The American Airlines Admiral’s Club is a great place to get in the proper frame of mind, before departing on an international trip.

The Admiral’s Club allows you to see the hustle and bustle of passengers below without having to be part of it.

Of course, the bar can be used in the quiet atmosphere of the Club as well.

I was surprised to see the Goodyear blimp floating by as I awaited my departure to London.  The blimp is permanently located just south of the airport off the I-405 freeway in Carson, California.

 If you fly into London’s Heathrow Airport, you’re likely to have this view as you get off the plane.

Getting luggage in London doesn’t seem much different than just about any airport in the U.S.

This was my second year in a row to rent from Thrifty Rental Car in London.  It’s amazing how much easier the learning curve is when you do something a second time.

I was departing London during rush hour on a getaway holiday weekend.  Compared to Los Angeles the traffic wasn’t that bad.

I guess I could have gotten stuck with this guy’s rental car company!

This is a “Welcome Break” located along the M25.  All U.K. Motorways (interstates) start with the letter “M.”  The Welcome Breaks are mini-shopping malls with restaurants, game rooms, sundries stores and more.  I wish we had these in the U.S.

Welcome Breaks are a great place to grab something to eat and take a break from the road.

I wish I’d thought of this!

Anybody for coffee?

After landing in London after my 10 hour flight, it was a three hour drive to my first night’s stay at this Travelodge near Liverpool, England.

Travelodge rooms are comfortable and modern.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RANLAY RACING – TRACKCHASER REPORT – ENGLAND PART 1

GREETINGS FROM BALLYMENA, NORTHERN IRELAND AND THEN LITTLE BUDWORTH, ENGLAND

 

PEOPLE/TRAVEL NEWS

 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12

 

I first started going to England for trackchasing back in 1999.  The trip I have just completed is my sixth visit (third straight trip over the Easter holiday) across the pond in the past eight years.  I started coming back to England over the Easter holiday because there is so little racing on Easter weekend in the United States.

 

Carol prefers not to torture her body on a long trip for such a relatively short duration.  She will head out to visit her parents in New Mexico.  With all three of our children living on their own, this makes for a perfect time to spend five days in the United Kingdom. 

 

I will be flying solo on this one.  One of the highest-ranking U.S. trackchasers in the world was scheduled to come along but had to cancel due to illness at the last minute.  I was sorry to see that happen.  Nevertheless, I will meet up with fellow trackchasers from England and Belgium along the way.  I have also corresponded with local people about the racetracks I plan to visit.  I hope to meet up with some of those folks and make some new friends.

 

International travel is a bit of a challenge.  First, it’s a long flight from Los Angeles to London.  Fortunately, I’m flying non-stop, but the flight is still 10 hours long.  There is an eight-hour time zone change.  When it’s 8 a.m. and time for breakfast in the United Kingdom, my body will be on “California” time which will be midnight. 

 

I have been to Europe more than 15 times.  All but three or four of those times were with Carol.  We were even able to take the entire family a few times when the kids were younger.  I have discovered, the hard way, that the secret to a European trip’s success is to stay awake on the day I arrive until it’s time to go to bed on European time.  Your body will want to go to sleep much earlier.  Many times international flights land in the morning.  Morning in Europe is time to go to bed time in California.  It’s very difficult to stay up, but if you don’t the time zone will be a problem during the entire trip.

 

I’m somewhat lucky on this trip.  My flight was scheduled to leave at 8:30 p.m. Pacific time.  Due to a delay, we actually didn’t get off the ground until around 10 p.m.  I won’t land in London until 4 p.m. (the next day) local time.  When I arrive, I need to stay up until about 10 p.m., go to bed dead tired and sleep 8-10 hours.  Then I will be almost fully acclimated to the eight-hour local time zone difference. 

 

The perks for the frequent traveler can make or break a trip.  When I traveled on business I had just about all the perks you could think of based upon my traveling frequency.  I don’t have as many of those perks in retirement but I have some.

