Steve Prockter

Thats a reasonable title for a post I suppose, and yes unfortunately at about 4.35 pm my car was seen disappearing at a pace via a pit garage across the Paddock at Donnington today driven away by four kids.

Thanks to Paul for the lift to my mums house, and assistance from Stef and others who went briefly in hot pursuit. And other others that phoned the police for me etc..

Mike Wood phoned Pete Croney to complain about the driving of an RB5 owner who apparently past him on the M42 at about 150 mph. Yes it was mine (unless anyone knows otherwise).

No sign of it yet though..

I took the chequered flag on the last lap of day and returned to the Pit lane. Left the car running, adjusted the front suspension (Leda) ready for the road home, went into the pit garage immediately in front of the car to borrow a trolley jack from Bob Rawle.

It sounded like someone had started up a full rally prepared impreza, it was infact my car being stolen and wheel spun through a pit garage just missing Marcus's Sti. I looked out across the garage to see a metallic grey scooby heading at great speed engine bouncing off the rev limiter across the Paddock.. Somebody said "Thats being nicked". Four kids was the description.

Just out of interest I went back into the pit lane, to check my car was still there. Oh **** its mine!

At the time of posting the police have not identified the location of the car.

If anyone saw it on their way home, I am not a complete nutter driver it was being stolen OK. I would be interested in any sightings.

Should I have left the car momentarily unattended in the pit lane engine running? Clearly not. What is the purpose of the barrier and guard into the paddock area. Apparently he opened the barrier for the fleeing thieves. Cheers mate.

Steve

TFyus

StevenRW here from the rsowners site. What a complete ba$tard of an event. I usually leave my car idling outside my house to warm it etc and im now considering other wise.

I left my g'friends car running outside her house to warm it up and i was just inside the door. I looked up and the car was MAXING it out of the driveway in reverse. I dived out and fortunatly it was her father teaching me a lesson.

The only advice i can come up with is this. Take a spare set of keys and lock the idling car. I know all they have to do is bash the window in but atleast u would hear that.

You have my sympathies. What is the world turning into.

StevenRW

boomer

Steve,

FWIW, i left Dono around 16:15 and headed South via Breedon on the Hill for a cross country route home, but joined the A42 at Ashby (due to "Sunday market traffic").

No Scoobies passed me between Ashby and Tamworth (where i turned off). How far was Mike down the motorway when he was "overtaken"? It just might help determine where the thieves were heading.

Hard luck mate - not a nice end to an otherwise excellent day.

mb

Blow Dog

I really feel for you Steve. Your RB5 came inches past me on its escape. From what I saw, it was 2 kids, one driving and one in the back, but I am not so sure. After lengthy discussions with colleagues, we came to the conclusion that Donnington security was partly to blame. How to 4 kids get into a privately organised event? How does the barrier go up to a speeding car towards them? How is it a marshall told me off for waving to someone on the grass verge by putting my arm out of the window, yet 4 kids loitering doesnt arouse suspicion?

I am sure that there are a lot of thoughts entering your head and I cant help but feel sympathetic for you.
I hope the bastar'd rot in hell and have red hot lumps of coal rammed up their ar'ses for eternity come.

Cem

Ian Cook

Stephen, to set your mind at ease about the guard, he shut the gate on them, as they were driving like complete t**** they used the windscreen slope of the car to force the gate open, complete b******

CEM you are not supposed to drive on track with the windows open, on any event. Thats probably why they had a go.

[This message has been edited by Ian Cook (edited 05-03-2000).]

TFyus

The more i read about this the more it makes me wonder. What is the world coming too. Its my car i paid for it..look at it just dont touch it.

Sigh...just hope u get it back in 1 piece

StevenRW

Neil Smalley

What a complete P****r. I guess being an RB5 will make it harder to sell on but that's little compensation.

I've often left my car running while it's defrosting outside. Admittedly looking out the windows at it. I'm very sorry for you. It sounds as though it's something that could happen to anyone of us. I don't think you did anything stupid or rash and it sounds as though everyone helped above and beyond the call of duty.

You'll probably spend days kicking yourself and thinking what if, but trust me it does'nt achieve anything postitive. The only comfort I can give you is that maybe this has saved a few others from going through what you are going through now. It's not much I grant you but we have to take all we can.

If this sounds like platitudes and patronising crap then i'm sorry it's not meant that way at all.

I'm sure it will all work out, things usually do.

Neil

TFyus

When my last car was stolen it was found sitting on bricks without its wheels. Yet due to it being a ford escort estate, there isn't much else on it than the compomotive mo's that anyone would want.

