The credits for the idea go to Jan Ozephius, but we were also very interested in ending the trackday season spectacularly.
Ending the season? Now already?
Yes, ending it, as this meeting doesn't take place until October. The reason for posting it now already is to allow everyone to plan things with work or to save some money, as we're not going to organise a trackday but a trackweek!
The itinerary is as follows.
The Dutch group will be gathering on the parking
Hazeldonk near Breda on Monday, October 20th at noon. For those of you coming over from the UK it is easier to take the shuttle or the ferry from Dover to Calais and join the Dutch group a couple of hours later in France.
After two or three petrol stops and grabbing a quick bite to eat in France we are planning on arriving at our hotel in St Nectaire at around 8PM.
Martin (the hotel owner) will make sure to provide us with an extensive diner.
On Tuesday, October 21st, it's time to get to work. We've booked the Charade track (near Clermont Ferrand) that entire day.
This track is also known as the small Nürburgring and this movie of a couple of laps on board a Lotus 340R shows you why:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UqiF5Wnt9VU
This onboard Formula Ford clip also gives a nice impression of the track:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=HIWtTW7SCgI
On Wednesday, October 22nd, we've booked the CEERTA circuit d'Issoire for the entire day:
Unfortunately not quite as exclusive a car, but this Peugeot 309GTI shows us around. Fortunately for us, the driving music will be optional.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jeH8JpHHCBc
And finally, on Thursday October 23rd, we can drive around the Lurcy Lévis track the entire day:
A Lotus Elise MkII shows us the track. Please notice the huge runoff areas. If you want to explore the limits of your car as safely as possible, this is the place to be, as the Lotus driver also demonstrates in the end.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3HEi792KEoQ
Friday is the day of the journey home, so we'll be giving our cars a chance to rest in the morning. We've rented a group of 4-by-4's that morning and under the expert guidance of Paris-Dakar specialist Alain Meyleu we'll get a three to four hour lasting first introduction to off road driving that morning.
After that there's nothing left but saying goodbye and hopefully au revoir to Martin and family and a dash home over the péage. For those of you who want to stay in France for the rest of the weekend, that will be possible of course. Martin will make sure that there will be rooms available in his hotel for the people who want to arrive sooner or stay longer.
As a nice extra for the people attending this meeting we're having a DVD made. We're even in the process of renting a helicopter or small delta plane for a couple of days for the most spectacular driving footage (Stefan Roser, eat your heart out!
).So this is basically the general idea, then the first thing you want to know of course is: what will it cost?
I think we've been able to make a spectacular deal:
The normal price for this week, consisting of:
Three trackdays (open pitlane from the morning until the evening, all tracks rented exlusively by us);
The 4-by-4 course on Friday morning;
Four nights in the hotel & breakfast (bases on twin rooms);
Diner at night in the hotel;
A lunchbox every day to get you through the trackday;
And of course the DVD of the meeting:
€925
If you prefer a single room then that's also possible of course, that costs €15 a night extra, so in total €60 extra for the entire week.
If you feel like bringing along your wife, husband, friend, girl friend or your fanclub, please feel free to do so! The extra costs for the hotel, food and the 4-by-4 morning is €325.
If you want you could also share a car with a friend and each drive half the time, then the cost for the entire week would only be €625 p.p.
Ok, now you may think: that's interesting but it won't be October until six months from now, so I'll see how things work out and let you know later.
Unfortunately, that's not going to work, as the French tracks have very short option periods. We have to let them know within the next two weeks whether or not we want to book the tracks and also make a downpayment already. So we really need to get your confirmation within a couple of weeks.
The minimum number to go ahead with this is 20 full time drivers, break even will be at around 25 (depending on a.o. the exact costs of the helicopter and medical team at the spot).
We will of course arrange for a rescue vehicle stand by to trailer anyone with cartrouble home.
Any questions?
Please don't hesitate to ask or contact me directly on peter@driving-fun.com
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