A Reminder that the WLRC Annual General Meeting and trophy and awards presentation will take place on Wednesday December 4th, in the Scout Hut adjacent to the track area.

All club members are urged to attend, particularly if you are eligible for an award from the Summer Series, or if you wish to put forward any proposals regarding the future running of the club.

In order that we may avoid the somewhat fragmented discussions of last year, may we remind members to please distinguish between "proposals" which require voting and "comments and suggestions" which come under the category of "any other business" and do not necessarily require a vote to be taken. This does not mean that a comment under discussion could not be made into the subject of a vote.

Proposals may be submitted by email to : joinwlrc@hotmail.com, FAXED to the club FAX line on 01753 683701, or handed to any committee member.

 

National Series Report

The BRCA National Championship was once again well supported by WLRC members.  Over 30 drivers completed the necessary 4 rounds with more than half of them attending all 7 meetings.  Congratulations to all of you on your results in this the toughest of competitions.

Most notable results in Super Touring were for Adam Rogers 6^th overall with a new track record at Ashby.  Kevin Brunsden was 7^th overall with a personal best result of 2^nd at Halifax, a win cannot be too far away.  Westley Payne was 10^th overall including a win at the "Wet" London round.  Glenn Doman finished just outside the top 10 in 12^th with Andy Childs 15^th.

Lower down the order James Howarth continues to impress!! His drive in the final at Stafford being most memorable.

Regular West London visitor Oliver Jefferies won the stock class with ease, but the scrap for the next half dozen places was gripping, with Jason Butterfield just edging Dominic Skinner into third on count back..

Dominic proves that a true “Privateer” can still compete at national level, with the 2 drivers ahead of him, and many of those finishing behind, enjoying some level of sponsorship.

To those who travelled far and wide, thank you for continuing the West London tradition of supporting the national championship.

 

BRCA AGM Report by Steve Cann

A tongue in cheek(?) overview of the BRCA AGM

There seems to be a well-orchestrated conspiracy to keep AGM attendance low.  Choice of venue – middle of nowhere.  Promised direction signs – nowhere to be seen.  Weather – major league storm keeping all but the most hardy away.

However about 20 in all made it to the section AGM.  First business to attend to was reduce that number by one.  Suspended member decides to attend and requires much “persuasion” by committee and attendance of “Blackshirt” before he agrees to depart.

On to business proper.  Members of the committee give their reports, and all seems in good order, no problems there.

One new member of committee was required for the position of series scrutineer. In this writer’?s opinion, absolutely the right man got the job.

 

I shall not give a blow by blow account of proposals – minutes for which may be found on the BRCA website.

 

Here are my thoughts on some of them:

                                

Minimum roof height. All I hear throughout the year is complaints about 120mm roof height.  Perfect opportunity to change it, result, VOTED OUT!  Yes, I was a little surprised.

 

My brilliant proposal for a “Buying Plate” which I believe would be a first step to a level playing field for all, was not well received? Withdrew proposal to lick wounds.  This one will be back I promise.

 

Personal transponders, these are now OK for use at nationals where possible.  What I do not understand is their inclusion in the minimum weight of 1500 grams.  The way I see it, using AMB model as example, 20 grams weight reduction that will be £38.50 sir!!  With the introduction of 3300 cells for next year, users of at least one of the major makes are going to struggle to make minimum weight of 1500 grams.

 

There will be a 3^rd class for next year; 19Turn "Super Stock".  The championship has also been split into separate series, one for Stock and Super Stock and the other for "Super Touring". This I believe could put a strain on finding enough local officials to run meetings properly.

 

Central booking was voted in with an increase to £9 for the entry fee (better than the proposed £20).  No shows, unless they can give good cause, will be fined. 

 

There will be three new venues for next year, Barham in Kent, Tibshelf and Carlisle oop north.  Sad to report Aldershot did not apply.

 

There was not a lot wrong with the championship in my opinion and I hope the changes will allow the continued growth of our sport/hobby.

 

My Two Cents by "Kent Brockman"

With reference to the previous BRCA report, I agree entirely with Steve regarding the roof height rule.

So many times at scrutineering we have to issue warnings to people because their car is only 1 or 2mm below the minimum, it would make sense to have a minor adjustment in this area.

The European association (EFRA) rule allows a 115mm roof height, but the BRCA opinion is they're wrong and we're right, so let them conform to us.

The argument for not changing is that already non-scale looking cars would become even less realistic. I don't think this will be the case, since all you will be doing is allowing the existing bodies to run at a lower height. If new shells appear which are grossly out of proportion, then it's up to the BRCA approvals committee to not allow them to be homologated.

Admittedly, the bodies we run now are far from scale (when did you last see a six foot six inch wide Alfa Romeo with 24 inch diameter wheels?) but I don't think this detracts from them significantly.

Another proposal (defeated) that Steve didn't mention, was to use the same body shells in all classes, i.e. NO GT bodies. I know this is a pet rant of one of the BRCA committee members, who seems to think that touring cars represent the epitome of motor racing. In my opinion, full size touring cars are only marginally less boring than formula one as a spectacle, and I would question any attempts to emulate them in small scale racing. Despite their theoretical advantages, GT shells have not proved to be quicker than touring cars, but that shouldn't be the basis of an argument for excluding them.

Maybe there is a case for a "one body" class, as well as a motor limit, then everybody will be on an equal footing?

One other thought:

With the separating of the Stock and Modified championships, are we going to see an influx of modified class "factory" drivers into the Stock series? The Stock class was originally formulated to allow "club" racers to be competitive on a lower budget.

When the championship was combined, a rule existed which prevented drivers from entering both classes. I'm not sure any such safeguard is in place for the separate championships. We could finish the season with the same driver being champion in both classes, which I'm certain would be to the detriment of the sport.