MSA magazine, summer 2015

SUMMER 2015

BT intervCiC ew

ANDY PR I A UL “I ha businvee unfinishe X ss

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in th Page 38 e UK”

THE

MAGAZINE FOR BRITISH MOTOR SPORT

Faster than a speeding bullet…

Meet Britain’s club racing heroes MSA FORMULA

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE FOR COMPETITORS MSA SPRING CLASSIC: GENTLY DOES IT IN WALES PLACE NOTES: WE SPRINT TO CURBOROUGH BUYERS’ GUIDE: CIRCUIT SCHOOLS AND COACHING

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EARLY RISERS

Teenage single-seater stars in profile

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this issue

Contents 05 Forum

Editor’s letter and Twitter chatter

ON THE

06 Action replay

COVER

World Rallycross hits Lydden BTCC intervie w

SUMMER 2015 THE

09 Briefing

ANDY PR IAULX “I have unfin ished business in the Page 38

MAGAZINE FOR BRITISH

All the latest motor sport news

UK”

MOTOR SPORT

18 Opinion

Greg Symes on the MSA’s talent development philosophy Faster than a speeding bullet…

Meet Britain’s club racing heroes

MSA FORMULA

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE

FOR COMPETITORS

GENTLY DOES IT IN WALES MSA SPRING CLASSIC: TO CURBOROUGH PLACE NOTES: WE SPRINTSCHOOLS AND COACHING BUYERS’ GUIDE: CIRCUIT

RISERS EARLYsingle-seat er

23 Talking heads

Should more be done to promote women in motor sport?

Teenage stars in profile

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We go quicker than pretty much anything up to F3.

It’s competitive and it’s quick – we’re doing 3g in the corners p30

30 Cover story

Fancy beating GT3 cars for a fraction of the budget? That’s how quick superkarts are…

36 Spring Classic

30 38

36

Wonderful roads, good company and a squad of cherished vintage cars – that’s MSA’s classic tour

38 Andy Priaulx

He’s conquered the European and world touring car fields; now the Guernsey star wants the BTCC title

42 MSA Formula

The young hopefuls already shining in the first year of the MSA’s new low-cost series

46 Vital Stats

Anatomy of a climber – inside the V8 Gould that has taken Scott Moran to five hillclimb titles so far

CONTRIBUTORS

49 Toolkit

Win new Goodyear accessories

50 Buyer’s guide

…to driving days and racing schools

53 Place Notes

A sprint around Curborough

55 National Court 66 Simon says

Superkarts triggers a memory…

Alex Harmer Motor Sport’s online expert heads to Snetterton to find out more about superkarts – and likes what he sees

Matt James Long-time Motorsport News man talks to tin-top ace Andy Priaulx about his UK return and BTCC aims

Scott Mitchell MSA Young Journalist of the Year profiles teenage chargers as they graduate to cars via MSA Formula

Summer 2015 www.msauk.org

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letters

facebook.com/msauk twitter.com/msauk Instagram.com/msa_motorsport

Forum

EDITOR’S LETTER The first time you see a superkart at speed it takes a moment to calibrate what you’ve just witnessed.

I discoverd this as a 12-year-old on race morning at the British Grand Prix in 1987.

The great Martin Hines and Tim Parrott led a demo at Silverstone that day, the image of which still lives vividly in my mind. They zipped down Hangar Straight at 160mph, dicing wheel to wheel and barely seeming to slow for Stowe. Later I witnessed Nigel Mansell selling Nelson Piquet that famous dummy right bang in front of me. But the superkarts… now these guys were brave.

“I don’t know exactly how fast we went, although at a test at Thruxton once we worked out we hit 168mph up Woodham Hill,” says YOUR Parrott today. “But that THOUGHTS! was boring compared to We want to know the old Hockenheim…” your opinion on which motor sport issues MSA Today, the superkart magazine should cover. scene is something of an Email us at msa@motorsport unsung arena, which is magazine.co.uk why we thought to redress the balance in this issue. Our visit to Snetterton for a British championship round, in amongst a standard car racing ‘clubbie’, confirmed that leather-clad superheroes do still fly – less than an inch off the ground. Our feature on page 30 is also a timely reminder that karting isn’t just about precocious teens shooting for Formula 1.

Damien Smith, Editor

EDITOR Damien Smith PUBLISHED ON BEHALF OF MSA BY: THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE MOTOR SPORTS ASSOCIATION (MSA)

Motor Sport Magazine Ltd. 38 Chelsea Wharf, 15 Lots Road, London SW10 0QJ Tel: 020 7349 8497 www.motorsportmagazine.com

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THE MSA ON TWITTER @ejcole87 Block 1 of the @MSAUK Level 2 in Coaching Performance Motorsport done! Great discussions throughout the group, looking forward to Block 2

@TinoAnayi @FIAWorldRX @tomonslowcole @MSAUK @ RXLites @LyddenHill great job Tom. Super effort and can’t wait to see you rock it in #TurkeyRX

@Dbrally1 @MSAUK @gomotorsport 27 new speed event competitors In 1st 2 years of @TruroDMC academy

@SennanFielding So close but so far... An amazing day in the RX Lites, definitely want another go? A massive thanks to @MSAUK @FIAWorldRX @olsbergsmse

@JakeTaylorRX Check out the vid of my 2nd run in the unbelievable @RXLites car @LyddenHill @MSAUK RX talent search www.jaketaylorrallycross.com/ #thefutureisRX

ART EDITOR Damon Cogman DESIGNER Zamir Walimohamed NEWS EDITOR Tim Swietochowski SUB EDITOR Gordon Cruickshank ADVERTISING Peter De Vries, Kit Brough & Marc

Butler – kit.brough@motorsportmagazine.co.uk peter.devries@motorsportmagazine.co.uk marc.butler@motorsportmagazine.co.uk COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Sean Costa PUBLISHER Sophia Dempsey PRINTED BY: Precision Colour Printing

@tomonslowcole Winner, winner, chicken dinner!!! What an epic experience with plenty more to come!

Huge thanks to @RXLites & @MSAUK

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED

BY THE INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE MSA. EQUALLY, THE INCLUSION OF ADVERTISEMENTS IN THIS MAGAZINE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE ENDORSEMENT OF THE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES CONCERNED

BY THE MSA.

Summer 2015 www.msauk.org

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DATA BURST

WHERE: Lydden Hill, Kent, UK WHAT: World Rallycross Championship WHEN: May 23/24, 2015

Fans pack Lydden Hill as the World Rallycross Championship makes its second visit to the place where it all began, bringing a relentless weekend of non-stop action in the thriving series.

Citroën ace and World Champion Petter Solberg narrowly beat Mattias Ekström’s Audi despite a puncture in the final, with Johan Kristofferson third for VW. Guy Wilks drove his Mini into the final, the best British showing, only to lose a tyre. With strong manufacturer interest and growing crowds, World RX is booming.

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RED BULL

action replay

Summer 2015 www.msauk.org

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news

IN THIS

ISSUE Road-closing legislation near Onslow-Cole’s rallycross prize Race ‘n’ Respect roll-out

Briefing ROAD SAFETY

HAMILTON: GET YOUR ENTRIES IN!

Ability to bring closed road events to mainland Britain now well advanced

CAMPAIGNS

CLOSED ROADS CLOSER TO REALITY Government passes legislation for public road events In a huge boost for British motor sport, new primary legislation facilitating closed road events on mainland Britain was approved during the last Parliament’s final sitting before the General Election.

The Deregulation Bill achieved Royal Assent on March 27. It contains a framework for running motor sports on closed public roads without needing a costly Act of Parliament to suspend the Road Traffic Act for each event. Welcoming the news, a delighted Rob Jones, MSA Chief Executive, said: “We must recognise the invaluable contributions of both the Rt Hon Ken Clarke, the Minister responsible for driving the

legislation, and Ben Wallace MP, who has relentlessly championed the cause of motor sport within Westminster these past five years and kept the pressure on his colleagues when necessary. I would also like to thank all those who have lent their backing, whether by responding to consultation, writing to their MP or simply by voicing their support.”

Before the primary legislation can become available to event organisers, secondary legislation – in the form of a statutory instrument detailing the enabling powers – is required. The MSA is working with the Department for Transport to achieve this as soon as possible.

£8000

F1 champion Lewis Hamilton says he is looking forward to meeting the winners of the MSA Road Safety Film Competition during September’s Italian Grand Prix weekend.

The initiative challenges those aged 16 to 24 to create a short film about the FIA’s 10 Golden Rules for Safer Motoring. In association with Allianz, two winning teams will visit Monza to meet Hamilton and receive prize cheques.

“It’s great to be back onboard with the campaign,” said Hamilton. “I had a lot of fun judging the entries and meeting the prize winners last year, and I’m looking forward to seeing what people come up with this time around! It’s a great initiative, and I think it’s important that motor sport engages with the problem of safety on the roads.”

Entries can be submitted via Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #SafeRoadToMonza as well as by email and post. The competition closes soon, on Friday July 17.

More information can be found via msauk.org.

The prize money on offer to MSA road safety competition winners Summer 2015 www.msauk.org

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Winner Tom Onslow-Cole will make his RX Lites debut in October

RALLYCROSS

ONSLOWCOLE WINS INAUGURAL RX TALENT SEARCH GT racer heading for Istanbul after topping wide-ranging Lydden test

A new British rallycross star emerged when GT driver and former BTCC race winner Tom Onslow-Cole won the inaugural RX Talent Search in a 12-way shootout at Lydden Hill, winning a prize drive in RX Lites in Istanbul.

More than 120 applications from MSA Competition Licence holders aged 18 to 30

were whittled down to a dozen finalists, representing various disciplines such as circuit racing and stage rallying, as well as rallycross. They each enjoyed a pair of four-lap runs on the mile-long Kent track with engineer feedback, plus an interview with the judges.

Four drivers – Onslow-Cole plus singleseater racer Sennan Fielding, rally driver Chris Ingram and Autocross competitor Dan Rooke – were then given a second interview before a jubilant Onslow-Cole was crowned the winner. He will now make his RX Lites class debut at the World RX of Turkey on October 2.

“Not only is the prize fantastic but to be pitched against what the RX Talent Search deemed to be the best talent in the UK and come out on top is a nice confidence boost,” said 28-year-old Onslow-Cole,

who races a Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 for RAM Racing in the 24H Series. “The whole initiative is fantastic and I’d like to thank everyone involved in putting it together; I hope to do them all proud in Istanbul.”

