New Technical Committee for Masters/Top Hat

[rogerwills]

This should help tighten up the Masters / Top Hat rules........


Dear Masters Racing Member,



FUTURE MANAGEMENT OF YOUR TECHNICAL ISSUES AND QUERIES IN THE 5 MASTERS RACE SERIES

In response to your recent suggestions and our winter ‘market research’ and in view of the recent expansion of Masters, please note the important new developments about technical questions and our own eligibility scrutineering at the circuits, as well appointing ‘series representatives’. These now take immediate effect.



SUMMARY

New Club
Series by Series elected representatives
New eligibility system
Technical Group formed
Any technical queries now go to; technical@themastersseries.com
Please read on for further details........



YOUR ROLE IN WORKING WITH YOUR SERIES

The UK governing body, the MSA, has approved the formation of Masters Racing Club, and all registered and fully paid owners, entrants and drivers in any of the ten Masters Series 2007 are now enrolled as a Racing Member. The new Club Committee met for the first time last week at Donington.
So, we now invite you to suggest to this office, names for a ‘Drivers’ Representative’ for each series. From our new Club Committee, Frank Lyons has already kindly accepted the task to become the Grand Prix Masters Drivers Representative. The idea is simply that each driver in each series has someone to talk to about any query or suggestion, which will reach Masters operational management via the forum of the Masters Racing Club. So, volunteers for Reps?
THE NEW TECHNICAL QUERIES SYSTEM – for the 5 Masters Series, GPM, WSM, SRM, Gentleman Drivers, and Masters Top Hat European saloons.*

As of today, 20th April 2007, all technical and eligibility matters will be dealt with the all new Masters Technical Group, NOT by the Masters’ administration team. The formal structure is now that the Technical Group will be chaired by John Quenby, former Chief Executive of the UK Governing Body, the MSA. Our Technical Commissioner is Bob Bassett, who many of you met at the Donington Test Day. Bob is a long-standing MSA Technical Commissioner, and has huge experience, having scrutineered at F1 level, at A1GP, at F3 worldwide as well as at many historic events. Bob will be supported by a Technical Working Group including Bertie Gilbart Smith, Terry Rogers, Ted Walker, John Hopwood - and other specialists as required.
This structure permits all of you to be more certain than ever that all the established Masters Series Rules & Regulations can and will be enforced. We will be looking for compliance with your FIA papers; for capacity correctness; for weight compliance, rev limiters where fitted, for Appendix K enforcement and a host of other details. Please take this time before the big Donington May weekend to check you are happy that your car really does comply! Note that there will be no entry fee refunds for cars which fail eligibility scrutineering.
Historic racing with The Masters Series – aiming to be professionally organized and managed, with the right eye for detail – is above all meant to be fun! In setting up these new structures, we have listened carefully to all the winter ‘opinion research’ and helpful suggestions from many leading preparers. We have arrived at a system which will ensure a correct historic racing specification in each series – so that those of you keenest on running at the front know where we all stand; and more importantly, so that those many more of you who simply enjoy your racing and taking part, know that you are racing in good company, with like-minded people, and can be reassured that you have correct, safe, well prepared cars all around you
These new arrangements mean that any but the simplest questions of eligibility, and all technical preparation details, will no longer be dealt with by ‘the office’, but ONLY by reference to Bob Bassett and his Technical Group. Please send your queries by email to technical@themastersseries.com.
*** Note:- * The new technical management system to ensure similar technical conformity in each of the Top Hat series will be the subject of a further Bulletin soon ***



Thank you for your support and for registering to race with Masters this season, and we wish you all a safe, competitive, enjoyable and technically accurate 2007!



Kind regards



Ron, Rachel, Christopher – and Bob



The Masters Series

Tel: +44 1908 587545

Fax: +44 1908 587009

[rogerwills]

The end of ultra-lightweight E-types........



Dear Gentleman Driver,

Gentleman Drivers GT & Sports Endurance cars – new regulation – amendments to existing 2007 standing regulations

In response to sporting and gentlemanly offers from certain owner / competitors, and in accordance with our own Sporting Regulations which permit such in-season amendments, we hereby notify all competitors in Masters Gentleman Drivers, (the Gentleman Drivers GT & Sports Endurance Masters Series), that E–Type Jaguars will continue to be invited to compete in the series only on the following basis:-

Such cars must be capable of passing an at-track weight check. All types of pre 1966 Jaguar E-Type, whether ‘factory lightweights’ or low drag, or standard steel shell, will be required to show a minimum weight limit, without driver, in a parc ferme situation at race end (with fuel and fluids) which must be a minimum of 1000 kilograms, with effect from the start of practice for the round at Donington on May 6/7th 2007.

