Disclaimer: The entries in this section are the personal opinions of the authors. Neither the Caterham Graduates Racing Club nor its site administrator have control of the content of this page and cannot be held responsible for any entries herein. http://www.graduates.org.uk 30897Seemingly weird question: Has anyone out there ever completed an "Outward Bound" course. If so, please contact me.Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:36:24 GMT30894 Anglesey - Supers, over subscribed: Qualifying race?It looks as though we will have 34 entries for Anglesey.  Circuit race grid capacity is 38 on the "International" layout on Sunday, but only 32 on the "Coastal" on Saturday.  Saturday Qualifying capacity is 32 + 20% = 38, so at least everyone can qualify together.  But then we have a problem, if more than 32 cars/drivers are still ready, willing and able to compete at the end of Saturday's qualifying.A problem, but not a new nor insurmountable one.  It means having a qualifying race.  Supers is the second of our races, after Megas, with a reasonable time gap between them (about one hour of "paddock time"), and the max number of Megas we expect is 28.  So there will be at least four empty spaces on the Megas' grid.  So, Supers can do a qualifying race with the Megas.  Our provisional plan is that the qualifying race will be for the three Supers with the slowest qualifying time.  The other 31 cars will be allocated grid positions as usual, but slot 32 will be the one that the other three are racing for.  They will race with the Megas, starting behind all the Megas, and the one Super who finishes in front of the others will take Supers' grid slot P32.If you see more than 32 cars on the Supers qualifying sheet and your name listed as 32nd fastest, or slower, it seems as if you will be in the qualifying race - we'll come and find you and tell you what you need (or don't need) to do.So, everyone gets a race on Saturday, but one driver may get two races (for no additional fee)! If perchance we should get 35 entries, we will amend the above so that the qualifying race accommodates the slowest four Supers.  If dropouts, or crash-outs, reduce the number of Supers to 32 or fewer, by the end of qualifying, we can abandon all of the above and go back to "Plan A"!Which is the prime reason for posting this: any entered Super who withdraws or drops out, either because they suddenly cannot get to Anglesey or because of a problem in testing or Saturday qualifying, is asked to contact any of the Exec (Nick Frost, Nick Haryett, John Parker, Graeme Smith) and tell them about it ASAP, OK?  That way, we can avoid running around unnecessarily organizing an unnecessary qualifying race!Note that one of the Supers entries is a "guest" driver - James Sykes, who many of you will remember from previous years' Super-Grad racing.  It would not be right that championship contenders are forced to undergo a qualifying race if the only reason is to make space for a guest.  So, if we end up with exactly 33 cars ready to race, and one of them is James, he will be asked to step down so that the championship Supers can have a "normal" championship race.The more thoughtful among you might think that a possible solution would be to use this as an opportunity for the Sigmas to run separately from the rest of the Supers.  Yes, it would.  They could run with the Classics, for example.  Except that this doesn't work within our MSA championship regs.  The system for allocating championship points to Sigmas is based on the fact they race with all the other Supers - there is no defined mechanism for awarding points for a "Sigmas only" race, so we can't do it.  Simples.Finally, all Supers should be aware that it could be you who has to do a qualifying race (after all, anyone could break down on their first qualifying lap), and should consider that they may then need access to ten litres more petrol than they otherwise would!Regards, Graeme Smith, Secretary, Caterham Graduates Racing Club Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:10:56 GMT30882The five candidates for three places on the Club's board in this coming weekend's election at our AGM: Yo Humphreys I joined the club in 2007, having first competed in the 2006 'Formula Woman' Championship. I specificallychose the CGRC because of its friendly and helpful attitude towards new members, and I was not disappointed! I am currently a member of the club's board, serving as a trustee director for the past three years. During this timepossibly my greatest contribution was perhaps raising over 1500 for our adopted charity, TCT. I am passionate about making new members feel welcome and try to ensure, where possible, the opinions ofnew our members are used to help the club continue to develop as the front running club in which to race yourCaterham. You will be aware (if you've seen my results) I believe in racing for enjoyment. Affordable racing is always my priority and I willcontinue to ensure we get the very best possible package available for our members. I am very proud of the club and the membership which makes the club what it is and would very much like to be given the opportunityto continues to help it grow. Myles Packman First raced with the club in 2006 and have competed in Megas (with one "guest appearance" in Supers) sincethen. Now that I'm doing all the rounds I'm keen to contribute more to the running of the club. I've always beenactive on the forum and in providing suggestions and ideas to the Exec so this seems like a logical step.Over the last year I've promoted the idea of varying our timetables so we all have our share of dawnscrutineering and late races. In addition I was vocal in my opposition to the Megas' engine upgrade as itappeared to risk increasing reliability issues without making the racing closer.My "manifesto":* Focus on maintaining and improving the best (and best value) UK club racing* Work to keep costs down wherever possible* Make best and most efficient use of race weekends* Give Sigmas more recognition as a separate class* Introduce a volunteer press officer to promote the club and expand our online presence* Reinvigorate the promotion of the club to potential new drivers* Work with sponsors such as Arch to provide deals for club members* Be available to represent the views and ideas of all members of the club David Shaw Mega 40. Married with 3 kids and work as a teacher of Design & Technology. I have been racing with theGraduates Racing Club for the past 4 years in both the Supers and Mega classes and have raced in otherseries (Porsche 924's, Tomcat Vento Challenge, MGF Cup) for over 10 years.I am very enthusiastic about Graduates Racing and its continuing success and feel I would like to offer myservices and get more involved with the running of the series. I have helped out McMillan Motorsportoccasionally so have quite a good knowledge of the cars and needs of the drivers, technical support and theclub.I am keen to promote 'self help' checklists for drivers with set-up advice, simple maintenance checks and 'whatto look out for' to maximise the weekends enjoyment with the minimum of problems!I also wish to work with the board to look at new ways to develop the reliability of the cars and find cost effective ways of keeping thecars running with even performance. Having previously worked as a Design Manager for a metal fabrication company I feel that I havethe skills combined with racing experience to do this. Andrew Smith I started racing in Classic Grads in 2005 and have raced in all our classes.  After 5 pretty much full seasons Iam having a bit of time off and only doing a few races this year, though I still attend almost every event. I havebeen the club&8217;s &8220;new drivers&8221; person since 2006 &8211; a role I created - as it&8217;s important we encourage and helpnovices to come racing with us.I have served on the board as a trustee director for the past 2 years, and have been very keen thatthe membership gets more say in the decision-making &8211; hopefully you&8217;ll have noticed morequestionnaires/canvassing opinion recently!  I have also been taking the lead in helping the board come up witha long-term strategy for the club, with the various challenges that entails.The same things remain important to me as when I was elected in 2008 - that the playing field remains level, we have the safestracing we can, and that costs are kept down.  But above all that we keep our great club spirit both on and off the track, where aweekend&8217;s racing is something to be looked forward to and enjoyed. Graeme Smith I've been racing with Graduates since 1999, and was co-opted to the management committee in 2000.  I wasChairman of CGRC from 2002 to 2004, before handing back over to Nick Frost.  Along with Nick, I&8217;m one of theBARC drivers&8217; reps, feeding back issues to BARC to improve our racing.  I recently represented a Grads driverin a judicial protests - and won!I&8217;m one of the points of contact for new members and attend, and minute, all board meetings.  In 2005, Iinstigated overseas championship races at Spa and, after several years of trying, arranged last year&8217;s races onBrands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.  I&8217;m currently negotiating a return to Spa Francorchamps for 2011.I liaise with race organisers over all the details to ensure smooth running of our events, such as  timetabling,qualifying races, qualifying arrangements & correcting timing errors,  and have organised marshal&8217;s rewards. With Karen, we do thelapboard for all racers and calculate the best improvers.  I&8217;ve been  a big defender of the Classics class, ensuring its survival &growth, and did much of the &8220;fetching & carrying&8221; for the Rakeway axle upgrade. (note: only Racing Members who attend in person are permitted to vote)Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:15:09 GMT30862Anglesey, AGM, Election of board members: See earlier posting here. Closing date for nominations is TOMORROW. Don't be shy!Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:50:29 GMT30860Brands Hatch Closing date This coming Monday, 26th July (three days hence)! (See here)Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:42:07 GMT30853Race Schedule - update your info for Anglesey - please!We need to finalize our plans for Anglesey and it would be a great help to know exactly which drivers are intending to race there.  Currently, it seems as if 16 drivers haven't actually made up their minds - by now, I would expect almost everyone's entry in our on-line Race Schedule to say either "Definitely" or "Definitely not", although I accept that there might be a good reason for just one or two to still be "Don't Know".PLEASE help us to help you by ensuring that your schedule data is correct.  It couldn't be much simpler, just click here, log-in, and click the appropriate buttons next to each race.  While you're there, please check not only your Anglesey data, but also see if you can provide more accurate information about your intentions for the rest of the year.  And, since it provides useful data about past race entry levels, perhaps you could even check that your data for all the past 2010 races really matches your actual attendance (how can anyone still be a "Don't know" for the Easytrack day at Oulton????)  It seems to me that at least 29 of you have incorrect historical data, which makes me worry about the accuracy of the data for the remaining events!So PLEASE - EVERYONE - don't just assume your schedule data is correct, click the link and CHECK IT!(If you have mislaid or forgotten your Members' Area log-in details, contact me)Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:49:28 GMT30848ANGLESEY, PROVISIONAL TIMETABLESATURDAY &8211; COASTAL CIRCUITPRACTICE               Sign on          Scrutineering              Practice2. Megas                 08:55            09:05 &8211; 09:30          10:20 &8211; 10:355. Supers                10:05            10:15 &8211; 10:45          11:20 &8211; 11:357. Classics               11:00            11:05 &8211; 11:30          12:15 &8211; 12:30RACING                  Laps/Time                                       Start2. Megas                 16 Laps                                          13:306. Supers                16 Laps                                          15:20 (est)8. Classics               15 Laps                                          16:40 (est)SUNDAY &8211; INTERNATIONAL CIRCUITPRACTICE               Practice2. Megas                 10:20 &8211; 10:355. Supers                11:35 &8211; 11:507. Classics               12:15 &8211; 12:30RACING                  Laps/Time                                       Start2. Megas                 12 Laps                                          13:30 (est)6. Supers                12 Laps                                          15:45 (est)8. Classics               11 Laps                                          16:45 (est) Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:33:15 GMT30847http://www.gomotorsport.tv/This is a newish web-site provided by the MSA specifically for its member clubs (which we are) to upload motorsport videos to promote our club in particular, and the MSA and motorsport in general.  I have registered as the CGRC's "publisher" and uploaded one video.  If you click on "Circuit Racing" and then on "Caterham Graduates Racing Club", you can view it.  If you do view it, please click on the "stars" to the LH side of the video to "vote" for it (and preferably click on the 5th star to vote "5 stars") so that other people viewing this site may see our videos in the "Top Rated Videos" category!The one video I have uploaded was filmed by Julia Marryat.  As I am not a video camera user; I have very little other video, and none to which I have any "rights".  And I know that the vast majority of our race videos will be in-car and, of course, it is not permitted for any of us to publish on-circuit video on the internet.  Or it wasn't until now!  I have been in contact with both BARC and MSV and they have kindly granted blanket permission for CGRC to publish - to this site only - their in-car video from any of their eight circuits.  I will endeavour to get the same permission from the other circuits at which we have raced.Very few clubs, certainly in the field of "Circuit Racing" seem to have started using this site yet, so we can get a massive "head start" if we upload loads of our videos!But this is not my speciality!  Although I think there might be one or two members out there who enjoy nothing better than messing around with this sort of stuff.  So, I wondered whether anyone out there would like to volunteer to take over as our official gomotorsport.tv publisher and make it their business to collect clips from all and sundry and publish them?  Please get in touch if you want to have a go!Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:44:15 GMT30814MSAR-Safety:Many of you now know of our generous sponsors - MSAR-Safety - and of their sales executive, Classics racer Jenny Grace, and who they are and what they do, but there may be a few of you who don't, so I thought I would just take a moment to explain.They supply motorsport equipment, from seats, harnesses, fire extinguishers, race clothing, HANS to gaffa tape and race numbers.  They have been busy updating their website and adding more products to their catalogue so if you haven't looked in a while, why not take a little look at the new website layout - www.msar-safety.com?One of the new schemes you will find on there is 'Try before you buy HANS'.  If you are thinking about a HANS device and would like to try one out, why not take a look here http://www.msar-safety.com/detail.asp?p=987&o=HANS_Try_Before_You_Buy?They also have NEW accessories for the GoPro HD cameras.  Coloured silicone covers so you can match to the colour of your car or just make yours individual so it stands out!  Jenny, of course, has a pink one!!Also just to let you know that Jenny takes a selection of products with her to most race meetings, so if any of you want to try on race underwear or gloves or have a look at HANS device, etc. she normally has a selection with her.  If there is something specific that you would like to try, like a helmet, if you let her know in good time before the next race meeting, she can make sure she takes that with her.  If you have any questions you can contact Jenny on jen_msar@yahoo.com or 07912 842 320 Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:06:31 GMT30808Plum Pudding races, Boxing Day, Mallory Park:Yes, already!  Some drivers claim this to be the best race of the year - it's certainly better than sitting around eating turkey curry and watching The Great Escape...  And, at £100 for two races, exceptionally good value.  Regs and entry form here (thanks, Jamie).Note that grid positions for race one are created by order of receipt of entries!!!!!! Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:53:48 GMT30805Anglesey - closing date: Monday, three days hence.Fri, 9 Jul 2010 12:45:51 GMT30794CGRC Directors - duties and responsibilities: Hopefully, some of you are considering running for "office", but may be wondering what is involved. I won't bore all of you by telling you here, but I have put together a summary and will happily send it to anyone who would like to see it - please let me know.Tue, 6 Jul 2010 23:36:13 GMT30790Nominations For Board Election: Anyone who wants to put themselves forward as a candidate for election to the Grads board should do so by emailing me at the address below by 5pm on 24th JulyTue, 6 Jul 2010 13:09:46 GMT30788CGRC - 2010 AGM - Anglesey:As usual, the Club's board have chosen to hold the AGM on the Saturday afternoon of a double-header race meeting.  Members can find the formal AGM notice and agenda here.There will be the formal business of approving the minutes of the last AGM and presenting the board's report and accounts for 2009 and then the election of board members.  The formal notice has more information about the election and nomination procedure.  If you would like to be more involved in the way the club is run, consider standing for office, please!If any of you have any queries about the 2009 accounts, please consider raising them over the next few weeks rather then waiting until the AGM. Tue, 6 Jul 2010 12:52:49 GMT30777Easytrack day at Snett, Mon 20th Sept:Easytrack are offering this day (5 days before we race there) at a special price for us. See the email I just sent to all Racing Members and  here.Mon, 5 Jul 2010 16:21:05 GMT30774Anglesey testing: I have just booked mine. Contrary to earlier reports, the Friday test session (30th July) will not be run only on one circuit configuration - they will use one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. This could sell out, so early booking is advised! See here.Mon, 5 Jul 2010 15:56:54 GMT30712On-line donations to our marshals' fund: Now set up by our excellent webmaster - see RH side of our Members' Page!Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:29:13 GMT30710750MC Birkett 6 hour relay race, Silverstone GP circuit, 30th Oct 2010:The biggest ever - 60 teams to commemorate this race's 60th anniversary. It should be one heck of a race!  Info here.  And precedence usually goes to the earliest entries.  (for more Birkett "background", type "Birkett" into our forum's search facility).Thu, 24 Jun 2010 07:58:41 GMT30705CGRC cash collection for marshals:Martin Amison was touring the Oulton paddock on Saturday, asking for donations.  He collected the very creditable total of 965 and 260 Euros, (which we will exchange for 214) making a total of 1,179.  Quite a good start, considering that about half of you said you would pay him next time!  For those that missed him, his "suggestion" was for donations of around 40.  But he/we will also take your left-over Euros!Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:17:34 GMT30704Oulton Park:The championship tables have been updated, and also the results summary page.  For clarity, the Sigmas now have a championship table all to themselves!  And new lap records for every class.  