Britcar24 2011

[Clock watcher]

No problem Roy. Thanks for the radio, very usual in the Timing room for Safety Car Periods.
Glad to hear the Marshal is on the mend. Our best wishes to him.

[Tris1976]

Originally Posted by Terrible-Tones

Village for the 24hr. Crew were fantastic. We had such a great time with everybody. Atmosphere was brilliant with many laughs along the way. A real integrated team with lots of confidence in each other. I love it when this happens.

Weather was stunning (but very hot) - night sky was beautiful. Did anyone else spot the Space Station passing over at sunrise at about 06:30? It was a rare sight in perfect conditions.

Oh yes, and we did a few incidents (fortunately no crashes). It was interesting having 3 at once on 3 different spots on a very large post in the very early hours....

Great 24 hours (excepting the obvious of course)

(Tony)

Tony have you managed to get the biscuit out of your gloves yet, or are you going to pinch another pair of Nina's?

Baring the injuries sustained by marshals and crew (reports of fuel burns?) it was a great weekend and I will be ticking the box to come back in 2012 and beyond.

Made some great new friends during the wee small hours and learned that you tell the make of a car from what the drivers overalls have on them not what by who actually manufactured the car.....who'd have thought that

Doing three snatches in quick succession around 02:00 was an experience....but we worked well as a team and it certainly made sure I was awake seems I had just got back to post.

Thanks to ALL for a great weekend.

[Terrible-Tones]

Originally Posted by Tris1976

Tony have you managed to get the biscuit out of your gloves yet, or are you going to pinch another pair of Nina's?

No I haven't got the bourbons out yet - you bunch of kids.....

Originally Posted by Tris1976

and learned that you tell the make of a car from what the drivers overalls have on them not what by who actually manufactured the car.....who'd have thought that?

It was a Nissan 911 - clearly

[Robin_D]

I actually want to do it again this weekend. Same team would be great.

I may actually miss that bloody door frame this time around.

[Tris1976]

Originally Posted by Robin_D

I actually want to do it again this weekend. Same team would be great.

I may actually miss that bloody door frame this time around.

NOT a chance you even tripped in and out with a glowstick lighting it

[Ian Briggs]

Originally Posted by Robin_D

I actually want to do it again this weekend. Same team would be great.

I may actually miss that bloody door frame this time around.

Well you can, ish, come to Mull, we will be "on post" at midday friday and finishing 3 am ish Sunday, no gravel traps but an exellent chnce of sorting a snatch before the tide covers the car

Again an exellent if much drier and less muddy 24 hr. Spent the wee small hours With Bill doing chief flag, still not got over paranoia about dropping boards over the pit wall. And how come it was me that had to stick his 4rse out into woodcote to push the same ginetta twice when it ground to a halt just entering pit lane?

[gachjoel]

Originally Posted by simon_blay

gachjoel - I've just realised who you are. Thanks especially to you, your lady, and Neil who made 'the trainees' weekend such a good one. I was one half of dumb and dumber (Simon and Rob to some people) Cracking bacon butties and the cake and sweets after a long hard weekend was much appreciated.

Roll on next year!!

Got to make sure the troops are fed and the sugar levels are maxed out.
Glad you had such a good weekend, even tho we didn't have a lot to do, i hope what you saw gave you an idea of how to do what we safely...ish.
Thanks for the feedback, always nice to know we are doing things correctly for the new guys coming in to marshalling.
hope to see you next year at some point

[Terrible-Tones]

Originally Posted by Robin_D

I actually want to do it again this weekend. Same team would be great.

I may actually miss that bloody door frame this time around.

It would be great - the only issue would be waking Steve up I guess....

It really was a great weekend - door step and all....

Now for a team handshake....?

[Drummer]

Firstly: Best wishes for a speedy and pain free recovery for our fallen comrade. Roy: I hope you don't mind, but I quoted what you said to a follower on Twitter, who was with one of the teams. He was asking how the marshal was doing.

