I am sure most of you have been busy working away getting ready for the new season and I can tell you that behind the scenes your new co-ordinator and committee have been beavering away too.

Without stealing the thunder from the impending news update I can say that unravelling some of the complexities of the rules and how the PBIC Series is run has proved quite time consuming and I can say that this will definitely be a work in progress as we take the series forward over the next few years.

We are all feeling the pinch financially and our primary efforts are concentrated on keeping grid levels up and getting the best value possible for our drivers.

Can I also say on a personal  level, that the committee members and drivers reps, (well most of them anyway), put in a lot of their personal time and effort into running the series for the benefit of us all and it does prove difficult when little or no feedback is received.

Whilst  it will not be possible to please every individual driver if you don’t attend the drivers meeting or do not comment on how the series is shaping up then you cannot really complain if things are not to your liking when they are put in place.

To this end the new website which is nearly ready will hopefully put in place an easy way for you all to make your feelings known.

My own website has done what it could in the past but it does have its limitations, bit like my driving really!

The results of the Caption Competition were very easy as only one driver bothered to enter it, so I will be presenting Driver Hewer with his illustrious Official Jonesey-Racing Memorabilia at the 1^st Race of the Season. Well done Kev!

This is a good example of the silent majority come to think of it, and as the lack of interest speaks volumes I will not run the competition next year as it no longer seems that popular.

The next update will appear shortly before the first race unless some really juicy scandal emerges in between times.

Now get back to your garages and get fettling!

Jonesey

A packed AGM with loads of thrills and spills was followed by a packed Xmas Do with loads of thrills and spills, mainly of beer on this occasion it has to be said.

Ok then, the AGM.  I list the edited highlights with a more detailed version of events to follow shortly…..the shock news  of the day was that Long Haired Dave decided to stand down as co-ordinator to spend more time with his hair.

Dave of course stood in following the abrupt departure of Maggie Yeadon nearly two years ago now and as a result has been unable to race ever since.

The future for the PBIC is now by way of a workers type co-operative, or “committee” which were duly elected in.

The idea being that the workload of the co-ordinator which is a thankless task, let’s be honest, would be shared out by the committee to make life a bit easier for all concerned.

Richard Tinkler has agreed to continue as Club Secretary / Administrative Officer and also will perform the official co-ordinator function of signing off the various forms and documents that the MSA require each year.

Alan Jones of Miss Daisy fame and former co-ordinator of the BRSCC Fiat Challenge will act as Communications Officer and deal with many of the functions of running the series such as publicity - promoting the series etc.

Pete Burchill will continue to keep a tight hold on the purse strings and will continue as Club Treasurer added to this will be a new role of Commercial Officer, working with the committee to utilise his well known blagging skills to raise the profile of the series and obtain any concessions, sponsorship deals and the like to help us all during these hard times moneywise.

The Technical Officer in the shape of Vic Young was re-elected and some whipper snapper called Blaine Neaves has agreed to share the role which should prove interesting to say the least!

Drivers Reps are:

Class A James Darby

Class B to be agreed at later date

Class C Simon Hutchinson

Class D Pete Burchill

You will notice that there are only four classes here, that is because it was agreed by most present that the ridiculously vast number of classes needed to be combined in order to provide proper racing as opposed to trophy collection opportunities.

This format will no doubt need tweaking as the year goes on but at least it goes some way to getting class sizes up and hopes to group cars on their relative performance and lap times - as I understand it - rather than some of the arbitrary ways that classes were allocated in the past. But as I say this will need to be viewed as a work in progress and you can’t please all of the people all of the time as they say.

The main changes are the inclusion of the 3 F’s in class A with class F being abolished unless of course we get another 20 or so cars joining us!

Class D is for K engined cars and I think Pete Burchill offered to be the rep here too.

I am to continue as social secretary (more about the Xmas Do later) and I have been asked to take over the running of the official website!!!!! Fear not however as the vast majority of this will be done by the Comms Officer and that means I will still run the JR Website for the time being at least!

