Happy New Year Race Fans!
The count down has begun to the first race in April at Donington so I hope you are all working away on your cars.
2009 Predictions
- James Darby will win the first race in class A with his new super-tuned engine.
- Blaine Neaves will take a break from his manual labour and return to JCB Racing.
- The overall race winner will be one of the incoming BCV8 guys.
- Miss Daisy will return and consolidate her position at the back of the grid.
- SheD will start to grow his hair again.
- Pete Burchill will become over confident in his Anthony Reid tuned car and spin off on the first corner.
- The official PBIC website will be updated annually (which will be a step forward).
- Dan Ludlow will race without his sandbag and create several new lap records.
- Weasley will part company with the Yellow Peril and enter a gleaming V8, sadly still painted yellow.
Just a short report this time out as it’s too **** cold!
In the meantime I have compiled a rogue’s gallery for you all to look at…..some familiar faces I think you will agree.
Click on the image below for those incriminating Christmas photos! (Double-click the photos individually for the full effect!)
Jonesey
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54 visitors commented in " Happy New Year 2009! "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackHi Jonesey, I’m really getting the hang of this Internet thing now. I’ve been practicing on a small relatively unknown site called ‘facebook’ (you probably have never heard of such a tiny outfit in your empire) so I thought I was ready to post a comment on the World Famous Jonesey-Racing.co.uk.
I don’t think I got all the water out of the car after Snetterton, as there are now small ice rinks in the boot and footwells! It’s far too cold to work on the car, I just hope it thaws out before April. I’m thinking of taking a more leisurely approach to motorsport next year so I may come out in class A with the rest of the gentlemen racers!
All the best
Paul
Paul, congratulations on your first posting on this illustrious site…I think the practice you put in on the inferior web-sites has clearly paid off.
You are lucky to have ice in your car boot, sadly mine has rusted through altogether!
I look forward to you joining the merry band in class A (the only one that counts) but should warn you that some chap insists on racing a vehicle known as a “Metro” with us but I hope this won’t put you off.
What sort of car were you thinking of using?
Well, there are three race cars parked outside my house, and a fourth waiting to be turned into a race car so the choice is a difficult one! If it ends up being class A then it will be one of those Metro’s you speak of, in the hope that two Metro’s will put you all off!
I believe there is a school of thought that Metros should be considered as MG’s…they’ll be letting Montegos in next..doh!!
In honour of your first posting I have added a photo to the New Year Album!
Evening all, good form as ever Mr Jones.
Thank you Mr B, rather fetching shot of you I thought?
See you @ NEC Friday…no doubt in the beer tent around midday!
Sounds like a plan mate give us a bell I will be on a mission for bits.
A sneak preview of a new entry for this year.
Ewart Kitsons Class C MGZS 1.8
photo1
photo2
See you on Friday.
Looking good…
Class C?
What mods is that getting Pete?
Ollie
Ewart is aiming on running Mr Ludlows old lump so about 172bhp 4 pot on throttle bodies.
He just needs to sell the BTCC Laguna as he is skint. If not its class A with 120bhp
It’s going to be standing room only in class A at this rate….(you know it makes sense!)
PS. See Ollie I said you should have gone for that class A car all along!
It looks like class C could be one of the biggest classes next year. What with all these lightwieght V8’s, metro’s, ZS’s etc
Ollie
But will the Blaine Boys be ready…or just spectating??
We shall have to wait and see!
Staying class B seems quite sensible then.
See you at Autosport
Pete
Another great report Jonesey. Not sure about your predictions though. Haven’t started on the new engine yet and the first race will soon be upon us.
Looking forward to getting back out there again though. See you all soon.
James
Ahh, the Blue Streak has spoken…but could this just be a ploy to lull us into a false sense of security…only the lap times will tell!
Has anyone told the “official site” that the race dates are out?
I think the official site has expired, maybe time for a take over.
“Well done James Walpole on securing the 2007 championship at the last race meeting of the year.”
Time for an update I think.
Apparently he’s been very busy washing his hair…
All,
It would appear there is a traitor amongst us!
who’s this??
Ollie
Team Neaves Racing
It seems one of the drivers has divided loyalties…spotted setting up a stand @ the NEC by one of the Blaine Boys.
It is all Dave’s own fault, If he had not beaten James by 2 points he would have only needed to change the date
Quite so John, nice to see another driver’s first post on the site, sadly I don’t have any incriminating photos of you….but if anyone has you know where to send them!!
Just a quick apology for any of you who were unable to fully access the site today (20/1/09)fortunately my web-supremo waved her magic wand and repaired the fault!
