Future of British motorsport

[Al Weyman]

How would you get a doctor to do that. I cant see clubs or the MSA having a resident doctor and to be honest if I had to take time off to go over to the MSA for a medical (can you imagine the logistics them trying to organise this with appointments and all) it would cost me a lot more than the £85 to my doctor.

[MGDavid]

another point I've not seen mentioned is that we have two generations (at least) who have suffered trendy teaching and have never been exposed to competitive sport - that's why said youngsters are not overtly competitive. The institutionalised attitude of the MSA/MSC doesn't help - they are where rugby union was twenty years ago, run by 'old farts in blazers' (thanks Will Carling).

[johnw]

The MSA is not a democracy, so there's little IMO to be done there.

The Organising clubs are run for their members if we are to believe the blurb, so BARC members get yourselves along to the AGM where you can at least vote in a racer or marshal to replace a blazer.

If you feel that a postal or email vote would be preferable, write to or mail Dennis Carter and tell him so.

[Al Weyman]

To vote someone in first someone needs to be found that will dedicate the time to the job, then they need to be proposed and I am certain all candidates would have to be in well before the AGM, so how do you crack that one and is there anyone who actually wants to do the job, if so maybe they can put themselves forward. Also do certain employees of the clubs put their jobs on the line at the AGM, i.e. if not voted in they are shown the door. I personaly would not want to vote someone out of a job unless he/she was doing it really badly. Maybe policy change is the best way forward or just proposing some good ideas. Personally an immediate 50% cut in 2005 entry fees will do if for me but it aint gonna happen! :-)

[johnw]

No Al, you just vote for the BARC council members.
Unpaid positions, so nobody is put on the bread line.
See your PM's
HNY
John

[Peter Wardle]

I've been reading this thread with a good deal of interest and a lot of respect for the contributors and the ideas being put forward.
Motor racing at any level is a fascinating and challenging sport for the competitors, but so very few people know about it. Even when I started it was something other people did and I watched, luckily at a time when even club events were pretty spectacular, so I lived like a hermit for two years and saved up for a Lotus 7 and started racing with a couple of friends helping.
Unfortunately motorsport these days has got hugely expensive just at a time when most of it has got so technical that - at the promoted events - there is precious little real racing going on, and at club events no promotion, so potential spectators or competitors are either bored or in ignorance respectively. Not exactly ideal for bringing new blood into our sport at a time when other attractions dominate attention.
This is not an easy problem to solve and there are those work tirelessly within the sport, usually for a pittance or part time, who have become seriously concerned that, if something isnt done, there may not be motor racing at all within ten years as cost and the environmental lobby finally win.
In the end its all about money. At any level money talks and if the sport isnt generating outside income at some level then there arent enough committed enthusiast to justify keeping the tracks open. Less tracks = less racing however you look at it.
This is one reason why we've set out to provide a new spectacular top level of single seater racing which not only appeals to spectators but also to sponsors in an entirely new way, and will have an interesting ripple effect right through the sport once its established with unprecedented levels of public awareness promotion, not to enthusiasts, but to a significant propotion of the 50 million people in the UK who know nothing about our sport. (I gather there are people in Darlington who think Croft closed years ago!).
Anyone who gets involved in a sport, even initially just for fun, like to feel that if they're any good then there's a chance that they can aspire to higher levels, and, ultimately, perhaps turn professional like in other sports and the entertainment industries.
With the higher levels costing impossible sums of money with effectively zero return this can't give any hope, that's why we have gone back to first principles and created something with The Challenge Series which may finally make this a reachable proposition for almost anyone with talent and the necessary commitment.
It wont be for the lack of trying...
Peter
The Challenge Series.

[R59]

Thank you for those words Peter.

I was talking to an old Croft lap record holder (Trevor Scarrett - Monoposto - 1970's) who also wasn't aware that the circuit was back in the land of the living!

So when will the Challenge Series finally get off the ground?

Rob.

[johnw]

Last time I was at Croft, I went to Darlington and it was closed

Look forward to reading more about your series Peter.

