| 51st Annual General
Meeting -20th February 2010
Before official business started, David Cox paid tribute to the
club's late Vice President, Alan Putt, who died recently. The assembled
directors and club members paid their respects by standing for one minute's
silence.
1. Introduction of President, Officers and Executives
When the Chairman, Nick Harrison introduced the board to the meeting,
he announced the retirement from the Board of Peter Whitmore and Stephen
Brooks.
The Chairman paid tribute to the work done by Peter Whitmore in organising
the excellent 2010 racing calendar, for his contribution to the development
of the motorcycle engined classes, and for administrative duties at the
circuits. Stephen Brooks was thanked for the construction and maintenance
of the current Club Website and Forum.
2. Minutes of 2009 Annual General Meeting The 2009 A.G.M. Minutes
were approved.
3. Report on Club’s activity during 2009 The Secretary,
with the Club Administrator's assistance, presented a report on the Club's
activities during 2009. The following points were made:
Overview:
• A successful 51st year for the MRC.
• Membership maintained with large grids (full at some circuits).
• Eleven directors on the Board.
• Directors held six meetings during 2009.
• Board established a sub-committee structure:
Race.
Technical.
Website/Startline.
Publicity/Social.
Douglas McLay on MSA Committee, until his rotational retirement.
Simon Davey succeeded Mary Cox as Club Administrator.
Events:
Mono Championship:
• ‘Headline sponsorship’ by Track and Race Car Magazine.
• Driver of the Day trophies sponsored by Aztec Motorsport and Super
Clutch..
• A Championship of 7 meetings with 12 rounds.
• 9 rounds with CSCC, 2 with DDMC and 1 with BRSCC.
• BRSCC Donington round postponed and successfully reinstated.
• MRC's club administrator managed the finance of entries except
BRSCC Donington.
Non-championship Races
• 2 meetings, 3 races.
• MRC invited by the organising Clubs: MSCC, AMOC.
Social
• Barbeque at the Mallory Park championship meeting.
• Annual Awards and Dinner Dance at Tewkesbury Park Hotel.
PR
• Stand at Race Retro Show, Stoneleigh.
Key Numbers
• Membership numbers similar to 2008 (119 cf. 121).
• Guest membership numbers increase (28 cf. 19).
• Increased average entry numbers maintained (45.4 cf. 46.8).
• Mono1800 becomes the most numerous class (21).
• Average surplus per meeting £875.
Looking towards the 2010 Season.
• Currently there are no sponsors for the 'Driver of the Day' trophies.
(Potential sponsors please email any board member.)
• DDMC pricing for the Croft round will not be so advantageous to
MRC in 2010 as it was in 2009.
• The MRC will not financially underwrite non-championship rounds
(with the exception of Silverstone GP).
• Headline sponsorship by Track and Race Car Magazine has ceased
because the magazine is no longer published.
• MRC will have a stand at the Stoneleigh Show.
• To date, ten new members have joined the club. Each member who
races a whole season contributes £3000 to the club's cash flow.
4. Presentation of Financial Report for 2009. The Treasurer
presented the financial report. Important points:
• The appearance of the accounts has changed as the MRC takes all
entry fees and all race costs.
• A surplus of £2564 on race meetings.
• Reduced income from subscription
• The Dinner Dance had higher income and costs.
• The MRC made some cost savings compared with the previous year.
• There were no '50th year' costs in 2009,
• The surplus has become cash reserves.
• Cash reserves allow us to price aggressively with low entry fees.
5. Retirements and re-election of Board Member
Rotational retirements: A, J, Baggott, A. C. Cotton, and D. McLay.
All of the retired were re-elected.
6. Re-election to executive roles:
Retiree Patrick Huston was re-elected as Club Secretary.
Retiree Tony Cotton was re-elected as Club Treasurer.
Retiree Nick Harrison was re-elected as Club Chairman. (Patrick Huston
took the chair for this item).
7. Confirmation of Honorary Club Officers
The Honorary Vice President Officers for 2010.
Confirmed as: David Cox, Peter Healey, and Suzy Livingstone.
8. The payment of expenses to directors for the coming
year was approved. (Note: all directors have indicated that it is their
intention to donate such expenses to the general funds of the club).
9. Any Other Business - none
The meeting was closed at 1515hrs.
P. J. Huston, Secretary
23 February 2010.
Post AGM Discussion.
Most topics for discussion were submitted before the meeting.
Should drivers with guest membership be awarded championship
points?
It seems unfair to regular competitors that they lose points to less
committed guest members, Guests should be eligible for the trophies awarded
at meetings but not championship points. Rupert Reader.
Geoff Pashley suggested that guest drivers not be awarded points but
have them allocated if and when the guest driver becomes a full member.
But Simon Davey pointed out that the MRC is constrained by the MSA's regulations,
results are published on the day of the race meeting, points are allocated
and are finalised within a week.