The initiative was a joint venture between the MSA, IMG (promoter of the FIA World Rallycross Championship) and FirstCorner (the company behind RX Lites). The Olsbergs MSE team provided a pair of cars, while Lydden Hill – the Home of Rallycross – lent further support.

The expert judging panel comprised: Robert Reid, MSA Performance Director; Martin Anai, World RX Managing Director for IMG; Andreas Eriksson, Olsbergs MSE Team Principal; Andrew Jordan, BTCC racer who finished third in the 2014 World RX of Great Britain, and Matt James, Deputy Editor of Motorsport News.

SPECIALISTS IN THE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OF GEARBOXES AND DIFFERENTIALS

R.T. QUAIFE ENG 1965-2015 FIFTY YEARS OF SUCCESS Tel: +44 (0) 1732 741144 info@quaife.co.uk

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news

MY MOTOR SPORT SWITCHING TRACK

Q&A with Mel Nicholls, Paralympian and 1500m world record holder Have you always been a motor sport fan? I loved it from a very early age and

always wanted to do some competitive driving, but never had the opportunity until now with Loughborough Car Club’s Disabled Driver Scholarship, which offers two winners a free season of club motor sport.

Like many other sports, ours will benefit from accredited coaching

COACHING

NEW COACHING ETHOS FOR UK MOTOR SPORT Revolutionary qualification available from June In a pioneering development that will bring motor sport into line with other major sports, the MSA’s new accredited coaching qualification is now being rolled out, with course dates available and the booking website live.

The MSA Level 2 Certificate in Coaching Motorsport in both Participation and Performance has been more than three years in the making and is designed to set the standard for coaching in motor sport.

MSA Performance Director Robert Reid has been involved in the project from the start. “This is about raising standards across the board and instilling a coaching ethos throughout the sport,” he said. “It’s about having a recognised coaching structure, which will help to ensure that those being coached – whether driving school customers or career drivers – get the best possible coaching appropriate to their needs.”

The accreditation is listed on the Qualifications and Credit Framework, which sits within OFQUAL – a nonministerial government department

that regulates qualifications, exams and tests. The awarding body is 1st4Sport, which works with the governing bodies of many other sports including football, gymnastics, rugby and tennis.

The governing body is also finalising an Introduction to Coaching Motor Sport Award, which will precede the L2 accreditation to create a coaching pathway.

The course was first piloted in December 2013, when the first 10 Level 2 motor sport coaches qualified successfully. Among them was Pat Blakeney, chairman of the Association of Racing Drivers Schools (ARDS).

“There’s a big difference between coaches and instructors but for anyone wanting to take coaching seriously this will be an essential tool for them to have in their toolbox,” he said.

Initially the L2 course will be delivered at Mercedes-Benz World at Brooklands in Surrey. However it will become available at further venues nationwide in due course.

See p50 for further course details.

How did that opportunity come about?

It was actually through a Facebook post from a wheelchair company, with information about the scholarship.

I had a look and applied, thinking it would be a brilliant thing to do.

What has your experience been like so far? I’ve done two days with the

club now. The first was at Donington Park with everyone else who applied for the scholarship. We were using the club’s Nissan Micra with hand controls and Richard Egger instructed us in an Autotest. He said, “Get to the first cone as fast as you can, then whip the steering wheel round.” I thought, “I can’t do that, the car will tip over!” But he showed me how it’s done and then got the stopwatch out – that’s when my natural competitiveness kicked in!

Then we did our first competitive event in a wet field in Loughborough!

Were you already aware of club-level motor sport? I knew about circuit

racing through a friend who competes at Rockingham but I didn’t know about club-level sport, or anything accessible for people with disabilities. Everyone has been so wonderful and welcoming.

Do you have plans to compete at a higher level? My motto for anything in

life is ‘dream big’ and that’s the same for my motor sport. I train six days a week so I’m currently doing this on my ‘rest day’ but you never know! What I’ve done so far has been absolutely brilliant; I’ve met new people, learnt new skills and it’s opened me up to a new world. If I could take it further I’d absolutely love to.

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news NEWS IN BRIEF KARTING

KARTING

KARTING CODE BEGINS ROLL-OUT New initiative aims to improve attitudes on track

The Race ‘n’ Respect campaign to create the best environment for safe and enjoyable karting kicked off during the opening round of this year’s inaugural MSA Bambino Kart Championship at Llandow.

The initiative – backed by racing legend Allan McNish – is underpinned by a new Karting Code that everyone involved in this year’s championship must uphold. All those who sign up receive stickers, badges and wristbands to wear and display with pride.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the reaction to Race ‘n’ Respect,” said Cheryl Lynch, MSA Race, Speed & Kart Executive. “Everyone involved, from Zip Kart and the officials to competitors, parents and teams really seem to be on board with what we’re trying to achieve. We need the right attitudes to be instilled from the first rung of the racing ladder.”

BRADSHAW AND BROWN FLY THE UNITED KINGDOM FLAG The MSA nominated Callum Bradshaw and Alfie Brown to represent the UK in this year’s CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, a three-round world championship for 13- to 15-year-olds.

Brown, 15, finished a brilliant second in the opening round at Zuera and is “really proud to be representing the UK and the MSA”.

Thirteenyear-old Bradshaw suffered an unfortunate non-finish in Spain but said it was “an honour” to have been chosen.

The remaining rounds are at Genk in July and Le Mans in September.

OFFICIALS

SMMC SECURES NEW MOTOR SPORT EVENT RADIO FREQUENCY The Scottish Motorsport Marshals Club (SMMC) is bringing online a radio frequency for exclusive use by authorised motor sport events in Scotland and the North of England.

This will complement the MSA’s frequencies, providing an additional secure channel; any enquiries should be directed to the SMMC. Meanwhile the MSA is pleased with the huge response to the second MSA81 frequency and is working hard to process all the applications as soon as possible.

NEW 2015 OMP RANGE

www.ybracing.com FREE UK POSTAGE | NEXT DAY DELIVERY | AUTHORISED DEALER | MASSIVE STOCKS

10% DISCOUNT FOR MSA LICENSE HOLDERS

USE VOUCHER CODE : MSA1C 14 www.msauk.org Summer 2015

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news CLUB FOCUS

TRURO & DISTRICT MOTOR CLUB Attracting new blood in the South West

When a club’s membership falls as low as its constitution allows, it has two choices: pack it in, or regroup and swell the ranks through simple yet effective recruitment drives. Truro & District Motor Club chose the latter and was duly named runner-up in last year’s JLT MSA Club of the Year Awards.

The club’s exact birth date is unclear but lies somewhere between eight and nine decades ago, when locals Donald and Geoff Healey – no introductions necessary – began running small events in the local area around Truro in the South West.

Truro DMC’s current competition secretary, Dave Brenton, has been involved since 1979. “We’ve been hillclimbing at Tregrehan since the late ’60s, we ran the City of Truro Stage Rally for many years, and we were also one of four clubs that ran the Tour of Cornwall Rally for 20 years,” he says.

Tregrehan hosts the club’s most recent and highly successful recruitment initiative, the Speed Hillclimb Academy. The brainchild of South West speed stalwart Andrew Dinner, it aims to introduce autoSOLO competitors and total newcomers to hillclimbing.

“Andrew came to one of our committee

meetings and put his ideas forward,” says Brenton. “We decided that we would establish the Academy, which would be for anyone who’d either never held an MSA Competition Licence or hadn’t for many years. We offer reduced club membership and event entry fees, and importantly we provide mentoring sessions with established competitors.”

Those sessions are key; they ensure that new drivers are furnished with all relevant details, from how to apply for their licence

The Falmouth Fire Station gathering has proved to be a great way of spreading the word about accessible motor sport

Membership 200-plus Website www.trurodmc.co.uk Twitter @TruroDMC

to which helmet and overall standards their kit must meet. There are also workshops with scrutineers and track walks on the hill at Tregrehan. “We also specify that only road cars are eligible and they must be driven to the events,” adds Brenton.

Now in its second year, the Academy has produced 27 new MSA Competition Licence Holders to date, drawn from local enthusiast clubs – for example the Subaru Owners Club – and social media.

If clubs around the country adopted similar schemes across the spectrum of disciplines, the potential benefits might be measured in four figures.

Another recruitment tactic involves Falmouth Fire Station, which hosts an annual gathering of young drivers and their ‘souped up’ road cars. “The young lads can show off their cars and the idea is the fire brigade get to talk to them about their driving styles on the road,” explains Brenton. “We take a stand and a couple of cars, play some clips of hillclimbs and autoSOLOs, and hand out Go Motorsport stickers and leaflets. That’s proved to be another great way of spreading the word about our club and accessible, organised motor sport.”

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opinion

AN INFORMED RECIPE FOR WORLDWIDE SUCCESS

Through talent development and coaching we can continue to lead the world, says Greg Symes, MSA Academy Manager I was intrigued when, back in 2008, I was asked to speak to the MSA’s new Performance Director, Robert Reid, to hear his vision for the governing body’s new talent development pathway.

Back then, the MSA Rally Elite programme was approaching its fifth year, while Race Elite was in its third year – both great programmes but it was time for the MSA to really step up the game and take the lead in talent development. Seven years on and I’m still working closely with Robert and our education partners, Loughbrough College and the Racing Steps Foundation. What a journey it has been so far!

As the custodians of UK motor sport it is important that we develop the sport at all levels and across the broad range of disciplines. The success of British drivers and co-drivers internationally does the most to generate coverage and raise public interest – interest that can be directed toward club motor sport at grassroots level, which Go Motorsport works to develop. This then creates a virtuous circle that benefits the whole sport, as more people become involved and create a bigger ‘gene pool’ from which to draw the next generation of talent and repeat the process.

As the national governing body (NGB) the MSA is in a unique position whereby we can say that we aim to develop the sport and its competitors with neither commercial interests nor for any profit or ulterior motives. In terms of talent development this is crucial, as we are not dependent (financially or otherwise) on any one driver, and our interest is in aiding competitors’ long term development rather than focusing only on the here and now.

In fact we have learnt that what may benefit a driver in the short term can actually prove detrimental further down the line. For example a driver may aim to win a specific event or championship and everything they do throughout the season is in pursuit of that goal. That is perfectly natural, but competitors must appreciate that simply winning that event or championship does not necessarily help them to develop the skillset required at the levels they ultimately want to reach; what matters is not how quickly you reach your ultimate goal but

how you perform when you get there.