PLEASE will everyone check their own results in the tables and let me know of any discrepancies.  (It must be dead easy for one person to check their own points allocation - a maximum of just 7 scores so far - compared with the effort needed for one person to double check everybody else's - 466 scores so far!).Oulton gave us yet another great day's sport, helped by yet more fine weather - although Sunday's wall-to-wall sunshine might have been even better...  There was a little rain during Friday's afternoon testing, but nothing too calamitous.  I think the races were notable for the distinct shortage of DNFs - just one in the Supers' race.  And, apart from that one incident, I think there was only one lost wing.  Well done everyone!Congratulations to Luke Tzourou who scored a first podium; and to Neil Shinner for getting himself onto the lap records page.Time to set our sights on Anglesey, almost 6 weeks away.  Where we will again be racing on two different circuit layouts.  So there will be one qualifying session and one race on Saturday, and the same again on Sunday.  And the highlight of the year (!!!???) - the club's AGM, scheduled for the end of the racing day on Saturday.  For those that don't know, the main focus of the AGM has always been election of three members of the club's board - if you think you have something to offer, it's time to consider "running for office"!  More AGM details to follow.Before that, we have the non-champ race(s) at Rockingham.  PLEASE will ALL OF YOU get your on-line Race Schedule up to date to indicate your intentions for the Rockingham and Anglesey races!Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:23:04 GMT30680Rockingham non-champ race(s) - 3/4 July:You have a choice!  A Saturday-only single race for 210, or a two day double-header for 360.  20 min qualy at 9.55am on Sat, then 20 min race at 2.05pm.  Race 2 on Sunday at 11.15, also 20 mins.Full timetable for the weekend here (includes three R300 races, Academy, Roadsports and Supersports!).Paper entry form - download here.Our on-line Schedule suggests that the entry won't be huge, but I suggest that all interested drivers get their entry in promptly, eg. immediately after our Oulton races - if entries are too thin by middle next week, BRSCC could decide that it's just not worth doing.By the way, this would be a good time for everyone to update their on-line Schedule to show their Rockingham intentions more exactly.  And, of course, whether or not they actually intend to be at Oulton this weekend!Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:08:58 GMT30677WARNING: Just a reminder of what happened last year at Oulton when Andy Mac and Trev had things stolen from their unlocked vehicles in the paddock on raceday. Keep you cars locked and valuables out of sight.Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:40:32 GMT30673Grads non-champ races at Rockers, 3/4 July: It looks as if this WILL go ahead. More news/info later. Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:21:13 GMT30672Oulton Park access times/info:I am advised that access into and out of the circuit will be possible at the following times- Thursday evening: from 5.30pm to 11pm- Friday: 7am to 11pm- Saturday: 7am to 9pm    No access at all on Sunday.Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:23:24 GMT30667Race-prep:Life's too short, isn't it?  If you were racing at Zolder, you probably feel that you have only just got back.  And it will seem that you need to get ready for Oulton Park tomorrow.  Sorry about the short gap between races (we do try to get at least three weeks between races, but it never seems quite possible to get that throughout the whole season).Anyhow, if you're only just getting around to thinking about preparing your car for Oulton, you've left it a little late!  But please give your car as thorough an inspection as you can.  Because, I regret to say, McMillan Motorsport have commented that they had one or two car problems brought to them at Zolder which really should have been found if anyone had done a halfway decent pre-race check of the car.  And please remember that the CGRC has told McMillan that they have no obligation to fix problems if they are of a type that should have been found by your pre-race prep.MMM also commented that they were asked to work on several cars which were very dirty.  Not just muddy wings but greasy and oily undercarriage and engine compartment.  That's a problem for two reasons:(a) it means that the mechanics get grubbier than they should have to when fixing your car, but more importantly -(b) it illustrates that the car had not been thoroughly checked before being taken to Zolder.  Because you cannot reasonably expect to spot a loose or damaged wire or pipe in the engine compartment if everything's caked in old oil.  Nor will you spot a cracked wishbone or DeDion if they are covered in cr*p.If you walk around a race paddock, you will get some idea of how it's done, especially if you watch some of the old-hands with old race cars at work.  Between races, they will get busy with a clean(ish) rag and a squirt of WD-40 to clean every inch that they can possibly get at.  Not just for the pleasure of driving a smartly presented car, but because it's the most reliable way of finding those tiny broken bits that they know can cost them a race finish.So, clean your car, at the very least - at least we might then think that there's a possibility that you have properly inspected it.  I have told McMillan that if they are asked to work on a car which has obviously been taken on circuit in a very unclean state, they should consider selling the driver a bottle of Gunk and telling him to take his car away and come back in half an hour when the car is acceptably clean!  If this happens to you, you will have only yourself to blame!Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:36:13 GMT30666Oulton Park - driver catering "extras":Gail needs to know, very soon, about any additional bodies you may be taking to Oulton, if you want her to feed and water them.  Please e-mail her, ASAP.Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:29:27 GMT30650Rockingham non-champ races, 3/4 July: Currently, the proposed Rockingham non-champ race(s) seem unlikely to happen, with only 13 drivers showing a significant interest. But there are still 53 drivers who have not expressed any indication either way. PLEASE can all of you visit your on-line Race Schedule and enter data about your Rockingham intentions (and about other races, like this coming weekend at Oulton)! If you want to race at Rockingham and you know people who show on the Schedule as not yet having submitted their data, perhaps you want to get in touch with them and suggest that they do so. If we don't have a clear mandate within the next few days, the Rockingham plan will be abandoned.Sat, 12 Jun 2010 10:02:06 GMT30628Non-champ races at Rockingham, 3/4 July:All Racing Members have just been sent an e-mail telling them all about the possibility of non-champ races at Rockingham, and asking them to indicate their degree of interest, and date/format preference by entering data into their on-line Schedule.  Please read it and respond ASAP! Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:07:58 GMT30622Post-Zolder (and pre-Oulton Park) race prep:BRAKES:  Some of you may have noticed that Zolder was very hard on brakes.  Not surprisingly, since most of us did more than two hours track-time, perhaps 70 or more laps, and each lap included four places where we braked from 100mph-ish to 30mph-ish.  I suggest that all Zolderists inspect their pads ASAP and, if necessary, place their order for replacements ASAP.  Remember that you cannot rely on McMillan having spare pads for you at Oulton if you do not order in advance.  Also bear in mind that MMM's standard technical support deal does not include fitting brake pads.  If you want them to fit pads for you, at Oulton, for a fee, make sure you talk to them about this in advance!OIL:  Zolder was also very hard on engines - the combination of very hot weather and close slipstreaming over 30 minute races led to quite a few cars getting quite hot.  Prolonged excessive engine heat can lead to oil breakdown, so consider the "preventative maintenance" of doing an oil/filer change before your next race!Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:08:36 GMT30570Zolder safety car. Our regs, section 3.13, permit the use of a saftey car at the discretion of the Clerk of the Course. It is highly likely that our races WILL use a safety car if necessary. A safety car has been used at our previous Spa races and is preferable to red flags and race stops.Wed, 2 Jun 2010 12:01:15 GMT30565Zolder finals - now on-line: Our inexhaustible webmaster, Jamie, has done his stuff, as usual. See the first three items under "Race and Testing Info" in "Comp info"!Regards, Nick Frost, Chairman, Caterham Graduates Racing ClubTue, 1 Jun 2010 18:07:20 GMT30563Zolder final regs: I have scanned them and can find nothing of any special interest, or that is likely to take anyone by surprise. You may notice that the regs say we are running under FIA regs and those of the DMSB (the German "MSA"), which might seem to imply the need for full FIA-spec driver apparel. But Caterham's Simon Lambert assures me that all the scrutineering is being done by Brits and that only MSA regs will actually be applied...! C-o-C and Stewards are also Brits!!!Note that our "usual" fastest-lap/second-best-lap system will be used to detrermine our grid positions.Tue, 1 Jun 2010 17:25:04 GMT30559Latest Zolder info:Paddock access times:Tomorrow, Weds, eve:  Only up until 7pm.  No idea if that is the same on the following evenings.  No garage access until Thursday.Garages:A bit of a muddle, I very much regret.  With a possibility that not all of our full complement of 13 garages will be available on the Friday.  I will be endeavouring to sort it all out on Thursday!  Look for signs on garage doors when you get there. Finals You should all just have received your "final instructions" by e-mail from BRSCC.Tue, 1 Jun 2010 14:34:24 GMT30557Doing our bit for the Marshals:Marshals?  You know, the guys (and gals) in the orange suits.  Those people that stand at potentially dangerous locations at the side of the circuits - come rain, snow or sun-stroke.  Always with a fire extinguisher within reach and always ready, willing and able to do whatever they can to make your motorsport safer.  Without whom, we would not be able to race at all.  All for no reward.  Or next to nothing.And that's where we come in.  What do they want?  Well, when asked, they say that cash isn't the issue - which is just as well, because we couldn't afford to pay them even as much as 10% of what they're worth.  What they want is acknowledgement, respect and appreciation.  The acknowledgement costs nothing, and most of you are getting the hang of acknowledging them with a friendly post-chequer toot of the horn!So, cash isn't the issue, but what better way to illustrate your appreciation then by donating your hard-earned cash?!  Every year we make a cash collection for their benefit.  And use it in various ways, intended to show them that we, at least, appreciate them.  We have used your cash donations in previous years in various ways.  For example, we have funded marshals' breakfasts when we knew that the organizers/venues were not supplying them.  We have funded some generous raffle-prizes, such as the supercar driving experience we funded at Mallory Park one year.  We have provided CGRC hats for a whole circuit-full of marshals.  etc. etc.  The point is that we provide stuff for the marshals at our races.  Providing a direct reason for them to choose to marshal our race-day rather then going somewhere else.  Little by little, we may even be gathering a small core of marshal loyalty.  So that when there are a lot of races on one day and the marshals are "spoilt for choice", there's a good chance that just enough of them choose to come to where we are racing! MONEY, PLEASE! So, contributions please!  Please dig deep into your pockets and see how much you can find.  The size of the contribution is entirely up to the individual but, as a guide, 40 for the season looks like amazing value given that it works out at about 3 per race?Our very own Martin Amison, star of the Mallory "TV races", has again volunteered to take on the thankless task of going around with the "hat" at our next few rounds - please make a point of finding him and thrusting as much cash into his "hat" as you can possibly afford.  Martin is a lawyer, and therefore thoroughly trustworthy...Here's an idea:  If you discover on Sunday, at Zolder, that you've got 30 or 40 more Euros in cash than you need for the journey back to Calais, you'll probably realise that it's barely worth the effort of taking them to the Bureau de Change; but if a few dozen of us all give our "few" Euros to Martin, it would certainly be worth his while to go to the bureau, for the marshals' benefit!Tue, 1 Jun 2010 01:33:29 GMT30552Zolder garages: JOS (and everyone else): I was going to put out a note about this anyhow. We just need one person from every "garage group" to book a BookaTrack garage. That person then "owns" the garage for the day and is free to share it with as many others as they wish (so, for a group of four, the garage-hirer could expect to be able to collect a tenner from the other three sharing his garage!)Mon, 31 May 2010 19:38:49 GMT30548Things you need for Zolder: You could do worse than use Jenny's excellent check list!Sun, 30 May 2010 11:52:11 GMT30547Zolder: Getting thereBy road from Calais (or Dunkirk), there is a choice of two obvious routes.  E40 (A16, A18, A10) to Gent.  Then either:- E17 (A14) to Antwerp, around the ring-road, and then E313 (A13) to the A2 junction- E40 (A10) to Brussels, around the ring-road, and then E40 (A3) to Leuven then E314 (A2) to the A13 junctionFrom the A2/A13 junction, it's just 2 miles East on the A2 then take first right turn onto the N729.  The circuit entrance should be less than a mile down there, on the RH side.Both those routes seem to be about 180 miles from Calais.  One is quicker, I expect.  But I don't know which!  My instinct says Antwerp will be less congested than Brussels, but I don't know for sure - can anyone offer any better information?Sun, 30 May 2010 11:35:53 GMT30546Mallory DVDs: I have a Mallory Park "highlights" DVD for each of the drivers who were in the "Motors TV" race. Please collect from me at Zolder. (Or your next race).Sun, 30 May 2010 11:17:09 GMT30545Zolder - your race entry data:When you went through the BRSCC's on-line entry process, you were permitted to submit your entry with only outline data about yourself.  Your BRSCC profile also contains fields for you to enter additional details about yourself - "next of kin", etc. - and about your car - transponder, etc.  I suspect that they will need all this info before permitting you to race and that your sign-on at Zolder may be delayed if they do not have it.  So I suggest that you use your BRSCC pin/log-in to revisit your profile and check that all the data is complete.You need to go to the "My Details" section (I don't think you need enter anything in "insurance details", but if you have a "European Health Insurance Card" - which is highly recommended - you could record your EHIC number in that field); and also check the "My Vehicles" section (you don't need to enter your engine model/no or frame number details).Sun, 30 May 2010 11:12:01 GMT30544Zolder garages and paddock on Google maps:If you want to check out exactly where you're going: our garages run from number 21 here to number 33 here.   CGRC catering at the rear of garage 33.   McMillan will be here and I'm suggesting that George Polley sets up here.Fri, 28 May 2010 21:17:58 GMT30537Oulton Park race on 19th June, closing date:Closing date for entries is Monday 31st, but that's a bank holiday.  To be sure that you are not charged the late entry fee, it may be smart to do your entry today!Day-before testing is still available and can be booked here. Fri, 28 May 2010 09:21:46 GMT30536All racing members have just been sent an e-mail containing a load of info about Zolder - please check to see that you have it. These mails are sent only to the "primary" e-mail address that you have entered into your CGRC on-line profile.Thu, 27 May 2010 22:54:26 GMT30514Zolder/CGRC merchandise:Correction to earlier announcements/postings - preferred tel contact number for Gail Rockey is 07960 159 979.Tue, 25 May 2010 22:48:25 GMT30510Garages at Zolder:We have been allocated a block of pit garages at Zolder.  All the Caterhams have.  The catch is that everybody needs to share - four cars to a garage.  Which shouldn't be too tough as the garages are a reasonably generous 5.5m x 10m (18 feet x 33 feet).  Plenty of space for four cars to park diagonally along one wall, giving access for all.It might save some trouble if we can all try to group ourselves into gangs of four in advance, so we all know where we're going.  So, if you want to contact your "buddies" and put together a "group", that would be a good thing.  Actually, the garages are in pairs, ie. without a dividing wall between them, so you may even want to think about which other group of four you would like to share with!If you're "newish" and don't feel you're part of a "gang" yet, don't worry - we'll fit you in somewhere!Once you've got a group of three or four together, please e-mail me to let me know who they are.When considering this, bear in mind that parking on the aprons to the rear of the garages is somewhat limited - a space of no more than 15m x 5.5m (50 feet x 18 feet) and if you can't fit all your gang's "support vehicles" in there, the only other parking space may be a hundred yards or more away.  So I suggest you don't put together a gang of four motorhomes!Garage access is unusual:  Steps!  So your race-cars have to access the garage via the pit-lane.  (My point is: don't plan on having race cars parked on the apron behind the garage - it won't work)!Mon, 24 May 2010 23:44:08 GMT30509New Caterham front wings:See the latest "Technical Bulletin" in "Competitor info" from Caterham Motorsport, here.  New wings from Caterham have a "locating channel" to position them on the wing stays - but it's in the wrong place for race-cars!Mon, 24 May 2010 23:31:33 GMT30508Zolder - Race Schedule:I would be very grateful if you could all visit your "on-line race schedule" ASAP and check your entry for the Zolder races - I would have thought by now that you had all firmly made up your minds one way or another!While you're there - please check if your data for future races is as up to date as possible.  And perhaps revisit the past events and make sure that your data for all of them are "yes" or "no"!Mon, 24 May 2010 22:14:25 GMT30502"Zolder" branded Graduates "merchandise": Hats, shirts, jackets. etc. Make sure we stand out from the crowd! See Gail's web-page for details of available gear - here: http://www.graduates.org.uk/2010/docs/Zolder%20Merchandise.pdf. Contact Gail by e-mail, or tel 01403 242388.Mon, 24 May 2010 11:12:27 GMT30493Closing date for Oulton entries is 31st May. With bank holiday, this means you need to get entries in by this Friday to avoid a late entry fee.Sun, 23 May 2010 09:11:36 GMT30481Rockingham/Donington - race calendar changes:Well, it was an interesting experiment.  We were prompted to consider trying to do something like this by the relatively large number of people who, over the last couple of weeks, had asked what was happening about a replacement for the Donington round.  When they heard the explanation of the difficulties - ie. that all championship contenders had to agree - some thought that it wouldn't be too hard to get agreement, others thought that it would be nigh on impossible.I must say that my inclination was towards the latter - "nigh on impossible".  But I like a challenge (!) and, when it seemed that a "good" date/venue might be available, it seemed that the right thing to do was to set about getting everyone's agreement, rather than just say "it will never happen" and not bother trying.It seemed clear that the only line to take was a "hard line".  