But you can look forward to a brand new Official Website in the very near future with some nice tricks to it and even better than this…..it WILL be regularly updated….interesting weather or not!

There were a few rule changes but in the main they relate to minimum numbers of cars on the grid to allow for trophies to be given out and also no more 3.9 V8’s in class B….yes really!

The Xmas Do

Although we were a little short on numbers which I put down to some drivers being unhappy at the way the series was progressing and also of course cash is getting harder for us all to find, but despite this I have to say the atmosphere was excellent and this was one of the most enjoyable Do’s I can remember.

We were treated to a brilliant DVD roundup of the year provided by Dan Neaves, the sales of which added over £100 to the club coffers. (copies still available and highly recommended for those of you who could not make the Do - just £5 each  featuring 2010 & 2011 seasons )

Long Haired Dave was suffering from man-flu and passed the baton to brother Alan to conduct the presentations, which were very well done even though we only heard half of what he was saying…so not all bad then!

Peter Best sent two representatives to present the trophies too and they seemed to enjoy their evening.

But the true highlight had to be Disco Dancing Champion “Strictly” Rob Spencer. He tripped the light fantastic with those twinkle toes of his from the moment the music started until he was politely asked to leave the dance floor by security.

I half expected Bruce Forsyth to turn up so professional were his moves!

The food was good and the wine was flowing, arggh my poor head the following morning.

Which of course brings me to the now traditional Christmas Caption Competition.

That’s right folks the chance to win some highly coveted Official Jonesey-Racing Merchandise. This year I have been spoilt for choice for suitable photos so I have given you a choice of two;

Have a great Christmas one and all and here’s to an exciting 2012 (can’t wait for Thruxton)

Jonesey

PS Unless I receive those bribes I will publish the others in a new album on the site later this week!

CAPTION COMPETITION: GET ‘EM IN!

Ooher Mrs

What can I say???

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

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.

1. 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.

2. Matters arising from 2011:

1. 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.

2. 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).

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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!).

8. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

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

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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

Greetings Race Fans!

Well its eyes down and look in as we approach the final countdown for 2011 at the revamped Snetterton.

The “200” new circuit format is likely to favour the local bods who have managed to get a bit of testing in while the rest of us have been enjoying the British Summer.

Class A is swelled to 9 entrants with the welcome return of the old Codger Lew Bergonzi….I say welcome, but what that really means is that I will be another place further down the grid!

Frank Thomson is optimistically also shown out with another shakedown run as we all wait to see what will go wrong with his car this time!

The fight for the Class A title looks to be decided between the two James’s with Carrot Cruncher Walpole having a slim lead over Blue Streak Darby.

Class b is still a bit thin on the ground although Crippo has finally found time to fit in a bit of racing between his numerous holidays.

Class C is a bit more respectable with the winner already decided if my maths is right in the shape of Dan Ludlow, who is not shown as entered for Snett but we all know he likes to psych out the opposition by keeping his entry back until the very last minute.

Class F looks to be having a last “hurrah” before the new rule changes with the Vulcan MGF doubling the normal entry with Jason Simon in the hot seat.

I hope to cover the new rules in a separate pre-AGM report in the forlorn hope of reducing the mind numbingly long meetings, I have suggested the introduction of a red light to stop the discussion dragging on or failing that perhaps Mr Walpole could bring along a cattle prod.

Having found the on track bar only lightly supported on previous occasions I will be drowning my sorrows in advance on Friday evening at the Breckland Lodge purveyors of fine ales and foods. (That must be worth a few quid off the bill surely?)

Lastly can I remind you all to bring your booking forms and chequebooks along to the track so you can get your tickets reserved for the Christmas Party / End of Year Presentations.

Also don’t forget all that video footage which can be handed to Dan Neaves in order to compile this year’s DVD.

See you at Snett (or the bar)!

Jonesey

Yes that’s right shipmates you will see (or is that sea) this report has a distinctly nautical feel.
The main reason for this is the boat like characteristics of my car for most of its time at Thruxton.
But more of that later, first here goes with the round up of our visit to the quickest track in the UK, none other than good old Thruxton.

