Today found me and Fran in a field at Donington with some, frankly, very tasty Zeds off this very forum! I was somewhat surprised when I was invited to display my little Shortie alongside the cars belonging to Joely P, FunkySi, Andrew G and Ian Greenfield!

 

It was all part of some "open day" that Nissan put on for their employees. I confess to not knowing very much about it! But there were examples of pretty much every either sporty or outright quirky Nissan from the 70s forwards. Including more Qubes than I thought they'd actually produced!

 

Quite a proud moment for me to be asked to attend this, especially considering the cars I was sharing a stand with. But I can at least say I was the only TT targa Shortie in attendance!

 

There were track laps and passenger rides (which Slick Pete participated in, and CeeJay sadly smashed the rear end of his Zed on! :( ) and passenger rides in the drift cars too. Fran and I took a ride in a lunatic Skyline and a G35 respectively and it was a genuinely adrenaline-fuelled experience! Fran loved it though, which has me worrying about her designs on my Zed now.... :lol:

 

The weather was pretty super for the whole day and my face is burned to a crisp! I didn't take many pictures, but here's the ones I did take:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy to be home and see the dogs again, but it was great to put some faces to names (Andrew, Joel & Karen) and to catch up with Si and Ian again. Thank you for inviting me!! :biggrin:

Edited July 19, 201510 yr by Mondo

It was a bizarre day, we were all in the same boat, not really knowing what we were attending exactly! I think it was an enjoyable day and great to catch up and meet new faces [emoji106] The circumstances with Chris's lovely wide arch being stoved in like that left a sour note on the day but hopefully, it will live to do another lap in the not too distant future.

Great to meet you and Fran [emoji106]

Looking good guys....

 

...And doing the club mighty proud.:thumbup:

 

Sorry to hear about Chris's car though:sad:

 

 

Some fantastic pics Si, beautiful cars, sorry to hear about Ceejay's car, is he still on this forum??

Well done all that attended.

I'm not parking my Z next to any of those:):)

Great pics chaps! Was great to be part of - as Joel said, it was a strange event, but a really nice day out. Thanks to Andrew for organising.

Well nissan can go #### themselves, nice to let the dealer network know of a special event like this,

 

Great pictures the zeds look great. Shame to hear about ceejays car.

Well nissan can go #### themselves, nice to let the dealer network know of a special event like this,

 

Great pictures the zeds look great. Shame to hear about ceejays car.

 

This was a departmental event fella, the only people who attended were those from the parts division of Nissan not the whole of Nissan uk.

There were maybe a couple of hundred people there max consisting of employees and family members.

I'm a parts manager lol...

 

I'm just jealous lol,

I've been giving this a lot of thought over the last few days and my personal opinion is that Nissan dodged a bullet on Saturday.

 

It's great that they wanted to do something for their employees, so giving them the chance to look at dozens of tasty Nissan models and to experience drifting and track time is a cracking idea. :)

 

However...

 

To have a passenger ride in the drift cars, you had to wear a helmet. The cars were driven by, presumably, experienced drifters who had a very good idea of what they were doing.

 

The track, though... that seemed to be open to pretty much any car in attendance and no helmet was required!!

 

So for the drifting, passengers were helmeted and in a proper drift car with a proper driver at the wheel... and pretty much the worst thing you could hit was a traffic cone. The track passengers were helmet-free and in ordinary cars with some pretty ordinary drivers, with plenty of barriers, trees and other cars to collide with!

 

Now Chris stacked his car, which is sad news for him. Thankfully, both he and his passenger were unhurt, which is far and away the most important thing! The collision could've been a lot worse for both of them and I think it's only good fortune that it wasn't! Chris' car is primarily made of fibreglass with (to my knowledge) no additional impact protection (rollcage, harnesses, etc) and he was allowed to take a helmet-free passenger out.

 

I genuinely can't fathom what Nissan were thinking! The potential for serious injury or fatality was huge as there didn't seem to be any criteria for the "track cars" to adhere to, other than they had to be made by Nissan.

