BRCA 1/10th IC AGM Minutes – 29/10/06 (Thistley Hough High School, Stoke-on-Trent)

Members Present:             

Bob Harley, Malcolm Norwood, Max Crossland, Craig Jeacock, Mark Christopher, Wayne Lander, Joseph McManus, Chris Slater, Steve Brown, Martyn Bell, Sue Dewsnap, Janice Harley, David Hall, Joann Mosby, Paul Knapton, Alan King, Glyn Beal, Phil Draycott, Jon Withington, Nicola Withington, Deb Mainwaring, Les Mainwaring, Wayne Lander, Stephen Lander, Diane Johnson, Andrew Branson, Kyle Branson, Mark Christopher, Nick Simpson, Neil Wallace, Joe Kerry, Ian Kerry, Steve Woodhams, Joanne Williams, Grant Williams, Matthew Williams.

Apologies:             Darren Johnson, Nigel Pearce, Jon Guest, Philip Barlow

Meeting opened at 9.25AM

Minutes of previous meeting:

Proposed as a true record by Steve Woodhams and seconded by Steven Lander.  Unanimously agreed by all present.

Chairman’s report:

Bob reported a good year in 1/10^th IC this year, and again for the most part of the season the weather was kind to us again!

Thanks was given to everyone on the committee with a special mention to Malcolm Norwood and Steven Lander for their exceptional efforts – Malcolm for his extensive effort on central booking and the website and Steven for his technical input and assistance on race days in decision making.

Bob also congratulated the drivers on the friendly atmosphere and said that now both series of meetings have good spirit developing as well as competitive racing.

Treasurer’s report:

This year we had a few cheques returned from bank unpaid, but most were replaced by the driver in question and any others are still being pursued for the amount outstanding.

About £1200 was spent on the computer system that allowed us to collate and send entry lists directly to most clubs saving them the input of the data and allowing us to have consistency in seeding etc.

Income for the year was £13967 and expenditure £14260, meaning a deficit of £293.  However, the sections account balance closed at £6658.62 and some of the costs incurred this year were delayed from 2005 when the Euro’s were run in the UK.

Entries / Rubber report:

Malcolm spoke about his newly-gained knowledge of the new bbk system, now that we have a PC and the software for the section, and how this helped throughout the year for running the central booking.

He was interested to know why so many people submit entries and then don’t turn up on the day as we do seem to have quite a lot of this happening especially this year – there were a few comments made by members but no-one could really identify a single reason.  Malcolm would still like any input on this if anyone can put their finger on the reason(s).

It has been decided that in 2007 an entry for each meeting will only be reserved once payment has been cleared, this is so that people who are prepared to put up the money upfront will be more likely to get an entry as those who submit post-dated cheques months in advance will not have reserved places until payment has cleared.

As something that is often asked about by the drivers, Malcolm decided to explain the seeding system and how each drivers grade is achieved based upon each persons’ pace measured against FTD on the day.

Total number of entries handled this year for the all meetings was 1001!  Breakdown of drivers racing in each class is as follows:  119 - 200mm Touring, 28 - 235mm and 66 – 200mm rubber

Several comments were made by the drivers regarding our capability to run a system where entries could be made on-line – the committee will investigate this with the BRCA exec as they may have something in place that we can also adopt.

Re-election of officers:

Trophies handed out:

Trophies for the overall positions in 2006 were handed out, with top honours to the following:

David Hall - 200mm Rubber Champion

Glyn Beal – 235mm GT Champion

Darren Johnson - 200mm Touring Champion

Joe Kerry – 200mm Rubber Junior Champion

Kyle Branson - 200mm Touring Junior Champion

Proposals / Rule Changes:

Proposer:  Stephen Lander BRCA no 9259

Seconder:  Bill Philpott BRCA no 9709

I propose that the way in which trophies are accrued and presented is changed.  I would like to see an end of year trophy given to every competitor that took part in at least the minimum number of rounds needed to complete the championship( i.e. 2006 at least 6 of the 8 rounds),

This trophy / shield would show the competitors name, the championship competed in and overall finishing position for the year.  It would also have space for the placement of plaques that were accrued throughout the championship, at each round every competitor in that round would receive an engraved plaque showing their finishing position on the day with the venue and date. e.g. Snetterton 04/07/06 C Final 6th.

The competitor then places their received plaques on the trophy/shield at the end of the championship, the top ten end of year trophies are handed out at the next AGM.

This was discussed but aside from this proposal, the committee had already purchased – and just issued - trophies this year which were awarded to the top ten in each class, sporting small plaques for each meeting attended.  We talked around this point and Steven decided to withdraw the proposal and the decision was taken that everyone who completes the minimum of six rounds from any series will receive one of these trophies at the end of 2007.

Proposer:  Stephen Lander BRCA no 9259

Seconder:  Bill Philpott BRCA no 9709

I propose that requests for places for camping at the nationals should be included in the centralised booking process on the booking form in the form of a tick box.

Payment for camping should also be included in the race entry cheque for that round if a camping place is requested by the competitor. Camping fees in relation to facilities should also be discussed.

Proposal was explained by Steven, committee then explained that booking of camping / accommodation etc. does not fall under the remit of the BRCA elected officials.

Vote results:  4 FOR, 15 AGAINST.

Proposer:  Stephen Lander BRCA no 9259

Seconder:  Bill Philpott  BRCA no 9709

I propose that the race entry fee for each round be reduced by the amount it was increased last year. The increase was intended for the payment of club staff to implement and control Saturday practice, something I feel has not been done to a satisfactory level in 2006

It was agreed that the Saturday practice had not been implemented but the committee stated that this would be mandatory and be controlled by the clubs this year.

