ALPINA meet with track time? Feedback please.

A place to plan / discuss / debrief about ALPINA meets

Moderators: Charles, neil, D4

User avatar
jezza
A
A
Posts: 99
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2005 2:43 pm
Location: Surrey

ALPINA meet with track time? Feedback please.

Post by jezza » Tue Apr 11, 2006 12:28 am

It is about time I organised another Surrey based meet, but I have a dilemma. Whilst I enjoy meeting other owners and talking cars, what I REALLY enjoy is driving my car as it was designed to be driven. So I have been looking for somewhere in the South where we could meet and then get off the public roads and have a little fun maybe do some acceleration runs or a little bit of circuit driving but nothing too hard core. I have so far drawn a blank in Surrey.

The best option I have found with the help of a pal who organises track days for groups of friends is a half day at Bruntingthorpe proving ground in Leicestershire (Jn 20 M1). You will notice this is most definitely not in Surrey. However the advantage of this over more local race circuits is no barriers so if you overcook it you just slide into the grass rather than hitting armco, greatly reducing the chance of damage to cars. It is also cheaper than most race circuits. Assuming approx 12 cars, 3 on track at any one time this would cost about £80 each and give 15 min driving then 45 min break before another 15 mins session (or 10 mins on then 30 mins off) etc over the half day. We can alter the exact format to suit ourselves on the day. This is assuming people sign an indemnity to keep costs down and allows for a professional instructor and organiser to be on hand. My idea is we would meet beforehand at a nearby pub/restaruant, eat and chat and then go on to the track after lunch.

Would people be interested in this format? If we decide to go for it I would need commitment up front (in the form of a cheque!) I think 12 cars and 3 on track at once is a good compromise between driving time and cost. This would be open to ALPINA owners on a first come first served basis, would consider others if required to make up numbers. I aim to fix this during spring/summer.

Comments please.
Last edited by jezza on Tue Apr 11, 2006 1:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
2000 ALPINA B10 V8
2000 E39 540i (sold)
1989 E34 535i Sport (sold)
E21 323i (sold)

User avatar
Charles
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 8061
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2003 2:44 am
Location: Oxford

Post by Charles » Tue Apr 11, 2006 1:10 am

Nice plan - count me in (in principle - dates permitting)
Charles
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order ;)
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!

User avatar
D4
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 3248
Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 12:55 am
Location: Leicestershire
Contact:

Post by D4 » Tue Apr 11, 2006 1:21 am

nice idea.

would be interested in principal depending on dates and cost... also bear in mind that the surface on the main strip at bruntingthorpe is pretty harsh and not too kind on tyres...

also weekend rates will generally be more expensive than the mid week sessions.
2011 BMW 520d M Sport Saloon
2008 BMW 120i M Sport 5 Door

Previous ALPINAs
1984 E28 B9 3.5
1989 E32 B11 3.5
2000 E39 B10 V8 Touring
2005 E85 Roadster S #344

Twitter: d4bmw (follow me for all the latest ALPINA updates and other car related guff)

User avatar
alpina46
Tourettes Champion
Tourettes Champion
Posts: 2875
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2005 6:59 pm
Location: Leicestershire

Post by alpina46 » Tue Apr 11, 2006 7:27 am

Sounds good to me :)
M2
520d F11 M Sport Touring
B10 V8 #240
Mini Cooper S convertible
220d M Sport convertible
MGB GT
MG Midget
520d F11 M Sport Touring (sold)
118d F20 M Sport(sold)
118d E87 M Sport(sold)
John Cooper Works (sold)
D3 Touring #183(sold)
M3 3.0 E36 (sold)
523 E39 (sold)
520 E34 Touring (sold)
318IS E36 (sold)

B10BRW
ALPINA
ALPINA
Posts: 4270
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 1:58 pm
Location: West Sussex

Post by B10BRW » Wed Apr 12, 2006 12:21 am

Hi Jeremy,

Good to see you the other day, glad I was able to help comparing my B10 with yours. I hope you are able to finally sort out the noise and vibration problem at 1500rpm.

