Carrera GT circuit laps @ Castle Combe this Saturday - 20th
Discussion
I hope this is a rare enough opportunity to be of interest to folks here. At Castle Combe on Saturday we have the Stroke Association 'Supercar Saturday' charity event. Simple format; we charge people a small amount for a ride in one of over 50 race cars and other rare/exciting cars. We have a volunteer driver this year bringing a Carrera GT. He has plenty of track experience.
Event details are at: http://www.stroke.org.uk/supercar Gates open 09:00, rides from 09:30. Come early to get first choice. Admission £5, rides are 5 hot laps and priced from £20. I would welcome input from this forum on what demand for the GT might be and how much you would pay for a ride?
Others Porsches include a 911 GT2, a Boxster 3.2S (with a very quick racer driving it), a 996 C4 and a 997 Turbo. Other cars include several Radicals, an Aston Vantage V12 driven by double Combe GT Champion Simon Tilling, A Noble M12 and an 'eclectic mix' of classics, racers and what have you.
Star drivers include Slim Borgudd who drove for Ken Tyrrell in F1 as well as being a notable drummer who was friendly with ABBA and played on some of their tracks! Those were the days, eh?
We also have an Autosolo (timed circuit round a coned course) expertly run by Bristol Motor Club and in which you drive your own car. Fastest time wins an extremely odd prize.
Basically a relaxed, fun day out mucking around in cars. Do come and join in.
Event details are at: http://www.stroke.org.uk/supercar Gates open 09:00, rides from 09:30. Come early to get first choice. Admission £5, rides are 5 hot laps and priced from £20. I would welcome input from this forum on what demand for the GT might be and how much you would pay for a ride?
Others Porsches include a 911 GT2, a Boxster 3.2S (with a very quick racer driving it), a 996 C4 and a 997 Turbo. Other cars include several Radicals, an Aston Vantage V12 driven by double Combe GT Champion Simon Tilling, A Noble M12 and an 'eclectic mix' of classics, racers and what have you.
Star drivers include Slim Borgudd who drove for Ken Tyrrell in F1 as well as being a notable drummer who was friendly with ABBA and played on some of their tracks! Those were the days, eh?
We also have an Autosolo (timed circuit round a coned course) expertly run by Bristol Motor Club and in which you drive your own car. Fastest time wins an extremely odd prize.
Basically a relaxed, fun day out mucking around in cars. Do come and join in.
Yellow Fever said:
Admission £5, rides are 5 hot laps and priced from £20. I would welcome input from this forum on what demand for the GT might be and how much you would pay for a ride?
Firstly; I hope you make a shed load of money for such a worthy cause.As to pricing; I think '5 hot laps' in a CGT might even be a little much for some punters, and of course reduces numbers you can get through (never mind the tyre wear!!). Why not one out lap followed by a hot lap followed by a picture opportunity sat in the driver's seat for £50. The hot lap would need to be so though for that outlay. If you find trade tailing off due to cost, then bring it down after lunch to attract those who were put off by price in the morning. Good luck, and do let us know how it went.
I hope the day goes really well!
I think your pricing is spot on.
For a family with a couple of kids, £20 might seem expensive if they're not petrolheads and don't understand how much tyres and petrol alone cost but, I think most would be happy to pay that.
£50 though, would be a lot, although the really expensive super cars could charge a premium, so maybe try it at £40-£50 in the morning as suggested above.
For a family with two kids, each wanting a couple of rides, the day would cost £100 at £20 per ride, or £220 at £50 per ride. Huge difference obviously.
You'll be sure to get more people in at the lower price.
I think five laps is fair. I don't know what a lap of Coombe takes but I'd guess that would be 7-8 mins per ride. Better value for the passengers.
Should be a great day. If I was nearer I'd have made it along with the family.
I think your pricing is spot on.
For a family with a couple of kids, £20 might seem expensive if they're not petrolheads and don't understand how much tyres and petrol alone cost but, I think most would be happy to pay that.
£50 though, would be a lot, although the really expensive super cars could charge a premium, so maybe try it at £40-£50 in the morning as suggested above.
For a family with two kids, each wanting a couple of rides, the day would cost £100 at £20 per ride, or £220 at £50 per ride. Huge difference obviously.
You'll be sure to get more people in at the lower price.
I think five laps is fair. I don't know what a lap of Coombe takes but I'd guess that would be 7-8 mins per ride. Better value for the passengers.
Should be a great day. If I was nearer I'd have made it along with the family.
The SupercarEvent charges £50 IIRC for hypercars such as the CGT and manage queues for hours on end at that price.
It is a popular event and venue (so demand might be stronger), but I don't expect the CGT driver will be willing to put in as many laps as a less expensive car might anyway, so I agree that may be the right price point.
It is a popular event and venue (so demand might be stronger), but I don't expect the CGT driver will be willing to put in as many laps as a less expensive car might anyway, so I agree that may be the right price point.
5 laps sounds like a long time to me. I did a few hot rides in my road going 996 two weeks ago (and passed Paul O'Neill in a racing car 
) and to avoid overheating the brakes I was usually doing a fast out lap, one flying lap and then a slower in lap - probably 6.5-7 minutes and it got good feedback from everyone that had a ride (corporate jolly).