Thanks
Jonesey
The regs and entry forms for Donington are up on the club site now. Whatever happened to the promise of prime time slots in the middle of the race program and no amalgamated grids? I just need to figure out how to drive a class F car in the Cockshoot part of the race and a class A (or C) car in the Peter Best part at the same time!!! Oh, and also figure out how to get up early enough in the morning for the first practice session!
It makes the 4 hour drivers meeting all so worthwhile does’nt it?
1 MGCC Peter Best Insurance Challenge & MGCC Cockshoot Cup 20 minutes £200.00
2 & 9 MGCC MG Trophy Championship & Lenham Cars MG Midget Challenge (DH) 15 minutes £295.00
3 & 8 PCGB Porsche Club Championship (DH) 30 minutes (See Note 1)
Clearly the Porkers did well, good luck to Midget Challenge out with the Trophy bumpers cars, at least we are not out with them.
Not a good start to the season.
Yes, if I read this right it seems the Porkers have got 2 X 30 minute races @ £200 each?
Perhaps the drivers reps could clarify this…in case you don’t remember them here they are:
Class A : James Darby : mgracer@gmail.com
Class B : David Brooke : davemgv8@googlemail.com
Class C : Simon Hutchinson : simon.hutchinson@virgin.net
Class F : Paul Rigg
Class E : Alan Brooke
Unfortunately I don’t have the last two e-mail details to hand.
All has gone quiet.. do we need to put this on the MGCC website to provoke reaction?
Looks like Friday night stop over again this year, forget beer I think it will call for Whisky in the cold.
See you all there.
Pete
I don’t know what to suggest really….perhaps I could re-run my “has anyone seen Dave” article…I think he hibernates in the winter!!
Likewise being a soft southerner I will not be braving the arctic conditions and will also be looking for suitable shelter on the Friday night!!
It’s never too cold for beer!
Good point, well presented!
I’ll ring Maggie and find out what is going on.
We were promised no shared grids and better positions in the running orders.
I’ll come back to you all next week after speaking to Maggie.
James
Perhaps the drivers reps could clarify this… Yeah right, first time I heard about it was when I found the regs on the Car Club web site!
Don’t forget, it’s the Car Club who decides on the running order of the meetings not the PBIC committee. So what Maggie Yeadon said at the drivers meeting was that PBIC had been ‘promised’ preferential treatment by the Car Club. We’ll have to wait and see if we get it….
There’s no price on the reg’s for the Porkers or Equipe GiTS, these clubs buy a grid from MGCC at a fixed price then they charge whatever they want from their competitors to cover the cost.
The regs also say ‘RACES ARE NOT NECESSARILY LISTED IN TIMETABLE ORDER’ so come the day we might not be race one. If we get a large entry in early it will give Maggie and Dave some leverage with the club. Perhaps Class A might have enough entries for a race of its own….
Well there you have it folks, to be honest I’m even more confused than before…nevertheless I look forward to the update promised by James…watch this space.
PS. I have said this before but has anyone seen Dave? I note that there is a good half price offer for potential NEW drivers and it would be nice for this message to go out on the official site where new drivers are likely to go in the first instance don’t you think???
New drivers, nice idea as long as they dont look at the championship website.
So who else is camping then?
Pete, I will bring some de-icer along and chip you out of your tent in the morning!!
I will dare to say this on your site Jonesey, hopefully it will be obvious why….
” The costs of anything in motorsport are usually hidden behind a veil of misinformation and lies. You will never get to the bottom of how costs are calculated. It will always be possible to find some one claiming to do it cheaper or is being paid (more) sponsorship.”
Maggie and I were confident enough back in October to say we would fill grids we were offered without resorting to sharing. I are not aware of any further discussions leading to changes to this position, however I can see that the change in the economic outlook may have caused the MGCC to revise it’s expectations. Clearly those who have commented here have concerns and since I believe those to be representative of the challenge as a whole I will lobby on that position. Please get your entries in so we can argue from a position of strength.
Does anyone know if the under 21s offer is legal under the latest anti-ageist laws, could we get a formal answer from Jonesey’s sponsors?
P.S. The webmaster of the challenge site is not AWOL but since he is not yet one of the unemployed masses there have been other issues needing attention. The one man work of fiction will be alive again just as soon as he can get a kite aloft in a thunderstorm….
Ahh, there we are LHD is alive and well…that is reassuring news! It is hoped he will be able to kick start the official website soon.
It is probably worth mentioning that the Jonesey-Racing website and all those contributing to it enjoy a certain degree of freedom which perhaps would not apply to the Official Site.
Can I just add my view, having some experience of these matters with my traitor hat on. Whilst I do not accept that there needs to be a “veil of misinformation or lies” (indeed transparency avoids problems) realistically, to run a race meeting at a profit you need an absolute minimum 20 cars on each and every grid without exception, especially when tracks are charging the current figure of £115 plus vat per minute.