Because if I had just gone to the membership and said, "Here's a possible championship race, do you agree to this change, take it or leave it?" I would have expected to get a few "no" responses almost immediately.  Especially given that the date is near the start of the "holiday season".  So my announcement was somewhat partisan, and aimed to "push" members toward agreement.  But I did stop short of making the poll "public".  A really hard line would have been to put all the results on-line, which may have made any dissenters feel under some very real pressure.When I had received responses from 80% of the members - commendably quickly, in less than 24 hours - including a few "no" votes, I announced the results so far.  Again, I deliberately chose a "partisan" stance, which clearly showed the dissenters that they were in a very small minority, to see what would happen.The results are interesting.  If nothing else, it has demonstrated to me that getting 114 people all to agree to something which clearly was not going to be in the best interests of every one of them IS nigh on impossible.  I really should have known this because we tried to get some change to the regs back in 2000 (I think THAT was a calendar change, but I'm darned if I can remember!) and failed then, when we had only 40-ish members.There are several ways that the additional round could effect people.  Which would be governed mostly by whether or not they were available to attend the new round but perhaps also - to a lesser degree - by whether or not they actually wanted to enter a single round at Rockingham.  Either way, it was likely that a number of people would not be able to attend the Rockingham race because of prior engagements, or would feel that it was too much inconvenience to go there.Any such people would "suffer" from the change, because it would add a zero score to their season's tally.  Some might be able to "risk" that, hoping that they got good scores in at least 11 other races; some might already have been planning to miss three other races and realised that a fourth zero score would seriously hamper their championship aspirations.  Either way, they saw this change to be to their disadvantage.  Fair enough.Championship leaders might have had a slightly different stance, and more incentive to disagree - if you are at the top of the championship table, although an extra race can give you an opportunity to improve your lead, it also provides a great opportunity to move DOWN the table.  That is not to say that any of our championship leaders specifically were dissenters, just that I could understand why they might be.Many people chose to add a brief explanation to their poll responses, rather than just yes or no.  And it quickly became clear that there were several different categories.There is a good proportion of members who only ever intended to contest half a dozen or so of the championship rounds this year, and recognized that the only effect of the proposed Rockingham round would be to drop them from 18th to 20th (for example) in the championship table.  So they mostly said "yes".There were some who had been unable to attend the Donington round, to their disadvantage, and who had thus gained from its cancellation.  But were now also unable to go to Rockingham, so the added race would be to their disadvantage. But took the view that, as they were no worse off than if Donington had gone ahead, it would be churlish to object.And there were a quite a few who are intending to contest most of the season's rounds, who DO feel that they may at least make top ten in the championship and who cannot attend Rockingham.  They would thus be disadvantaged and had a good reason to disagree.  Some of these voted "No".  But some of these voted "Yes", and added that their preference was to vote "No", but felt that they should not curtail others' racing activities by doing so.These latter are perhaps the people that we should now be taking into consideration, along with the clear "No" voters.  If we just had two or three no votes, we could have contemplated trying, somehow (Lord knows how!), to persuade them to change their mind.  But taken with the number of drivers who have indicated that their preference was to vote against the change, we have a substantial number who don't want to change.  And their wishes must be respected.  End of.Oh, and at the moment, I have at least one "no" vote and at least one missing response, from each one of our three classes, so the idea of going ahead as a championship round for just one or two classes also fails.One thing I have learned is that our forum and "e-mail to all" method of communication works rather better than I might have thought.  At the moment, I have received responses from all but 11 of our Racing Members, which is very high indeed - those 103 should give themselves a nice pat on the back.  Especially if one considers that a few of the remainder may have declined to respond because they have yet to race and are not registered for the championship.  And I suspect that there are a few (well, I know of one) who saw the published interim results on Wednesday and decided that their vote was now superfluous.  But it also suggests, that even if we had a 100% "Yes" vote at the moment, I would probably still be struggling to pick up votes from a few stragglers and we would all be in the dark about whether or not this race would go ahead.There is, I suppose, still a possibility of doing Rockingham as a non-championship round, and I will look into that shortly.Fri, 21 May 2010 14:55:47 GMT30440Rockingham - agreements to calendar change:CONGRATULATIONS:  You guys deserve a pat on the back.  Those of you guys that have responded to my e-mail so quickly, that is.  Just shy of 80% have responded so far - within just about 24 hours - which is a very unexpectedly high proportion.  Many, many thanks to you for making the job easy.  Although we cannot claim a "result" until we have the views of the remaining 20%.(20%, does that sound familiar?  See "Frosty's 80/20 rule" in my newsletter of June 2006, here!!!)What's the response?  87 (out of a possible 114) have said "Yes".  But note that some of our Racing Members have yet to race with us this year, and thus may not have registered for the championship with BARC, so we are probably awaiting "only" a further 20 or so responses.Quite a lot of the "yes" responses (probably around 80%!) were from drivers saying not just yes, but also something like "Rockers, goody, I look forward to racing there."  Some were from drivers who only intend to enter a handful of races this year anyhow, who said something like, "Yes; I won't be there, but since I only expect to do half a dozen races this year anyhow (and was going to miss Donington), I may as well 'let' everyone else race there, if they want to."  A few were much more magnanimous (today's good word) and said that they were gutted that the re-scheduled round was for a weekend that they could not manage, that missing it would hamper (or totally kill!) their championship aspirations, but that for the sake of the spirit of the club, they would agree to the race going ahead."  Well done you lot.Regrettably, three have said "no".  So that's that.  No championship round at Rockingham, it seems.Wed, 19 May 2010 21:49:40 GMT30437Mallory Live TV races:This from Magnus Laird, the bloke who set it all up:"I should appreciate it if you would please pass on my heartfelt thanks to all your drivers and support crew who made the inaugural Motors TV Live Raceday from Mallory such a success.  Although potentially divisive to single out any grid in particular, it was clear to all I have spoken to that the Graduates and the 2 CV's both put on truly special performances on Sunday.  It was the sort of racing that demands TV coverage (unlike so much that currently receives it, which simply gives motorsport a bad name).  I am convinced that over time, this concept will build its own loyal audience, both live at the circuits and on TV across Europe.The feedback received so far has been almost universally positive and enthusiastic (see today's coverage in Motorsport News).  I am sufficiently encouraged to forge ahead with plans for 2011 and would like to organise between 6 and 8 meetings, ideally one a month between March and October, at a variety of circuits around the UK. If your drivers would like to be involved in one (or some) of these meetings, then on the strength of their performance at the weekend, I would be delighted to include them in our plans.  With enough forward planning, there is no reason why the races next year could not be Championship rounds.  I would appreciate any feedback you can give me on any aspect of the event, good or bad, so that we can learn from the experience of last weekend and refine the product for 2011.Once again, on behalf of the production team at Hayfisher, Motors TV, the BARC and myself, a huge thank you to all drivers, co-ordinators and teams."Wed, 19 May 2010 18:34:47 GMT30416Proposed Donington replacement race - Rockingham, 3/4 July:EVERY GRADUATES RACING MEMBER HAS JUST BEEN SENT AN E-MAIL ABOUT THIS.  I NEED EVERY RACING MEMBER TO READ THAT E-MAIL AND RESPOND TO IT, RIGHT AWAY, PLEASE!!!Tue, 18 May 2010 21:06:41 GMT30401We are not touting for complaints but would just like to clarify that Driving Standards applies to all Grads races, whether a championship or non-championship round.Mon, 17 May 2010 15:48:38 GMT30368Donington Park races - CANCELLED:This will come as little surprise to those of you who follow our forum.  I have this afternoon received formal notification that the BARC race weekend scheduled for 4/5 Sept at Donington Park, which included our championship rounds 11 and 12, has been cancelled.Alternative dates/venues for replacement races are being reviewed.  More later.Thu, 13 May 2010 16:18:38 GMT30349Zolder - tyres:See the earlier posting here.  George Polley has to firm up his plans for the Zolder weekend now.  But at the moment, he has orders for only five sets of tyres and is inclined toward abandoning the trip unless he gets significantly more orders very soon.  If you intend to use your full allowance of three sets of tyres this year, the "obvious" time to change to the second set is after one third of the season, ie after 5 races.  Our Zolder rounds are races 5 and 6!  George doesn't demand payment until he fits them, ie. at Zolder, so please do not delay, order them today (or tomorrow!)  Polley contact details here.Decals, Mallory:Mike Fesemeyer has very kindly agreed to be "decal monitor" for the weekend.  He will be there testing on Saturday and racing on Sunday.  Please do check your decals thoroughly (plan here) and find Mike ASAP if you need any replacements.  Note that nearly all of you will need the new "REIS" decal on the nose, as per this posting.  Have you updated your on-line profile for Mallory???And there are some Schedules that need updating, since there are currently about ten of you who still appear not to have made up your mind about Mallory yet!Tue, 11 May 2010 21:55:40 GMT30331Provisional Zolder timetable: has now been published and is in our Competitor Info section, here.Mon, 10 May 2010 15:47:34 GMT30329Zolder - Grads' Supplementary regs: In case you missed them when you entered the races via the BRSCC site, they are now available via our site's Competitor Info page, here.Sun, 9 May 2010 22:44:37 GMT30327BARC have a new look web-site! Check it out.Fri, 7 May 2010 16:31:22 GMT30326TESTING, Saturday 15th May, the day before the non-champ "Live TV" Mallory Park races:See here. Five 25 minute sessions throughout the day for each of three groups (groups will be: slow, intermediate and fast) at 30 per session. Book just one, or more. Or book all five for the price of four! Call 01455 842931.  But do it very soon, please!Thu, 6 May 2010 20:03:41 GMT30325Donington - yes/no?Many of you will have seen the article about Donington in today's Autosport (p101).  It states that "Masters" will be racing on 4/5 Sept rather than a BARC meeting (ie. rather than us!).  It seems somewhat definitive.  But not all the stuff you read in the papers is always 100% correct.  This may, or may not be.  BARC have told me that things are not always as they seem and that we should not view our DP rounds cancelled until we hear it officially from BARC.  So, we wait.  But if I were a betting man, I might think that our race there is now looking like a 20 to 1 shotThu, 6 May 2010 19:48:20 GMT30323Race Cars - standard of "presentation":You should all be aware of clause 6.2.1 of our regs which requires a good standard of car presentation, inside and out - and the associated MSA regs requiring that vehicles be clean and have no "temporary parts".  It is our intention to ask our scrutineer to enforce these regs somewhat strictly, but fairly, at our forthcoming Mallory and Zolder rounds.  Particularly, but not exclusively, with reference to broken wings and noses.  Some of you have already been a bit careless on track and broken bits of your cars.  And may have attempted to "mend" broken glass-fibre parts with sticky tape.  This, in moderation, could be acceptable, eg. a small strip of tape, of a matching colour, neatly applied to cover a small crack in one wing.But using half a roll of tape to mend a wing which is actually broken in three places is not acceptable; nor is using red tape to repair a black wing (or vice versa); nor having three or more wings/noses held together by tape; nor having old "tatty" tape fraying at the edges.Making a hard and fast rule, that is not too draconian, is very difficult.  The only hard rule that would make sense is, "No tape, no broken wings, etc. etc."  But we want to be slightly more lenient.  You need to use your own judgement.  Stand back and look at your car (not from too far away!!!).  Ask yourself if you are proud of, or ashamed of, the way it looks.  Ask yourself whether, if a whole field of cars were presented in the same way as yours, they would be a credit to the club, or an embarrassment.  That's what scrutineer Keith will be asking himself when he looks at your car at Mallory and Zolder. Thu, 6 May 2010 19:32:35 GMT30309Classic Graduates at Zolder:Grid sharing.  Note (from our on-line Schedule) that we are only expecting about a dozen Classics at Zolder.  At a circuit which can accommodate a grid of 40-something cars.  Caterham are also expecting another group of about the same size - the Dutch "Academy" - and we have agreed that it is only sensible for them and our Classics to share a single grid.  Hopefully, we can arrange a "delayed start", as per our regs, so that inter-class racing is minimized!Tue, 4 May 2010 22:36:18 GMT30308Zolder entries:All Racing Members should have received, earlier today, an e-mail from BRSCC telling them how to access their on-line entry system and to enter for our races at Zolder.  It should have come from BRSCC's "Karen Farley".  And it will have been sent to the principle e-mail address that you have on record for your Graduates Club membership.  If you don't see the BRSCC e-mail in your inbox, check your junk mail.  If you still don't see it, I suggest that you e-mail Karen via "entry at brscc.co.uk" or call her on 01732 783 147.The BRSCC system is much like the BARC's.  Your log-in name is your e-mail address and today's BRSCC e-mail has your "pin number".  Enter these into http://brscc.prosolvehosting.co.uk/ and it will take you to your BRSCC "home" page.  Click the tabs along the top to add data to "My details" and "My vehicles" - just like our own system, you will need to enter data in all the essential fields in order to race - address, d-o-b, license, transponder, next of kin, etc. etc.Then select the "book" tab from the menu at the top of the page and you should be shown just one race for which you can "book" your entry - Zolder.  Click the box next to Zolder, then tick the other box in that row to show that you accept the terms of the SRs (having first read them...!) and the box at the bottom to say that you agree to some stuff about MSA and then click "book events" at the bottom of the page.  Finally go to the "pay" section!  Or not.  Click on the "Championships" tab to see details of your entry.  And the "pay" tab, to pay!  Our fee is the same as for Roadsports A - £450 - and we get the same track time, ie. two x 30 mins races.Unlike the BARC system, you will then receive an automatic "booking confirmation" e-mail.By the way, if you have a choice of browsers, I am advised that Internet Explorer is probably the one to use!Tue, 4 May 2010 22:15:52 GMT30270Zolder entries: Still no word from Caterham/BRSCC. But late fees wouldn't usually kick in until three weeks before the race, which is still three weeks away.Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:49:05 GMT30263Our "Nose" sponsor:  Richard Egger Insurance...Has now been "rebranded" as REIS.  And has a new web-site to match at www.reis.co.uk (see link from our home page).  They have some good products - not just on-track insurance but also storage/transit, kit cars, performance cars, classic cars, motorhomes, multi-vehicle, etc. etc. - it might well be worth browsing their site and giving them a call!Oh, and for our Racing Members, this means a new decal to replace (or go over) the "Richard Egger" decal - sorry about that! (available from me or JP at your next race)Mon, 26 Apr 2010 20:15:31 GMT30262Brands Hatch, 14th Aug.Our web-site's calendar started by showing this as a one round event, spread over a whole weekend.  And that's what BARC's timetable initially showed (and, for the time being, until it's updated, it still does).  But many of you had expressed disapproval of having to spend the whole weekend there just to compete in one race, so I am glad to be able to announce that we have negotiated with BARC for all our three qualy sessions and races to be just on the Saturday.  With Friday testing, I dare say that a lot of us will be there for two days anyhow, but at least we on longer have to be there for three days!Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:23:24 GMT30255Mallory "Live TV" races, 16th May There are an awful lot of you who appear not to have made up your minds about entering these races, if one looks at our on-line Race Schedule. Which is not very helpful. Please amend your Mallory data to show either "Definitely" or "Definitely Not", unless you are genuinely still dithering! And if you do intend to enter, but have not yet done so, please do so ASAP - via BARC's usual on-line race entry system. Closing date is Monday. Info about pre-race testing on the Saturday, here.Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:58:49 GMT30245Zolder - Grads race order. Mark - you got the number right, and the remainder. But the order for option 4 was stated to be: - Megas - Classics - SupersWed, 21 Apr 2010 23:04:12 GMT30242Zolder - trying to plan your ferry return journey?  Check tonight's National Lottery "Dream Number"!Duh, what...?!  That's right, because if you win the top 500,000 prize, you could be returning in style, at the time of your choice, in a private helicopter!No, seriously, it's more subtle than that...  It's about the timetable.Our Zolder weekend is packed chock full of British Caterham races.  Which means racing for all on Sunday afternoon.  The timetable is still in provisional draft form.  But the expectation is that everyone will qualify on Saturday morning or early afternoon.  Then our first two classes will probably race once on Saturday and then again on Sunday, with the other class having both its races on the Sunday, one near the start of the day, and one near the end.You will be pleased to learn that Caterham/BRSCC are not planning to give all the Grads classes the smelly end of the stick by allocating us to the last three races on Sunday.  We will be spread out: one class's last race will probably be in the early afternoon, one class in the late afternoon - and, inevitably, the other class in between!Anyhow, whatever the final timetable, the order in which our three classes compete must be that one has to be first, and one has to be last.  