After qualifying the top three on the grid were none other than Dan Ludlow and a super fast Class B effort by Lofty Cripps, who pipped young Ollie into third….. a traditionally engined four pot giving the newer version a run for its money.

It was nice to see Pete Bramble back out with us in his concourse version of his B roadster, he had his fingers crossed that his head gasket issues were finally resolved.

Another shock was in store for the Class A racers as (told you to watch this guy in my last report) Nick Arden really got his Maestro dialled in and out qualified Carrot Cruncher James Walpole by almost a second.

This high speed track was looking to provide some high octane racing.

On my part I managed to put in one of my worst grid positions ever, giving the Grey Pig car 60 a worry as I vied for last position but actually managed 3rd from last due to John Wreghitt suffering a loss of spark.

It wasn’t for lack of effort, but no matter how hard I tried I just could not keep the B off the grass, as she lurched violently round each corner, making me feel distinctly sea-sick. I naturally put this down to my lack of ability.

Race 1
A frantic start ensued as cars swerved all over the place in turn one to avoid Crippo who lost drive in his Class B roadster.  From the back of the grid I was immediately overtaken by “On-a-mission” Wreghitt who had nipped out to buy a set of Ford Fiesta HT leads from Halfords after qualy and was making full use of them in the race.

I also had to fight off Max Whitehouse in his midget who wouldn’t give me an inch of track but sadly he retired 8 laps in.

My handling issues continued as my car lurched from one side to the other round the corners frequently tasting the cool grass off track for good measure.

This spurred on young Piggott in car 60 who decided to relinquish his favoured last position and make a race of it blatting past me with a cheery grin.
This was short lived as I managed to wrestle my car past him fully expecting him to return the favour at the next corner, but my mirrors were clear, where had he gone? Apparently a bit of over-exuberance meant the grey pig was eating some grass following a spin.

In the distance I could see the rest of the pack dwindling away with only the occasional glimpse of Wilson in his white roadster ahead.
A couple of laps before the end the front runners zapped past in the shape of Ludlow, Rob Spencer…blimey he was going well, Dan Neaves and Ollie, which was quite a feat since I briefly overtook Ollie  early in the race as he spun at Club Corner.

So the top 5 places all went to class C guys as you would expect, with Terry Holmes the last of these taking 5th place.  Brother Barry (Vic) now preferring to race with classes B & A followed a few places behind.

First for Class B was Alex Smith in car 54 which he is sharing presumably with a relation David?

Nick Arden in his Maestro car 36 trounced the rest of class A with a popular victory followed by James Darby and then James Walpole who had been hanging on with a burnt out clutch.

Race 2
During the break much discussion took place about the cause of my poor performance, when following a suggestion from Blaine Neaves an inspection of my car revealed that I had broken the n/s anti-roll bar drop link.

Naturally I did not have a spare so it looked like I would have to call it a day when James Walpole, who was loading up his trailer having retired with clutch failure, immediately offered to remove a part from his car for me to use.

This is why I like this series so much….despite being out of the race himself James sprang to my assistance without hesitation. Beers are on me JW!

He wouldn’t even let me crawl under his car to remove the part, insisting on doing this himself!!!!

With a superior Walpole part on my car I surely couldn’t fail. I was a bit surprised that it seemed to be made from platted straw but no matter I would give it a try.

A relatively long hold on the lights saw a bit of creeping going on, but I didn’t let that get on my pip. I floored it off the line and was delighted to find the Walpole drop-link had restored my B to its normal performance, as I nipped past Primrose car 18 things were looking good.

Sadly in my excitement I overcooked it and Tinkler nipped back ahead, but at least I was making a bit of ground this time out.
Wilson was closing behind me in car 50 but this time I was able to keep my trusty B on track looking to catch up with Darby and Arden.
In one of my famous last of the late braking manoeuvres I came close to getting past Darby on the complex but he soon closed the door.
On we went and by this time Burchill and Brown the two Vulcaneers were vying for position ahead of me.