That is why, within the MSA Academy, we look at all areas pertinent to an athlete’s performance and – more importantly – their development. We break down the process, looking at where they are versus where they need to be, before working with them – on a one-to-one basis where possible – to create a strategy that will help take them there.

Most importantly, we help them gain the knowledge and skills to achieve this autonomously so that they do not have to rely on us or other people further down the line. We are certainly not a programme that just rewards performance with a badge and a jacket; we are committed to the long-term development of our athletes’ potential.

Over the past few years, we have worked in

years – perhaps even decades – it appears to have been accepted wisdom in motor sport that anyone can call themselves a coach, typically based on the fact that they compete or used to compete and were the ABC Champion, XYZ years ago. However, any other major sport – backed up by thousands of hours of research – will attest that being an expert practitioner does not necessarily make somebody an expert coach.

That is not to say there aren’t already some great motor sport coaches out there, but until recently none was qualified. That is not best practice. However, we now have a qualification – the MSA Level 2 Certificate in Coaching Motorsport – that is designed to set the standard for coaching in motor sport and ensure that paying customers get the

The first crop of MSA L2 qualified coaches

conjunction with other organisations and sports to learn from their own approaches to talent development. Four MSA Academy staff – three MSA Performance Managers and I – have actually been to university, achieving a Post Graduate Diploma in Elite Coaching Practice at the Institute of Coaching and Performance at the University of Central Lancashire.

Throughout that journey, the key lesson has been the importance of a proper coaching structure and the huge benefits it has on talent development. Certainly, many of the processes we have seen and learned about have been incorporated into our own MSA Academy structure.

This is an example of our philosophy that success follows the principles of best practice. Another example is that for many

best possible coaching appropriate to their needs. Having qualified coaches who understand best practice helps us to spread the carefully informed philosophy of the MSA Academy throughout the industry.

By developing automatous athletes who understand the intricacies and impact of talent development, and by creating a network of qualified coaches who understand and deliver good coaching practice, we can raise standards across the board and help ensure that the UK continues be the world leader in motor sport.

So if you are an aspiring driver, make sure that your coach is appropriately qualified.

And if you are a coach, gain and benefit from a new industry standard qualification. If you have questions on either, please do get in touch on academy@msauk.org.

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DRIVING TALENT FORWARDS

Calling young co-drivers!

Are you serious about your motor sport?

If so, we can help!

The MSA Academy wants to hear from rally co-drivers who are serious about their development, with the governing body’s talent development pathway offering a support programme led by Nicky Grist, who won 21 World Rally Championship rounds alongside Juha Kankkunen and Colin McRae. Successful candidates will also get the opportunity to work with MSA Coaches and experienced co-driver Paul Spooner. The programme will run on an on-going basis in line with the athlete’s requirements. It will be based on fixed development sessions alongside both remote and onevent support.

Those interested are encouraged to send their motorsport CVs, plus a covering letter stating why they would like to be considered, to MSA Academy Manager Greg Symes on academy@msauk.org.

The UK has a proud history of producing many of the world’s top rally navigators and the MSA Academy is keen to support the next generation.

We look forward to hearing from you!

msauk.org/academy academy@msauk.org

talking heads

Should more be done to promote women in motor sport?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Would more promotion lead to positive discrimination? Or are the numbers too unequal to allow for no action in encouraging more women to race?

Let us know what you think at msa@motorsport magazine.co.uk

Lorraine Gathercole in action in Lotus 18 Formula Junior. Inset: Gail Hill in Jaguar XJ6

YES GAIL HILL BWRDC member, Classic Jaguar & Mustang GT350 racer

The figures show more should be done. Only five per cent of competition licence holders are female and even then we don’t see anything like that represented at the BWRDC. In major or minor series the numbers are tiny.

Fiona Leggate was the last

woman in the BTCC and that was some years ago. Then at Silverstone Classic there are 6-700 entries and only a handful of them will be women.

Motor sport is missing a trick: 51 per cent of the population is female and there is no evidence to suggest they don’t drive as well as men. It’s also a rare sport where they can compete equally, like horse riding. If it wants to attract a bigger audience and a wider spread of sponsors it needs to cater for the other half of the population.

And women are missing out too. I know from experience it’s much safer being strapped in a racing car than it is riding a horse!

NO LORRAINE GATHERCOLE British Women Racing Driver Club vice-chair & Formula Junior racer

I started racing just because I wanted to race, not because I wanted to take on men or race just against women. I think that’s the case for most of our members.

Positive discrimination is something we have to bear in mind. I just want to race as an

equal, which I find is the case with the vast majority of the people I compete against. Yes, I’ve come across sexism in motor sport, but that’s a different question.

At the British Women Racing Drivers Club we recognise we’re a minority, but the organisation is more about networking and supporting each other rather than anything else. We come together as like-minded women who share experiences and encourage each other. I like to think we lead by example, rather than flying the flag for women. If we can encourage women into the sport by our performances on track that’s our job done.

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Kart focus

This looks like a job for...

You want to hit near-F3 speeds for a tiny fraction of the budget, while skimming the surface of Britain’s best-known race tracks? Then zip up your leathers and hang on, says Alex Harmer‌

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QUEUE FOR ACTION – F250 NATS LINE UP

A FAMILY ENDEAVOUR – THREE GENERATIONS OF RUSHFORTHS, IN BLACK

HEALTHY MIX OF ENGINE TYPES MEANS CLOSE RACING FOR ALL BUDGETS

ALL IMAGES HOWARD SIMMONS

Think about what makes a great national championship.

Exciting, close and clean racing would of course be the priorities. A calendar full of classic circuits, such as Silverstone, Snetterton and Oulton Park would come next. Then you’d want the atmosphere to be friendly and welcoming and the costs to remain low, so that you’d always have full grids and a steady stream of new faces. And finally, a loyal and passionate fanbase, full of knowledge and appreciation for the sport.

The MSA British Superkart Championship has all of those things, except the last one.

The positives haven’t all ended up that way by design, but have come about through the hard work and commitment of the people involved. One thing it’s never had to worry about is the racing itself, but the balancing act between costs, venues and accessibility is something that needs constant attention.

That a championship so dependent on its competitors came out of a global financial crisis with full grids and improving fortunes is impressive. Not many national series can boast that sort of resilience.

If the spectre of austerity is ever present, it doesn’t show in the paddock. British Superkart has a communal atmosphere that extends beyond the drivers to their families, many of whom will be drivers or mechanics themselves. That family atmosphere, combined with the series’ scrutiny, have allowed it to survive and at times thrive since the category’s early ’70s inception and ’80s heyday, when Martin Hines came onto the scene.

The on-track spectacle is unique, with the tiny machines swarming around like mice.

It’s also pretty gnarly if you’re not used to it – superkarts lack seatbelts and with only wafer-thin bodywork and biker’s leathers between the driver and whatever he or she might be hitting, seeing them race three and four abreast can be nerve-racking. As with most things that happen between flags, if you want the real scoop, better ask a marshal.

“Terrifying, aren’t they?” says Doug Woodrow, who’s seen a lot of different machinery in his years on his post. “These guys are crazy. I’d love to have a go, though… as long as I didn’t crash. I wouldn’t want one to crash at my corner either.” It takes a special kind of person to jump in a superkart, although the drivers never play up the risk.

Most never even mention it.

For the uninitiated, superkarts look like regular short-circuit karts with a bigger engine and bodywork, but the gulf between them is wider. The engines have traditionally been 250cc motorcycle engines, but now there’s a choice of class based on engine size: 250cc twins (Division 1), single-cylinder

KARTING DAD: IAN RUSHFORTH WORKS ON SON SIMON’S FPE POWER UNIT

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Kart focus two-strokes (F250 National) and 450cc four-stroke singles (F450 National) race together, while the smaller 125cc two-stroke singles (Formula 125 Open) and 250/450 Clubman classes race in a separate event.

In the old days those engines came straight from motorcycles, but as the existing numbers dwindle, independent engine constructors have sprung up, meaning that the sport can provide for itself at a manageable cost while prices for the remaining bike engines – and their repair – skyrocket. Of course, a bike engine also needs a gearbox, and more than one cog comes in handy on the long tracks.

Depending on the circuit and how long the

title in 2005 and took the European crown in ’07, ’09 and ’10, approaches the sport from the same angle. Like many, it was family influence that got him started in karts.

“When my dad first got me into karting it was to keep me off the streets, give me a hobby,” he says. “So I focused my time on kart racing rather than hanging around on corners. It’s been a good sport for me, I enjoy it. I’ve been karting ever since the age of eight and there was a natural progression into gearbox karting. I really enjoy the long circuits and I just got the buzz.”

The atmosphere in the paddock is one thing keeping Bennett right where he is.

“Superkart is a good family-orientated sport.

We go quicker than pretty much anything up to Formula 3. Bang for your buck, this is the place to be. It’s competitive and it’s quick – we’re doing 3g in the corners kart is geared, speeds of up to 150mph can be commonplace. Combined with the high cornering speeds and huge stopping power, superkarts are capable of beating GT3 machinery at certain venues.

The bodywork, which gives them the look of squashed ’80s Indycars, was originally just for show – not many aerodynamicists karting in those days. When, after several years, someone finally did get one in a wind tunnel, it was discovered that the huge rear wing was producing lift rather than downforce. It’s still not an exact science and superkarts rely mostly on their huge mechanical grip to reach 3g in some corners.

Aside from the recent introduction of the 450cc four-strokes, the regulations have remained open and largely unchanged throughout the sport’s history. Occasionally something will be introduced that necessitates a rule change, such as when DRS appeared, long before Formula 1 introduced it. As soon as the system looked like it might work, moveable aerodynamic devices were banned to prevent anybody copying it and driving costs up.

It helps that the people running the MSA British Superkart Championship are all racers themselves, from the officials to the journalists covering the series. For example, press officer Ian Rushforth is an ex-racer who now acts as mechanic for his son Simon, who races in the Division 1 class. A third generation watches and learns in the form of grandson Tom, ready for his chance when it comes.

In stark contrast to their set-up, working from a beaten-up old trailer, is someone like Gavin Bennett who runs one of the more expensive outfits in the paddock. But the current championship leader, who won the

I’ve been around some Super One paddocks recently and it’s all big teams with big awnings. It’s a bit disappointing really, because when we first started in karting that’s all it was – you had the likes of Jenson Button turning up in a Transit with his dad and sleeping in the van. These days people like that can’t seem to compete with the big teams. But British Superkarts isn’t like that. I come with my family and so do all the others.”