 

My preferred airline for all these years has been American Airlines.  I am a lifetime Platinum frequent flyer.  Platinum flyers get the use of the private Admiral’s Club both coming and going on international flights.  Although I am no longer a member of the Admiral’s Club (annual membership $300-400), it is great to be able to use the club’s facilities on a trip like this.

 

The funny thing about the Admiral’s Club on this trip is that I asked the gate agent who checked my bag, if she would be giving me a pass to the Admirals Club.  She told me, “American doesn’t do that.”  That didn’t sound right.  Disregarding her advice, I simply walked into the Admiral’s Club, showed my boarding pass and was immediately admitted.  I was even given two free drink coupons.  Don’t ever take “No” for an answer.  When Carol says “No,” I take it to mean “Maybe.”

 

I often find that customer service people don’t know their product or the rules and regulations that govern their offers.  I suspect they are not motivated enough to “Study up” on things, which just leads to a poor customer service experience.  I like to “Push the envelope” in a friendly way.  I’m not shy in asking for what I think I should get, again always in a polite and courteous manner of course.

 

I will be flying coach class.  Many of my friends would do just about anything to avoid having to fly coach on a flight of this length.  I really don’t mind.  I have never paid for or used frequent flyer miles to upgrade to first or business class.  Although it is definitely a nice experience, and I’ve flown first class and business class to Europe before, I don’t think it’s worth paying for.

 

As it was, my Platinum status got me one of only four exit row seats available in coach.  There is no seat in front of me and I can stretch out as much as I want.  My Platinum position also allows me to board the plane before any other coach passengers.  This is more important than you think.  I always have two pieces of carry on luggage.  Getting overhead luggage space above my own seat makes the trip go much smoother.  Once I get past the agony of this flight, I will be ready for another great time in England.

 

 

THURSDAY, APRIL 13

 

During my previous Easter racing trips to the U.K., I’ve flown into London on Good Friday.  That plan worked because I always had a flight that landed in the morning so that I could make an afternoon race within 3-4 hours or less of London.

 

Now that I’ve been to the U.K. several times, it’s getting a bit tougher to find tracks that race on Good Friday.  I started to plan the trip a few months ago.  Not knowing exactly where I would be trackchasing on Good Friday, I just went ahead and booked a Thursday arrival.  It turned out that my best bet was the Ballymena Raceway in Ballymena, Northern Ireland.  The most efficient way to get there, given my Saturday plan, was to drive to Liverpool, stay overnight, and then fly from Liverpool to Belfast, Northern Ireland.  In trackchasing, you do what you have to do!

 

I didn’t think I slept much on the overnight flight, but when I did wake up I was surprised to learn we had only two hours more to go.  American Airlines served both a hot meal for a late night dinner and a continental breakfast just before we landed.  It’s been a long time since I’ve actually been served meals aboard an airplane.

 

As mentioned, I booked my airfare several months ago.  I rarely use my frequent flyer miles to get a “Free” ticket.  I did this time.  American requires only 40,000 miles to London from the U.S. during the “Off” season.  That seemed like a worthwhile trade for a ticket that was going for about $700.

 

After I landed and before I left the Heathrow Airport, I made a quick stop at a store in the airport called, “The Link.”  These folks sell cell phones and related paraphernalia.  I needed a U.K. “SIM” card.  The SIM card will allow me to use my U.S. cell phone in the U.K., which is pretty cool.  You have to have a special phone to make this happen.  When I bought my last new phone I made certain it would have this international capability.

 

They were having a special from Virgin Mobile.  For just five pounds (($8.75), I could get 50-75 minutes of talk time within the U.K.  That should allow me to make emergency calls to hotels, racetracks and underground trackchasing members who have agreed to help me with this trip.  I can also call the U.S. for about 35 cents per minute.  One really nice feature is that ALL incoming calls are free.  Little did I know that my visit to “The Link” would pay huge dividends.