Competitors are reminded, when adding weight to their car, of MSA Blue Book (also a standard FIA rule) Regulation 12.15, Weight & Ballast, which specifies how and where ballast may be added (“the passengers location”) and how it must be secured. All Jaguar competitors and preparers must ensure that they read and have implemented this rule, and that their E-Type complies. The weigh scales will be used to check-weigh randomly selected cars.

Thank you for your compliance with this new Regulation

The Masters Technical Group

April 2007

Email: technical@themastersseries.com

Fax: 01908 587009

[Jeremy Hall]

This is very interesting-if you arrive at a Masters Race meeting with an original Lightweight E Type Jaguar you are liable to be sent home-they are homologated at 920 kilos. However, I say liable quite deliberately because the homologation is with fluids, but without fuel. The new Masters rule says with fluid (including fuel I presume) so it pre supposes that despite being in ''parc ferme'' you can add fuel, so a light car with a big fuel tank ,and possibly a big tank for windscreen washer fluid, can now fill those up and possibly make the weight.
Appendix K says ''whenever weighed'' which is a neat way of solving the conundrum, but maybe using FIA regulations is a little indigestable.
As an aside it has always seemed to me that many homolgated weights are a trifle fictitious, manufacturers found it simpler to check the minimum permitted in Appendix J in the 'weight against capacity' formula and homologate the least weight.
At Le Mans every year at scrutineering every car was weighted and the weights not only recorded but still are kept.
Maybe someone could persuade, maybe with cash, the ACO to make available the actual weights

[Redneck Rocket]

Some of the homologated weights require some pretty unsafe modifications to achieve them (by today's standards). The homologated weight for the MGA is virtually unattainable, even with fibreglass panels and lightweight everything, unless you take massive chunks out of the chassis members - and they didn't even have a roll cage to account for! How some people manage to get their cars so far below homologated weights is a mystery to me!

[Jeremy Hall]

If you look at Appendix J in period the roll cage was added to the homologated weight of the car, not taken into account.
When I ran PHRS for the HSCC we used road test kerb side weights-which in most cases made a lot of sense except where there were cars which genuinely had a light weight race version-26R , E type etc.

[zefarelly]

My cars heavier by a roll cage at least, than homologated weight, I think 728 is attainable, just, with one.

What worries me is people cutting half the cars structure away to save weight whilst watching proceedings with a tray of Ginsters!

another example . .whats the point of a 'lightweight plastic' bonnet if you have to drive round with a box of lead in the car ? ? ?

[simon drabble]

Originally Posted by zefarelly

another example . .whats the point of a 'lightweight plastic' bonnet if you have to drive round with a box of lead in the car ? ? ?

put the weight were it matters least!
however I do think some people, as Zef says, get overly fussed by weight. If you want to save 20kg and you are a porky driver it might be better/cheaper to go on a diet!!!
so what is the homogolated weight of a "normal" E Type and did the coupe and roadster have different weights? I gather that the ali bonnets save 50kg and cost £6k so looks like that saving might suddenly have become less relevant! Peg wheels at £1.5k corner could be a thing of the passed - so does this mean us mere mortals will be able to race an E Type competitively??? I ask as someone only casually interested!

[Jeremy Hall]

Originally Posted by zefarelly

My cars heavier by a roll cage at least, than homologated weight, I think 728 is attainable, just, with one.

What worries me is people cutting half the cars structure away to save weight whilst watching proceedings with a tray of Ginsters!

another example . .whats the point of a 'lightweight plastic' bonnet if you have to drive round with a box of lead in the car ? ? ?

Its much cheaper when you decide to put the opposition into the catch fencing than having an ali one or a steel one -Thats why!

[zefarelly]

Originally Posted by simon drabble

put the weight were it matters least!!

I've heard that one before and think its cr@p, ever heard of corner weighting ?

panel weight for example is an even spread of weight over the car so the difference would be so negligible, certainly in amateur driving land, to be classed as pub talk IMO

[terence]

There are some interesting points coming out on here. There is a lot to be gained from as ,Zef said, Corner weighting can make a huge difference to any car,its another of the sort of tweaks that need,nt cost anything ,if approached correctly.

[Peter Mallett]

Well, this kind of solves that argument re money over eligability that one or two of us were promoting in another thread.

[MGDavid]

>>>The new Masters rule says with fluid (including fuel I presume) so it pre supposes that despite being in ''parc ferme'' you can add fuel,

=== I read that differently, it says 'in parc ferme, at race end, with fluids' which I take as the same as we do in FISC, i.e. left-over fluids, no refilling.