Club Arnage

Okay guys, one month to go before the 1000 mile blast through the Georgia countryside.  How many takers do we have coming down south y'all?  In just its seventh year this event has become one of the can't-miss events for sportscar racing fans.  As well as making historic memories in its own right, this autumn classic brings back the glorious atmosphere of similar autumn weekends spent in upstate New York.  Can't think of a better way to say goodbye to summer.  Phil! You making the trip down to Dixie?
Matt, check out www.roadatlanta.com we may have a place to park the Vette for the weekend, that Corvette corral looks pretty cool.
Fax

Hi Fax,
          Top of my wish list for sure. usual problem of money. I will make it if at all possible. Stay tuned for developments.
Canada Phil

Hope you can make it Phil.

I'm doing an insane Cannonball run from Indy (actually will fly back from Colorado, do the drive down and back, and then fly back to Colorado - don't ask why).  Should be pretty straight forward assuming we don't get jailed for high velocity nonsense.

Fax - I'm really looking forward to this one!

Mentally preparing myself for the Petit Le Mans. Yes - I will be driving up to Road Atlanta on the Friday preceding the race. Corvette Club of FL are doing same - but I'm not keen on the 55mph caravan that the club tends to stick to, so I'll just take a V1 with me to alert me to the presence of the GA Highway Patrol on I-75.
I can't fit a coolbox in my car - will R2D2 fit in the Road Toad?

sh*t - this is one of the downsides of taking the cars - we have no beer storage capacity.  I can fit a cooler, but an R2 might be a bit of a tall order.  How did we deal with this 2 last time when you came up and we drove down?

Doesn't look like we have any UK takers for September.  Anyone US based heading to GA?

I thought you squeezed R2D2 into the legless dwarf seats on the way down from Indian-no-place last time - and we transferred it to Truckosaurus when we met up.
I have a shitty Polar-Roller coolbox (plaggie wheels) that might lay on it's side (therefore empty) in the trunk of my car, but that will leave prcious little room for folding chairs and (God forbid) tent and bags.
Given the early kick-off home after the race on Sunday, I really would prefer a hotel to a tent on Saturday night.....
I still have a shotgun seat available if anyone on CA fancies having their eyeballs flattened, blasting up to Brasleton GA from Orlando.
Big H has taken it under advisement, but ain't sure if he can make the dates work while he's in God's own country.
The offer's there if anyone fancies a killer weekend - and the best venue in the ALMS calendar.....

Hi Matt & Dave, What a hell of a concept"Taking Cars to a Motor Race" :o ??? ::) I had a cooler  from Costco that had wheels and was colapseable. Worked quite well. Folded compact enough to go as carry on lugage.
Canada Phil

Hi Guys
Matt, I think we just had a couple of the little carry-along coolers last time.  We may have had a larger "base" cooler in the back of Big Red.  Its unlikely that R2 will fit in the Porsche, it probably sits too high to fit under the bonnet.
Phil, you gotta make it down, I promise to bring some Warstarters along. Can't wait for this.
John

Fair cop Phil - but as you know, we tend to take a fair quantity of 'supplies' to these races. R2D2 is a little bulky, but very appropriate for enduro's like the Petit. Last time around, I drove up to RA in my Ram 1500 (practical but pretty utilitarian) and you ripped me ("Youve got a Corvette and you drove up in this?") - which just goes to prove that you can't win with you Canadian types!
We deffo had a drag-along last time - Fax - did you bring it with you - or has my Altzheimers come back???

There's no way an R2 is going to fit in the back of my car.  I too think we had a smaller drag along for the home base and handhelds.  Nothing like slumming it.

So Phil, you've not given us a definitive answer - are you coming or what?  We may need you to bail us out of jail in Tennessee on your way down.

Of course, you could always park the pork and bring the Disco Very.....
hmmm.... 8 hours in a Landie, maybe not.
I'll see if I can fit my Polar Roller in my car. hand held coolers suck.
So- what's up Phil - are we seeing you there or what?
Someone needs to contact Stoney. Do you have an e-mail address or phone number for him Dave?
Just for info, we ended up camped next to thes guys at Le Mans, who were from Deltona FL (about 25 miles from where I live - how ridiculous is that?) one of whom (Stoney) did the most AWESOME impressions of sports racing cars. This dude was un-frickin'-believable - his impressions of a Panoz, 962, Pug 905 and McLaren F1 could earn him a good living.
I know he's going to the Petit, because he invited us to his Lobster barby....

Can I make a suggestion ?

Take the sports cars ..............



............and drink WARM beer  :o

(http://www.seadogsportswear.com/Site%20images/Fishing%20Designs/Bone%20Fisherman%20LARGE.jpg)

Hi Steve,
with the greatest of respect, your suggestion is 50% logical and reasonable - and 50% utter abomination, for which you should be soundly flogged with birch twigs.

