Comp Sec

Congratulations to all class and award winners and, of course, to the overall Champion Rob. A particular thanks to Chris B for his tireless efforts throughout the year. Don't forget to be at the Awards lunch on 29th Nov. Details will be posted soon but put it in your diary now please.

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.

Providing that there aren't any unforeseen issues, it would seem perfectly reasonable to allow List 1B & 1C tyres for Classes 3 upwards for 2016. So, subject to confirmation from the MSA, we don't have to make any wholesale changes to our regs - for tyres anyway

I have already informed the competitors who are in contention for the Overall Championship but, for clarity, the rounds that will count towards the result remain as only those nominated in the published regulations. However, as Anglesey 2 is a double lapper this year, we have no records to measure against. Therefore, although it officially remains as a qualifying event in the regs, it will have no affect on the overall Championship scores and the points calculation will result in zero for everyone. The Class scores will, of course, still apply and Anglesey is likely to be a critical event in deciding some of the Class winners but the Overall Championship points cannot now be improved. This is a far from satisfactory situation and, had I known that both Anglesey events had become double lappers before submitting the regulations, it would have been sensible to include Epynt. Unfortunately this didn't happen and, to make matters worse, I didn't pick this up until mid June - and there is no way of changing MSA published regs in retrospect. I can only apologise for my oversight and thank the individual(s) who are most affected for their forbearance and exceptionally reasonable acceptance of the error. Paul.

Thanks Jeanette & Mike. Anyone else? Paul.

If you have any non-competing friends or family coming along it would be greatly appreciated if they could help with the scoring. It's not complicated honest - just the ability to read and enter figures into a laptop. Ideally we would like 6 people (two at a time) so that everyone can share tthe work throughout the day. Volunteers please Thanks, Paul.

Mike - it will all come back to you when you see those pre-war MGs Oli - Paul

This is now confirmed and will be held at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon , Warwickshire. Please put the date in your diary and it would be great to see as many of you there as possible - even if you don’t expect to win an award. But you never know Further details will be confirmed nearer the time. Paul

Yep Simon, you were too fast for me on your first run so I thought that I would get you on the top 10 run off but got bored waiting for you after everyone else had come through Mark, the ones on Picasa are only low res so if you want a higher quality one just let me know. The same applies to anyone else who may want a snap of their car or close-up of their helmet! Paul

Pics from LYF on link below - quantity, if not quality! Have a look at the concentration on some of the faces as they tackle Monaco. Fantastic performance from Richard & Oli in breaking the Class records - very impressive https://picasaweb.google.com/100037850870723096493/L7ClubLlysYFran2015 Paul

Link below to some pics from Llandow - a great day in the Welsh sunshine. Congratulations to all the Class winners and to Shaun for his special prize - they will be waiting for you when you arrive next year https://picasaweb.google.com/100037850870723096493/L7ClubLlandow2015 Paul

Now back from the hills and many thanks to Mark & Simon for taking on this issue in my internet absence. I have now sent an email to the MSA as an "official objection from the L7 Club" to this proposed regulation change and hope that they will listen. I am sure that there will be plenty other clubs that have similar views! Mark D is correct in his above post regarding the "reason" for change, in that there is no reference at all to E marking. That discussion is yet to come but we must win this battle first! Thanks also to everyone who sent in their objection, I will report back if I hear anything from the MSA. Paul.

Unfortunately, family commitments will prevent me attending the next few events, so the following people have kindly offered to act as deputies. Gurston: Chris Bramall & Mark Durrant Epynt: Simon Rogers Aintree: Chris Bramall & Nigel Fox They will be required to stand around kicking tyres, drinking coffee and provoking people into making controversial comments - with the occassional need to intervene in any organisational problems or disputes. Oh, and they will also need to do the complex calculations to see who carries the yellow trowel to the next event. I hope that you all have safe fun. Paul

After one of our competitors was observed to be chewing gum whilst driving his car during one of his runs on Sunday, the MSA Clerk of the Course considered it serious enough to give him a severe talking to about the dangerous consequences that could arise in an impact. I am required to remind everyone that it is both foolhardy and against the rules to eat, drink or chew gum while driving in a competition. Any impact could induce choking and possible asphyxiation. Paul

It was a great attempt at qualifying for the yellow trowel though However, you were beaten on points by a certain Mr Price who pipped you by including a "gravel trap bonus point" in his sequence

