Masters/Top hat race pack?

daj · 1 Feb 2007, 22:30 (Ref:1840003)

Just having a moan, Very disapointed with whats on offer for the Groovy baby series, Nothing even at Donnington this year?

What does everyone else think?

simon drabble · 2 Feb 2007, 08:01 (Ref:1840004)

where did you see the dates - I was looking for them yesterday

rbs · 2 Feb 2007, 08:14 (Ref:1840005)

Have you seen the registration costs, they seem much more expensive than in previous years.

zefarelly · 2 Feb 2007, 09:33 (Ref:1840006)

TOo much money for me, I fully understand JT's position and why he did what he did, but MAsters have got it all wrong if they think thay can get away with that, I think a vast majority of Tin Top racers are normal people, not wealthy, so we'll be shopping elsewhere, I expect to see smaller grids of the most entertaining cars supporting the posh ones.

very dissapointing.

Teddington Ted · 2 Feb 2007, 09:52 (Ref:1840007)

I agree. Thankfully I have lots of options with the Morgan Plus 4 (HSCC, Equipe GTS and the Morgan Challenge) and as an occasional Top Hat racer the new Masters fee structure might prevent me from taking part. For comparison Equipe GTS charge £150 for a 30 minute race and £295 for an hour long race with no membership fee.

My sense is that for most of us the so called benefits of membership (a jacket and a kit bag !) will not be valued.

zefarelly · 2 Feb 2007, 11:33 (Ref:1840008)

I agree Ted, I got a kit bag free from Midget man when I had my suit made !

jonners · 2 Feb 2007, 12:25 (Ref:1840009)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teddington Ted

£150 for a 30 minute race and £295 for an hour long race

£5 per minute??

LUXURY!!!

You should try hillclimbing...in shoebox, in septic tank in t'garden, in t'middle o' road etc etc...

Does this mean some of the usual runners won't be at Castle Combe on Easter Monday - one of my annual highlights??

Teddington Ted · 2 Feb 2007, 12:32 (Ref:1840010)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonners

£5 per minute??

LUXURY!!!

You should try hillclimbing...in shoebox, in septic tank in t'garden, in t'middle o' road etc etc...

Does this mean some of the usual runners won't be at Castle Combe on Easter Monday - one of my annual highlights??

Sorry old boy but I don't understand your (Monty Python) banter.

zefarelly · 2 Feb 2007, 12:33 (Ref:1840011)

In a word Johnners . . . .no.

we've done it the last 2 years, and had a great time, got quicker as well, so would love to try and improve on it

Chris Griffin · 2 Feb 2007, 12:38 (Ref:1840012)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonners

Does this mean some of the usual runners won't be at Castle Combe on Easter Monday - one of my annual highlights??

Maybe Jonners. The CTCRC will be there with all championships on Mon 28th May though. That'll be something to look forward to!

zefarelly · 2 Feb 2007, 13:00 (Ref:1840013)

it'll be interesting to see who picks up the pieces, particularly those of us with FiA spec cars.

It is possible to do inernational historic racing on a budget, despite the fact I seem to be the only one who believes it !!!

esper · 2 Feb 2007, 13:07 (Ref:1840014)

Quote:

Originally Posted by zefarelly

it'll be interesting to see who picks up the pieces, particularly those of us with FiA spec cars.

It is possible to do inernational historic racing on a budget, despite the fact I seem to be the only one who believes it !!!

f.e. in the netherlands.

Highside · 2 Feb 2007, 13:19 (Ref:1840015)

Can someone post up what the actual cost are this year?

I did one round of Groovy Baby last year (Castle Combe, standing in for my injured brother) and loved it, dispite starting from the back of the grid due to missing qualifying and loosing the clutch on the second lap (suprising how fast you can still go round Combe with only top gear

).

I'll be gutted if the new ownership/merger kills off Top Hat - but what can you do?

Cheers

Rob

simon drabble · 2 Feb 2007, 13:35 (Ref:1840016)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Highside

I'll be gutted if the new ownership/merger kills off Top Hat - but what can you do?