Warm beer is a terrible, terrible suggestion Steve. Normally, you are lucid, constructive and humorous. This is a downright disgrace. Bad form - shame on you.

I'd convert my car into a mobile fridge before I went on a warm weekend!  Last time I did that was LM 1990 - staggering around the track with warm Heinekens in my pockets.  Roaring Jags and I didn't give a sh*t - it was filthy, nasty and never to be repeated.  I'll never forget swigging one of those boiling hot little green bastards on the pit straight at the end of the race and vowing never to be in that position again.

No, we'll take the cars - we'll just find a way to have cold Nigerian.

Warm beer? Jesus you've got to be kidding!  The only time I've ever drank warm beer in my life was at Le Mans in 1996 when we were reduced to drinking warm Kronenberg dumpies on Sunday, I was gagging with each sip. At race tracks over here, ice is too readily available to ever have to sink to those depths.
Dave, perhaps we can pull R2 behind us and see just how sturdy those lawn mower wheels really are.
John

I hear a trailer project coming on.

Looks like I landed me a 30 pound Marlin.  Maybe I could sell it to Felix  ;D

Any road up, us sad EA cobra types have rather small carrying capabilities, what with tents, sleeping bags and every conceivable spare part 'just in case' the car breaks down.
Therefore, a fancy cooler is but a twinkle in our eyes.  It's the kind of thing we stare longingly at through the window of the camping / leisure shop.

Thus, we buy a plastic bucket and some ice.........and take our chances.
However, in the toasty LM weather, a block of ice seems to turn to steam quicker than you could say "the diesel Taurus has retired".

Therefore, as we live in the land of tractors, sugar beet and carrots, we elect to drink luke warm beer....


......................and visit the Stella bar a lot  ;)

Steve, if you ever manage to "purchase" one, i will happily take it to Lm for you. I had loads of room in the car on the way down, infact, enough to take another fridge ?

You have months to think about it, and then months to work out how i can pick it up, but the offers therre. I owe you a favour or two.

Robbo, you're an officer and a gentleman.  I am seriously considering taking you up on that.
We are proposing to purchase a small generator to run a fridge and reckon we can transport a genny to LM but not a fridge (unless we fit wheels to it  ;))

Just let me know, we have changed the axle on he trailer, so it towes better, and we can get more weight in.

Hence my sis can now bring her "le Mans" wardrobe.

Didn;t she bring it in 2004??  she certainly changed her clothes every day - which is more than can be said for the majority of the rest of us :-D

Matt,
Here's a cure for the Hurricane blues...
John

Well crap, lets try this again.

Enjoy.

Hoping the Motors TV coverage is good again.

Matt, Dave and Fax,

I would love to come to Petit, as i loved it last year. However several things stand in my way.

1) No holidays left, just got back from Nascar at Bristol.
2) No money, see above.
3) Still paying off last years visit to Petit and Texas. Bouncing it between credit cards to avoid interest !
4) Got a £300 excess to pay on the car insurance after a bump.
5) Got to start booking flights for Rally Monte Carlo in January, Ferries for Le Mans in June and then theres flights to Florida for Sebring in  March.

So unfortunately its 10 hours on the couch watching the TV for me. At least my beer will be cold though !

PS. To solve you cooler problem, drive to Atlanta, find a K Mart and then buy a 48 Quart Cooler for $15.
I was going to buy one of these for Le Mans and then pack my clothes in it and bring it back as check in luggage on the plane home, but decided against it in the end.

Excellent, Fax - that made my day!

Greetings US Petit'ers.

I'm finished-up working here in London for the week and heading back to Indy tomorrow (Saturday).  Really getting psyched for next weekend 'though I've got a fair bit of travel ahead of me - back to the US, then drive to my house in Colorado - then boogie-out for a few days to the Petit (including another insane drive down from Indy to Atlanta and back over the race weekend - then back to Colorado - sh*t!)

Hopefully RA will be nice a dry by the time we get there.  Hoping to keep that red clay out of my interior Fax!

Doesn't look like you're going to have any takers for shotgun Matt...

Whereabouts in Colorado are you Dave??  We were there last summer and probably looking to do teh same next summer (brother in law and sister in law moved to Castle Rock a couple of years ago)

Nope - looks like I will be proceeding in a very billy-no-mates-like fashion on Friday morning. This isn't a total disaster, as it means I can get a rolling cooler in the passenger seat, so that cold Nigerian is back on the agenda.
Very much looking forward to the weekend.
JPC - Dave's on the road today. In his absence, his condo is in Keystone CO, way up in the Rockies, great for trout fishing in summer and the bollocks for skiing in winter (Wealthy bastard!)