 

I was also surprised at how reasonable rental car rates were.  Historically, rental cars in Europe cost nearly double what they do in the states.  Currently, the conversion rate of U.S. dollars into British pounds is about 1.75 to 1.  That means you need $1.75 U.S. to buy one British pound. 

 

Last Easter I paid 24 British Pounds per day.  That converted to about $48 U.S. per day for the rental car.  Last year the conversion race was about 2:1.  For this trip I would be paying only 15 pounds per day for my car.  With the better exchange rate, that meant my rental car would cost only $26 dollars per day plus taxes of about $12 per day.  That price is not very far from what I normally pay at home.

 

I had to ride an airport bus over to the Sheraton Heathrow Airport Hotel to pick up my Thrifty Rental Car.  They offered an upgrade to a Jaguar S-type for just 10 pounds more per day.  That seemed reasonable, but since Carol has the very same car, it wasn’t unique to me. 

 

I had reserved a full-size car with an automatic transmission.  Most rental cars in Europe come with standard transmissions.  I know how to use manual transmissions and actually like them.  However, it seemed like enough trouble to take on a right side steer car and drive on the left side of the road that I didn’t need to be trying to shift with my left hand in heavy traffic.

 

I picked up the car at about 5 p.m.  I had a drive of nearly 200 miles up toward Liverpool to make.  That will be my longest drive of the trip.  I expect to drive only about 750 miles in England during the five-day vacation.  That’s pretty light driving for me.

 

In England the motorways (AKA freeways or interstates) have Welcome Breaks.  Welcome Breaks are like interstate rest areas in the states on steroids.  My first stop was at the Oxford Welcome Break.  I love Welcome Breaks.  They are mini-shopping malls right off the motorway.

 

The Oxford break had 4-5 restaurants, including KFC and Burger King along with a couple of sit-down choices.   They also have a large store with gifts, candy, magazines, etc.  Couple all of this with game rooms, slot machines, etc. and you have a mini-shopping mall every 30-50 miles along the freeway.

 

I had about 55 pounds left over from my last trip to England.  Carol keeps track of this and gives me our leftover foreign currency, from whatever country we’ll be visiting, in a plastic bag.  I plan to charge as much as I can, but I will need to make at least one stop at an ATM.  The Welcome Break ATM would not accept my Citibank ATM card.  I’ll try again in the Liverpool Airport.

 

In the U.S., I don’t normally reserve hotels in advance.  In the U.K., I don’t seem to “See” hotels quite as easily.  Therefore, I am prone to booking hotels over the internet in advance.  For this trip I’ve booked three of my five nights in advance.  I’ll just “Wing it” in Northern Ireland and for my Saturday night stay in England.

 

I’m partial to Travelodges in the U.K.  I use http://www.theaa.com/travelwatch/inc/planner_places_redirect.jspmy driving directions from point A to point B during these trips.  That website also directs me to budget hotels such as Travelodge and Days Inn.  Hotels in England are expensive.  It’s not unusual to pay $100 a night for something that’s the equivalent of Super 8.

 

Travelodge has a program that offers significant discounts for booking a non-refundable stay.  I booked two nights at just $26 pounds per night (about $45).  That’s pretty good.  The Travelodges are recently built, clean and comfortable.  However, my hotel tonight does not do wake up calls.  I’m glad I brought my alarm clock (which I never do), because I have an early start on Friday morning.

 

I figured I saved more than $1,000 off what the normal tourist would pay for airline tickets, car rental and hotels.  As a matter of fact, on a per day basis, this was one of my least expensive trips of the year.  As a youngster, I was raised with just enough money to know not to waste it.

 

As you may have noticed, I enjoy the challenge of trying to get the best deal possible.  That being said, there is only so much time that can be spent in that endeavor.  I will give myself a certain amount of time trying to get the best price and then move on.  My objective is not to buy cheap things, but to buy expensive things cheaply.  There’s a huge difference between those two financial objectives.

