Macca

Hi All,

I have migrated our discussion regards Track Tours to this post in order not to congest the other thread.

At this stage we are still working through possibilities. Currently we have a possible September or November date where we can achieve a day at Manfield and a day at Taupo A1GP with support and a shared instructor and insurance cover (for those wit Prestigio) for approximately $1000 per head. I think you will agree that is great potential value as anywhere else in the developed world a single track day alone with insurance would cost this much.

Currently we are working on the basis of 10 pax although I imagine this will become a 12-15 pax affair. Ultimately Prestigio will dictate the maximum group size. I think until we can get clarity on that subject we need to assume 12 maximum. I do not imagine this would be difficult to fulfill.

I am awaiting Playday to come back to me with their Taupo Playdays for the Sept-November period (preferably October) to see which dates if any they have reserved. Taupos online calender indicates they are quite busy and booking up well in advance for various events and I cannot see any playday there so I suspect we may be limited to choice of the 13 Sept or 22 November (both Fridays) to work in with The Manfield fixed dates. Other possibilities are to rent both tracks for our own usage but this would limit us to weekday dates and cost approximately $500 more per head.

What is even more exciting is the 2014 Summer South Island tour opportunity. This will only be good for those who can get away from work and families for a week but it does look like its shaping up to be an "experience of a lifetime" much in the same way as the Targa NZ Tour.

There isn't much more that can be don for now. I think we will probably end up having to work with a Sept or Nov date although I definitely will be working through an October option as this was the month that seemed to work for most of our interested parties.

At this stage all I need to know is who would be 100% interested in a Sept or Nov 3 day 2 track tour for approximation $1000 a head with support and shared instructor, insurance and entry (Taupo we would have the who track for the day so could go out for shorter sessions to ensure everyone gets to ride shotgun with an instructor at least once)? Assume Prestigio will cover the group under the Playday banner.

As soon as we have worked through other potential options and logistics and fine tuned a programme that will work for the majority here then we can look to post on the EuroPacific site. I think its only fair that for such an exclusive group with such limited availability of spaces that we offer the opportunity to those that have helped form this idea in the first instance. Ive spoken briefly with Steve on this idea and I get the impression we will have no issues whatsoever in getting the spots filled once on his site...

Caio

peterC2S

Definitely in for this and flexible with dates. That sounds a sensible compromise for cost and time - personally I'd have no problem with a larger group at Taupo as you need a fair bit of cool down time and no point in the track being a ghost-town! Also be cool to meet a few new faces from down country that we don't get to see at HD.

Awesome job mate - when it gets down to the detail let me know what sort of local help will be needed.

Macca

Peter. I tell you what we can do. I can suggest to Tony we will take the track and that he can create a second group of 10-20 cars to run a second session during the day. We can do 15 minutes on each group with a stand down time of 30 mins. We can ask him to refund us on the basis of the extra participants minus his margin at the end of the event. This way we retain our insurance, reduce our overhead and make better use of the cooling down time.

Its probably also worth noting that I have been in touch with Pukekohe and Im awaiting their availability and cost to rent the track to make it a potential three in a row option for 12/13/14 September to throw that in the mix. If its an additional $500 a head it may be something worth considering - when will you every get to do three straight days of track work with an instructor and support again!.....Oh yeah in the South Island in March 2014!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Yay

peterC2S

This is putting pressure on getting some decent seats....

Jay NZ

I'm 'new' here but have some info that might help as I've arranged private days at Taupo and HD before. I'll send you a PM. Taupo's A1GP Track (Track 1) is quite cheap on weekdays. Much cheaper than HD.

Macca

Jason. Appreciated. 10 posts in 10 years! You know my email addy, be good to have your intel on private days etc very helpful, tnx

Macca

Peter. I was going to ask Paul who posted on the NZ board (based in USA emigrating to NZ in August) to put a pair of Recaro Pole Positions in his container. Ill touch base with him and see how his timing is going as that may be an option for you too...

John McM

I'm keen for September. I've got a Fuch itch I have to scratch so I'll go with local seats. I'm going to look at the car this week. The focus will be to strip out anything that isn't necessary. Albeit everything must be reversible.

964X33

I'm keen for Sep/Oct but will depend on actual dates chosen. Can't do Labour weekend (Coastal Classic yacht race).
Just a thought, but maybe we could jack up with Tony for him to run two Playdays on the same weekend at Taupo/Manfield and book a single group as usual on each day for us. That way it'd come under $500. I don't mind sharing the day with other punters but would like our own group with numbers under 12. My pref remains keeping it at 2 tracks and doing Puke on another day.

Macca

Thanks to JayNZ for PMing me some useful information on organizing the track days. It would appear we ideally need to work under the "Playday" umbrella in order to have organizers liability cover as well as well as insurance cover (ideally we need an instructor to accompany us to further ensure qualification here).

John. Good to have another potential on board. The Fuchs will look lovely on your car. The good thing is you should have at least a few sessions at HD to shake her down before "the tour"!

NZ964C4. Good to have another potential on board. At this stage October is looking unlikely. Unfortunately the track calendars are quite booked ahead. September date will not work to do a Sat/Sunday Playday Manfield/Taupo event as the 15th Sept in Taupo is booked out for a Muscle Car Race meet. The 24th November will work at Taupo however as that date appears free. I will ask Tony if this is a possibility.

I wouldn't worry too much about Puke as I suspect we will have trouble making it work unless Playday have formed a relationship there.

I think its important we pay someone like Steve R to support the event. Ideally a Van with some tools and our spares and wheels/tires would be useful at the least. I dont know how others feel about this but running these old girls for two heavy days plus 1000km+ of touring means it would be nice to have the added benefit of a mechanic, jack and tools on site. Also Steve has been quite generousness with the group from what Ive seen. Hopefully no one has an issue with this. The way I see it is if you look after people business always works more smoothly.

So far I think we have the following starting to shape up. There are 3-4 keen parties not on this board so we wont have issue getting the numbers I shouldn't think.

1). Mark (yes for Sept, TBA for November date)
2). Paul (yes for both)
3). Peter (yes for both)
4). Steve R (probably for both)
5). Jason (Yes for Sept)
6). John (Yes for Sept)
7). Matt (to confirm and based on new vehicle)
8). Sean (to be confirmed dependent on dates and availability)
9). Phil (TBA)
10). Obsessed ( Yes for Sept TBA November)
11). GT38088 (TBA)
12). Place holder for Steve R son or otherwise.


Matt in Taupo may be able to join for the Taupo session.

I hope I haven't missed anyone.

Obsessed

Macca, great work on this and it's all sounding positive. The September date will be fine for me, but the November date might be a bit iffy. I'll know with more certainty in 6 weeks or so, and will let you know then.

Macca

Hi Obsessed. Yes its all looking good. I've updated you on the list above. Can I have your name?

peterC2S

+1 on this. No issues at all.

John McM

+1. Someone will likely have need of help. It makes sense to have Steve R there.


BTW just pulled the trigger on the Fuchs. With fronts at 7.5kg and rears at 7.95kg that should save me > 12kg overall.

peterC2S

John - serious jealousy here!!! Are you getting them from the Aussie distributor or direct from Europe? They are beautiful wheels 17" or 18"?