Ever wondered what a Co-Ordinator Does?

Yes folks,

I have discovered, sadly via an alternative source what co-ordinators actually get up to!

So in the interest of openess, freedom of the press and my general view that WE SHOULD BE TOLD WHAT’S GOING ON!!!

Please see below a copy of the latest co-ordinators meeting. The highlights are areas of general interest.

I am surprised that the general view is that TV coverage is boring, when I thought that TV was of great interest to sponsors, but hey what do I know?

I am also in the process of writing my pre-AGM / Driver’s Meeting Report which may prove a little controversial, but nothing new there ayy?

Minutes of MG Car Club Coordinators Meeting 30^th Oct. 2011

Sywell Aerodrome

Attendees:

Ron Gammons (Chairman MS Committee) Steve Carr (Competitions Secretary)

Piers Hubbard (MGCC Motorsport Committee) Paul Goodman (Cockshoot Cup)

Geoff StJohn Mitchell (Club Steward) Larry Quinn (MG Midget Challenge)

Mark Bellamy (MG Metro Cup) David Brook (P B Insurance Challenge)

Amy Bray (MG Trophy Championship) Jonathan Harmer (Iconic 50’s)

John Pearson (Ecurie GTS) Bob Cull (Ecurie GTS)

Graham Bates (Ecurie GTS)

Apologies for absence:

Dave Saunders (MGCC Motorsport Director) on holiday

Geoff Strong (MGCC Chief Clerk of Course) on holiday

Pam McCarthy (BCV8 & TSCC Coordinator) sick.

Paul Stilling (Chief Marshal) on holiday.

Welcome: Ron Gammons, as acting chairman, welcomed everybody and introduced the three representatives from the old Equipe GTS series, who along with a number of the drivers have approached the MG Car Club with a view to it running a newly formed ‘Ecurie GTS’ on their behalf in 2012. RG went on to summarise the 2011 season, noting that it was on the whole considered a success and that even with some reduced grid numbers brought about by the economic climate it finished “in the black” financially.
Matters arising from 2011:

Driving Standards: It was felt that some had improved whilst some had worsened. The Metro’s in particular went through a bad patch and the Trophy did not shine, finishing their two races at MG Live behind the safety car and with a red flag! MB stated that the Metros were considering not accepting the championship registrations of some drivers due to persistent poor driving standards. It was noted that it was down to the championship stewards to make that decision. (RG Noted that at present championship coordinators were not (yet) licenced by the MSA who hence had no redress over them). PG said he included a declaration in his registration form, which drivers signed, regarding recourse if they were deemed to have brought the championship in disrepute. He was asked for a copy to be passed to GS with the suggestion that the Club should perhaps adopt a standard form for all the championships.
Late Entries: This subject has appeared on most previous agendas! LQ thought the drivers were getting wary as they had less money. RG commented that at MG Live we only had 50% of ALL the final entries 3 weeks before the event!! This puts an unnecessary burden on the administration. SC said that given that the Club was unique in that it did not bank or process any race entry payment until closing date he did not comprehend the reluctance to send in entries earlier, so that they could at least be put on the system and entered in the program. It was pointed out to those present that the Club has to pay a substantial deposit for each race circuit on signature of the contract, normally early in the year – even for a meeting taking part in October! Plus there are further stage payments. It was agreed that in future each competitor would be let off ONE late race entry and henceforth would be charged the appropriate late fee for all & any subsequent one. Coordinators were asked to put this in their newsletters. (In BOLD please – SC). As an aside, coordinators were told to ask Andy Knott if they wanted space in Safety Fast to publicise their race(s) – he would help where and when space was available).
Two driver entries: SC said that it should be noted that the Club is obliged to pay a ‘per capita’ fee to the MSA for EVERY driver that is signed on. This currently varies between £20.40 and £23.30 depending on the grade of race. Thus when two drivers are entered to drive the same car, either in a 2 driver race or sharing races in a double header, we are paying money to the MSA and not recouping it from the driver! Usually the second driver also has to be given track time to in another practice session in order to qualify for the race. It was noted that in a double header spread over two days the second driver is often not there on the first day! In future the race entry forms will be amended and ALL second drivers will be required to pay a contribution of £25 towards the additional costs incurred by the Club.
MGCC Membership: Those present were reminded that ALL competitors registered to compete in one of the Clubs Championships MUST be MGCC members. ( And to compete in a championship race they MUST be registered for that championship) This includes a one off guest drive, with or without a registration fee. With regard to a Race Series, from 2012 these must now be registered with the MSA by a recognised club, hence all competitors in series registered by the MGCC must be MGCC members, and as with a Race Championship, if a series is registered by another club then competitors must either be a member of that club (who will become an invited club) or of the MGCC.
Accounts and Annual Meetings: Coordinators were reminded that they should all hold at least one drivers meeting a year which is designated as the AGM and a basic set of annual accounts should be produced and submitted to the club. JP asked if there was a job specification available for coordinators. SC said it had been suggested but not implemented. RG agreed that it should be. As an aside it was noted that a championship steward was not required to be present at a race meeting, as their job did not relate to dealing with events at the circuit. RG reminded everybody that there was a 30 minute window following the publication of each set of results at a meeting, during which a protest could be lodged. After that time has lapsed, assuming there is no protest, or any other matter under investigation, the results ARE FINAL and regardless cannot subsequently be altered! Coordinators are requested to ensure that the driver and entrants were reminded of this. SC agreed that he would raise the question with TSL Timing about the possibility of separating the results for races with combined grids.
Standard gridding for the second race of a double header: It was requested by the Club that the gridding procedure for second races should be consistent throughout all championships & series. MB thought that a series was different to a championship in this case, but this was not agreed. Currently the Club grids the majority of its second races based upon the second fastest practice time, however, as RG pointed out, this often led to gaps on the grid and some confusion when forming up! A vote was taken and it was overwhelmingly agreed to change to using the finishing order of the first race to grid a second race.
Green flag lap and gridding: RG expressed concern that drivers were slowing meetings down by wasting time locating their position on the grid, seemingly not having noted which row number and side they should be on! Coordinators were urged to make sure their drivers had checked and if necessary be prepared to tell them! It was noted that some circuits had multiple grid markings, in varying colours, which added to the confusion. (Especially Silverstone!).
Novice Drivers: Coordinators were reminded that as one of their tasks they should be prepared to look after novice drivers and make sure that they understood the system and attended all the relevant briefings. Also make the feel welcome! PG commented that the Clubs paddock plans were very good and helpful to novices. He also suggested that the number of support vehicles allowed into the paddock should be reduced by issuing two different passes, one for the race car and one for a support vehicle – which should park in a dedicated area. This was noted but called for extra bodies to police the paddock. This at Silverstone was a very difficult task.

MSA Regulation Changes: This subject has been coved under a previous item. It was noted that the Club has already registered the following series with the MSA: Iconic 50’s Sports Cars, MGB50 and Ecurie GTS. The meeting was informed that there were 22 cars in the inaugural Iconic 50’s race at Donington and JH said he was aiming at grids of 30+. Rather than complex technical regulations, eligible cars are expected to lap the Silverstone National Circuit in a time of 1 min. 15 Secs. or more. Conversions to other circuit times are available. MGB50 is a series of 3 - 4 races to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the MGB, ideally of 50 mins length. Ecurie GTS is covered in (1) above.

Championship Regulations presentation conformity: In his absence, GS has requested copies of all the Club’s championship regulations prior to publication, in order that he can assist and advise in their conformity to a standard configuration.

2012 Programme, Acceptance and Championships and Series commitment to programme: RG ran through the proposed race program for 2012. He commented upon the ever rising costs of circuit hire despite the economic climate and noted that we currently have some race entry fees set at £195 and £295, these represented a barrier above which competitors were perceived as reluctant to enter. DB commented that many drivers currently were out of work. RG pointed out that the club also strived to plan it’s season with at least a month between meetings, to make payment easier. When asked for any opinions, JP said that he thought it would be beneficial to explain to drivers if prices were rising, why that was. The club also asked that coordinators let them know as early as possible if they wanted to run less races in a season. All coordinators were asked to let SC know ASAP (preferably in the next 24 hours!) which of the provisional race dates they will be supporting.