One thing that some people struggle to understand about superkarts is that, unlike their short circuit cousins, they don’t really provide a progression route into other forms of racing. “I’d like to have a go in cars at some point,” says Bennett, “but it’s just too expensive these days. These things are so quick and so much more fun than car racing though, so I’m really happy in superkarts.”

Toby Davis, a 23-year-old Herefordshire racer, has never seen superkarts as anything other than the top of the tree. “To me, it’s the pinnacle of karting,” he says, “and that isn’t going into Europe and spending loads of money on the short tracks there. It’s about going as fast as possible on the best tracks in the UK. “It’s all about budget, and if I could find some I’d love to do MSA Formula or something of that ilk. But we spend less than £10,000 a year and go quicker than pretty much anything up to Formula 3. Bang for your buck, this is the place to be. My brother used to do this and he’s off doing Clios now, so he’s looking for a way up to the BTCC. But he’s struggling with money, and I’m in a great place. It’s competitive and it’s quick – we’re doing 3g in the corners and the same under braking.”

One thing that helps keep the best drivers

“I’M HAPPY IN SUPERKARTS – SO MUCH MORE FUN THAN CAR RACING”

in the championship is just how close it is, which is only possible because of the lack of development costs. You can be working out of a tent or a motorhome, on your own or with a team of mechanics, but one thing holds true: the best drivers with the best set-up will always be in the hunt.

Some help is always appreciated though.

Bennett has recently secured sponsorship from Castrol, the first big company to use superkarts as a platform since the days of Martin Hines. “Castrol funded the entry fees to help me do this as well as Division 1 in Europe,” says Bennett. “In previous years we’ve relied quite heavily on Anderson, which backs me with the chassis, and Dunlop. So it’s been nice to have that on top.

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GAVIN BENNETT – THREE EUROPEAN TITLES, ONE BRITISH, AND HEADING FOR ANOTHER?

JACK LAYTON, LEFT, AND MARTIN GOODLIFFE COMPETE IN F250 NATIONAL SINGLES

“TERRIFYING, AREN’T THEY? THESE GUYS ARE CRAZY,” SAYS MARSHAL DOUG WOODROW

CRAZY OR NOT, RACING IS CLOSE – AND IN PLACES QUICKER THAN GT3 CARS IS THAT GUY JUST VERY FAR AWAY?

“Years ago, Martin Hines managed to pull a lot of big sponsors in when he was racing.

He knew how to market the sport and himself better than anyone else. He brought in the Daily Express and Coca-Cola. These days it’s hard. I’m hoping the TV coverage might help the series grow in general.”

That last point is a major one. For the first time in its history, British Superkart is being televised regularly – on Motors TV, which is now terrestrially available – and is reaching an audience who might never have heard of it.

There’s a reason for the championship’s lack of exposure at the moment and it comes down to money again. In order to keep it affordable, the series doesn’t hire circuits for entire meetings (the exception being the Summer 2015 www.msauk.org 33

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Kart focus

KARTS ARE ACCESSIBLE IN EVERY SENSE – LEE HARPHAM TWEAKS HIS REDSPEED UNIT

“I’M IN GREAT PLACE,” SAYS TOBY DAVIS, BELOW RIGHT. “TO ME IT’S THE PINNACLE OF KARTING”

SOLVING THE ENGINE SHORTFALL – IAN HARRISON OF VIPER RACING, BELOW RIGHT. IS THIS MEANT TO BE IN HERE WITH ME? RIGHT, MARK STANSFIELD ZIPS UP

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Superkart Grand Prix at Donington), it instead keeps in touch with various clubs and jumps onto their line-ups when an opening comes up. So at a race meeting you might only find a handful of spectators who are there specifically to watch the superkarts.

Ask any of them on the way out, however, and the answers are usually the same: “We came for x, but those things are incredible!”

It all points to a growing momentum that could take superkart competition back into racing’s public eye, and the timing couldn’t be better. Behind the scenes, one of the biggest shake-ups in the sport’s history has been taking place – the aforementioned new engine constructors.

“Some new engines were introduced recently that have changed the playing field,” says Davis. “Now people are investing

CRISIS? WHAT CRISIS? SUPERKARTS SURFED THE FINANCIAL CRASH WITH FULL GRIDS

in them and it’s great for the future. We were all using Hondas until a couple of years ago, but they stopped making them, so the new engines are here to stay.”

Davis uses a powerplant built by Lancashire-based Viper Racing, a long-time entrant in the championship. Team boss Ian Harrison (not the Triple Eight BTCC team owner) had been considering building his own engines all the way back in 2009, but at the time nothing came of the plan.

“We used to do an awful amount of business with the US and over there the engine regulations are a bit more open,” he explains. “In 250 National in the UK up until last year you had to use a production-based engine, predominantly Honda CR250s out of motocross bikes. So it was something we’d toyed with for a while, and we’d actually started down that road when the recession hit the US and the numbers in superkarting fell.

We didn’t consider it commercially viable and we didn’t know what was going to happen so, as far as we’d got, everything went under the bench and we went no further.

“Then in 2013 the MSA decided it would allow bespoke race engines. The 250 motocross engines were becoming less plentiful and hard to obtain, so we pulled everything we had out from under the bench and started a complete re-design. From there it took us 12 months to get on track and get the engine to a stage where it’s running.

Obviously, there’s a lot of development to go, but early indications are very promising. We

“It’s very hard to achieve with low-volume production, but we’re there or thereabouts.

Assuming the engines prove popular and people actually buy them, like a few have already, then I think we can keep the sport reasonably priced.”

It’s just as important for the comparatively big-budget operations in the paddock. John Riley, founder of chassis builder Redspeed – who drove all night to Snetterton from a meeting at Oschersleben in Germany – wants to keep things affordable, because any short-term gain could well be followed by a long-term malaise. Surprise, surprise, he was a racer too. “I’ve been a works driver for two different manufacturers,” he says.

“I started my own business about 10 years ago, just helping with my experience in driving techniques, engine and chassis set-up, that kind of thing. It’s a hobby that turned into a business.”

Just as much as the drive to keep their championship alive, there seems to be a genuine desire to keep the family together.

And with the range of ages in the category, it’s a constantly evolving community. “There are drivers who are 60-odd, and there are people like me in their early 20s,” says Davis.

“The age range is great and it’s one of the few sports where you have that, with both men and women too. You’ve got dads and sons involved, and some of the dads are even racing, they’re all team-mates now. A lot of the guys here have progressed through to this point with their peers. They’ll make sure that

There are drivers of 60-odd and people in their 20s, with both men and women too.

They all make sure that even if someone has a problem, they make it out on track

TENSION MOUNTS AHEAD OF 15 ACTION-PACKED MINUTES OF CLOSEFOUGHT RACING

think we’ve got an engine, along with the other manufacturers doing this, that’ll take the sport forward.

“We’ve been associated with Toby for a number of years running Honda engines,” says Harrison, “and this is the first year he’s got the new engine at his disposal.

So far we’re very pleased with the results.

We started with one engine last year, just for development, and now it’s on general release.”

Yet again the thorny issue of money rears its head. “It’s probably the biggest consideration, because if you go back 10, 15, 20 years, then the sport was for the working man who’d do all the work on the kart, do his own engine repairs and might even tune the engine a bit. With the culture change in this country when the manufacturing base diminished, people are looking for a turn-key solution.

even if someone has a problem, everyone makes it out on track.

“I think the championship’s healthy at the moment,” says Bennett, “and in another couple of years we should have some more new people in. I think the reliability of some of the engines is causing a few people to be sceptical of coming into the class, so we need to iron out those problems throughout the field. And that’s drivers helping other drivers and trying to get them up to speed. Once we do that, we can get more people in, and once they’re in it, they enjoy it.”

The MSA British Superkart Championship occupies its own niche, quite distinct from the rest of the sport, but imbued with all the qualities most fans and racers look for in a series. And now it’s poised to take the next step. Just don’t expect much to change when it does; the superkart family likes it just the way it is.

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MSA Spring Classic

A spring in their

step

The annual MSA Spring Classic offers scenic views and a pleasant challenge, as our father-and-daughter duo discovered. By Andrew English Don’t Put Your Daughter On The Stage, Mrs Worthington, sang Noël Coward in 1933. It might not scan quite as well but he might equally have expressed the same sentiment about the navigator’s seat in a classic car rally. But Scarlett, my daughter, seemed naively willing and already has a legendary reputation with the maps having once directed us round Paris en route to Le Mans, at night, in a thunderstorm.

Our charger was Citroën UK’s pea-green 1961 ID19, a legendary Déesse, or Goddess, a model which celebrates its 60th anniversary this October. Our event, the third running of the MSA Spring Classic, a 350-mile, two-day jaunt round the less travelled stretches of mainly Wales, but also Hereford and Shropshire. En route, the Spring Classic takes in Pembrey Race Circuit and Shelsley Walsh hillclimb, as well as the National

Botanic Gardens of Wales, the Gower coast, Garwnant in the Brecon Beacons and Llangoed Hall Hotel.

Described as a non-competitive, scenic tour for classics, the Spring Classic is a little bit more than that. Most crucially it’s the only classic-car event run by the UK’s premier rally organiser, International Motor Sports Ltd (IMS), a subsidiary of the MSA and organiser of the UK’s round of the FIA World Rally Championship, Wales Rally GB. As well as the top level of rallying, IMS has been organising classic car events since 1986, so there’s a vast body of experience out there, which is confirmed by the first look at the beautifully produced road book.

Non-competitive it might be, but the Spring Classic has all the main elements of a modern classic rally, including that road book filled with tulip diagrams and interim

mileages, start times and a control card which needs to be stamped. As a classic rallying primer, you’d struggle to do better and at £525 for entry, which includes everything except the hotel and breakfasts, it’s not bad value, either.

Perhaps that explains why it’s also a sell-out and all the other 109 crews were safely ensconced in the Vale Resort in the Vale of Glamorgan event base by the time Scarlett and I crawled in at half-past ten – some of us have to work on a Friday!