Regret I will not be able to make the Petit this year.
 Matt remember you are joining your mates so press on and have some fun in the Vette 8)
 Fax pay attention there will be questions after ;D
 Dave, keep moving so the bastards can't get you ;D
 Canada Phil

Not a million miles away though. Fantastic area. We stayed in Glenwood Springs for a couple of nights. My brother in law goes skiing at Copper Mountain!

Morning Guys,
Phil, wish you could make it, always good fun catching up with you.
I'll sink a few Warstarters for ya.  I'm heading over to Indy Thursday night, Dave and I will down a few cold ones then hit the bricks early friday morning.  Matt, looking forward to this enormously.  The weather forecast looks great. Here's the latest entry update, notice two Champion Audi's.
John

http://www.imsaracing.net/imsaNS.cfm?h=/2003/events/petitlemans04/header.htm&p=/2003/events/petitlemans04/petitentrylist.cfm

Thanks for the good wishes Phil - it's a shame you can't be there - always great to see you.
Fax, Dave - check out the Cirtek drivers. Andrew Kirkaldy is my boss's Formula Renault team manager - I need to make some calls, but I feel there could be some Ferrari hospitality in the pipeline....
I'll call you after I've made a trans-atlantic enquiry.
See you guys in Atlanta on Friday.

Now theres temptation for you.....how much do you think I would have to pay the missus to allow me to go to Atlanta for the Petit??

 :o

I'm leaving Orlando at around 10.00am on Friday morning Brad. I've been looking for a co-driver to share the 'sprint' up to Hotlanta in my C5 - tell the ol' ball & chain that you're just nipping out for a paper and some wine gums. We'll be back Sunday early pm.
Come on - who wears the trousers in your house, anyway???

 >:(The disappointment is unbearable - we dont fly into the states until about 1pm on Friday - Damm and Bugger!!  :-(

Whilst you're here Matt, I'm going to Hi-Jack the thread - could I have a weather report from the Front Line in Florida??  

I Fly out on Friday - arriving at about 1pm.....

Are there race meetings worth attending in the 10 days we will be there other than the Petit??

Cheers
Brad

Weather's currently very agreeable Brad, but quite changeable, due to tropical storm activity in the Atlantic. Forecast for this weekend is high 80's with afternoon t-storms. Frances is still lurking out north of the Bahamas and might just be a threat, but other than that - just bring your sunscreen and drinking boots.
It's a shame about the Petit, it is a memorable event. Other stuff going on while you are here will be restricted to dirt/flat track, clubman drag racing and that kind of event.
Have you visited this part of the US before? Let me know if you need anything booking, or are out of ideas for a day out that doesn't involve the f**k*ng mouse, or you fancy meeting-up for a few cold ones.
Regards
Matt  

erm...... sorry to do this to you Brad, Snoring Rhino and entourage, but check-out www.noaa.gov It would appear that Hurricane Frances is now a significant threat to central FL after all.
Thankfully, I'm getting the hell out of Dodge and scooting up to Road Atlanta for the Petit - and leaving my family and home to fend for themselves. (I did take the precaution of replacing the flashlight batteries, so they should be fine).
Whilst packing, you might wish to include bagged ice, candles, water purification tablets, sandbags, anti-malaria medication and weapons sufficient to repel looters.
Welcome to paradise!
Seriously - I'd check with the airline, as one of the first precautions has been to close OIA if the last two storms are an indicator.
Good luck.
Matt  

What am I on about? Hurricane Jeanne - not Frances - they all kind of bend into each other after a while. Though it is kinda cute that they give them such innocuous names. I'd be tempted to give them monikers like "Total Devastation" and "You're f**ked".

This hurricane season is getting out of control, what with reporters being sucked off and hammered from behind I'm beginning to wonder just what kind of weather's coming next. I'm sure that I saw a CNN reporter describing getting a good old rogering doggy fashion behind the mens toilets. Or maybe that was another program.
Hope the race goes well lads, and steer a straight course, you don't want to get blown off and lose a butt plug.
H

Both Dyson Lolas are in front after the Thursday practice, then one Champion Audi, the Creation Zytec on fourth and the second Champion car on fifth. Then Intersport, Miracle, Autocon and Intersport. The Corvettes lead the GTS class, then Viper, Saleen, Lambo.
Have a nice one...

Thanks guys - it's a great venue and always an eventful race - catch it on the tube if you can't be there.

Wohoo!  Ready to head south and watch some rac'in.
If you go to www.americanlemans.com Oliver Gavin will be doing a live chat at 5:00 PM EST.
Matt, see ya in Atlanta!
John