Well after what seemed like an eternity the wait was finally over and the first race of the year was upon us.

The weather at Donington could best be described as changeable and being first out the track was truly like driving on an ice rink.

Practice.

This was a really scary time and my first proper outing in my new roadster. I immediately bonded with this car and by turn 3 I had spun off ploughing a nice furrow through the Donington turf.

Undeterred I rejoined in typical Wreghitt fashion, spin spin and spin again..(Where were you Mr W?) and managed to slip my way into 3rd on the grid…astonishing I must be honest.

Before we set out to race we had to endure the mandatory words of wisdom from Lord Gammons who as usual despaired of us all, telling us how bad our driving was, coupled with the usual threats of what he would inflict upon us etc. etc. if we didn’t improve.

Clearly from the warm dry race control box he really was in a perfect position to make a decision on the track conditions….unlike us who were actually driving on it…..

Also there was an element of arse covering taking place as it was obvious even to Lord G that it was madness to combine our race with the Trophy Boys who are much quicker and ahem, have been known to adopt a slightly different driving style to us.

If ever there was a need to encourage drivers back to the PBIC now is the time.

Race 1

Unfortunately in my efforts to qualify I broke off my water pump and alternator, most likely because the securing bolt had either dropped out…or was it ever there….who knows?

A frantic attempt to locate a bolt ended up with a bodge it and fixit repair skilfully provided by the Team Neaves Racing principle and their crew, with just seconds to spare I whizzed round to line up with the rest of the grid.

Most of the usual suspects were there, albeit that Pete Bramble failed to appear as his strategy of leaving car prep to the last minute went a bit too far this time.

Mr Piggott was there with the Grey Porker sporting a new engine, but even the sausage related links to Donington would not be enough to keep him going for a full day. Wilson his sidekick was also out with a new engine.

Sprinkler Tinkler (class A pole) with a new sponsor Evans Waterless Coolants and wrap which I was soon to scuff.

Darby in his car that he never works on….yawn yawn.

Walpole in his trusty roadster who no one knows what he does with it over winter.

Hewer in Black Bess - worthy winner of the caption competition cup-

John Bussey was back with us and in good spirits as were affable Arden in his Maestro (another new engine) and Mr Stibbards as the lone F, following the oil pump failure suffered by Mr Rigg earlier in the week.

Pole for PBIC went to Andrew Ashton, with David Smith 2nd on the grid and Tinkler 3rd. (pole for Class A)

Being so far back on the grid behind the Trophy Boys I was unable to see the lights so missed the start but dumped the clutch too hard anyway and spun the wheels merrily as I watched the rest of the grid go past.

A few thrills and spills here and there but fortunately a relatively uneventful race as we had expected more contact with the Trophy Cars then actually materialised.. although Mr Bell may take a different view.

A Trophy spinner brought out the safety car just as the front runner had passed me which meant I was stuck doing  30 whilst the rest of the field zoomed round and caught up, effectively putting me a lap behind them all…my race was well and truly cattled…

On the restart having been hounded by the front running Trophy cars I duly moved over so they could crack on when the Safety Car moved in, but of course they couldn’t wait to the start line to overtake me and booted it past as we left the chicane, which I understand caused some chaos as they were all spotted by the eagle eyed officials and put back a few places….ho hum.

The final result was Alex Smith 1^st, with demon Darby 2^nd and Class A winner followed by Tinkler and Walpole.

It was good to see the return of Dallas as he rode in from the West and dusted off the trackside scales.

Just the 30kgs OVER for me then…time to get the hacksaw out.

I understand that our Class Champ had gone a bit too far on the Ryvita diet…or so we thought but in Race 2 we found where the missing weight had gone as he was missing 3 gears from his gearbox!

Race 2

A little better prepared this time out, having made full use of my Waterless Wash & Wax we headed for the grid - a bit odd, there were no marshals directing us to the correct grid positions and I ended up doing a quick reverse as I thought I had overshot my correct position.

Then it was even more confusing as we got a second green flag lap as I believe former PBIC racer Dan Neaves conked out on the start line….was that in tandem with The Grey Pig, as he also failed to get started?

Fortunately I could just see the lights this time out and managed to make a reasonable start and slotted in to second place behind Affable Arden who was really cracking on in his Maestro.

By lap two I had managed to pass him ( he later mentioned how much cleaner PBIC driving is compared to the MGOC- which was nice) and settled down to make as much ground as I could on the following pack.

After 4 laps I started to notice my brakes were fading away despite vigorous pumping of the pedal.

This meant my unpredictable lines were even more unpredictable as I tried my hand at drifting…not too successfully it has to be said.

I tried to use the gears to brake but then lost pressure there too…clearly the race was proving quite stressful for both the car and driver!

Before I knew it Darby had steamed passed, he told me later he would have done it sooner but was too busy showboating at Craner Curves.

It was only a matter of time before Sprinkler (he will never get rid of that nickname) was past too, putting me into third place.

I expected to see Walpole next but as he only had one gear to play with (unbeknown to me) he wasn’t able to mount a serious challenge although he did remarkably well with just 4th for most of the race.

I could also see the clockwork meringue of Wilson filling my mirrors and it was only my lack of brakes which meant I took the corners faster than him!

I was thinking to myself on lap 11 I may have to call it a day when for once events helped me out as car 98 Paul Wybrow managed to beach itself right across the exit to the hairpin, resulting in the race being stopped.

So the weekend as a  whole provided a thorough shakedown for my new car with plenty of repairs to be done before Brands.

Nevertheless other than a gentle kiss as my straight-line braking slewed me into contact with Tinkler’s nice new Evans wrap no real damage done.

Sprinkler conducted a microscopic examination of his new wrap which proved much more resilient then he expected….and remained totally unmarked following our rubbing!