 Tinkler went for the overtake and lost it just missing Darby and making me glad I had replaced my brake pads as he slewed across the track.
All this excitement meant I was up to third and so I pressed on fearing that Tinkler would soon catch me up…I had good reason to be worried as he got fastest lap in the class.

Then disaster, despite having a superior Walpole drop-link installed this was not the case on the other side which let go with a loud twang!! Here we go again….back to those stormy seas…

Well it was too late now, I just had to hang on and make the best of it.

Fortunately for me, but not so for Simon, Primrose’s high compression engine blew another head gasket and he retired.
Also out was Wilson who may have missed a gear and “buzzed” his recently repaired engine. This left Wreghitt & Piggott behind me, but I managed to hang on until the chequered flag.

The final result was a double whammy for Dan Ludlow , Ollie second and Crippo this time nabbed third on track and 1st in class B  having fixed the faults from race 1.
Blaine managed 4th on track, but am I right in saying Dan was actually quicker in the old man’s car….well he’s at a funny age bless him.

Class A was that Maestro again…. He was really flying.

Overall a very eventful weekend, but what a cracking track!!

Please, please  MGCC can we come back next year????

I have been asked to mention that the Christmas Do is booked and there is no need to delay in buying your  tickets. Richard Tinkler will accept all known forms of payment  and I think you can also reserve rooms at the hotel now.
It’s the same place as last year, I understand the bar will be doing half price drinks for the first hour…well that should be enough for most of us!

I have repeated the link to the Video provided by Team Neaves here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnon_82LemY
Apparently the first race was also recorded but Blaine left the lens cap on…..this also reminds me that Dan Neaves is compiling the Xmas DVD so get that footage in to him.

So to end, a cracking days racing and I understand Vic Reeves car 77 has asked if he takes four sparkplugs out does that make him eligible to run in class A?…
PS
I have been given some photos by the Vulcan team which I will add to the Photo Gallery at the weekend - many thanks to Jamie Peters-Evans who took them…and what has happened to Alan F?

I am publishing this interim report to hopefully address the war of words that is rumbling on between some members of our series on Facebook.

I fortunately do not subscribe to this site and if the unpleasantness that seems to proliferate there is anything to go by I am glad I don’t use it.

Let me start off by saying that as a rule I try not to get involved in the running of other classes as it is probably none of my business and also I have enough trouble trying to understand, let alone influence my own class, although I would say right now that all of the class A guys I view as true sportsmen, a fact that will be evident in my race report when I get back to typing it.

I would also say that I look upon all of the Class C parties involved as friends and do not intend nor wish to take sides.

What does upset me is that this constant bickering could start to reflect badly on the series as a whole and that does affect me and the other drivers personally.

Whilst I understand we all want to win there is a right way and a wrong way to do it.

I know that class A is sometimes looked upon by the fast guys as the poor relation in the series but I for one would prefer and intend to remain in that class for one very good reason. It self regulates and the drivers are all “club drivers”. They are very sporting and have not lost sight of the fact that we do this for fun and as a hobby, we are not F1 drivers and do not need to behave as if we are.

It is a shame that not all classes are able to self regulate but this being the case it must fall to the coordinator to take the lead in this matter, with the eligibility rep also.

The series is known as the friendly series but we leave ourselves open to problems when the running of it is so weak.

For the good of the series I implore Dave and Vic to arrange a meeting with all the interested parties to try and resolve this amicably.

If my late mother was still with us she would have told all of those concerned to stop acting like children, banged their heads together and got it sorted out that way.

This option is not open to us, so instead the co-ordinator must arrange a meeting which should be conducted in a civil manner to resolve this dispute.

To fail will no doubt result in the loss of some if not all of these drivers concerned, I do not want to see that happen.

I know there are strong personalities on both sides here, but it must be possible to resolve this like the gentlemen I believe deep down you all are.

