I don’t like it either.
I have a theory that if you swapped the order to Saturday - Eastern / Sunday - Outer. Then no-one would turn up on Saturday, they would wait and turn up Saturday Evening to do the Sunday.
The Eastern Circuit isn’t ‘bad’. In fact after you have done the day on it you find yourself having quite enjoyed it. But given a choice? Outer, all day long, every day. It just flows more nicely.
I think, to be honest, I only paid for Sunday sessions because I was already there and figured I might as well run.
Maybe we could have some sort of vote on the Saturday? A ballot box in the marquee? Outer or Eastern for Sunday? Let the people decide! Power to the people!
A huge thank you to Peter M and everyone involved. Great weekend, well worth the money and 8 hour round trip from Surrey.
Tony Scott
I was there in a group of 3, (two mk1 BRG’s and a black mk2). Easy to spot as we all had our hardtops on. We all agreed that we didn’t like Blyton, especially the Eastern circuit. Still had a good day though despite several ventures off the circuit.
Great weekend and a big thanks to all the people that made it possible. Also to the drivers who took me out for passenger rides on saturday.
Just uploaded some photos to Flickr, just follow the link below.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/82133294@N06/sets/72157654914060232
Regards Mike.
In a phrase - I had a bloody awesome weekend. I was expecting to, and did.
I didn’t run the track this year - promised the missus that after all the time and effort (and pennies) I’d invested in the car over winter I would shy away from the prospect of blowing, of scraping, or caving-in anything - but even though I didn’t drive it, I spent most of my weekend on the track filled with adrenalin thanks to Corders, Russ and Cerbie who had me out as a passenger all weekend.
I went from a purely social aspect and loved it - I love the camping, staying up, having a laugh with my mates - I think as a lot of people were there on Friday it would have been/ would be nice to have something small on on the Friday evening, just to get the ball rolling/
The BBQs were AWESOME. an amazing idea worked so well - add a seating area next to them and you have an instant social space EPIC, someone mentioned people going back to their own areas etc, I think a lot of that was for seating.
My first visit to Blyton with the OC was last year, I’d had the car 10 days and didn’t know anyone outside of a couple Cerbie & BV, this year I met friends I’ve made over the year, and most definately made new ones… what it’s all about.
I would agree with Cerbie that the future for this event seems to be a celebration of the MX5 on track hosted by the OC and for anyone who books/rocks up with a licence and MOT’d 5. Go to any track day, anywhere and you will see 5s, lots of them. ask them if they are in the OC and the answer is usually no, they aren’t my kind of people, looking at Blyton I would strongly disagree. Give members a hefty discount on track time, and non members an incentive to join (ie member prices on track time) and you will sell the event out and can almost guarantee the membership forms being filled in. Blyton is a spectacle for the OC, in my opinion it shows off ten times more of the organisation, passion about and love for these little cars that Oulton park did - Give me a track to a car park full of cars and a tent full of chrome - it has it’s place, but OMG so does this.
ADVERTISE, ADVERTISE ADVERTISE - Hype it up, get the word out, let people know how awesome this event actually is - I have to say that the organisation of the weekend was great - but the hype surrounding it was woeful at best and non-existent at worst. Look at Japfest, RetroRides or JAE. or if you are talking about OC events Bug-jam - They are hyped to the max, with people talking about them all year, twitter accounts, Instagrams and more churning out info, setting up the weekend and getting people gagging for it to start. Do the same - if the people who are doing the advertising, promotion and and hype for next year aren’t up to this - GET SOMEONE ELSE TO DO IT. - it is more important than beer tents or discos or welcome packs - if you don’t have people there - then you have an empty beer tent. Someone organising should go to every single region, to at least one meet, Sell the event - because alas it doesn’t sell itself - very little does these days.
Why am I so strong on this point - I had a great time and I (from a purely selfish point of view) want to have another great time next year.
Normally when I post on here with anything other than “Good job” I get shot down, and told “But they are all volunteers, don’t criticise them” - Read my post I am an evangelist for this event, and most who went are - take my post for what it is - my ideas, my input, which I am volunteering.
I don’t mind it and it makes a change from the outer circuit, it’s like having 2 track days in one weekend!