It was nice to see the timesheets being handed out after the race even though they were somewhat delayed by the protests flying about from the Trophy Guys.

The post race presentation was a rather drawn out affair and I was amazed at how many pots are awarded to the Trophy guys…Trophy by name Trophy Hunters by nature you might say.

I was also very impressed by their good manners and sporting nature when they all b*** **d off after we had politely sat through their 20 minute presentation.

If we get lumped together again I suggest we use that time to load up and come back later for our own awards.

In fact it was the same problem during the race as the Commentator was completely oblivious that there were two series racing….my spies in the crowd tell me we hardly got a mention….I understand the co-ordinator has raised this issue, as let us not forget we did not ask to be put with the Trophy’s (nor they us) so we deserve to be treated better than this.

Perhaps we need to establish a closer connection with a certain MG Dealer in Baldock…..

But overall a pretty good weekend with the main damage being mechanical rather than due to the contact we were expecting.

On a final note former PBIC Racer Dan Neaves has kindly offered to compile our end of year DVD for us…see you never truly leave us!!!

He has asked if we could drip feed him the video footage throughout the year rather than deluge him at the end of the year.

May I suggest that at each race you bring a copy of your footage in its raw unedited state - as this is easier to process- and hand it to me or the co-ordinator or Alan Jones as he circulates during the day.

Copies of files on CD/ SD cards etc are all acceptable. If you need the storage device back that can take place at the following race.

Thanks for a good first Race & see you all at Brands

Jonesey

PS. If anyone is likely to have any spare tickets for Brands please could you let me know? I am after 4 if possible. Cheers

Greetings Race Fans!

Read this report as it could affect you!!!

That’s right folks it is once again that time of year when we are supposed to be planning our next season at the AGM.

I will preface this report with a form of disclaimer if you like, and I will start by saying that I am not having a personal “pop” at anyone as we all have to shoulder some responsibility for how the series progresses.

I would also say that sometimes the written word may appear to be harsh but that is not how I intend it and again I am not trying/ intending to offend anyone which of course is why you are all free to comment as I readily admit my opinion may not be the views of you all.

All I am hoping to do is to galvanise a few of us to get our heads together to get things moving.

Here we go then.

Firstly may I put on record that I really appreciated it when Dave stepped in last season as co-ordinator sacrificing his own option to race.

I must admit I did think that this would be a temporary measure and that Dave would return to racing once a new co-ordinator had been appointed.

I now understand Dave is actually happy to continue in his role as co-ordinator / chairman, if Dave is willing to continue then that is fine with me but I do feel that we must share out some of the responsibility for the running of the series and Dave you must allow us to do this……as there is a lot of room for improvement!!!

I know having spoken to many of you that there is a general concern that the series is not particularly well organised, we are losing drivers (for several reasons) and there seems to be no sense of direction.

We also seem to have lost a bit of our friendly atmosphere too…there are several reasons for this and I hope to make some suggestions in order to improve matters.

Dave is the current co-ordinator but it has to be said that :

1.      The official website is poorly run and any new / potential driver looking at it would think the series had folded, and I believe unless we make some positive changes NOW that is exactly what will happen.

2.      We also get very little communication from Dave as to what is going on with the MGCC, where we are heading and the series itself is not promoted in any way.

3.      The rules are in parts overly complicated and not enforced.

4.      The Technical Rep is like the will o’ the wisp, and despite his pledge to attend more often has only been seen at one race this year.

5.      We do not have any scrutineer…as I understand it because the MGCC won’t pay for him.

6.      The MGCC do not appear to offer any support to our race series.

7.      We have too many race classes which often have few or no cars in them, which results in drivers having no one to actually compete against, or alternatively picking up a cup, for simply showing up.

8.      We do not react quickly enough to keep classes competitive.

9.      We do little to retain / encourage new drivers to the series.

We all need to step up a bit to save our series and to this end I would like to put forward the following proposals to allow time for reflection/discussion and then I will put them forward for official discussion at the AGM.

I am sure not everyone will like everything about them, but then of course we would like the classes to make us all individual winners I am sure!

In my view the series needs to address the following:

1)      Rules.  These need to be revised to ensure that as many competitors as possible can participate on a level playing field within their respective class, whilst at the same time ensuring there are as few classes as possible.  I think 4 classes are more than adequate.  If we cannot fit a car into one of those 4 classes than in all probability, we simply have to concede that we cannot assist everyone.  At present the sheer number of classes is confusing, the rules are weak and as a result, the series is too complicated, so it puts off newcomers or there is no incentive for some existing competitors to remain. There is little point in having loads of classes with just one or two cars in them, this is not racing.

2)      Identity of the series:  We need to establish what we are trying to offer and encourage our drivers to feel part of our own club; i.e. that we exist for the benefit of the drivers and there are real benefits from being a member of this group.  We also need to establish an identity that does not rely on our sponsor’s name.

3)      Structure of the committee.   I think the current structure is not working in that few people know what they are supposed to be doing and others have too much to address.  I propose a structure as follows:

CHAIRMAN / CO-ORDINATOR/ ADMINISTRATOR: this person is the figure head of the series and is responsible for ensuring that his committee members understand and carry out their roles; he would also be our representative with the MGCC, fighting our corner pursuant to the instructions of the drivers.

TREASURER:  Responsible for finances, ensuring subs are paid, processing all sponsorship money etc.

TECHNICAL  OFFICER:  Advises on all technical issues and assists in ensuring that the rules are fair and understood, that the scrutineers understand and enforces rules, available to provide technical support to driver’s enquiries, guidance on all technical issues to include monitoring success of rules and ongoing revisions as may be required.

COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER: Deals with all publicity and communications for the series, to include complete responsibility for website, race reports, commentators notes, programme notes, press releases, publicity, newsletters etc.

COMMERCIAL OFFICER: Responsible for introducing and obtaining as many benefits as possible for the drivers, to include sponsorship, discounts, finding commercial partners.

DRIVERS REP:  Not convinced we need one per class, but if sufficient volunteers then so be it. Duties include getting drivers to enter on time, filtering all driver enquires, assisting novice drivers; probably sensible to nominate one person to have overall responsibility for assisting new drivers, 

SOCIAL SECRETARY; organises and encourages social events, ideally far beyond annual d&d.

I am happy to continue as social secretary and to take on a wider remit if required.

Alan Jones of Miss Daisy fame has offered to take on the role of Communications Officer.

Pete Burchill is happy to continue as treasurer.

Richard Tinkler is currently Club Secretary and although I have not specified this as a role I would see him continuing with his activities in the series but many of his duties currently overlap with those of the treasurer.

Dave Brooke has indicated he wishes to continue as chairman / co-ordinator.

So to close then, the future of our series rests in our own hands and while it would be nice for us to just turn up and race, in the current climate we all need to help in some way to ensure the series goes forward and grows in these hard times.

It was not that long ago when the PBIC was regularly turning out the biggest grids each race meeting and although we never got the recognition by the MGCC we were the strongest series in town.

Times have changed and we need to change with them to get ourselves back from the brink to become bigger and better than before.

We were originally the Phoenix Challenge….maybe there was a good reason for that name, let us rise to that Challenge again!!!!

Jonesey

Well it’s all over for another year and a pretty mixed bag it’s been too.

I’ll start off my report in the normal way with a bit of a rant to get it over with and then I’ll concentrate on the good stuff.

What was the MGCC thinking of?….I thought the all comers race was supposed to be the Relay event, instead despite the regular drivers who have paid their fees all year long leading up to the final race to decide many Class Championship positions, we find that two Fiats have been allowed to race with us.

Is the MGCC that short of cash?

I understand that they had come over from Ireland and that having paid their money they were allowed to race but what were they doing here in the first place? And why were they gridded up with the rest of us instead of starting behind the pack?

The result was they nearly upset the Class A battle when one of them side swiped James Walpole as he  was fighting for Class A honours…what is going on????

Calm down dear, it’s only a Race report…Rant over!

We were treated with unseasonably scorching hot weather at Snetterton as the temperature reached  a tropical 30 degrees’ on track and even hotter inside the cars.

Sadly this was to take its toll on several engines including mine….

Qualifying

Ollie took 1^st on the grid closely followed by Brother Dan who was out in Blaine’s battle weary car.

Class B pole sitter was Pete Burchill who faced little opposition from Crippo who was still on Spanish time, but sadly so was his engine which was proving to be a little unpredictable, forcing him to start from the back of the grid.

James Walpole held off James Darby as they fought for Class A honours with little to separate them score wise.

John Binczyk took pole for the soon to be disbanded Class F from Vulcan driver Jason Simon….and of course those Fiats were also in there.

Race 1

It was good to see the return of Tripod piloted by Simon Hutchinson and also Lew Bergonzi in what could be his last race, so he says…

Also joining us was Chris Hughes in a Rover 100…or a Metro to you and me.

In true Snetterton fashion, having taken over an hour to get through scrutineering with their usual picky attitude and total disregard to race times we then had the delight of being called up really early and sweltering in the collecting area for ages….”piss–up and brewery” spring to mind.

The 200 circuit was new to most of us and as we set off the chicane (Montreal?) and the new never ending Coram were to prove challenging to many.

I made a pretty good start and managed to get up to third  before being passed  by Primrose through the chicanes second time round.

Crippo blasted his way from the back and by turn two had overtaken most of the field to be hot on the heels of the Neaves boys.

I was able to keep Primrose in sight but this was tricky as right in front of me was Sarah Budby in her ZR which had amazing acceleration but was less agile on the corners.

Just in front of her was Chris Hughes in his Metro, sorry Rover 100, and Binczyk was in front of them both. I also had to contend with a pink Fiat harrying me as well.

I had my foot flat down but they were all starting to pull away from me….what was going wrong? I checked the temperature gauge,  warm but not too bad, so I stuck the fan on to make sure.

Blimey, even the Fiats’ have gone past me now followed by Bergonzi.

They just kept pulling away, here we go round Coram, blimey off goes Bergonzi …right I’ll have the place thank you very much…but not for long as pop went my engine and off I went into the pits. Race over.

Lew managed to rejoin and continue despite ripping his gear lever out!

Thanks to the Vulcan guys for running over to try and help but my race was done.

And just to make sure Frank Thomson having killed his own engine ripped mine to bits for good measure!

Anyway back to the race and on track honours went to Ollie Neaves first, closely followed by Rob Spencer and third to tripod…despite copious use of the headlamps!

Crippo was 1^st in Class B and James Darby was taking the Class A battle to the wire beating Walpole and with fastest lap too that meant there was only a point between them for the Class A title.

The Silver Fox managed to hang on as the only F car still out there but he too was suffering with clutch problems and a lumpy engine.

The heat had taken its toll though with cars 17,52, 5,7 and me all DNF’ing…. car 7 of course was at the hands of Dan”car-breaker”Neaves, who thought the red glow in the cockpit was from the rising sun, it turned out to be the f***d-it light as we all know it….another car bites the dust!

Many thanks to you all for the offers of help and spares, but in the end the damage was to be too great to make any attempt to continue pointless and more likely to finish off what serviceable parts were left in my frazzled engine.