Thanks Roger Post now modified to make more sense - I hope

……..just in case you missed some, here are the ones that might catch you out: You will have two car passes which must be displayed in the windscreen of your tow car and a support car. No passes can be issued at the entrance gate. Please do not tell friends or club members to ‘just turn up’ as they will be denied access. One of the main conditions of the “Use of Venue” is that no unauthorised Cameras or Camcorders [or other image producing equipment, including mobile phones] are to be used by anybody at this Research & Development establishment. This includes any members of your family or friends etc who may be accompanying you to the event. Group Lotus Security Officers will confiscate any such items if they are seen at the venue even if they are not in use at the time. We are very fortunate to be allowed to use this venue and we appreciate your co-operation in this matter. When each vehicle is in position to start the driver will be directed to watch the lights When the light changes from red to green the driver has a maximum 5 seconds to leave the start line. After this 5 second interval a red flag will denote a void run and no re-run will be given. Any driver who ignores the red flag and commences the run may be excluded from the event. Only competition cars and trailers are allowed in the paddock so all support cars must be parked in the car park next to the security building. Richard Price please note the next one Competitors will be penalised by 5 seconds for each course cone struck. In the event of a competing car failing to keep all four wheels on the designated course a penalty of ‘4 wheels off’ [4WO] will be imposed and no time will be given for that run. There are no designated tyre warming areas so there is to be no warming up or practice starting anywhere. The Programme of the Meeting (circumstances on the day may affect the times) Gates Open 6.30am Signing-on starts 7.00am Any competitor not signed on by 9.00am may be excluded Competitors will be allowed to walk or pedal cycle the course prior to 8.30am Drivers Briefing 8.30 am Practice Starts 9.00am Timed Runs commence immediately after Practice. Paul.

Well done Tony - a 5 second improvement on your last run was a great achievement. Goodwood is a tough place to start your sprinting career. I'm looking forward to watching the progress of novices at Hethel, particularly Matt B beating his Dad again

It’s now less than 36 hours to go before the season starts and I hope that you all have your cars (and yourself) fully prepared and finely tuned. This is a timely reminder to make sure that you are regulations compliant - car, race suit, helmet gloves etc. and, if you have any doubts or questions, contact me or Comp Scorer. Who usually knows better than me actually! Also please ensure that, out of courtesy to our sponsors (and to comply with the regs), you have put your championship stickers onto your car. They are smaller this year and should fit in the "triangle" next to the windscreen. I know that it seems a bit soon but I'm already on the track of the 2016 regs and would welcome (I think!) any thoughts or comments you may have on how they could be improved. This particularly applies to those who are less “vocal” on BC and may prefer to convey their thoughts face to face in the paddock rather than publicly. Just to give you an idea where this may end up, the thinking at the moment is that we will have an end of season physical (not Internet) forum where the main issues will open for voting. Any thoughts on venues for next year would also be welcome. The 2016 season is a long way off though and I'm sure that you will all be concentrating hard on this season's aims of improving times and staying safe - I hope that you all have a great time. One final thought. In case you haven't noticed, Chris Bramall has worked his socks off in preparing all the "stuff" for this season. Give him a pat on the back (not too hard you other Class 2 competitors) when you see him in the paddock and let him know you appreciate his efforts - he really has done a great job. Paul

It is now less than 4 weeks to our first event and Terry Holmes, of the Bognor Regis MC, tells me that there only 25 places left – and I expect these to be taken very quickly. So if you are hovering on the brink of submitting an entry, don’t delay. And here’s why you should not miss the opportunity of competing on this fantastic circuit: •It is a beautiful historic venue with iconic wooden paddock shelters and reminders of its glorious past all around you. •Goodwood is one of only two “big” circuits that are on our calendar this year and this one is a lot closer to most of us than North Wales. •It is a proper racing circuit where you have a lot of space but need to get the lines just right in order to record a good time. •It is a fantastic place to compete and the atmosphere is unlike any other – and just think how impressed your friends and family will be when you say that you have just raced at Goodwood! Get your entry in quickly – you will have a fantastic time.

No changes at all Rob - not even any reference to a "requirement to use more than two gears" as suggested by Messrs Miller & Bowler. Which I only noticed at the weekend when reviewing comments on the regs. Your cards are marked

It is online here - so what are you waiting for? Many thanks to Shaun & Chris for getting it sorted. Paul.

As Shaun says, he has agreed to get them onto the website as soon as possible - and, for the Luddites amongst you, there will also be a hard copy in the March copy of LF. I'm looking forward to an avalanche of entries Paul

There was evidently a lot of disappointment at the news that we were attending only 4 hillclimbs in 2015 so it has now been decided to reinstate Epynt for Sunday 14th June – with an opportunity to make a weekend of it by taking part in the non qualifying event on Saturday. A clash of dates with Blyton made it impossible for Matthew to include Wiscombe, and Epynt had originally been excluded because of low numbers in 2014. So I’m taking a risk here and hope that all you competitors will make a big effort to come this year otherwise it may be questionable again in 2016. I know it’s in Wales but don’t let that put you off because Simon has offered to act as interpreter. Put it in your diary straight away and fill that big gap between Curborough and Gurston. Paul.