New 56 - Sports 2000

SPORTS 2000 RACING CAR CLUB
51 London Lane, Bromley, Kent BR1 4HB TEL: 020 8460 3511 (eve) 020 7277 5572 (day) Email: srcc@dial.pipex.com
NEWSLETTER 56 www.sports2000-srcc.com September 6th 2003
Along with this newsletter you will find a questionnaire please take the time to fill it out and return it to the club’s address
so we can ensure that we provide you with the service you want and provide you with the type of races and at the venues
you want to be at. We are always striving to improve the service we provide and your views are always welcome.
SPORTS 2000 FESTIVAL Apart from the reduced entry this year the Festival was a cracking action
packed weekend of great racing. Colin Rodger emerged triumphant to score his second Festival win. Graham Rowan
has written a great race report on our web site so I refer you to this for the full details of the weekend. What was very
encouraging was the absence of any accident damage despite over 3 hrs of racing, apart from the incident in the last
chance race where competitors had to take avoiding action when Harry Sherrard spun trying to keep his ill handling
Crossle on the track. Graham Stoten came off worst but thanks to his total dedication he managed to get his Lola T86/90
ready for the 1 hour race two weeks later. He even came second in Class B to boot!
ONE HOUR RACE The 1 hour race was under subscribed from a financial point of view, not that this detracted
in any way shape or form from a fabulous race. We had 16 cars, 13 were shared cars and after the hour only 2 didn’t
finish which is far better than we achieve in any of our Championship rounds. The B Class Pro car of Chris Gilbert and
Glenn Dudley (Lola T87/90) were clocking 1:12’s lap after lap and despite starting 5th the pairing won overall. Matt
Manderson in the Carbir made a strong challenge in the closing stages but a rare spin prevented Matt from getting too
close to the Lola. Similarly Lee Linford in Allan Timpany’s Van Diemen spun which put the pair back to 4th. Dave
Mountain/Dominic Lesniewski kept the pressure on and finished a fine second overall.
On the Pinto front the pair to beat was always going to be the Wilds!! Anthony started and put the Royale RP42 into a
commanding lead which Mike Wilds held to the finish. Who was quickest?? Well I couldn’t possible say now could I!!!!!
It was an hour race although I’m not sure if anybody had told that to Andy Giles. Despite doing the whole race on his own
he still broke the Historic lap record at Snetterton with a 1:16.544 Andy now wants a new challenge and is considering a
Pro car for next year, clearly whatever he is going to drive Andy is going to be at the pointy end of the grid. The results
of this fantastic race are on the news section, despite everyone enjoying the day again lack of support does mean we will
have to shelve the event for next year. However once we get a sponsor or when we get a full grid of Pro cars I’m sure it
will be back on the calendar to enjoy as it is a great way to share a car.
BRANDS GP RACE With 26 cars unable to make the race through various reasons we still managed to get
38 cars for practice! What a great shame it was that two cars couldn’t start the race as both were in the top 12 so the grid
shots looked a little patchy at the front end. However despite that it must have looked a amazing sight, with many of the
missing cars guaranteed to come out next year the magical 38 must be achievable for our 2004 season. Again we had a
great race report by Graham Rowan so please look at our web site race results. Matt took the helm of Guy Ellis’s Carbir
for the Sunday race and despite qualifying in 6th place Matt showed the Pinto boys that his winning ways in the Pro series
also applied to their championship as well!! There were complications in the pregnancy of Guy’s wife Alison that prevented
Guy from doing the Sunday race. I’m very pleased to say that everything has turned out OK and junior Ellis is now doing
well and already saving his pocket money for his first race suit!!
OULTON PARK Mr Depressed from Bromley is writing this piece. I guess we all have to have one big off when
there’s no one to blame except yourself, well mine was at Oulton. They say bad luck comes in three, first I left my mobile
phone in the motel, then my major “off” I assumed something was going to happen on the journey home. Well I was almost
right, the chip fell out the key when Mira threw the bunch of keys to me and without the chip the nice AA man could get
the car going. By the time the relay hire car had arrived it was rather late (thanks to the Perry’s mobile motel we were
watered and fed) and we arrived home at 3am!!! Anyway I digress, what a brilliant circuit I didn’t realise just how good it
is and once again perfect weather, glorious sunshine and blue skies.
