Club Arnage

Apart from the omnipresent Drinking For Holland team is anyone else planning a trip to the LMES race at Donington on August bank holiday weekend (26th & 27th)?
Tres Hombres are having a "Lads & Dads" weekend taking our nippers along, some of them for their first taste of motor racing action. Club Arnagers in the making all of them!
We'll be there with the blue gazebo and barbecue on the saturday night so anyone wanting to join us will be most welcome.
Usual rules apply - beer!

Steve

would love to, but my loyalties lie with a certain reading based festival that weekend. now which one could that be?! ??? ::)

Me and my curry will be there :P

That wouldn't be the Donington Festival, Rob! ;)


Hmm, am I not allowed to reply in this topic now? :-[

We're coming by camper van (is booked), 7 people maximum. For the rest, as far as I'm concerned it's gonna be a Silvertone repeat (except for the weather). Maybe some more beer so we don't have to stroll off to the pub at the end of the race ;D

STROLL, that was more like a swim ;D

The live music was half decent though!

The Guinness wasn't bad either.   ;D

I'll be there most certainly.

BTW, that's the Midlands airport close to the circuit, isn't it ?

Bobblehat can tell you all about that! (http://dfh.vandijkonline.net/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif)

H, Castle Donnington is indeed v close to the circuit. FS

I was going to say what bar and what music....... :-X

Just putting the finishing touches to my new album

"Bobblehat plays Air Guitar Classics"

Should be at Donnington....................

You've asked for it ;D

unfortunately not, no!

and this is was what we drank at Silverstone LMES ;D

Arrrrggg nnooooooo. ;D

Please note backing band of one. Fran!

Yes but most of it was very watered down.............

yep, and so were we :-\

here's more air guitar ;D

I will certainly be there, cos i have already ordered my ticket! 

Free camping too - tho not sure how close to the track it is.  The lady at ticket office said its free cos there is nothing there!  I hope Paddy's camper has a big toilet tank...  :-\

F

You are all in for an abstemious weekend.

Just looking at the Donington web site and one of the general rules is 'No Alcohol'.

Rules are there to be broken I suppose.

Del

Rules say "No alcohol, no animals".
We're buggered then!

The fine print on the Moto GP tickets last year said 'No Milk Churns'.  WTF?

Not forgetting the very fine bar at redgate corner, the hide away of the rich and famous.

I cant see them allowing that sort of thing either!  8)

From what I have heard that must have been per person!!  ;)

Hoping to make the LMS at Donnington having missed both the rounds at Silverstone. It all depends on when Mrs Chenet books the family holiday! Normally manage to avoid the Bank Holiday weekend though so hopefully we'll be OK!

I'm supposed to be at Donington for LMES AND at Brands Hatch for F3/GT on the same weekend - bit of a cock up really....still not entirely sure how to resolve that one!!   ::) ;D

I have tried to convince "those in charge" that the new Dony pit lane is entirely unsuitable for LMS cars so they should move the race to Brands thus solving my problem!  ;D

Ooh yes, plenty of time to get inventive. How about printing CocaCola stickers for on cans of beer ;D

As the Dutch say, I'm not to catch for one hole, so we'll all get as pissed as a newspaper (http://forum.drinkingforholland.com/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif)

Not quite watered down enough for some people as I remember !!!  ::)

Can't wait for this, I think we have a fair crowd going for once.

Unfortunately the camping is outside the circuit, and it is only grass, not bogs or anything civilised.  And you'll get woken at 5am by the dawn chorus of Boeing 737s taking off!!

But we'll be there!!

I'll be there for the first time! I've been on Silverstone quite a few times (MG racing weekends when I was a kid) but that's the only track I've been to in England.

Was there not a sporting injury as well that weekend  :) :) :)

I think Rick tried to amputate his own thumb (or was it a finger?) - not sure about any other injuries  ::)

There was also some nocturnal videoing and a call to prayer!

Christ, I definitely won't be there. My sub-standard digestive system needs to be within 100m of a toilet at all times, especially after beer.

There is a large wooded section where you can go for a bear-hunt and go commando-style, you just have to watch you don't step in anything left by previous campers......

any chance for a link to a map of the local area?

What I mean is, is the camping site situated N, E, S or W of this map?

(http://www.synchromotorsprt.f9.co.uk/images/donmap.gif)

From www.streetmap.co.uk (http://www.streetmap.co.uk)

http://tinyurl.com/p89ea

zoom in http://tinyurl.com/mcf2f

So the site should be south of the Melbourne Hairpin. Thanks Steve! (http://forum.drinkingforholland.com/images/smiles/icon_thumbsup.gif)

No, that's a 'proper' campsite which is nothing to do with Donington Park.  You also have to pay there.