Many, many thanks to everyone who helped to make this event so fun, and got me involved in stuff. A really good weekend was had, despite a few irritations with various habitual rule violations, lol! Mind you, it was nice to put the fear of God into a few of the team managers! One team even hung notices at their back door, stating that no U-16's were allowed.

I did hear a rumour that none of the teams were disciplined for having U-16's in their garages, and even in the pit lane on a couple of occasions... One of which was DURING A FUEL STOP! O_O I was wondering why this was? Did Britcar decide that the ruling wasn't worth upholding? I certainly walked my legs off all weekend, trying to keep youngsters safe, lol!

Matt: Your SilverStone Henge was pretty good actually, great idea. Thankyou to all those concerned with providing the water cooler and fridge, and especially to the lovely lady who acted as my 'dealer', re-supplying the tin with Hobnobs!

Final note: Can anyone tell me the name of the Mosler team, who were situated at the end of the first block of garages, near to the pit office? AFAIK they didn't finish, due to a rare mechanical problem, for which they couldn't find a replacement part. The team manager was really lovely, and seemed to be rushed off her feet all night. I felt for the team, as they tried really hard. I heard that they might not do it next year, which is sad.

Anyway, many thanks to all concerned... Roy, Steve (you ought to be chief pits more often) and Mike, who was the guy in blue overalls... (Scrutineer?) And thankyou to the teams and Sonoco personnel who put up with my God complexes throughout the weekend, lol!

[Steven Humphrey]

Originally Posted by Terrible-Tones

It would be great - the only issue would be waking Steve up I guess....

Oi! I resent that statement! I'm working this weekend, so may well be asleep anyway

And has anyone seen my head torch?

What a great weekend-roll on next year!

[SuperDuff]

Originally Posted by Drummer

Final note: Can anyone tell me the name of the Mosler team, who were situated at the end of the first block of garages, near to the pit office? AFAIK they didn't finish, due to a rare mechanical problem, for which they couldn't find a replacement part. The team manager was really lovely, and seemed to be rushed off her feet all night. I felt for the team, as they tried really hard. I heard that they might not do it next year, which is sad.

I think that was Strata (I have a feeling that the Topcats Mosler was the one that ended up in a tyre wall). We saw them packing the garage up as I came off shift for breakfast.

[pauln]

Topcats was indeed the one in the tyre wall. There's a note from one of them on the thread in the Sports/GT forum.

[alimcb]

Great team on The Loop, and I think I need to put out a big shout to the Knockhill lads at Aintree as well. I do hope they enjoyed it and tell the others all about it when they get back.

We were close enough to see the commotion at Maggotts after the incident, I must admit it was a sickening feeling waiting for news on the marshal's condition. Although an operation to reset a broken leg isn't a pleasant prospect, it could have been a whole lot worse.

I would like to see Silverstone install LED flag signals for next year's event, regardless of whether or not the yellow light signals end up taking any blame for the incident (something we probably shouldn't speculate about). Snetterton have done so already and they seemed to work well at the 2CV 24Hr especially at night, but I imagine they are also useful in heavy rain or spray conditions.

This was my first 24Hr as a marshal and I have to say it was the best marshalling experience of the year. Everybody should try it once, as the advert goes, what's the worst that could happen???

[Bodger]

Had a good weekend on vale out.

Had to do things I haven't done before but I think I coped with them ok. I know I may have made a couple of mistakes, but I will learn from them. Very hot during the day but didn't the temp drop during the early hours!.

[Woolley]

Originally Posted by alimcb

I would like to see Silverstone install LED flag signals for next year's event, regardless of whether or not the yellow light signals end up taking any blame for the incident (something we probably shouldn't speculate about).

Agreed on all points.

I forgot to say thank you to whoever it was who suggested sunglasses for night time. That was the best tip of the lot. Would have been even better if I'd taken them off when visiting the toilet. Still, it was dark and I was on my own so nobody noticed...