29 replies to this topic

[Auroraf1]

All

Prevailing weather cionditions has unfortunately meant that this meeting has been cancelled.

[alansart]

All

Prevailing weather cionditions has unfortunately meant that this meeting has been cancelled.

Thanks Phil. At least I can have a lie in tomorrow

[bradbury west]

This reminds me of the April 1966? Spring meeting when snow causefd cancellation. I remember it well as I drove my Ford Pop from central Somerset up to Oulton - not many motorway bits in those days, - to be met on the road approaching the M6 from Budworth etc by a stream of competitors going home. I recall Sir Gawaine Baillie's Falcon, GB448 , on a trailer behind a Ford Galaxy estate car, and others behind Econoline vans like it was yesterday. Twas a long way to travel just to turn round and go home again.
Roger Lund

edit If Ray Bell is reading this I know the distances are nothing compared to the journeys which he and Bob Levitt et al used to make, but at last they got some racing to see.

Edited by bradbury west, 23 March 2013 - 00:23.

[Phil Rainford]

Correct decision ...........not least in regards to the marshals who would of course have to stand out in the freezing cold all day

PAR

[Barry Boor]

Roger, my journey that day was only from London but I'd only been driving for a month so it was a hairy old day and all for nothing.

[alansart]

It was snow plough racing this morning!!

[arttidesco]

If any one has severe withdrawal symptoms from standing around in the cold, I'm marshaling a sprint at Castle Combe tomorrow

[Phil Rainford]

While I need my fix......so I am going to a Rally near Blackpool on Sunday


PAR

[Barry Boor]

I'm marshalling on Sunday, too, but I reckon I'm going to be a bit warmer than Arti.

[David Lawson]

I will be braving the elements at the Classic Racing Motorcycle Club race meeting at Brands Hatch this weekend, I've got half a dozen layers of clothing sorted out.

David

[arttidesco]

Great to see the hardcore TNFers carrying on regardless

[TimRTC]

Donington Park events cancelled this weekend. Amazingly good luck that the BTCC media day was on Thursday when it was cold but dry all day. This shot is of DP on Friday - https://twitter.com/...4204162/photo/1

I hope the weather clears a little for the Easter Weekend GT and BTCC season openers. Just enough to let them run at least!

[David Lawson]

Bu***r. They have had to cancel the Brands Hatch meeting I was going to.

David

[Barry Boor]

Stay home in the warm and build slot cars, David.

[Gav Astill]

I've just walked the dog past Oulton and a gang of hardy souls are busy constructing a grandstand at the outside of Lodge. It is bloody perishing out there!

[Phil Rainford]

Phil will the meeting we re - arranged for later in the year?

As is it one not to be missed

2012.....




PAR

[alansart]

Phil will the meeting we re - arranged for later in the year?

As is it one not to be missed

2012.....


PAR

Not a huge entry last year but it was more than made up for by the quality. I was hoping this year would be the same

[Simon Arron]

Am I allowed to mention that there is no sign of snow in Kuala Lumpur? There's a passable chance of rain, though...

[rwills]

I had entered and was looking forward to it. I left London at some stupid early hour Friday AM to test the day at Oulton and then to race yesterday. It was weird - there was a lot of snow in places on the way up but a few miles from the circuit it was damp but no snow settled at all. The circuit itself was covered in around 2 inches of snow when we arrived and there was a lot of discussion about forecasts etc.

The big issues came when we saw them ploughing and a salt spreader behind.

Pretty quickly the discussion amongst owners / competitors turned to whether anyone would risk running their cars on the salt.

The cynical of us were in disbelief that MSV were so desperate to get the circuit open so they could declare it operational and take our testing fees. Ultimately, everyone I spoke to took the decision not to test cars on the salt due to the horrific damage it would have caused.

We decided to stay Friday night and see how things developed weather wise but by mid-afternoon with aeronautic forecasts predicting 40cm of snow starting from around 4.30pm and going for 14 hours, we all took the decision to hit the road and head home. Masters announced the cancellation of the meeting soon after.

I was stunned that the circuit would use salt given the impact it will have on a race car. Unbelievable.

It was also clear that MSV would have held Masters liable for the track hire regardless of weather leaving Masters between a rock and a hard place.

I'm all for a boycott of any circuit that uses salt. The damage to our beautiful toys is unimaginable and salt has no place on a race circuit. For the sake of them gaining a little revenue by declaring the circuit open, imagine the many many thousands of pounds damage they cause!

[Alan Cox]

Phil will the meeting we re - arranged for later in the year?

