i just hope everything turns out well for all of us playing this hobby. im sure that they will not let us down.

i hope everything turns out ok and give us permission to play permanently at zabeel every weekend. so if were gonna be at zabeel this weekend do we have any written permit incase someone complains or another person from the municipality prohibits us from playing?

with regards to mr.saleh's son im sure our site would definitely be very helpful, specially for those who are new to the hobby, so no problem with that. and as for mr.saleh joining our community we will surely give him respect and watch our words. so think before posting guys lol

i hope he could come this weekend and see that were not causing any problems there..
except for blocking the driveway

that's a good news!!!

thanks andy for the HELP that you have given!!!

ARE YOU READY GUYS!!!

@J
No need for the newspaper article, I actually downloaded a printable version from the net, and he had a look, but he seemed to know what was going on anyway....
We have no permit at the moment, and as Greg had mentioned, I dont think anyone would issue one anyway. We are allowed this week and not sure thereafter, that will be up to Ms Fatima I suppose....but if we behave, leave the place clean and tidy and not irritate anyone, I suspect they might let us continue.

I would like to say to everyone at this stage, that we should continue to look for somewhere else and my next step will be to try and get a place in one of the parks, or approach the RTA to see if they can help.

Anyway, see you all on saturday

@andy,

Thanks for your effort men.. Ok see you on saturday.. let's roll our mini's.. :cheers

I will try to make it and do few runs with my mini

sir jamea, see you on sat!!!

Hi All,

I went to the Parks Board again today and discussed the possibility of using Zabeel parking lot on Saturday's. They are very understanding there, but the fact remains that they would prefer that we didnt use that area. I dont think they are being difficult but they have reasons that they believe are clear...not to me, but they have the last say.
They are trying to help by recommending other areas and as much as I would like to, or have to, obey the rules we are not going to win at Zabeel.
One area that they suggested is Mushrif park. But I believe it might be a little far away. Here are some observations I have made.

For:
Lots of areas to ride.
Facilities like toilets and shops
Between Sharjah and Dubai

Against:
Quite far away
No taxis
AED10 entrance per car (you can have 20 people in a car, it's still AED10)
Not sure if there are people there or not on a Sat afternoon

The gents I was talking to would like to get involved in promoting activities on park grounds, but the whole Hobby Center/Creek Park thing has left them with a very bad impression. They said if I wrote a letter to the head of the Parks board, they would get it signed and would even block off areas of road so that no cars would disturb us, and also promote it on their website to try and get some attention from people who want to get involved.
Incidentally, the rental of the land where Creek Park track was, was AED10,000 per year! Cheap in compared with todays rental prices!


I investigated the use of Safa Park Hall, it is usually used for sports like 5-a-side football but they are booked up on Saturday evenings, and they want AED100 per hour. It would have been nice because it is air conditioned, there is power there are a track could easily be set up....

Personally I think we should have a look at the option on Al Wasl road.

I am not convinced that the area behind Lamcy is going to work....we might get away with it for some time, but eventually someone (the law) will ask us to leave...

Tell me what you guys think....

This group decision might be a bit hard.

I don't mind giving the area near Spinneys-Al Wasl a try.
But I think people from Sharjah and Deira might have a hard time reaching the place.

Safa park sounded like a great idea until I reached the words "100/hr". Hehe.
An indoor track is a great alternative, but it'll be hard to find a place like that.

Anyone else have an idea where we can lay down our tracks? =(


Thank you so much again sir Andy for your help.

not good... not good at all. they are trying to make money out of us.