 

One other unusual thing about the Travelodge.  Although I had paid for tonight’s room in advance, all that was required at check-in was for me to give them my name verbally.  There was NO paperwork whatsoever to fill out.  It was simply, “I’m Randy Lewis,” from me, and “Here’s your key,” from the desk clerk.  I liked that system.

 

 

FRIDAY, APRIL 14 (GOOD FRIDAY)

I went to bed last night at midnight local time.  I set my morning alarm for 7 a.m.  I figure seven hours of sleep would get me back on track.  At about 4:30 a.m. I heard some activity in the halls.  These Brits get up early!  I tried to go back to sleep but without success.  For some reason, unbeknownst to me, my body was telling me that four and one-half hours of sleep was enough for the night.  I don’t know why I was getting this message, because I like to sleep a full 7-8 hours each night.

 

The morning plan is to drive about 15 miles over to the Liverpool Airport and fly out at 9:25 a.m. to Belfast, Northern Ireland.  I have never been to Ireland before.  I have flown out of Liverpool though.

 

Back on July 31, 2000, I flew from Liverpool to the Isle of Mann.  The IOM is just off the Northwest coast of England.  That evening I took in the action at the Onchan Raceway, my 449^th track.  I’ve seen a few since then.

 

To make it to Belfast, I will have to park my London based Thrifty Rental Car at the Liverpool Airport.  I will then rent another car in Belfast for just one day.  I was not as lucky with rental rates in Belfast.

 

I opted for a manual transmission to cut down on expenses.  I figured I needed to try out my ability to shift left handed even though I am left handed in some things I do (eating/writing).  My daily rate was 35 pounds and with taxes, brought the total to 48 pounds (about $84 U.S.).  That’s rather expensive for a one-day car rental.

 

Since I had a few minutes at the Liverpool Airport, I decided to have breakfast.  There weren’t many places to choose from, so I chose a cafeteria-style restaurant.  Little did I know that the cost of an English breakfast could add up so quickly.

 

While I was waiting in line for hot food, I picked up a Danish for 1 pound, 79 pence ($3.13).  My next selection was a large plastic bottle of orange juice at 2 pounds, 99 pence ($5.23).  I was hungry so I went with the full English breakfast for 6 pounds, 99 pence ($12.23).  The full English breakfast comes with an egg, two large bangers (sausages), bacon, potatoes and some kind of buttered and fried crispy toast.  I skipped the tomatoes.  The server asked if I wanted toast with my breakfast.  I was thinking the toast came with the meal.  Nope!  Add one pound, 19 pence for the toast ($2.08).  My “Full English breakfast” ended up costing me 12 pounds, 96 pence or $22.68!!!  I tried to learn from this mistake on future morning meals.

 

I flew easyJet (that's the way they spell it) Airlines from Liverpool to Belfast.  They are the Southwest Airlines of Ireland and parts beyond.  Their fares are very reasonable.  I paid only $114 to fly round-trip.  They also offer open seating ala Southwest Airlines.  I sat next to a Scotsman and we enjoyed sharing our cultural experiences and opinions during the short 35-minute flight.

 

I struck up a nice conversation with the two young women at the National Rental Car counter.  I loved their Irish accents.  They took pity on me and upgraded my car rental reservation.  I ended up with a Vauxhall Zafira five speed.  The vehicle is in the SUV class.  This car is the easiest shifting manual transmission I’ve ever driven.  My new Irish friends sent this message over their radio describing me to the attendant where I would be picking up the car.  “He’s a real tall American with a real big camera around his neck.”  Ya, I guess I looked like a tourist.

 

The rental ladies recommended I book a room early since it’s the Easter weekend.  I took their advice and had the “Accommodations” desk at the airport make a reservation at a Ballymena bed and breakfast hotel.  I don’t stay in bed and breakfast places nearly as much as I should. 

