16/01/2007 09:38:27 Dave Our first event of the year is a Saturday! Not easy to achieve, but thanks to our friends at Lotus on Track (LoT), who are the biggest Track Day Organiser at Brands, we have two out of the three sessions on 3rd February. With a slow start to bookings (Xmas seemed long this year!) we decided to open one of these sessions up to some of the other clubs that we share days with - MX-5, Club Triumph etc. So far, even those have been slow to take advantage, but we do have a couple of Smart Roadsters booked in and we look forward to welcoming them to the day. Many of you will know that another benefit of sharing a day with LoT is that they bring with them a team of excellent ARDS instructors. Thanks to LoT's subsidy on instruction costs we can offer an instructor to accompany you in one of your 20 min track sessions for just £10 - yes just a tenner. I always take a slot, as there is always something to learn, no matter how many times you lap a circuit. The MGCC have sold off the helmets we had last year, but LoT will have helmets available for hire at £20 for the day. So, if you aren't sure about track days and want to see what goes on, then get yourself down to Brands, sign on, hire a helmet and grab a few passenger laps. There'll be four MGoT committee members on hand who will offer you laps and probably plenty of others as well.

16/01/2007 10:22:08 Stu I'm really looking forward to doing Brands again I finally got around to driving in for the first time only last month and it's a fabulous circuit, dare I say it , Donnington was my favourite but I think Brands has knocked it into second place! :D Paddock hill bend and the run up to Druids is just awesome and puts a big grin on my face every time I go around.. If your toying with the idea of coming along, but haven't commited yet I'd grab the chance while there are places available, you really won't regret it. Stu

18/01/2007 11:05:08 Stu Jason Plato showing us how it should be done [URL="http://www.topgear.com/content/timetoburn/sections/videos/31/broadband.html"]http://www.topgear.com/content/timetoburn/sections/videos/31/broadband.html[/URL] Stu:D

18/01/2007 16:07:32 Dom Hi, I'm the South East Organiser for TheMiniForum. I have spoken to Tim and placed a topic in my section advertising your track day. Unfortunately I am unable to attend as I am unavaliable but I would be interested in future track days at Brands. All the best. Dom

18/01/2007 17:59:43 Dave [quote=Dom]Hi, I'm the South East Organiser for TheMiniForum. I have spoken to Tim and placed a topic in my section advertising your track day. Unfortunately I am unable to attend as I am unavaliable but I would be interested in future track days at Brands. All the best. Dom[/quote]Hi Dom, good to hear from you. Thanks for putting our Brands day on your forum. We sometimes get the opportunity to share our days like this. Please drop me an email at [EMAIL="dave@mgs-on-track.com"]dave@mgs-on-track.com[/EMAIL] so that I can keep in touch. Regards, Dave

26/01/2007 22:32:51 Stu keep an eye on how the weathers going to be at Brands here [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?id=1612"]BBC - Weather Centre - 5 Day Forecast in Celsius for Longfield, United Kingdom[/URL] Stu:D

29/01/2007 09:08:51 Prawn Can I just check one thing ? In an open car ie MGTF is there any stipulation wether I use an open or full face helmet. Just want to know which one to put in! Cheers

29/01/2007 09:22:34 Dave [quote=Prawn]Can I just check one thing ? In an open car ie MGTF is there any stipulation wether I use an open or full face helmet. Just want to know which one to put in! Cheers[/quote]Hi Shaun, Bring the closed face helmet as, strictly speaking, you need this if you drop the hood. Cheers Dave

29/01/2007 09:37:23 Stu I used an open face at Brands in November with the top down and they didn't say anything but Dave's right, officially you are supposed to use a full face in a open top. I have a feeling this may be aimed at the Caterham or small windscreen cars. I will take a chance and hire one if they get difficult about it.:) Stu

29/01/2007 10:15:28 Dave [quote=Stu]...I have a feeling this may be aimed at the Caterham or small windscreen cars..... Stu[/quote] Stu's right, I've never seen the rule enforced, but I'm told it is to do with 'mud in the eye'! An open top car, of any description, could allow something from outside to hit your face and cause a problem.

29/01/2007 12:38:51 Prawn Cheers Guys, Closed face it is then.

29/01/2007 22:19:26 Ecce Signum Evening all, just popped over from theroadster.net to say I've been looking forward to my first track day ever. Special thanks to Dave cos if it wasn't for him I may not have driven! I got my pack last night and the second sentance (in red) said bring your driving licence, well, after a 2 hour hunt I gave up looking and asked Dave for help. Quick as a flash he was onto his 'friends' and it looks like I'll be ok but may miss the first session. As its my first track day I'll be taking things easy but looking forward to seeing how my ickle 101bhp Brabus goes against Mike's massive 115bhp roadie, and of course showing you guys small can be gutsy ;) See you on Saturday and please say hi to the old guy in the Silver Brabus if you see me.

30/01/2007 12:57:51 Dave [b]Check that you have received the event guide by email[/b] Everyone booked in should now have received the event guide by email. Please let me know if you haven't received this.