The Curva Grande is just too hard to do for us lesser driving mortals… the rest ain’t so bad…
Hi,
it was my first time at Blyton and my first time on any track ever, I got there on Saturday and spectated and had a go on the Sunday, i now think i am hooked. As my first ever track day event i have nothing to compare it too so its all thumbs up from me, fingers crossed its on next year.
Next time i am definitely going to get some pointers / lessons, think i made every rookie mistake in the book, never span off so its a start.
Michael
It’s just a straight if u head for blue cone.
This. I think it’s a great event and I can’t believe it was undersubscribed this year. love the friendly vibe, the mechanical support, the single marque ethos that encourages those who would otherwise be intimidated by all the m3 race cars etc. Of the events I’ve done this year, this is the one I wanted to bring my wife to.
I can’t be the only person who basically pays their membership subs to be able to attend this event, but there must be loads of people on ‘the otherz place’ who would be up for an event like this.
Edited to add this picture of these beautiful cars owned by some guys who were there but didn’t go out on track - think they were playing on the go kartz.
Ps here’s a vid of one of the morning sessions from Saturday 
As always, another very enjoyable weekend at Blyton. Thanks to all involved in organising and running, especially Peter who did a great job on his first attempt.
Some thoughts in relation to the previous comments:
-As is, this event represents extremely good value for money. So yes, I could afford to pay more for the track time and would be prepared to pay for camping. However, that would be also be a pretty good way to put people off attending. Also, I believe the club should meet the needs of all its members even those in a minority group. Therefore, subsidising the only track event of the year is not too much to ask.
-I’m not a fan of sessioned trackdays, but I see their value in this case in allowing novices to dip their feet in the water by themselves. I liked someone’s suggestion (sorry, I forget who) of having a 1 hour novice session in the morning with the rest of the day open pit.
-I liked the bar, used it (a little too much) and thought it was reasonably priced given the location.
-I’ll put a lonely hand up in favour of the East circuit. Yes, it’s harder. But don’t we do these things to challenge ourselves?
-Definitely open it up to non-members from the start (at a non-subsidised rate). That’s a no-brainer to boost attendance and show the world that we aren’t all polishing and sticky back chrome enthusiasts.
-My word that Mazda dealer display was dismal- “hey, look what a dull range we make these days!”.
Here’s a couple of vids from the weekend:
Outer circuit: https://youtu.be/KS55xoodVio
Following a turbo monster on the east circuit, showing up my lack of power : https://youtu.be/Lfjzhy0nT9U
I couldn’t agree more - opening up the Blyton can only attract a whole new type of member who’ve never considered joining - you know the ones who only use a thermos as a screenwash bottle 
On behalf of Mazda on Track, I would like to thank everybody who was at Blyton over the weekend, from the Marshall’s to the drivers, Mazda Menders to the cleaners, without all of you it is just a field with some tarmac.
There certainly were some different challenges to overcome this year but the point I would personally like to be considered for the future is, while I understand this financially may not have been where it needed to be, feel the passion that is coming through from the people that did come just in this thread. Of course there will be highs and lows, but for those that worry about the clubs future and membership levels, is the future in discussing painting brake calipers and how many runs people are allowed before having to join, or hosting events that get people seriously engaged and passionate about?
Each Bash I have been to has been a blast.
I think Jon Earp set the bar high and Peter delivered very well: not an easy thing to do, well done fella…
I personally like the Eastern circuit, it is a challenge, if I was running the event, I would just keep it on the main track all weekend, saves on any gripes and people dipping out because its the Eastern, also saves on sighting laps for folks already sighted from the day before.
The Bar: agree with other folks, bring a bottle to the disco, have a fancy dress for a laugh…
Have a fund raising event outside the Disco, throw a pound coin at a bottle of booze or something, closest wins the booze (wait until folks are merry though - will get more takers), think they did this a couple of years ago, worked well.
Thought the sessions worked really well, along with the lining up of the sessions in the pit lane - nice one.
I tried to jump in a few novice car passenger seats in the mornings and helped with lines etc - hope it helped more than hindered.
I know its all about getting on track : But what about a show and shine event too, to get the non track folks to taste the atmosphere and also boost the numbers at the event
The Police Driver instructor chap was a nice touch too.
