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???

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

Or should I say where have all the drivers gone?

We are back at Donington at last following their F1 fiasco where they dug a load of holes and then went bust.
I hear the track is as good as it ever was so how come we have only got 16 cars shown on  the grid?… 9 of them –by far the biggest  class - are all in class A?

If we are not careful this could be an amalgamated race and no-one likes that.

Class F is once again just the Silver Fox, Class B just two drivers and Class C only a little better with four…..what’s going on?
I know times are hard but this must be our worst showing for a long time.

In class C it seems the regular drivers have just thrown the towel in and  left  Dan Ludlow to it…if it wasn’t for three new drivers he would be the only class C entrant!!. I am not good at maths but he may already have clinched the class and overall title anyway, but if not, on his current form Donington should seal it….I have had to guess this as we have not had an update to the official table since  Silverstone so working this out  has proved a bit tricky.

Class B is just as bad, with only Car 78 Alistair Bell (is he new too?) against old stalwart Dave Brown.

So I have to concentrate on Class A who are keeping the standards up.

New to us is Jo Phillips in his much talked about MGB. This is expected to be quite trick and the last I heard weighs no more than a feather…. I am sure the scrutineer is keen to look over this car….or he would be if we had a scrutineer, or an eligibility  rep, or a  co-ordinator….well at least we have a driver’s rep and I know you have to get up early to get past JD.

Of course we are getting up pretty early with a crack of dawn “sign on” and no doubt hernias all round as we try to quietly push our cars all over the place to avoid waking the neighbours.

Kevin Hewer is back with Black Bess after re-wiring the Olympic clock.

Primrose is back having resolved the head gasket issues, I am back still sporting the James Walpole performance drop link which inspires me with a lot of confidence but does nothing to improve my ability, maybe I should read that book Mr Ludlow mentioned a little while back?

Nick Arden will be looking to continue his winning streak after Thruxton, but the Blue Streak (see what I did there?) James Darby will be doing all he can to stop him.

Normally at this time of year I would be delving deeply into the points table and the fight for overall and class championship bids,  but  while I wait for the update and my Christmas dinner  I have  spent my time leafing through the Oxford Dictionary and came up with this little reference:

“Coordinator” can refer to a position within an organization with significant responsibilities for acting as a liaison between departments, stakeholders and information sources, which requires many non-administrative competencies. Somebody responsible for organizing diverse parts of an enterprise or groups into a coherent or efficient whole.

I always wondered what they did….

See you at Donington…try not to spread out too much with all the parking space we have reserved for us!

Jonesey

Here is a nice piccy of  Mr Arden trouncing  the opposition at Thruxton.

Courtesy Jamie Peters Evans

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!!

I bet you all thought I’d forgotten to do my pre-race report didn’t you?

Well what with all the nice weather we’ve been having I have been spending a little time patching up the holes in my Bongo.

I’m sure you can imagine it makes it very difficult to play when it’s got holes in it!

I’ve also been dusting down the Jonesey Racing tent in readiness for the delights of camping out in the luxurious Oulton car park..I see we will be treated to the company of the Metros once again which no doubt will mean they will be running their 24 hour disco as always.

So it looks as though we will have a slightly smaller grid than we are used to with just 19 of us taking to the track this time out.

Class A is the biggest with 9 combatants and sees the return of Wilson in the Clockwork Orange.
I understand this has undergone a full re-build and also a re-paint, let’s hope it doesn’t need another one after the race.

Legs Of Doom car 60 has shown true grit in returning with his spare engine after he suffered big-end failure in his recently revamped B GT. Unfortunately I am told the weather forecast is sunny for the race which means those legs will no doubt be unleashed once more. Those of a squeamish nature are advised to refrain from attending.

Car 36 Nick Arden returns for a second outing in his Maestro but where is the other one?

Class B is very much diminished with only 3 on the grid. It sees the return of Blagger Burchill and also a second Vulcan car in the shape of Sarah Budby… or will it be Dave Brown in a dress? Who knows..

Class C is also very much reduced and consists of just the V8 boys and the Sandbag. This is because Team Neaves, or “one out all out” as they are known will not be racing this weekend.
My sources tell me this is due to another somewhat unlikely project being undertaken by the Neaveses.