 

I now had the entire afternoon to tour the Northern Ireland countryside.  Northern Ireland is not very big.  It has only six counties in the entire country.  I spent most of my time along the Ocean Road in Antrim County.  The Ocean Road has a lot in common with the road to Hana in Maui, except it’s narrower and they drive a lot faster here.

 

Nevertheless, I saw some beautiful scenery that I will share with you at www.ranlayracing.com, after my final England Trackchaser Report.  I was surprised by the amount of sheep grazing along the roadway and hillsides.  Although there was a lot of blue sky, it was cool (about 50 degrees) and windy.  I stopped along the most beautiful and rugged golf course overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.  These people were playing in a wind chill of about 40 degrees and didn’t seem to mind a bit.

 

I would recommend the Ocean Road drive to anyone visiting the area.  I had also planned, based upon a great recommendation from Brian, a Northern Ireland email contact I made along the way, a visit to the Bushmills Whiskey Distillery.  Unfortunately, they emailed me back saying they would be closed while I was in Northern Ireland on Good Friday.  Bourbon Whiskey is my favorite liquor and I was hoping to add some Bushmills to my liquor cabinet.  I would be able to do that later in the trip.

 

I wanted to buy some Bushmill’s in the Belfast Airport but they wouldn’t let me shop in the Duty Free store since I was flying back to the U.K. and not out of the country.  The cashier told me I could buy it cheaper on my way out of Heathrow at the end of the trip.  I didn’t believe her at the time, but she was correct.

 

The Ballymena Raceway is located near the city centre of Ballymena.  Ballymena is a good-sized town.  My B&B is just a couple of miles from the track.  That’s convenient.  There was a McDonalds located between the track and the B&B. 

 

As a worldwide traveler, I do not endorse eating at McDonalds or any other American fast food operator while traveling in foreign countries.  You’re there to experience a different culture, not simply mimic the one you just left.  Having said that, I have an obligation to Lillian who works at our golf club.  She collects McDonald’s toys.  I always try to pick her up some of these souvenirs when I’m doing some international travel.  I was able to get her two different toys in both Northern Ireland and England.

 

Even though I normally reject American fast food when traveling internationally, I must say the best meal Carol and I had during an 8-day visit to Russia was at McDonalds.  Boy, did that taste good.

 

I stayed at the Beechfield Guest House in Ballymena.  I’m on the second floor (room #6) in what looks like a stately old, but upscale two-story manner.  I don’t stay in places like this much because they are much more difficult to find than chain hotels.  Unfortunately, I have an early flight tomorrow morning and  won’t be able to stay for breakfast.  Nevertheless, the hotel owner showed me around the kitchen so I can make my own continental breakfast tomorrow morning.  Remember, I’ll have pictures of nearly everything I’m describing on this trip at www.ranlayracing.com.

 

SATURDAY, APRIL 15

 

All right!  It’s Saturday, how’s the trip going so far?  Well, to look at the numbers one might say, “Not very good.”  I’ve flown 5,447 miles from Los Angeles to London, then driven 223 miles to Liverpool, flown 184 miles from Liverpool to Belfast, then driven 133 miles in Northern Ireland, then flown 184 miles back to Liverpool from Belfast and finally driven another 23 miles to Little Budworth, England.  In addition to this amount of travel, I’ve slept overnight for one night on an airplane and stayed two more overnights in a hotel and a bed and breakfast.

 

So with all of this moving around, how many new tracks have I seen?  One!  That’s right, just one.  Maybe you think I’m losing my magical trackchasing logistical touch.  You might be right!  On the other hand, don’t give up on the RANLAY.  My track production is likely to pickup.

