Anglesey

[Nigel Fox]

The normally very well organised Longton Club bit off more than they could chew this weekend.

The ambitious double lap formats coupled with an over ambitious entry led to one practice and two timed runs on Saturday, and two practice and only one timed run on Sunday.

i think it's fair to say that it was unsatisfactory to all Lotus 7 competitors.

Whilst we must be careful not to be over critical of the individuals who give up their time to organise events, we need to collect our thoughts and make our view known on what format we would like next year, if we return.

[OliW]

Absolutely Nigel. Top marks to everyone who tried to make it work, but I don't think it did, for anybody. One timed run is simply not enough, especially where a championship could be decided by that one run.

I think a view from the Comp Sec would be a good idea, as Richard suggested today.

 

[Simon.Rogers]

We have been in a similar situation previously at Pembrey. A long time ago.  It's one of the reasons we no longer run there.

However the main thing to consider is in my opinion avoiding the events where the British Sprint Championship runs. It may sometimes run to plan but more often than not it does not.

When we first started to go to Anglesey the BSC was not part of the event.

Things change and so should we when considered and necessary.

By all accounts there was an event there a couple of weeks ago which ran on our layouts and was perfect.  LesG and I think Graham Denholm attended - not sure if you made it Nigel?

[OliW]

Yes, Nigel said it worked brilliantly when there were just 80 or so competitors. 

[Jeff S]

Yes, it was a frustrating weekend, 135 entrants was just too many for the double lap configuration.

The BSC did slow things down a lot on Saturday and of course they have to have there top 10 or 12 run off which takes up more time. Not blaming them (they are fun to watch) but if they are at an event it has to be taken into consideration.

As disappointing as it was, I really enjoyed actually doing the double laps on both days, and would welcome doing it again, but as mentioned it would only work with a max of 80 Nat B entrants.

Much more upsetting was having to listen to a room full of braying Welsh rugby fans cheering on Australia on Saturday night and then taking the brunt of their "patriotism"

Jeff

[robmar]

Jeff - that must have been terrible...

Anyway - I would be more likely to go the angessey weekend if wasn't always held at the end of the year.  I enjoyed the one time I did make it (despite being beaten in my own car) and have wanted to go back.  Just this weekend always clashes for me personally.

So I would support a move in calendar if that itself didn't screw anything esle up

[Richard Price]

Did I enjoy driving the double lap course each day? - Yes

Was two laps twice as good as one? - That's far more difficult to answer. If the answer had to simply be yes or no, then it would have to be  - NO

Would I have been happy with two practice and two timed runs? - Yes

I felt incredibly frustrated by the length of time we spent sat in queues, strapped in and helmet on waiting for a run (MUCH longer than anywhere else) with a batch of three cars released at around 20 to 30 second intervals, but then, yesterday almost two minutes waiting.

I'm, sure if the weather had not been with us, yesterday, we would not have all had our first timed run by six O'clock, and the event would have been void for us.

Overall, I feel very "short changed"

Unfortunately, the impression I got from the Longton team at the awards presentation yesterday, was that they still don't seem to realise just how incredibly wrong they that got it this weekend (or more to the point, months ago when they planned the double lap format, but with just as many entries as they had run with the single lap events).

Anglesey, in previous years, has been a fabulous climax to the season, but this year has been a dreadful anticlimax.

[Sandboy]

Sorry to hear anglesey was a disapointment, spent day at Kames sprint instead but felt sure was missing out especially since the corkscrew had been added in this year.

The event Simon refers to was the first weekend in September and is run by MG Owners club. Attended the last few years now and always well organised with double lap clubman on Saturday and single lap international on Sunday, and always managed the full 2 practice and 2 timed runs. Very well subscribed, but maybe a bit less so this year, to point were need to get entries in early i.e. May/June to stand chance. So wonder if another 30 or so l7c competitors would be a sqeeze.

Good idea to be at end of season though becuase Anglesey is a tyre killer, normally grateful for a re-run but fronts were molten after one on the Saturday, definitely better suited to Khumos.

[Leg]

For the last three years I have competed in the Chester Motor Club June Meeting at Anglesey - for the first two years this was a good event, (it is a round of the British Sprint Championship). This year Chester joined forces with MAC to run the event; they also allowed the entry list to go up from 100 to 130.

The first day was a bit slow, but on the second day (one circuit of the long course) they announced at the drivers briefing that there would be one practice and two timed  (contained in the small print of MAC's regs is a section that allows them to do this) - vigorous protest ensued, and the second practice was re-instated and the BSC entrants were told to get their act together and get to the line on time. What was great was that the other entrants made their views very clear to both the organisers and the BSC - we were able to do this because they tried to change the event in advance   - and did not simply run out of time at the end of the day, as happened to you guys.

I agree with Simon that BSC events are sadly best avoided, (even though I have thoroughly enjoyed watching Bradley Hobday this season in that mad white bee!).

Pembrey wasnt too bad this year - but I suspect that was because entry numbers were low.

What a shame that this happened on the last event - as Richard says, it has always been such a great end to the season.

[Comp Sec]

 

I'm really disappointed to hear of everyone's frustrations at Anglesey and I'm sure that the, normally very efficient, LDMC will be reviewing this format for next year. 

I will be contacting LDMC to formally advise them of your feedback and we will, of course, need to review the alternatives for our 2016 calendar. 

