Dear BSCRA Council,
It is with genuine concern and deep felt passion for the tradition and the importance of the 1/32 Nationals, that I write to you about the published changes to the 2009 1/32 Nationals.
As Area Coordinator for Area 6, I was approached about the suggested changes, during the last area round on March 8th. I had not been informed of any changes, other than the published proposals, after the council meeting, and was therefore very surprised when I was told about what had been published about the Nationals. Many concerns were raised at the time and I have since spoken to the majority of Area 6 members to get their views on the three main changes I have mentioned below. With Area 6 being the second largest area for membership, I would hope that the views of BSCRA members would be considered by the BSCRA Council.
There are 3 separate issues in regards to the timetable which has been published. These appear to have been decided with no consultation of the membership, or approved proposal being put forward. I would question if the council actually have the power to implement these changes as they are part of the competition rules and have always required a proposal in the past, using the change in format of the Sports Car class as an example. The council cannot accept a new, unpublished proposal, on the day of the meeting, unless they feel that circumstances prevented the proposal being made in the normal manner.
Below, I have highlighted the concerns of Area 6 members and the issues which they feel need addressing:
It is with genuine concern and deep felt passion for the tradition and the importance of the 1/32 Nationals, that I write to you about the published changes to the 2009 1/32 Nationals.
As Area Coordinator for Area 6, I was approached about the suggested changes, during the last area round on March 8th. I had not been informed of any changes, other than the published proposals, after the council meeting, and was therefore very surprised when I was told about what had been published about the Nationals. Many concerns were raised at the time and I have since spoken to the majority of Area 6 members to get their views on the three main changes I have mentioned below. With Area 6 being the second largest area for membership, I would hope that the views of BSCRA members would be considered by the BSCRA Council.
There are 3 separate issues in regards to the timetable which has been published. These appear to have been decided with no consultation of the membership, or approved proposal being put forward. I would question if the council actually have the power to implement these changes as they are part of the competition rules and have always required a proposal in the past, using the change in format of the Sports Car class as an example. The council cannot accept a new, unpublished proposal, on the day of the meeting, unless they feel that circumstances prevented the proposal being made in the normal manner.
Below, I have highlighted the concerns of Area 6 members and the issues which they feel need addressing:
1. Friday Evening Practice
· Any serious competitor will feel obliged to attend or they will risk being at a serious disadvantage
· Anyone not from the immediate locality will be forced to find and finance an extra night’s accommodation (not a great idea in the current financial climate)
· Friday is a normal working day for many people and they may not be able to attend even if they so desired
· Anyone not qualified for F1 will need to attend a minimum of two days before their class, lest they are placed at an even greater disadvantage
· The practice time does not allow segregation of classes and drivers (novice racers could run a CMG production chassis against a Formula One or Eurosport chassis, resulting in any number of multiple chassis breakages, disappointment, and bad feeling towards novice and experienced racers alike)
· In addition to the above this idea goes against the very ethos of equality in terms of track knowledge that has always been a major part of the BSCRA 1/32nd Nationals and made it one of the great, prestigious events it currently is
2. Racing Novice Production after Formula One
· Novices may well be younger members and will be tired at the end of a long day
· Any novice who has also qualified for F1 will be going onto the track for the first time with an open class car, not fair on them or anyone else in their heats
· Any novice who has also qualified for F1 will have a major advantage over other racers, who have not qualified in F1, in production
· With the old programme many senior racers assisted novices, not to mention helping out marshalling. They may now be inclined to get back to their accommodation and out for a meal, leaving the novices and race controllers to fend for themselves
· Novices will not know what time to turn up for racing and could be left standing around for ages before they race, not being particularly impressed, or not turning up at all
3. Eurosport Qualifying
· All the classes at the Nationals are independent of each other, and there is every chance that some racers will not have qualified for all three classes and will be at an unfair disadvantage
· Some racers may not be in a position to attend all three days and will be at an unfair disadvantage
· Due to no fault of your own in the previous classes (being taken out by someone else, marshalled into the wrong lane, etc), you could be disadvantaged in Eurosport from the start
· It is therefore not acceptable that a racer’s chances in Eurosport can be restricted due to events in separate classes.
Overall, Area 6 members, feel the changes that have been made have been done so without any consultation of the membership and most definitely do not benefit the majority of the membership. When people embark on the qualifying process, (as early as September in some areas) they should know where, when and how the Nationals will be run. Whilst people can fully understand the problems with securing a venue for the Bank Holiday weekend, two of those things have now been changed, making it unfair to the membership and not commensurate with encouraging new, novice racers. There are at least five members in area 6 who would have attended the nationals this year, if some of the issues had been sorted before the qualifying started. This has cost the BSCRA membership, numbers and revenue, and I urge you to reconsider your changes and the way in which they are implemented in the future.
Please can you respond to the above issues and reconsider the views of the membership, who clearly feel passionate about BSCRA Slot Car Racing, as they pay their membership in the hope of the BSCRA representing them in a democratic and fair manner.
Yours sincerely,
James Cleave (BSCRA Area 6 Coordinator)
Original letter sent to the BSCRA Council...
The Council’s response...