Latest news on the National event - now with ticket prices and application form

National Rally and Event Archive The 15-20 Anniversary National Rally
101

Thanks for that Martin

Fingers crossed that everything is soon resolved.[:)]

102

Re the Laguna Seca Main rally in America

Note    “Admission is free for spectators, and $500 buys you a full weekend of track time.”

Full details below:

 

Since its introduction nearly 20 years ago, the Miata has been at home on the track, winning hundreds of races. It’s equally at home on great roads, like every good sports car. Over 800,000 of the sturdy little roadsters have been built and sold, making the MX-5 Miata the most popular sports car of all time.

Since 2001, Mazda has been the sponsor of the world-class Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. So what better way to wish the Miata a happy 20th birthday than a two-day event on a famous track, in a region known for some of the most scenic roads in the country?

On March 21st and 22nd, Forever MX-5 and Miatas from all over the US will be attendingMiatas at MRLS for one big birthday party. The main focus is a two-day track event on one of the world’s top tracks. Everyone’s welcome from novice to expert. Instructors will be on hand for anyone who wants some tuition. Two full days of driving one of the best tracks in the world. It’s your chance to dive down the Corkscrew in your Miata, following in the tire tracks of racing legends.
But it’s more than just a track weekend. The pits will be full of vendors, including Forever MX-5, showing off everything from the latest products for the NC MX-5 to our hottest show and competition cars. If you ask nicely, you might even get to go for a ride! There are also going to be show specials for participants. Various competition Miatas will be on hand along with their drivers to show what the car can do. There will be parade laps available for those who want to take a slightly less frantic look at the track. On Saturday afternoon there will be a big group photo of all the participating Miatas on the front straight of the track. Tours of the stunning Monterey peninsula will also be available for a more relaxed pace and chance to check out one of the most beautiful spots in the world.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /><o:p></o:p>
Saturday night will feature a big banquet, giving everyone the perfect opportunity for bench racing and general tall tales. The plan is to make it fun, not full of boring speeches - but there will be a few Miata celebrities on hand, including Tom Matano as Grand Marshal. There’s also going to be a book signing by Miata expert and Forever MX-5 columnist Keith Tanner.A legendary track, cool cars, neat toys, fun people, great drives and good food - there’s no better way to celebrate 20 years of the world’s most popular sports car than to drive it as it’s meant to be driven. Admission is free for spectators, and $500 buys you a full weekend of track time. For all the information, hotel details, a timetable, safety requirements and registration call 408-439-7434, e-mail info@MiatasAtMRLS.com or check outMiatasAtMRLS.com There’s a limit of 100 cars on the track and the banquet hall is only so big, so don’t delay!

 

103

We have been thinking of going to this event as its a lot nearer than Texas…and as we don’t take my LE on the track…cheaper too!

104

Hi,I have been reading the posts about the national meet nad although I am recently returned to the club I can see not much has changed.
What good is it having all the funds (over £100,000 according to posts on this site) In the current climate,it’s making virtually no interest and it’s supposed to be there for the members So why cant the " committie " make the correct decision and make the entry to club members F.O.C…
For members north of the border this charge to come is almost a third of our fuel costs to attend,And for the closer members it could be used to offset accomodation costs.Talking of which why are they so high for the hotel that you are reccomending.someome should be getting a far better deal for the members.
So no show for us,just have to see the fotos in the mag instead eh !

105

 Good point tjay - I like the “members free” idea!
I live 1 mile from Mallory, and do a lot of work in the community with local businesses, as well as having been invited by the circuit owner to “Pleasure Island” for a private family race day, I’ve even “borrowed” the main start/finish straight to tune model cars when I raced them…
I have offered to help with anything required, but have not had any real response from the organising committee.
Not looked into the particular hotel costs you mention, but I would have thought that the possibility of camping at the circuit would have been investigated, and there is a large campsite about 4 miles away (Market Bosworth Water Trust), as well as others around the area… Have these been mentioned?

106

Goof, during our last conference call I mentioned to the 15/20 committee that you had already made a couple of offers to help and we will be in touch very soon… your proximity and knowledge of Mallory and the local area will be invaluable.  Please accept my apologies for not making a public “yes please” before now… the reasons are long and boring but suffice to say we are 99.999999 % going to be at Mallory on Saturday 12 September 2009.  The race day on the 13th is still very much in debate but if it does happen it is likely to be a stand alone event that our members may wish to stay on for and attend as a member of the general public.

