scene. Plenty of parking available. Some rooms have balconies overlooking the seafront at Douglas. More details on Hilton Web Site The price for this amazing weekend to remember, a mere £333 per person, which includes all ferry travel, good quality hotel accommodation, breakfast every day, meals where mentioned above and all the events. The only exception is the track event, which will be an additional £50 per car, with no additional fees for extra drivers etc. This is based on two people sharing a twin/double room and a car. Single supplements will apply for those who wish to travel on their own, but these can be reduced if you share a twin room with another member on the trip. This will certainly be one of the biggest and most memorable events in the club's history, and a large turn-out is expected. There are already some 30-40 owners who have already booked their trip (only need pay a £50 deposit just now), or are planning to within the next few days. A booking form is printed in the current copy of True Grip, along with further details of the event. You can also book by telephone by calling Magic Holidays (who are handling all the arrangements) on 08457 585833. You will also shortly be able to book on-line as well We also hope that many of our good friends who live overseas, in Holland, Belgium, France, Sweden, Norway etc will also make the trip over the the island to help us celebrate our 5th birthday in style, and indeed there have been some special discounted ferry rates negotiated to enable them to join us. Members of other car clubs with who we have formed a good relationship with over the past 5 years are also welcome. Special arrangements can also be made for those who live further afield, and may wish to fly in for the event. We look forward to meeting you all on the Island in September. Remember, please don't be afraid to ask any questions in this forum. We'd be more than happy to help out with any queries you might have. John

Sorry for some mis-information on a previous thread. The next Knockhill event is not on the 11th May. I had forgotten that we had to rechedule this to the 20th July due to a clash in the race calendar at Knockhill. The full calendar of events we have planned are as follows: Knockhill Thursday June 20th. Evening session from 6-8pm. £35, open pit lane. Limited places. Saturday 20th July. Morning session from 9am - 1pm. £65, open pit lane. Places going very quickly!!! Thursday August 15th Evening session from 6-8pm. Open pit lane. £35. Limited places. BBQ afterwards in lodge for £10pp (eat/drink all you can ) Saturday 28th September. Morning session from 9am - 1pm. £65, open pit lane. Plenty of places left so far. You can book online at SIDC Club Shop Kames Sunday April 21st. All day from 9am onwards. Approx £20 per driver. Unlimited runs around the track. Sunday May 26th. As above. Saturday/Sunday July 27th/28th. Double header weekend. Run in one direction on Saturday. Overnight camping on site, with BBQ party (bring your own) etc (nearby B&Bs/hotels for those who prefer their creature comforts ). On the Sunday, we'll run the track in the opposite direction. This event is provisionally booked just now, so if you think you'll be attending, please let me know asap so we can confirm it. Either by e-mail or post up on here. Sunday 1st September. All day from 9am onwards. Karting Saturday 18th May. Outdoor karting at Raceland near Edinburgh. 4 hour endurance race in teams of 6 drivers. Only £300 per team (usually £450!!). This will be on their brand new race karts (2x200cc engines so faster than before!), and we'll be amongst the first customers to use them. We'll probably have a few more of our usual 2 hour outdoor karting events throughout the year as well For more info on any of the above, please email me at john@sidc.co.uk John

There is one remaining slot available for the Advanced Driver Training programme which we have organised at Crail airfield for Friday 15th March. Only £80 for a full days instruction! See Click here for full info. Those who have done it before rate it very highly indeed. There are also some slots available on Wednesday 29th March. John

Just to let you know there are a couple of spaces for tonight's karting event at Raceland near Edinburgh if anyone is interested. £35 per driver for a Grand Prix type event (individual heats, semis and final). Starts at 6pm. Drop me an e-mail if you are interested. John

Read pads are simple to do. I think all you need is a 12mm ring spanner. Undo one bolt, and the caliper "flips open" to allow you to take out the pads and relpace them. I managd OK, having never done the job before, and took about 10 minutes - 15 per side. Rear discs are slightly more complex, in that there is a drum handbrake mechanism inside the wheels. Depending on the age of your car and how worn things are, you will probably need to slacken off the handbrake first. It's then just a case of comlpetely removing the caliper, and using a bit of force (possibly with a mallet) on the disc to prise it off. New disc should go on OK, with new pads etc. You'll also need to adjust the handbrake again. I think there are individual adjusters on the drum mechanism (accesses via small grommets on the other side of the disc/brake mechanism, and also one inside the centre console somewhere. John