MSV website reads: "... regretfully the decision has been made to postpone the Masters Raceday tomorrow (23 March)."
To me, "postponement" means that it will be rescheduled, but I can't see that being an easy option with the historic racing calendar the way it is these days.

[Phil Rainford]

MSV website reads: "... regretfully the decision has been made to postpone the Masters Raceday tomorrow (23 March)."
To me, "postponement" means that it will be rescheduled, but I can't see that being an easy option with the historic racing calendar the way it is these days.

May be it is postponed until March 2014?

PAR

[bsc]

May be it is postponed until March 2014?

PAR

I suspect that may the most likely. Looking at Oulton's calendar, the only Saturday without an event scheduled is the 5th October. This falls a week before Masters' meeting at Jerez so probably not a realistic alternative. Beyond that, the other alternatives would be from late October onwards.

[rwills]

I wrote to Jonathan Palmer and got a very reasoned response.

____________________

From: Jonathan Palmer
Date: Monday, 25 March 2013 11:53
To: Roger Wills
Subject: RE: Salt on Oulton Park

Roger

You are obviously looking at this just from your perspective - which I can quite understand! You need to appreciate though that this was a very difficult, unusual situation and our circuit team worked very hard to do what they considered was the best thing overall.

Had grit salt not been used, the circuit would have not been safe to use that day for anyone - it would have remained too icy. Some 30 cars did actually test and indeed were very appreciative of the efforts made to get the circuit usable, which happened by 11.00 I think. We were very conscious of the long journeys many people had to get to Oulton Park.

Clearly a significant number of people did want to test and accepted the consequences of salt use. I can however fully appreciate that some of the historic fraternity have very valuable cars that they really don't want salt contamination to affect, even though I understand it can be washed off pretty well. .

Obviously we need to learn from this as we don't want to disappoint anyone. Perhaps in future MSV should consult with those like you who will only want to test if any snow/ice/frost is left to go naturally and see if we can offer an insurance against the risk that this may mean the cancellation of a test day – one that might have been acceptable to others who would accept salt use in the event of such weather.

Kind regards
Jonathan

Jonathan Palmer
Chief Executive
MSV Group Ltd
www.msv.com

[Robin Fairservice]

They could try Calcium Chlroride, which comes in liquid form and is not so corrosive as Sodium Chloride. I remember hearing that someone in Austria once tried some unsaleable wine which worked quite well.

[elansprint72]

They could try Calcium Chlroride, which comes in liquid form and is not so corrosive as Sodium Chloride. I remember hearing that someone in Austria once tried some unsaleable wine which worked quite well.

... and there is a huge source of brine (calcium chloride) five or six miles from Oulton! It would not take too much imagination to send the MSV John Deere over there with the trailer-tanker.

[Allan Lupton]

... and there is a huge source of brine (calcium chloride) five or six miles from Oulton! It would not take too much imagination to send the MSV John Deere over there with the trailer-tanker.

Brine is normally sodium chloride and I think the salt-mines of Cheshire yield that. Naturally occurring CaCl₂ is quite rare.

[Davidson10]

Brine is normally sodium chloride and I think the salt-mines of Cheshire yield that.

That's as I understand it too, Allan

[D-Type]

There are alternatives to common salt (sodium Chloride or NaCl) but they are expensive. I believe that urea is one of them. But to be realistic, in Cheshire with its salt mines it's obvious what would be readily available. As the recent documentary on Boneville showed, even in powder form salt gets in everywhere and even pressure washing ans steam won't remove it.

I hope that either the organising club or MSV had some form of inclement weather insurance.

[elansprint72]

Brine is normally sodium chloride and I think the salt-mines of Cheshire yield that. Naturally occurring CaCl₂ is quite rare.

I really must stop believing what I read on the internet!
Calcium Chloride Manufacturing Process
Solvay Process
Chemical Process of high purity limestone and salt brine to produce soda ash and Calcium Chloride
CaCO3 + 2NaCl ---> Na2CO3 + CaCl2
Produces a wide range of concentrations of both High Grade Liquid and Dry forms

HCl Process
Reaction of HCl and Limestone (or other source of Calcium)
Produces a wide range of concentrations of both High Grade Liguid and Dry forms

Natural Brine
Often pumped out of underground naturally occuring sources
Strength of liguid generally weaker and often inconsistent
Contains impurities primarily in the form of other Chlorides
Rarely find capability of producing Dry Forms

Strengthened Brine
Natural Brine is processed generally with heat to increase concentration and consistency

Brine Purification
Natural Brine is processed to remove impurities

Bi-Product
Calcium Chloride can be produced as a bi-product or waste of a chemical process

And the supplier is:
http://en.wikipedia....hemicals_Europe

[h4887]

What's wrong with that?