Richard Purcell suggested that each fully paid up MRC competitor be allocated
100 points at the start of the season, it was thought that this proposition
could have merit, and deserved further consideration.
Ian Hughes thought that guest drivers had paid to race and were entitled
to race regardless of their effect on the championship tables. Patrick
Huston expanded this point by stating that only about 25% of the membership
participated in enough rounds to compete for a championship, but all could
have an effect the points tables.
Nick Harrison stated that the system of points allocation for 2010 was
decided and impossible to change. Directors have debated this issue recently
and would re-examine it.
Should the MRC publish the fastest lap records achieved by a
monoposto specification car?
Changes in the names of various classes have resulted in lap records,
that are held by cars of identical specification being disregarded. On
occasion this gives an unrealistic view of the speed of a Monoposto specification
car. Jim Blockley.
Amanda Whitaker's Mono 2 litre record at the Silverstone National Circuit
was given as an example, others gave the more recent change from the Mono1200
classes to Mono1000.
There was general approval of this idea, but the problems with modifications
to circuits and changed specifications of cars rendered the task of making
truly comparable records difficult. A additional problem was finding the
time to collect and collate information from the past. Simon Davey suggested
an ultimate Monoposto lap record list. Patrick Huston suggested an article
in 'Startline' and offered to write such an article if interested members
provided the raw information.
When qualifying should faster classes be released onto a circuit
10s earlier than slower classes? Initially the classes would have a clear
circuit, The speed difference between classes is a safety issue.
Lou Watts
Andrew Cliffe and Geoff Pashley considered the proposal would decrease
safety because the slower cars with cold tyres and brakes would be released
into the path of faster cars as they brought their brakes and tyres to
working temperature. The problem would be greatest at short circuits e.g.
Mallory Park.
Jim Blockley observed that, during qualification, the situation usually
settled down after a few laps.
Richard Purcell thought that problems would decrease if qualifying session
were 5 minutes longer. Simon Davey pointed out that we purchased track
time by the minute.
The debate moved on. Geoff Fern raised the topic of increasing
the number of races by having one qualifying session for several races.
Jim Blockley illustrated how a similar system is used in Club F3. David
Parkinson thought that this was not for the majority, and raised the unattractive
proposition of having qualifying and a race on Saturday, and then having
to wait for a late race on Sunday. Sara Hughes pointed out that this could
not work if one car was shared between two drivers. Geoff Pashley thought
that problems with traffic congestion when travelling to a meeting made
the Club F3 system less attractive than it first appeared. Andrew Cliffe
said that the current system allowed for religious observance in that
drivers could choose to race on either Saturday or Sunday.
David Cox thought that the majority view should be respected as it would
maximise numbers on the grid. Simon Davey stated that the further one
deviated from the standard pattern, the more difficult the negotiations
with race organisers.
Tony Cotton stated that he considered our entries to be cost sensitive
and that £300 represented a psychological barrier as the entry fee
for a double header meeting.
Should the MRC make provision for standard classes, e.g. FF
Zetec? Simon Davey
Ian Hughes did not find this proposition attractive, as he enjoys modifying
his cars.
Peter Beasley saw no problem with running standard cars such as his Mono1600
Formula Renault.
Peter Venn thought that offering a cup instead of a championship suitable
if a dozen cars raced to standard specification, but not appropriate,
if numbers are small.*
Simon Davey raised the topic of regarding the standard cars as an additional
class. David Cox wished the club to work towards fewer classes but conceded
that, in the past, the MRC has nurtured other classes, such as Historic
F3, which have ultimately become independent. Andrew Cliffe observed that
with six existing championships, a cup would be more suitable for standard
cars.
The discussion moved onto the topic of a Novice Cup awarded on a points
system. Geoff Pashley, Sara Hughes and David Cox approved of this idea.
Peter Venn noted that some BMW Championships have such a cup.
*Editors note. This topic reflects the MRC’s attempts to
accommodate a group of competitors racing unmodified FFZetecs. Latest
information is that this group has chosen to race with a number of clubs,
including MRC, using their own points system to compete for a cup.
Paddock Space Lenny Coleman raised the problem
of sufficient paddock space for competitors. Nick Harrison stated that
MSVR included allocated paddock space as part of their package. Simon
Davey requested that competitors co-operate to maximise efficient use
of the paddock space allocated.
Retirement of Directors Richard Purcell enquired
as to the reason(s) for the retirement of Stephen Brooks and Peter Whitmore
from the Board of Directors. Nick Harrison stated that the retirements
were for personal reasons, both drivers wished the club well, and intended
to race their 2010 season with the club.
Patrick Huston
1/03/10
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Director
Sarah Harvey-Fern and Kat Impey. We have no idea why this picture was
chosen over one of the other directors with any other prizewinner...........