Although it’s still the winter break there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes to ensure that the BRSCC Alfa Romeo Championship is in a strong position organisationally and financially to manage the 2018 season’s racing to a high standard.
This newsletter gives our drivers and all others associated with the Championship the latest important information about the coming season, which is now less than 5 weeks away.
Race Entry Fees
The BRSCC has confirmed that our standard entry fee for a qualifying session and 2 races will be £410 for all Championship rounds, with the exception of the Festival Italia meeting at Brands Hatch in August which will be £430. However, during the 2018 season ARCA will subsidise the entry fee by £100 for every third meeting that a driver enters and starts.
So, for example, if a driver enters and starts all 8 race meetings the entry cost at Cadwell and Brands will be £100 less, saving double your ARCA joining fee! We are very conscious of the cost burden for drivers and are continuing to explore other ways of reducing these.
Registrations
If you haven’t registered for the Championship but intend to do so, please can I again ask you to do so as soon as possible. It gives comfort to us and to the BRSCC that our grid numbers will be strong and also helps the BRSCC to set up the race entry pages on the website in good time.
Televised Coverage
Our first 2 races – at the Silverstone TCR UK meeting over the Easter weekend – will be televised and live-streamed along with all the other scheduled races over the weekend. Although the TCR UK races will be top of the bill this is a great opportunity to showcase our own Championship. Please do your utmost to get your cars on the grid and help us get the season off to a great start!
Our second meeting at Anglesey will also be filmed – by AJK TV – along with the later rounds at Snetterton in July and Rockingham in September. The results with commentary will be posted on youtube within 3 weeks of the races taking place this season.
Sponsorship
We are working hard to complete our sponsorship package for the season. We aren’t quite there yet but hopefully I will be able to announce details of the new package very soon.
Power Trophy Class
Power Trophy class cars have to be within a maximum power-to-weight ratio of 195 BHP per 1000 kg (175 BHP for Diesels) and to ensure we have a level playing field it is important to establish that each car is at or within the maximum allowed. Cars will be weighed at the circuits but obviously we also need to establish the power figures in a consistent and reliable way. We have therefore reached agreement with 2 rolling road providers who use the same Dynapak technology and who will liaise with each other to ensure that they are both carrying out the power testing in exactly the same way. Both are very experienced in testing race cars from a range of championships.
The 2 providers are:
- Abbey Motorsports, Units 1-2, Stonewall Farm, Woodhurst Lane, Oxted, Surrey RH8 9HJ. Tel. 01883 732331.
- WGT Auto Developments, Unit 12, Valley Court, Sandersons Way, Middlewich, Cheshire CW10 0GF. Tel. 01606 837277.
Power Trophy drivers/entrants are requested to arrange for their cars to be tested at one or other of these facilities as soon as possible. The test results will be sent to me as Championship Coordinator and of course will be given to the driver/entrant also.
Tyres
This is an important footnote to my earlier newsletter. As already announced, our tyre supply contract with Yokohama this year covers the Twin Spark Cup only. Other classes have a free choice of tyre. In this respect the Championship Regulations paragraphs 5.13.2 at p.17 (Modified Class) and 5.13.2 at p.21 (Power Trophy Class) regarding the requirement to use Yokohama tyres are void. Drivers in these classes are encouraged to use Yokohama tyres from Black ‘n’ Rounds but are free to use tyres from other manufacturers.
NB Modified and Power Trophy drivers who are not using Yokohamas must remove the Yokohama stickers from their cars.
ARCA Branded Clothing
We have agreed a deal in principle with LOGOMEUP, an experienced provider of branded clothing for racing teams to offer ARCA-branded clothing to our teams and drivers and anyone else who would like to wear these prestigious garments. LOGOMEUP already have agreements in place with the BRSCC F1000 and Porsche championships. There will be a polo shirt, hoodie and jacket with the ARCA logo on the left side of the chest and the BRSCC logo on the sleeve, and these can be personalised further if the wearer so wishes.
There will be more details to follow on this, but there will in due course be a link on our website which will take you through to a special web page at LOGOMEUP where you can purchase the items of your choice. Purchasing and wearing the branded clothing is not compulsory of course, but it is hoped that this will help to give the Championship a more professional look.
I will be wearing a couple of the items at Silverstone so you can see them in the fabric for yourselves, notwithstanding the modelling limitations of the wearer!
We are looking forward to a great Championship season!