Trophy said all except Mallory. EGTS - not Mallory & can’t say yet about others.

PBIC will support all. Cockshoot – Oulton, MG Live, Mallory & Donington.

Note: PBIC & CS combined DH at MGL. Midgets – All meetings with DH at 2 Day.

Metros: All. (Love Mallory), with DH at Brands and MGL – pref one each day.

In her absence Pam had indicated preferences for the BCV8 and TSCC.

When is a competitor a starter? RG said “Q.12.7” – End of subject! The Blue Book overrides any championship regulations unless it includes the wording “unless championship regulations say otherwise”. Note: in most MGCC races the countdown begins in the assembly area with the showing of the 1 minute board.

Championships registered contenders to compete in other championships for up to four rounds without registration. Communications between groups. The agreement was that competitors could do so without paying a second registration fee – NOT without registering for any Championship. Furthermore they should register for the second (or third!) championship AT LEAST 2 weeks prior to the race. A discussion followed regarding methods of communication used by the coordinators to keep competitors informed. This varied from sending newsletters, posting on the championship web site, and sending ‘push’ emails to notify of updates. SC confirmed there was an experimental test Race Zone web page which he hoped to develop as a “Home Page” for all competitors.

Other Circuit possibilities, Brands GP, Croft, Snetterton 300 [PmacW]. Brands GP – No Chance! It does not have enough available dates. Croft – considered to be too far North. Snetterton 300 – Two problems, one it is too expensive for the use we could put it to, and two, the relay entry is limited by the number of available garages, 26. If there were more garages, given the relay was oversubscribed this year, we might consider it! It was noted that Ecurie GTS wanted a foreign race, maybe Zolder. This would be a bought grid, but SC said the Club would assist in organisation as much as it could.

Title “Qualifying” rather than ”practice” [ PmacW ] Unanimous vote to call it Qualifying!

Discuss format of qualifying, proposal of continuous sequencing as per Relay race [RG] It was explained the following on from the successful operation of continuous qualifying for the Snetterton Relay Race – where letter ‘A’ cars were sent out for 15 minutes, then shown the chequered flag, after which letter ‘B’ care were released via the pit lane as the letter ‘A’ cars were coming in, and so on to letter ‘F’, it was proposed to trial operating the same system for individual races from Oulton Park onwards. The Safety Car will now be on standby throughout qualifying and will be deployed in the event of an incident. A full ‘clear up’ break will be given after every 3 or 4 sessions. The prime reason for this is to free up valuable time and allow the marshals to have a longer lunch break. It was agreed that the trial would be worthwhile. PG raised the question of mixing qualifying sessions, however this was not considered viable, partly due to the MSA requirements.

Radio broadcasts at circuits [PmacW] It was noted that this facility was currently only believed to be available at Silverstone. SC agreed to check the position with MSV.

AOB. DB- coordinators do not receive information, bulletins, Info sheets, news sheets or a Bluebook etc. from the MSA. SC to discuss with Cheryl Lynch. We could also copy some of the literature to a PDF file and put in the Coordinator’s Dropbox. (NOT the Blue Book!!).

RG noted that it was possible to have a race shown on Motors TV, however it was expensive if one went for a standalone screening, but there were races available at Motors TV events where the enhanced entry fee paid for the TV exposure. JP thought it was rather dull to watch and there seemed little interest in the opportunity.

PG asked if the Club was doing Race Retry again and RG said we would be there, in our usual spot just inside the main doors and alongside the MSA stand.

RG thanked everybody for their attendance and wished everybody another successful year of motor racing in 2012.

The meeting finished at 13.00 Hrs.

Steve Carr

Competition Secretary