 

Nevertheless, I am now sitting trackside at Oulton Park at 10:30 a.m.  This is a road course in Little Budworth, England.  It’s Saturday and the first countable race does not start until 4:30 p.m.  I’m not sure if I just messed up on the scheduled start times or if they changed the schedule.  If I messed up then leaving Ballymena at 6 a.m. was a bad move.  Not only did I have to miss my B&B full English breakfast, but also I now had six hours until the first race started.  I’ll just have to make do.

 

Although the weather wasn’t that great, I was sad to leave Ireland.  I’ll likely be back with Carol one day and hope to replicate Belgium trackchaser, Roland Vanden Eynde’s weeklong Ireland itinerary in the future.

 

Turning in my National Rental Car was a real trip.  Just a few miles from the airport, I filled up my Vauxhall Zafira.  When I converted liters to gallons and pounds to dollars, I learned that my rental car had given me 33.6 M.P.G. at a cost of $7.30 per gallon.  Gasoline is just a bit cheaper than diesel fuel in the U.K.  I don’t want to hear any Americans complaining about high gas prices.  We haven’t seen high gas prices and I hope we don’t.

 

I had parked my London originating rental car in the Liverpool John Lennon Airport’s long stay (long term) parking lot when I flew to Belfast.  I had no idea what it would cost to park there.  I figured the long stay lot would be less expensive than the short stay lot.

 

The lot offers a self-serve checkout procedure.  Without any live bodies around, you simply input your parking ticket, then your credit card and then you receive your receipt.  I had parked in the lot for about 24 hours.  What was I charged?  How about 25 pounds or $43.75 for one stinking day!  Little did I know there was a two-day minimum or that if I have pre-paid over the internet I could have received a sizeable discount.  England is a very expensive country for American tourists.  Remember, I make these trips so you don’t have too.

 

I have one U.K. electrical converter.  My only appliance that works with it is my Dell laptop computer.  I also brought along car battery charger adapters to power my computer while I’m parked in the car and my cell phone. 

 

I was in for a surprise when I learned the cigarette lighter/power source in my Vauxhall Electra rental car doesn’t work!  Now I will have to baby my one single charge on the cell phone for the entire trip.  I guess the rental car people don’t want folks smoking in their cars, but with the advent of all forms of electronics that suck the power, they are shortchanging their customers in this area.

 

 

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

BALLYMENA RACEWAY, BALLYMEDA, NORTHERN IRELAND – TRACK #1,019 – 4/13/06

The first new track of my 2006 United Kingdom Easter tour is in the books.  I am only the second American to ever see a track in Northern Ireland (Of course, all statements of this type are based upon data gleaned at www.trackchaser.com).  Will White was the first.  Now we are tied at one track apiece.

 

It was another cold trackchasing evening, like so many have been this year.  Admission to the Ballymena Raceway was 8 pounds.  That’s 14 bucks U.S., a little on the expensive side, but then everything in the U.K. seems expensive.

 

The program started on time at 7:30 p.m.  Unlike the states, there were no national anthems played to begin the program.  As part of my admission price, I received a small program that listed the track’s 2006 fixtures (schedule) as well as the order of events for tonight’s racing. 

 

Tonight is the first night of the season for the Ballymena Raceway.  According to the promoter’s daughter who was also a ticket seller, the track has even begun a website (www.ballymenaraceway.com) to celebrate the beginning of the season.   

 

The track itself is a nearly flat nearly quarter mile asphalt oval.  The track has fixed fencing around the entire racing surface.  The pit area, where all spectators are permitted to roam free of charge, is located beyond turns three and four.  The infield of the track houses a beautifully maintained soccer field complete with nets.

 

Tonight there were three sports car and one stock car class competing.  These included Lightning Rods, Stock Rods, National Hot Rods and Stock Saloons (one of my favorite U.K. classes).  The track races mainly on Fridays but has a few other odd dates thrown in including a Thursday.  They also include as part of their 2006 fixtures list an event on January 1, 2007.

