Motorsport and the Coronavirus

[midgetman]

BRSCC has cancelled April events. But it's getting closer!



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[andy97]

BARC have cancelled April 10 at Croft, too.
CSCC, so far, still say they are going ahead with Oulton on 10 April with overnight stays allowed !

[Mike Harte]

I must say that I have been a little confused - not very hard - by the MSV press release which seems to say that ordinary club racing will be able to re-start in April, but elite sports such as BTCC and BSB have to wait until May. And spectators will be be allowed at both types of meetings, but they are awaiting further clarification about numbers.

That is, if I have read it right!

[fergus_r]

Club racing can resume with spectators from phase one of the 'road map' 12th April.

Elite category meetings can also take place but without spectators until phase two commences on 17 May.

I can't imagine it will be 30,000 people from the word go but more realistically 5-10,000, season pass holders and advanced ticket sales only.

However it is still not acceptable to spectate at trackdays and test days.

[Mike Harte]

You confirm what I thought that I read, and it doesn't make sense to me. Why are elite meetings taking being classed as second class sports events, when last year it was considered that they were more important that ordinary club meetings?

[fergus_r]

Most developments over the past year haven't made much sense to me, but the main difference between then & now is of course the vaccine. Hopefully this 'elite' nonsense will be scrapped entirely by mid-summer. Just have sensible precautions and limits of numbers in place but no need to segregrate the two.

There were some club events last year that seemed to have just as many people as an 'elite' meeting would! The Masters Festival at Brands in particular was very busy.

[Gerard C]

Look at this side of the Channel. Only professionals are allowed to practice and school classes and teachers under conditions.
But, il y a toujours un "mais" en France, it has been said that amateur meetings are held by professionally run companies…

[justracing]

Originally Posted by fergus_r

There were some club events last year that seemed to have just as many people as an 'elite' meeting would! The Masters Festival at Brands in particular was very busy.

Considering its' status the Masters at Brands has never been well supported by spectators, last year was reasonable well attended but certainly not crowded as were all the non "elitist" events I managed to attend as a spectator at several different venues. JP at MSV has been very diligent and thorough in reinstating events for both competitors and spectators throughout the pandemic as one might expect given his background.

[dwh43scale]

Originally Posted by justracing

Considering its' status the Masters at Brands has never been well supported by spectators, last year was reasonable well attended but certainly not crowded as were all the non "elitist" events I managed to attend as a spectator at several different venues. JP at MSV has been very diligent and thorough in reinstating events for both competitors and spectators throughout the pandemic as one might expect given his background.

Agree. Well done MSV for working through what can be done.

Last year was the first in decades that I didn't attend anything at Silverstone. Hopefully they can work out how to let us in this year ...

Mind you I did enjoy the many unfenced delights of other circuits in the UK !

[justracing]

Originally Posted by dwh43scale

Last year was the first in decades that I didn't attend anything at Silverstone. Hopefully they can work out how to let us in this year ...

Likewise, I didn't miss a bit!

[Lancsbreaker]

I presume the rationale is that at Club meetings. apart from competitor family groups / hangers on, the number of spectators (or guests in MSV speak) is minimal, and the risk of infection is thus also minimal. At an Elite event such as BTCC, you can get spectators literally cheek to jowl, which is not a good image, these days.



If (fingers crossed) CSCC can run the Oulton event on the 10th of April, I'm sure it will be no-spectator. Which will cost Oulton about £300 in lost income - which they can probably save by one less person on the gate.....

[fergus_r]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

I presume the rationale is that at Club meetings. apart from competitor family groups / hangers on, the number of spectators (or guests in MSV speak) is minimal, and the risk of infection is thus also minimal. At an Elite event such as BTCC, you can get spectators literally cheek to jowl, which is not a good image, these days.



If (fingers crossed) CSCC can run the Oulton event on the 10th of April, I'm sure it will be no-spectator. Which will cost Oulton about £300 in lost income - which they can probably save by one less person on the gate.....

Yep, CSCC will miss out on spectators by one week.

[brands]

MSV saying all meetings before 22nd May will be run behind closed doors. https://news.msv.com/statement-5-march.aspx

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by brands

MSV saying all meetings before 22nd May will be run behind closed doors. https://news.msv.com/statement-5-march.aspx

That is really surprising and very very disappointing. As MSV imply, it makes no sense. From next week I can use an indoor gym, but I can’t go to an outdoor and easily controlled sports event for another 6 weeks.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

That is really surprising and very very disappointing. As MSV imply, it makes no sense. From next week I can use an indoor gym, but I can’t go to an outdoor and easily controlled sports event for another 6 weeks.