30/01/2007 14:53:51 birdy Hello all. Looking forward to this event, in particular how the Elises fare as I've secretly been thirsting after one. How do I book an instructor session- looks like great value and as they say you're never too old to learn. Can I get a session later on in the day?

30/01/2007 15:15:19 Dave [quote=birdy]Hello all. Looking forward to this event, in particular how the Elises fare as I've secretly been thirsting after one. How do I book an instructor session- looks like great value and as they say you're never too old to learn. Can I get a session later on in the day?[/quote]Hi Mike, Instruction is exceptional value since our friends at Lotus on Track effectively subsidise this! If we were to hire an instructor we'd need to charge something like £25 per session to recoup the cost. In your session (C) there are instruction slots still available at 11:40 and 12:40 if you want one. Session A slots are solidly booked until the afternoon. Please confirm by email to me at [EMAIL="dave@mgs-on-track.com"]dave@mgs-on-track.com[/EMAIL] Thanks, Dave

31/01/2007 21:49:26 Mike2001 Hi Dave, I have just a couple of quick questions in preparation for Saturday... Firstly re-spectators, I was planning on bringing along a couple of the family to spectate (travelling in another car). The last time i was a Brands there was no problem with them support parking on the GP paddock - even if they will be turning up in the afternoon. - Is this still going to be the case as I know there are more cars on this day than my previous one. Secondly, I have booked a couple of tuition slots in (Session A) do I need to pre-book a time slot as well? - or just on the day? I'm looking forward to a hopefully dry Brands this time! :D Cheers, Mike.

31/01/2007 22:13:09 Dave [quote=Mike2001]Hi Dave, I have just a couple of quick questions in preparation for Saturday... Firstly re-spectators, I was planning on bringing along a couple of the family to spectate (travelling in another car). The last time i was a Brands there was no problem with them support parking on the GP paddock - even if they will be turning up in the afternoon. - Is this still going to be the case as I know there are more cars on this day than my previous one. Secondly, I have booked a couple of tuition slots in (Session A) do I need to pre-book a time slot as well? - or just on the day? I'm looking forward to a hopefully dry Brands this time! :D Cheers, Mike.[/quote]Hi Mike, There should be no problem with spectators turning up at any time. :) I've got your two instruction sessions already scheduled. I'll be sending the whole schedule out soon by email. Forecast looks too good to be true at present :eek: See you there, Dave

01/02/2007 10:30:04 Dave [b]Circuit Driver magazine - Brands Indy driving guide[/b] Well it looks like [URL="http://www.circuitdriver.com/"]Circuit Driver[/URL] magazine are trying to be exceptionally helpful to MGoT. The Feb edition just dropped through my door with a five page article on how to drive Brands Indy by Mark Hale and a further two pages of general info about Brands as a track day venue. Next month's magazine will do the same for Silverstone GP circuit - and guess where MGoT is in March :D P.S. the circuit driver website is still featuring January's edition!

01/02/2007 20:26:51 Dean [quote=Dave]Well it looks like [URL="http://www.circuitdriver.com/"]Circuit Driver[/URL] magazine are trying to be exceptionally helpful to MGoT. The Feb edition just dropped through my door with a five page article on how to drive Brands Indy by Mark Hale and a further two pages of general info about Brands as a track day venue. Next month's magazine will do the same for Silverstone GP circuit - and guess where MGoT is in March :D P.S. the circuit driver website is still featuring January's edition![/quote] I'll be booking my copy early! Dave, will there be instructor sessions at Silverstone. Or isn't this really value for money for a relative novice like myself?

01/02/2007 22:24:59 Dave [quote=Dean]I'll be booking my copy early! Dave, will there be instructor sessions at Silverstone. Or isn't this really value for money for a relative novice like myself?[/quote]Yes, there should be instructors for Silverstone. I'm hoping that Lotus on Track will bring along their usual team. If they do, then they will be great value and I'd thoroughly receommend taking a session.:)

02/02/2007 14:29:07 Jonny Boy [b]Friday[/b] [FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Any one else staying at the Brands Hatch Thistle Hotel to night?[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]If so, I will see you in the bar.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]I am hoping to arrive at about 20:00[/SIZE][/FONT]

02/02/2007 14:36:53 Maxx [quote=Dean] Dave, will there be instructor sessions at Silverstone. Or isn't this really value for money for a relative novice like myself?[/quote] Dean, Hi, my names Malcolm and i'm one of the regular LoT instructors. I'm booked for that day and I suspect there will be a couple more of us. The GP circuit is one of my personal favorites and it really benefits from being shown the right line around there. The track is so wide that it's actually quite hard to decide where to place the car much of the time and there are certainly a few areas where the line is not that obvious. It's not just about line either, you can really learn a lot about driving technique and how to get the very best from your car. Value for money! at £10! :( you sure know how to hurt a guys feelings .................................:) not really. Seriously though, LoT subsidise the instructor fee so that more people take advantage of it. See you there. Malcolm

02/02/2007 18:46:27 Dave Thanks Malcolm :D See you tomorrow at Brands.