Although this guy probably doesn’t read these reports I was astounded by an amazing act of generosity by one of the Marshals, John Watson, who whipped a head off his MGB and brought it in for me on the Sunday….although I was not able to race I did manage to deposit my remaining  beer tokens in the Marshals Safety fund instead.  

Race 2

A lot of frantic repairs were conducted throughout the night which saw many, but not all, of the drivers back for a second go on the Sunday.

As the sun shone down a slightly reduced grid set off for the final showdown.

From the side of the track I watched a magnificent race between Rob “Oooh Betty” Spencer and Ollie Neaves.

Rob made a blistering start and was hounded to within an inch of his life by Ollie for several laps until Ollie had to back off, to preserve his engine as the needle went into the red.

Simon Hutchinson recorded a gallant 2^nd but was some way behind Spencer who was driving the race of his life.

Crippo, the famed after dinner speaker, finished a country mile in front of his next  class B competitor Pete “I’m ready for the driver weight regs” Burchill. But Crippo seemed only interested in trouncing bus driver Vic Reaves in car 77.

The two James’s meanwhile were at it hammer and tongs with all to play for and an errant Fiat playing bumper cars too, the old Carrot Cruncher used his suede and despite a truly epic fight by Darby, managed to win race 2 and retain the class A title for the 7^th consecutive year!

Although I have to say if this year is anything to go by he could really have an uphill struggle next year!

So massive congratulations to all concerned for another great year of racing.

Praise is due to our Championship winner Dan Ludlow, with Class B honours going to Crippo who did it the hard way but has clinched class B by a smidgen.

Class A the invincible James Walpole and class F of course none other than the Sly old Fox John Binczyk.

I should of course point out that these are unofficial results and will need to be ratified by the powers that be, which  means we should know the day before the 1^st race next year!

We now come to your favourite subject that of the Xmas Do…

I hear some of you have yet to buy your tickets no doubt because you are still, compiling your guest lists.

Now come on get a move on!!! Richard Tinkler is trying to sort out the table plans and arrange for the booze to be shipped in so please get your menus and payment to him ASAP!!!!!

Spare menus : just e-mail me or Richard Tinkler.

Dan Neaves would also like the footage from the last races to compile the DVD…don’t leave it till the last minute or your moment of glory will be missed off.

The 2011 Champ!

Yes that’s right, the piggy bank just couldn’t meet the high cost of Silverstone so I was relegated to the sidelines.

The sun was beating down on the gallant Peter Besters who made it out, a lower grid this year though , even with the one –hit wonders, resulting in the need to join forces with the Cock-shooters which would really throw the cat amongst the pigeons come race time.

Amongst the new faces to the PBIC, was the familiar one of occasional racer James “Penelope-Pit-Stop Pitt in his gherkin green roadster.  Apparently he chose the colour after completing  shelf-stacking duty at his local Sainsbury. They say there is no “epicure” for this problem.

A surprise late entry was the Silver Fox John Binczyk, who has just lost the plot to be honest.

Kevin Hewer was back in Black Bess looking to make some ground after shedding 40 kilos of weight from his car… well those rubber bumpers are quite heavy it has to be said.

Other than that the usual suspects lined up in the baking heat ready to do battle.

Race 1

The race itself was relatively well behaved until the “Silverstone Effect” took hold.

This resulted in Dane Neaves car 3, failing to complete a single lap when the failure of his solar powered battery charger left him without any current.
Out went James Darby who suffered a massive smash into an errant Cock-shoot car which was taking evasive action to avoid some oil on the track.
Simon Tinkler blew a head gasket and retired early leaving an easy class A win to James Walpole who was back on form once more. A good 2nd went to Nick Arden in his Maestro who is quietly racking up the points and third to John Wreckitt, who recovered well after taking the scenic route around the circuit. Legs of Doom in the Grey Pig returned to his favoured position of last in class A unable to catch car 27 Kev Hewer who drove a consistent race. (Did I mention that car 27 gave me some tickets?? What a nice chap)

Class B honours went to Crippo who had been hassling Rob Spencer’s V8 for the entire race, but just didn’t have the straight line speed to take him in his four pot roadster.

Dan Ludlow who made a  good start to the race pretty well coasted round to take the class C  & race win never being threatened by the frantic  Ollie Neaves who despite wringing the neck of his k-powered roadster could only manage second place, with Rob Spencer taking third.

Vic Reeves in car 77 was lucky to make 4th after a very close shave with car 30 Terry Holmes (is he really his brother??)  who executed a flamboyant reversing manoeuvre sending cars in all directions as they tried to avoid him.

Not to be out-done despite there only being one other class F competitor out there JB in car 71 felt he ought to spin it too, much to the delight of the crowd.

In the interval between the next race some frantic work went on to car 38 as Never –say-die Darby  ripped his car apart in a desperate attempt to get out for race 2. Sadly a bent chassis leg was to prove just too much for a trackside repair and he retired.

Simon Tinkler meanwhile was replacing his head gasket on Primrose car 18 in the hope that it would hold together for the second race….

Race 2

The slightly reduced grid lined up for race two and the crowd were treated to  an absolute master class in sandbagging , by the one and only Dan Ludlow in car 70. He played Ollie Neaves like a cat plays a mouse allowing Ollie to drive the nuts off his car and gain a short lead, all the while Ludlow was waiting, waiting,… never too close - never too far behind as Ollie tried to make a break for it. Lap after lap went by until the inevitable, the alarm clock in Ludlow’s car went off reminding him that only 5 minutes racing remained so he chucked the sandbag out and sailed past Ollie without even breaking a sweat and strolled to an easy second victory.

Meanwhile the “Silverstone Effect” had hit Ollie’s brother Dan hard in car 3. He had spun off in the first lap resulting in a very hard contact with the wall and his race was run, and I am sorry to say most probably his season too.