 

Please drop me a pm with your contact email and telephone numbers so that I can call you for a chat

107

tjay, I think you may be mixing your events as there is no hotel set for the 15/20 Rally as yet.  You may well be referring to the Spring Rally Hotel which is very expensive but you get what you pay for.  Please forgive me but I was not prepared to showcase Yorkshire Ridings in some bargain basement hotel/pub with a burger in a bun.  I realise that folk have different bugets and fully expect many areas and individuals to come on their own terms, after all we have only booked 80 rooms and 160 dinner places.  There will be campers having their fun around the barbie as always, some will take over a whole hotel/B&B for their group others will come and stay with friends and family or in an express/motorway type hotel, others will be snuggled up in stone cottages and then there’s the day trippers… all in all many many options from free to expensive.

 That said, you are proof that we can’t cater for and/or please everyone… hopfully the photo’s in the mag will give you a little pleasure in June

108

NickD

Firstly I congratulate you in taking this subject on. Organising things are never easy to do and it’s hard if not impossible to please all the people all the time - I’m trying to organise an annual Le Mans trip and it’s like hurding cats!

Equally I think some of the comments that have labels of being attacking or moaning are tad out of order in my opinion. Not seen anything that is personnel and you have to bear in mind written text leaves a lot open to interpretation even with the smileys, plus they would be pretty boring forums! That said here are my views:-

£30 does seems reasonable when you compare to other events, but agree with a number of other posts about getting clarity on what you get so people can compare apples with apples.

As a OC member I would expect to see a discount (not for early booking) and an attraction/area that is exclusive to members. I am a member of the Goodwood Road Racing Club and as a paying member I get discounts on the likes of the festival of speed, members area within key events, early booking to grandstands etc. These attract me to the membership and helps continue to renew as I see and use the benefits of that membership.  I also get people asking me how I get these things and how do you get in there which in turn promotes the membership of the GRRC. Surely we want to do the same for the OC and this is an ideal event in which to do just that.

I joined the MX5 owners club because of the MX5. Not because of the RX8 (although I did take a great deal of pleasure in passing many of them at the brands hatch MOT track day in Dec), the MX6, MX3 etc etc. Therefore, see it as important that the bulk of the cars, if not all the cars should be MX5’s. Have no issue with a dealer who is sponsoring to display other Mazda’s or the concept cars, but really want it to be about the MX5 and not mazda in general.

Thats it from me.

Cheers 

 

109

WARNING EPIC GERRY LENGTH POST ALERT. IT MUST BE TO DO WITH EVENTS THEN!

