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Editorial section

28 May 2002
Guest editorial by Adrian Toms, BFPCR Scrutineer & rule enforcer;
opinions expressed here are those of the guest editor only!

An official race report (so far)

2001 saw some complaints from some teams about the (poor) build quality of some race cars, along with poor 'driver quality' of some racers, and the general state of our sport. The committee decided, rightly, to put the sport back on the right tracks, and to do this they felt that more stringent enforcement of the rules was the way to go.

In 2002 every team was told that the rules would be strictly enforced from race one, but we were a little lenient at Northampton. Some teams still got their number colours wrong, but they were told to get them right for round two or they would not be allowed to race.

The Northampton race went well, and apart from the hill and the bottom corner things went much as planned. A few issues were reported to the committee members that clearly still needed sorting and more drastic measures were put in place.

Round 2 at Wolverhampton started as we intend to carry on with a full manager and driver talk before the race started (previously only the team managers have been briefed at these pre-race meetings and it was fairly clear that not all drivers were being told all the information imparted - Ed). Everyone was informed about how they were expected to behave on and off the track and the talk from race organiser Jeremy, about helmets, and the talk from scrutineer Adrian, about language, driving conduct, passing and right of way on the track seemed to do the trick.

Teams had taken on board the rule book and apart from one point that has now been sorted (I hope), everyone passed with honour. Just one small point: can team managers please make sure their brakes work (and are useable!) before coming to be checked. Some need adjusting a bit, while some are far to hard for the lads to pull, making them effectively useless.

The race itself went very well and none of the problems from race one were found in race two, however a new problem did come along:

Bob Robinson and another team manager found the speed through the pit lane was way to high, however after a couple of teams were warned and slowed down, we had no more real trouble. Racing was as tight as normal and the teams seemed to be enjoying themselves.

PC0

The solo class is one of the tightest races in the year and last year there were only two individuals taking part. This year there has been some interest from others which makes things more interesting.

Race 1 saw a welcome return to racing from Barry Watts. This driver was a force to be reckoned with some years ago with his team of scouts from Coventry, but he has been missed and looks forward to his getting back into racing, even in a small way. Remember the hedgehog Barry. (I have no idea - Ed.)

The fight between the two main drivers of 2001 is on in a big way this year. At race 1, the order was Ada in first with 158 laps, with Bob in second with 124 and Barry in third with 45. Barry's car was not geared for this track and did not like the hill at all.

At race 2, there was another solo driver, Jim from Swansea. He was talked into the race by Ada, who even lent him a car and very nearly lost out to him. Bob's team had some bad luck at Wolverhampton breaking two cars, one with steering problems, and one with transmission problems. Ada tried to weld it three times but it would not hold. They even tried to pin it but nothing would work (sorry lads).

With both Ada and Bob spending the time on the other South Berkshire car, Jim pushed on ahead, taking laps out of Ada's lead. 1 hour before the end Jim was leading the race by 3 laps and keeping up with Ada. Jim went in for coffee and Ada took back the lead but when Jim came back out he sat on Ada's tail and only got off when he completed 100 laps. He said that was the total he aimed for and stopped half an hour before the finish giving the race to Ada (thanks Jim). The final score, Ada 111, Jim 100, Bob 62 - but Bob does have a team to run as well.

There will be fun at the next round in Swansea. Bob did it last year but Ada didn't; however there will be maybe 4 or 5 at this round and it will all come down to who can go the longest (or bungs the biggest bribe to the lap counters).

Points wise, the title run looks like this: Ada 80, Bob 66, Jim 35; still anyone's title but look out for the 24 hour and Leicester races, these will be very good.

Anyone else out there think they can beat the old codgers that race this solo class? Come on you younger team members, don't let the old ones show you how it's done. You wimps, you don't have the bottle or the stamina to keep up with a good driver. We have the ability to beat you hands down every race. Anyone can be part of a team and win but it takes guts to win on your own.

See you all in Wales, have fun.

Adrian 'Ada' Toms, BFPCR Scrutineer (and Solo racer and Old G*t - Ed)

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