 

I receive some of my most special trackchasing welcomes from commentators in foreign countries.  This has been especially true in the U.K. and Canada.  For some reason, they seem to have a deeper appreciation for someone who is both willing to travel long distances as well as visit their little part of the world.  Tonight was no exception.

 

It was starting to get really cold as I occupied a plastic stadium folding seat in the covered grandstand.  The temperature was in the high 40s but a chilly wind made it seem much colder.  All of a sudden, I heard the track’s commentator (announcer) talking about a trackchaser who had come all the way from San Clemente, California to visit the Ballymena Raceway.  I just don’t know where these folks come up with their information.  Well, yes I do!

 

The commentator’s invitation to join him in the booth was too much to resist on such a cold evening.  I went to the glass enclosed, and heated, officials’ tower and met “Big D”, Derek Mason.  Derek is a senior commentator whose first love is watching “Bikes” as in motorcycles race.  We spent the next 5-6 races talking about racing and travel.

 

We did a short trackchasing interview and then, whenever there was a break in the action, Derek would lay down his microphone and we would chat about Ireland.  Both Derek and others in the booth had such strong Irish accents that I had to concentrate to understand them.  One driver’s wife came up to the booth to complain about how her husband had been treated on the track.  By the way, this happens all the time in the states.  Her accent was so thick I could hardly understand a word she was saying.  Suffice it to say, she was hot.  After she had said her piece, she marched out of the room and the all male “Sounding board” looked at each other at the same time and exchanged those knowing smiles regarding this woman’s behavior.

 

It doesn’t seem that Ireland is nearly as politically correct as the United States.  In some ways, that is good.  At one point, our commentator said when describing an on track competitor, “Yes, he’s just like a woman driver with the top half of his body slumped over the steering wheel while he drives.”  That line might not work as well at Irwindale.

 

Tonight’s racing competitors all race in a clockwise direction.  As a general rule, the stock car classes in the U.K. race in the counter clockwise direction and the sports car classes race in the clockwise direction. 

 

The track schedule showed that each class would run two heat races, but only three classes had a final (features) scheduled.  The missing finals class was the stock saloons.  The same program is scheduled at the track tomorrow night. 

 

This track is fast.  It looked to me as if every car in each class raced in that classes heat race.  It was fun to see nearly every heat race starting 20-25 cars for at least 12 laps.  There were some very hard crashes and one driver even flipped his car hard into the track’s outside barrier.  It was a fun night of racing, but it was just too cold.

 

OULTON PARK, LITTLE BUDWORTH, ENGLAND – TRACK #1,020 – 4/14/06

There were very few trackchasing choices for me today.  The only tracks I found that were racing, that I had never been to before, were a road course in Wales, another track in the Channel Isles and the Oulton Park road course in Little Budworth.  Based upon these track’s locations I would not be getting a U.K. double today.  I chose Oulton Park as my Saturday option.

 

I arrived at Oulton Park at 10:30 a.m.  I was hoping to catch a few early afternoon races and then get on my way for today’s 180 mile drive down to where my Sunday tracks will be.  That did not happen.  When I entered the grounds, I asked for a racing schedule.  Yes, I was surprised to learn there were just two countable races today and the first one did not start until 4:30 p.m.  I’m sure I looked at the track schedule in advance, but the starting times must have eluded me.

 

I now had six hours on my hands before the first race would begin.  That race was a long one by most road course standards at 60 minutes.  With no power source in my rental car, my options for entertainment for the next few hours became more limited. 

 

I decided to begin my six hour wait with a nap!  I love European cars.  They handle well and they’re really quick.  On the other hand, often they are not that well-equipped or comfortable.  The driver’s seat back would only go back about half as far as my personal car does.  That made sleeping a little less restful.

 

Next, I spent about an hour touring the pit area.  Today’s Brookson DWF British F3/GT (I’m reading from my ticket) event is a large race meet.  The entire Oulton Park layout is huge and there are race fans dotting the landscape as far as you can see.  It’s difficult to estimate, but if I had to guess I would say there are 4-5,000 people here.