Hope it returns.

Steven

SDB

Steve

I really wish you all the best.

Regards

Simon

Philip Thurlow

Hi there - I'm very sorry to hear of your loss Steve. I dont know you but I did see a RB5 there - was it the only one on the track ? - I left at about 15:30 ish - so I missed it all - I live up North and took it steady home - didnt see anything. If they were kids - you would have thought it would have been someone locall maybe - good luck in finding it mate - no one deserves to be going through what your now going through apart from the *******s who nicked it and any other car for that matter - they do deserve to rot in hell !

GCollier

This is no consolation to you Steve, though you do have my deepest sympathy, but some advice for people who leave keys in their cars outside their houses - as far as I know if your car gets stolen when you leave the keys in, the insurance won't pay up. So before this happens to somebody else, people please take care.

A Dorrington

Steve

Thanks for your advice for the route to take back to Brighton. Obviously I was very shocked to see that your car had been stolen and hope that the police catch the thieving B*****D's.

All the best
Andy 22B

MTR

MTR

[This message has been edited by MTR (edited 17 September 2000).]

JamesH

Steve

Once again, my commiserations

I had half an hour of very safe and enjoyable passenger ride with Steve. I never felt ill at ease ( despite the VERY late braking which gobbled up anything in front ), his obvious enjoyment at trying to "get it right at this corner" and total courteous attitude to others on the track, summed up the spirit of the day and totally made it for me.

I am just so gutted that such a bad ending to an otherwise excellent day should mar Steve's memories.

Regards

James

Paul Wilson

Sorry again about your loss Steve, hope it wasn't too hard breaking the news to the family.

On a security note, how about next time having the gate to the paddock closed, with a member manning it? 20 mins each should cover the whole day, no scoob allowed out unless the driver has a wristband from the circuit.

Davy

sorry to hear about your car steve, scumbags always seem to target donnington, an escort cossie went at national day 97, i guess they
just hang around like a bad smell waiting for an opportunity, hope it turns up mate,

to stef, sorry to hear about your accident, hope you didnt get hurt and hope its not too badly damaged, nobody wants to see that

regards
Dave Easton
Durham rs owners club

Simon West

Steve,
Your car came blasting past me just after I left Donington at about 4:35. (I turned left out of Donno and was heading towards M42 for Birmingham.) I was about six cars behind the silver 5 door from Listers; first I was overtaken by a silver 4 door WRX which pulled in a couple of cars behind the Listers car then your car overtook me with two front seat occupants. They were virtually driving up the white line to get past, I could not believe it ! They pulled in behind the WRX, then overtook them and about 4 other cars including the Listers 5 door. The WRX then followed them in their overtaking manouvere, and that was the last I saw of both cars. Who was in the WRX ? from what I remember it was a std UK plate, not a personalised one.
Sorry I cannot be any more help......I am going to Listers tomorrow so I will ask them who was driving their car.
Simon

Stef

Not posting much 'cos I'm knackered, but I can confirm that there were two occupants and the driver was wearing a very distinctive bright yellow jacket with black trim.Check your vids.
The guard on the gate DID let them through 'cos he told me that he only just managed to raise the gate before they got there. Dunno who said they used the car to raise the barrier but that's pants!
I could tell that he realised what he'd done, but to be fair it's not up to him to check everyone leaving is it?
Apart from the fact that the car was being driven at high speed (probably like loads of others) there was no way of knowing.
If the thieving git had approached the gate slower he would have stiil been let out anyway.
The moral of the story is FIT A TURBO-TIMER AND ALWAYS LOCK YOUR CAR.
Anyway, I'm off to bed....

Stef.
PS I'm fine and so is the car, cheers. Zzzzzz.

johnfelstead

Really sorry to hear about the theft steve.

i hope you can get it sorted soon, MTR's idea on the CCTV is worth a think.

best wishes
john

blubs

Steve,

Sympathies to you. Out of interest ( and this is info for everyone), I had an attempted break-in at my house only two days after I'd bought the Scoob, (thankfully not successful). Coppers reckoned that they mistook the downstairs bathroom window for a garage window as they were after the car.
Apart from thefts of vehicles left running in driveways while demisting etc., he also had over thirty instances of scumbags looking through letterboxes for keys left on hallway tables. Put a rod type device through the letterbox, hook the keys and no problem with alarms etc.
It sounds paranoid but is apparently common and until that moment, putting my keys on the hallway table by the front door was exactly what I did every night before going to bed. Assume everything, lose nothing is how the copper put it as I remember

blubs

Ian Cook

Stef, it was me that said they used the windscreen cos thats what we were told by the security bloke when we asked him, will have to get back to them on that then

Regards the silver WRX, we believe thats the car they arrived in ?????