Since this will impinge significantly on nearly everyone's travel plans, we must be "fair" in the way that our classes are allocated to these slots, since our championship's classes are all "equal" and we have no "pecking order".  So we are going to allocate the order in a public and random way.  And here's how we're going to do that, tonight.  There are six possible orders:0    Classics, Supers, Megas1    Classics, Megas, Supers2    Supers, Classics, Megas3    Supers, Megas, Classics4    Megas, Classics, Supers5    Megas, Supers, ClassicsThese are numbered 0 to 5 for a reason.  That's for the "random public draw".  Which will be based on the "dream number" in tonight's National Lottery draw (draw number 394).  When the Dream Number is divided by six, the result will be a whole number and a "remainder" which will be a number between 0 and 5.  And that will define our classes' race order!  The probability of each is exactly the same*.  Simples!  (Check the Dream Number here).The timetable is still very provisional, but as a rough guide, if your class is racing first, you can expect your last race to finish not much later than 1.30pm on Sunday.  If you're racing second, plan on finishing at around 3.30pm.  And our last race should be done by 5.30.(*Actually, the probabilities are not exactly equal, there's a tiny bias against my class, Megas, being first race.  Because the probability for each of 0,1,2 and 3 is 16.66667%, and the probability for 4 and 5 is 16.66666%.  We'll try to ignore  that...) Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:24:00 GMT30226Croft:The Results summary is now on-line on our web-site, here, listing all the "podium" finishers, our Best Improvers, the races' Fastest Laps and Pole Position data.  The championship tables (click for Classics, Supers, Megas) have also been updated.  Please check out the championship tables and ensure that your result has been posted correctly - let me know ASAP if you think there is an error.  Finally, the Lap Records page has also been updated.I think that I can say that Croft was a superb weekend.  Despite it being almost in the Arctic circle, and that we half-expected to be sitting in a cloud of orange volcanic dust, we had not a drop of rain all weekend and a good deal of bright sunshine.  It makes all the difference!  Just as it did at Pembrey!I must offer words of commiseration to several of our members who found themselves stranded overseas by the darned volcano - Martin Gee, Paul Hudson and Martin Amison, that I know of.  The latter was absolutely gutted and tells me that it was the first Graduates race weekend that he has missed in ten years!It was a real delight to me, at Croft and Pembrey, to see some new faces collecting pots!  We've had three different winners in both Supers and Megas; and first wins by Trevor Carvey, David Shaw, Dylan Stanley and Paul Turley; and first podiums for Jenny Grace, Myles Packman and Neil Shinner; and a long overdue return to the podium from Paul Manyweathers.  Special congrats to David Shaw for not only taking his first race win in one of the Croft races, but also beating Andy McMillan's lap record in the other!  Pembrey Supers' lap record was bettered by Stanley on the Saturday, and then bettered again by Waring on the Sunday.There has been a little contact in a few of the races, but nothing too desperate in the way of car to car contact, and a relatively low number of DNFs.Zolder:I expect to have news about entries and the timetable any day now.  Watch this space.  If you intend racing at Zolder, also watch your wings!  Because our scrutineer, Keith Marchment was "on patrol" at Croft to remind us that he wants a really smart turn-out at Zolder and that he is prepared to use his powers under our the regs to refuse permission to race to anyone who turns up with an exceptionally scruffy car.  He pointed out unacceptable damage/repairs to several drivers.  But maybe not to everyone.  The "rule" is that cars should essentially "appear" to be undamaged.  Minor cracks in wings may be repaired with tape, but tape should be of a closely matching colour and applied neatly!  Wings held together by half a roll of tape will not be permitted!  Cars should be clean and fully and properly decalled.Engine Seals:Top tip:  If a seal is left "dangling" by the lock-wire, continuous vibration and wobbling of the seal can sometimes cause the wire to break.  Possibly leaving you with no seal.  Our scrutineer can view "no seal" as "no evidence that the engine has not been illicitly dismantled and tweaked for illicit performance enhancement" and can thus require that any engine not bearing the correct seals be dismantled and inspected - at the driver's cost - before being re-sealed.  So the top tip is to use a dab of silicone sealant to secure the body of the seal to the engine so that the wire is much less likely break.  Be careful not to actually cover the wire or seal with silicone since the scrutineer needs to be able to see that it has not been tampered with.Mallory "Live TV" race:Still a few places left.  Official closing date is next Monday, 26th April.  Remember that the Club is not funding Tech Support for these races.  If you want MMM tech support, they will be happy to provide it, at modest cost - please contact them to arrange it.Wed, 21 Apr 2010 01:33:40 GMT30224Tyres from Polley at Snetterton this coming weekend? If you are going to be at Snet for the pre-Zolder Caterham races this coming weekend, you can get tyres fitted by George Polley there, because he will be there providing tyre support for the "Sports 2000" championship. But if you wish to do so, you must contact Polleys in advance!Tue, 20 Apr 2010 21:07:01 GMT30126Croft, catering:Gail needs to know by Weds morning, at the latest, if any of you are expecting more than your usual "crew" at Croft, so that she has at least some chance of catering for the right number of people.  To remind you all of how it works: each racing member at an event is "entitled" to partake of Gail's tea/coffee and buffet meals, and one guest per member. any additional guests are asked to pay a "voluntary" (!!!) contribution of 5 per day toward the catering costs (cash to Gail please). this facility is not "transferable", eg. you cannot bring 7 guests, FOC and without notifying Gail, just because you know 6 drivers who are not taking any guests! Gail must be notified in advance of extra guests, because that's how she knows how much food to buy and take! This is all extremely good value, because it is partly subsidized by your membership subscriptions.  Bear in mind that the going commercial rate for a cup of coffee is usually more than a quid, and you will quickly realise what good value we are at only 5 per day - given that your guests not only get access to the unlimited coffee but also the biccies and meals! Click to e-mail Gail. Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:21:39 GMT30102Are you testing at Zolder?  Want Tech Support?  Then tell us when you will be testing, please!Pre-race testing at Zolder is available on Thursday 3rd June, morning and afternoon sessions - see here.  And there is a track"day" on the afternoon of Fri 4th June - see here.  If we are to provide the right level of Tech Support for you all, we need to know who is doing which sessions!  So please go to "Update Your Race Schedule" in the Grads web-site's Members' Area and tick whichever of the three items (at the bottom of the list) apply to your testing plans, ASAP.  (And while you are there, please see if you can update your schedule with your latest intentions for the rest of the season's races!)Thu, 8 Apr 2010 20:21:04 GMT30100Snetterton all-comers Caterham races 24/25 April:See earlier announcements here and here. There are still a few spaces left, and now open to anyone - not just those needing upgrade signatures for Zolder). Closing for entries soon - so do pull your fingers out!  Entry form here.Thu, 8 Apr 2010 19:53:29 GMT30079Many of you will know that BARC have always run a loyalty bonus scheme where, if you enter all the races in the season, the final race is almost free. With the absence of paper entry forms this season, there's been no notice of the scheme but I am told by BARC that it's still operating. However, the on-line entry system won't process the discount yet - hopefully, that will come in a few months. But in the meantime, bear in mind that you may be entitled to a vastly reduced entry fee for Thruxton and perhaps hold off entering it for a while. If the worst comes to the worst, BARC say they can issue the discount by cheque later in the season. Tue, 6 Apr 2010 09:45:24 GMT30053TESTING, Saturday 15th May, the day before the non-champ "Live TV" Mallory Park races: See here. Five 25 minute sessions throughout the day for each of three groups (groups will be: slow, intermediate and fast) at 30 per session. Book just one, or more. Or book all five for the price of four! Call 01455 842931. Fri, 2 Apr 2010 08:33:35 GMT300482010 sponsors' decalsName decals:  Any more for any more?  If you need new "driver's name" decals, please let me know ASAP.Decals for Croft, or later:  I have just mailed out decal sets to the reminder of you who had asked for them.  If anyone else wants decals mailed out, please let me know ASAP (and tell me which ones, eg. full set or just the new ones, or whatever - when you need them - and whether you need white or black for the MMM/SMM side decals).  If you can wait to collect decals at your next race, or arrange for a fellow competitor to collect them for you, so much the better!Please make sure you have them all:  A few of you had a few decals missing at Pembrey.  We don't have any shortages at the moment so there is no excuse!  If you need additional decals at Croft, see me or John Parker.  Bear in mind that failure to display all the decals correctly is an ineligibility offence!Returns:  I know that some of you have surplus decals.  And that some have of you have "mailing tubes".  Please return these to myself or JP at your next race.Thu, 1 Apr 2010 16:25:06 GMT30047Pembrey race 2 Supers & Megas best improvers are 1) Mark Gregory, 2) Sean Mighall, 3) Wayne Buttery and 1) David Shaw, 2) Keith Chanter, 3) Martin Amison. Trophies will be presented on Saturday at the next round at Croft. Thu, 1 Apr 2010 15:04:23 GMT30042Snetterton all-comers Caterham races 24/25 April (primarily for those needing licence upgrade signatures for Zolder): See earlier announcements here and here. There are still a few spaces left but they will close for entries next week - so do pull your fingers out!Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:31:31 GMT30025Tyres, Zolder:The next time we expect to see George Polley at a circuit will be at Zolder and since our season will be two fifths of the way through by the time we leave there, some of you may be thinking that your second set of tyres will be about due during the Zolder weekend.  He will have limited capacity, so if you want George to fit tyres at Zolder, please call to place your order ASAP.Wheel cleanliness:Is next to wheel Godliness.  At Pembrey, George saw fit to pass comment on the extraordinarily filthy state of some of the wheels to which he was being asked to fit tyres.  Pounds and pounds of brake dust not only creates an unpleasant working environment for him and his crew, but also poses a potential "health and safety" problem.  And it is difficult to ensure that balance weights adhere properly to dirty wheels.  Obviously (?!), none of you will want to put dirty wheels back on your car and you will be intending to clean them before that, so why not clean them before taking them for tyre-fitting?  Not that you can expect to have much choice in the matter in future - be warned that "the few have spoiled it for the many" and the disgusting state of a few drivers' wheels has resulted in Polleys deciding that they will turn away everything except clean wheels in future.  You have been warned.Regular wheel cleaning is actually useful for problem-finding.  If you know that you have started a session/race/day with clean wheels (especially the inside surface), a post-session inspection/clean will quickly reveal whether you have a problem, eg. you would expect roughly the same amount of brake dust on each side of the car - noticeably more or less dust on one side than on the other suggests that something is wrong!  And the presence of any oil or grease immediately points to a potential problem with bearings or oil seals.  My experience is that brake dust is easily removed just by wiping with a soft cloth or a paper wipe - water/detergent is only necessary if they have oil or grease on them (which would suggest a problem, as mentioned).Permitted number of sets of tyres:Our regs permit us to use only three sets of tyres during the whole season.  There is no scope for us to "mix and match" and decide to use two new sets and two "half-worn" sets.  So if you raced or qualified with a half-worn set at Pembrey, that set constitutes four of your permitted 12 tyres and you can only use a further eight during the rest of the season.  Keep your half-worn sets for "testing"!Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:30:50 GMT29978Mark your property! (see earlier postings about Paul Allen's wheels - here, here and here) In Paul's case, one of the wheels was usefully (not) marked with the initials "SH" (or was it "HS"?). My tip of the week is to buy yourselves a "permanent marker" and scribble your initials on the more obvious, and valuable, bits of gear that you take to a race circuit!Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:57:50 GMT29945Grads' Mallory non-championship "live TV" race, 16th May: Now open for on-line entries via BARC's usual on-line system. Space is limited, so if you are keen, I suggest you get your entries in promptly!Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:19:05 GMT29941New "nose cone" sponsor:I am delighted to report that we have found a new sponsor to replace "Comma" on our nose-cones: Richard Egger Insurance.  Please check out their on-track insurance offerings.  Decals should be available for collection and fitting at Pembrey.I also now have more "Arch" decals for any of you who didn't get sent one or didn't collect at Oulton; they will also be available at Pembrey.Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:03:45 GMT29939Caterham Graduates Racing Club Facebook page:The club has recently created a new Facebook page, to replace the original "group" created by Ollie Jackson some years ago (many thanks OJ), which has fallen into disuse.  The page is at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Caterham-Graduates-Racing-Club/397743975720, if you are "on facebook" all you have to do to become a member of this online community is to click "become a fan" at the top of the page.Of course we already have the club's website and its forum for information and discussion, so you may be wondering why we need a Facebook page.  Well, apart from information for our wider community of friends who don't regularly visit our forum, its a bit of fun - the main purpose of Facebook is photo-sharing and commenting, and we thought that now so many members have iphones, digital cameras, mobile uploading capability and enjoy tweeting, that we would encourage people to upload any pics they take from our race weekends directly onto our page!We'll give it a try at Pembrey.  If there is no interest we may not bother again, but if it is popular we'll create an album for every event. The Pembrey album can be found at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=402028&id=397743975720 - currently it has a 'placeholder' picture from Pembrey last year, as we needed to put something in there to create the album at all.  But please add your pics and vids as we go through the weekend and we'll see afterwards what we got.  Here's an idea - photograph the results sheets and send them to FB!  And remember it is unmoderated, so please keep it clean and stick to cars and club members please!Wed, 24 Mar 2010 01:48:33 GMT29938Your on-line profile:Please update your profile now at http://www.graduates.org.uk/members/update_profile.asp.Part of the intention of this facility was to enable provision of information to our race commentators.  Completing the "Commentators Information Sheets" that we get given at most races, time and time again, legibly, can be a bit of a pain.  So the idea is that you complete your "profile", on-line, and then the commentators use that instead (we tell them where to find it).  They're happy, because they can actually read it - and even swot up in advance; you're happy because it's one less piece of paper you have to bother with on race day.To be useful, the commentators need information which is:- up to date- interesting- relevant- conciseBear in mind that the primary use is to fill in three minutes of dead time while we all wait on the grid (so, maybe 5 seconds each!).  And maybe the commentator will add a snippet or two during a race (but that will usually be for the few drivers at the front and not many others) and when interviewing the winners.Please check out what the commentators will see about you by clicking on "Print all profiles" at the top of the "Drivers page <http://www.graduates.org.uk/drivers/default.asp> " and scrolling down to see your entry.  Note that we give the commentators the facility to just print out data for those drivers who have told us - via our on-line Schedule - that they have definitely entered!  Work out which sections could do with extending and which could benefit from shrinking!  Maybe check out what others have written about themselves to see what works, and what doesn't!  Then go to "update profile" and give it a shot.The smart thing to do is to update your comments in the context of the next race.  Your race podiums back in 2003 are interesting (slightly, to some), but you should maybe consider condensing your historical date to to "2 podiums last year, 8 in the preceding 5 years," rather than a dull list which says "2003: 3rd at Mallory, 4th at Croft, 10th at Pembrey, DNF at Silverstone. 2004: ... etc., etc."Please try to do this in the next day or two.Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:38:33 GMT29930Mallory non-championship "live TV" race, 16th May: Now open for on-line entries via BARC's usual on-line system. Space is limited so if you are keen, I suggest you get your entries in promptly. Nick FrostMon, 22 Mar 2010 19:45:33 GMT29926Classic wheel nuts. If you have fitted the Rakeway halfshafts, please ensure that you check the tightness of your wheel nuts between track (or road) session. Wheel nuts may slacken off as the wheel studs are pulled into their fully seated position in the new hubs.Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:25:09 GMT299202010 Graduates sponsors' decals:Many decal packs were distributed at Oulton on Friday.  And a batch of tubes went out in the first class mail today to those that are racing at Pembrey and had asked for them to be mailed - they should arrive tomorrow.Note that we have run out of Arch decals but hope to get some more soon.  We were also short of BARC shields but I hope these will be available at Pembrey sign-on.Also note that Comma eventually declined to repeat their 2009 deal, so their decal - which I had asked you all to leave on your nose-cones - may now be removed.  Note that "MX Display" is a new decal and MX have asked that only the new one is used. There is also a new MSAR decal but Jenny would like you to keep using the old ones, provided they aren't too tatty!In some cases I have had to guess whether you need a white or black decal on the sides of the car.  If I have sent the wrong colour, please see myself or John Parker at Pembrey and ask for a swap.If you have been sent more decals than you need, please also return your surplus to John or me.  