The 2nd AWD Motorsport open day is being held at their Perth premises on the 30th March. All Impreza owners will be made very welcome, and you'll have a chance to chat to the staff about your cars, other owners, compare mods etc. AWD will kindly supply free tea, coffee and biscuits all day for those turning up. Best of all, is that club members showing their membership card, will be eligible for free engine diagnostic checks, so an ideal opportunity to check that all is well with your engine, spark plugs, boost levels etc. AWD Motorsport can be found at: 1 INVERALMOND ROAD INVERALMOND IND EST PERTH SCOTLAND PH 1 3TW T. 01739 633336 F. 01738 636340 e-mail SALES@AWDMOTORSPORT.FSNET.CO.UK I hope as many as last time (if not more) will turn out, and make this a very successful day indeed

LOL Derek. Dave actually works for AWD I know for the past couple of years we have had a January meeting in Perth, but with various things going on at the moment we haven't been able to get a suitable date, so it will most likely take place around the end of Feb. Karting - I am planning another event very soon as well. Might be indoors this time, due to the weather. Regional meets - yes the numbers should pick up once the weather starts to get better, and we get more advertising done. I'm hoping to attend as many as possible this year. Cheers John

Hi Grasshopper As you can see, there are lots of events going on this coming year. We have track events at Knockhill, which you can coem along to. Costs nothing to watch (if you aren't sure about taking your own car on track), and you might even get some passenger laps. We've also got some events at kames lined up, which are similar (one car on track at a time), but very affordable and a good social atmosphere. There are also a network of regional organisers, who arrange meets (often a few cars, often 20+) every so often. In addition, there are larger events such as the Cameron House BBQ every year, and lots of events like karting etc. Also, there are some guys who do quite a lot of the things that I don't have time to arrange, such as rolling road events etc. The best thing to do is just to turn up to one event and start talking to people. We are all a very friendly bunch

Here are the dates we have (provisionally) booked for exclusive use of the Kames Motorsport facility, just off the A70 near Ayr: Saturday 20th April (all day) Sunday 26th May (all day) July 6th and 7th (whole weekend, with overnight camping, BBQ and party!) Sunday 1st September (all day). The costs for each event will be in the region of £20/day/driver for those wishing to use the track, and free for those who just wish to come along to watch and enjoy the events from the sidelines. On the double header weekend, we aim to run cars in one direction on the Saturday, and then reverse the direction for the Sunday. The evening BBQ will be a bring your own cool box with food and drink type event. We'll also try and arrnage some rooms at nearby hotels/B&Bs for those who aren't too keen on camping out overnight. John

Hi all, Just trying to gauge some interest in a meeting in Aberdeen this coming Sunday (9th December) afternoon. The idea is just to have a get together, have a chat, get some photos taken (Steve from the P&J will hopefully be there to do the honours), and possibly/optionally go for a few beers and a curry afterwards. Suggested venue is the Torry Battery, so we could get some scenic sun-set shots with the city in the background (if it isn?t snowing!) in the late afternoon. They could be submitted for a future issue of True Grip. If we meet up later on in the day, then it will give you time to get out of bed, have lunch, do some Xmas shopping etc first. John

See Knockhill Dates

Chris Booth's photos Some excellent photos of this years event, courtesy of Chris Booth For those who are interested, the whole weekend was another fantastic event, with full report to appear in the next True Grip. John

We've been allocated a few places at a karting event (Grand Prix type race) at Racing Karts (Racing Karts Website) at Blochairn, not far from the M8. The cost will be £35 per driver, and the places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Please contact me for details of where to send your cheque to etc. This will be the first event in our winter karting series. The next will be held in January, at either Aberdeen or Edinburgh John

Yes it's true!! This Sunday (21st October), Aberdeen and District Motor Club (ADMC) are holding a tarmac rally at Edzell airfield near Dundee. This event is not open to spectators this year, as it is the first time it has been run, therefore only marshalls will be permitted on site. However, it is likely that you'll be marshalling from inside the comfort of your own car, parked at a safe distance away from the action, on the grass or on the airfield itself, and the only work you would need to do is if a car hits some tyres or straw bales, you run out and put them back for the next car running a few minutes later. In return for your strenuous marshalling duties, you will be rewarded with a free hot lunch and drinks. What's the catch - well as this is a closed event, you'll need to be there at 7am when the gates are first opened, as once the event starts, no-one else will be permitted to enter the airfield. You don't need to tell anyone in advance that you are attending, but it would help the clerk of the course (Ashley Reid) if you let me know in advance that you'll be going. Of course you can take a few friends in the one car, and you can all help to watch the action (sorry that should read marshall ) from the comfort of one or more cars. I won't be there (SIDC AGM), but it does sound like a very good day out. Apparently (though you didn't hear this from me!), they "may" turn a blind eye to those wishing to have a bit of fun in their own cars on the airfield after the event is finished. This is not guaranteed though, as it all depends on the timing of the event etc.

