Dear All,

We have been notified by Donington Park that the following procedure will operate for competitors who want to run in car cameras.

Forward a request in writing at least 5 days prior to the event (failure to comply with this could result in requests being declined) to Diane Hardy (Tel 01322 819507 Email Diane.Hardy@donington-park.co.uk Fax 01332 814411
Diane will then send out an “In Car Camera Request Form” which should be completed and returned to her
On receipt of the completed “In Car Camera Request Form”, Diane will complete and forward an “In Car Camera Authorisation Form” to the competitor, which they should submit to the race officials on arrival at the circuit.

I would be grateful if you could pass this information to your competitors.

Best regards

Drew Furlong

Competitions Director

hi john
do you know something that I dont?
does this mean the championship is now letting horses in as well

jonesey
must try harder/ apparantly there are people out there with/ can i say ? possibly 100s?.
maybe a couple might be spare.
surely it can only be a rumour.

well, if Mr Piggott does’nt know a thing or two about horses…who does?

On reading your comment about seeing other competitors in your rear view mirror I think it is only fair to point aout that you’re not allowed to reverse on a race circuit!

Re getting more horses out of the car. Doesn’t something in the regulations say that ballast should be firmly fixed, rather than grazing freely. Hmmm there must be some gag there about getting reported to the stewards…

Im not very photogenic, as the photographer’s normally get arc eye of me head.
We should run a sweep stake on the
Runners and Driver’s..

I was thinking instead of more horses, more along the lines of less weight, by re-shelling the F with a GRP body, I know you will all try to tell me it is an Elise, but should still get the silhouette class

I am hearing some disturbing rumours about Donny, should I be worried Dave???

Ollie,

You can hire them at each race for a fee…

Having just looked it seems ebay prices are almost at level of retail price for a new item.

Dave

You still bleeding that clutch?
As Leona Lewis said it must be ‘Bleeding Love’ Keep bleeding, keep keep bleeding.

Well, if you Weasley & Darby withdraw your entries all should be well!!!

The standards at Donington are at rock bottom in my view! Of course it bears no resemblance to the giant canary you currently drive…

Looks like Mr Joneses is right again.
Donington looks to be a none starter,
Could now be at Snetterton on the 12/0409
Watch the main web site for information.

Sadfiatman,

You obviously read what I wrote instead of what I meant to write.

At least it gives me somewhere to start for the next newsletter…..

Dave

I notice from the donington site that MG is a famed marquee - I hope that implies that the racing in tents rather than we’re camp?

If we’re not pitching up at donington should we canvas opinion on where should the gang show to start this years jamboree.

Is there a time warp going on here? Reading this thread I see that V8Dave won this year’s championship last year, today is the 26th but our webmaster knows that tomorrow is the 24th and Al mentioned something relating to Bedouin accommodation. So would it be best to enter the race on a camel or in a Tardis?

Aw why did you have to correct the date? That means my post doesn’t make sense.

There is supposed to be a bike race meeting at donington this weekend (supersport, superstock etc so it’s on the track) - at present there is no mention of it being cancelled so presumably the circuit must be fit or use.

Apologies accepted Mr J.

Is 2009 to start the way 2008 finished?

In the event of a Donington cancellation, I’m going to organise a 20 minute race around the service road of my local Tesco (to encompass the recycling chicane and mother & child parking loop), if anyone is interested! Basic PBIC rules and regs apply with the following changes: -

Helmets are to be replaced with Burberry caps (the ones with the peak at the back).

All cars must have a fitted and working sound system (of a power not less than 10kW).

Only Gangsta rap shall be played whilst the car is moving.

Exhaust pipes are free and must measure not less than 20cm diameter.

If anyone of authority asks ‘it’s a Saxo… Innit’ and ‘U iz just ‘angin’ wid da homeys’.

That normally seems to work on a Saturday!!!

Donnington/
isnt that the circuit spending millions to get up to f1 standards ?
Shame they cant meet the msa/s, even with the offer of our money.

Well folks, if the Midgets are right Donny is on….let’s hope Bernie coughs up the cash for the crash barriers in time!!!

Race Meeting Information
Donington Update. Friday 27th March 18.30 p.m.

A number of you will no doubt be aware that there have been some issues surrounding the issue of a Track Licence by the MSA to Donington following the recent construction works at the Circuit.

As of this afternoon we have been assured by Robert Fearnall, circuit manager for Donington Park Leisure Ltd. that he was 100% confident that the problems relating to the track modifications would be resolved on Monday 30th March. He stated that contractors were on stand by to do whatever was needed to meet the MSA requirements.

We have to accept his assurances and proceed on the basis that the problem will be resolved and hence the Final Instructions and tickets will be mailed out to all competitors over the weekend.
Should matters not progress as we and Donington hope we will advise as soon as is humanly possible. Therefore please watch your email and the this web site since we can update the latter on an immediate basis. I would specifically request that you do not call me directly in this regard as this can prove counter productive at a time when we have less time than usual to complete preparations for this event. As of now we have not banked any of the cheques or processed any credit cards for payment of entry fees and will not do so until we are as certain as we can be that the meeting will take place.