There’s all sorts in the car park, from Chris and Liz Ball’s beautiful 1931 Invicta S Type, to Dick McCall and Ian Napier’s 1996 Lotus Elise. E-types, MGBs and Spridgets are in abundance, but there’s also a brace of 1989 Mercedes-Benz 420 SLs, Tony Parker and Ken Coad’s 1993 Porsche 968 Club Sport and David and Ingrid Clyne’s pretty 1974

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MARK GRIFFIN MARK GRIFFIN

Spring Classic welcomes all cars of 20-years plus, including English’s ID and novice co-driver, right

BMW 2002 Cabriolet. This event is eclectic on a time card.

“Eligibility is based on a vehicle age of 20-plus years, but we can make exceptions,” explains Ben Taylor, IMS managing director.

“It’s not a competitive event, it’s about enjoying driving a car for the weekend so the most important thing is that people come

dinner experience a bit much and, since Taylor is planning a few changes next year, perhaps that’s a good place to start.

He might want to look at the sleeping policemen, too, which claimed a litany of exhausts on the first day, though mainly from the Sixties tail-dragging cars. Pembrey is a lot of fun and the sun (almost) shines on

Remember you are in absolute charge.

Drivers are just a fungible tool of the trade with the right spirit to have a good time with like-minded people. There is a huge number of regulars but we also need to attract new participants each year. So that means we have to keep it fresh.”

He’s right of course, though the obligatory ‘Gala Dinner’ remains on Saturday night, where Taylor jokes that some competitors are like the Germans with their towels on their seats to make sure they can sit with their close friends. Scarlett (23 years old) finds the whole

the Gower Peninsula, which is its usual stunning self.

Our car is a last-minute stand in from Citroën UK after my rally-prepared Triumph TR3 proved to be rather less prepared than I’d thought. Designed by Flaminio Bertoni and engineered by André Lefèbvre, the Déesse was launched in 1955 and with its erotically charged bodywork, hydraulically powered suspension, brakes, clutch and steering, and space-age interior, it was

technically far in advance of its time and an immediate sensation.

Our example, British-built in Slough, was the budget ID version with a smaller 1911cc 66bhp/101lb ft four-cylinder engine, a conventional four-speed gearbox and normal clutch. Unlikely rally cars they might seem, but DS models won the Monte Carlo rally twice and successfully completed the tough East African Safari rally. Our car was prepared for the modern Monte Carlo Challenge so it’s more than up to the job even if, at 1.33 tons, it’s at a disadvantage in hillclimbing ability. Not wanting to be a Citroën Pressé as that famous old Brockbank cartoon depicted, we press on hard and despite the eye-watering body roll manage a creditable lapping at Pembrey.

From the navigator’s office there are few complaints and rarely a wrong direction.

“Remember that you are in absolute charge,” I told her.

“Drivers are just a fungible tool of the trade.” She seemed to like that idea.

“It’s a very indulgent sport, though,” she said, munching into the third ‘fika’ (Swedish term for tea and cake) break on the second day. Actually the food was brilliant, with Llangoed Hall Hotel the highlight, especially with a chance to walk it all off by getting lost in the maze (the only time we were lost all weekend).

“Are you blazing up the hill?” Asked Michael Smart from the delectable lime green 1971 Lotus Elan. More like smouldering our way up Shelsley and certainly my slowest ever time there, but the look on Scarlett’s face as we tackled the world’s oldest motor sport course with the engine roaring took me back to what made me love cars and motor sport in the first place.

There’s a bit of tinkering to be done to this event and it seems that the organisers know it. The MSA needs to take a lead not in attracting people like me, but young folk like Scarlett and that means lower costs, younger classics and lots of accessibility.

They are also looking at ways to revamp the Euro Classic next year as a slightly shorter event than it has been in the past.

On reflection, though, we very much enjoyed the Spring Classic. No timing, no penalties and no pressure, but good basic training for more serious events. Well run, with good banter, great driving and lots of fika; the navigator seemed to like it, too, and even talked about driving herself next time.

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Interview

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I have a European title and three world titles in my pocket.

Now I want to add the British one After years of success on the global stage, Andy Priaulx is back in the BTCC. Matt James finds out why the lure of ‘home’ was too strong to resist

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Interview All it took was 48.411sec. That is what Andy Priaulx needed to prove he was back. The three-time World Touring Car champion rejoined the British Touring Car Championship in early April and bang, there he was, on pole position for his return to the domestic racing scene at the wheel of a WSR-run BMW 125i M Sport.

For a man who has spent more than a decade as a factory BMW driver, coming back to the BTCC – the place where Priaulx launched his tin-top career back in 2002 – could have been seen as a risk. But for the Guernsey man, this was like coming home.

And that first qualifying session at Brands Hatch proved a lot of things. In the heady cocktail of the BTCC, where success ballast, soft tyres and boost limitations guarantee a mixed-up order, the opening qualifying session of the year is a rare indicator of ‘pure’ pace. This is where the cars are unfettered by such limitations – it’s the one where the drivers can really make a difference.

After a hugely successful campaign with BMW in the World Touring Car Championship, the DTM and in longdistance races, the BTCC was a departure for Priaulx. But the man himself has some pretty solid convictions for coming home.

He was plucked from his single-seater career in 2002 to deputise for a banned driver at the egg:sport Vauxhall team, and qualified on pole at his first BTCC race.

Then he joined the factory Honda team for the following season before BMW came knocking at his door. That led to a European title and three world crowns, but he isn’t finished just yet.

“I still believe that I have a really big championship left in me,” says Priaulx, 40.

“I wanted to come back to touring car racing where I started my career and where I really made my name. I wanted to give myself the opportunity to go out and win. I have a European title and three world titles in my pocket. Now I want to add the British one – there is some unfinished business in the UK and I want to put that right. It would make me very happy to get to the top.

“In DTM, I arrived there when I was 38 years old. I did all the development work, I was their first points scorer and, in my last season when I was 39, I was fighting for pole position in a championship where you are now considered old when you are 18. Look at people like Jason Plato and Matt Neal in the BTCC, racing into their late 40s, and Gabriele Tarquini in the World championship who is well into his 50s. They are all competing at a very high level. So I feel that coming to the BTCC has given me a whole new chapter to write.”

Priaulx feels at home on a tin-top grid, that much is evident. He is one of the classiest drivers out there, combining an

intelligent approach, honed with engineers and set-up boffins, with a burning desire to win born from years of struggling to establish himself in the top flight. Those two factors make him a formidable force – and the hunger shows no signs of diminishing.

“It really is about experience, ability and desire – and desire has to be pretty near the top of that list,” says Priaulx. “It is about bringing all of that experience together. It isn’t necessarily about the youngest drivers who can rely on pure reflex and a high workload inside the car that will succeed in the BTCC. It is not all about arms and elbows. It is about

place and put paid to the doubts of many observers who thought that Priaulx was too timid to go ‘gloves off’, the style considered necessary to succeed in the BTCC. “I have always been a driver who is a bit more like [2014 champion] Colin Turkington than anything else – keeping it smooth and precise – but, to be honest, I have driven against some of the toughest drivers in the world,” says Priaulx. “I don’t give in and maybe as I get slightly older I get more desperate. I’m definitely not going to give in to anyone – hence the three points on my race licence that I’ve already earned this

It’s not about arms and elbows, it’s about being clever – but the number one thing is desire being clever, but the number one thing is desire: are you prepared to put it on the line on a Sunday afternoon week-in, week-out?

I am, and that is what I want to show.”

That much was evident from the opener at Brands. Priaulx opted for soft tyres in the opening race of the weekend which hamstrung his charge, but he came within a whisker of claiming race two. He lost out in a dash to the line with Gordon Shedden’s Honda Civic Type R by a mere 0.040sec. He had been robust in his battle to wrest first

year! Everyone wants to kick the backside of a world champion and I am just not going to be pushed around. I don’t want to be there to make up the numbers. It is win or get out.”

Priaulx doesn’t want to get out. Reading between the lines, he sees the BTCC as a new long-term avenue for him. His profile in the UK is not as high as it should be because he has done most of his winning abroad – that is a fact that irks him, although he rarely admits it in public. By winning in the BTCC, he can finally establish his name alongside

Brands Hatch battle with Shedden proved that Priaulx has the muscle for BTCC

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those of Jason Plato and Matt Neal, just as he fully deserves.

The modern-day BTCC is a specialist environment. The cars have a raft of standardised parts, such as subframes, gearboxes, brakes and electronics. That means to find an edge, a driver has to work hard. As such, the BTCC has marked itself out as one of the most competitive championships in the world. While the cars are relatively basic, the action is relentless.

“Is the racing good? That is the only question you should ask,” says Priaulx. “It doesn’t matter what it feels like. The DTM car feels mega, but the racing is boring. We are a spectator sport; why is MotoGP so popular, or historic racing? Because they are fantastic to watch. People don’t want to see some computer boffin deciding the outcome of any race. They just want to see real action, and that is what the BTCC delivers in spades.”

Priaulx is well used to a dogfight. His rise through the ranks was a triumph of determination and doggedness, as opposed to deep pockets. His climb through singleseaters – up to F3 level and some F1 tests with the Williams team – was achieved on perseverance and talent alone. And now he is starting that journey all over again: his 14-year-old son Sebastian has begun his motor racing journey in karting and has

shown the kind of flair that former hillclimb champion Priaulx – and his father Graham before him – possessed in their early careers.

“Coming up though the sport has always been a really tough environment for underfunded drivers,” he reflects. “There is more choice [of categories] now, which I don’t necessarily think is a good thing; you have a lot of decisions to make when you are coming up through the sport. Everything is getting much more professional.

“The costs are even more, so it is probably even harder to get there. I think I was probably the last generation to make it through on determination, talent and commitment, and sheer bloody-mindedness.

I didn’t have any personal wealth; I made it through with contacts, sponsors and hard work. Now, you need massive personal wealth to go forward in the sport, but what that means is that you are going to have really rich kids getting near the top of motor sport and then getting found out. They will have had all the best equipment all the way through the ranks, and that is a real danger.”

But that hasn’t deterred Priaulx Jr, who is tackling a selection of Rotax Junior club races with Paul Carr Racing, and might attempt some high-profile Super One events as the season progresses. But there aren’t deep pockets behind Sebastian, and Priaulx

says that his son is not blinkered by unrealistic dreams of F1. He would rather the boy enjoys his passion rather than gets ground down by it.