ALANB

Steve,
Comiserations. I hope it's found soon and the scumbags get their comeupance.
It's at times like this I think about fitting one of those Tracker thingies, I like the idea of knowing that you don't have to give chase as the cops will know where they are at all times...
Obviously I'd prefer a remote-control tazer wired to the steering-wheel

Richard Gledhill

Add my sympathies... yours was one of the quickest cars around the track all day. Can't believe it was stolen, though I did notice some kids hanging around about 3pm when I left but thought nothing more of it (no description I'm afraid).

Shocked.

Richard


ps Stef - unlucky mate, looking forward to seeing it all back in the right shape for next time!

[This message has been edited by Richard Gledhill (edited 06-03-2000).]

Ian Cook

Following on, we beleive the silver WRX was seen in the paddock, had a huge chin spoiler and 4 old boys in it, no idea if this is the right one, so if it was you, can you let us know to eliminate you from our enquiries

We are almost certain they arrived in a silver car though, so if anyone has pictures with this car or any similar ones in, it would be good if we could check reg numbers off etc.

This of course depends if that was nicked as well ????

Weaver

Steve,
Me and my friend Steve saw them leave as we sat drinking tea in the car at the end of the day. There was definately two of them, one driving in a bright yellow jacket who looked quite young (under 18ish) and a lad sat directly behind him who looked younger. We instantly knew it was nicked as slid across the car park in front of us bouncing off the revlimiter. Steve phoned the Police straight away.

I hope you get it back asap.....

Death to all car thieves

Luke

Nick

Steve
My commiserations to you, I wasn't at Donington & don't know you, but I know how gutted I'd feel.

I agree that maybe SIDC members could arrange a rotor to handle security in future.

Sonic

Not sure if this is any comfort but I had a car nicked with engine running and keys in it (Orion 1600E .. OK, OK, OK .. ) and it was only insured third party and the insurance company DID pay out .. (Bennetts Elite).

Car has been reversed into (whoever did it buggered off - thankyou very much ) and was really misfiring badly (intermittently)

.. Ford dealer in Fountainbridge in Edinburgh had the car for about 2 months and claimed they could never get the car to misbehave (funny it only took me driving it about 200 yards for it to practically blow the exhaust off!)

.. I was fed up with their pish excuses so when picking the car up for the umpteenth time, finding just around the corner it was still running really badly decided to drive back to the garage and leave the car running (everytime I drove back switched the engine off and they restarted it the bl**dy thing ran fine!!!)

I then ran upstairs to the servicing department (10 secs max) and got the service manager to come down and have a look (maybe 30 secs to 1 min) .... what a surprise the bloody thing had gone.

It was left in an underground sort of forecourt, they had left the 'back door' unlocked and none of the CCTV cameras were on!

It was found burnt out in Cambuslang (how they got it there running as badly as it was is beyond me!)

The police said about 4 youths had been hanging around the 'back door' and had decided to take a short cut through the forecourt and upon finding my car running, hopped in and promptly screamed away out of the main entrance.

Insurance company sent somebody out to verify my story and I got the market value of the car (got about 500 quid less than I paid for the car - had it 6 months).

Maybe with security cameras about and it being it the pit lane (not just in your drive or on the street) your insurance company may settle up

Here's hoping anyway.

Sonic.

JohnS

iTrader: (1)

Sorry to hear about your sad loss Steve. Hopefully they will catch the low lifes who took your pride and joy.

Hope the insurance claim thought quickly and to your satisfaction.

When attending track days, if I need to leave my car running, then I'll use the spare set of keys to lock the doors with.

DavidRB

Mucho sympathies. It would never occur to me to bother about securing a car on a track day. Presumably as it's an RB5, it has a unique number? Should make it pretty hard to pass on.

Frosting (nicking cars that have been left running to defrost the windows) is on the increase. I used to leave mine running with the Disklok still clamped on the steering wheel, I may reconsider now...

Rich_R

How early were those TO*SERS spotted? I was using a camcorder between about 09.30 and 10.00 before the battery ran out (only about 5 actual minutes of filming).

I will check the tape tonight after work. The good thing about digital camcorders is that you can zoom in later when playing back the recording on the digital tape.

Will let you know if anything turns up.

Steve - hope you get it back soon!

Rich R