Snetterton Summer Races 27 July 2013 and beyond

[acadvent]

Hi!

This is real last minute stuff but did you know that there is a race meeting at Snetterton 300 on Saturday which features a 20 minute qualifying and two 20 minute races all for the entry fee of £99.00!

I think MSVR will take entries tomorrow so if you have a car ready to go it seems a really good deal, too good to miss??!!

As a local resident and visitor to Snetterton for Track Days and race meetings I have long held the view that there should be a local race series, similar to Castle Combe's Sports and Saloons but aimed at East Anglia and the East Midlands.

A "Run What You Brung" type thing (as long as it meets MSA approval), maybe four or five one day events through the season?

One of the aims to get some of those cars that only gather dust out to race and to keep costs to a minimum, my car included!

Do you think there would be any support for this idea, maybe with Cadwell as an away race?

The series could be open to any sports and saloon cars but with sensible class awards to keep everyone motivated!

The same could apply to Single Seaters too?

Let me know what you think as having mentioned it to a few people there could be some interest and it may be worth thinking about for 2014?

acadvent

[vjay48]

In the eighties i raced at snetterton in a race series called the archie scott brown races,for saloons and sports cars,split into 4 classes based on practice times,20 -25 cars nearly all locals,from sports 2000 cars to renault5s. Great fun.

[terence]

Msv feeling the pinch or using some one else's idea?

[Al Weyman]

Well if they are they are to be commended for doing something about it instead of just putting up fees year on year like some clubs are. Its too last minute for me and i am committed to a meeting the following weekend or i would have some, any idea if any more planned?

[R59]

Open saloons/gts and Formula Libre - bring it on!
Now get the public through the gate to watch it, and if you get enough punters, you can offset the earnings from that to reduce the entry fee.... and *shock horror* pay prize/finish money!

[nsscc35]

If i had known sooner i would have raced,snetty is a great cicuit and the facilities also very good.

maybe msv should do a race news letter for one offs or put out there to all club racers the option of a new saloons series.

[acadvent]

Hi!

I have been thinking further about the race idea and I am sure we all know people with cars that don't see the light of day and if they are anything like me the first excuse is always "Its too expensive" and I haven't got the money!

Racing is never going to be cheap but there are possibly ways to make it cheaper and cutting down on travelling must be one area these days, hence the idea of a local series.

Aiming at Club events rather than trying to get onto someone's package must be a more economic way forward and accepting that if you want to go and race to have some fun a few times a year you really don't need TV and all that stuff will save a load more.

Keeping events to one day saves overnight camping/hotels and economises on the costs of mechanical support, for example.

A series like this would rely on finding slots in club race meetings in the year so if there is a positive feed back to this over the next few weeks it could be a good plan for 2014.

I really like the class structure based on qualifying times, I guess you have to make sure people don't "sand bag" but there would be ways to deal with that.

That system also saves having to have people trailing off to Rolling Roads to get power tests carried out as well.

I would guess that Snetterton and Cadwell Park will offer a more cost effective track solution than some other circuits and if pitched correctly a combination of Snetterton 200, 300 and Cadwell would provide something for everyone.

If there is enough interest in would be good to take all this a few stages further!

Please let me know your thoughts?

acadvent

[acadvent]

Hi!

I have gone back to MSVR to ask the question.

Perhaps if this weekend goes well they may be tempted to repeat the process.

I guess we will know more after the weekend.

I think the MSVT Track Day Trophy is full so I would guess that there will be some interest at Snetterton from those that didn't get an entry at Brands, perhaps?

Fingers crossed that it goes well because that could be the catalyst for the local series idea.

acadvent

[gt917]

I would have liked doing it because i only live ten minutes away, it would be cheap to do and give me extra left over money for some more expensive meetings coming up, and its supporting MSV and Snetterton.

Guess what ... i HAVE to attend a family wedding this weekend and it,s
only in ..... wait for it

THETFORD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and i,m missing the Classic as well)

[juliann]

Originally Posted by acadvent

One of the aims to get some of those cars that only gather dust out to race and to keep costs to a minimum, my car included!

So are you in the Saloons on Saturday then ?

[mr2]

what a great idea....only problem is i only found out about it this morning and is too late for me to participate.....have e-mailed msv to keep me posted about any further events but have yet to receive a reply....really would love to get involved in racing at a more affordable price and can enter two mr2s and if a single seater event was organised one maybe two zetec formula fords....please keep us informed of any future races

[Alfaholic]

It would seem that MSVR didn't get the message about this meeting out very well. I was thinking about popping up (as a spectator with an MSVR season ticket), but a quick look a the entry list last night meant I didn't bother...