Simon Tinkler in class A was unable to make full distance either as surprise surprise the head gasket gave out again. A good effort but no doubt the combination of the scorching heat and the pace of the race proved too much, many drivers saying that the temperature gauges were in the red towards the end.

This left the way open for the Carrot Cruncher James Walpole to make it a double class A win, closely followed by the pair of Maestros…you had better watch these guys they are making a fight of it, and it’s nice to see the variety of cars that the PBIC is renowned for.

Class B victory went once again to Crippo in a repeat of his race 1 antics with Rob Spencer.

I should mention that the new regs for car and driver weights do not come in until next year but this has not stopped Pete Burchill in car 13 starting early. With no weight left to shed off his car he’s on the special K diet..no hang on  a minute that’s another class isn’t it? Anyhow he has shed a load of weight which seems to be working for him as he notched up two 2nd in class results this time out.

Class C and overall win as mentioned earlier went to Mr Travis Perkins himself Dan Ludlow in car 70.

Class F in their caring sharing way swapped round with  the Silver Fox beating a Gout ridden Paul Rigg into 2nd in this race.

An early bid for the Crank of the Year award was made by Dave Brown in car 26 as he took out the marker board flat out down the back straight with a resounding boom that scared the bejeezers out of the spectators I can tell you.

It was nice to see gentlemen racer Lew Bergonzi had turned up to watch…and it just shows how hot the weather was as he only had one jumper on!
Lew has not been out this year as (I am sure he won’t mind me saying) he has been a bit under the weather for a while. I understand he is due to have an Op in July and I am sure you will all join me in wishing him a speedy recovery from this, and look forward to seeing him back on track soon.

Now I will end this report with an appeal for assistance:

While at the track I came across this individual who was either suffering from heat-stroke or may well have escaped from a care-in –the –community programme.
He appears to be suffering from some form of delusions as he believes himself to be the Technical Eligibility Rep for the PBIC series.  I tried to convince him this couldn’t be right because as we all know the series doesn’t have an Eligibility Rep!!!!

If you know who he is and can help  identify him or know where he should be returned to please get in touch.

All replies in strictest confidence!

See you at Thruxton!
Jonesey

Summer came early to Brands Hatch and for a change instead of the usual gale force winds we were treated to tropical heat for the first race of the year.

We started off with a smaller grid then we are used to albeit with a few new faces in the shape of two Maestros driven by Steve Tyler & Nick Arden.

Peter Brice was due to take part in his MGF but missed the first race due to puncture on the way to the circuit.

An old face returned in the infamous MGC piloted by Andy Young but as correctly predicted by James Darby, no sign of the Technical Scrutineer accompanying him!

Jones Junior of Miss daisy fame was seen briefly in the paddock chatting to his old Fiat mates (all four of them) but left soon after to spend more time with his family.

Nigel Pratt is new to our series in his Midget and looks to give Tripod a run for his money when he returns.

Paul Rigg was due to race but pulled out at the last minute as his ongoing gout problem continues to haunt him.

Paul Luti was driving the Blaggers car as Mr Burchill was unable to attend due to a family illness. Apparently his wife is sick of him racing.

21 cars took to the track for practice which was largely uneventful save for the Grey Pig developing a whine or was that a squeal from the diff.

The Carrot Crunchers meticulous preparation was a little lacking this time out as he completed practice with only one rear shock absorber attached, although this didn’t adversely affect his times.

RACE 1

A clean start followed by a clean race was the order of the day for the season opener.

I made a poor start and tucked in behind Primrose who was in hot pursuit of the two James’s.

The Blue Streak was immediately in contention with yet another new engine but would this prove to be just a flash in the pan?

The front was dominated by Team Neaves with Neaves senior and young Ollie tussling with Dan the Sandbag Ludlow’s latest creation his super-quick ZR.

Simon Cripps had selected his roadster from the Crippo fleet and set about launching his bid for the Championship with his Class B car.

The Class A battle was closely fought with only a couple of hundredth of a second between the first four finishers.

For once I was up with the leaders closing down on Simon Tinkler in car 18. As the clock ticked on I stuck to Primrose’s tail like glue all the while in the distance I could see the two James’s swapping places for the Class A lead.

Simon was driving Primrose like a demon and getting a little ragged on some of the corners. Finally as we exited Clearways I managed to hold a tighter line and get alongside, as we thundered towards Paddock Hill there was no way I was going to brake before Primrose and as we approached the end of the straight I held on for grim death and nipped ahead to take 3rd.

Simon continued to hassle me for the remainder of the race but I managed to hold him off. He later mentioned he had a leaky head gasket and was down on power…..so now he knows how it feels for the rest of us!!

Meanwhile James Darby had trounced James Walpole giving the Carrot Cruncher something to think about for race two.

Dan Ludlow had managed to lap all of Class A as he took the overall win closely followed by Ollie and Blaine. It later transpired that Ollie had lost fourth gear, very careless if you ask me,  and he  would have to make do without it for the rest of the day.

Nigel Pratt was fourth overall in his midget and looks to be a contender for the rest of the season.

Simon Cripps strategy was paying off as he took the Class B win followed by an amazing performance by Pete Burchill!!!…oh alright it was actually driven by Paul “The Trophy” Luti.

Once again John Binczyk was all alone in Class F but it is hoped that a few more will make it out as the season progresses.

Dan Neaves managed 15 laps on his return but was shown as a DNF….he probably told me what happened but no doubt it will be in greater detail on his own site…happy with that plug Dan???

The squeal like a pig,  er, grey Pig car 60 which had promised so much with its high powered engine retired after 11 laps with a suspected con-rod failure.

Frank “Lord God” Thompson discovered that Divine Intervention is one thing, but if you do even less prep on your car than me and then put no fuel in it you won’t get very far. One lap to be precise.

