Entry fee increase

[RMR]

As Verglas said the fee increase seems to be the BRSCC-SE. Have they been increased to pay for the work done to modifying Brands?

Also does anyone know if the national FF1600 is going ahead/have any details?

Thanks.

[darcym]

Richard, I have mailed you the details I had

[ss_collins]

I think the answer may lie in local series. In the BRSCCs defence thier meetings are usually very good and castle combe is a great place to go racing. I would like to see a semsec meeting at brands, or perhaps back to the days of Sevenoaks and DMC race meetings there (though I can tell you thats not going to happen anytime soon).
The BRSCC racing membership fee is quite high too.
What annoys me is that my 'home' circuit is really lydden so I guess that makes me a racing exile!!!
I might go to brands this year but I no longer have a car for non mixed bag races - I specifically bought a car for sprint/race meetings at lydden. (one at brands would be great)

[verglas]

Richard, 'fraid National FF1600 is a no go this year, but there are the three meetings at Silverstone GP, Thruxton D/H and Brands at Festival time that make up the King of Kent series. It would seem that the initiative of Jon 'Water Pump' Adlam's did not, in BRSCC SE centre's opinion I suppose generate enough interest. Which leads back to what I suggested earlier, why not lobby an alternative club, such as BARC for a Natioanl FF1600 Championship next year? What do people think? Just because BRSCC seem to have the monopoly on regional FF1600 championships does not mean that they have the monopoly per se.

[darcym]

I know I would be interested in expanding my FF1600 venues and race against some new people.

I may even buy a new water pump from demon tweaks for the championship, after all being able to control the temperature just adds to the performance,

[Chris Y]

Still not got my entry forms and welcome pack from the BRSCC this year. It's less than a week and a half until their first race meeting of the year too.

What do we pay them for again?

[vaughan jones]

Chris Y, I cant ask your question to the BRSCC,I used to race and be a member, I remember that the only reason i was a member was was they ran the championship i raced in, if all the members put the club under pressure to account to race members,who when all said and done are customers ,you might start to get some answers,I dont think they feel they have a problem.I was told many years ago, to deal with a problem, at first you have to admit you have a problem. The problem has been over the last few years many of their bread and butter classes, Porsche 924,XRs etc have suffered low grids,this must harm the income,I think a lot of drivers got to the point that 14/15 race series and the level of entry,club membership,co-ordinator fees, caused their to leave the car in the garage. I raced in a BRSCC series in the 80/90s, we got prize money,almost of half the grid got more than the entry fee!! Other series for example budget road saloons,paid 35 pounds entry, they all get 10 pounds back each race, it might seem not a lot,you paid your BRSCC fee, they ran the series,no mention of a co-ordinator, there is another cost, where did they come from??

[Rod Birley]

The good news from the BARC south east is that they have scrapped registration fees. Regional centre only membership is £37. They are only charging £5 to hire transponders on a race to race basis at their meetings,i.e. if you only do six meetings it will cost £30, bit better than £150 plus V.A.T.

[darcym]

thats more like the attitude !!!!

[Stuart Hill]

Originally posted by mattray
Stu the Crazy,

all good points but to make a leg of a stool we need enough people (competitors)to make a stand.

Maybe I did not explain myself correctly Matt,......

as competitors, you are already a "leg". You guys leave and the event fails!!! Just the same as if we marshals left or no venue wanted you.

ALL Motorsport events need the support of all 3 legs and so, in my opinion, all legs are equal. But what does that really mean?
To me it means......
the "people" that make the money from motorsport need 3 completely different types of person to make their money.
1) Drivers willing to spend money
2) Marshals willing to spend time
3) Venues to offer affordable racing

If any of these three are missing, there would be no event. ie Rally of Wales last week!!!!!

This does not mean that any of the "3" are beholden to the others but it does mean that maybe, just maybe, they all need to talk to each other to ensure that all 3 are there together, where ever "there" might be.

Let's face it, 100 marshals standing around Donnington, or Silverstone, would look pretty stupid if no drivers turned up!!!!!

For motorsport to survive in the UK we need all the interested parties to understand the value of each individual part that goes together to create an "event". NO one is more important, NO one is less important. WE all need each other.

[mattray]

Stu the crazy!
I understood what you meant I just meant that there would need to a all of the competitors or at least the majority of them to make a leg off your metaphorical stool. At the moment it seems that there are still enough comptitors willing to spend the money and so the "leg" remains.