 

The Oulton Park race course has a long and interesting history.  This is an excerpt from the track’s website:

 

“This superb park was once the grounds of Oulton Hall, which burned down in 1926.The land was used throughout the war years as an army staging camp - General Patton was based here in the run-up to the Normandy landings, and his PT instructor, the reigning Heavyweight Champion of the World, Joe Louis, gave exhibition bouts in the valley at Deer Leap.

 

The Mid-Cheshire Car Club developed the track, building it into the natural contours of the picturesque land and, when a crowd of 40,000 attended a meeting there in 1953, its future as a race circuit was assured.

 

International racing followed and a tradition was started with the Gold Cup event, which in its heyday regularly attracted F1 teams and drivers. The Gold Cup quickly became known as a real test of man and machine. Stirling Moss won the Cup five times, the first in a Maserati 250F delivered that morning from the factory in '54, the last in '61 in the four-wheel drive Ferguson. It was the car's only victory.

 

When F1 cars were banned from racing outside Grand Prix in the '70s, the Gold Cup was awarded to the winner of the race deemed Oulton's highlight of the weekend. The proper event has now been reinstated by the HSCC, and has immediately become a high point of the historic racing season. Many past masters are regular visitors to the event, and the enormous variety of historic racing cars on show is unparalleled. “

 

I spent an hour walking the track.  Road racing is a lot like watching a golf tournament live.  You can get fairly close to the competitors and walk all over the place.  I like that part about road racing.  I watched a lot of different classes practice during the afternoon.  Once they get started you really can’t differentiate a practice session from a race.  The track boldly displays their website as www.oultonpark.co.uk. 

 

The track’s facilities are first class.  They have speakers located about 30 yards apart around the entire track.  They have two large multi-story permanent buildings that house scoring/commentating and a restaurant.  The large pit area is paved.  There must have been 300 marshals working the event.  Overall, today’s racing was more like a walk in the park than the racing I grew up with.

 

The one countable race I did see started 21 cars.  Most of them were Porsches.  A few Ferraris were sprinkled in.  Again, watching the race wasn’t much different from the six hours of practice that preceded it.  The announcers did do a nice job of describing the action.

 

I capped off the rest of Saturday evening with a 180-mile drive to the southwest portion of England.  This will be my last long daily drive of the trip.  Even though the primary purpose of this trip is trackchasing, I want to get as many experiences as I can from visiting a foreign country.

 

That being the case, I took a detour looking for a nice sit-down restaurant off the motorway.  I ended up in Worchester at an Italian restaurant run by European Indians.  The food was good and it was nice to be able to enjoy a good meal compared to normal trackchasing fare.

 

I find the English to be very interested in interacting with me as an American.  In virtually every contact I have with an England native, I can sense they are curious about Americans and want to represent their country well.  Of course, their pride in their country makes me want to represent the U.S.A. in the same manner.

 

My waitress tonight was a young woman of twenty-three.  She had graduated from University and was student teaching.  She will become an elementary education teacher next September.  She had been working at the restaurant on weekends for just three weeks.  She told me I was the first American she had served.  I asked her what her one impression of Americans might be.  She replied, “They’re very friendly.”  That’s a good impression to have left on her.

 

At about 10:30 p.m., I was in full search of a hotel.  I was so impressed with my Bed & Breakfast stay last night, I was looking for another B&B tonight.  I was lucky to find a quaint old English house operating as a B&B just 1.5 miles from tomorrow’s first racetrack.  I rang the bell.  The proprietor answered.  She had a room and asked if I would like to see it.  Nope!  The house looked great from the outside, I don’t need to see the room, I’ll take it.  Again, I was not required to pay for the room in advance.  Breakfast runs until 9:45 a.m.  That works for me!

The last half of my 2006 England Easter trackchasing trip report will continue in Part 2, which follows this Trackchaser Report.