Minutes of Driver's meeting, Silverstone 2009

HSCC Meeting 17th October, 2009             Held at Silverstone

The meeting started at 11.34am.

1. Apologies: Duncan Rabagliati, Keith Messer, Steve Wilkinson, Anthony Ross.

2. Minutes: The 2008 Minutes was passed. Approval was proposed by Geoffrey Laycock and seconded by Mike Scott.

3. Matters Arising from the minutes: The renaming of the classes makes them easier to understand. There had been a lengthy debate on weights in the classes last year so this was not revisited. Formula Ford unchanged. There is a new class of F1 up to 1500cc, years 1961-66 with V8 engines. Weight tickets are needed for the participating cars in each class, but the Regulations remain as they are, with no driver-adjustable brake balance bars, etc.

4. How the year has gone: Last year we were aware of the recession. Did it have an impact? Not noticeably. It was another good year for Classic Racing Class and the Club.

Class names should now eliminate the confusion with everyone.
The new F1 class has been formed, but how to silence them needs to be discussed further, for example a Climax V8 exhaust system.

Weight limits were discussed last year and are now in the regulations. The hope is that the limits are now realistic. A few loop holes in the regulations have now been closed.

Castle Combe – the date was moved to July and the entry was limited and the race was strung out. People were not happy as it was on a Sunday, but it has now been moved back to August 1st.

Ian Gray has had some stern competition from Geoff Farmer. They had a good dry race to watch at Oulton Park. Mike Scott has also been up there as well, a winner at Silverstone back in May.

The new Formula Libre/B class is working well and getting better with each new car appearing this year.

Chris Holland’s Brabham is leading the Championship today by 5 points with Ian Gray in close contention today along with Mike Scott who needs 1 point to overhaul Geoff Farmer for 3rd place.

Thanks to everyone for making the series a success. It is going from strength to strength.

Thanks were also expressed to David Brown and his company for their support through sponsorship. Thanks to all the Committee.

Noise testing – everyone suffered from this in the year. The MSA have been holding its own enquiry into the noise issue. We at least know the cars are not going to be allowed to be any noisier.

5. Election of Representatives: Everyone has agreed to stand for the same positions again this year if re-elected. We do not have a representative for the new F1class. This needs to be decided sometime. Mike Scott proposed to re-elect all the incumbent representatives and Lincoln Small seconded the re-election for 2010.

6. Calendar for 2010:

• Auto sport Show at NEC - January 14th to 17th
• Retro Show at Stoneleigh - March 13th/14th.
• Donington – not fixed as there are problems with the track, but the season should start on March 28th at Donington. We have Thruxton or Silverstone as reserves. Thruxton was later voted as the prefered option.
• Cadwell Park - April 11th.
• Monaco – May 1st. This race has been moved back a week as the F1 GP has been moved to accommodate F1in Canada.
• Silverstone - May 15th/16th on the international circuit. Can we get it on the Grand Prix circuit? Will it be a double header or not.
• Snetterton - May 22nd/23rd. There is a problem as the race might be moved to June or be a one day only event as Derek Bell do not want to race there.
• Pembury – June 12th/13th is a possibility.
• Brands Hatch - July 3rd/4th. This could include Friday for a test day making it a 3-day event on the GP circuit.
• Croft - July 17th/18th. This is a possible meeting or this date replaced with Snetterton if 22/23 May Snetterton date not possible.
• Silverstone - July 24th-26th for Classic cars.
• Castle Combe – Sunday August 1st.
• Mallory Park - August 15th. This is an option, but not a definite race yet.
• Oulton Park – 27/28/29th August Bank Holiday which is 3 day event. We are priveledged to be allowed to use the long circuit which is only used four times a year according to Jonathan Palmer.
• Brands Hatch - September 11th. Club circuit, but we might go to Donington instead if available.
• Spa - September 24th-26th. It is an open wheel race so we will be invited to participate with up to 54 cars to start.
• Silverstone - October 9th Finals, but the circuit needs to be decided between the Club or International. The consensus is that we do not want two meetings on the Club Circuit in the same year.
• Dijon - October 16th/17th.

Walter Hayes Trophy will be at the end of October, 30th /31st and is not included in the Championship.

So far there are ten rounds for Championship, but this needs conformation. The calendar should be confirmed by the Dinner Dance on November 21st.

Donnington and Snetterton should be sorted in the coming weeks. Oulton Park has to be a two-day event as it is not possible to get everything on one day. On Sunday we cannot start racing till noon because of the noise regulations and the local church.

Following a general discussion views were invited about Mallory Park and whether Croft would be better. For Croft a two-day event is needed because of the travel distance. Mallory had quite a lot of accidents this year and the feeling of the meeting was to avoid. Thruxton was felt to be an interesting prospect especially as Donington is not functional at the moment - there is likely to be no racing there at the beginning of the season.