Cheers

Rob

In the interests of balance I would like to state that The Masters Series are very well run and to be frank worth the signing fee. Sadly as Julius proved it is difficult to insulate yourself from a cancelled round/poor grid if you rely purely on entry fees. The Groovy Baby series has never really taken off as it seemd there was a reluctance in 70's car camp to want to pay Julius' rate for 1 hour races so I think it can be taken for granted that the wont take The Masters entry fee!
What you get for the entry fee (over and above the jacket and bag) is a full time infrastructure and hospitality when you are there, I appreciate for some that is not of interest but at Spa you might be surprised to hear that it was full the whole time!
I baulk as much as the next driver at having to pay entry fees but I would say that in the full scheme of things the £350 (or whatever it is) is not much when ammortised over a few races. I am sorry to hear that Castle Combe is off - I havent seen a calender yet, but they do have their own meeting at Donington and Brands GP so its not all bad!

zefarelly · 2 Feb 2007, 13:48 (Ref:1840017)

Top Hat was very well run without having to pay £300 for the pleasure of a few odds and sods Simon, and many of us helped out here andd there to try and keep it that way.

whats really killed it for me is VAT, I don't understand why its there, but its the straw that broke the camels back. I'd have lived with a reg fee if it was sensible, but frankly £300 is taking the pi55 on my budget. I'm an engineer !!!

Groovy baby should have been a big success but theres seems to have been a reluctance to pay more for more by most people with cars of that period, most only moaned about having small tanks and getting a bit sweaty, 15 minutes was enough etc, a bit narrow minded IMHO

re entries, we're looking 400-500 a race . . . . varying from 30-60 minutes.

Its not the end of the world, but my personal position with a young family makes it unviable, I'll sell my soul to santa for a few things, but . . . . .

simon drabble · 2 Feb 2007, 14:05 (Ref:1840018)

Top Hat was great value but be clear if Julius was making any money out of it he would still be doing it! The only ones who do it more or less at cost are HSCC and Carol Spagg. The Masters are a business and therefore look to make a profit, however its a finely balanced thing, if they dont deliver value for money they dont get grids. I am confident that they will.

Having said all of that it is good news for HSCC and U2TC (for those eligble) as they will perhaps benefit from the fall out....

Personally I will dip into all three as budget and time dictate!

Chris Griffin · 2 Feb 2007, 14:21 (Ref:1840019)

You could even try Pre66 with the CTCRC Simon!

simon drabble · 2 Feb 2007, 14:25 (Ref:1840020)

Remiss of me to forget that series - you are absolutely correct!

zefarelly · 2 Feb 2007, 15:21 (Ref:1840021)

ok, bottom line is I don't think it represents the best value on track, and not good value for my budget, I don't want freebies, I want a good value period correct historic race, that lasts more than 10 minutes ( or a first corner pile up!!!)

don't get me wrong, If I had more money to spend or money to burn I'd be doing it as I think it'll be good fun and good competition, but I think I'm in the majority by sayings its a bit too expensive for what it is

there is now a gap in the market . . . . .

zefarelly · 2 Feb 2007, 15:22 (Ref:1840022)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Griffin

You could even try Pre66 with the CTCRC Simon!

no point touting for business Chris, he hasn't got a car at the moment !

simon drabble · 2 Feb 2007, 15:45 (Ref:1840023)

Quote:

Originally Posted by zefarelly

no point touting for business Chris, he hasn't got a car at the moment !

that is eligible for that series - but I know a man who has!!

Chris Griffin · 2 Feb 2007, 15:58 (Ref:1840024)

Just a thought Zef, just a thought!

Andy Mesh' would welcome you with open arms! Mind you the thought of that would put you off altogether!

zefarelly · 2 Feb 2007, 17:33 (Ref:1840025)

ha ha . . . I have plenty of options, and I know the series is good, but I like long races ! its the travel/race ratio if you like

I might be persuaded to pop up to Brands for a blast though

midgetman · 2 Feb 2007, 21:04 (Ref:1840026)

>>>>>>>>I got a kit bag free from Midget man when I had my suit made !

Did you? Ruddy'ell was I drunk?

Our Legendary Circuits series has just been confirmed. Triple headers at Zandvoort, Dijon (GP de l'age d'or) & Monza, plus 100km @ Nordschleife, all inclusive price GBP1900-ish plus (discounted) ferries. No freebie kit bags (unless you get me drunk again) but all hospitality included. No registration charge. Come and play Joe, we'd love driving our Midgets under your car!

Search Legendary Circuits or FISC Eurotour or even follow the link from my web site.

HTH

Max

FastDB2s · 2 Feb 2007, 22:25 (Ref:1840027)

Hi all
i make that £2460 for all the rounds of Oldies But Goldies not inc the TBA with 2 drivers sharing the same car (both have to register) also on the Masters test day in April the garages are £50 per car each, not that we would use them in April but AMOC only charge £25 or £30 each.
Chris

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