A Championship by any other name...

[Keith Wheeler]

So how is the MSA Race Championship Control Panel getting on in it's deliberations?.........

At it's meeting last week it received 121 applications for Championship permits, but rejected 20.
Sounds as if they are taking this seriously........

11 championships have been 'yellow carded' and now have 12 months to get more cars on the grid, or face having their championship permits removed.
All good stuff so far..................

Grant Stewart, Chief Exec of the BRSCC reported a positive attitude amongst the Panel members.
I can't believe I'm reading this...............

Grant said that those (championships) that had permits refused could amalgamate with other similar championships, OR RUN AS A SERIES RATHER THAN A CHAMPIONSHIP

Ah, so that means that all those poorly supported championships that are providing half-full grids, non-races, and cluttering up the race tracks of the country will be able to continue to do so, just so that the organising clubs can continue to extract their pound of flesh from every possible competitor.

Please feel to discuss, while I bash my head repeatedly against this wall...........

[Peter Mallett]

I'd like to see which championships have been yellow carded and which one's were rejected before making a comment on this one.

[greenamex2]

Aha Baldrick (OK, Keith Wheeler) you have spotted the one small flaw in Black Adder's (OK the MSA's) cunning plan.

It really comes down to whether people ACTUALLY CARE whether they run in a 'championship' or not, and whether the organising clubs and circuits ACTUALLY CARE whether the racing at their circuits or on their calenders is a 'championship' or not.

I suspect not.

Given the grief in being a championship I wonder whether it is really worth the effort. There are several series that have gone 'non-championship' voluntarily and seem to be doing very well. I'll bet somebody somewhere is still keeping a 'series points table' etc etc.

If the MSA is serious then it really needs to 'influence' non-championship series. Or is it just happy to be seen to be doing something?

[Peter Mallett]

Well I believe the Top Hat and Flat Cap series are er, series? And therefore non-championship. They seem to get good events and good support. I sometimes wish Julius would get something going for cars like my Capri.

[DSM]

We run in Formula Honda. It's officially a series, since being demoted at the beginning of last year due to low entries in 2001.
We all (the competitors) refer to it, to our followers and ouselves, as a 'Championship'. To us it is and we don't really care how the MSA see it.
I can honestly say it doen't feel any different to race in a 'series' as opposed to a 'Championship' and we don't feel that the MSA treats us with less respect now that we are no longer 'sanctioned' by them. There was never an indication of any interest anyway!
This year we've had grids of at last 17 and up to 25 cars. It will be interesting to see if the MSA return our 'Championship Status' and also what happens to Zip-Ford, who have struggled to get double figure entries.

[DSM]

I meant 'at least 17....'

[greenamex2]

God only knows how Formula Zip got in on the bottom rung of the 'cossetted' championships. Money talks I guess.

[vaughan jones]

I dont get it,does it mean that the four Focus drivers can run as a series and not a championship next year?

[Keith Wheeler]

Yes, if they can continue to be hosted by an organising club. I believe they are with the BRSCC at present.

[Bob Pearson]

In other words, it is a typical political smoke and mirrors job and nothing will be any different and Zip will continue to run with only 12 cars because the promised apended bull **** will never alter the fact that the cars aren't as good as those in the championships. or series which are in compoetition with it.

[james tucker]

Hi series supporters
as Britcar/Britsports coordinator and the man who conceived the idea of
putting defunked CHAMPIONSHIPS together in 1991
in the form of the Super Coupe Cup....I more than most
realised that club racing needed Championship cars, which had been professionaly manufactured by manufacturers such as Honda and VW or Renault...
Seat may not be able to support their Championship for
more than 3-4 years, but when they are sold at a fraction of the cost to club racers ,Britcar and the Super Coupe
will use them...it is a natural progression...
the MSA has to be seen to be doing something and from
forums such as this one and by the Marchalls who have been leaving the sport because they are fed up with small grids
and boring races, they at last had no choice but to act....
see you all at Snett 2nd aug Britcar 4 hr... that wont be
boring.......
sportingly
james

[vtti]

Have to disagree with you there James the 3 Britcar races I have seen have been boring I might as well have been watching general testing. The grids might be getting respectable but you need more higher power cars, Fiesta's,Protons and the like are not very exciting.
However the grid numbers shows that you are doing something right for the drivers however most endurance racing is boring to watch, can't please everyone.