“I saw Ricky Collard [son of Priaulx’s BTCC team-mate Rob Collard] winning an MSA Formula race on the same bill as the British Touring Car Championship and I saw how proud Rob was,” says Priaulx. “I want Seb and I to both win on the same day. I have done that with my dad – we won on the same weekend in the same car in hillclimbing – and I would love Seb to do that with me.

“But the most important thing of all is that he has to enjoy what he is doing. He has got to want to get in that car and I am not going to make it easy for him. So many kids get into cars and don’t really know why they’re doing it. It has to be everything in your life. That is what he has to remember first and foremost.”

And that is the philosophy Priaulx has had throughout his entire career. It has been everything to him because it has given him and his wife Jo everything they enjoy in life now. That deep-seated desire that brought him to the top level of the sport in the first place is what is guaranteed to make sure that he remains there. When Priaulx says that he has another big championship left in him, he is underplaying his hand: there is every likelihood that there is more than one.

ANDY PRIAULX CAREER IN BRIEF 1995 MSA British Hillclimb champion 1999 Renault Spider champion,

13 wins from 13 races 2000 British F3, Renault, 3 podiums 2001 BTCC debut 2002 BTCC, Honda, 1 win 2003 ETCC, BMW, 1 win 2004 ETCC champion

2005-07 Three consecutive WTCC titles, 2005 Nürburgring 24 Hours win 2011 Sports car racing with BMW, class winner at Sebring 12 Hours 2012-13 DTM with BMW 2014

United Sportscar Championship, BMW Z4

2015

BTCC, WSR-run BMW 125i M Sport and ELMS, BMW Z4

Priaulx is aiming at nothing less than the BTCC title.

“It’s unfinished business…”

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MSA Formula

Teenage early risers That might sound like an oxymoron… but as Scott Mitchell shows, a bunch of young racers are already showing their potential in the inaugural MSA Formula season

A handful of rounds into the inaugural MSA Formula season and the grid’s varied young talents have already sparkled in fine fashion.

The successful roll-out of the Mygale-Ford cars has led on to 20-plus grids in the opening rounds.

Karting sensation Lando Norris won twice at the opening round and it indicates the level of competition in the new category that a subsequent second place dropped him from the points lead to fourth in the standings. Furthermore, less than a second covered the top 14 drivers at Donington Park – with eight of the championship’s 10 teams represented in that group.

Competition is fierce but highly rated karting graduates such as Dan Ticktum and Norris, surprise package James Pull and second-year racers Ricky Collard

and the Brazilian Matheus Leist led the initial charge as the new category found its feet.

By early May this quintet had begun to make a greater impression ahead of the chasing pack. That drivers such as BRDC Formula 4 championship challenger Sennan Fielding, Jack Barlow and junior World Karting champion Enaam Ahmed were not among them at this early stage of the year reiterates further the strength of the first-ever MSA Formula field.

Tasked with replacing the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain, which had struggled for numbers in recent seasons, the early signs are that the era of MSA Formula will be successful. These signs also give us a glimpse at who might earn the honour of becoming the first ‘FIA F4 Champion of Great Britain’.

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Ricky Collard Age: 18 Nationality: British

Age: 15 Nationality: British Don’t let a difficult 2014 fool you – this 15-year-old is as highly rated a karting graduate as any in the MSA Formula field. After a career on the junior slopes that included multiple British titles and second place in the 2013 CIK-FIA European KFJ Championship, Dan spent a 2014 in “a sort of weird place” racing abroad.

But he’s found his feet quickly in car racing. Having tested Formula Renault BARC and BRDC Formula 4 machinery last season the 15-year-old opted for MSA Formula because it afforded him an immediate route into a full season of single-seater racing – and since joining Fortec he has not looked back.

Encouraging pre-season testing helped shake off the bad feelings of 2014, and once he’d settled on the Ford-powered category he says it was just a matter of “chipping away more and more”.

“I’m quite good at being able to adapt,” he reckons, and the early results back that up. His single-seater debut at Brands Hatch yielded two second-place finishes and a fifth, and Ticktum didn’t have to wait long to bag his first victories – winning twice at Donington next time out to open up a healthy lead at the top of the points. It only took until early May to establish himself as an early title favourite.

What he thinks of MSA Formula:

“The engine has been great because they are all so equally balanced across the field; no-one has a power advantage and the reliability has been excellent.”

ALL IMAGES JAKOB EBREY

Dan Ticktum

A member of the prestigious Racing Steps Foundation during his time in karting, where he raced domestically and internationally, Ricky quickly developed a popular reputation in the TOCA paddock last year during his maiden season of car racing.

The son of British Touring Car Championship race winner Rob earned solid results in the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain, including multiple podium finishes. These have formed the bedrock of a title challenge in MSA Formula with internationally renowned single-seater team Arden International.

Ricky and Rob completed a memorable double triumph at Brands Hatch as they both achieved victories on their respective opening weekends, and Ricky followed that breakthrough to go on and claim two second-place finishes at Donington.

Qualifying has been the Hampshire driver’s Achilles heel thus far, although it’s a testament to his racecraft that starting positions around the foot of the top 10 have been turned into top-six finishes and podiums.

The jury was still out on Ricky at the end of his debut season in cars, and remaining in Britain for his follow-up campaign meant an attack on the championship was essential. So far he’s living up to that billing.

What he thinks of MSA Formula: “The professionalism is something that changes dramatically. Being part of the BTCC [package] is great; in the car you’re ignoring most of it but it’s quite nice to have that. To be the first winner is the kind of thing that is remembered.”

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MSA Formula

Lando Norris Age: 15 Nationality: British Karting CVs do not come much better than the one flaunted by Lando Norris.

The obvious highlight is a CIK-FIA World KF Championship triumph last season in his first year racing at senior level in karting – still aged just 14. Last year also yielded third in the category’s European championship, and followed a season that included the CIK-FIA European KF Junior title, Super Cup victory and race-winning World KFJ campaign.

But he was not content with being Britain’s leading light in kart competition, and made his car-racing debut last season driving in the Ginetta Junior category. Lando’s switch to a miniature sports car and a roof over his head did not hide his talent, and a win at Croft before the summer break paved the way for a second-half of the season in which he bagged three more wins and ended the year third.

A move to single-seater competition was inevitable and having chosen Carlin as his MSA Formula destination the well-funded Glastonbury youngster set out his stall in style at Brands Hatch, winning the first-ever race of the new category and bagging another victory in the third. Donington proved trickier for Lando, for whom pace has never been a question but race craft needs to be improved. He is expected to remain firmly in the mix for the title.

What he thinks of MSA Formula: “The amount of track time is great; it’s good for us to race as much as possible. The level of competition makes it better as well because you know what you’re like compared to other, similar, people.”

Matheus Leist Age: 16 Nationality: Brazilian Many Brazilians have moved to Europe to further their car-racing careers and gone on to the very top. While comparisons to Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna would be somewhat premature, Matheus Leist is at least trying to emulate their route to the pinnacle.

Having spent last season racing in the national Formula 3 championship in a Class B Dallara, Leist – a class winner and overall podium finisher in the category – is commuting from Brazil as he undertakes a maiden season in Europe.

The Double R man was a somewhat late addition to the grid but was immediately on the pace in testing. He seems a great improviser and grabbed two podiums at the opening round before bagging a reverse-grid victory at Donington despite his inexperience compared to his British-based rivals.

You could forgive a driver of just 16 if he were overwhelmed by the experience of racing on a new continent. Yet, friendly and enthusiastic, he was not daunted by the prospect of racing at Thruxton, despite not lapping the country’s fastest circuit until the race weekend. He’s not shirking from the challenges so far. Instead, he seems to be relishing them.

What he thinks of MSA Formula: “The championship has been really amazing. I’ve never been here before and I like it so much. There are a lot of races in the year so I can learn a lot and do a lot of overtaking!”

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MSA FORMULA: COMMITTING TO TALENT DEVELOPMENT The MSA Academy has teamed up with MSA Formula to implement a ground-breaking support programme for the championship’s aspiring young racers. The governing body’s talent development pathway will take a threepronged approach:

DRIVERS The MSA Academy is running Performance Master Classes at nine of the 10 rounds this season.

The performance-enhancing workshops are led by qualified MSA coaches, who are also on hand in the paddock to offer one-on-one support, advice and guidance.

COACHES MSA Formula has committed to ensuring that at least four teams have personnel qualified as MSA Level 2 Performance Coaches.

This will enhance the work they are already doing by developing their – and the industry’s – understanding of best practice for talent development.

James Pull Age: 15 Nationality: British It is absolutely to the Anglo-Singaporean’s credit that he should be viewed as the surprise package of the early MSA Formula rounds.

One of several karting graduates in the championship’s ranks, James’s efforts in Malaysian, Asian and World competitions were strong as he racked up titles and podium finishes both domestically and internationally.

James says the attention garnered by the likes of Lando Norris, Dan Ticktum and Enaam Ahmed meant he was able to get on with his pre-season testing programme away from the spotlight. Teaming up with Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain hat-trick hero squad JTR set him up to be a dark horse, and he’s led the charge impressively.

Four podiums from the opening six races pointed to an early knack of racking up consistent results, which is usually where the inexperienced fall short. By his own admission the strong start was a surprise, and maintaining that strong momentum will be key if he’s to turn this into a championship challenge.

What he thinks of MSA Formula: “It’s completely different to karting, the whole atmosphere is. Especially being within the BTCC. I think it’s absolutely fantastic. It’s run very well and I’m very impressed.”

CHAMPIONSHIP

It’s completely different to karting, I think it’s absolutely fantastic. It’s run very well and I’m very impressed

A member of the championship’s management team will also become a qualified MSA L2 Performance Coach but will be focusing on systems rather than individuals.

This will help to ensure that, where possible, championship operations will equally reflect the aim of best practice.

All of these qualified coaches will be supported

by MSA Academy staff to help maintain their on-going development targets.

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DATA BURST

Engine: 3500cc Top speed: 160mph

CHASSIS

Weight: 470kg Gearbox: Xtrac six-speed sequential

The Gould is based on a late1990s Ralt Formula 3 carbon-fibre monocoque tub, which was built but never used in period. Gould Engineering modified the rear of the tub to accommodate the engine and it is now some way removed from the original F3 car.

Scott Moran

Gould GR61X

The inside details of a championship-winning hillclimb car work it up over the weekend to hold it flat over the finish line at Gurston Down. In the Gould, you can do that on the first practice run.”

