2020 REGULATIONS
Motorsport UK has now approved our 2020 Regulations along with those of other 750 Motor Club Championships and Series. They will be available on our website also. You will notice that they look very different to those of previous years. This is because they have been redrafted in the standard 750 MC format. Changes in the content are highlighted in red, some of which we have made ourselves and some of which are general Motorsport UK requirements that are applied to all championships.
CALENDAR
Something that had escaped my notice until Paul Webster brought it to my attention is that all our double header meetings have been altered to 1-dayers, whereas Silverstone and Donington were originally 2-dayers. I asked if either or both of these meetings could be restored to 2-day meetings for us as I think the longer meetings help to build up camaraderie in the paddock. It will not be possible for Silverstone but Donington is being reconsidered, though nothing confirmed yet.
STOP PRESS: Our Donington meeting is now a 2-day meeting on 30th and 31st May.
PRE-SEASON TEST DAY AT SILVERSTONE NATIONAL 14th MARCH
There is a general 750 MC pre-season test day at the Silverstone National circuit on Tuesday 14th March. This is highly recommended. All the 750 MC scrutineers will be there so any potential scrutineering issues with cars and equipment can be picked up and sorted out before the first meeting on 5th April. There is also the obvious advantage of being able to test on the circuit where our first races will be held only a couple of weeks later, and I am told that the cost will be very reasonable compared to other Trackday fees.
WHAT MAY BE DIFFERENT RACING WITH 750 MC
Important notes for drivers
While I was at the Autosport Show I had a lengthy conversation with the Formula 1000 Coordinator. They made the transition from the BRSCC to the 750 Motor Club a year before us and I wanted to learn how they had found the change – overall impressions, what was different, etc. In terms of overall impressions, these were overwhelmingly positive. Race meetings run like a well oiled machine; paddocks are crowded as they run with very full grids in general, so parking became more difficult than they were used to, but this was a small price to pay for the positive progress they had made as a Championship. Race officials and scrutineers are a travelling group and are the same group or very similar at every race meeting so they found that there was definitely a greater consistency of approach in both these areas. One of the first things they found was that their drivers were being penalised for incidents and driving standards far more often than in the past. I also had a very constructive conversation with one of their Clerks of the Course at the Show and one thing he said to me was ‘we don’t do warnings’, i.e. if there is an infringement there will be a penalty – period, no ifs or buts. I said that I thought that our driving standards had improved a great deal in the last couple of years, which he was pleased to hear, but nevertheless drivers please take note! I was also told that reports on driving standards continue to come in well after the end of a race in some cases, so just because there appears to be no immediate issue at the end of the race doesn’t mean that something will not arise later. Partly for this reason, prize presentations are held at the end of the meeting; they are held for all the Championships together in a convivial indoor location. This is very different to our previous custom and practice so I will be gathering more official information about this from 750 MC – watch this space.
They found that scrutineers were particularly scrupulous about drivers’ clothing and equipment being in date. Anything not in date was removed straight away, so please make sure you check helmets, gloves, seats and everything else that has an expiry date and replace anything that requires it before the first meeting. My impression was that the BRSCC scrutineers were always scrupulous about this anyway, but the F1000 Coordinator said that at scrutineering at their first race meeting a large pile of rejected items had accumulated. Rain lights had also come under close scrutiny, so do be sure that yours fully meets Motorsport UK’s Blue Book requirements.
750 MC do not use TSL for timing at events; they use a similar but simpler system called ‘Results Live’ which doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles of TSL, e.g. there will be no sector times available. Provisional results are available immediately after a race and it is possible to collect these from the timekeepers and get them copied immediately. In general she said the 750 MC people were great to work with. This has certainly been my experience to date and also the feedback I have had from a range of different people that have raced with them, so we should be looking forward to the season with great optimism.
SPONSORSHIP
Our official marketing partners, Woya Digital, are working extremely hard to bring in much-needed sponsorship funding. There has been some notable success already: we are delighted to announce that sponsorship packages have been finalised with Yokohama, Fusion4Care (Martin Jones’s company) and with WRAP UK, specialists in car wrapping and graphics, and negotiations with a number of other organisations are ongoing. This is not an easy thing to do successfully and we are very pleased with the progress being made.
DRIVER AND CAR NEWS
The Alfa GT pictured in the last Paddock News bulletin is now under construction at Roger Evans’s premises in Hope Valley and will be raced in the Power Trophy this year by none other than triple champion Tom Hill.
Roger will be engineering the car along with Andy Inman’s 156 GTA.
Many will have seen pictures and videos of Alfa Workshop’s sensational new Modified class MiTO undergoing its inaugural track test at the Snetterton 300 circuit last week in the hands of Riccardo Losselli and Ted Pearson.
The testing times were extremely impressive to say the least. The car will be driven this year by Ted Pearson when his Formula Ford commitments allow, and by Ricky when Ted isn’t available. Ricky will also be racing his 4C when not driving the MiTO.
Jamie Porter from Alfa Workshop has agreed a deal with Chris Rees, editor of Auto Italia magazine, to feature a track test of the car and the article will also focus on the Alfa Romeo Championship itself as well as the MiTO specifically. Watch this space!
Speaking of spectacular new cars, Roger Evans’s 8C-engined Giulietta has also been pictured in Facebook recently, drawing almost audible gasps from those commenting on it.
There are still odds and ends to complete on the car but it is scheduled to have systems and power tests on the rolling road shortly. It does look incredible! It will race in the Invitation Class initially due to its space frame construction.
I was delighted to hear that we may be seeing Kristian Leith back racing in the Twin Spark Cup at some point this season.
Kristian took a well merited TS Cup win in the final race of the 2018 season at Oulton Park before having to take a break from racing last season. It would be great to have him back racing with us, so fingers crossed that it all comes about.
Tom Herbert’s 156 Twin Spark Cup car new build is also coming together – the new wrap looks great so we’re really hoping it makes it to the track with us this season.
REGISTRATIONS WITH ARCA
We have 13 drivers registered so far. This is a good start but we need more.
The information I require from drivers to confirm their eligibility to race to 750 MC is as follows: Name, Make and Model of car to be raced, Race Number, Class, cc of car(s), and Transponder Number.
It is vital that we have the numbers necessary to convince all concerned ASAP that we will have healthy grid numbers this season. Please get your registrations in!!!
REGISTRATION AND RACE ENTRIES WITH 750 MC
Please keep your eye on the 750 Motor Club website for details of registration and race entries.
Andy Robinson – Championship Coordinator