RACE 2

More of the same followed for Race Two as I made a poor start and was stunned by the Silver Fox as car 71 went past me at warp speed.

I also allowed Kevin Swann (or should that be Albatross) in car 53 and Peter Brice in car 73 to separate me from the Class A front runners.

The Albatross and Brice then set off in a major tussle for most of the race with my little B behind them.

Brice got that F sideways on most of the corners, maybe that tyre was going down again?Meanwhile the Albatross flapped gracefully round the corners and then unleashed the full 1950cc’s on the straights to leave me in his wake.

I managed to get past the F on the last lap and he must have suffered some technical failure as he pulled off but still managed to record a finish from the pit lane.

The front runners in Class A were never going to be caught by me and the Blue Streak struck again pushing Walpole back to second and Tinkler into third.

The race two result mirrored race one as Dan Ludlow held off Ollie to 2nd and Blaine to 3rd.
Paul Luti in the Vulcan ZS won Class B honours and scuppered Cripps this time out.
Dan Neaves held it together to achieve a respectable 5th overall and 4th in class.
The Silver Fox beat his other competitor in Class F.

Sadly Frank Thompson was unable to lord it over us as he only managed 3 laps this time out before calling it a day.

Andy Young has only himself to blame as exploiting a loop-hole in the rules he decided to drive in open-toed sandals to keep his feet cool. Sadly he wedged his big toe between the pedals and had to hot-foot it back to the pits having completed his sole lap.

So folks, a good start to the season with what looks to be very close racing for the rest of the year.

Long-haired Dave is continuing in the role of co-ordinator and has pressed brother Alan into service as his race-reporter.

Amazingly the Official site was updated soon after the race and I fully expect to see the Official race report on there in double quick time.

Thanks to you all for a great start with clean racing, a point that was picked up by the commentator.

Also as a footnote I though it was very generous of Dan Ludlow to dedicate his race wins to the late Peter Andrews.

PS. A reminder for Andy Young - don’t forget to send that donation to the Motorsports Safety Fund….as promised!

See you all at Oulton.

Jonesey.

PBIC defies recession with 12 races for 2011

There is a lot to cover & this site is in danger of becoming as serious as the official one if I’m not careful….but I’m sure I can intersperse the facts with a bit of fiction.

Welcome one and all to a packed report this time out.

I’ll deal with the driver’s meeting first and this is a bit serious but I’ll try to lighten (this word will feature heavily) things up as the report goes on.

OK,  in their infinite wisdom those who attended the driver’s meeting voted to up the race count to 12 for next year and the proposed dates are shown below.

I have to say this looks a bit optimistic to the financially challenged drivers of whom I am one, and in my view to only have 8 races counting (i.e. drop 4 worst scores) is likely to mean that drivers will be more selective about which meetings they attend.

Also for some reason which escapes me, and much as I like Donington we have decided rather than have a double header there, instead, we will double the costs and go there twice…or at least some people will as I will certainly be dropping at least one of those rounds.

On the plus side we have a once in a lifetime chance to race at the quickest circuit in the UK namely Thruxton.

This really is quite a coup as due to various local restrictions this circuit only stages about half a dozen meetings per year and pretty much nothing else…so well done for getting this!

The Proposed Fixtures:

 9/10 April – Brands DH
7 May – Oulton Park DH
28/29 May – Donington SR (not sure which day yet)
24/25/26 June – Silverstone DH
30 July – Thruxton DH
28 August – Donington SR
1/2 October – Snetterton DH  
DH – Double Header
SR – Single Round

Drivers Meeting:

To go through the points as listed on this illustrious website’s last post: I have listed what I think happened but as I nodded off after 90 minutes I will stand corrected by the Official Side if I get any of these wrong:

1. Class A is too fast: much debate but no changes agreed
2. Seed the top 20, 30 or 40 race numbers: motion not passed
3. Incorporate PBIC logo on race numerals: motion not passed
4. Registered drivers to do minimum of 3 races before qualifying for championship points: I think this has been accepted
5. Make Silverstone a non-championship round: motion not passed
6. Allow TF 4-pot front brakes in class F (as per Trophy regs): motion not passed
7. Allow standard MG ZR160 in class A or F.: further consultation on this?
8. Allow K series engine in Midgets for class C.: motion not passed although may still be allowed under existing rule admitting any car for evaluation
9. Ban K series altogether or only permit to use carbs & no mapping: motion not passed
10. Team Trophy for teams of 3+ cars (no surprise who suggested that one): motion not passed but may be re-visited (don’t you have enough trophies Ollie?)
11. Car weights to include driver: PASSED
12. Clarification of regs regarding tyres sizes / flywheels etc.: fell asleep but believed no action agreed
13. Driver’s meeting limited to 2 hours (beer permitted during meeting) ACHIEVED WITH 2 MINUTES TO SPARE
14. Create a completely standard class…motion not passed ??
15. Re-classify the rules regarding V8’s.: no change to current position

It was also suggested that any proposed rule changes be submitted well in advance of the drivers meeting for consideration during the year.

It was agreed that we retain our current Technical Scrutineer but it would be desirable if he actually attended the odd race!!!!!!!

The Social Bit

The Dinner and Dance was held at a new venue this year and it was good to see a marked improvement in the numbers of long suffering wives and girlfriends in attendance.

This naturally resulted in much improved behaviour by the majority of drivers.

Those of us who were looking forward to the witty japes of the After-Dinner speaker were to be bitterly disappointed as the mystical Phil Thompson proved to be exactly that and never showed up…

I also checked the bar repeatedly but there was no sign of the Loony Photographer either….worrying!