And we could also try to save the planet by re-using the mailing tubes, if you could also return them, please!RegardsNick FrostMon, 22 Mar 2010 14:50:47 GMT29900Welsh Sports and Saloons races at Pembrey: See previous announcement. They still have space for some of us to join them!Sun, 21 Mar 2010 10:09:55 GMT29875CGRC Decals, 2010: Apologies to everyone who had responded to me about decals and asked for them to be sent. The simple fact of the matter is that I won't have most of the decals until they are delivered to me at Oulton tomorrow. Anyone who can arrange for a mate to collect decals for them at OP will save me a lot of bother - thanks! Over the weekend, I will be endeavouring to package up the remaining decals to be mailed out to those who have asked for decals to be mailed - priority to those who are racing at Pembrey. This will probably mean decal tubes turning up on your doorstep on Tuesday - if this doesn't work for you (because they won't fit through your letterbox and you'll end up having to collect them the Post office - or because you know you won't get around to fitting them until you get to Pembrey), please let me know and I will deliver them at Pembrey instead. The 2010 decal plan is now available in our web-site's "Competitor Info" section.Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:16:46 GMT29867PEMBREY NEW DRIVERS - DRIVING STANDARDS BRIEFING: 12:30 Saturday 27th March All drivers new to the Club that are racing at Pembrey should have received an email giving details of this. Please email if you should have received one but haven't.Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:14:52 GMT29865Oulton Park on Friday: We don't have the trackday entirely to ourselves. But I think there are about 35 of us (see attendees list). Including 5 or 6 of our new members. I hope all you "old hands" will all go out of your way to make the new members feel welcome - ie. if you see a face you don't recognise in a Grads-type car, go and talk to them! New Members: Don't be shy and retiring! You're bound to see some obvious Grads cars in the paddock when you arrive. So park right next to one of them and make yourselves known!Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:30:45 GMT29759Trophies 2010: I am delighted to report that Roger Ford has been volunteered to take over the trophy duties from Adam (see previous post). Many thanks to Roger and also to Adam for doing such a marvellous job for so long! Decals:I am also delighted to announce that John Parker has volunteered to take on his role of a few years ago - "decal monitor": JP will be in charge of the in-paddock issuing of new decals whenever any of you carelessly knock off a wing and need a new set of decals. Thanks JP! For all those who have contacted me about decals, in response to my earlier posting/mail, I am processing all your responses and you will hear back from me (if you asked a question!) shortly...!Thu, 4 Mar 2010 15:32:45 GMT29754Any more for Marshal training at Thruxton this weekend?See previous post (below).  Our help is wanted from about 1pm to 4pm on Saturday and from about 10am to 1pm on Sunday.  There are half a dozen of us "booked in" at the moment.  A further two or three would be a great help!  Please contact me!Tue, 2 Mar 2010 23:34:57 GMT29752Snetterton non-champ "licence signature" races:Regs and entry form are now available in our web-site's "Competitor Info" section, here.  Note rule 9 of the Supplementary Regs which explains that priority will go to those needing upgrade signatures in order to race at Zolder.  Even so, it could get full, and I urge anyone who expects to "need" these races to enter promptly.  Previous announcement hereTue, 2 Mar 2010 19:16:35 GMT29730Easytrack pre-season trackday - Oulton Park, 19th March:The trackday our new sponsors are organizing for us still has some space.  But, with only three weeks to go, it has now been opened up to all-comers, not just us.  So please book soon to avoid disappointment!  Social Members also welcome!  See earlier announcement.Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:19:08 GMT29728Non-champ "licence signature" races at Snetterton:Our calendar page has been updated with the addition of this double-header on 24/25 April.  These races are for any class of car from Graduates or the Caterham Motorsport series and entry priority will go to those drivers who intend to race at Zolder but need extra licence signatures to upgrade to a "National A" licence.  Entry fee, for qualifying and two 20 minute races, is expected to be about 320.  There will be a further announcement from me when entry forms are available.Channel ferry deal:As announced previously.  The promotional discount code, and other information, is now available in the document "Zolder SeaFrance Crossing Offer" in our web-site's members area.Pembrey - tyres:Polley Motorsport will be at our Pembrey test/race to supply and fit tyres.  But you must order them in advance!Nick FrostChairman, Caterham Graduates Racing ClubSat, 27 Feb 2010 11:03:00 GMT29724Decals 2010: All Racing Members have just been sent an e-mail all about the 2010 decal requirements. Please read it! If you do not see that e-mail, please check your junk-mail!Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:14:16 GMT29682Pembrey and Croft - testing, timetables, etc.Our calendar page has now been updated with links to BARC's timetable pages for our first two meetings.Pembrey:  an early start for Classics, sorry!  But at least they will be "free to go" by 10 o'clock on Sunday morning!  (or spend the afternoon on Pembrey sands!).  Pre-race testing is available on Friday 26th March - booking/payment/timing details are here (phone only, no on-line booking, yet).  McMillan Motorsport will be there all day Friday to deal with your technical problems (more about this later).  And MMM will probably need to fit MSA seals to a lot of our cars' engines (also more about this later), so they may be quite busy; even if you choose not to test on the Friday, it may be smart to plan to be at the circuit on Friday afternoon to ensure there is time to get your seals done.We have been invited to enter the Welsh Sports and Saloon Car races at Pembrey - not a bad way to get more track time without spending a whole load more.  Call Dale Wells or Nicola Bush at BARC if you are interested.  But please do note that CGRC's deal with McMillan for technical support is for the CGRC races only - so if you bend your car in a WS&S race, please do not expect MMM to fix it FOC!We can get access into the circuit from 6pm on the Thursday.Croft:  No pre-race testing available, I regret.  But it's an easy circuit to learn - honest!Your race schedule:  Please help us to plan for our race weekends by completing our web-site's on-line Race Schedule (in the Members' Area).  Details in the earlier announcement.Spam: Racing Members should automatically get this forum announcement as an e-mail (thanks to Jamie Ellwood's tireless efforts to enhance and improve our web-site).  If you do not get it as an e-mail, it could be that your anti-spam filter is blocking it because it's a "bulk" e-mail.  Please check your spam filter and ensure that you have my e-mail address as a "safe sender"!Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:35:42 GMT29673Zolder Channel Crossing Deal!Caterham Motorsport have negotiated a deal with Sea France for all Zolder competitors who intend taking their race car on a trailer, a great discount on the Dover/Calais route.  Normally, this (return) crossing would be about 160 depending on times (a bit cheaper than the tunnel and way cheaper than P&O).Special Price = 95 return.This price is a flat rate, regardless of crossing times, for any journey made between 1st-7th June (there and back obviously!)  Therefore, if you manage to miss your crossing or arrive early, you will be able to get on the next one, space allowing they have about 14 crossings each way, so you should be fine.You'll be able to book this from early next week when they release the promo code.  All you will have to do is go through the regular online booking process and then enter a promo code at the end which will change the price to 95.The reason I'm telling you this now is so you are prepared and ready to book...  100+ cars and trailers takes up a lot of space, so it is subject to availability.  In addition, I'm expecting the offer to be valid till about the 30th April, after which time it will revert to the regular price.So, watch this space!  The promo code will be e-mailed to you next week...Sat, 20 Feb 2010 09:23:11 GMT29671Classic half shafts. Upgrade kits are ready for delivery. If you ordered an upgrade kit you should have recieved an e-mail from me today. If you have not received an e-mail or the e-mail instructions are unclear please contact me.Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:11:46 GMT29637The BARC on-line registration and race entry system:...now seems to be all up and working.  All CGRC Racing Members need to register for the championship - and it's free (although you will eventually also need to renew or enrol as a Racing Member of BARC, which is not free).  Using BARC's on-line system is preferable to using their paperwork system, for obvious reasons.Please go to http://register.barc.net/ to do this.  Log in and then click on "Manage your championship entries".  If you have not previously used BARC's on-line system, you will first need to register to use the system and wait (perhaps a day or three) for BARC to e-mail you your username and password.When you get into the registration system, there are three Easytrack Caterham Graduate Championships to choose from - please make sure that you select the correct class!When you have registered, your screen will show your "Payment Status" as "Under review".  BARC go through a manual check system, so you may have to wait a day or two before your status changes to "Accepted".  Note that part of that check system is to ensure that you are a Racing Member of the Caterham Graduates Racing Club - your registration will be not be accepted until you are.Note that BARC will not have the personnel to process your registration next week, so perhaps you should try to do it this week (today even!).Once your championship registration has been accepted, you will be able to click on Races/View Races to enter the BARC races on-line.  When you do, the next screen will list (nearly) all of our races and you can choose to enter any one or more of them.  The payment system is the same on-line Worldpay that CGRC uses and is very secure.  Note that there is a surcharge of 2 per transaction - so you can save a few quid by entering - and paying for - several races at once.When you click to enter a race, the next screen asks you whether or not it will be the first time you have raced at the circuit.  Be careful to change this if it will be your first race there, since the default is "no" and you WILL be fined if you do not attend the compulsory "first time drivers" briefing and it becomes known that you should have done!  The other box on that screen is for a donation to the Marshals' fund.  Put a couple of quid in here by all means, if you wish.  But the Grads have traditionally made its own collection for the benefit of marshals (so that we can spend the money directly for their benefit and see where it goes!) so you may choose not to donate via the BARC site but to donate to our paddock collections instead.Note that the non-championship Mallory "Motors TV" races are not listed, but should be later on in the year.  Entry for the Zolder race is via BRSCC and I will let you know later on how to enter these - probably via the BRSCC's web-siteRegardsNick FrostMon, 15 Feb 2010 19:16:40 GMT29624Zolder Trackday Changes!  (From Caterham Cars' Simon Lambert)Important Please read.  To ensure you have a place on the trackday, you'll need to book asap!With demand likely to outstrip the number of possible places at the pre-Zolder track afternoon, the Caterham Graduates club have understandably been very concerned that their drivers will struggle to get practice time (as they are not eligible to book).  As the Graduates are a welcome and indeed essential part of the weekend, making it possible to run an exclusively Caterham event, we have looked at the options with BookaTrack and made some changes to the Friday trackday:Whilst the price of 160 and format of 3 x 25 minute sessions remains unchanged, the structure of the sessions has been revised.Session capacity has been increased to 45 cars.  As this increases the risk of stoppages etc, it has been agreed by all that structuring the sessions to reflect the championships is a more suitable approach.  Therefore, two sessions will be given over to the Roadsports (all classes) and R300 championships, and one session will be for the Graduates (all classes).  Session sizes have been increased to 45 cars.  If deemed suitable, it *may* be possible to 'overflow' select drivers into another session, if there's availability in one and not another.Booking is NOW OPEN TO ALL inc GRADS CLUB drivers, a change from the original exclusivity for Roadsport & R300 drivers.Until the 30th April, this will remain an exclusive Caterham event.  After this time, BookaTrack reserve the right to sell any remaining space to regular customers.Despite putting these measures in place, it's still tight.  Please book asap to avoid disappointment!Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:39:45 GMT29614Zolder TestingThursday 3rd June (we are racing on Sat/Sun 5th/6th).9am to 12pm - 200€1pm to 5pm - 260€All day - 415€To book, call +32 11 85 88 88This is not exclusive to Caterhams but, when booking, please state that you are racing at the Caterham Eurofest.Mon, 15 Feb 2010 08:59:04 GMT29566Regs, registration and race dates: The BARC on-line system is now up and running - go to register.barc.net/login/ to register for the championship. The dates are now as fixed as they can ever be. BARC will still describe them as "provisional" but that's so that they can change them if a "force majeure" should make it necessary - which could happen with regards the Donington date, for example!Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:36:57 GMT29548Marshal training days at Thruxton - help wanted!BARC HQ is holding its annual marshals training sessions at Thruxton Circuit on Sat/Sun 6th/7th March.  And have asked for some race-driver volunteers to help out for a few hours on each afternoon - a dozen of us would be good.  I don't have a final program yet but I expect it will be variations on previous years - some simulated "incidents" for marshals to deal with (the highlight a few years ago was when we took it in turns to pretend to beat the living sh*t out of another driver who had caused a crash!), driving up to the grid in haphazard order to give them some gridding-up practice, doing some simulated pit-stops to provide the marshals some practice at observing misdemeanours, etc. etc.Volunteers who are prepared to take their race car along would be very much appreciated.  But anyone who can be bothered to just turn up in their road car (but with their race gear and license) would be just as welcome.  If you are interested and can do either day, or both, please drop me a line to let me know, ASAP.As well as being a fun day out, this is a chance for you to meet the marshals, learn a little bit more about their side of motor-racing, and to give something very important back to your sport.  Everyone there will be unpaid volunteers - so you can't expect any tangible reward, not even expenses, I'm afraid.  The most you can hope for is a free lunch...Tue, 9 Feb 2010 23:55:01 GMT29547Our on-line Race Schedule - please provide your data!Please help us out by providing us with as much information as possible about your 2010 racing plans.  Using our on-line race schedule.  It's dead easy - just log-in to the "Members' Area", click on "Update Your Race Schedule" in the top LH corner and then you will see a table of each of our races and a series of "radio buttons" next to each one which you can click to indicate the probability of you entering each race.  Please try to be as definite as you can.  I appreciate that unforeseeable circumstances could cause you to change your plans (such as trashing your car...) but for the purposes of this exercise, I suggest that you tick the box which best describes your intentions right now, assuming that nothing happens to scupper your plans.You can update the schedule at any time, so please try to remember, whenever your plans change or firm-up, to revisit and ensure that your schedule matches your latest thoughts.  Your help with this is much appreciated - it's a great help when it comes to planning race days, especially when the schedule shows us that a race may be over-subscribed and that we need to make special arrangements to accommodate everyone. Tue, 9 Feb 2010 23:34:44 GMT29543Championship regs, registration and entry:BARC have just published the championship regs.  You can find them here: http://www.barc.net/competitors/index.phpsports_cars, and also via the link on our Comp Info page.  I've not yet read every word to see if anything has been changed from the final issue that we and BARC agreed, but I think they are pretty much what we intended them to be.  If anything seems to be out of kilter, please let me know ASAP!On that page, you will see that, new for 2010, they now have a downloadable form which you can use for registering for the championship and simultaneously entering all (or some of) the races (except Zolder).  You could register and enter now, with those forms.  But it is actually preferable to wait (probably only a day or so) until you can do it all on-line.  I expect this to be available very soon at http://register.barc.net/login/.  If you didn't use this system last year, you can get a head-start now by registering to use the on-line system, see here: http://register.barc.net/register/.You will, sooner or later (preferably sooner!), need to join BARC.  This can be done now via http://www.barc.net/membership/index.php.Once having registered for the championship on-line, you can enter the races on-line (you will be advised later about BRSCC Zolder entries).Note that Zolder requires a "Nat A" license - ie. that everyone has upgraded from a National B by getting half a dozen "upgrade" signatures on their Nat B license, as per MSA H 14.2.3 (which can be a mixture of signatures from this year and last year).  Note that BRSCC will have a couple of races at Snetterton on 24/25 April, expressly for Caterham Drivers (us and Roadsports) to get a couple of upgrade signatures.  With two signatures from each of our first two meetings (Pembrey, Croft), together with Snetterton and the possibility of a "marshalling" signature, everyone has ample chance.  But note that signatures are for "successfully completing a race" - so make sure you finish!Note that we expect to have just a single qualifying session for each of the double-header meetings, with the exception of Anglesey (excellent value!) where we are scheduled to race on two different layouts (probably "Coastal" and "International") and will therefore have a qualifying session on both.Tue, 9 Feb 2010 20:59:53 GMT29432New Title Sponsor!I am delighted to be able to announce that we are now the "Easytrack Caterham Graduates Championship".   Easytrack are a well-established track-day company and are very pleased about this opportunity to put their name to our championship.They are organizing our traditional pre-season trackday for us, as you might expect, and it is to be at the lovely Oulton Park on 19th March.  This day will be an opportunity for you to give your freshly re-built (???!!!) cars a shakedown before taking to the track in earnest at Pembrey.  I strongly urge you all to show your support for our generous new sponsors by booking, on-line, ASAP!  You will first need to register as an Easytrack member, FOC, here. (I suggest that, where it asks "How did you find us," you click "Other" and then type in "Graduates", OK?)Many of our members have traditionally used these pre-season days not only for a shakedown but also as an opportunity to bring their friends, family and supporters along and to give them a taste of circuit-driving, either as passengers or drivers - it's a great opportunity to scare the bejesus out of your girlfriend/wife/granny/husband/whatever!  