Sharing the car at each event means it is working harder than some, but an engine first developed for the Indy 500 is more than capable of coping with the short, sharp blasts up the hills of Great Britain.

“However, you do have to look after the tyres if you are double-driving the car and they can go very squirmy if you overwork them. Sometimes double-driving is a help and sometimes it is a hindrance,” says Scott.

ZIPP.CO.UK

The Gould GR61X hillclimb car of father and son Roger and Scott Moran is one of the most successful cars in the history of the MSA British Hillclimb Championship.

In Scott’s hands, the car has won the prestigious title five times in the past seven years and could add another title in 2015.

“All my titles have been won in this car and it’s almost good enough to be a museum-piece now,” jokes Scott, 29, about the Nicholson-McLaren V8-engined racing car.

There is no doubt that the Gould has served the Ludlow team well and Scott says it is a complete package, particularly in terms of aero grip. “In the Pilbeam we used to run, you had to

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vital stats

WEIGHT

470kg all up with fuel, less driver.

WHEELS AND TYRES

Wheels are ex-Formula 1 from BBS and the tyres are Avon hillclimb tyres, designed to build heat very quickly. The compound is very soft and would probably not last a flying lap of Silverstone.

GEARBOX SUSPENSION AND BRAKES Brembo four-pot calipers and steel brake discs. The brakes don’t need to retain heat and deal with heat build-up as in racing. It has Koni single monoshock dampers on the front and Koni multi-adjustable on the rear.

ENGINE

Nicholson-McLaren V8 Cosworth unit, originally built as a 2.6-litre Indycar engine. The turbos have been removed and the engine has been taken out to 3.5 litres to give more driveable power and torque. It is rebuilt once every three seasons and has two or three oil changes a year.

Xtrac unit commissioned

by Gould, derived from a late-1990s F1 ’box. It is a six-speed sequential gearbox with paddle shift and gearing to suit the hills. Sixth gear is only used at Craigantlet and Gurston Down. They usually start in first gear.

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IN THIS

ISSUE

Buyer’s guide to driving days p50 Place Notes: Curborough p53 Judicial decisions p55

Toolkit News, products and advice for competitors

ADVERTISING FEATURE

Put a lid on it

V2 Sport Spa has developed a range of helmets to cover the new safety requirements for competitors in karting and motor sport in general, made to fit a small budget. Where a neck brace is not needed, the Super-Vent SA2010 is available at £169. However, since HANS devices will be mandatory for many circuit racing competitors from 2016, there is the Super-Vent SAH2010, which is fitted with FIA 8858 2010 clips and is available from £229.

The latter can also be fitted with a touring car peak, costing £249 altogether. V2 helmets are available in gloss white and gloss black and comply with MSA regulations for all motor sport.

For more information go to www.v2sport.com

COMPETITION

Win all-new Goodyear gear To celebrate the launch of the Goodyear clothing, footwear and accessories range in the UK, the company is offering you the chance to win £450 worth of high quality and weather-proof Goodyear products from the latest Spring/Summer 2015 collection. The Goodyear products are created with the brand’s core values of durability and technical expertise, making them the perfect attire for sports and outdoor pursuits.

To enter, simply answer the following question: Who was the last driver to win the Formula 1 World Championship on Goodyear tyres?

A: Ayrton Senna, 1991 B: Michael Schumacher, 1995 C: Jacques Villeneuve, 1997 Email your answer, plus your name and address, to msa@motorsportmagazine.co.uk For terms and conditions go to www.motorsportmagazine.co.uk Summer 2015 www.msauk.org 49

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BUYER’S

GUIDE

Learn all about it

Competition driving has never been more accessible at Britain’s race circuits.

And thanks to the MSA, coaching standards are rising to meet the demand

MSA

What do they offer?

The MSA has introduced the new Level 2 Certificate in Coaching Motorsport in both participation and performance. If you are – or aspire to be – a coach, this new accredited course is for you.

Why should I choose them?

The accreditation is listed on the Qualifications and Credit Framework, which sits within OFQUAL – a nonministerial government department that regulates qualifications, exams and tests. The awarding body is 1st4Sport, which works with many other sports including football, gymnastics, rugby and tennis.

Where can I find out more? www.sdsa.eu/msa-coachingcourse-booking

Castle Combe

What do they offer?

One of the best track day venues in the country, with over 250 on-track events every year.

Why should I choose them?

Honing your craft at Castle Combe means you’ll likely come into contact with a few racing clubs – the circuit’s been called the home of the best club racing in the UK.

Where can I find out more? www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk

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buyer’s guide

POLE POSITION

Smart and accurate From the latest in steering wheel gadgetry to tips on how to make you and your car look the part

SUMMIT TECHNOLOGIES

Brands Hatch

What do they offer?

A perfect venue for completing your ARDS test – the first step on the route to becoming a racing driver.

Why should I choose them?

Brands is run by Motor Sport Vision, which organises tests around the country on its various circuits. The MSA’s ‘Go Racing’ pack will give you all the information you need. Go to shop.msauk.org Where can I find out more? www.msvtrackdays.com

www.summit-technologies.myshopify.com Summit has developed the most advanced iteration of its Raptor wireless steering wheel button system yet. The Raptor Pro features a solid state receiver module, producing either a 12v or logic level output on each channel. Each Raptor Pro has selectable firmware, enabling the option for either a fully programmable race configuration, or a road-based configuration featuring indicator cancellation.

The receiver has been completely redesigned to fit into a waterproof Deutsch enclosure with matching Deutsch connector. The Raptor Pro can be purchased with either a blank race-style button layout or a road version with IVAcompatible symbols.

HOT-STITCH

www.hot-stitch.com There are plenty of graphics companies that make sponsorship stickers, but getting fire-resistant badges manufactured for your race suit is more specialised. Hot-Stitch manufactures any quantity of Nomex badges to any design, at affordable prices and quickly.

All copyrights and registered trademarks respected Just upload your logo (in any format) onto the appropriate page on their website and you’ll get a quick response with the badge ready to approve and order online. The firm also has a wide range of historic logos, ideal for old-timer events and festivals. Their badges are made to the same standard as FIA 8856:2000 race suits and include a Nomex sewing kit with a stitch and care guide. A sew-on service is available.

AUTO FINESSE

Buckmore Park

What do they offer?

One of the country’s best-known karting circuits and a great place to start out in motor sport.

Why should I choose them?

Buckmore Park has been around for 52 years and was a favourite of the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

Where can I find out more? www.buckmore.co.uk

www.autofinesse.co.uk Auto Finesse’s Revolution wheel soap fills a gap in the current marketplace for a product somewhere in between a strong wheel cleaner and just cleaning wheels with a shampoo mixture to prolong the life span of wheel sealants and wax layers. Auto Finesse’s aim is to provide a dedicated wheel soap that offers enough cleaning strength to remove brake dust and break down road grime while still maintaining wheel sealants to offer an easy cleaning experience. Revolution is completely safe to use on all wheels types, from powder coated through to polished, anodised and chrome.

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place notes

Curborough

For single-seater or saloon, Curborough is a compact challenge

Britain’s best-known permanent sprint venue has its roots in WWII, explains Paul Lawrence attracted an entry of 75 cars. The course was shortened by 15 yards to the present-day 900 yards by moving the finish line back to give faster cars more braking area.

Use of the venue grew through the following decades, with a central location and easy access making it popular with a generation of sprinters. In 1996 the track was resurfaced with help from the National Lottery Sports Council Fund. Curborough was the first motor sport project in the UK to receive such funding.

After many years of discussion, a return road was added in 1999 with support from the MSA Club Development Fund, which allowed more efficient running of events.

The next development was to use the main loop twice to make a ‘two-lap’ sprint. This extended the course to 1557 yards, and

The Curborough story started with RAF Lichfield, a training unit for Wellingtons

STEVE WILKINSON

Sprinting in the UK has few purpose-built venues, but in the heart of the country this branch of the sport’s leading facility, the Curborough Sprint Course, continues to thrive.

While uphill competition against the clock has its landmark settings such as Shelsley Walsh and Prescott, sprinting is generally confined to temporary venues and permanent race tracks. However, for more than 50 years Curborough has provided affordable competition for thousands of drivers who prefer to run on the flat, one at a time.

Situated a mile from the busy A38 just north of Lichfield in Staffordshire, Curborough is rightly considered a gem of club-level motor sport. The unstinting efforts of the Shenstone and District Car Club have been responsible for keeping the ever-improving venue active for more than half a century.

The Curborough story started in 1939 with the construction of RAF Lichfield, which was a training and maintenance unit for Wellington bombers until June 1945. The airfield finally closed in 1958 and was eventually sold to a local farmer for £240,000 in 1962. Shenstone and District Car Club had been using the site for autotests and was able to secure a lease for plans to develop a dedicated sprint course.

Once the track had been resurfaced and ditches dug to offer protection for spectators, the first sprint was held on June 16 1963. Ian McLaughlin, driving a Cooper-Jap, recorded the fastest time of the day in 38.7sec.

The second event on September 22 1963

nowadays a three-lap format, instigated in 2006, is also available. A figure-of-eight layout is another option available, using a short section of cross-over track in the middle of the main loop.

The development of the track has gone hand in hand with improving facilities for visitors. Projects such as a spectator viewing bank, protected marshals’ posts, rumble strips instead of cones, an extended paddock area and spectator seating have all been completed as funds allow.

At the heart of the Curborough season is an eight-round sprint championship, while the Shenstone & DCC uses the venue to run its popular sprint school. But sprinting is only part of the story for motor sport at Curborough. In recent years it has become a popular venue for special tests on events such as the Rally of the Tests and the Flying Scotsman Rally for Pre-War cars. Tour Britannia has used Curborough as a special stage venue and Group B rally cars have enjoyed a track day-type event.

Away from competitive motor sport, Curborough is regularly used for car magazine photo shoots and makes several appearances each year in motoring programmes on television. It has also gained merit as a ‘cycling centre of excellence’ and in 2002 Curborough earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records when pedal car racers set a new 1000-mile record. It certainly is a diverse and busy venue.

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national court

MOTOR SPORTS COUNCIL NATIONAL COURT SITTING TUESDAY 6TH JANUARY 2015 Tony Scott Andrews (Chairman) Mike Harris Rick Smith CASE No J2014/35 Dean Raftery Appeal Mr. Raftery appeals against the decision dated the 13th October 2014 made by the Championship Stewards of the British Rally Championship (the “BRC”). That decision determined that Mr. Raftery should be deemed to have retired from the competition in which he had taken part and as a result no championship points should be allocated to the crew of car no. 4, namely Mr. Raftery and Aileen Kelly.

