Sleeping arrangements with trailer before event!

[frodo_monkey]

^ wot he said.

As soon as our calendar comes out I get on the Travelodge and Premier Inn websites (Travelodge normally cheapest). Early bookings are normally £20-25 per night, silly not to at that price!

[Ducati07]

And do you guys leave car and trailer in the paddock overnight?

[HustleRussell]

Ducati07 said:

And do you guys leave car and trailer in the paddock overnight?

yep

[Drumroll]

The real bottom line is what gives you the best nights sleep. Have a rubbish nights sleep and you are likely to have a rubbish race day. As well as more likely to fall asleep on the way home.

[HustleRussell]

And perform like st at work on Monday

[frodo_monkey]

Ducati07 said:

And do you guys leave car and trailer in the paddock overnight?

Yep, never had any issues.

[XJR500bhp]

Loads of us Jag boys sleep in the paddock. I had a bed in the back of the van. If you do sleep in the trailer, take the fuel cans out

[Jerry Can]

frodo_monkey said:

Yep, never had any issues.

Just to pick up on this, at Brands today a young lad came back from his hotel to find that someone had pinched his gearbox and uprights from his FVee, whilst they were still on the car. The teams next to him did challenge the thief on what he was doing, but he fobbed them off saying that he was helping out.

Police were involved, and cctv caught the culprits, they did finger printing and DNA analysis. Turns out it was a former competitor from a couple of years ago, looking for a cheap way to build his car

It's the first time I've seen this in 23 years of racing, I've heard of tools going missing, but for someone to remove a rear end from a car......

[dunc_sx]

Ear plugs if you are camping or sleeping rough at the circuit is the key to getting sleep imo

[RobM77]

I've been club racing on and off for 18 years and if I get in early enough, when races are first announced at the start of the season, I normally book a B&B close to the circuit (they book up quick!). That means I can chat to the owner to ask if they have space for a car and trailer. Most circuits are in fairly obscure rural places where B&Bs are often farmhouses or country houses with plenty of parking space. Many independent hotels also have space - for instance there's a lovely old hotel next door to Donington with a large gravel car park perfect for a trailer. If it really comes to it in a more standard marked out carpark, you can put the trailer in a car space, unhitch and then park next to it, as you might do in the paddock.

The other option, as mentioned here, is to park the trailer in the paddock and take your tow car to the hotel.

With regards to security, my trailer has a hitchlock, and in addition I always fit a sturdy wheel clamp and lock the doors with padlocks; that's a reasonable precaution for overnight parking and both the trailer and my racing car are insured in those circumstances.

I've not stayed at the circuit before purely because I'm a light sleeper due to chronic pain and don't want to be disturbed. I have driven racing cars after no sleep on a few occasions, but it's not something I'd recommend. Even worse can be the tow home after the race, because you don't have adrenalin perking you up at 60mph on the M1...

[dhutch]

I have booked myself and a car trailer into a Birmingham city hotel with secure concierge parking before now. They nearly fell over with the size of the trailer even thought I had given them the dims at booking. And I had to park it myself as the concierge driver didnt think it would fit in the carpark. However it all worked fine.

I student days I have rocked up at the paddock, pushed the car out the back, and dossed down in a self-inflating airbed in the trailer!



Daniel