[Ian Sowman]

It is well worth reading the interview with Alan Gow in today's Motorsport News.

[johnw]

Any chance of an extract or the whole thing Ian, as I'm 10000 miles from WHS

[Ian Sowman]

I'd better not, copyright and all that... I might post a few quotes later if I remember.

[ss_collins]

give a clue ian my copy has again vanished into the ether

[R59]

In simplicity, everything in the garden is far from rosy, and he needs to get to grips with it, and is willing to talk/listen to people from the ground upwards.

Originally Posted by ss_collins

give a clue ian my copy has again vanished into the ether

Or is that into the fireplace?

Rob.

[johnw]

Thanks Rob
Anyone have his email address?

[Ian Sowman]

He's asked for any comments in the post:

Motor Sports Association, Motor Sports House, Riverside Park, Colnbrook, SL3 0HG

And he wants to know what the MSA are doing right, not just wrong. Matt James asked for views on Gow's comments on the MN forums - sadly it seems as if nobody has taken him up on the offer.

[ss_collins]

Gow also says he thinks its a good efficient business (Its not!) he wants to indtroduce credit card licences (extra cost why?) and he openly admits that he has no knowledge of clubsport (but does point out that others do not either). Going to regional association meetings is something Hilton has done before and made precisely no impact on him whatsoever. I'm getting the feeling we will have a slightly more proactive version of what we already have - crap in other words.

Anyone who wants to see real change for the better send my journal entry to them - if Gow takes it on board he might just make it or some of it happen.

[Ian Sowman]

Why should they send your journal and not their own thoughts? If 100 people sent exactly the same thing it would be much more likely to go in the bin than 100 pieces of free thinking IMO.

[Piglet]

Originally Posted by ss_collins

he wants to indtroduce credit card licences (extra cost why?)

I have to confess I haven't waded through this thread or your journal.

On the subject of race licences as Secretary of the Meeting I find that the existing race licences are very poor on a number of fronts (even ignoring the ones that the printing comes off of!).

There are numerous ways of using the current licences fraudulently - I won't list these for obvious reasons!! As Secretary it's my head on the block if I sign on a competitor with an invalid licence and if that competitor is injured the court case will run for a while and I will have to justify my actions.

Couple that with a lack of date of birth making it virtually impossible to identify under 18's who need a parent/legal guardian's signature.

I and I'm sure my colleagues would welcome a better licence that is less easy to forge and less open to fraudulent use.

[R59]

You mean I won't be able to sign on as A.Prost anymore then?

Seriously, I know what you're saying. Anyone with a decent scanner and printer could make their own "International C" licence. Far too easy to counterfeit.

I wonder whether we'd be better having a 5 or 10 year licence, like a passport, with pages where the licence is validated annually by the MSA, with the medical page, endorsements, etc...
When someone signs on at the first race of the season, they have a clean shiny licence don't they? What if they had picked some endorsements the previous year for driving like a BTCC idiot? You wouldn't know, or be able to alert the CofC or observers to keep a beady eye on him/her.???

Rob.

[ss_collins]

Snowman - because its a cohesive / constructive suggestion for change, theres nowt to stop people sending thier own thoughts but will they? probably not - give people a cause or a corner to fight then you might see change. 100 copies of the same thing with supporting additions - unlikely to see the round file 100 totally different ideas without structure then nothing will be done.

Racing59 thats a brilliant idea. I'd like to see that introduced - a log book for drivers so to speak.

Where do you collect signatures / endorsements / injuries on a credit card a) using some spooky computer (so every club must buy one?) or b) on a piece of paper - rather like the one we already have...

[Ian Sowman]

The implication is though, Sam, that everyone would agree with your blueprint for change... and while many (most) people see the need for change, not everyone would think that all or any part of yours is the best way. If your journal was more concise and slightly more general it would probably be more appropriate for the purpose you suggest.

[ss_collins]

see your point snowy

do people want a more concise version - if yes I'll do one. I'll be speaking to the MSA at the show