Vote results:  6 FOR, 16 AGAINST.

Proposer:  Mark Christopher BRCA no 810

Seconder:  Michael Ball

Rubber – amend rules 9.8 and 9.10

I propose that the rubber class rules are altered to use the same dimension rules for body cut-outs and wings as touring class, also wing chord changed to the touring class size.

The reason for this is to allow a shell cut for the 200mm touring car class to be used in the rubber class and visa versa.

Mark explained the idea behind this further and basically everyone was in agreement.

Vote results:  26 FOR, 0 AGAINST.

Proposer:  Mark Christopher BRCA no 810

Seconder:  Michael Ball

General - Amend rule 5.3

Our climate leaves us with sometimes undesirable conditions, with that in mind id like to see a wet car allowed (as electric) but only to be used as a "wet car" this does not mean the car can be substituted if drivers car1 fails in a final he can use car2.

Mark explained the reasoning behind this, but lots of people disagreed with the concept as it meant the people with two cars could have an advantage.  Concerns were also raised as to the objectiveness as to when wet car is allowed according to weather conditions etc.

Vote results:  1 FOR, 10 AGAINST.

Proposer:  Andy Branson BRCA no 10234

Seconder:  Martin Thurston

Race procedures for A finals

Delayed start - As long as the starter has not called 30 seconds, any participant of A final may request a delay of 10 minutes to carry out repairs on his car.  This delay can be granted only once for each semi-final and final.

-The track is closed, if the delay is requested as a result of frequency of radio problems.

-The track is open, if the delay is requested for mechanical repairs or problems.

Any driver asking for a delay will start from the end of the grid (11th position on the track) or from the pit lane if he is not on the grid in time for the start.

This would be very similar to EFRA rules, but the idea from Andy is to just use for A finals due to time constrictions.

Vote results:  10 FOR, 13 AGAINST.

Proposer:  Bob Harley BRCA no 526

Seconder:  Max Crossland

Amend finals rule 1.5

Amend rule 1.5.1 to read “ Echelon or grid starts will be for all finals “

Bob explained this is just a rule tidy-up so we can use a grid start if required or preferred on the circuit.

Vote results:  15 FOR, 10 AGAINST.

Proposer:  Bob Harley BRCA no 526

Seconder:  Max Crossland

Replace rule 8.2 in 235mm section

Delete rule 8.2 and replace with “ Any engine up to a maximum of 0.15 cu in (2.5cc) allowed.

This was explained by Bob, by deleting this rule it will allow anyone to use a different, smaller engine if preferred ie .12 to make the class more accessible and follow the EFRA line on the use of engines in the class.

Vote results:  21 FOR, 0 AGAINST.

Proposer:  Bob Harley BRCA no 526

Seconder:  Max Crossland

Amend rule 8.4

Amend rule 8.4 to remove “ .15 engines “

This rule change is now required to allow the above proposal to work now it has been voted in.

Vote results:  21 FOR, 0 AGAINST.

Proposer:  Craig Jeacock BRCA no 6595

Seconder:  Bob Harley

Creation of a new class in 1/10^th IC, racing on the same day/venue as rubber – 200mm Truck

·          All cars must use a commercially available 200mm truck bodyshell

·          Open tyre choice, max width taken from 200mm Touring

·          Open engine as long as it does not exceed .12 size

·          Other basic rules to be included for class as necessary

An idea to hopefully compliment the numbers racing on the rubber day, which will also allow the use of any .12 engine.

Amendment Proposed:  Wayne Lander

Seconded:  Stephen Lander

The name of the class be changed from 200mm Truck to ‘235mm Sports GT’

Vote results:  2 FOR, 25 AGAINST.

Amendment Proposed:  Steve Woodhams

Seconded:  Ian Kerry

Tyres to be consistent with 200mm rubber rules

Vote results:  6 FOR, 16 AGAINST.

Amendment Proposed:  Wayne Lander

Seconded:  None

Change the name of the class to ‘200mm Touring’

Amendment Proposed:  Wayne Lander

Seconded:  Stephen Lander

Change the name of the class to ‘200mm Open Body’ so any 200mm bodyshell can be used

Vote results:  2 FOR, 15 AGAINST.

Discussion then went back to the original proposal and a vote was taken.

Vote results:  20 FOR, 5 AGAINST.

Proposer:  Craig Jeacock BRCA no 6595

Seconder:  Bob Harley

Amend the name of 235mm class

Section 8 is headed “ 235mm Class “, propose this changes to “ 235mm Sports GT”

A title we tried to use this year to give the class a more meaningful and interesting name.

This name has been used for the class this year and now we would like to change the rule in the book for reasons as stated.

Vote results:  19 FOR, 0 AGAINST.

Any Other Business:

Child Protection Officer – this is a new currently vacant on the Exec committee, brief information was given in case anyone present interested in putting themselves forward for the post.

Standards of the facilities (tracks) we use this year will be specified at a minimum level and we will also be insistent on the tracks providing controlled practice for the Saturdays – as mentioned earlier in the minutes.

Bob told us that the Ashby track have made no application to the section to run any meetings.  This is because of internal issues the club have and is not related to the section at all – so there will be no meetings there in 2007.

Wrexham is the only new track currently being considered, they have widened their pit-lane and are due to widen again ready for nationals next year.

Tibshelf club have won the recent noise abatement case and track use is back to normal until a new case is heard.  We will however need to run either INS box or a stinger extension on all cars, the decision was put to the floor and no-one objected to buying and INS box for 200mm cars -  as it meant that we will still be able to use the facility.

Meeting closed 13.10