However you saying that all of us joingin together (the marshalls and the competitors) I only say these two because it seems unreasonable to ask the spectators to get involved in the cost of racing issue as they are there purely to be entertained. Do you think that the marshalls would back up the competitors to make up the numbers if a protest were held?

what I mean is could both the competitors and the marshalls be in partnership whereby we both understand each others "gripes" about how we are treated and how we can change things?!

Bit of a ramble sorry

matt

[Snapper Baz]

There now seems to have been a fair few gripes on here now-how many though have whinged on here but not to club your whinging about-a good number I bet! Lets see from now on this thread the answers to your moaning from the clubs in question-that would make interesting reading and not the constant moaning between each posting. Instead of writing a posting for here-you could be posting to a club!

[RMR]

I think its more people thinking out load and communicating with each other. If it wasnt for this thread there wouldnt be as much writing to the clubs happening. I think its good people can moan 'out load' with each other as constructive critism comes out of it in the end with positive results.

[Snapper Baz]

RMR...I can only agree with you but at the end of the day a club can't act on something it hasn't heard about(or possibly it has but turns a blind eye at!!)

[Rod Birley]

I would be interested in what response there was from the e-mail addresses I supplied earlier. The reply I have received (only verbally) is that the costs from the circuit owners have been put up, together with increased insurance premiums, so the competitors have GOT to pay more. However, as "snapper baz" pointed out at the start of this thread: surely it is better to have full or nearly full grids,than to have just a few well financed drivers who will race whatever the cost.At the end of the day we all know racing is expensive but just lately the charges have gone up not only for entry fees, but also transponder costs, club membership and registration fees. I have lobbied the BARC and the BRSCC (attending AGMs and writing letters). To date the BARC have responded favourably, perhaps the BRSCC need more persuasion.Their south east centre AGM is on April 3rd, unfortunately I will be in hospital then, but hopefully they will have my letter to read out.

[Snapper Baz]

If I'm not working I might give that AGM a visit-presumably if it's at the BUll, Wrotham. Won't be able to vote but something may come out of it!

[Bob Pearson]

There is no doubt that the BARC are more prepared to listen to these criticisms than the BRSCC while keeping their prices lower. Indeed the BARC have held two meetings with their driver's reps this winter, when this and many other subjects were covered.
However, one wonders where it is all going to end. Even accepting that BARC are more reasonable than their competitiors, I still cannot remember a year when the BARC's rates went up by only a percentage equal to that of national inflation. As virtually everyone in the country is awarded rises of a maximum of inflation rate, then it must follow that we are all on a short fuse to being forced to retire from racing.

[Snapper Baz]

Ahhh...so you thought this thread was now dead! A well known club racer called me yesterday and amongst other things he said if there was a Brands Hatch based open Saloon championship (like the FFords)he would do everyround as he loves Brands-but the entry fee's would have to be at a very reasonable rate! Just think-a semi sort of road/modified road saloon thing...heaving entries...20 laps...MAGIC! (oh, if only!!)

[Rod Birley]

South east BRSCC AGM is at the Bull, Wrotham on April 3rd. I cannot make due to being in hospital. With regard to a reasonably cheap local saloon series contact the BARC about the "In Gear" championship.

[Snapper Baz]

Actually Rod, the said driver has just signed up for that very Championship!

[Snapper Baz]

Has anybody seen Ian Sowman's feature in MN'regarding Midland FF1600 and their entry fee's...interesting reading...will it catch on I wonder? Shame about the naff picture quality they used...made me look a right amature...looked like it was shoot through a pair of stockings or something!

[Ian Sowman]

Apparently the BRSCC are wondering where the story came from - it might be bad for their reputation if it gets out that they are offering cheap racing! Answer is it came from Peter Daly of Daly Systems, who also races in the series. He gave me a press release on his company's headed paper and not the BRSCC's...

[Snapper Baz]

So are they (BRSCC)denying it then Ian?

[Ian Sowman]

I'm not sure - Matt J's e-mail was very brief. I can only guess that that is what's going on.

[DAVID PATERSON]

I think you guys ought to move to Australia. We've been through many price hikes recently and entry fees for a club/state level race meeting have now climbed to $220. A lot of people are saying, that's just too much, we can't afford it.

For those of you without exchange rates and calculators, we're paying GBP 88.00 for a two day meeting. Which includes 15 minutes of qualifying and 4 races, each of 6-10 laps duration.