I would be very interested in a track day, lets hope we can get enough people interested to make it viable.

User avatar
neil
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 7019
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2002 8:16 pm
Location: Nottingham, UK
Contact:

Post by neil » Wed Apr 12, 2006 12:31 am

I've organised a session at Bruntingthorpe before so have a rough idea of costs etc.

The track is not brilliant - like most airfields its not the most interesting or challenging - but as you say has plenty of run offs and the 2 mile straight is certainly good for testing top speeds.

Andy's right about tyre wear it is certainly greater than a non-airfield track.

Funny enough I was talking about a track day with one of my friends who has just done some filming with me - video due soon. So I guess the answer is yep very interested - but also interested in exploring other options like other tracks - it would be good to get an idea on numbers....

london
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2003 10:01 pm

Post by london » Wed Apr 12, 2006 1:56 am

I'd go for it, depending on the specific date of course.

Spring would work for me, if Summer means July or August
then it's more difficult because I'm out of the country quite a bit.

Bruntingthorpe itself is kinda boring, as noted. one way to spice it up
is to bring some cones -- you can set up a course on the long straight,
or even play with slides or donuts if you time it so that your tires
need replacing anyway....

David

B10 Biturbo
B6 3.5

User avatar
jezza
A
A
Posts: 99
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2005 2:43 pm
Location: Surrey

Post by jezza » Wed Apr 12, 2006 10:51 pm

Thanks for the comments so far. Please keep them coming in, even if it is just a "yep" or "not interested". Getting a clear idea of numbers is key to this.

I hear the comments about Bruntingthorpe, the plan is there will be a course set up with cones, and the straight should be fun for side by side acceleration runs. However if anyone can find an alternative circuit (further south?) which doesn't have barriers by the trackside, is kinder to tyres and can be had for under £100 between 12 drivers then please speak up.
2000 ALPINA B10 V8
2000 E39 540i (sold)
1989 E34 535i Sport (sold)
E21 323i (sold)

User avatar
neil
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 7019
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2002 8:16 pm
Location: Nottingham, UK
Contact:

Post by neil » Wed Apr 12, 2006 11:19 pm

jezza wrote: However if anyone can find an alternative circuit (further south?) which doesn't have barriers by the trackside, is kinder to tyres and can be had for under £100 between 12 drivers then please speak up.
Quite ! Bruntingthorpe is kinda out on its own .....

hythe
ALPIN
ALPIN
Posts: 658
Joined: Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:32 am
Location: London

Post by hythe » Thu Apr 13, 2006 4:59 pm

Depending on dates, I could well be interested.

simon13
ALPINA
ALPINA
Posts: 3385
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2006 9:10 pm
Location: Camberley, Surrey

Post by simon13 » Sat Apr 15, 2006 3:33 pm

i could be up for something, Goodwood is a very good circut in sussex, brands hatch (expensive) kent
Image

User avatar
blueb8
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2006 9:27 pm
Location: Derbyshire

Post by blueb8 » Sun Apr 16, 2006 9:43 pm

I would be interested in this. :D

L8 ALPINA
ALPINA
ALPINA
Posts: 866
Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2006 12:47 am
Location: TAMWORTH

Post by L8 ALPINA » Tue Apr 18, 2006 11:26 am

Count me in please :idea:

User avatar
Minimark
AL
AL
Posts: 102
Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2005 10:19 pm
Location: Bristol
Contact:

Post by Minimark » Tue Apr 18, 2006 2:06 pm

Love too, but wifes says no... :O(

User avatar
neil
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 7019
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2002 8:16 pm
Location: Nottingham, UK
Contact:

Post by neil » Tue Apr 18, 2006 3:55 pm

Minimark wrote:Love too, but wifes says no... :O(

Oh well It was nice knowing her ;)

no wonder the divorce rates are going up :P

Post Reply