In some sense, it does seem somewhat logical, at least to me. Consider that the number of people who will be attending a gym at any one time, and it will be in the 10s and under, probably, one roof. However, the rules are, I think, that after the 22nd of May, up to 4,000 may attend an outdoor sports event and that number would be far harder to "police" being spread out over a large area than the tens of gym users in a smaller space.

[Mike Crow]

Big disappointment but the regulations are very specific. No spectators allowed at any sporting event on private land. MSV led the way with "day tickets" last year but that loophole seems to be firmly closed. Roll on May 17!

[Anyopenroad]

You are right, my comparison with a gym is silly. The better comparison is with things that will be open next week - book fairs, theme parks, zoos, any sport on public land. By comparison a few hundred people dotted around Brands Hatch hardly feels like a risk. In fact, the evidence seems to be that there is pretty much no risk in any outdoor setting. Assuming the arrangements at MSV tracks would be the same as last summer, it’s hard to think of somewhere less likely to spread the virus.

[Mike Harte]

The problem is that the government, moving at the pace that it has to in this fast changing world, can't seriously be expected to differentiate between, say a football arena and a race circuit, or any other type of sporting venue that is in the open. It is far easier, and more practical, to just ban them all.

And that way they cannot be accused of favouritism, or have to deal with objections and pleadings from lobbyists and others.

[Mike Crow]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

The problem is that the government, moving at the pace that it has to in this fast changing world, can't seriously be expected to differentiate between, say a football arena and a race circuit, or any other type of sporting venue that is in the open. It is far easier, and more practical, to just ban them all.

And that way they cannot be accused of favouritism, or have to deal with objections and pleadings from lobbyists and others.

Agree completely.

[fergus_r]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

By comparison a few hundred people dotted around Brands Hatch hardly feels like a risk. In fact, the evidence seems to be that there is pretty much no risk in any outdoor setting. Assuming the arrangements at MSV tracks would be the same as last summer, it’s hard to think of somewhere less likely to spread the virus.

Add to that, the small fact that 30+ million people (and the most vulnerable) have been vaccinated...

[coppice]

It is utterly ridiculous . It is a one size fits all policy , and collateral damage to an understandable ban on events where spectators are of necessity packed tightly together , such as in covered grandstands .

I can already go to shops and ,from next week , myriad other places , indoors and out - and yet I cannot stand outdoors (as on a walk, in the park , on the beach, playing golf , going fishing etc ) at a race circuit. I can understand why caution is needed for very popular events , but with common sense - such as limiting total tickets - there is not even the tiniest impediment to attending club motor sport .

I don't buy the 'oh, but they can't favour one sport over another argument ' either. To take an example, the Angling Trust sought clarification that fishing was ok to practice and it has been permissible since May last year , subject to some common sense restrictions. Should I have been told to stay at home throughout , despite outdoors being safe ?

[Alfaholic]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

The problem is that the government, moving at the pace that it has to in this fast changing world, can't seriously be expected to differentiate between, say a football arena and a race circuit, or any other type of sporting venue that is in the open. It is far easier, and more practical, to just ban them all.

And that way they cannot be accused of favouritism, or have to deal with objections and pleadings from lobbyists and others.

Spot on.

Most disappointing decision 'though - while I had no chance of getting to the HSCC meeting at Snetterton on the 17th & 18th April due to work, I'd made plans for the MGCC at Brands Hatch the following weekend. Looks like I'll have to wait until the GT/F3 meeting at Brands on the 22nd & 23rd May with the Masters Festival the following weekend being my first tase of historics this year.

[Mike Harte]

My simplistic view of it is that it is, of course, deeply disappointing that the world is not as it was a couple of years ago, and we can't do what we were able to do back then; however, and this is I think important, it is not the end of the world. And I am just grateful that I am still alive and have survived almost 4 months in hospital earlier last year without catching this blasted thing.

We just have to have a little bit more patience, even if that means that we can't do exactly as we want. More important to me is that I haven't seen my children and grandchildren since 2019; watching cars going around is nowhere as urgent as that.

[dwh43scale]

It's the inconsistency, the late decisions and U-turns, the lack of logic than annoys given what else can be done from next Monday.
Of course, it is minor in the global scheme of things, but it is a little bit of normality with minimal risk attached in relative terms.
Why the late decision though; who said what to whom ?

[justracing]

The irony is that as from Monday you can mingle all you like at Lakeside or Bluewater 10 miles up the road from Brands. So disappointing, I was due to go to the club bike meeting to break the boredom. I see no problem with treating race circuits as an exception, it's the stroke of a pen at most, it doesn't require a great deal of investigation to establish the efficacy.