I will leave this open for comments if you so wish for a short time (no offensive ones will be permitted).
I will then remove the option to comment and publish the race report which is something I would rather we remembered instead, as overall an excellent days racing was had by all.

Can I also remind you all that this race was held in the memory of a great driver, I am sure he would not like it to be remembered for the unpleasant comments that are currently being bandied about.

Please guys, let’s have a bit of give and take and let’s sort this out.

Jonesey

As I sit here typing, occasionally gazing out the window at the great British weather, I wonder if I may get some use from those wet tyres after all…

Normal service has now been resumed as we say farewell to the Silverstone one-race wonders and return to business as usual with the stalwarts of our series the regular drivers.

We have a grid of 23 at present for Thruxton although this may rise as there are no representatives from Class F at the moment and we all know how they like to keep us guessing right up until the last minute.

Class A looks to have a new B joining us in the form of John Sandilands, no number no pack drill etc. As if we don’t have enough sand in the series already!  If this is a novice driver ( no one tells me anything these days) then good luck debuting on the fastest track in the UK!

No sign of Black Bess & Kev Hewer after the exertions of Silverstone….put those biscuits down and get your entry in!

I have had a good month busking and have patched up what remained of my exhaust system following my off-roading all the way back at Oulton and am optimistic there will be more on track activity this time out.

I hear that the Blue Streak has straightened his legs out, if only the same could be said for Doom in car 60.

Class B

Is that a midget I see in Class B?… as we know the official site prefers to surprise us all by not telling us anything about new guys/gals to the series so may I say WELCOME to any new driver joining us, and ask - please drop me a few lines on an e-mail to give us a bit of background about yourself and your car.

I also notice Peter “Spike” Bramble is thinking about a bit of PBIC-ing…I hope that his car lasts a bit longer than his Silverstone outing when head gaskets were a popping all over the place…probably all that new emulsion he has “slapped” onto the car.

Class C

Is the MGA car 68 that green one that was perambulating around Silverstone last time out? If so he has his work cut out in this class. Why? well Thruxton sees the return of none other than a legend (in his own mind)…

That’s right folks, “Demolition Man Dan” Neaves is returning to the track in the Old Man’s car…sharing a race each with Blaine. Rather surprisingly Blaine is letting Dan out first…well, do you feel lucky? Well do yer punk? …or will it be Every which way but loose?…is that a “Clint” in your eye…ok enough!

When all’s said and done it should be a voyage of discovery for most drivers, as other than our Britcar racers I don’t think many of us have turned a wheel at Thruxton.

Sadly I am a very slow learner so fingers crossed!

I have been asked to remind drivers that now is the time to start submitting your video clips to Dan @ Team Neaves so he can start the long process of getting the end of year DVD ready. It is a time consuming process so please, if you have some footage preferably already on DVD, bring it to the track so that Dan can get started.

See you at Thruxton.

Jonesey

What’s this you say…a very early pre-race report?

Well not exactly.

Some of you may know that there has been some concerns about the forthcoming Silverstone MG Live Event, particularly about the costs to us as drivers and there has been some debate on the JR site.

Further to this Church Lane Racing have been in contact with the Race Committee and in order to keep you all informed I print below the reply from none other than Ron Gammons himself!!

Friends and Fellow racers,

It is with deep regret and a heavy heart that I bring you the sad news that our fellow competitor Peter Andrews has lost his fight against cancer and died at the weekend.

Few of us knew that Peter was seriously ill as despite this he continued to race for most of last year as keenly as ever and hardly mentioned his illness.

He will be best remembered for piloting The Church Lane Racing Primrose GT, Rob Huff’s Roadster and latterly his Jolly Green Giant V8 GT which he had made more competitive as the season went on.

Peter was a true sportsman, an accomplished racer and one of life’s real Gentlemen.

His great sense of humour, enthusiasm and constant cheerfulness will be sorely missed in the paddock.

As a mark of respect I propose we observe a minutes silence in his honour at the first race this year.

Peter,

God bless you, from us all.