No, I dont think they are trying to make money out of us, I do feel that one of their major concerns is the safety of the people that visit the city. I think it would be unfair to assume that financial interest is their major gain. Remember that the parks are funded by a municipality that is funded not out of taxes, but out of the wealth of the countrys inheritance of resource. Remember why all of us are here....tax-free earnings
People getting knocked over, damaging the property of others and giving the impression that this is the Wild West (or Middle East) is not what they are after....remember those guys on Saturday that were riding around on their mini-motorbikes? How did they get there? Did they cross the busy Trade Center rd, or come from the busier highway? No helmets, no safety gear, no licenses....you get my point.
My discussion with them yesterday had nothing to do with trying to stop us....they cannot say ok to us, and tell the bikers off (although this is what SHOULD be done). They truly want to help and I am also investigating getting that part of the park inside, tarred for us. They would need to know that it would get used, and would attract people without going against the policies of what the parks were intended for....so we will see.....this Saturday I think we will have to find somewhere else though....lets not get them all upset and angry with us.

I am going to be away in Fujeirah this coming weekend so I might not make it down, but I am very interested to see what goes on with the hall at Safa.....the following weekend it might be worth our while to see if we can get enough people to each put in AED5 and have a trial run...to see if the drifters and racers can use the surface....from what I remember it is not a wooden floor but seemed very smooth....

Just think about THIS: No hot sun, cool air-conditioning, quiet OR we could get some tunes going....drinks that stay cold, wall sockets to charge from and I recall that there was a raised platform/stage that would be GREAT for getting some height over the course MAYBE we could have the AUH drifters and MINI peeps together for a little tournament....30 people each put in AED10, we get AED300 and we have 3 hours of RC fun...INDOORS! To make it even more fun, we could do a swap-shop or something, bring whatever you want to sell/donate/get rid of....community-style.

I will go check it out during the week, I will take a mini, maybe someone can meet me there with a drifter and we could scope it out :geek:

The idea of an indoor track does sound exciting.
I don't mind coming along to give the place a look sir.
But I'm only free after office hours (6PM) during weekdays.

If we do aim for this, a few problems might include:
- will the area be big enough for both the tracks of the mini-monsters and the sliders?
- I feel that there won't be a complete attendance of 30 drivers.
- Still a bit far for people from Deira and Sharjah.

I think Mr Mohammad of Toys&Us should help us out with this. =/

Josh,

Indoors would be best for this time of year....last week on Saturday was silly hot ....still fun, but hot.

Here is a video from inside the hall...I reckon it would be big enough for all of us to have some fun!

CLICKY

I dont believe that Mr Mohammed would be able to help, I know that he has other comittments that keep him busy...

What we need to do is get some more drivers involved!

I am going to go by there tomorrow evening to have a look see, maybe do some negotiation with the guy there...

Whoa....Is that in Safa Park?? I didn't see that before. Hehe
Yes, that should be enough for all of us. hehe. =)

Will you be needing our help tomorrow? Please let us know. =D

The are looks big for the drifter & the mini's the good thing with the are it is covered & with AC.

what about the floor surface do you we have to use type D or driftech will do.

Wow......... 300 Dhs for that!!!
Seems like a bargain to me. Can it be too good to be true.

If only we can get some more people involved, cus I think we would be all be a bit lost in that space.

Enough room for a proper touring car track me thinks....

It definately seems big enough for all of us. I think if we divided it up 2/3 for mini running, and 1/3 for drifting we should be ok. Of course I don't know how much space you need, but a track like

THIS

would probably fit in 1/3 of the area thats in the hall....??

The going rate for the hall is AED100 per hour, but I am going to see if I can negotiate something better. Unfortunately at the moment it is usually booked for Saturday afternoon/evenings for basketball and 5-a-side football.

I know a lot of you guys are working different hours, so maybe we should have a poll to see what hours are best, then we negotiate.

I was there a few weeks ago, and I cannot remember what the surface was like, but I think that if it is a sports thing, it is more than likely hard, but not rubberised. A visit will help us find out more. Let's see....but for now I am willing to try any opportunity that prevents people throwing us out, and of course the heat.

