Forum Home / Bedford 11 March 2019 / Great substitute

04/01/2019 11:05:30
Dave
Bedford GT circuit is a good substitute for the Silverstone event. It doesn't have the historical appeal that might attract some "one-off" attendees, but it is a challenging circuit because of it's length, number of corners and custom design. I do hope we can get the 80 cars needed to make it a success. We should certainly push the unique nature of the GT circuit in as many places as possible - newsletters, SF, websites (ours and MGCC) and partners (MGOC, Triumph community, Midget guys etc.) Anyway, it's been quite a few years since I've driven the GT circuit so it's now on my list for this year's trips away from sunny Pembrokeshire. I'll have to get myself organised though, as it's just five days after my return from hols and I'll need to MOT and tax the car (currently on a sorn for the first time over winter). I'm away from 12th Feb until 5th March - hopefully bookings will be open before I go.
04/01/2019 16:39:50
NigelS
Hi Dave, You are spot on. Its a great substitute for Silverstone but will need to be sold hard. We already have feelers out with the TR Register and Midget & Sprite Club. Booking for Bedford opens next Monday, 7th January so plenty of time to book before you go away!
27/01/2019 17:50:56
mgbjohn
Great circuit. For me it was like discovering Anglesey, brilliant. Looking forward to returning inMarch.
03/02/2019 06:44:37
Dave P
Have the MASCOT guys shown any interest in Bedford for their members?
08/02/2019 15:59:40
Dave
Well the F passed its MOT the other day and so it's all ready for when I return from hols in early March. So, I've booked :) Only another 31 places to go o_O See you all in a month!
08/02/2019 16:28:46
Dave P
Good news, look forward to seeing you then! I have some GoPro footage from the day we shared with LoT which i will upload if i can work out how to do it. At the moment the 15 min files are around 5Gb.
08/02/2019 16:30:05
Dave
Great - I can't remember much other than the enormous straight and not knowing when to brake for the kink!
11/02/2019 11:49:00
Dave P
One thing I noticed on the bookings to date is that none of the MGB V8 boys are coming. They usually do Silverstone and Bedford is an ideal circuit for them. Any ideas on how they could be pursuaded? Are they concerned about the noise limits?
16/02/2019 08:11:18
mgbjohn
I have contacted Mark at Fisher Services to ask if they will attend. I will also ask Michael Sparks and Lee at Goodwood if they are going.
16/02/2019 10:41:45
NigelS
Brilliant, thanks John. I have covered MASC & the K-series Midgets but will keep pushing these as well . Any other thoughts folks?
17/02/2019 16:09:46
Steve Hill
I have emailed Victor Smith, V8 Register for some help. See here; [URL]http://www.v8register.net/sub3/news190216-MGsonTrack-bedford.htm[/URL]
02/03/2019 10:43:48
Martin Holmes
Bedford is now looking very serious chaps. It appears Dave John and Nigels' valiant attempts to whip up interest has not (yet) produced the sales we need and I wonder what more we can do? For my part I am incredibly frustrated and disappointed that my brief contribution each month to EMG ( MGOC ) monthly magazine was for the first time "lost" in the editorial change over but typically included a massive plug to the MGOC world for Bedford. I have received profuse apologies from Holly Collas but it couldn't have happened at a more inopportune moment. I have to ask what is our exposure if sales remain well short of the line - whatever that may be? I appreciate we have a very good deal indeed with MSV for this event but presumably there must be the real risk of a significant loss now on this event? We need to find out why this seems not to have excited our punters and I have my thoughts and hopefully we will discuss next Saturday. Interesting that Cadwell has sold out.....
03/03/2019 16:19:14
NigelS
Hi Martin & fellow committee members, The total cost for Bedford is £5,332, we have sold 12 places to the TR Register (total price £1,620) leaving a balance of £3,712. Assuming everyone books at the MGCC price, we need to sell 27.5 places (28) to break even with no overhead. The calculated overhead for Bedford is £1,082, thus we actually need to sell 36 places to break even. We have currently sold 25 so we need to move an additional 11 places to avoid losing money. Currently, (and again assuming everyone books at £135 which they do not), then we are down by £1419. Hope this helps!
04/03/2019 08:20:46
Martin Holmes
An excellent explanation Nigel. Thank you very much and although disappointing it's liveable with I guess... This reinforces yet again how important it is we maintain our cash reserve to be able to absorb the occasional "bump in the road" Thanks again.
07/03/2019 17:50:55
Dave P
Joining instructions for Monday are uploaded.
12/03/2019 14:06:29
Dave
Hi Nigel, I hope you got your recovery truck soon after I left and that you got back safely. Hopefully, also before me! I arrived home 12 hours and three recovery vehicles later at 4:30am. Luckily I could sleep in and surfaced at 11:30am. Trouble is, I feel more jet-lagged now than after coming back from Vietnam! It was a great day until the tow off the track though. I think I was just putting the poor 21 year old F under too much pressure. I was expecting the brake pads to be the problem, but they survived! I've cancelled my Cadwell place, as I expect my local mechanic to be a bit busy now the race season beckons. Somehow I've got to suss out whether it is a coil pack breaking up or something else. That may take some time if my mechanic is tied up on other projects. Good to see the glowing testimony from The Triumph guy today :)
12/03/2019 14:12:42
NigelS
Hi Dave, It was about another half hour, then they took me to St. Neots (yes, North!) to swap me onto a smaller truck which could sit a 60-70 on the motorway, but we didnt leave their depot until 11:56pm so I was home about 2:30am, not that much before you. Have swapped out the alternator to my spare which is all working fine now, no idea what caused it to fail, but James did say he had an aftermarket one fail after a year and mine is almost bang in that timescale. Hope you get sorted soon and look forward to seeing you soon too.