If there is sufficient demand, we will, as in previous years, have special sessions during the day for novice racers and for your non-racing associates to go out on track, without fear of being "mobbed" by over-eager racing drivers!Unusually, Easytrack also expect to be able to be arrange for some sessions to be on the same basis as a proper "test" session, ie. race license holders only, no passengers, full MSA spec cars and safety gear and - most importantly - no overtaking "rules" and timing permitted!The date of this trackday has been difficult to select, primarily due to the very early start to our season - as a "pre-season" track-day, it clearly couldn't have been any later.  But a much earlier date would have increased the likelihood of poor weather - and would also have given everyone less time to get themselves and their cars ready.  Some of you may be concerned that your car could suffer breakdown or damage and that this date leaves too little time to get it fixed before racing at Pembrey.  Rest assured: As you would expect, MMM will be there to provide trackside technical support and say that they will be able to arrange for any faulty or damaged cars to be taken back to their workshop and - unless too many cars are too badly damaged (!!!) - would expect to be able to have them all safely delivered to Pembrey, ready to race, a week later.Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:23:44 GMT29406This site's calendar page is now available. Details of some of the "supported" test days can be found there, together with dates when Polleys will be at the tracks to supply and fit tyres, and various other info. There are still a few "TBAs", unfortunately - these will be updated as and when the information becomes available (also see here) Dates are still classes as "provisional" because there is still an outside chance that something could change - but that's not very likely.Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:52:11 GMT29322Jen's Grads Calendar, is absolutely superb. If you didn't order one, I strongly recommend you try to get one from her "second batch", if she does one (see here and here). I've not gone through every picture in detail, but I would be surprised if any of you do not figure in it, somewhere!Thu, 24 Dec 2009 10:22:53 GMT29300MSA Blue Book, 2010:You may have noticed that the 2010 MSA "Blue Book" is already published on-line, here.  Very little of relevance to us seems to have changed - except the whole thing has been re-numbered, but at least the rather complex system of section lettering has been improved - eg. what used to be [C(c)] is now just (K).  But "our" Circuit Racing section, previously (G), is now (Q)!Changes are highlighted in red and so - as long as that has been done consistently - they are quite easy to spot.  I've had a scan through and all I can find, of relevance, is:Safety Car:  In the "Circuit Racing" section, (Q), 3.9.1 now explicitly allows use of the Safety Car and, for the first time, the rules about SC operation are included in the Blue Book in (Q) appendix 2, on p277 (previously, if an SC was used, the Organizing Club had to issue SC rules on the day).  Our 2010 championship regs will permit - but not actually require - use of a Safety Car; each of our race's Supplementary Regs will tell you if one is to be used or not.Driving Standards:  There are changes in the "Track Regulations" sub-section (p271); some, it seems, are little more than re-wording of the previous regs.  But the new 14.4 explicitly defines what is required when a driver is being lapped, which is good.  14.4.2 explicitly prohibits "crowding of a car beyond the edge of the track", which is also good.  And 14.5 specifically reminds us of exactly what the C-o-C means when he tells us to "keep on the black stuff"!Oh, and David Shaw should perhaps note the new rule (H)7.1... Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:04:08 GMT29274The Caterham Graduates 2010 calendars are ready NOW!!!!!! :) They are 12 each plus 2.50 1st Class p+p I will required payment for them prior to dispatch. Please call me with card details asap 07912 842 320 I will need an email from you with your address to deliver to, and a phone call with payment details.Thanks very muchJenPS all proceeds will be donated to TCT :)Image hereWed, 16 Dec 2009 18:22:56 GMT29233Caterham branded lap-timers: Caterham Cars have branded Rollcentre T200 Laptimers (see pic here) available from Caterham Midlands for 99 + VAT.Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:26:48 GMT29222Caterham Motorsport Awards Dinner - pics here.Tue, 8 Dec 2009 15:49:50 GMT29177Caterham Graduates - 2010 Race CalendarBelow is our first-draft provisional race calendar.  Provisional, mostly because Mr.Ecclestone is still capable of changing his mind about the GP calendar in general and about the UK GP in particular.  And in motorsport, everything starts with and revolves around F1 - if that changes, everything else changes, worldwide!I think this is a fairly good calendar and doesn't deviate too far from the suggestions we put to the BARC.A major highlight (in addition to Zolder) should be the Donington weekend - but I regret that Jo Self's weekend is going to be quite busy as she shuffles backwards and forwards between Donington and her Surrey wedding...  Sorry Jo!  But please note that, despite today's protestations to the contrary in Autosport, there is a distinct possibility that D.Park will not be available for racing and that the whole weekend could be canned.  Which kind of justifies us going for a 15 race calendar (six double-headers, three singles), ie. it may end up as 13!The gaps between race weekends are not quite as "neat" as we would have liked.  Ideally, we would have 3 weeks between each round.  That is the most common interval but we have a six week gap between Oulton and Anglesey and gaps of only two weeks either side of those.  Note that the Mallory race is the non-championship "Live TV" round, so a large gap of 7 weeks between Croft and Zolder for anyone not doing the Mallory round.Novices are reminded that they will need to upgrade to a National A licence to race at Zolder.  To do that, they will need six upgrade signatures on their Nat B licence.  They can get four by competing in (and finishing...) the Pembrey and Croft rounds and a possibility of another two from the Mallory double-header.  We'll try to find some other suitable non-champ races for you to enter!  And don't forget that you can get one signature for doing a day's marshalling.I'm guessing, but there's a possibility that the Zolder round may require us to be there on the Friday.All the double-headers are expected to be over a Saturday and Sunday.  The Oulton Park single race is on a Saturday; Thruxton is Sunday.  The Brands Hatch single-race event is scheduled over a whole weekend but we will be requesting that all our races happen on just one day - but we don't as yet know whether that will be the Sat or the Sun.Those of you who are interested to watch the progress of the Grads drivers who have defected moved to R300s will be interested to know that the only conflicting dates in our two calendars are those of our Snetterton and Thruxton races.No idea yet which rounds will be attended by Polley Motorsport, to supply and fit our Yokohamas, but will announce this on the on-line calendar when we know.Also no idea yet about the date/location of a pre-season "shake-down" trackday.  More later.Testing.  All these venues can be expected to provide "open" testing on the day before our races except for Thruxton - testing is extremely rare and difficult there.  And I'm not sure about Zolder testing.  More later, again.None of these weekends are public holidays. Round Dates Circuit 1/2 27/28 Mar Pembrey 3/4 17/18 Apr Croft non-champ 16 May Mallory 5/6 5/6 Jun Zolder 7 19 Jun Oulton Park 8/9 31 Jul / 1 Aug Anglesey 10 14/15 Aug Brands Hatch (Indy) 11/12 4/5 Sep Donington Park 13/14 25/26 Sep Snetterton 15 17 Oct ThruxtonThu, 3 Dec 2009 18:17:38 GMT29074Rear fog light. The actual wording of the regs is as follows: "The rear warning light must NOT be located in the standard Caterham road car position on the back panel, it must be centrally located as per MSA regulation C9c)69 and must be wholly above the level of the bodywork." Therefore a location other than the roll cage would be acceptable.Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:37:39 GMT29071Minister have been included as an authorised engine builder for K series engines only. The Grads club has a number of Minister built engines already racing in the club and any Caterham Roadsport car that joins the Grads club is very likely to have Minister built engine. By authorising Minister as a builder and agreeing a build specification the Grads club can ensure equality between McMillan and Minister engines. All Classic engines have either never been rebuilt or have been rebuilt by McMillan. The best way to ensure equality of Classic engines is to continue to permit only McMillan to rebuild Classic engines.Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:01:00 GMT290622010 Graduates enrolment - opens TOMORROW!Note that this is for "priority" enrolment, ie. for 2009's Racing Members to renew.  Social Members can enrol as from Mon 30th Nov and we will open for general enrolment on Thursday 3rd Dec.To read about 2010 enrolment, click on "2010 enrolment" from the home-page.Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:24:54 GMT28980Dinner-dance karting final instructions - for spectators and competitors - see here!Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:05:49 GMT28979Classic halfshafts. Rakeway have a differential and will be recieving Sheila's complete standard axle this week. Rakeway expect to have the prototype kit completed during December. The schedule for completion of the full batch of kits is not finalised, but I am expecting these to be available by end Jan 2010. Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:48:32 GMT28943MEGA UPGRADE. The club's board of directors has decided NOT to adopt the proposed Mega engine up-grade for 2010. There was support for the up-grade from around half of the Mega drivers. Therefore work will continue next year to prove the performance and reliability of the up-grade with the possibility of introducing it in 2011.Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:16:03 GMT28719>2010 Mega upgrade: See latest info here and then update your on-line Race Schedule to record your thoughts in our opinion poll (read the five options carefully and choose the one that most closely describes your opinion).Tue, 3 Nov 2009 23:56:36 GMT28681Overseas races, 2010: Astonishingly, a number of our drivers have found themselves getting "bored of Spa"! So we are going for a change next year. Together with the UK Caterham Motorsport's championships, we are going to the fabulous former F1 circuit of Zolder on the first weekend of June (5th/6th) for an exclusively Caterham weekend. The 2.492 mile circuit hosted the Belgian Grand Prix on ten occasions in the 70's and 80's, alternating with Spa-Francorchamps. As trackdays are rare at Zolder, I expect that it will be a first time visit for almost everyone on the grid! Located about 100km North-West of Spa-Francorchamps, Zolder is actually about 40 miles closer to Calais.Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:18:00 GMT28520DINNER-DANCE - thrills and spills video footage needed!Caterham have asked if we can put together a three minute clip of all our season's thrills and spills.  And our own Chris Rome has again very kindly volunteered to put it together.  But he needs your footage.Please look through your vids and see if you have any really good bits (the obvious recent example of "good" dinner-dance video is the clip of Kenny Young's two-wheeled Spa antics).  I guess that we're looking for clips of just 5 seconds each, or thereabouts.  If you can edit your own vid and just send Chris a 5 second clip or two, that would be excellent.  If you can't, send him a longer vid, but tell him where the "good bits" are (eg. "98 seconds in", or whatever).Please don't just send Chris 538GB of vid and say "take your pick" - he just won't have time to trawl through all your vids.  Only original high res video please, not u-tube low res rubbish.  Target is to get your stuff to Chris within a week, at the latest.  Send to chris dot rome at yahoo dot co dot uk.Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:33:56 GMT28500Prepping your car for 2010 - sponsors' decals!I know there are generally two schools of thought about stripping, cleaning and otherwise preparing cars for a new season's racing: those who have already started and those who will put if off until a week before the first race of 2010.  This is to those who tend towards the former.  I know that at least some of this season's kind and generous sponsors are up for doing more of the same in 2010 - huge thanks to them - and that they want us to use the same decals in the same locations.  Partly to reduce their cost of providing new decals, understandably.  So if you have any of this year's decals in good condition, please leave them in place until we announce 2010's definitive sponsor/decal plan!Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:28:09 GMT28387Caterham Motorsport Awards Dinner - annual karting challenge: Details here. They have ten teams booked (and one from Grads so far) but space for another two. (By the way, all of the Allstars are actually ex-Grads!)Tue, 6 Oct 2009 21:57:27 GMT28296Spa noise, more: The organizers ask that we keep all noise to a minimum overnight (ie. from 6pm to 9am).Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:25:36 GMT28291Spa: very slight timetable change: Due to concerns over local noise complaints, our Sunday race is now scheduled to start at 9:10, rather than 9:00.Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:35:26 GMT28288September Newsletter, and all the info you need for Spa, here.Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:56:41 GMT28256Questionnaire: Have your say about the format of our racing and our club in 2010: Questionnaire now in the members area, or click here.Sat, 26 Sep 2009 11:35:12 GMT28246Spa: Entry listThe list below has a "v" next to everyone who has told me that they intend to run in-car video - please let me know ASAP if you need me to add a "v" to your entry!The  current list shows 64 entries.  So still room for at least one more - and I will accept entries up until Wednesday morning! 12 Classic Graduates 20 Super-Graduates 26 Mega-Graduates v 71 Graeme Smith 101 Trevor Newman v 1 Jamie Ellwood v 72 Adam Bettinson v 109 Roger Ford 3 George Longmuir 73 Charles Fitzhugh v 112 Steve Humphreys 5 Paul Hudson v 75 Flick Haigh v 114 Yolande Humphreys 6 Martin Amison 76 Sheila Marshall 115 Mick Whitehead 7 Nick Haryett 80 Dave Marson v 116 Kenny Young v 8 James Barlow 81 John Parker v 119 Neil Shinner 9 Nick Frost v 90 Andy Sagar v 121 Andy Skinner v 11 Adrian Russell 92 Will Shirtcliffe 127 Gareth Cordey v 12 Trevor Carvey 93 Daniel Malkin 132 Martin Gee v 14 Tom Overton v 96 Stu Thompson v 133 Jonathan Miller v 15 Mark Harrison v 99 Jennifer Grace v 134 Dylan Stanley 17 Paul Manyweathers 136 Anthony Jaffe v 21 Keith Pennington v 141 Kevin Dodd 23 Louis Redshaw 144 Bill Hombersley 24 Chris Fox 6 Graduates Portugal v 146 Nick Pancisi 27 Neil Gill 135 Isaac Chande 166 Charles Elliott v 29 Will Sharman 172 Luis Lisboa 171 Rob Winrow v 36 Jo Self 191 Duarte Lisboa 180 Toby Briant v 41 Paul Turley 195 Nuno Carvalho 190 David Pearce 42 Tim Jump 197 Pedro  Marreiros 43 Mick Palfrey 198 Tiago Raposo de Magalhães v 51 Barry Chantler 53 Robert Draper 55 Mark Heywood 62 Stephen Pattemore v 70 David ShawFri, 25 Sep 2009 14:51:11 GMT28232Spa: 24 hours of amusing forum posts come to an end. Our Race Organizers contacted me this morning to state that "the issue is sorted out"Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:22:03 GMT28212Spa rumours: I thought it better that you heard it from me first. There is a rumour that Spa has been forced to close down. And it's not wholly untrue. But our race organizers have assured me that it's a minor local issue that will be sorted out within 24 or 48 hours. I do hope so... More later.Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:55:05 GMT28206Spa tickets and passes went out by first-class post to everyone today. You should expect them to arrive in the next day or two. If you haven't received them by, say, Friday, let me know!Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:54:52 GMT281982010 CGRC Questionnaire now in the members area, or click hereTue, 22 Sep 2009 12:36:33 GMT28181Plans for 2010:I've been meaning to send out a "questionnaire" about future plans - to find out what the membership do/don't want - for ages; thanks to everyone for recent postings that have served to remind me to actually do it!.  It will be available on the web-site in a bit.With regards to the perennial single-header/double-header debate:  this is never as clear-cut as it seems it should be.  On the face of it, if someone is told that we have a race meeting at circuit X and asked if they would prefer a single-header or double-header, the answer seems almost obvious - since, as many have pointed out, the cost to the competitor doesn't increase by a huge amount, but the length of race time is doubled.But there are other factors:  If we kept to our "typical" calendar of ten weekends, but made them all double-headers, costs only go up.  Not only the direct costs seen by the competitor but the indirect costs of the Club's tech support and catering, so membership subs would have to increase as well.  (Note that cramming double-headers into a single day has never been hugely popular - the compressed timescale can make it difficult to effect repairs between races; and if you want to race in both your events and watch the other classes' events, there's barely time to squeeze in lunch!)All double-headers, but at just 7 different circuits per year (ie. we stick to our 14 race calendar), would save costs all round, but would be limiting for those such as JP who think that a weekend not a race circuit is a weekend wasted.  And, as GS has pointed out, would almost rule out certain circuits.  Hopefully, the questionnaire will provide enough scope for you all to express your opinions!Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:04:42 GMT28151I hope you will all extend a warm welcome to five new Portuguese Super-Grad Members who will be racing with us as our guests at Spa - Tiago, Pedro, Nuno, Luis and Isaac. I still have one grid space to fill so there's an opportunity for one more last-minute entry - please contact me ASAP if you're interested (or know of anyone else who might be).Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:24:28 GMT28150Spa passes: I will be mailing them out to everyone early next week. Four personnel passes and one "working vehicle" pass each. Please let me know ASAP if you want them mailed somewhere other than the address in your "profile". "Working Vehicle" passes are only for vehicles that need to be in the paddock, ie. those carrying tools, etc. I also have some spare passes for the "F1 car park" (the one behind the start/finish grandstand, I think). If anyone needs an additional vehicle pass of either type, please let me know, ASAP. Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:34:25 GMT28112Spa Timing: An extra half-hour in bed for you all on Friday morning. The untimed practice has been re-scheduled to 11:10 instead of 10:40 (the downloadable Final regs will shortly be amended to show this).Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:28:26 GMT28109SPA: - Spectator pass.  Spa will give free access to spectators if they have a pass, which can be downloaded from our "Competitor Info" section, here.- Any more of you who need to tell me that you will be running in-car video?Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:20:14 GMT28094Spa "Final Instructions":You will find an enormous "book" (70 pages!) covering just everything you could possibly want or need to know in our web-site's "Competitors Info" area, here.  This is all you will get, so print out what you need and take it with you!  And I'll add my two penn'orth:- I have enquired about early paddock access (Weds eve) and been told that it will not be possible.  So we are stuck with timings given on p4 - 07:30 to 20:00 on Thursday and 07:30 to 19:00 on Friday.  If you arrive in the late evening and want to park your car/trailer at the circuit rather than your hotel, you should be able to park it in the "overflow" area, shown in green on p10.- I am never quite sure whether there is car/trailer access through the Ster Tunnel - the access nearest to Francorchamps village.  P8 shows the "preferred" route and access for "transporters", through the Blanchimont Tunnel.- You may ignore all the stuff about the "Welcome Centre" or "Accreditation Centre" - I will be mailing tickets and passes to all of you in a week or two.- I hope that I will be getting a "service vehicle pass" for each of you.  If not, note the instruction on p9, to ask for a pass when you first enter the paddock.- Our paddock allocation is a little different from last year: We still have the section of the LH side as we drive into the paddock, but not the area on the RH side, by the fuel pumps.  But we do have all the "overflow" area, outside the paddock to ourselves.- VIDEO:  I need each of you who intends to run in-car video to drop me a note to let me know, ASAP.- The actual race regs are on pp31-43.  They seem much the same as always.  There is a little lack of clarity about the exact detail for the race starts.  But I expect it will all be made clear in the (compulsory) briefing.  We are expecting a 2 x 2 grid (8m spacing between rows - just like most UK circuits) on the "endurance grid" (the one by the "old" pit garages).  But our UK Clerk of the Course (which will either be BARC's Dale Wells or John Felix - JF was our clerk last year) will take a view when he has reviewed the arrangements and may call for a Rolling Start, on safety grounds.  In which case, that will also be covered in our briefing.- I have asked for 20.5.2 to be extended to allow a classified finish for anyone finishing within 4m 30s of the overall winner since, in my opinion, 4 mins may be barely enough time to complete a lap, should the weather be dire.- Note that, as last year, the only fuel that may be used in race cars is that bought from the circuit pumps.  Your jerry cans will need to be empty for your channel crossing, so leave them that way!Tue, 8 Sep 2009 21:23:30 GMT28080CLASSICS - new Rakeway half-shafts:There are still quite a few of you have not ordered your revised half-shafts for 2010.  Fair enough (See here).  But note that our intention is that this mod will be "Highly recommended" in the 2010 regs and mandatory for 2011.  Other points that you should be aware of are:- If a half-shaft failure causes a serious incident, BARC could choose to use its powers - "on safety grounds" - to make the Rakeway mod mandatory at any time during 2010.- McMillan have a very limited stock of the "old" half-shafts and hubs (ie. to the current "Ital" design) and do not expect to be buying any more.  Once they're gone, they're gone.  Which means that at some time during 2010, they will not be able to replace an "old" broken half-shaft.- McMillan will carry a set of parts for the new design (in case one gets damaged in a collision) but they will not be able to do an upgrade from old half-shafts to the Rakeway design in the paddock.- The "introductory" price of 625 +VAT will not be repeated once we commit to ordering the first batch.- We will place that first order on 14th Sept, so you have until this coming Friday to place your order, please!Mon, 7 Sep 2009 17:18:24 GMT28079Snell SA2000 helmets: The 2009 Blue Book says SA2000 "may be withdrawn from 01/01/2010". The MSA have just confirmed that they WILL still be acceptable for 2010. Date of withdrawal currently unknown, but seems likely to be 2011. SA2010 helmets are due some time next year, so I'm probably going to hang on to mine rather than replacing it with an SA2005 now. As an aside, I was impressed with the MSA who answered the phone promptly with only a minimal menu system and put me straight through to someone who understood the question AND knew the answer. Mon, 7 Sep 2009 17:13:33 GMT28065Spa News:I have received draft 8 (!) of the timetable which, they say, is now very unlikely to change:    Fri 10:40 > 11:20    Untimed practice, Caterhams only  (optional, but it's included in your race entry fee)    Fri 12:30                 Briefing   (Mandatory, 125 Euro fine for non-attendance!)    Fri 18:00                 Sign-on and Scrutineering    Sat 09:35 > 10:05   Qualifying    Sat 16:25 > 17:05   Race 1    Sun 09:00 > 09:40  Race 2New:  One hour test session (for competitors from any of the weekend's races) at 17:00 on Thursday.   150 Euros.  Sign-on on Thurs afternoon - no pre-booking.We are being told that we cannot get access into the paddock until 07:30 on Thurs morning.Full "Final regs" later this week, I hope.Sun, 6 Sep 2009 12:07:33 GMT28042Thruxton non-champ races, 11 Oct - now open for entries:- Registered championship contenders can now enter on-line via the BARC entry system.- Guest-drivers, and others, can download the paper-entry form from our web-site, here.Thu, 3 Sep 2009 11:37:16 GMT27958Brands best improvers: Megas - 1st Louis Redshaw (+7 places), 2nd James Barlow (+3), 3rd Ian Noble (+2) Supers - 1st Roger Ford (+4), 2nd Keving Dodd (+3), 3rd Alan Harber (+2) Classics - 1st Daniel Malkin (+5), 2nd Sheila Marshall (+4), 3rd Trevor Harber (+3)Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:44:41 GMT27939Classics half-shaft - more: Sorry, I should have been clearer. This is not compulsory! It will be in next year's regs, but as an "option". But be aware that - once a reliable "fix" is known to be available - it is not impossible that BARC/MSA request that it be made mandatory, especially if there should be a serious incident involving breakage of an "old" half-shaft.Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:39:26 GMT27938Classics uprated half-shafts:The Club has commissioned an uprated "floating hub" half-shaft design which, we have been told, will virtually eliminate the Classics' consistent problem of half-shafts breaking, as described in an e-mail issued by Nick Haryett on 6th August.  The total parts price is 625 + VAT (718.75) for the first batch.  We have to commit to ordering a specific number so, to ensure adequate numbers, The Club is asking all Classics for a 100 non-refundable deposit, payable now.  A prototype of the design will be subjected to some hard track time before we deem it acceptable - if this is not satisfactory, your 100 will be refunded in full.  If it is deemed satisfactory, your payment of this deposit will be taken as a commitment to pay the balance and thus buy the product.  Full payment of the balance to Rakeway will be required when the batch is built and ready, probably end November-ish.  Note that anyone not buying into this and then deciding to order one later, may well be charged a significantly higher price, especially if they are just ordering a batch of one!As usual, Jamie, our webmaster, has done a fantastic job and put this purchase on-line for us.  All you need to do is go to the Members Area and click on "Classics uprated halfshaft system" under "Online Event Entries".Debit card payments of the deposit will be charged at 100; credit card payments will, as usual, attract a surcharge of 4.5%, which will not be refundable.Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:25:36 GMT27925Caterham Karting Challenge 2009Once we get this championship nonsense out of the way, we can get onto the main event: the 8th Annual inter-championship Caterham Cars Karting Challenge (initiated by The Graduates in 2002, but now run by Caterham Cars).Taking place on the afternoon of the 28th November (the day of the dinner-dance), near the hotel and prior to the awards dinner, it's the usual 90 minute black-flag-tastic endurance affair fought between teams of four drivers.  This year, it's at a new bigger venue, which can accommodate 12 teams rather than the usual 8.Entries will open shortly, but I'm giving you notice now so you can start to organise teams.  We really want to see at least one from each championship, so CC will hold a slot for each for a period of time - but you really need to start planning...  Last year Caterham Cars had many people tell them they'd got a team together (and usually that they were going to win), weeks after it was full!Just a brief outline of the rules:1. Four drivers per team2. Each driver must a be a Caterham racer, past or present3. We will also accept race support personnel, sponsors, press and Caterham directors!More details will follow. Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:37:25 GMT27908 BARC's entry list for this weekend: Classics (13) Supers (27) Megas (24) 71 Graeme Smith 101 Trevor Newman 1 Jamie Ellwood 72 Adam Bettinson 103 James Sibbet 5 Paul Hudson 73 Charles Fitzhugh 105 Mark Roberts 6 Martin Amison 76 Sheila Marshall 106 Paul Turley 8 James Barlow 79 Trevor Harber 109 Roger Ford 9 Nick Frost 81 John Parker 112 Steve Humphreys 11 Adrian Russell 83 Colin Rothwell 114 Yolande Humphreys 12 Trevor Carvey 90 Andrew Sagar 115 Mick Whitehead 13 Stuart Simpson 91 Nigel Liddell 119 Neil Shinner 14 Tom Overton 92 William Shirtcliffe 121 Andy Skinner 16 Ian Noble 93 Daniel Malkin 122 Luke Tzourou 17 Paul Manyweathers 96 Stu Thompson 124 Jamie Waring 18 Declan Dolan 99 Jennifer Grace 126 Chris Williams 23 Louis Redshaw 127 Gareth Cordey 26 Kim Rayment 131 Colin Jardine 36 Jo Self 133 Jonathan Miller 43 Mick Palfrey 134 Dylan Stanley 44 Andy Coombs 141 Kevin Dodd 51 Barry Chantler 160 Peter Hughes 52 Mike Fesemeyer 164 Paul Elliott 53 Robert Draper 166 Charles Elliott 56 Ian Tanswell 170 James Potter 62 Stephen Pattemore 175 Nick Budibent 70 David Shaw 176 Andrew Redd 180 Toby Briant 188 Alan Harber 190 David Pearce Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:40:23 GMT27905Race of the year - "Plum Pudding races" at Mallory Park, Boxing Day: Entry form is now in our "Competitor Info" section: here.  This has always been a great day out - I recommend it to everyone.  And superb vaue at £100 for two races!Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:08:07 GMT27887Discounted hotel booking - Caterham Motorsport awards dinner-dance, 28th Nov:See earlier postings: Here, and here.  As promised, Ellis-Salsby has put together a custom booking form, especially for us which can be found here.  I'm pretty sure you won't find a better price anywhere else!Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:27:42 GMT27855Just come back from holiday? (Or going shortly?)Got a pocketful of near-worthless foreign money - coins or notes? I've found an outfit that will exchange any funny money into proper British Pounds and donate the proceeds to any designated charity. The larger the amount they change, the less disappears in commisssion. So I reckon that if we all pooled our odd bits and pieces, we could probably cone up with a healthy sum to donate to TCT. So, please scour out your drawers (yes, yes, Bishop, calm down) and dump your sleeping Yen, HK$, Egyption pounds, Drachma, Rupiahs, Baht, Krona, Rands, etc. etc. on me at Brnands.Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:06:21 GMT27852Thruxton, October:This race is on. BARC have allocated us this non-champ race, based on the number of our "Very Probably" entries in the Race Schedule. So put in in your diaries. More details and entry form will come later.Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:58:30 GMT27832Brands testing, Fri 21st Aug:We need to ensure adequate technical support for Brands Indy testing on 21st Aug, but we don't know how many of you will be there.  It would be a great help if all of you, whether or not you are racing or testing, would provide this data by ticking the appropriate box which has just been added to the on-line "Race Schedule".  Please do.  Today!Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:46:19 GMT27828Thruxton, Sun 11th Oct:Previous announcement here.  Still an awful lot of you who have yet to provide any info in your "Race Schedule".  Please do.  Today!Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:54:03 GMT27763Snetterton Paddock:When they put together this weekend's paddock plan, BARC overlooked the huge amount of space that the 2CV teams need for their 24h set-up.  I have agreed with the 2CVs we will all head north and occupy "paddock 2", the area beyond the fuel pumps.  If you park in our designated area close to the garages, you will be swamped by 2CVs!Thu, 6 Aug 2009 09:32:23 GMT27762Snetterton Race Entries (a total of only 67...): Classics (18) Supers (25) Megas (24) 71 Graeme Smith 101 Trevor Newman 1 Jamie Ellwood 72 Adam Bettinson 106 Paul Turley 5 Paul Hudson 73 Charles Fitzhugh 109 Roger Ford 6 Martin Amison 76 Sheila Marshall 115 Mick Whitehead 8 James Barlow 77 Pete Cannard 116 Kenny Young 9 Nick Frost 78 Darren Grainger 119 Neil Shinner 11 Adrian Russell 79 Trevor Harber 121 Andy Skinner 12 Trevor Carvey 81 John Parker 122 Luke Tzourou 13 Stuart Simpson 83 Colin Rothwell 124 Jamie Waring 15 Mark Harrison 86 Terry Palmer 127 Gareth Cordey 16 Ian Noble 90 Andrew Sagar 131 Colin Jardine 17 Paul Manyweathers 91 Nigel Liddell 133 Jonathan Miller 18 Declan Dolan 92 William Shirtcliffe 134 Dylan Stanley 22 Peter Marsh 93 Daniel Malkin 141 Kevin Dodd 24 Chris Fox 96 Stu Thompson 144 Bill Hombersley 26 Kim Rayment 97 Justin Cox 146 Nick Pancisi 35 Bob Wilson 98 Danny Browne 150 Stephen Hirons 36 Jo Self 99 Jennifer Grace 151 Simon Bonser 43 Mick Palfrey 164 Paul Elliott 44 Andy Coombs 166 Charles Elliott 52 Mike Fesemeyer 170 James Potter 53 Robert Draper 171 Rob Winrow 55 Mark Heywood 180 Toby Briant 56 Ian Tanswell 186 James Sykes 62 Stephen Pattemore 190 David Pearce Wed, 5 Aug 2009 23:09:55 GMT27761Race-day parts - payment:McMillan Motorsport have informed the CGRC Board that a small number of Grads customers have been a little tardy with their payments for work or parts supplied by MMM; work/parts that had been supplied either at their workshop or at a circuit.  They are generally happy to provide credit terms to us (which is more than most Ford Dealers will do) but their standard terms are for payment within 7 days.  MMM recently took the extreme measure of declining to supply parts, at a circuit, to a racer who - in their opinion - had a poor payment history: they would have been content to have have provided parts in exchange for a cheque from this driver but he had little cash and no chequebook with him and MMM have no facility to take card payments at the circuit.We all have a right to MMM's trackside service, since CGRC pays (promptly!) for that, but no absolute right to credit for parts provided by MMM.  I therefore suggest that (a) you all get your MMM payments up to date and (b) take your chequebook with you when you go racing!Wed, 5 Aug 2009 20:41:50 GMT27744K-series engines: front pulley bolt: Many of you will know that Ian Noble's pulley came loose at Brands, resulting in a half-destroyed engine and, when Declan span on Ian's oil, two half-destroyed cars. Over the years, three or four of these pulleys have come loose so it may be a good idea for all of you to check yours. It's held on by a 22mm bolt and the recommended torque setting is 205 Nm = 151 lb.ft. (Put the car in first gear and the handbrake on!) Allegedly, Rover dealers err on the side of caution and tend to overtighten it; that's up to you...Tue, 4 Aug 2009 20:35:50 GMT27689Get your rain light working, properly:Keith Marchment reported that some Graduates' rain-lights demonstrated a degree of unreliability at Brands on Saturday.  For example, they didn't come on when switched on, but did when the driver gave the light a good slap.  He was not impressed.  And said that this will not suffice at our next race.  Any car which cannot get its rain light to go on at the first try of the switch will be turned away from scrutineering and told to come back when it's fixed.  I guess the main problem is with the "original" light-bulb (as opposed to LED) lights and poor contacts to the bulb.  Cleaning up these contacts and ensuring that the spring makes good electrical contact with the bulb is not rocket science.  And once you have inspected and cleaned it, testing it - before going to scrute - should take about ten seconds, and could save you wasting 30 minutes.Mon, 3 Aug 2009 18:59:24 GMT27664Race-Schedule - update - please!Snet: There are still an awful lot of you (19!) who have - apparently - not firmly decided whether or not to enter the Snet race (final absolute closing date, noon on Wednesday).Thruxton:  And only about a third of you have bothered to enter anything about Thruxton (for details see here).  Please do this, even if your answer is "Definitely not".Go here.Mon, 3 Aug 2009 14:06:38 GMT27649Snetterton - last chance for tyres from Polley Motorsport:George will be at Snetterton from late Friday morning until Saturday afternoon - your last chance to get tyres fitted by him at a circuit this year.  Call Polleys to place your order.Mon, 3 Aug 2009 10:35:50 GMT27597Non-champ race at Thruxton, Sun 11th Oct? - response, please!BARC have offered us the chance of an end of season non-championship race at Thruxton.  I know it's the weekend after our Spa races (but you're not all doing that!) but it's a rare opportunity to race on the UK's fastest circuit!  (OJ's lap record during the Megas' race there in 2006, a 1:26.811, was at an impressive average of 97.7mph!)The deal on offer is a 15 min qualy session and a 20 min race at the bargain entry fee of 150.  All classes race together but trophies to 1, 2 and 3 in each class, if there are enough entries per class to justify them.Jamie Ellwood has kindly set this race up in our on-line schedule accessible from this web-site's Members' Area.  I would be very grateful if you could take half a minute to go there and indicate your intention, or not, of entering this race.  It's all dependent on numbers and I will only tell BARC that we would like them to reserve this race for Graduates if we get at least 18 of you saying "Definitely" or "Very Probably" over the next 10 days or so.  Please remember that a "No" response is just as useful as a "Yes"!  So please update your schedule, whatever your intentions.(While you're there, please update all your other info - including for the races "in the past"; your data for all of them should definitely be only Yes or No!!!  And I notice that only about half of you - and only about half of the board... - have got around to telling me about Brands testing in two days' time)Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:01:16 GMT27566Brands paddock access: Thurs eve: "up until 10-ish"(!) and then from 6am on Fri morning.Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:32:25 GMT27558Brands - race prep - make sure nothing's going to fall off your car:Following recent incidents in international motorsport, one of which was at the circuit on which we will be racing on Saturday, it is clear that bits of hardware on the circuit represent a very real hazard.  One way to reduce the risk from such hazards is to make sure that everything is very securely fixed to every car.  Which seems obvious.  And it's what our safety scrutineers check for.  But we might expect them to be checking a little more rigorously on Saturday.  Stuff that might have been accepted last month, eg. a slightly loose wing or a wobbly headlight or any of dozens of other insecure bits, may now be deemed unacceptable.I suggest that you all try do a very thorough race prep between now and then and specifically to look very hard for anything that may look as if it might fall off.  And get to scrutineering very promptly on Saturday - there will be very little time to rectify anything between being turned away from scrutineering and being due on track.You may also like to try just a little bit harder than usual to avoid bumping into each other(!!!).  