Looking Back on ROAR 2009

The 5th and 6th of September 2009 saw the second appearance of ROAR, the annual TVR Chimaera gathering, and for the second year running, under the organisation and direction of Angus McDougal. Following such a brilliant success of the 2008 meeting, held at Moorside Grange Hotel just outside Stockport in Cheshire, expectations were high for this one being just as big, if not bigger.

As before, and well in advance of the date, Ride Drive pledged to attend Staverton Park Hotel a more southerly venue and near to Daventry. Our role was to again provide those in attendance with a free 25–minute sample of what it is like to participate in a Ride Drive advanced driving experience in a TVR.

Poor Turnout by TVR Chimaera Owners

When the weekend arrived, the Ride Drive event team made up of Mohammed Khan, Deamon Johnson and Simon Clowes, were on site nice and early for the first day. Although the weather was bright and sunny there was a fair old wind blowing, making it quite a challenge to erect the corporate gazebo. Lining up with the other traders, and even though no side panels were fitted to the structure, weights had to be applied, as well as tying it to cars to stop the thing blowing away.

It wasn’t long before the earlier hopes of another cracking TVR paled into disappointment, as by early afternoon it was realised there was not a great deal of interest. By the end of day–1 of two the count was a total of 33–cars at a meeting that should have attracted
200 or more.

Angus had arranged for a number of activities for all to enjoy, these having a bit of an It’s a Knockout Feel to them, and appealing to a hopefully competitive spirit. For the Saturday evening there was a black tie dinner, during which the various items donated by supporting companies were auctioned off in the aid of charity.

Ride Drive had donated a gift voucher, representing a Full–Day Advanced TVR Driving Experience, but it only fetched £110, this being £125 off the retail value. By comparison, a Half–Day voucher fetched that on its own at last year’s ROAR!

It was difficult to fathom what the problem with the low Saturday attendance was, and whilst there were hopes that a better turnout would show for Sunday, even with less wind and warmer weather there were still only 42–cars that made it on the day. One could hardly say the event lived up to previous success, but despite the poor support from the Chimeara membership, there was a fair degree of interest in what Ride Drive had to offer.

The Mini Advanced Driver Training Runs Were Again a Success

Completing several runs with TVR Chimaera owners, everyone who took part appeared genuinely appreciative, being quietly surprised it was better than expected. This is a common scenario, because many people see the words, Advanced Driver Training and immediately assume they are going to get a driving lesson. 5–minutes up the road and it becomes very apparent that it is anything but.

When looking at it all in hindsight one has to feel very sorry for Angus. That guy always puts his heart and soul into everything he organises, and on that weekend in early September 2009, despite his 110% effort to make the 2009 ROAR a fantastic event, he was badly let down. There should have been more cars there, but there wasn’t. For whatever reason people just stayed away. The question of what went wrong is one that will probably not be answered easily. There was no clash with any other event of any significance, there was no lack of advertising, and certainly there was no lack of effort applied by the organisers.

Next year, if he can pick himself up from this big disappointment, we might see something a bit different from Angus, but whatever it is, the event is going back to Moorside Grange. See you there in 2010!

Julian Smith
Ride Drive Limited