It is a little known fact that other than racing and manual labour, Blaine has another hobby. Yes that’s right folks, he’s not known as Butterfly Blaine for nothing. I have it on good authority that the reason Team Neaves are not racing is because they are totally engrossed in building a Butterfly Sanctuary at the Team HQ. I should have realised this when I discovered that Blaine’s nickname for his Roadster is “The Red Admiral”….naturally I thought this related to his sea-faring days during World War One but now it all becomes clear.

Class F is still struggling and I see the Silver Fox car 71 has withdrawn leaving only Rob Hedley to keep the class going….it still surprises me that with the F being so reasonably priced we don’t see more of them out racing.

However we have two T types out this time with seasoned veteran John Bussey and Peter House coming out to play.

For my part I have kept my second-hand wing on…or my lucky wing as it is now known, just in case the going gets tough out there.

The Jonesey Racing Tent will be pitched on Friday evening and I will then repair to the bar to lull myself into a sense of false security.

See you there!

Jonesey

sulum canis has suus dies

Well where does the time go?

As we finished off last year I had the best of intentions of getting some work done on the trusty B but here we are with just a few days before the first race and I find myself with a car in bits and me leaving the preparation to the last minute once again.

To be honest I have a bit of a love – hate relationship with my car.

I love to race it but hate to do any work on it.

This is the main reason that I have only replaced one of the damaged wings. You will remember the car got a bit crunched as the year went on and so I invested in some more fibre glass wings, but they are a right bugger to fit and I have got so fed up trying to line them up I have put back one of the old ones!!!

The second reason is looking at the entries for Brands, it seems a lot of you are still in hibernation mode and with only 21 on the grid as I type this, amalgamation with the Metros looks likely. This being the case I will prepare myself for banger racing and get a few more miles out of my already damaged wings rather than crunch some new ones first time out.

Well how about a round up to start off the new season? What have the driver’s been up to during the winter?

Class A

Legs of Doom  “Piggott” declined the chance to take part in Dancing on Ice and instead has made the most of the low interest rates and remortgaged his house, using the money to revitalise the Grey Pig with a spanking new hi-tech engine.  Although he still looks likely to keep his coveted last place finish as he has yet to run it in!

James Darby has been revamping the trusty Blue Streak engine and looks set to scrape a lot more power from his latest offering. I hear in his spare time he has secretly been working on a Class C project …..More details of this when I get them.

The Carrot Cruncher has been keeping a low profile but is believed to have completely rebuilt his engine during the winter months as he aims to put some distance between him and the chasing pack this time out.

We have a couple of Maestros registered for Class A and one is out at Brands piloted by Nick Arden. They would give the Miss Daisy Montego a run for its money…well if Jones Junior had entered it they might, but he is still using the Mellow Yellow for the shopping run.

Class B

This Class has been swelled by the addition of Lofty Cripps who has adopted his new championship winning strategy by leaving his Class C V8 at home and going for gold with his modified B.

Unfortunately Crippo’s arrival seems to have scared off all the other drivers as there are only 4 runners in this Class at Brands.

We shall have to see if we get any last minute entries.

Class C

Vulcan Racing has been making a bid for World Domination and certainly seems to have put together a load of different cars. Expect to see the unusual white and orange colour scheme throughout the grid as the year goes on……apparently they came up with the colour scheme after Blagger Burchill saw car 77 driver Vic Reeves cooking scallops on a recent TV show…..speaking of which….

Vic Reeves (Barry Holmes) has been back on TV once more. During the winter months he has appeared in that cracking series Come Dine with Me.

Sadly Vic decided to cheat and served up scallops followed by a Birdseye boil in the bag fish which resulted in a very low score for him on the show.

He might have managed a few more points if his eating habits hadn’t let him down…..then again using a knife and fork does take some getting used to…

The 3 musketeers are back in the shape of Team Neaves who are looking to dominate the podium by keeping the top 3 places in the family.

Will the Neaves Brats be able to hold off ageing racer Blaine?

I hear there is no truth in the rumour that Blaine is lightening his race weight by leaving his teeth in a glass at the start line.

Looking to wipe the floor with everyone is the one and only Sandbag, Dan Ludlow. He has been feverishly preparing a ZR which is simply shown as an 1800 on the entry list. However expect it to be greased lightning with plenty of typical sandbagging for the first race or two…just to lull the opposition into a sense of false security.