I hope that it didn't completely spoil the weekend for you all but I'm guessing that Jeff's frame of mind  on Sunday morning didn't do much for his composure on track. I'm interested to see if it worked positively or negatively for him. 

[CheshireCat]

Longton Regs 4.3.2. states that ....... A minimum of two timed runs will be available, unless special circumstances dictate otherwise. The number of timed runs will be advised on the day by the Clerk of Course, depending on relevant circumstances.  

Notwithstanding the entry being too big in the first place, I am concerned that following an unsatisfactory Saturday, on Sunday at the drivers briefing they still believed and we were advised that there would be 2 practice runs followed by 2 timed runs. 

[OliW]

I think I would be unlikely to go if it remains a two lapper on both days AND the BSC are there too AND the entry list is 130.

It just doesn't work on a practical level, even though the runs are a lot of fun.  There is too much waiting around and too much frustration as a result (although good banter as ever amongst us lot!). 

It is also a bit of a tyre killer.  Thankfully, my ZZRs are at the end of their life anyway but if the event was in early or mid season as a two lapper, I'd think twice.

Last year we had 2+4 runs on Saturday and then 2+3 runs on Sunday, which was far better in my view.

I fear the (usually excellent) LMC may strive to run it again as they did this weekend, judging by the conclusion of the hand count on Sunday morning.

[Richard Price]

 I am concerned that following an unsatisfactory Saturday, on Sunday at the drivers briefing they still believed and we were advised that there would be 2 practice runs followed by 2 timed runs.

 

The inference at the drivers briefing on Sunday was that significant time had been lost on Saturday because drivers did not leave the line soon enough after the light going green.......

The organisers seemed to think that by saving a few seconds here or there, that they could have found the two and a half hours that they needed. It was absolutely inevitable Sunday would take longer than Saturday, particularly seeing that there were rarely more that three cars on track at any one time, and around two minutes between batches of three being released.

In actual fact, I guess Sunday did run better that Saturday, there was simply never going to be enough time to achieve four runs for each competitor during the available time.

 

 

[Andrew Willoughby]

I have great respect for Longton based upon past experience of really well-run events.  What surprised me was that they appeared not to have done the arithmetic which would have shown how long the events would take.  Like Richard, I found it rather hard to take that competitors were blamed for the slow running on Saturday because of our dawdling at the green light!

The big decision for Longton is just how wedded they are to the twin-lap format.  If they insist that this is what they want, entry numbers need to be far lower.  

There are other things they should consider to ensure that everyone gets a decent number of runs.  For example, after first practice cars need to be released in speed order, not class order to avoid catch-ups and the resulting re-runs.  Also, I believe it should be possible to reduce the long wait for the previous batch to come through before releasing the next car - that's where most of the time is lost. 

There is an easier way, of course - just go back to the successful one-lap format and numbers of previous years.  That would be my preferred option.  

[Englishmaninwales]

Without detracting from the work of the volunteers and the efforts of the usually highly efficient LMC this simply did not work. Sure, I enjoyed the longer sprint on both days (and beating Oli on Saturday), but I will not return with this format with 130 entries.

We stayed on for an extra day on the island and went for a very enjoyable hike through Newborough forest in the pouring rain - I can't even start to think what it would have been like yesterday with today's weather

 

[RogerLegg]

I have been coming to Anglesey regularly since I started sprinting and up to now I have really looked forward to this event over the years despite it being a 700 mile round trip from sunny East Anglia. The track is superb with its range of bends and change in altitude and over the years we seem to have more good weather than bad. This year the weather was excellent but unfortunately the new format just didn't work. The organisers worked hard and the marshalls remained in excellent humour right up to the end but to only get one timed run on Sunday at nearly half past five was unacceptable. 

I did not fully understand why they only applied to the MSA to have three cars on the track at once on Sunday. Due to the length of the track it was clearly possible to have at least 5. A group of three cars were let out at around 15 second intervals and the next car had to wait for them to come round before being released. Rather than releasing the fourth car 15 seconds after the last car had completed one lap we had to wait until the first car had crossed the finishing line. According to my calculations a lap was taking around 1min 15 seconds and one minute 30 seconds so somewhere between 30 seconds and 45 seconds was wasted every three cars. 

Running more cars on the track at once on the longer format would help but with a wet rack it would still run into difficulties. There are two solutions to the problem as others have said, either the entry has to be reduced to around 90 cars or the format should be returned to the original single lap format. Personally, for what it is worth, I would favour more runs with the original one lap format.

[david nelson]

I hope the competition sec/team will review the whole season and come to a well thought out plan for next year. 

I think that there are themes here that we have seen before, and the club stopped going to Pembrey and Silverstone both had a round of the BSC when we were there.

[CheshireCat]

Longton's October newsletter is now available and includes some thoughts on Anglesey and next years calendar / event

http://www.longton-dmc.co.uk/images/stories/ebulletins/ldmc-ebulletin-issue58.pdf

[Richard Price]

'looks like they've listened to the feedback:-

http://www.longton-dmc.co.uk/images/stories/2015/ldmc_angleseypressrelease.pdf

[Mark Durrant]

Good to see they welcome feedback, respond accordingly with quick and effective communication  

[robmar]

will it still be a round of the BSC?

[Jeff S]

Will it still be in Wales?

[Simon.Rogers]

On yer bike Mr Smith