Club Arnage

Well, I'm safely back from Silverstone, if not quite home yet and will be out of the country by morning much, no doubt, to the relief of some CA members!

I cannot thank enough the gallant Tom Tondeuse who spent his Friday afternoon and evening chasing around and about on my behalf and making frantic phone calls when I managed to lock my keys in the car.  ::)  I got locked out wearing only jeans and  t-shirt with the wheelchair, all my papers and my phone, plus my house (the tent), all my money, credit cards etc, two centimeters from my nose but impossible to get at.  Happily help came from a security chap who fetched Tom from the KSM pit, and the kindly chap running the bar behind the Pits grandstand.  Finally we gave up waiting for the breakdown people (called by my insurance agents via a call from Tom's work colleagues as their phone no was in the car....) and smashed the rear quaterlight.  Thus I finally got on my way to Whittlebury with the car sporting a very fetching Tesco's carrier bag where the window once was...

Next up, Tom and Ade kindly pitched my tent in the now-dark Whittlebury campsite whilst  I gave the kiss of life to a bottle of fizz which Ade had brought specially for me ( :-*).

After that a great weekend ensued including a drunken Saturday night - great to see 2 Melans, Barry, Landman (and family - my, your two were a relief after the hideous family who had installed themselves within 2 feet of our tents in the row alongside >:(), Brad, JDS and mini JDS, and of course Werner and HGB - just sorry  I didn't get to spend more time with you.   

Sunday was a better day thanks to the fact that the guy on the gate pointing out the fact that there were mobility scooters for hire (something which the Silverstone management had told me was not going to happen for the race when I e-mailed them in advance to check.  The first one broke down when I was half way across the bridge on the way to the autograph session thus making me miss it completely.   

I was sorry about the McNish Audi - not because I wanted them to win but because I think it robbed us of a potentially close race.  The result was fine by me, although I'd have liked an Oreca win.  On the Saturday I entered a competition for a visit to their garage during the race - on my way home (at 7 o'clock on Sunday) I received two text messages which had been floating around in the ether since lunchtime, one to say I'd won the competition and the second to say I was too late and they'd given it to somebody else.  Somebody had it in for me this weekend, I'm sure - let's just hope I can get home without any more disasters.

Anyway, as per, thank whomever for CA and all you lovely guys and gals - without you I would be feeling very, very peed off by now.  Autoglass have fixed my window and I'm £200 worse off but what the heck - I saw a couple of T70s and listened to the lovely Saleen roar past again and again, and spent a weekend with a bunch of great mates around.  What more can a girl (oh, OK an old bat) ask for?

It was good to see you Deb, shame you had more than your fair share of hassles, especially the missed Oreca visit.
See you in La Sarthe, it seems a long time to go, but the winter will fly past.

Debs,

Thanks for your company on Saturday night. 

My two were under strict instructions & happily didn't let me down - I think  ;D

Hope you get back home without further hassles and as Barry says, see you next June at LM

Best,

Paul / Landman

Hi Termie.

Glad to hear you are out of Silverstone and that the window is fixed.   It's a shame they messed up the phone number.
The breakdown guy had been trying for two hours to get the right number. 

Your not the first to get locked out and I'm sure you wont be the last.   

I don't think you pressed the key by accident.  I've known cars that will lock themselves if just left.  A pal of mine had started the engine put the heater on and got out to clean the frost of his windows.  He was nearly done when Clunck! the car locked.  My Mundaneo used to lock itself if you left it unlocked for a while.  Nice security feature if you know about it, but a royal PITA if you don't!


t.

Hi Debs
It was great to see you again and semi-mobile to boot. Saturday night was a good laugh and I'm glad Ade and I found you during the race but I'm sorry that I didn't get beck to say goodbye before I left. Thing is, at 4pm in the grandstand I was actually asleep! When I woke I just stumbled off to Whittlebury, got in the car and left.
Anyway, there's always June.
Good to see you again and hope your journey home is safe and uneventful.

Paul
You need never worry about your kids, they are a credit to you (although I'd have a serious talk to your daugther about those Melans ladies - they're a very bad influence!!) I have some photos to prove it!

Ade
Thanks for your excellent company and the dvd, I'm in a hotel tonight so I'll give it a look.

Right, back to normality, whatever that is.

Cheers everyone and thanks for making it a great weekend.

Steve

Oops sorry Bob, just realised I saw you too!

Steve, no probs.  I discovered that they had finally opened the accessible part of the Woodcote grandstand so I was actually able to get above the ruddy catch fencing and thus spent the last hour and a half of the race happily snapping away.   So I'm not sure if you'd have found me anyway.  Thanks to the two of you for popping along to the crocks bit of the circuit to say hi.

Roll on June.

Debs, trust me you aren't the first or last from here to lock their keys in the car whilst at the track.

I locked mine in the hire car at Sebring in 2003 and had to get a cop from the police compound (which handily was right next to the car) to break in for me with his tools. Smokie locked his in the boot of his convertible Sebring a few years later at Sebring and had to tear out the lining behind the fold down roof area to get into the boot to get them and his cigarettes back. (He was more bothered about the cigs than the keys.)
Julian from DFH locked his in the car at Petit in i think 2005 ? Except Julian decided to travel in style and rented a Cadillac. So all he had to do was make a phone call, spend $20 and the show offs opened his car at the touch of a button via a satelite from space. Flash git !

Apart from your troubles, glad you had a nice weekend watching the racing.

Personally I saw briefly Rick and Melissa, Tom and his wife and Werner but that was about it for CA and DFH members.

Had a good day though apart from falling down on a nasty bit of missing path between Abbey and Club and injuring my knee, leg and hand, but that aside i enjoyed the new Silverstone layout.

Great to see you all  :)

ha ha 'Melan ladies' i like it Lord Steve!  ;D

Surely you've been called ladies before!
Never let any scoundrel call you anything other dear heart!!

Hi Debs
It was great to see you again, glad you enjoyed the fizz. I'm pleased you've got you window fixed.

I can vouch for that.

They certainly didn't let you down, they were better behaved than the screaming banshees next to Debs & me.

Amen to that.

Ade