Provisional 2013 race calendar....

[mwalters]

I may cause controversy here but I personally think 2 rounds one after the other at Brands is a bit much. But more to the point, could we have more variety of circuits like this year if one of the Brands rounds were substituted for the superb Cadwell circuit or somewhere else for that matter?

What are everyone's thoughts on this?

Matt #76 mono 1600.

[OMEGA555]

Yes I agree with you. I would have liked to have seen Anglesey, Rockingham or even Pembrey?

[tonybishop]

Sorry no support on that one from me ! ......calendar is absolutely superb and shall probably not be bettered in National Championships, the Mono Admin team should be congratulated on securing such a strong calendar

Appreciate the comments on other circuits , but the remote circuits are surely less likely to be well attended and possibly a little risky at present.

Looks great to me and i can't wait................

[mwalters]

Hmmm some mixed views here, I for one will probably only be able to attend the northern circuits which puts me at a disadvantage straight away as there are hardly any. It's hard enough as it is funding the sport without adding long journeys to the same venue twice!!! Great it may be if you live in the southern regions, but if like me you live in the north then it's just another massive expense in fuel!

On a personal note it's very difficult for me to get time off work on a Friday and I'd have to allow for travelling the 3-4 hours to the circuit and getting there at a reasonable hour to be able to set up is another thing to consider, race mornings are busy enough! Not to mention that I literally race on a shoe string as I'm sure some others out there do too. If it wasn't for the fantastic support of Team Avit! I would have given up any hope of continuing in whatever small form of competing I've been involved in long ago.

I can appreciate that it does LOOK like a good calendar, but I feel that two of the same meetings so close to eacher other is not at all fair really. It would be less of a pain if they were at least spread out?

And I haven't forgotten that people in the south have long journeys and costs either, but generally speaking the circuits should be geographically more spread out to cater for everyone, I feel sorry for those of you who live much further north than Yorkshire, you have one heck of a commute!

[tonybishop]

Obviously people consider their own position primarily, but overall they are quite evenly located , 2 x south, 2 x central , 1 x north, 1x east , 1 x west and 1x Spa

[petebee]

I'd have to allow for travelling the 3-4 hours to the circuit and getting there at a reasonable hour to be able to set up is another thing to consider, race mornings are busy enough!

Cant guarantee anything yet, but there might be room in our truck. We could always pick up you up (Sheffield isn't that far from us) for the long hauls down to Brands. Dont think Dad would do both Brands meets as it is a massive drive from Whitehaven.

[stevengriffin]

Looks a great set of circuits. Well done Simon. You can never please everyone all the time. It shows the changing times when the cost of getting to the circuit is now a serious part of the overall cost of competing. It used to be entry fees/tyres and the like but nowadays a trip to Angelsey is daunting for most of us North or South.
Fours hours maximum in my truck and I run out of money and Mrs Griffin loses the will to live. So for me starting in Yorkshire, Thruxton, Brands, Coombe, Anglesy and the Scottish circuits are a no no as much as I would love to race them.
I'll do what I can next year as will everyone lese I guess.

[triple j motorsport]

I think the Calendar is brilliant and Simon should be praised.

All top tracks and where mono was best supported last year.

[mwalters]

Dont get me wrong, none of this is intended as a pop at Simon, the calendar looks good, very similar to this year and last, my only gripe is the same event one after the other! It's a long slog down there for people and it would be nice for a break inbetween them to give people a chance who would like to attend both.

M.

[schomosport]

Yes, I too would agree its an attractive calendar and certainly from my base in Bedfordshire nowhere is really that far away. But isn't it busy? Time was we started in mid-March and might still be going out again in mid-October - a 8 month long season with, usually, a mind-numbing two month gap through the summer holiday season. Now we have 14 (Championship) races in a season which doesn't start until nearly May and is over by the end of the first week in September. And a much shorter Summer 'break' - barely 5 months.

None of that really matters to me but I am quite interested in the reasons why and would offer one possible pitfall that may result in lower than expected entries sometimes......
1) Now you (generalising!) have to be either rich and young or, old enough and career developed enough such that he kids have flown the nest so achieving sufficient entries in the summer is no longer the problem it used to be because parents were restricted to holidaying in accordance with the school timetable
2) MSVR, with whom we now appear very well tied in with, know from their business model (and it has to be a business now for all the clubs given the financial risks associated with putting on a motorsport event to which too few punters turn-up) that they will get their biggest fields in the middle of the year
3) You can't rely on a decent entry if you start mid-March because laggards like me are still building the car because it was too cold in January.

Pitfall: all those races mostly 2-3 weeks back-to-back doesn't give anyone a whole heap of time to fix a bent car or blown motor and get out there for the next race - remembering most of us are amateurs who build, repair and maintain the cars ourselves (or am I out of touch.....). This may result on occasion in some disappointingly small fields if, as sadly sometimes happens, we have multiple offs or a first lap pile-up.

All of the above solely to generate discussion and comment. Its a great looking calendar and, I suspect, very much linked to the growth in the stature of the club and the often huge fields that we have put out at places like Brands GP and Silverstone GP. Certainly one good thing coming out of the business climate is the reduction in events like T-cars where all the spectators get to see is a handful of cars circulating in what is more like a time trial than a competitive race.