The camping provided by Donington is normally between the Esses and Coppice, outside the circuit.  There are two large sections with woods between the two, you need to assess which side you pitch on depending whether you want sun in the morning or evening.

Occasionally the camping is up by McLeans, where you will need a rock-drill to get your tent-pegs in, and you are right by the end of the runway for East Midlands airport.

However, this aerial photo from here http://www.donington-park.co.uk/ indicates the woods.

The circuit website isn't very informative regarding camping.

(http://www.donington-park.co.uk/images/bg2Aerial.jpg)

Any sun at all would be fine by me 8)

If the camping is outside the circuit it means that there will be no constant supply of cold ones. I can't see the miserable bastards allowing someone to wander out every half hour or so to fill a cool box. :(

Steve, I've knobbled your photo here (http://uzorewa.fotopic.net/p28249096.html)

There is usually a sad event at the exhibition centre for antiques etc (not Ford Cortinas!) with a lot of parking for that alone.  You will be best using the paddock entrance from the camping area.

They normally allow infield parking free of charge, so there is nothing stopping one of the team members driving a supply into the circuit.  But not a camper van, you need to be able to fit through the tunnel (not sure of the height).  Team transporters don't need to get infield, the paddock is outfield.

At motorcyling events in the past the no alcohol rule on the campsites has been enforced, so you need to be inventive to be safe. Trick was that vehicles were not allowed on the campsite, ' for your security and safety' ::), and you had to carry your gear into the site, where it could be checked on entry for banned items. One year they even banned gas canisters for your stoves, so you had to buy hot food and drinks at the concession stands.
People I know who have camped there have sworn never to do it again, however they might be more relaxed for a smaller non motocycling crowd.

Milk churns are banned because people fill them with gas and make rockets out of them, just like they do with the oil drum litter bins on Sunday evening in Bleu parking, the difference at Donnington was that instead of doing it in an empty car park, they used to do it in the middle of a full campsite. And don't forget the skip rolling on site as well, great fun unless your tent was next to the skip.

Unfortunatly I can't go, family holiday commitmants get in the way :(

I agree with Piglet, they ought to race at Brands, just think about being at the bottom of Paddock Hill bend as they come sweeping down. ;D

Reading Barry's reply makes me wonder if it's better to just stay in a layby very near the circuit :-\

Perhaps motorcycling types are more raucous than car people.  I've camped for the British Touring Cars, European Touring Cars/FIA GT, British GT etc and there's been no problem with parking with your tent, beer etc.

Are you getting the 'no alcohol, no animals' bit from the ticketmaster site?  Those two events, the Download music festival and the MotoGP get mahoosive crowds and consequent restrictions.  I suspect for a 'sedate' and probably poorly attended car meeting there will be no issues.  BTW, I'm nothing to do with Donington Park!!

Would agree, the bike crew are lively.

Good point - these rules are on the ticketmaster site.  There are NO rules stated on the Donington Park site.

Del

Might be an automatic roll over of rules from tickets for other events.
Not trying to put people off, if not going on holiday would try to get there myself.
But bearing in mind what has happened at other events, I would suggest carefully checking what is allowed, and what is not, on the campsite.
Le Mans crowd does have a reputation for partying :), but i would hope that Donnington would recognise the greater maturity of LMES fans ;).

OED:  'mature'
1. Having reached full growth or development
2. having or showing fully developed mental powers, capable of reasoning and acting sensibly

The defense rests, M'lud.

Del

3. Add beer, and #2 does not apply.

I have spoken again to Donington (using my best telephone voice) and they have confirmed that the free camping will have toilets and water supplied.   

I also asked about bringing beer onto the campsite and was told that a "small quantity" is allowed.

In my experience, "small" is a fairly flexible measurement.

That seems a bit more encouraging anyway.  :D

F

 

I am sure that we will have a smaller quantity then we normally have for the week in Le Mans. We are looking at 60 cases for our lot!!!

Cars racing during the day and Boeings to wake you up...what else do you want :D

A wife?

That might put an end to all your motor racing holidays tho Pieter!   ;D

F

It wasn't me I was referring to, actually. Stranger has news.

I've heard that before... ::)

;D

So do I. But he's one of the lucky bastards that finds a wife that will let him continue visiting motor racing holidays. ;D

Paddy, Whats the captain of the Wigan Rugby team doing dressed in Gulf overalls ? And don't say, "Ordering two beers"  ! LOL

Your fault that you don't recognize Jan Lammers in his younger years. ;D

Ooh, thanks for that Fran. Sorry I missed that line before.

"small quantity" in DfH-terms is about 200 litres. That will do just fine for three days ;D

200 litres!! That's you sorted Paddy but what abvout the rest of the DfH crew??   ;D ;D ;D ;D

ooh chips! I knew I forgot something! ;D