 

A couple of people asked me if I was taking mine on track. I didn't, for a few reasons:

 

1. I have no track experience whatsoever.

 

2. My car is not set up for track work.

 

3. I didn't want to increase my risk of smashing it up (over everyday driving) by tracking it.

 

4. Trackdays are not how I want to use my car.

 

I think there should've been far tighter controls on who and what vehicle went out on that track. I have no objections whatsoever to people wanting to thrash their cars round a track, but I do have very grave reservations to passengers being allowed in virtually any car without any safety equipment.

 

My opinion here may well make me a very unpopular person - if that transpires to be the case, so be it. Overall, it was a really good event but, for me, CeeJay's crash just highlighted a serious flaw in Nissan's planning of the event.

I've done... 4 track days. All of them the car was scrutineered, everyone had to wear a proper helmet (and have long sleeves on I think).

Good points Mondo :yes: I take it Nissan did not make any drivers on the track sign a disclaimer? I have never tracked any of my cars at these types of events and your normal insurance will not cover you so do you guys take out a one day track insurance or is it just every man for hinself? I am sure someone like SlickPete or some of our other racers can put some light on this.

You raise a valid point there Si, the conditions at Ten of the Best are as you know just a wide open concrete area and cones however you are still required to wear a crash helmet to compete. You are also issued with a temporary motorsport competition licence on the day. Difference is TOTB is a pay to enter event, the Nissan one was a private event on private land do completely different rules. From what I remember I believe the passengers had to sign a disclaimer don't know about the drivers though.

 

Gary I don't believe you can take out track day insurance as a single policy type its classed as racing I guess.

However my policy with Heritage covers me for ONE track day or hill climb event per year. Guess it just depends on your insurer.

Edited July 21, 201510 yr by Iangreenfield

So let me get this clear in my head

Nissan holds an event for its staff for free

Nissan invites various car owners along for free

Nissan ask invited car owners to take passengers out on the track for free

 

So who is liable for any risks

your normal insurance will not cover you so do you guys take out a one day track insurance or is it just every man for hinself?

 

I can only assume there was no track day insurance in place. Does trackday insurance even cover repairs to your own car, or is it simply for third party liability?

 

Had the crash been far worse, would it have been covered by either Nissan's or Donington's public liability insurance though...?

 

Important question, in my eyes!

I can only assume there was no track day insurance in place. Does trackday insurance even cover repairs to your own car, or is it simply for third party liability?

 

Had the crash been far worse, would it have been covered by either Nissan's or Donington's public liability insurance though...?

 

Important question, in my eyes!

 

Where is Bird when you need him?

Where is Bird when you need him?

 

Outside painting his tyre letters and a confederate flag on the bonnet of his zed :lol:

Not sure how the event was run were individual owners invited separately or was the club invited and they invited the owners

 

Lets say for instance the owners were invited individually by Nissan and they all parked up and a static accident happened surly Nissan would be liable to a claim

 

On the other hand if the Club was invited and they invited the individual owners it could be liable for a static accident claim under the public liability insurance

 

( luckily in over 25 year of being involved in the Z community I have only heard of 1 highly dubious attempt of a claim on a clubs insurance that got with drawn after three days and that was someone trying to claim at an early JAE that tree sap had damaged his new paintwork that had only been completed a few days earlier)

Edited July 21, 201510 yr by steve burns

So let me get this clear in my head

Nissan holds an event for its staff for free

Nissan invites various car owners along for free

Nissan ask invited car owners to take passengers out on the track for free

 

So who is liable for any risks

 

It would appear there is no formal liability, a at your own risk approach appears to have been created. I guess a different way to approach the question is should anyone else be liable for a volentary event? No one is profiteering?

A quick Google search shows that, at least with Sky Insurance, specific track day cover does cover accidental damage to your own car.

 

Another reason why I declined to take mine on track: I would've had no insurance cover and, like Chris, I can't afford to fix it if I'd stacked it to that degree!

Here is a copy of the disclaimer

 

By accepting this Exhibitor Pack you agree to the following;

Admission to the venue and the event and participation in any track, display or other activity is at your own risk. Neither the venue nor Nissan Motor Parts Center will be held liable for any loss, cost, expense, injury or damage sustained at the venue and\or the event except in respect of death or personal injury caused as a result of negligence by the venue or Nissan Motor Parts Center as applicable.

It is imperative that all staff and invited guests at all times comply with any instructions given to them by a marshal or member of the Event Management Team.

