Atom X - Discussion thread

[Richard Marler]

Well the time has come to make public some information on the celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Ariel Atom. A good number of the details are still to be confirmed, but we wanted to give you early visibility, so that you can get the dates in the diary and so that we can get an idea of numbers as early as possible.

General Information

The event will run from Saturday the 4th of September 2010 to Monday the 6th. We understand that some people would have preferred the bank holiday weekend, the week before, but overall the opinion was in favour of avoiding those dates. It seems some people have family lives, that do not always involve the Atom and that, as such, using up bank holiday weekends is not always popular with the family. In addition, being totally honest, exclusive track availability was very limited during the bank holiday.

The event name is Atom X.

The factory are fully supporting the event, have been integral in the planning and organisation and will be in attendance on each day. After much discussion, it has been agreed that the format of the event will be a mix social gathering, road rally (hooning) and track day. The factory are taking responsibility for the first two days of social gathering and road rally, the club are taking responsibility for the first ever exclusive UK track day. The reason for the split of activities is clear, in that we are looking to attract owners that do not regularly track their cars, and that may not be active in the club or even on the forum. It would be relatively easy for John H to strong arm all the usual suspects into attending a club track day, so we want to set our reach a bit beyond that. We hope the event will encourage more owners to join the club and more potential owners to take the plunge.

In order to get a firm idea of numbers we will be looking for people to commit to the event by making a non-refundable deposit of £100. This deposit will be payable ASAP and will go directly towards the track booking costs. We are looking to keep overall costs for the weekend in the region of £500 per person, not including sundries like petrol, etc., but the final figure may be more or less depending on the numbers we get. We are looking to get in the region of 50 + cars attending the event. It is not the intention or purpose of this event to make any money for the club or factory.

Saturday 4th
A factory open day - details to be confirmed. There will be a tour of the factory, a number of technical discussions and Simon will discuss coming Ariel developments. Other events may include a build challenge, where a group of Ariel mechanics attempt to build a car in one day.

In the evening Ariel will be hosting a dinner (at the factory dependant on numbers), followed by a party with music / entertainment. I will supply Sambuca.

For those on a budget or just more alcoholically inclined, camping facilities (i.e. a field) will be made available. There are however a number of lovely hotels in the local area, if you fancy something a little more upmarket. Details to follow.

Sunday 5th
Following breakfast, the massed ranks will set off on a road rally across the south coast of the UK. The route is very picturesque, including a short ferry journey and there should be a number of good photo opportunities along the way. In the middle of the day (roughly), we will hone our track skills in a burst of Enduro karting. This will also allow any non-Atom driving partners, to thoroughly show up their other halves. There will also be an Atom driving / drifting demo on the kart track.

From there we will head to the Goodwood Hotel. The hotel has gym and spa facilities, for those in need of some comfort. Rested and hopefully clean, we will have dinner in the restaurant that hosted this year's Christmas do and I can say the food is very nice. Awards will be given to the best and worst road rally / karting performances of the day.

Monday 6th
After breakfast at the hotel, it is a short (tiny) hop to the historic Goodwood Motor Circuit. We will be exclusively renting the circuit that hosts the annual Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival. In addition to the main track, we will be arranging a skills area, to hone and test your abilities.

We will be offering passenger rides in a 500 driven by an Ariel test driver.

It is our feeling that the excellent facilities at the Goodwood Estate will provide a fitting finale to our Celebration of 10 years of the Ariel Atom. If we can be anywhere near as welcoming and generous as our American friends were during Atomfest, then I am sure this will be an event not to be missed.

Many of the details are subject to change, but the dates, the track and the general schedule are now fixed. If you are wanting to attend please respond to this thread as soon as possible.


Update 1 - 21.12.2009
The track day at Goodwood is being structured specifically to encourage people that would not normally take their cars out on track. We will probably have novice sessions, in which it really doesn't matter if you pootle around slower than you would on the road. At any track day, it is anyway the responsibility of the experienced drivers to fully make allowances for novice drivers, but at this event we will be concentrating hard on safety and comfort for guys and girls that have maybe never been on track. Driving your Atom on track will make you a safer road driver, is safer than driving at speed on the road, and will give you an idea of what your car is capable of.

So for ANYONE that is nervous about the idea of tracking their car, please don't be, please try it and I promise you you will be glad you did.

Update 2 - 22.12.2009
The day we have currently booked at Goodwood, is a 105dB day, but this limits the number of cars allowed on track at any one time to 5. Hence we are in negotiations with Goodwood, to separate the cars into two groups (below and above 98dB), such that for the quieter cars we can allow up to 10 cars on track. In addition, we will have the separate skills area, all planned to ensure that there is not too much waiting around.

Obviously it would help a lot if we could ensure all cars were below 98dB, but that may well be difficult, in particular for the Atom 2 220 cars.

[Hedge]

I'm in 
Cheers, Hedge

[AlanP]

Sounds damn good, hope it isn't my 500 you scum will be driven in!

Derfinitely in, need to persuade Sal to come.

[John H]

Yep, all good with me..............a fair old bit of debate to get there, but I think in the end this is the right choice.

[Steve Gibson]

Oh, YES

I'll pay £500 to watch them build a car in a day.  :)

[John H]

[quote="John H"]
Yep, all good with me..............a fair old bit of debate to get there, but I think in the end this is the right choice.
[/quote]
Oh and Yep, I am in!
so.............
the list begins
Richard Marler (I presume u are going)  :)
Hedge
Alan P
John H

seems like ages since I have done this stuff................

[John H]

Richard Marler
Hedge
Alan P
John H
Steve Gibson

[benyeats]

[quote="Steve Gibson"]
Oh, YES

I'll pay £500 to watch them build a car in a day.  :)
[/quote]

I will pay that for the car they build in a day !

[CalScot]

I plan on coming over. Will not be able to ship over my Atom now that I am running the F2000 series next year. All available money is going down the racing drain.

Anybody need some ballast and a drinking partner in the passenger seat

[John H]

[quote="CalScot"]
I plan on coming over. Will not be able to ship over my Atom now that I am running the F2000 series next year. All available money is going down the racing drain.

Anybody need some ballast and a drinking partner in the passenger seat
[/quote]
I'll join u on the lash for sure Pete......stereotype to maintain and all that eh!

[CalScot]

[quote="John H"]
[quote="CalScot"]
I plan on coming over. Will not be able to ship over my Atom now that I am running the F2000 series next year. All available money is going down the racing drain.

Anybody need some ballast and a drinking partner in the passenger seat
[/quote]
I'll join u on the lash for sure Pete......stereotype to maintain and all that eh!
[/quote]

Sounds like a nice venue. Be a shame to drag it down into the gutter with sleazy South American floozies and drunken Scot's. ;

[benyeats]

[quote="CalScot"]
Anybody need some ballast and a drinking partner in the passenger seat
[/quote]

I am well up for a drink but already have a passenger.

Ben

[Steve Gibson]

It's a lovely hotel...

http://www.goodwood.co.uk/site/content/hotel/Default.aspx

[Drinks]

Sounds good, I'm in 

Richard Marler
Hedge
Alan P
John H
Steve Gibson
Drinks

[WorkingOnIt]

Silly question:  Is it pronounced 'Atom Ten'  or  'Atom Ex'?