13 Radicals
9 Saloons
13 Sports Cars
8 F. Vees

And this on the 300 circuit as well! The idea was a good one - with not much else on this weekend apart from the Silverstone Classic and the F4s at Brands it could have been the ideal opportunity for a bit of fun, non championship racing for the club racer.

So what went wrong - was it the lack of promotion for the meeting, were the entry fees too high or did everybody just want a break?

[Al Weyman]

Maybe they just didnt want to race against Radicals!

[kipper]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Maybe they just didnt want to race against Radicals!

The Radicals were in a separate (two hour) race.

[Al Weyman]

Sorry yes it was a bit obvious, too much vino when posted! The moral of the tale must be more notice required.

[R59]

those are better numbers than most BRSCC championships - with a bit more notice, it could have been much much better.

Originally Posted by Alfaholic

It would seem that MSVR didn't get the message about this meeting out very well. I was thinking about popping up (as a spectator with an MSVR season ticket), but a quick look a the entry list last night meant I didn't bother...

13 Radicals
9 Saloons
13 Sports Cars
8 F. Vees

And this on the 300 circuit as well! The idea was a good one - with not much else on this weekend apart from the Silverstone Classic and the F4s at Brands it could have been the ideal opportunity for a bit of fun, non championship racing for the club racer.

So what went wrong - was it the lack of promotion for the meeting, were the entry fees too high or did everybody just want a break?

[vjay48]

It never ceases to amaze me,as soon as a good idea appears a profit of doom appears,the reason that classes could be decided on race day was so organisers did not need reams of paperwork and specs of cars etc.A simple reg could state that drivers who excede their practice time by XYZ are removed from the results. Its supposed to be fun guys,remember that? Keep it simple would help to keep entry fees down.!!! Racing for £100 is a good idea.

[diz]

Originally Posted by acadvent

Hi!

I have been thinking further about the race idea and I am sure we all know people with cars that don't see the light of day and if they are anything like me the first excuse is always "Its too expensive" and I haven't got the money!

Racing is never going to be cheap but there are possibly ways to make it cheaper and cutting down on travelling must be one area these days, hence the idea of a local series.

Aiming at Club events rather than trying to get onto someone's package must be a more economic way forward and accepting that if you want to go and race to have some fun a few times a year you really don't need TV and all that stuff will save a load more.

Keeping events to one day saves overnight camping/hotels and economises on the costs of mechanical support, for example.

A series like this would rely on finding slots in club race meetings in the year so if there is a positive feed back to this over the next few weeks it could be a good plan for 2014.

I really like the class structure based on qualifying times, I guess you have to make sure people don't "sand bag" but there would be ways to deal with that.

That system also saves having to have people trailing off to Rolling Roads to get power tests carried out as well.

I would guess that Snetterton and Cadwell Park will offer a more cost effective track solution than some other circuits and if pitched correctly a combination of Snetterton 200, 300 and Cadwell would provide something for everyone.

If there is enough interest in would be good to take all this a few stages further!

Please let me know your thoughts?

acadvent

Andrew
As you know, I have been promoting this idea at Anglesey every Winter since 2004 - and you have travelled up to some of them -with various amounts of support from competitors.
Some years we have had over 60 Sports and Saloon Cars - from Historic Imps to Radicals and split the grid at "my guesstimate of faster and slower groups"
Add in 30 "Caterham Type Cars" and it is basically Run what you Brung, or Closed Wheel Libre, or call it what you will.

Some years we have amassed mid teens of drivers down from Scotland and numerous drivers up from the South East and South West of our fair island.

The regulations are quite simple. If it is a saloon or sports car that will pass scrutineering, then it is in.

The meeting format is qually and two races for half the normal entry fee.
The previous day offers a half price test day.

This year pencil Sat 30 Nov (Test Day) and Sun 1 Dec (Race Day) in your diary.
Organisation is in the hands of BRSCC (and I won't give R59 the satisfaction of a response)

[R59]

What's wrong Diz? I know you run a great event in this vein (pretty well run what ya brung!) [and I have to admit that the BRSCC do run a meeting very well even if their championships are often very poorly supported]

My comment was more towards the person who stated that there weren't many cars out there so he didn't bother going. Looking at one of the previous BRSCC meetings, other than the Caterhams which are BRSCC permit but run/controlled by Caterham, the entries were in the region of 6-8 cars per race.

Had I known about this meeting previously (and not had a car in bits), it's the kind of thing I'd have supported - it's local, it's cheap, it'll be a bit of fun - that last bit is why we do it isn't it?