The following decisions on the calendar were subsequently made:

• Thruxton – yes
• Cadwell Park – yes
• Silvertsone International – yes
• Snetterton – yes
• Pembury – no
• Brands Super Prix – yes
• Croft – yes (despite the draconian noise control but it is no worse than Castle Combe).Croft should be a two-day if it takes place.
• Castle Combe – yes
• Mallory Park – no
• Oulton – yes
• Brands Club – yes
• Donington – yes if and when ready. It could be the finals meeting and two-day; discussions going on at present about this.

So far ten races at eight venues.

The race at Spa is subject to local noise issues being overcome by next year and we need to get a maximum entry of 54. We had 47 cars last time in 2008.

The question was raised as to whether the Club want to be able to go to Spa every year or every other year. This needs to be considered for the future.

Race duration: it is felt that a minimum of 20 minutes is needed for a race and that, at present practice is often a bit short at 15 minutes and can often be shortened to 12 minutes. The consensus is that at least 20 minutes practice is wanted. Ideally 25 minutes for the race and 20 minutes practice is wanted but 20 minutes each is our goal where possible .

7. Vehicle Identity Forms: There are no changes. Ted Walker and David Pullen have this under control. VIFs are not an issue as in other classes. If a car is bought with a VIF please see David and Ted. Any changes made to car might no longer meet regulations so please bring this to the committee’s attention.

8. Championship Regulations: If any changes are needed they can be done quickly but the current ones are working well. 2010’s regulations will be the same as 2009.

9. Any other business: The invitation class needs to be considered as at present it is open to almost any car. It was felt that any car that meets the spirit of the meeting should be considered. Should it be restricted to cars up to 1600cc? Last year a Curtis Special crept in at Oulton Park.

Mike Scott suggested that guidelines should be introduced otherwise it could get out of hand. Where can the ‘61-‘68 F1 (pre-wing) cars go? Maybe the invitation class be expanded. If enough F1 cars could be attracted they could have a class on their own. Geoff Farmer’s Lotus 49 is an example of a car with no slot: but it is a 3.0 litre car.

If the class is too wide there could be issues of lapping and the race would be too stretched in car performance. A discussion followed. Chris Holland felt the class should remain the same. Cliff Giddens suggested making a separate class, but that could not be done very quickly. How do we accommodate these cars? Should Front engined Cooper Bristols be excluded? They do not get championship points when they race in the invitation class. There is a need to keep it a close racing series. The verdict was that it should be left as it is. [see addendum to the minutes]

An email from Duncan Rabagliati has been received at the office. The contents were discussed but at present it does not affect everyone in Classic Racing Cars, only the 1.0 litre F3 competitors that wish to race with Duncan in the standalone Formula Junior/F3 races he holds on the continent in 2010. If they do wish to race they would need to be on Dunlop tyres as in period in 1964. No regulations with regard to tyres for the Monaco Historique have been released and until they are there is no point in making a hasty decision to change from the current Avon tyres currently used in CRC, Peter Hanson and Euro F3 Trophy, just for one event if you’re lucky enough to have your entry accepted.

Geoffroy Rivet and Francois Derossi were emailed about this so far as their European races were concerned but they think that Avon tyres will continue to be used. If this changes for Monaco, we may have to consider Dunlops in the future, but this would be phased in gradually. We must not forget that in period Dunlop, Goodyear and Firestone tyres were all used up to 1970, not just Dunlop, and that the Avon A37 compound as used now replaces the Firestone YB11 pattern last used

10. Drivers Meeting: Should we change the venue, timing, etc.? If so, we must note the MSA must be notified of any regulation changes by 31st October for following year. The suggestions were to hold it at Oulton Park on the Sunday morning or at another double-header race meeting. Thoughts on this will be considered.

Lincoln Small raised the issue of racing Lotus 69s and March 712s in the series as the cut-off date at present prevents them from racing. A discussion followed about allowable specifications for BT35s and BT36s, but the line should be drawn with Monocoque chassis. BT35s would have to have a twincam. BDAs are only allowed as a replacement for an FVA in a genuine F2 car. They are not allowed into Formula Libre. If a genuine BT36 with a BDA entered, it could run, otherwise BT36s with FVA or a carburetted BDA. It was felt that it is best not to make those exceptions and not alter the regulations that have taken years to arrive at this point. If we start moving the dates of the eligible cars, it could become difficult. This may be discussed next year after more consideration by the committee.


David Pullen as Chairman thanked everyone for their support.

The meeting finished at 12.50pm.

Secretary to the meeting: Ms Joanna Bowley



ADDENDUM TO THE MINUTES

Due to considerable feedback after the last race of the Silverstone Finals and the proposed invitation class limit of 1600cc in line with other classes, the committee has decided to review this over the winter for the benefit of the majority of competitors.