Still at least we could look forward to Lofty beguiling us with his unique banter ?…but no, he ran out of puff after a strenuous effort at the drivers meeting and failed to muster any of his usual jibes….what an anticlimax.

So gallantly once more into the breach stepped our resident Yeti - Long Haired Dave, who fortunately had memorised the whole years results and doing his best Dickie Davies impression presented all the trophies including one to himself which was nice!

It really was a star spangled affair with Pete Bramble sporting a new streamlined haircut and long haired Dave looking like Gandoplh with his even longer trusses.

You all know the results so I will skirt around these but there were some particularly memorable awards much deserved by the Drivers concerned.

Peter Andrews was unanimously voted to receive the Driver’s Driver award….well deserved and another pot for one of the beardies.

Lou Bergonzi received the Spirit of the Championship Award, not because of his penchant for Single Malts but because his ghostly presence is with us always…

Vic Reeves the former London Bus Driver received the Biggest Balls Up for his fine demonstration of parallel parking at Cadwell.

Legs of  Doom  (Piggott to you & me) received Crank of the Year…just because he is one, and of course he had already gone home before  the presentations to start work on his new engine.

From what I could see the rest of the trophies were shared out between Simon Tinkler for being the best in just about everything and Ollie Neaves for snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and clinching the championship by a whisker.

Next year there will be an award for Disco Diva following the Ann Widdicombe-like moves displayed by Kevin Stibbards. He easily spent more time on the dance-floor than he has on track for the whole year.

In light of the new weight rules to include driver & car which will be known as the “Chubby Charter”, the Carrot Cruncher has abandoned his 2 calorie per day starvation diet and was spotted eating extra portions of Christmas Pudding in protest.

Incidentally- I presume that all the proposals will not come into force until 2012 is that right Dave?????

I feel I am waffling on a bit so I will sum up with a few thank you’s and a riddle.

The Do itself seems to have been generally well received , certainly the food was not only edible but actually recognisable too. There will be improvements that can be made I am sure, but of course this process would be greatly enhanced if anyone actually bothers to tell the committee what they would like to be included next year!

But a few guys merit praise for their efforts without which our races would not actually happen.

Dave does a lot of work behind the scenes and although he doesn’t like to tell us what he is doing, without him devoting a lot of his own time to meeting with the Living Dead that are the MGCC we would all be spectators. He also very kindly stepped in as co-ordinator at the last minute forgoing his chance to race so a big thank you there.

Richard Tinkler has been quietly sorting out lots of the administration and also organised 90% of the Christmas Do including table plans, getting the money in and the lovely table decorations made by the long suffering Mrs Tinkler. Well done!

Pete the Pie-eater Burchill, when he is not trying to get the rules changed for his Vulcan buddies has got our financial accounts in order and put the Championship on an even keel, he is also an excellent ambassador for the series and is working hard to raise our profile which will benefit us all in the future.

Dan Dan the Video man from Team Neaves has been appointed official end of year film producer and spent a lot of time with hardly any material putting together the end of year video.

He is currently compiling a Director’s Cut Version which he will sell to you at £5 each, all profits to go to the Championship Coffers (that’s ours not the MGCC).

I have no doubt missed out loads of people who also do their bit (driver’s reps being one lot) but I know what slow readers you all are so I will save up a bit for my NEW YEAR’S PREDICTIONS REPORT which will have a few shocking revelations in it I can guarantee!

Suffice to say another year over and a new one soon to begin…etc, etc.

I have had a great if largely pot free time and learnt a lot more  about how to repair my car.

I look forward to attending as many meetings as I can next year  and wish you all a Merry Christmas and healthy and Prosperous New Year.

To end up then…answers on a postcard please if you can spot this celebrity who I understand hopes to be competing next year.

If only you had paid the small bribe as I asked, then your secret would have been safe !!!

Bye for now folks!

Greetings one and all!

As the dust finally settles on another year it is once again time to have the annual bust up which is the Drivers Bun Fight where each and every one of us attempts to further their vested interests in  (certainly my case) futile attempts to move towards the front of the points table.

I have been in close contact with the powers that be and have managed to ascertain the main points that have been put forward for consideration by the Drivers regarding rule changes etc.

So in order to give us time to digest what’s on the table, and in no particular order I list them below.

No names no pack drill but I am sure that it will be obvious to most who is driving which proposal.

Topics for Consideration:
 
1. Class A is too fast.
2. Seed the top 20, 30 or 40 race numbers.
3. Incorporate PBIC logo on race numerals.
4. Registered drivers to do minimum of 3 races before qualifying for championship points.
5. Make Silverstone a non-championship round.
6. Allow TF 4-pot front brakes in class F (as per Trophy regs)
7. Allow standard MG ZR160 in class A or F.
8. Allow K series engine in Midgets for class C.
9. Ban K series altogether or only permit to use carbs & no mapping.
10. Team Trophy for teams or 3 cars ( no surprise who suggested that one)
11. Car weights to include driver.
12. Clarification of regs regarding tyres sizes / flywheels etc.
13. Driver’s meeting limited to 2 hours (beer permitted during meeting)
14. Create a completely standard class.
15. Re-classify the rules regarding V8’s.

Right then…..let’s have a heated debate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And don’t forget this is supposed to be the season of goodwill to all men…does that include competitors?

Jonesey           

Greetings Race Fans,

The final race of the season was approached with some trepidation by the Peter Besters as the Norfolk Circuit threatened to be a washout on the weather front.

Qualifying on the Saturday was a little damp but the rain held off allowing 27 eager drivers to safely grab their place on the grid.

The Championship Title was up for grabs too with the Young Pretender Ollie Neaves vying against the Old Lag James Walpole who has won so often the engravers normally send the trophy to him direct.

Man of few words Lofty Cripps took pole keen to show that last year’s off track excursion was just a blip in his bid for world domination.