The race officials would be quite within their rights to flag you in, off the circuit, if you are driving around with a wing flapping in the wind! Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:29:04 GMT27546More Brands detail: I am advised that the race start sequence at Brands will be for the five red lights to come on sequentially, delay and then all go off to indicate the start. So: - 1 light - 2 lights - 3 lights - 4 lights - 5 lights - wait for it, wait for it... - ALL-LIGHTS-OFF-and-GO! And big congrats and best wishes from me and Sheila to all the Ennises. Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:32:49 GMT27527BARC loyalty bonus:(See previous post here)Jamie has just uploaded three BARC documents to our "Competitor Info" page.-    This is BARC's covering letter which tells you what to do:    (a)    if you have already submitted all your BARC race entries and wish to claim your bonus retrospectively: send e-mail to Nicola Bush explaining that you have already submitted all your entries and asking her to send you a refund cheque for £144.    (b)    if you have yet to enter the final BARC round at BH Indy and need to claim your bonus discount: print out the BH entry form and the bonus claim form, complete them and mail them to BARC with payment.  The fee due, after bonus discount, is £76 - provided you enter on or before the closing date, Mon 3rd August.Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:11:14 GMT27523BARC "Loyalty" bonus: We are expecting some news about this shortly so, if you qualify for this bonus, please hold off from entering our 22 Aug Brands-Indy round for a few more days (closing date is not until Monday 3rd Aug). For those who don't know what I'm on about, this is a BARC scheme which "rewards" drivers who enter every one of the season's BARC races by giving a very substantial reduction of the entry fee for the last BARC race, which is our BH-Indy race. The BARC's on-line race entry system does NOT automatically do this.Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:05:48 GMT27522Brands testing and your on-line Race Schedule: Data still wanted from lots of you (even if it's "No") - see here. Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:30:40 GMT27517Brands-GP - the early start:Megas and Classics drivers should have noticed that cars for the first session are due to be in the assembly-area/pit-lane ready to start their qualy session at 9:00am on Saturday.  That's 50-odd cars which all have to be scrutineered and noise-checked in less than an hour.  In view of this, MSV have decided to start scrutineering early, at 7:30 instead of 8:00 and will also open sign-on early at 7:15 instead of 7:30.  They have also agreed that engines may be run (but only "quietly") from 8:15, rather than 8:30 - so this will still mean an uphill push to the scrute bay for most people!  (If you're at the circuit on the Friday, it may be possible to drive your car up to the scrute queue then - but please make sure that you then get up bright and early to be with your car in the morning!).Supers: Your scrute is not due to start until 8:30; if you get to scrute promptly, please be prepared to "give way" to any Megas/Classics who come along behind you!Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:40:17 GMT27505Friday evening marshalling at Snet, 7th Aug:The 2CV 24h show kicks off with compulsory night-time qualifying.  Two one-hour sessions: 8.30 to 9.30pm and 10.00 to 11.00pm.  (Marshal sign-on from 7pm, on post by 8.10pm.)  BARC are a little light on marshals and have asked if we can find a few volunteers.  I've put my name down.  Anyone care to join me?  If so, please contact BARC's Rebecca Harvey on 01264 882200 or e-mail her at rharvey at barc dot net.  Regrettably, I have been advised that it does not meet the requirements of our regs' "points for marshalling" clause since that states the requirement as "a day's marshalling"...Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:42:34 GMT27491Brands testing?  Please update your on-line Race Schedule:MSA are offering testing on the Indy circuit on Friday 31st July, the day before our race on their GP layout.  As defined by our calendar, this is not scheduled to be a "supported" test day.  But MMM have indicated that they might be able to put together a "package" if there's enough interest.  So please could you all click on the schedule and add your data - please do this, whether your answer is "yes", or "no"; both are useful bits of information!  And update the rest of the schedule (future and past!) while you're at it, please!  You know where it is: here.Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:48:33 GMT27490Brands Hatch GP race, 1st August:Two additions to the Final Instructions and timetable are now on-line in our web-site's "Competitor Info" section.- Paddock plan: Show that we can park pretty much anywhere we want in the centre of the lower outer paddock..- Safety Car regs:  This was mentioned in the finals - these are the regs of exactly what to do.  Please do read them and remember them!  The crucial bit is almost hidden in 3.14.6: "... line up behind the Safety Car, no more than 5 car lengths apart ...".  Although (since yellow flags will be being shown) you must not drive at full race speed (and should expect marshals or cars in the middle of the track, somewhere) you are required to catch up with the Safety Car train as briskly as possible: the objective of the SC is to get all the cars into a "bunch" so that the marshals know that they have a couple of minutes of "empty track" within which to do their job and failure to comply could endanger marshals.  Also, failure to be within the required 5 lengths at the "re-start" will disadvantage not only you, but also those behind you; thus, it could result in a penalty.  You have been warned!Two other bits of info:- Paddock access: On Friday, or Friday night, via the main entrance, next to the Thistle Hotel; on Saturday morning, via the competitors' back entrance (Yes, all right, Bishop, no need to say it...) on Scratchers' Lane.- Megas/Classics qualy: It's an early start, and a lot of cars to get on and off the track - please try to be there early (and expect to be delayed for a noise test on your way there).  Note that, at 9am, the Megas will be released onto the track before the Classics. Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:45:58 GMT27489"Chairman" e-mail now working again (thanks Jamie). But the last few days mail to that address HAS disappeared.Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:03:03 GMT27486Chairman's e-mail address problems:I have just discovered that e-mails sent to my "chairman at graduates dot org dot uk" address have not been getting through to me for the last day or three. My ISP has been alerted and should be mending this soon. If you have sent me an e-mail to that address in the last few days, or if you wish to send one today, please re-send/send to "nick at frostline dot org dot uk" instead, or as well.Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:52:05 GMT27480 Latest BH/GP entry list - still room for a few more! Classic Graduates (18) Mega-Graduates (34) Super-Graduates (36) 71 Graeme Smith 1 Jamie Ellwood 101 Trevor Newman 72 Adam Bettinson 3 George Longmuir 102 Edward Benson 73 Charles Fitzhugh 4 Andrew Smith 103 James Sibbet 74 Matthew Gillbanks 5 Paul Hudson 106 Paul Turley 75 Flick Haigh 6 Martin Amison 109 Roger Ford 76 Sheila Marshall 7 Nick Haryett 110 Chris Rome 77 Pete Cannard 8 James Barlow 112 Steve Humphreys 79 Trevor Harber 9 Nick Frost 114 Yolande Humphreys 81 John Parker 11 Adrian Russell 115 Mick Whitehead 83 Colin Rothwell 12 Trevor Carvey 116 Kenny Young 86 Terry Palmer 13 Stuart Simpson 117 Andy Hawken 90 Andy Sagar 14 Tom Overton 118 Michael Rowland 91 Nigel  Liddell 15 Mark Harrison 119 Neil Shinner 92 Will Shirtcliffe 16 Ian Noble 120 Jim Taylor 93 Daniel Malkin 17 Paul Manyweathers 121 Andy Skinner 96 Stu Thompson 18 Declan Dolan 122 Luke Tzourou 97 Justin Cox 22 Peter Marsh 124 Jamie Waring 99 Jennifer Grace 23 Louis Redshaw 125 Peter Mullineux 24 Chris Fox 126 Chris Williams 26 Kim Rayment 127 Gareth Cordey 27 Neil Gill 131 Colin Jardine 29 Will Sharman 132 Martin Gee 36 Jo Self 134 Dylan Stanley 42 Tim Jump 141 Kevin Dodd 43 Mick Palfrey 144 Bill Hombersley 44 Andy Coombs 146 Nick Pancisi 46 Alwynn Morris 150 Stephen Hirons 51 Barry Chantler 157 Ben Rockey 52 Mike Fesemeyer 166 Charles Elliott 53 Robert Draper 170 James Potter 55 Mark Heywood 171 Rob Winrow 62 Stephen Pattemore 175 Nick Budibent 64 Tim Gudgeon-Osterritter 176 Andrew Redd 70 David Shaw 180 Toby Briant 188 Alan Harber 190 David PearceTue, 21 Jul 2009 10:42:05 GMT27475Brands numbers: Why didn't any of you point out that the arithmetic in my earlier posting was cr*p?  20% more than 44 is 52.8, not 55?  In fact, MSV have agreed that qualy capacity can be "rounded up" and is 53 max.  So, with our current entry of 18 Classics and 34 Megas, we have a total of 52 in the first qualy session and thus room for just one more of either class.  But can take a whole load (7) more Supers!Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:56:32 GMT27448Brands Hatch GP race, 1st August:Final instructions and timetable are on-line in our web-site's "Competitor Info" section (under "Race & Testing info", top RH side).- We are in the "outer paddock" but there is no paddock parking allocation, as yet.- You will notice that, in order to keep the cost to a minimum, we bought no more track time than we need.  Grid capacity is 44 cars, and qualifying capacity is 20% more, ie. 55.  Which is plenty to accommodate the combined qualy session for our two smallest classes, Classics and Megas.  Qualy sessions are 20 mins.  Current entry numbers are:- 18 Classics- 42 Supers- 33 Megas(so still room for a couple of late entries!)Each class gets its own race grid, race length is 25 minutes.  Supers have their own qualy session but, regrettably, have been timetabled to race at the end of the day - I suggest taking a good book to get you through the Speed Series' three hour race... (although some of you will get a little interest in the race by supporting ex-Megas racer, Sarah Reader)Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:50:22 GMT27391Best Consistent Finisher Awards:Will they all be won this year?  These awards were introduced to reward those drivers who had the dogged determination to enter every race in our calendar and the skill (both driving and car prep) to finish every race, but maybe not the outright pace to win one of the main championship pots (these awards - one per class - can not be won by a driver who finishes in one of his class's top three positions in the championship table).A surprising observation is that there are still six contenders for this award in Classics, only four in Megas but a mere three in Supers.  In Supers, Nick Pancisi is a shoo-in, assuming Newman and Pearce can hang on to their positions at the top of the table!Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:07:27 GMT27384Brands GP tickets are in the post today to those who weren't at Croft to collect them. If you haven't got them by the weekend, drop me a line.Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:46:26 GMT27364BARC loyality bonus - yes, if you've entered all the previous rounds, the entry fee for the final BARC round at Brands Indy is discounted by about 140. You can't seem to do this on-line, so I'm trying to get a sheath of paper enter forms & claim forms to bring to our next round.Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:32:48 GMT27284BARC on-line entry fees: I am advised that the error which incorrectly added the late entry fee prematurely for our Snet race should be fixed tomorrow - I suggest you all delay entering until Thursday!Tue, 7 Jul 2009 20:18:33 GMT27239Astonishingly, space for our Spa races is filling fast, but not yet quite full... Fri, 3 Jul 2009 00:39:47 GMT27229Opening for Spa entries for all Racing Members in two and a quarter hours..., here!Thu, 2 Jul 2009 16:44:45 GMT27226You are timed at entry to the enrolment page, BUT you are a reserve until payment is completed in fullThu, 2 Jul 2009 08:44:36 GMT27214And your Spa winners are: 1) Jonathan Miller with a very impressive 19:00:01 2) Charles Fitzhugh 19:00:02 3) Me!!! 19:00:03Wed, 1 Jul 2009 19:05:14 GMT27212Speaking of SPA our on-line race entry system opens in just over one hour, for "priority" Racing Members - 7pm tomorrow for all others.Wed, 1 Jul 2009 17:59:17 GMT27084Gearboxes, esp. Megas:It is now well over a year since most of us had MMM do the latest mods to the Tran-X gearboxes - with a very few exceptions, I believe they have performed impeccably since then, until recently - they now seem to be showing their age.  We give these 'boxes a lot of punishment and I would venture to suggest that anyone who has now run one for more than a season or so should be seriously considering a "precautionary rebuild" - we now have four weeks until the next race and after that the calendar gets a bit hectic again, so now may be the time.  It seems that we (Megas) should also be considering clutch replacement.You could wait for your 'box or clutch to fail at the next race, but you all know that MMM's capacity to carry replacements to - and fit them at - a circuit is limited, so I would suggest that you resist that temptation, please.  Also note that failures on-track can lead to not only lost races but knock-on damage.  My own gearbox failure in qualifying on Saturday could almost certainly have been avoided by a precautionary rebuild in which very few new parts would have been needed but instead I put a hole through the side of the casing and mangled most of the internals.  Clutch failures can also do a lot of damage to, for example, the bell-housing.FYI, I'm kicking myself about my 'box - I had discussed a re-build with MMM just two weeks ago and actually had the car booked in for it to be done next week!Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:12:33 GMT27073Pembrey - what did you think?No, not about the weekend's racing, but the circuit.  As many of you know, I am a director of Pembrey circuit and, as it happens, its next board is meeting on Wednesday, two days time.  And I would welcome all your feedback about what you liked and what you didn't like, especially as a good many of you were there for the first time.Your opinions about the actual layout may not be too relevant, since we're pretty much stuck with that, nor the location, ditto.  Unless these somehow impinge on your opinion: if, for example, you dislike the distance you had to drive to get there but would do so again because you loved the layout, that would be relevant; or if, conversely, you felt that you would not drive that far again because the facilities were lacking (which?) that would also be relevant.But your opinions about the more trivial items may be more relevant since those may be things that we may be able to do something about.  Eg. the cafe/bar/food, the toilets, the staff (friendly and helpful, or otherwise?), etc. etc. and I would especially like to hear if any of those things may influence your choice to go there again, eg. "I may be less inclined to race at Pembrey again because the showers were cold," or "I would like to go again because the security staff were so helpful," etc. etc.Whatever.  Good or bad.  Please do drop me a line, here.Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:50:14 GMT27067Pembrey: Thanks to Bunter for writing all that - almost exactly what I was going to say. (I think I just need to add thanks to Karen for pit-wall duties and her and Sue Pennington for Best Improvers calcs).Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:42:17 GMT27061Today's AGM and elections: I am pleased to report that Messrs Frost, Haryett and Newman were re-elected to the board and I am also delighted to report that our two new directors, elected to fill the two vacancies, are Roger Ford and Adrian Russell. My commiserations to the three unsuccessful candidates, Messrs Jardine, Fesemeyer and Shaw, but I thank them for their candidature and for making it a real contest! At the subsequent first meeting of the new board, Frost, Smith, Haryett and Parker were all re-appointed to their previous positions on the Executive Committee.Sat, 13 Jun 2009 23:34:37 GMT27057AGM Timing: Why hasn't anyone pointed out that Supers are scheduled to race at 5.20 on Saturday? I guess that means that the AGM will be at 6-ish...!Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:27:33 GMT27055Brands Hatch GP trackday a few weeks before our races there - hereFri, 12 Jun 2009 08:19:43 GMT27046Final Pembrey entry list: Classics - 16 Supers - 30 Megas - 22 71 Graeme Smith 101 Trevor Newman 1 Jamie Ellwood 72 Adam Bettinson 102 Edward Benson 3 George Longmuir 73 Charles Fitzhugh 103 James Sibbet 4 Andrew Smith 75 Flick Haigh 105 Mark Roberts 5 Paul Hudson 76 Sheila Marshall 106 Paul Turley 6 Martin Amison 77 Pete  Cannard 109 Roger Ford 8 James Barlow 79 Trevor Harber 112 Steve Humphreys 9 Nick Frost 80 Dave Marson 114 Yolande Humphreys 11 Adrian Russell 81 John Parker 115 Mick Whitehead 14 Tom Overton 83 Colin Rothwell 116 Kenny Young 17 Paul Manyweathers 86 Terry Palmer 119 Neil Shinner 18 Declan Dolan 90 Andrew Sagar 121 Andy Skinner 21 Keith Pennington 92 William Shirtcliffe 122 Luke Tzourou 24 Chris Fox 93 Daniel Malkin 124 Jamie Waring 26 Kim Rayment 96 Stu Thompson 127 Gareth Cordey 29 Will Sharman 99 Jennifer  Grace 129 Richard Green 35 Bob Wilson 131 Colin Jardine 36 Jo Self 132 Martin Gee 46 Alwynn Morris 134 Dylan Stanley 53 Robert Draper 141 Kevin Dodd 55 Mark Heywood 144 Bill Hombersley 62 Stephen Pattemore 146 Nick Pancisi 64 Tim Gudgeon-osterritter 152 Mike Fesemeyer 155 Darrell Wilson 157 Ben  Rockey 166 Charles Elliott 174 William Benjamin 175 Nick Budibent 176 Andrew Redd 190 David Pearce Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:04:41 GMT27036Newsletter / Spa - typos The dates for opening for entries are 1 & 2 July, not June, obviously. Sorry. There is one further candidate for the board - David Shaw; his nomination somehow got mislaid. Details later.Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:09:45 GMT27026Decals:On-circuit decals will now be supplied by Tim GO (in the absence of Barry Chantler). Tim can be found in the big white motorhome which will be displaying a "Decals Here" sign. Please speak to either Tim or Glynis (Mrs GO) at anytime during the day, but please don't knock before 9am as Mrs GO likes a lie in! (Tim is usually up and about before then). Members are reminded that there is a fee of 1 per decal in aid of TCT, payable in cash or preferably using the Just Giving TCT link at the top of this page. Decals are still available by post from Barry - decals at graduates.org.uk.Tue, 9 Jun 2009 08:25:48 GMT27003Pembrey access: From 6pm on Thurs eve.Fri, 5 Jun 2009 14:50:32 GMT27002A BARC Director that can help? Nope, don't know where you could find one of those... Seriously though, I am not at all pleased by the fact that apparent poor performance in the BARC HQ Competitions Department is putting me in the position of feeling that I have to defend them. The simple fact, and it's no secret, is that Dale Wells, Competitions Manager, is on extended sick leave due to a serious illness and BARC seem not to have made adequate provision to fill the gap. Consequently, Nicola's workload is excessive and I guess that she has to prioritize her efforts toward that which seems most critical - and these 30 quid refunds inevitably take a while to get to the top of the pile. Her workload should have been eased by their new on-line entry/registration system but it seems that an excessive number of glitches in it have done little to help matters. I will pass on all your concerns to the powers that be but until manning levels return to "normal", I regret that I can do little more than ask you all to be a little more patient... SorryFri, 5 Jun 2009 14:41:54 GMT