Unless the PBIC can fill the grid, then it makes sense to combine them with another MG series that cannot fill a grid either and sell track time to another club to cut your losses. Given that the PBIC is essentially a catch all series, it will always be easy to combine grids as, in theory, those others series would also eligible for the PBIC anyway, so the problem of being unsuitable to run together is overcome.
The only way you will avoid combined grids is to
a) pay your memberships now; that way Maggie can say she already has a show of intent from drivers.
b) get your race entries in at the earliest date (or ideally book the full season) so Maggie can then argue for a separate race and a nice slot….the last race will normally be the least subscribed at the time entries close so if it is cancelled there are less refunds.
c) turn up!.. don’t bail out a day before cos you are not ready. It costs the club a lot of money if they cannot fill your space.
d) race clean, be ready on time and avoid red flags, so you do not compromise the timetable.
e) encourage your fellow drivers to do the same.
Whilst none of the above is earth shattering stuff, right now, how many drivers have paid their 2009 subs or got their race entries in already?
Same regarding the PBIC website. How many drivers have offered articles, photos or even profiles?
I think the under 21’s thing is a brilliant idea
re the under fives club, sorry under 21 offer. There is no reason why this cannot be done. It is a positive issue to encourage new blood and does not discriminate against anyone. If it works it will build grids and a better future for the series and will benefit everyone. There will be a couple of issues to overcome but they should be pretty easy to deal with, ideally by way of a junior membership or similar
Well once again the power of the interweb has risen to the challenge…for the answers to all your questions you know where to come!!
sadfiatman wrote :-
‘Same regarding the PBIC website. How many drivers have offered articles, photos or even profiles?’
Photos have been the least problem even if its only because they can be copied off the web. Newsletter content has been thanks to the unsung efforts of Magaret Farquhar-Rigg and I don’t know how we’ll manage if she starts racing again.
And for those that haven’t kept records the PBIC entry at Donington in 2008 was 23 which is just shy of 2/3rds of a grid.
Get those entries in !!
All good then, lets try and get some full grids. I have my entry in I am sure I an not the only one to hand over the credit card details and pre enter.
Under 21’s is a good idea and should make it easy for those of us who want to sell on a older race car maybe worth getting Steve Carr to forward a for sale list with entry forms by email. This could get some extra cars out.
As for the official website I am sure Jonesey has, and I would be happy to help.
On a separate note is the club sending out a blue book update to registered drivers especially with regard to fuel testing rig and rain lights
Pete
Pete,
Can you email me on the red light and fuel question since I’m not sure what the problem might be.
MSA C[c].70 states that the rear red light should be homologated by the FIA or comply with EU regulations. My understanding is that if it is ‘E’ marked then it complies with EU regulations and is acceptable, any factory fitted light(s) should be OK.
in 2008, 52 drivers scored points, so 23/52 for Donington isn’t that great and if 1/3 of the grid is empty thats a lot of money lost, so you can well understand why the MGCC thinks this probably justifies a shared grid.
More worrying was that 23 was the most that any MGCC championship had that day. Combined grids will be a issue this year and I hope it will be a problem for the organising club rather than the championships.
I have spoken to Maggie about the shared grid and being first on the timetable.
Regarding being first on the timetable:
Steve has put PBIC first as engines cannot be started until 9am and we are one of the quieter championships that is running.
He is also talking to the Morgans to look at whether they can run first as per last year.
Shared Grids:
As Paul has mentioned above the MGCC want to make sure they get enough cars on the grids to cover costs. They are therfore being covering themselves and put us with the Cockshoot. If we get enough entries we will be given our own race.
Today there ate 9 entries for PBIC. We need to be around the 25 mark to ensure we are out on our own.
The messaage is therfore
GET YOUR RACE ENTRIES IN EARLY (NOW)!
If we don’t make the numbers then we may see either the cockshhot or a class from cockshoot/BCV8 out with us. (And we don’t want that - remember last years mixed grids at Donnington).
Yes James, I remember the mixed girds from Donington last year and being pushed into the gravel by a car from another championship.
My entry is in; the Car Club won’t take the entry money until the closing date so there’s no excuse about waiting for pay day, GET YOUR ENTRIES IN NOW!
b.t.w. This is all far too serious, when is this web site going to get back to its usual light hearted / irreverent style?
Probably when we start racing again…I don’t write the comments you know well not all of them
I thought the mixed grill at Donington was rather tasty…
…maybe I need some reading glasses!
Re the class reps list my email address is alan.brooke@mail.com