Editorial - January 2009

But before trying to see into the future, let’s reflect on a successful 50th Anniversary Season. Financially the 2008 season was one of the most challenging in recent times; the club had to underwrite the cost of the race meetings. You will understand if you multiply your entry fees by the number of entrants that the sums of money involved are considerable. The Monoposto Racing Club exists to provide racing and is not set up to be a profit making enterprise. However, financial continence requires the club stay on the correct side of the balance sheet. To do this the directors had and have to set an entry fee at an appropriate level. The club's choice is between providing excellent value racing, to encourage the membership to respond by supporting the events, and making enough money to cover the costs. Debatably, at their first attempt, directors had the equation more or less right. Every UK event in 2008 was run at a profit, but at times, in Wellington's words, 'It was a damned close run thing', which gave those tracking entry numbers cause for concern. Entering at the last minute has become a Monoposto tradition that is difficult to modify, but it does little for the nerves of the Club Treasurer, who will not be satisfied at this point, if I don't point out that the club has costs additional to those incurred at race meetings.

The 2008 season was notable for several other reasons. The 50th Anniversary celebrations at Rockingham were successful, even the weather started to co-operate after Saturday's races. There are some among the membership who wish the mid-season Saturday night barbecue to become an annual event. It seems to be an excellent idea, but it is only fair to point out that the barbecue’s organisation was not straightforward, the circuit initially seeing the event as an opportunity to sell a meal to club members at corporate prices.

To return to the times they are changing theme, 2008 represents the end of an era as Mary Cox retires from the Club Administrator post and David Cox relinquishes the post of Chairman. Space and time means that I cannot do justice to their contribution to the club. Thus I am restricting my comments to saying that for the last dozen years the club has benefited from the efficiency that Mary bought to all aspects of the club's administration, while David's encyclopaedic knowledge of all things pertaining to Monoposto is irreplaceable.

2008 represented the first year of our co-operation with CSCC. There will inevitably be points of friction between the provider of meetings (CSCC) and the customer (MRC) but overall I think that the relationship worked well during a season that the weather tried to wreck.

\ The problems for 2009 are only too obvious, those running financial institutions have been thoroughly incontinent and there will be less money around. The race sub-committee’s brief was unchanged from 2008 and as a consequence the 2009 calendar has a familiar look to it. The race sub-committee started with a blank sheet of paper but worked with several constraints and even at this stage of the season availability of meetings is as restricted. The majority of our races will once again be with CSCC as they offer us the best deal, in several ways.

From my viewpoint, one of the disappointments with the calendar is that, with the exception of a race at Silverstone, it has effectively become a ‘Spring’ and an ‘Autumn’ series. The uneven distribution of races is not deliberate and there is little new about it. A few years ago the school holidays were kept clear of races and Spa was also kept several weeks away from UK race meetings. However, there would appear to be something deeper than these reasons causing the Summer break from racing.

One problem with the current system for organising a race series is that if races become available because some series find the financial going too tough, we will be unable to insert races into the championship, no matter how desirable their venue, because once our calendar is approved by the MSA, i.e. it is effectively finalised.

Naturally as one Club Administrator departs another takes up post, as you already know Simon Davey is replacing Mary Cox. Simon is a winner, a past Mono1600 Champion and champion in other series. He still holds several Mono1600 lap records. We can look confidently towards the new era and can anticipate Simon’s experience expanding our horizons.

Patrick Huston.
January 2009

Considered to be a revolutionary in 1964, Dylan now has a Radio2 showThe barbecue at RockinghamMary Cox, presenting prizes last yearFormer Mono racer and Classic FF racer Simon Davey takes over as administrator