New to our series from the Midget Challenge is Nigel Pratt   I understand his car is even quicker than good old Tripod?

Class F

2011 sees the return of occasional racer Paul Rigg who will be surprised to see that he has 2 other competitors in the shape of JB the Silver Fox and Rob Hedley.

JB had threatened to rest the Red Rocket this year due to poor Class F entries in 2010 but now looks set to encourage more F’s to join the fold and is leading by example…but will he lead on the track?

I understand Rob Hedley’s F is the old Dave Brown one treated to a nice coat of paint by none other than Vulcan Racing…it’s a shame it didn’t get some new wheel bearings too as I hear he had a “Brown” trouser moment while testing at Silverstone.

The F does seem to have an affinity to Porches in the wheel shedding department.

Talking of Dave Brown I hear he has also received the Vulcan mind-link and has a shiny new ZR courtesy of the pointy eared race team. Not sure if he is racing with us this year or is transporting himself to another series.

So with it all to play for and a small grid for the first race, now might be the chance for the early birds to grab some points before the remaining drivers realise the season has started.

Let battle commence!

Jonesey

Well here we go again, saving our pennies for more go-faster bits and also taking out a second mortgage to cover the rising fuel costs.

With a challenging year ahead the PBIC gears up with an impressive fixture list of 12 races.

We start the New Year with a shock revelation that the PBIC will be getting a new co-ordinator.

The absence of the 2010 co-ordinator has not gone un-noticed as search parties have been scouring the country in an attempt to locate Long Haired Dave.

We of course forgot he takes on the role of Archbishop of Canterbury during the winter months and has a very busy schedule.

Rumour has it that he has also been working on his battered V8 and intends to return to racing this year. He plans to relinquish his co-ordinator post and hand over the baton to Richard Tinkler who has made an excellent job of Secretary and has gamely offered to widen his areas of responsibility.

The added bonus is that Richard has also worked out how to reply to emails unlike his predecessor.

Shock revelation number two is that there will be a Pig with more Poke out this year, in the shape of Legs of Doom and the Grey Pig.

In a rasher move, Doom hopes to bring home the bacon in his ham-fisted attempts at driving.

He has thrown caution to the wind along with his dynamo and has invested in a brand spanking new engine as he aims to abandon the last place he has made his own for years with an all out assault on the title.

Man of Few words Lofty Cripps will be trying new tactics in his title bid by resting his V8 and entering his Roadster as he goes for a Class and Overall win rather than looking to be outright winner on the day.

Hard pressed schoolboy Ollie Neaves has raided his Piggy Bank and contrary to  his usual sob-story of having no money- (this most often used when he is at the bar.) -looks set to defend his title this year.

Class F is looking shaky as the two competitors are threatening a mass walk out, or is that a drive through?

Silver Fox Binczyk is unsure if he will race as there is actually no one for him to compete against and Disco Dancer Stibbards is threatening to leave if the ZR160’s are permitted to join class F.

Looking at the prices of F’s they would seem to be the cheapest way to get into MG Racing…where are they all?

I am threatening to replace the battered wings on my B this year and am looking into the possibility of reinforcing them to increase durability.

The blue streak James Darby has been at it again with yet another new engine, code-named the flash mark 3 which is expected to be more than up to the job of seeing off Carrot Cruncher James Walpole.

Walpole has been secretly piling on the pounds over Xmas in the light of the new driver and car weight regulations…which may or may not yet be in force….does anyone know ?

Watch out for Vulcan Racing who, buoyed up with the chance of a Team Trophy, look set to fill up the track with a brace of entries in their new Cadbury’s Cream Egg coloured cars. But will the yolk be on them after they have shelled out their hard earned cash?

Team Neaves are also back with a vengeance as Dan Neaves decides to spend more time with his family and go racing with them having dusted off his roadster which he debuted for a few races last season.

So a lot of unanswered questions (mainly about the regs) remain and the 2011 season looks set to be an exciting one with the promise of some new and returning drivers to add to the mix….does anyone remember Miss Daisy?

I look forward to getting to as many races as funds allow and of course, as soon as I get any updates I will post them on the site.

Gentlemen, get ready to start your engines!

Jonesey