I know Castle Combe is a shorter lap (e.g. Boxster race car does 1.16 vs 1.56 at Oulton) but I think 3 or 4 laps would be enough. It depends on demand - maybe start at 5 and if there's a big queue reduce it - the point being it might be prudent not to specify exactly how many laps they'll get.
) and to avoid overheating the brakes I was usually doing a fast out lap, one flying lap and then a slower in lap - probably 6.5-7 minutes and it got good feedback from everyone that had a ride (corporate jolly).I know Castle Combe is a shorter lap (e.g. Boxster race car does 1.16 vs 1.56 at Oulton) but I think 3 or 4 laps would be enough. It depends on demand - maybe start at 5 and if there's a big queue reduce it - the point being it might be prudent not to specify exactly how many laps they'll get.
That's all terrific feedback and thanks to everyone who has contributed. I know we run some race cars with slicks e.g. Radicals, Dodge Viper GT3s where 5 laps is the outer limit for some passengers. Neverheless, we've never had someone come back in complaining they had wanted less time in the car! I think we might limit the GT to 3 or 4 laps in deference to the car, driver and passengers. The price won't be over £60 though.
I do hope to see some of you along and it's important to be clear that all cars are subject to availability. We know the GT measures (at multiple other circuits) within the noise limit we have for the event but those who have driven at Combe will know very well that it's the Bermuda Triangle for noise meters. So, in good faith we believe the car will appear and we believe it should pass the noise test and be on track, but as I say, all cars are 'subject to availability'.
The whole event is only possible due to the voluntary support of drivers and the crew who run the event, including Bristol Motor Club running the Autosolo. Over a hundred good folk in all, which demonstrates the generosity of people involved with nice cars and motorpsort.
Thanks all and enjoy the good weather on Saturday wherever you are and whatever you are driving.
I do hope to see some of you along and it's important to be clear that all cars are subject to availability. We know the GT measures (at multiple other circuits) within the noise limit we have for the event but those who have driven at Combe will know very well that it's the Bermuda Triangle for noise meters. So, in good faith we believe the car will appear and we believe it should pass the noise test and be on track, but as I say, all cars are 'subject to availability'.
The whole event is only possible due to the voluntary support of drivers and the crew who run the event, including Bristol Motor Club running the Autosolo. Over a hundred good folk in all, which demonstrates the generosity of people involved with nice cars and motorpsort.
Thanks all and enjoy the good weather on Saturday wherever you are and whatever you are driving.
spikeyhead said:
If you've got the advertising right to get plenty of people there you'll be able to charge a lot more than £20.
At Carfest north a 20 min road trip in an Atom was £50, other cars more or less expensive.
I was on track at the Destination Nurburgring 6 event last week. one flying lap of the ring in either seat of a Radical SR3 was £250. a lad we were with on track in his Golf paid for a drivers seat lap in the radical. he enjoyed it !!!At Carfest north a 20 min road trip in an Atom was £50, other cars more or less expensive.
Thanks again to all who offered advice and support for this idea.
The Carrera GT turned up but was massively over the noise limit unfortunately - and way beyond what the driver thought it was. This was a huge shame as it would have easily generated £750+ for charity. But North Wiltshire District Council feel that driving the car through the middle of Castle Combe village is OK, whereas half a mile away behind a 20ft high dirt bank is not. <sigh> Prejudice is too small a word to describe the attitude.
The owner was massively helpful in leaving the car on display all day and tolerating all sorts of people 'looking at it' in a rather tactile way. Having it around really helped the atmosphere of the event and we're very grateful to him for his contribution and goodwill. Other cars on track included a 997 GT3, a 996 C4, a 997 Turbo, a couple of Boxsters (one of which was extremely rapidly driven by Mark Stacey) and a Cayman driven by a very experienced ex-racer.
The event went really well with some 300 rides sold during the day and a solid amount of money raised for the Stroke Association. Our thanks to everyone who took part or came along for a ride, we hope to see you next year and for the good vibe around the event to keep spreading.
The Carrera GT turned up but was massively over the noise limit unfortunately - and way beyond what the driver thought it was. This was a huge shame as it would have easily generated £750+ for charity. But North Wiltshire District Council feel that driving the car through the middle of Castle Combe village is OK, whereas half a mile away behind a 20ft high dirt bank is not. <sigh> Prejudice is too small a word to describe the attitude.
The owner was massively helpful in leaving the car on display all day and tolerating all sorts of people 'looking at it' in a rather tactile way. Having it around really helped the atmosphere of the event and we're very grateful to him for his contribution and goodwill. Other cars on track included a 997 GT3, a 996 C4, a 997 Turbo, a couple of Boxsters (one of which was extremely rapidly driven by Mark Stacey) and a Cayman driven by a very experienced ex-racer.
The event went really well with some 300 rides sold during the day and a solid amount of money raised for the Stroke Association. Our thanks to everyone who took part or came along for a ride, we hope to see you next year and for the good vibe around the event to keep spreading.
I went for a few rides, the Caterham Supersport driven by Tony was fun, my wife said under no circumstances was I to book a ride............ She enjoyed it too!
Was a really nice event, good weather, nice to see the cars driven properly. The radicals were mad!
Only downside was one woman who was short, wearing 'Jackie Mann' style sunglasses who just kept pushing in!
Was a really nice event, good weather, nice to see the cars driven properly. The radicals were mad!
Only downside was one woman who was short, wearing 'Jackie Mann' style sunglasses who just kept pushing in!
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