Sign on - ran like clockwork 
Well done to everyone and thanks for having us…
All the Best
Chris
I’ve not been a member here long - I joined up for this event, I usually post on mx5nutz but this looks like a good forum
Thought i’d throw my 2p in
Firstly the turnout seemed low - especially on the open pit session I was on on Sunday. I used to run a car club and I know what a strain it puts on the club to organise something that everyone says they will go to and then not sell tickets, so I can see why the concern is there
The marquee to me seemed excessive, there’s a perfectly good building for briefings and track sign on - without that marquee we could have all parked up on the grass, but instead most ended up parked outside the entrance.
The track time was good, but the eastern circuit is terrible. I don’t know if curve grande (or whatever it’s called) is designed to be like a bombed runway but the bumps unsettle the car and it just feels terrible. Far prefer the outer circuit.
There is a frustrating lack of overtaking areas too - being told you’ll be black flagged if you overtake anywhere except the 3 “straights” meant a lot of trains of cars following each other. And god yes please LIFT OFF if you pull over to let people over take, slow down, I nearly ended up going into corners side by side because some people couldn’t get that.
Oh and yes the joke about the old dirty yellow flag and dig at Javelin? Seriously? That’s just pathetic to have to dig at another company, especially considering most of us have done Javelin days a LOT and they’re superbly organised and the Javelin team are friendly. You don’t dig at other companies it just comes across as desperate.
The negatives out the way though I really enjoyed the day, would have been nice to see a few more traders and a much better area for parking so I could walk around the cars rather than just the big queue for track but it was a great day.
Hope the same is done next year (without the pot hole ridden eastern circuit please)
I agree with this too
You need more going on besides the track action, with more going on it’ll become a more rounded event which will appeal to more people.
The GK Cars and Police driver helped a lot with this, as did the kit car on display - lets see some more.
Firstly thank you to the whole team from the OC involved in setting this up - it must be a whole tonne of work to prepare.
I am a recent OC member, but a long time multiple MX-5 owner. I attended with the Yorkshire lot who were fantastic and very accommodating. Not many of them interested in track time though, for various reasons.
VFM - I thought it was great.
I can see why sessions were used, I was in the novices in the morning which was possibly under-estimating my own ability. There was some dubious driving in the novices, however that must be understood as its the first time for a lot of people, so long as they heed advice and learn (I.E. backing off to let folk past, and NOT overtaking without a point by, which did happen unfortunately).
It definitely did NOT spoil things though - Saturday afternoon OPL was perfect and enjoyable. A 1 or 2 hour novice/taster session only is a great idea I think.
MOT guys were great all round and did a great job getting so many cars on track generally on time, and turning things round so quick.
- Camping - better define where, when and how - this helps with the social side of things. Get everyone close in, and involved, make the big tent the central hub and more people will use it.
I know that some of the Yorkshire lot only came for the social side (and it was great, everyone had a brilliant laugh) and free camping must be part of that. Some of them may book track time in future, but some simply are not interested - if you want to charge them for camping, then there maybe needs to be something else going to for them to see VFM.
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GK Mazda - be fair - they aren’t selling ‘new’ NCs anymore and they won’t have an ND yet - I am sure if they had some Mk4 demos they would have brought them, and would do next time.
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Attendance - I can’t believe it wasn’t sold out - I thought the prices and event were great. Thus you have to conclude that it is simply poorly advertised and shouted about, as per post above.
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Enticing people onto track - I take no such enticing, but I understand for those in expensive cars or daily drivers there is a big worry. What about ‘Parade laps’ ? I know that my first ever taste of track in my own car was during a parade lap at a BRSCC meet at Croft a few years back. No helmet was required, just a 3 lap bimble round. It certainly made we feel like I wanted to have a proper go at track driving. They do this at Donnington Historic too, good fun and gets people who’ve never been on a racetrack to get all excited about it.
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Something on Saturday night to gather everyone - some silly awards and prizes, a guest speaker, something to watch/see, Photos on a projector, that sort of thing - it brings people together.
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Timings! VERY hard to know what was going on when and where! its no good sending everyone an email the week before.
DEFINITELY need a big whiteboard/blackboard/screens etc, with all the info on, posters, someone walking round with a megaphone etc. The PA system simply wasnt working/loud enough to be heard.
I sincerely hope this happens again - and maybe more trackday events too.