Britcar Donington meeting 1-3May moves to Rockingham

[james tucker]

It is with regret that as of 16.00 hours today Thursday 9th April 2009 Britcar Ltd. has withdrawn from the Donington event due to the track licence not being issued by the MSA by today’s date.

We can not risk leaving the decision any closer and Donington have not guaranteed that the circuit will be fit for purpose, which we can not accept.

We have the Dutch Supercar Challenge coming as a support race and this was an additional reason we made the decision today. At present we have reserved Rockingham Speedway for the same weekend of the 1st to the 3rd of May 2009 and the same track time for the Britcar Gt, Britcar Production and Dutch Supercar Challenge races.

Please accept our apologies but this was decision that had to be taken now to minimise the disruption to you and our guests and it is in the best interests of the Championship and you as our customers.

[Graham]

Disappointing but inevitable I suppose.

what were they thinking when they built the tunnel like that...

I was really looking forward to it as I've only ever raced at Donny once and as its also the 20th anniversary of the tuscan challenge races at that event I've been getting the tuscan ready.

Still I actually like Rockingham as well so not all bad...

[Jemco Andy]

Great news James, well done to you & the team for making this positive move.
Britcar deserves better than the farce that is DP currently.

Andy

[obes]

Agreed, I was worried this may hang out until much closer to the event. Well done for being positive and having an alternative arranged!

[stuartscott]

Great news that a decision has been made and not at the last moment. 10 out of 10 to you all at Britcar for being so pro active. Can we race on the full oval though!!

[thunderbelmont]

James,

Great work.

It's sad that you've had to pull the rabbit out of the hat at such short notice. I wonder what Donington think they're playing at.

Will your meeting still encompass the AMOC Super-GT race?

Rob.

[Racing Rod]

Well done all at Britcar for quick and decisive action, good call.

When you say that the track time will be the same as that planned for Donnington, does that include a test day on the Friday ??

If you guy's have a basic timetable could you post it up, as some of us need to book Hotels etc.

[darren no 7]

what length of track are we on ?

[Ian Carvell]

They changed the layout last year didn't they, removed the turn 1 chicane and short cutted the loop that brings you back onto the oval before turn 4.

[Racylady]

Ian Carvell said:

They changed the layout last year didn't they, removed the turn 1 chicane and short cutted the loop that brings you back onto the oval before turn 4.

Yes, it's the one that the Touring Cars use.

[Graham]

I think they've used that layout since the brscc started running the meetings there.. They didnt like the way the pit exit and the chicane at turn 1 met.

IIRC it'll be the same layout that we ran in 07 for the tvr 60th.. thats the layout they use for touring car and BGT.

So you do turn 1 full chat every lap and join the oval at the turn 4 exit.


I think its called the International super sports circuit at 1.94 miles

G

[Ian Carvell]

I will have to look it up, last time I raced there was under BRSCC in 2003 and that was the old layout with the turn 1 chicane....but I did navigate on the Rockingham Stages Rally this year so I think I can remember where the new link road is...although, it was a night stage when we used it, and I was trying to read the notes!!!

[Graham]

The layout is shown on the rockingham website

G

[mickholly]

http://www.rockingham.co.uk/about/circuits.asp

[KEET]

The layout looks considerably shorter than the last time we raced a Mantis round there. It was the 2000 season of British GT's though and i'm sure we had quite a long run up to turn 4 and also the chicane was in before turn 1 where the F3s were doing wheelies! Should be very interesting.....
Keith, Topcat Mantis GT3.

[Racing Rod]

Quite looking forward to this race, we like Rockingham, good for 996's, good facilities, have raced there countless times and always enjoyed it, roll on the 1st.

[Simon Mason]

What a shame always wanted to do a Britcar race at Rockingham lots of corners to catch up Porsche's, Moslers and BMW's only to loose them again for 20 seconds of straight. But seriously a great track, shame more races arent held there should be great fun.

[Ian Carvell]

You can do one of the Rockingham races if you want Simon...I lost my job a few weeks ago so will not be able to finish the season so my seat will be hired out to keep the car going for Carvell Snr.

I can commit to Rockingham and Spa, but after then I will have to bow out if I can't find sponsorship, but if you wanted to do one now I can do ones later in the year....it is a mega car!

It is so disappointing after winning race 1 at Silverstone, but it was always well out of our league taking on a project with such a financial commitment. As always with motorsport, delivering the goods is only half the battle!

[stuartscott]

So sorry Ian to hear your news. Was looking forward to racing against you this year and having some fun. Especially as it didn't happen at Silverstone. It is looking 50/50 if we will be out at the next round as parts for the Mustang are only available from the USA and we will be dependent on shipping.

[Ian Carvell]

Thanks Stuart, hopefully we can keep going its really close because all the deposits are paid for so I only need to raise a few hundered pounds per race for my half of the entry fees, fuel and tyres....but with zero income its not going to happen(I have a wife and two kids now...not like the old days:-)).

If I understand the Britcar SEAT thread correctly we may now have TV for the Productions so a few hundered quid per race may be attractive to sponsors now....I will certainly be out there knocking on doors for a few months!!

Sorry to hear that the 'stang is being more difficult to repair than expected....I have been talking to your spanner man on the SEAT forum and he mentioned that parts are becoming an issue. I was just relieved to hear that you were ok. When I saw all the tyre smoke from the garage it reminded me of the smoke drifting past at the start of the 24hrs last year...scarey!!!