If it proves successful, I will ask Mr Mohammed to at least put a sign in his shop to help us attract some more people, and help pay for the use....hey, even spectators can be asked to make a AED2-5 "donation". The cost is not a major concern to me right now, I know we are not all made of money, but I for one would pay the equivalent of a beer in a bar, AED30, for an hour or so of fun....there are a lot worse things we could spend our hard earned cash on.

The other option of course is to find a school hall or something....I will keep searching

I will keep you all informed....

Nice track sir Andy.
From my point of view, I believe we can fit an even larger track in the hall if given 1/3.

This sounds like a good idea. We should really give it a try atleast once. =)

me too i want to try sliding in the area it look cool :cheers: to play there

Hey all,

Sorry I didnt report back earlier, I had some other thigs to take care of first.

I went down to the hall last night, and took a mini so I could do a 'road test' but there was a group of guys playing football so I couldnt run the car.

The surface is like a hard rubber compound so I am not sure what sort of traction level it gives. I think that with super driftech wheels on, you could do some drifting and with slicks/rubber tires it might be good for some mini action too..but we would definately need to test it out.
From a space perspective it is huge and we could have an awesome drift AND mini/tourer track at the same time.. The best part is that there are areas on either side of the track that would be great 'drivers stands' offering excellent viewing over the court.
On the downside, there are a LOT of markings on the ground in different coloured tapes, they are for football, basketball, tennis & volleyball so it could make it a bit difficult to see a 'track' but markers taped to the floor would be good enough I think,

I am waiting for the guy to send me availability times, but it loooks like Saturday evening is NOT going to be an option....I think Saturday morning is going to be the only free time.
I know that Friday is a family day for a lot of people so I will check on availability and then I will post the times we have, in a poll.

On another note, the picture shows a LOT of parkingin that area, there are circles on the map in red that are awesome areas, they are not pay & display areas and when I left there at 19h30, they were completely abandoned.
In the hall complex (blue circle) there is a covered basketball court too....even though it is not airconditioned, it is useable (but would need a sweep)

I am not available this Friday or Saturday morning, so I cant make any RC, but maybe we could look at next Saturday?

More info later...

wow thanks andy for this! how about that basketball court you saw last night? is it free or we will have to pay too? about the sweeping, let the drift team slide there cars there and vuala! easy sweep! hehehe! anyways, thank you very much for the effort your putting up for our team. im 100% behind you on this!

@jeb

I am not sure of the basketball court has a price tag on it, certainly nobody is using it at the moment simply because it is so hot. It probably gets used in the winter months though.
When I say sweep, I mean a PROPER sweep you will know what I mean when you see it. There are leaves and a pretty thick layer of dust....but I doubt they will charge us to use it, and if they do....it is not air-conditioned and undercover so I doubt it will be anywhere near AED100 per hour.

I would suggest that if you want to drift this weekend, to go and check out the parking lots that are in the picture. I am pretty sure that they will be vacant on a Saturday. One is the parking lot at a Special Needs Center and the other looks to be a part of a school. All schools are on holiday and I am pretty sure the special needs place will not be occupied on a Sat afternoon....but until further notice, I think we should stay away from Zabeel.

Another suggestion is to start arranging a 'formal' drift/touring meet for early August, maybe on a Friday afternoon and get all the Abu Dhabi guys to come up. We send some flyers around at T&U and book the hall at Safa. In the meantime, we go and test it out in the week.....

hehehehe! i thought our slides could get those thick dust and leaves off! so we might have to use brooms and lots of sweeping power then! hahahaha! i'll ask the guys to assess and do the necessary works... josh??? :-)

that covered court look ok with regards on cleaning the area i will help. maybe they will let us use the area when we clean it lets try the area & make the timing to 4:30 so that we have enough time to clean the area & play. what do you think guys

@Andy
Should we ask first before going? Or go straight ahead with the sweeping?

I don't mind cleaning, as long as we can lay down a proper track.


@All
When should we plan for this? Friday or saturday?