Minutes of the Director's Meeting 29 April 2009

Nick Harrison welcomed Sarah Harvey-Fern to the board. Nick also welcomed the new Club Administrator, Simon Davey to the board meeting.

There has been another board meeting since Startline last reported. This meeting took place immediately after the AGM (21/02/09). In this meeting, the new Chairman, Nick Harrison, introduced the committee structure found on page three of the ‘2009 Yearbook’.

The situation with regard to the round at Donington Park on 6/06/09 was debated. Doug McLay explained the complexity that the track faced when trying to obtaining track licences from the: FIA, MSA, ACU etc. After the board meeting, the situation with regard to the Donington round looks optimistic. The club intends to keep information updated via the Forum.

CSCC have offered the club a non-championship round at Mallory Park on 5/07/09. David Cox suggested that the offer be accepted on a 'no financial risk basis'. Simon Davey intended to canvass the membership to gauge interest. Once again, watch the Forum for the most up to date information.

Jonathan Baggott reported on the club’s stand at the Stoneleigh Show. Directors considered our presence at the show ‘a success’. Simon Davey had secured Super Clutch sponsorship for one of the 'Driver of the Day' awards by a contact made at the show. The Cliffes were thanked for providing their immaculate ‘new’ Dallara for display, but Jonathan Baggott pondered whether something more ordinary would be more appropriate for recruitment.

Arrangements for the proposed evening BBQ at Mallory Park were discussed. The good news is that the catering team that successfully delivered the 50th Anniversary BBQ at Rockingham is willing to repeat the exercise. The club welcomed Ewan Sergison’s offer to supply a disco.

The Ray Dackombe Memorial Trophy will be presented at this meeting, and Mary Dackombe was invited to the presentation (subsequent to the meeting, we discovered that Mary is unable to attend).

The current composition of Monoposto grids was discussed from a spring 2009 viewpoint i.e. taking the number of entries in each class into consideration. Some directors were concerned with regard to the speed differential between cars and the frequency with which the slower cars were lapped. Other directors considered the risk of collision greatest when cars with differing characteristics are racing wheel to wheel. While a third viewpoint was that drivers of differing ability caused more variation than the types of car. The 2009 problem is caused by the number of Mono2000 Classic cars currently racing being (inexplicably) low.

David Cox pointed out that with fewer competitors registered it would be possible to number from 0-99 (removing the duplication of numbers between the 2000s and the 1000/1400 cars). Simon Davey would approve of this change as administration would be simplified if every competitor had a unique number. An additional advantage is that there would be no renumbering problems if the 2000s raced with the motorcycle engined cars.

David Cox observed that over the years grids had changed, on occasion Monoposto had raced one class, while at other times the grid had been effectively 'Formula Libre'.
Simon Davey supported the view that cars with similar lap times but different dynamics were inherently dangerous when racing each other. He continued by pointing out that some preferred to race with similar cars, he sited the Jedis which chose, on occasion, to race with us. And finally, he drew directors' attention to maximising the numbers on the grid.

Patrick Huston pointed out that several 1800s had opted for a second race when given the chance of racing with the 2000s, effectively doubling their racing. Simon Davey said that this was financially beneficial to both the competitor (MSA fees are paid once per meeting), and the club.

The board confirmed the eligibility of the Speads RM08, and the Empire (TFR09).

Following the unfortunate competition debut of the Empire, the directors discussed the club's liability when they approved a design. They decided that when approving a design, the directors were confirming its eligibility for one of our classes, the MSA scrutineers were responsible for accessing a design's integrity and their approval judged a car safe to race.

David Cox reviewed the circumstances that lead to the circulation of Technical Bulletin 0901. When FF1800 regulations were obtained (dated 2005 but with tracked changes back to 2000), it was found that paragraph 5.4 refers to the exhaust system & includes the cast manifold. Thus when MRC's regulation 5.7.5 states: Exhaust System: Free, it substitutes for FF1800 paragraph 5.4, and our members are entitled to fit tubular exhaust manifolds. Clarification will be issued to the relevant membership a.s.a.p.. As Chairman of the Technical Committee, David Cox apologised to the Mono1800 representative, and undertook to write individual letters of apology to relevant Mono1800 members. Simon Davey has now issued Technical Bulletin 0902, to clarify the situation.

Patrick Huston raised the legality of Mono1800s racing as Mono2000s. This year's regulations permit the 1800s to participate if ballasted up to the Mono2000 limit, his belief was that few, if any, carried the requisite ballast. Directors approved of the benefits to competitors, and the club but required that the regulations be enforced. Douglas McLay stated that effectively this group were having a non championship1800 race. Patrick Huston pondered on introducing a 'Formula Libre' component to Mono2000 races, if Mono2000 numbers remained low.

The club’s websites were debated, the evidence is that all sites were 'fit for purpose' and well read by members and others.

Simon Davey is working towards ' online entry payment' for race entries (SD demonstrated the progress that he has made in this direction at the end of the meeting). Online entry payment will require tighter integration between the Club Administrator and the website

David Parkinson raised the problem, already aired on the Forum, of identifying those using 'nicknames' on the Forum. He thought that not knowing the author of an entry detracted from the discussion, and could cause incorrect identification of an author. Nick Harrison suggested that a system be introduced that inserted the real name of the author into the identification panel that accompanies an entry. Nick Harrison also asked how an individual could de-register from the Forum.

The Treasurer's reported that entries were budgetted at 3.5 per race fewer than last year, which gives a £3k budgeted loss. It increases by £1,400 for each reduction of 1 car on average entries. However, after writing the budget the meeting at Croft has become a MRC risk event with the potential to make a profit, and the Donington Park meeting was now looking secure. David Parkinson suggested that the club’s cash flow situation would be aided if we enabled competitors to make a block entry at the start of the season.

The Club Administrator reported a 10% reduction in membership when this year's figures are compared with 2008. The majority of the loss has been in Mono2000 Classic class with Mono1600 and Mono1800 showing gains. He intended to research the missing cars by writing to those who raced Mono2000 Classic in 2008, and have not registered as competitors in 2009. The Club Administrator as also researching member’s requirements for club merchandise.

In addition to the TRC magazine sponsorship arrangement, two 'Driver of the Day’ sponsors have been agreed, these are: Aztec Motorsport for Mono1800/1600/1400/1000, and Super Clutch for Mono2000/Classic 2000/Formula 2000.

Financial figures were presented for the AGM/ Prize Giving Dinner. Mary Cox (and her team) had very kindly organised the event after the formal conclusion of her role as Club Administrator. Mary had not charged for her work and thus the profit made by this event was her parting present to the club. Thanks are due to Mary Cox (and her team).

In A.O.B., Russ Giles was concerned that some results sheets had both been inconsistent and anomalous when cars had retired. Once these sheets had become official (and counted retirements as finishers) they would cause problems with championship tables. Tony Cotton pointed out that once results were finalised they were official. In his roll as Paddock Co-ordinator, Simon Davey requested that anomalies be referred to him promptly.

Patrick Huston
Club Secretary
12/05/09

Incomprehensible track map of the new Donington. We'll be on the old, but click to see where the F1 boys may be racing in 2010. Surprisingly, a map of Moscow/Dehli GP circuit will not open.

Speads RM08

Most Zetec exhausts look a bit more presentable than this example taken off the net.

What's happened to the Mono Classics this year?

Some potential 2 litres have stayed parked up.

Card and Tshirt from "zazzle.com". Treasurer considering budget may not agree.