There is one slot available for this event which is taking place on Saturday. Cost only £45, but you must be an SIDC member. Email me if you are interested.

This Sunday at Alford. Only £5 !! No display stands etc, just the use of the track for fun

Just reminding people about this event. Remember to bring your membership card (I hope most of you have renewed on-line at SIDC Shop), if yo want the free diagnostic checks. Grant is also offering 10% discount off he entire Blitz range of products for SIDC members during October.

Great pictures Can't wait to read the review in the P&J next week. John

Glad you enjoyed it The organisation bit isn't too much of an overhead, but I just wish everyone would turn up in plenty of time, rather than 20 minutes before the track opens, and just as the briefing starts. I'm going to get next year's events sorted out hopefully by the end of this year, so we can plan the full calendar. John

Just like to thank everyone for taking part on Friday. I didn?t manage to get a copy of the results, so if anyone has a sheet with them on, I?d love to get a copy. I think we?d all agree that the racing was much closer this time, with all the teams being very closely matched in terms of fastest laps and overall positions. I remember the first event we did, there was something like a 7 lap difference between first and third places, but this time something like 3 laps covered the first 7 or 8 teams. I know there were a few problems with some of the karts (though some seemed to have really good karts!), which will hopefully be resolved soon. Raceland have a back order for a whole fleet of new karts, which should have been here in time for this event, but it?s looking more like January before they are all delivered. We won?t book the outdoor track again until the new karts arrive, but I would then expect us to have a booking every couple of months. He change of pit lane also took us by surprise, which diluted the impact of the stop&go penalties somewhat. We?ll replace these next time with a ?fairer? handicap system, probably a single, timed stop&go (e.g. x seconds for every Kg under average weight, and xx seconds for winning previous events). In the meantime, I?d like to gauge interest in some indoor karting events during the winter months. We can run either individual or team endurance events, or even the grand prix type format, where each driver competes in a number of races, followed by semi-finals and finals. There are a number of karting centres across Scotland we can use (Raceland, Kirkcaldy, Livingstone, Aberdeen amongst others), and if possible I?d like to have at least one event at each. Just let me know what sort of events you would be interested in, and I?ll take it from there. We might even set-up a league of some sorts if there is enough interest! John

Please note that this event is now fully booked

AWD Motorsport in Perth are holding an open day on Saturday 29th September to which all club members are invited. There will be free tea and coffee available throughout the day, as well as the chance to meet the staff, discuss upgrades etc. They are also offering free engine diagnostic checks to any SIDC member (remember to take your membership cards with you!) all day. They can check all aspects of engine performance (boost pressures, temperatures, spark voltages etc) using their Select monitors, as they have the cartriges for every Impreze model including imports. If you want more info, then you can mail Grant Swan on AWD Motorsport or give him a call on 01738 633336. John

This event is now fully subscribed!! If you haven't already sent me your booking form and cheque, or sent me an e-mail to say you why you haven't sent it yet (a few people on holiday), then I'm afraid you are going to have to go on the reserve list Demand for places was much greater than at previous events, and we had a few less places due to us taking over the slot from the Porsche Owners Club, who held onto some places as part of the deal. I know some of you have posted your booking forms today or in the past couple of days (and informed me), so your place is still being held for a few days to allow the post to arrive. Any other booking forms that arrive will go onto the reserve list in the order they reach me. Cheers John

We have the possibility of a track session Saturday 15th September (the day before Cameron House Hotel BBQ so a few of you will be up from down south anyway). It will be an open pit lane from 9am to 1pm. Cost will be about £60/£65 per car, for unlimited lap times. We need 40 cars to cover our costs, and if we get more (absolute maximum of 50), then you?ll get some money back or some freebies like the last time. However, I need to know by lunchtime tomorrow (it?s a late cancellation) if we?ll be able to get that many cars (I?m sure we will) so we can book the track. Send me an email if you are interested. Best Regards John

Dave, are you going to come along on the 5th as well then ? You might even be able to sell a few prints John Stevenson who is doing most of the arrangements has already been round there in under 90 seconds I believe in his Impreza, but he does have extensive knowledge of the track (getting our excuses in early!)