Mr. Raftery, his Team Manager Mr. Bob Kelly, Mr Calvin Beattie and his father appear before the Court.

Mr. Raftery is represented by Mr. Brian Brophy.

The facts are as follows.

The MSA British Rally Championship 2014 Sporting and Technical Regulations (“the Regulations”) state at Art. 1.4.1 that the Championship will comprise of seven rallies and that one such will be the Rally Isle of Man. Those seven rallies would, however, constitute eight rounds as the Isle of Man event, although but a

single event, would be split into “two point scoring opportunities” which would be regarded as Rounds 5 and 6 of the BRC. It transpired that Legs 1 and 2 of the rally would be Round 5 and Legs 3 and 4 would be Round 6.

Mr. Raftery started Round 5 but experienced difficulties and did not complete all the stages. He did, however, complete Round 6.

The results of both Legs 1 and 2 (i.e. BRC Round 5) and also Legs 3 and 4 (BRC Round 6) of the Rally Isle of Man were published and were made Final at 17.40 on 13th September, the last day of the event.

Those results showed that Dean Raftery and Aileen Kelly, Car 4, finished Round 5 in last position, that is to say in 42nd place, and third in Class and 7th and 1st in Class in Round 6.

A Provisional BRC Points Table was also published allocating points for the positions attained by Mr. Raftery in the said rally.

At the conclusion of the rally, Mr. Calvin Beattie, another competitor, was unhappy with the points allocated to Mr. Raftery and subsequently lodged an Appeal with the BRC Championship Stewards.

As stated above, the Stewards considered Mr. Beattie’s submissions as to the stages said not to have been completed by Mr. Raftery and default of Parc Ferme

Regulations and on the basis of those omissions deemed Mr. Raftery to have retired from Round 5 and removed his BRC Championship points.

Mr. Brophy argues on behalf of his client that proper procedure was not followed and that Mr. Raftery was not given an opportunity to attend the Stewards hearing, to see any documentation produced or to challenge any of the evidence even though he had asked for an opportunity to do so. Mr. Beattie comments that as neither party was present before the Stewards no disadvantage arose for Mr. Raftery.

Notwithstanding those assertions, it is apparent to this Court that Mr. Beattie accepts that the championship points allocated to Mr. Raftery were indeed the correct number of points for his position in the event as shown in the Final Results.

It follows therefore that what Mr. Beattie is really challenging is not the allocation of points as such but rather Mr. Raftery’s entitlement to the position allocated to him in the results for Round 5. That is a matter which could and should have been raised with the officials of the Rally Isle of Man and not at some later date with the BRC Championship Stewards.

It is therefore the view of this Court that no protest having been

made by Mr. Beattie, or indeed by anyone else in this regard, those results having been made Final and the correct number of Championship points having been allocated for the placings shown in those Final Results, this Appeal must succeed.

It is ordered therefore that; 1. the said decision of the BRC Championship Stewards be set aside, 2. the points be allocated in accordance with this decision and published, and 3. the Appeal fee be refunded to Mr. Raftery TONY SCOTT ANDREWS CHAIRMAN

SITTING TUESDAY 17TH MARCH 2015 David Munro (Chairman) Mike Garton David Scott CASE No J2015/01 The National Court has considered the case of Nick Haynes who admitted breaching general

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national court

MOTOR SPORTS COUNCIL NATIONAL COURT – CONTINUED regulation C1.1.8 in relation to the use of ineligible tyres on his son’s kart at Shenington Kart Racing Club meeting on 19th October 2014.

Having heard that the tyres were purchased second hand from eBay and were from unknown provenance the Court concludes that Mr Haynes should be reprimanded for his involvement in the matter and that no other action is required.

He is ordered to pay a nominal contribution towards costs in the sum of £50.

DAVID MUNRO CHAIRMAN

SITTING TUESDAY 2ND JUNE 2015 Tony Scott Andrews (Chairman) Mike Harris Bob Kettleboro CASE No J2015/02 Eugene Donnelly This matter comes before the Court at the instigation of the MSA’s Disciplinary officer, Mr. Richard Vincent-Smith who appears before the Court today. Mr. Donnelly is not present but has confirmed that he is content for the matter to be heard in

his absence.

Mr. Donnelly is charged with having breached MSA General Regulations C.1.1.2(b) and C.1.1.4.

The former relates to “Any action having as its object the entry or participation in an event of: (b) A person who is not the holder of a licence appropriate to the event concerned.” The latter relates to “Any proceeding and/or act prejudicial to the interest of the MSC and/or motorsport generally.”

The facts are that Mr. Donnelly holds an MSA Rally licence and has held such a licence for no less than thirteen of the past sixteen years.

At no time has Mr. Donnelly, who resides in Northern Ireland, held a Race licence whether issued by the MSA or by Motorsport Ireland.

Notwithstanding this, it is alleged that Mr Donnelly entered and competed in a motor race held at the Mondello Park on 30th November last.

The Court is satisfied on the documentary evidence produced that not only did Mr Donnelly take part in that competition but that he also signed a declaration that his current International grade Rally licence enabled him to compete in “Race, Rally and all other disciplines”. He also maintained that “Each year when renewed all boxes were ticked for the renewal of the same.”

Reference to Mr Donnelly’s licence application form shows that he applied for a Rally licence only.

The Court finds that the offences with which Mr Donnelly is charged are proven and accordingly orders that Mr Donnelly’s current licence be suspended, that no other licence be issued to him until 2nd June 2016, that he pay a fine of £1,000 and a contribution toward the costs of this matter in the sum of £500.

The Court directs that Motorsport Ireland be made aware of this decision.

TONY SCOTT ANDREWS CHAIRMAN

SITTING TUESDAY 2ND JUNE 2015 Tony Scott Andrews (Chairman) Mike Harris Bob Kettleboro CASE No J2015/10 Salih Yoluc This application is made by Salih Yoluc whose licence has recently been suspended for three months, twelve penalty points having been accumulated within a twelve month period.

The application is made under the

provisions contained within the MSA General Regulation C.2.1.9 whereby a competitor can ask that the three month period of suspension be varied.

Although the Court has been made aware of the circumstances which gave rise to the penalty of exclusion from two meetings, Regulation C.2.1.10 enables the Court to vary the automatic suspension of licence only if the applicant can show that the suspension of his licence will cause him exceptional hardship.

Although the applicant, who races a professionally run McLaren in the GT3 category of events, has very clearly shown the magnitude of financial loss which an enforced hiatus in his year’s racing programme will cause, the Court finds that whilst the amount involved is considerable and is doubtless consistent with the financial implications of racing at such a level, the applicant has not established that it will cause him exceptional hardship.

This being so, the application must fail.

The applicant is ordered to pay a contribution toward the costs of today’s hearing in the sum of £500.

TONY SCOTT ANDREWS CHAIRMAN

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The new home of

historic motor racing Motor Sport has created a new online hub dedicated to a scene booming in popularity

RACE WEEKEND PREVIEWS AND REVIEWS • VIDEOS • GALLERIES • DIRECTORY • CALENDAR • SPOTLIGHTS ON CARS AND ORGANISING CLUBS • PODCASTS • INTERVIEWS WITH HISTORIC MOTOR RACING STARS • COMPETITIONS

www.motorsportmagazine.com/historic

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opinion

Simon says...

Just a gentle introduction to a new track, thought Simon Arron – until he was levered into the fastest thing on four tiny castors

Superkarts – small but perfectly ferocious

Having covered every Formula 1 world championship grand prix between 2001 and 2012, Simon Arron has returned to the real world and is now features editor for Motor Sport magazine

Britain’s permanent racetracks hog most of the limelight, but our island is littered with useful hubs that provide complementary services to the motor sport community. I speak not of permanent hillclimb or sprint courses, or oval stadia, but venues such as Bedford Autodrome, the freshly licensed Hethel (famous as the original Team Lotus’s test track) and Blyton Park, all of which allow drivers to hone their skills in a controlled environment.

There are others of that ilk, too, including Three Sisters. Located close to Wigan, this is a versatile venue that regularly hosts kart and motorcycle racing, sprints and rallies, as well as driving experiences that embrace everything up to a couple of 1990s Formula 1 cars – quite something when the full version of the track measures only 1473 metres. It first came onto my radar when I was invited to test one of this issue’s star subjects: a superkart.

The tale began in Burgess Park, south-east London, where first I got to know Bob Pope and Martin Howell.

They’d used old tyres to mark out a kart track on a disused tennis court and the project provided gainful focus for troubled teenagers in the area. Within a very short space of time, the whole thing mushroomed into Playscape Racing – one of the fore-runners in the corporate karting movement and creator of indoor tracks in abandoned bus garages, banana warehouses or anywhere else that seemed suitable.

I was fortunate to do quite a bit (rather a lot, actually) of racing with Playscape, whose competition fleet eventually expanded to include karts of greater

potency, and a couple of Renault 5s. So, did I fancy a day out at Three Sisters, mucking about with full-bore karts?

By then I had a reasonable degree of experience, but none in anything more powerful than a twin-engined prokart – great fun, but significantly tamer than anything now at my disposal. It made sense to start at the bottom, so out I toddled with 100cc behind me. I was just starting to get a feel for it, after about five laps, when Bob flagged me in. He’s a good bloke, is Bob, although he doesn’t always see eye to eye with fools, and the urgency of his gestures implied that something was amiss – most probably me. As I pulled up, however, he leaned over and said, “That seems to be going all right. Probably about time you tried the superkart…”

I tried to protest that I’d like a bit more time to acclimatise to both power and track, but Bob is also a big bloke and tugged my lapels in the direction of karting’s apotheosis.

More than 25 years have since passed, but recollections of those next few laps remain vivid. The daft acceleration, the brutal but slender power band (nothing, nothing, nothing… then absolutely everything, so long as you kept it between about 12,000 and 14,000rpm), the way the front wheels lifted exiting a tight, cambered left-hander (to steer, you kept your foot in and hoped the rears would guide you in more or less the correct direction).

You think Three Sisters sounds compact for an F1 car? You should try it in a superkart…

“You think Three Sisters sounds compact for an F1 car? Try it in a superkart”

66 www.msauk.org Summer 2015

066 Simon says GC DS.indd 66

10/06/2015 12:12