Always keep behind the barriers, they are there for your protection, we can only provide a safe area for you to enjoy the day. You can make it safe by your own actions, please think about your safety as well as others. No pets/animals are allowed on site.

Please do not drop litter, use the bins provided, No Alcohol to be consumed on the premises. All attractions are subject to change or cancellation. The organizers and venue reserve the right to refuse admission, The drivers reserve the right to refuse passenger rides, No cash or other alternative is available.

If you are an owners club representative it is your responsibility to inform all of your members and their guests attending of these terms and conditions

Children must be supervised at all times

You are responsible for your personal possessions and you accept that neither the venue nor Nissan Motor Parts Center accept any liability for loss or damage to, or theft of, personal property howsoever caused.

You may be photographed and\or filmed whilst attending the event and such photographs\films can be used for promotional purposes.

You have read, understood and will abide by the terms stated above

 

As you can see ALL exhibitors regardless of whether you were standing on the grass displaying your car or taking part in any of the track/drift action accepted it by virtue of it being the terms and conditions of the invite.

 

Im sure the guests who were all invited by their employer(Nissan Parts dist centre) had a similar paragraph on their invite.

 

There were NO PUBLIC so as a private event Public Liability did not apply.

Here is a copy of the disclaimer

 

By accepting this Exhibitor Pack you agree to the following;

Admission to the venue and the event and participation in any track, display or other activity is at your own risk. Neither the venue nor Nissan Motor Parts Center will be held liable for any loss, cost, expense, injury or damage sustained at the venue and\or the event except in respect of death or personal injury caused as a result of negligence by the venue or Nissan Motor Parts Center as applicable.

It is imperative that all staff and invited guests at all times comply with any instructions given to them by a marshal or member of the Event Management Team.

Always keep behind the barriers, they are there for your protection, we can only provide a safe area for you to enjoy the day. You can make it safe by your own actions, please think about your safety as well as others. No pets/animals are allowed on site.

Please do not drop litter, use the bins provided, No Alcohol to be consumed on the premises. All attractions are subject to change or cancellation. The organizers and venue reserve the right to refuse admission, The drivers reserve the right to refuse passenger rides, No cash or other alternative is available.

If you are an owners club representative it is your responsibility to inform all of your members and their guests attending of these terms and conditions

Children must be supervised at all times

You are responsible for your personal possessions and you accept that neither the venue nor Nissan Motor Parts Center accept any liability for loss or damage to, or theft of, personal property howsoever caused.

You may be photographed and\or filmed whilst attending the event and such photographs\films can be used for promotional purposes.

You have read, understood and will abide by the terms stated above

 

As you can see ALL exhibitors regardless of whether you were standing on the grass displaying your car or taking part in any of the track/drift action accepted it by virtue of it being the terms and conditions of the invite.

 

Im sure the guests who were all invited by their employer(Nissan Parts dist centre) had a similar paragraph on their invite.

 

There were NO PUBLIC so as a private event Public Liability did not apply.

So I take that to mean that, had anyone been injured on track as a passenger as a result of a crash, the driver would be wholly liable...?

 

If that's the case, I'm surprised that they didn't stipulate that track drivers have adequate insurance cover!

 

Thanks for posting that, Pete - it never occurred to me that the disclaimer might be in my exhibitor's pack :thumbup1:

So I take that to mean that, had anyone been injured on track as a passenger as a result of a crash, the driver would be wholly liable...?

 

If that's the case, I'm surprised that they didn't stipulate that track drivers have adequate insurance cover!

 

Thanks for posting that, Pete - it never occurred to me that the disclaimer might be in my exhibitor's pack :thumbup1:

So I take that to mean that, had anyone been injured on track as a passenger as a result of a crash, the driver would be wholly liable...?

 

No.

The guests would have had their own disclaimer for them to accept the risk as part of their invite and so exhibtors would not require insurance.

 

Thanks for posting that, Pete - it never occurred to me that the disclaimer might be in my exhibitor's pack

 

Comments by yourself and others were the reason I posted it. To aid and re assure you all.

Remember this is not a new event it has been held before and I was there as were about half the "track cars"

None of us track drivers are naive enough to expose ourselves to claims of manslaugher by dangerous driving and then repeat the exercise a second time.

Large corporates dont routinely expose themselves to claims/risks etc