I hope there are more of them in the future, and I find out about them in good time, rather than too late to do anything.

[mr2]

morning everyone....i too only found out about this meeting on here friday morning and had too little time to get organised to compete but i did go along to see what it was all about.....spoke to david from msv and he told me that the meeting was organised at the last minute and an e-mail was sent to people who had tested at snett recently.....told him that if more people had know the grids would have been a bit larger and have sent him an e-mail this morning to be added to the list should future meeting be organised so it would probably be a good thing to get added to this list if you are interested in future events....the racing was very laid back and enjoyable to watch and i think that everyone had a great time from what i could see....even had champers and trophies for each race!!!!!!!!!!!....whilst talking to him he hinted that if any other races were organised the price would be more and i told him that i thought there were many other racers like myself who just wanted a fun days racing at a local circuit for a reasonable cost just to get out there rather than watch our cars gathering dust not being used.....so it is down to all of us to get in touch with msv and let them know how we feel about things and who knows one day it could end up happening

[Terry Scannell]

Having been invited by MSVR to act as CoC for the invitation F Vee, Sports Car & separate Saloon Car races at this meeting, I would certainly wish to thank all those competitors that did attend for a brilliant days "Club" racing in the true spirit of the sport.

The camaraderie and very positive atmosphere and good humour around the various classes was superb throughout the day and the general comments received were most stating what a good day it was from being the opportunity to get some low cost race mileage to being able to have some real club racing without the pressure of worrying about Championship points etc.

With it being a one day event it also takes away the financial pressure of finding / providing accommodation with the added costs involved.

I would agree that with a little bit more prior notice it would certainly have attracted more competitors, indeed many of those present asked if it would be possible to organise further such events if the opportunities should arise within meeting timetables.

Terry

[edmsport]

It seems, not many people knew about it. I heard about it from a fellow racer. Entered one car on Monday and another on Thursday for the Saloons. It was a great opportunity to learn the 300 circuit, test upgrades on one car and shakedown the other which was a new build, all for £99ea! Cap, Cup & Bubbly made it even better value

[Al Weyman]

How does one register an interest.

A suggestion. Why don't this site put up a special forum for organisers to post up any last minute bargain races like this. It could have some sort of rule like only acceptable for notification of race entries that are say a genuine 50% discount from the average similar event?

[diz]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

A suggestion. Why don't this site put up a special forum for organisers to post up any last minute bargain races like this. It could have some sort of rule like only acceptable for notification of race entries that are say a genuine 50% discount from the average similar event?

That won't happen, but if it did it wouldn't get the traffic to spread the word.

Let's say that the average site visitor only looks at their own "bit of interest" forum.
E.g. a Formula Ford driver only looks at the Formula Ford sub forum. They wouldn't look at Club Single Seaters.
Similarly a Historic bod only looks at the Historic forum.
A National and Club person wouldn't look at any of the above.
Marshals stick to their own bit and speccies stay in Trackside.
OK, so a few of us look elsewhere, but not many.

Now if someone like me wanted to "plug" this type of meeting, the ideal scenario would be to run a duplicate new thread in about half a dozen separate forums to capture as many interested parties as possible.
Not a problem a sensible person would think, but just try it and you will get a whole lot of admin and moderator types issuing warnings, threats of forum suspension, etc., for the heinious crime of (I believe it is called) trolling. Or hijacking another thread, even if the basic subject matter is the same, just the venue is different.

[R59]

Originally Posted by diz

That won't happen, but if it did it wouldn't get the traffic to spread the word.

Let's say that the average site visitor only looks at their own "bit of interest" forum.
E.g. a Formula Ford driver only looks at the Formula Ford sub forum. They wouldn't look at Club Single Seaters.
Similarly a Historic bod only looks at the Historic forum.
A National and Club person wouldn't look at any of the above.
Marshals stick to their own bit and speccies stay in Trackside.
OK, so a few of us look elsewhere, but not many.

Now if someone like me wanted to "plug" this type of meeting, the ideal scenario would be to run a duplicate new thread in about half a dozen separate forums to capture as many interested parties as possible.
Not a problem a sensible person would think, but just try it and you will get a whole lot of admin and moderator types issuing warnings, threats of forum suspension, etc., for the heinious crime of (I believe it is called) trolling. Or hijacking another thread, even if the basic subject matter is the same, just the venue is different.

Then one should get the EvilPumpkin to do it for you!! (that'd work). Al knows what you mean when you get threads deleted for "trolling/advertising" etc...

I'm on JP's mailing list for events at MSVR venues, perhaps they could use that medium to put the word on the streeds?!?