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />  Dear All,   I hope with this post to bring some clarity to the situation up to now.   First the part that everyone wants to know is the date.   This will be Saturday, September 12th at Mallory Park Race Circuit in Leicestershire.   It will be a single day event. There is a race meeting the day afterwards but this day is paid for by another organisation. Any racing and attendance at that meeting will be subject to a separate negotiation and currently does not form any part of the national event.     So to the events up to now.   Firstly every person within the OC doing work on behalf of the OC does it as a volunteer and in their spare time, this includes the people on the 15-20 team and the OC committee. We do this for all the people out there and to make this a good club, so for all the people that have been on the bandwagon of the team “living it up” and hidden agendas and vested interests can put those ideas away right now. If you would like me to suggest a place feel free to ask. [:|]   Without going into massive detail there have been some huge problems to overcome to getting to this point.   Firstly, as shown just by the variety of opinions in this thread, opinion was immediately split over what an event should be. It comes down to what individuals enjoy doing themselves. Some people are happy to sit in a deckchair in the sunshine, to others that is death it’s self and want to climb the closest mountain. The team settled on the option that we had to include lots of events and to do that the event would need to be professionally organised just like all those other big shows and events that we like going to.   Then the very next problem was finding a suitable venue that was available. Yes there are many around, and it comes down to how deep are your pockets? When you rent a hotel room, you get that, you don’t get the managers office, the next door bedroom, and the kitchens, all that is extra and so it is with race circuits. The track is one price, if you want camping, fields, buildings, extra toilets etc it’s extra money. The hire cost of Rockingham or Donnington for one day with the necessary extras is well in excess of £20K. So to get <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Mallory Park at an affordable price at the right time of year took some intense work. A pre existing booking had to moved which took some effort and we should all congratulate the team for making this happen. We should also thank members of the team who have voluntarily given up their weekends to drive hundreds of miles to stand in cold wet and horrible conditions to investigate these venues so that we can hold a great event, while many are sat, warm, at home typing on their computers how useless the team is. [:#]   So now to the question of the Silverstone Classic. A wonderful event, please go. From my point of view, the more people that go and watch cars being driven the better. Please, please go and have a wonderful time, but as a club focal event it would be hopeless. It is too big and too much going on to hope in any way to retain any focus in any club activity.   So, we are going to Mallory, why have there been delays in setting this up? Lots of little reasons; but two or three pretty big ones. The biggest issue was cost. The cost of holding a large event is large! A detailed budget was prepared and the cost of holding such an event was in excess of £60,000. Understandably this was not immediately approved by the committee and when faced with such a cost it emphasised the different views of team members as to what an event should be and in particular what an Owners Club event should be. My initial post back last year was to ask if members would be prepared to pay £30 entrance to a “proper” event was met with a barrage of diverse views. I personally received PM’s containing statements such as “immoral,” “boycott,” “demand” and “free.” Unfortunately these responses did little to encourage anyone in the club to approve this event. Arguments were put forward that it should be an OC only event, that traditionally only 500 to 800 people would attend which made the sums very scary at £75 to £120 per head for free admittance. The option of the field with the club marquee was a very real possibility for a long while.   Personally for me, sitting between forum and AGM comments that the club presence at the Classic Car show was pathetic and we should be ashamed that a big national club had not spent more on a proper show, to the other extreme, “I’ve paid my £30 membership, now I expect the keys to every motoring event across the county” made me think more than once “why am I bothering?” Indeed for some team members it was too much and they resigned.   Some areas emailed their members, they found very few members actually bothered to reply, however those that did were actually positive, which spurred people on to work very hard to revisit budgets, see what could be removed and where free effort could be used instead of paid for. The second day was scrapped and various other options such as the camping field.   This I hope goes someway to explaining the various complicated and tough problems that have had to be dealt with over the last few months. Other delays have also been caused by having to wait for other organisations to make their own separate decisions on things that affect this event such as the original date had to change to avoid clashing with the TRAX event at Silverstone. It has all taken a great deal of effort and you should thank your team for a lot of hard work on your behalf.   SO THAT IS ALL IN THE PAST AND WE HAVE A GREAT EVENT TO LOOK FORWARD TO.   Thank you to all those people that have offered support and particularly those that have reconfirmed their offers of support in this thread. [img]http://www.jonrb.com/emoticons/thumbs_up.gif[/img]   For everybody else, your club is investing a lot of time and money and effort now into providing a great celebration event in September. There is going to be a host of special things going on at local, national and international level across the year. Lots of wonderful things to see, do and be part of.    This is your club and particularly this year you are going to have plenty of opportunity to support it. If it’s not right, don’t moan; make it right, it is YOUR club. It’s a gloomy year ahead but we own sunshine cars, so lets spread a little bit of sunshine.  [img]http://www.jonrb.com/emoticons/cool1.gif[/img]  
110

 I suppose we’ll have to wait and see how the Sunday plans go - would be a shame not to make it a 2-day event…
I can help on the camping side of things…

111

 

People can always buy their own tickets.

That was one of the issues. Mallory were not prepared to give up gate receipts for the race day, it was actually someone else’s day, we were just piggybacking on the event even though our infrastructure would remain.

As many people were already complaining about the cost of the £30, of which up to £20 would have had to go to the race event, then it was dropped.

112

Cheers for the update…[:D]

113

 So, if Saturday is Mallory day, then why not make Sat night (camping) an OC night at a campsite?
Campsite I’m thinking of has a bar, fishing, boating, allows barbecues, plenty of flat open space, decent toilets & showers, etc… - you want more???
They have a concert too - not on the same night, but most things are possible… - it’s just a case of who you know!

114

Sounds like a plan to me!

115

 Lol - I’m a mile away, and just waiting to be asked! [;)]

116

 Im liking this development.
Considering that we will have many of the good things previously mentioned without having to pay attendance money to Mallory for the race day, for which im sure less than half would have bothered with given the “paying” choice, I think this is the right option.
bringing the cost down without loosing many of the special things sounds a great compromise. If you want to watch the racing you can pay on Sunday.
 Looking forward to more updates.
 
Jonathan

 
 

 

117

Nick thanks for the update, it explains a lot of things. Sorry, I was one of the people who questioned the cost of the weekend but I now understand what your problems were. The suggestions about camping seem a good idea, Its a definate date for my diary!

Selina

118

 The campsite we use in the summer is this one.
The fishing is good!, and there’s water sports for the more adventurous…!!! [;)]

119

Goof, can you find out about the Battle of Bosworth site to? It was always a fascinating walk round.

120

 The Battle of Bosworth has a recently new visitor centre (haven’t been to it yet), and it’s within 2 miles of the Mallory circuit, a mile further is the campsite we use (see link in earlier post).
Bosworth Battlefield link. for more info.
There’s also a decent entry on Wikipedia too that’s worth a read.
There’s also another Bosworth Park in the village just to confuse people…