Ollie took second on the grid 2 seconds behind Lofty, but his real threat was still Carrot Cruncher Walpole who was slightly un-nerved by the recent meteoric improvements in Primrose car 18’s performance piloted by Simon Tinkler.

Simon out qualified the carrot by a good second to take pole for class A.

Ewart Kitson was back in car 20 for a shake-down after having big reliability problems this season.

Ex karter Sam Smith swelled the class F ranks in his yellow Ebay special - car 63 and put down a firm marker with an easy pole in that class.

Last place on the grid was more hotly contested than first this time out, with no less than 3 drivers making a bid for Sandbagger of the Year in the absence of Dan Ludlow.

Vic Reeves in car 77 has finally realised that he much prefers racing with those nice Class A chaps and choosing economy over speed managed last in class C.

He was soon to be outdone by the last place expert in the shape of the grey pig car 60. In a desperate attempt to qualify last Legs of Doom parked up after a few laps to enjoy a Woodbine…. but it was not to be as his Lordship howling mad Frank Murdoch-Thomson (23) trying out his new variable timing technique of securing his distributor with an elastic band easily managed to snatch last place.

The Race

The weather fooled everyone as the skies cleared and a dry race was on the cards.

A clean start saw Vic Reeves forget himself and rejoin his class C buddies as he floored his red GT down the revvet straight.

Cripps had stormed into an early lead with Ollie snapping at his heels….but Lofty would come to regret his “few-words” strategy as he forgot to ask for someone to re-fuel his car and after getting fastest lap he would soon discover that MG’s are not as economical as he thought.

I made a good start and got past the blue-streak James Darby and slotted in behind Walpole in third place.

I held up Darby as long as possible but he sailed past me after a few laps and gradually pulled away into the distance.

Tinkler meanwhile was off at a cracking pace and is starting to make a habit of winning as once again he pipped James Walpole.

With Lofty out  this left the door open for Ollie to take the overall win. This was soon followed by some frantic calculations requiring all of Team Neaves to  help with the counting as Ollie tried to work out if he would beat Walpole to the Championship title.

Unfortunately no-one was able to count past ten which proved a bit confusing.

Race Two

In normal fashion, our privileged status in the MGCC counted for nothing and we were all back bleary eyed to greet the dawn as the opening race on Sunday.

The track was lovely and damp with the promise of rain to come. GREAT!!!

It would soon become clear that not everyone is as keen on the wet weather as myself.

Starting from 4th I managed to avoid the wheel spinning Carrot who as a local boy should have known better and zoomed past him and also the blue flash James 2 for good measure.

The blue flash went into a bit of a spin trying to catch up and after going off for the second time just to add insult to injury, he was called in for a drive through penalty ….. ahem…for too much spinning!

By turn one I was past Pete Andrews in Robb Huffs charger…hmm this is all a bit odd.

Turn two and I was on Tinkler’s tail and up with the V8’s and by the end of lap one with wipers at full speed I was past Tinkler and hot on the heels of Pat Fenn as he fish tailed out of Russell bend.

Hang on a minute….that means there are no class A cars in front of me….OOOEER!.

Of course it was not to last and he of the “grande cajones” Tinkler was soon back into 1st as I battled my way round.

I gave James Walpole a run for his money for a while but before I knew it I was down to 3rd.

The rain was to prove challenging for many a driver though as Ollie with the championship in his sights over-cooked it early on and spun off to finish a lowly (for him) 5th in class and 8th overall.

Class A wannabee Barry Holmes decided to do his victory doughnuts during the race instead of at the end….hmm… bit like the premature celebrations at Cadwell do you say?

So much so that he ended up racing with the class A guys and finished one place ahead of me on track but one lap down!

Another face I don’t often see is that of manual labourer Blaine Neaves who I overtook two or three times as I recall…. Funny old game this racing!

Anyhow, Cripps took the race win followed by Tripod in car 43 - running very well considering it had a full rebuild overnight.

Sam Smith proved that there is such a thing as an Ebay bargain and finished a blistering third overall and of course first in class in his yellow F……an amazing drive!

Shane Terry picked up class B honours with that Tinkler bloke winning class A again!

Thomson and Piggott were denied last place which was nabbed by Brian Ratcliff car 61 due to a puncture.

A cracking race with no damage remarkably considering the track conditions.

Then in true Carol Vordermann fashion the countdown began as Long Haired Dave got his abacus out and tried to work out who the 2010 Champion was.

First it was Walpole then it was Ollie…..at one point even Piggott was in the running!

Finally it was agreed that both Ollie and James had tied for points, but someone must have won surely?

James Walpole was the first to realise that it was just like 2005 all over again, when he missed out on the trophy due to class wins.

He was the first person to congratulate Ollie on an amazing win!

Let’s not forget young Neaves is still (supposedly) a rookie and has absolutely blown away the opposition with his driving.

He made hard work of the overall win in the end but nevertheless in my book he is a very worthy winner and to his credit the mild mannered schoolboy who fitted in his driving around school trips and homework is really in a class of his own!

Well done!!!!!!!

Well folks, that’s another year over…..well almost as we still have the Xmas Do to look forward to, in fact I think I enjoy that more than the driving.

I am pleased to say menus and cheques are slowly being received and I note that some of the long suffering wives and girlfriends are also on the guest list!

If you want to book a room at the hotel call between 9am and 5pm and select the option for CONFERENCES  and not reservations. Just tell ‘em it’s the MG Xmas Do and you’ll get a room for £39.

All outstanding menus and cheques to Richard Tinkler please.

Look forward to seeing you there and as ever I still drink Guinness.

Cheers!

Jonesey.

PS…Can’t wait to hear Ollie’s speech!