Those competitors who have booked test sessions on the Friday have to take their own decisions at present but on the basis of the Donington assurance they should make the point to Donington that the session is booked on the basis of this assurance.

We very much look forward to seeing you there!

Steve Carr, Competition Secretary, MG Car Club

Just to let you all know I’ll be following Sandbaggers lead from 08 and will have all my racing gear, should any of you be unable to compete on the day! Mind some of that cold weather kit I’ve been issued is gonna be handy this weekend…see you there

Beaker has released a video of Snett 08 which can be found on page 2 of my Youtube link…..for a while I thought there was no-one else on the track!

Due to the fact that Donington have used large inflatable bags as a temporary measure to fill the excavations at the side of the track, any cars with sharp protrusions on the underside of the bodywork will fail scrutineering as the circuit are worried the bags may be punctured by cars running over them. Please check the underside of your car tonight and I suggest roll cage padding or similar be taped around any offending sharp objects to avoid being excluded from the race.

Permanent yellow flags from McLeans to Coppice will be in place!

for those who don’t know where that is:

http://www.donington-park.co.uk/track-days/track-days-the-track

I had presumed the yellow flag thing was an April Fool’s item…Ladies and Gentlemen.

Looking at the email traffic that’s now flying around its difficult to remember why one does this.As you may imagine the Donington saga has taken up a very considerable amount of time for those involved. The situation boiled down to late Tuesday afternoon before we were advised by Donington that a temporary licence would be issued for both our own and the HSCC meeting due there on the Sunday. The decision may well have been influenced by the motorcycle meeting that had taken place last weekend without incident.

Donington advised that there would be “yellow flag procedures” between MacLean’s out and Coppice in when the licence was issued. Both Grahame White of HSCC and the MGCC accepted that that particular section of track was not a normal overtaking point and that the flags would probably have little effect.

In view of the time element a immediate decision needed to be taken as to whether to go ahead or not since there was insufficient time to go out to everybody and get a meaningful response back. In truth we were already very late. We decided that we would proceed. Whatever we had done we would have been criticized so the emails were probably to be expected but unwelcome for all of that.

We have still yet to see the licence that will be issued to Donington.

I must however correct part of Pam’s email in that she stated that I had said that the only way the Donington modifications could proceed was by the monies from MGCC and HSCC. I did not make that statement. Certainly the monies must be important but personally I have no knowledge of the financial situation at Donington.

As for the statement on the marshals website about toilets I am advised by Donington that it is not correct. During the winter the water is turned off for obvious reasons and has now been turned back on. Di Hardy of Donington is currently talking to maintenance to get the toilets checked and if required will ask for a portable one to be installed. Its important that this misconception is stemmed since we are already short of marshals and any loss will probably cause a serious problem……..either a late start or even no start at all

One or two Coordinators have suggested that there should be a reduction in the entry fee. We understand your comments and are raising the subject with Donington, any reduction that we may obtain will be passed on. Should any competitors feel unable to accept the situation they are of course able to withdraw under the normal entry fee conditions and we will be as sympathetic as we can.

This is not a situation that we envisaged when we asked for and obtained a date at Donington and the situation is not of our making, but we still anticipate a good day of racing and even better the weather forecast looks pretty good!

In view of the circulation of the previous emails I would be obliged for the prompt circulation of this to your competitors.

I and the rest of the race organising team hope to see you all on Saturday

Ron Gammons

I understand this is all to do with the G20 protests and conserving fuel. The winner will be the car that drives the slowest…Legs is looking favourite.

£145. & you get 2 hours plus track time for that?

Steve McQueen has just been spotted coming out of the tunnel?
Don’t mention the war.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Some really good news regarding Donington. I have approached Robert Fearnall this morning with a view of seeking a reduction in the hire fee for our meeting to reflect the unfortunate scenario of the yellow flags that we all now know about.

Robert on behalf of Donington Park responded promptly and has offered a reduction which with the addition from the Clubs funds will allow us to give a refund of 10% of each of our Clubs members entry fees. You will appreciate that the circuit hire costs are only a part of the total cost of the meeting since all the support facilities such as Breakdown,doctors,Timekeepers etc still have to be paid for in full so the DPL concession does represent a substantial sum.

We are appreciative of the gesture by DPL today and I would be grateful if you have the opportunity to broadcast this to competitors.

In order to minimise the admin we would like to suggest a voucher system for refund to be utilised against next entry………..any that are never to darken our door etc can of course request a cash refund,………….but not tomorrow please……..we will be very busy.!

I would also be appreciative if you would advise drivers that we are required to brief every driver prior to each race. In order to undertake this sensibly each race will be briefed separately and the timetable will be given to every driver at signing on. It is mandatory that they attend…….no excuses. It is also mandatory that we ensure they comply with the restrictions that are placed upon us. We will have some three MSA Stewards present tomorrow and they have instructions to withdraw the permit if they feel that we are not able to control the driving in the construction area. As a matter of interest no overtaking areas are certainly not unknown, one of the high profile races in the far east has a non overtaking area exactly the same!

I also have to mention that we are perhaps as a result of some of the adverse publicity we are very short of marshals If anybody can assist please make yourselves known early tomorrow at Donington………we are VERY short……….help

Best regards

Ron Gammons