The Pinto race witnessed some great racing with Jonathan Loader on pole along side Anthony Wilds it was from the outset
set to be a great race. In to the first corner they all went with Anthony in the lead coming out! He kept this till the flag but
a charging Rupert Russell from 8th finished a fine second, clearly Rupert has found the magic tweak to his Van Diemen
but fastest man out there (new lap record and now run by CSR) was the ever improving David Flory finishing third. If Dave
progresses to the Pro series he is definitely one for the front.
The Pro race had a new pole man in the form of Dave Mountain but during the race Matt Manderson in the Carbir managed
to gain the advantage and take the lead. However thanks to yours truly the red flag came out and the race was stopped
and on count back Dave won. Perhaps I could send Dave my repair bill?? What was good to see is the other cars are
now catching up Matt, the top 6 had their best times all within half a second of each other. Roll on Donington Park!!

CLERK OF THE COURSE REPORT
Sports 2000 Round 7 Oulton Park 30th August 2003
With the exception of Colin’s accident, and thank goodness he was OK, I hope you all enjoyed our visit to Oulton Park
as much as I did. It is the circuit where I started as a Marshal in the sixties so I have fond memories thereof, not least
standing on the bank with both Graham Hill and Jim Clarke after they had both come off!
So, a lovely sunny day and nothing really to report. As I did not receive any Final Regs for the meeting, I was as surprised
as others when the first of our races started their green flag lap from the assembly area. I was only aware of this after
the cars left the assembly area and so was unable to ensure that everyone had been informed. OK so I must give myself
at least an informal reprimand for this, anything more and I would have to give myself at least two penalty points! I will
try to do better in future. Glyn T Challinor
DRIVING STANDARDS
Congratulations, a vast improvement is evident this year, we have had no first
bend destruction derby in fact the driving standards generally speaking have
been exemplary. Accident damage as a result of deliberate or aggressive
manoeuvres was totally absent this year, all we need now is to eliminate the
stupid moves or educate the drivers who still do not drive according to our
code of conduct or still fail to use their mirrors properly. To do this YOU MUST
tell Mike Wilds if you see or experience any competitor failing to drive within
our guidelines. Mike will not act solely on your comments BUT if the same
competitor keeps cropping up in complaints then Mike will speak to the person
to sort the problem out. This system works very well but it can only work if
you impart your observations or experiences.
BRANDS GP PICS
Jon Bunston and Mike Lambert took
numerous pictures of all the cars in
both races. You can see what there
is on your car by sending an Email to
Jon and Mike giving your car number
and which race. the emails are:-
Jon@whsmithnet.co.uk
mike.lambert@o2.co.uk
The pics are fantastic and definitely
worth investigating.
PRO SERIES I am very pleased to announce that the MSA control panel has granted championship status to our
Pro series for 2004. The minimal licence requirement for the Pinto Championship is a National B while the Pro Series
requires a National A grade licence.
There is a great deal of interest in these cars now and with more manufacturers coming on stream we should soon
overcome our main hurdle of not being able to arrange group tests. So few have been able to experience the fun of driving
a Sports 2000 with a Duratec as a power plant. The engine is a complete dream compared to the Pinto, so much more
responsive and pulls well coming out of bends and keeps pulling all through the rev range and with 50% more power you
can almost drive the car like a kart!! Great fun with a capital F!
Our Donington Park race is going to be a great taster for the potential of the Pro series with 3 more cars scheduled to
appear for the first time, Patrick Murphy in the eagerly awaited Gunn TS7, Glenn Dudley in the Lola T88/90 and Patrick
Dirks in his Swift DB2 now sporting a rear wing. This will bring the total to 11 cars and with the ones being built over the
winter we should be starting the season with a minimum of 18 cars and finishing up with about 25. Full grids will be the
order of the day for 2005 which will mean no more Pinto cars allowed in the Pro race and this will signal the formation of
the Historic only races.
Assen Race
Whether we continue with our overseas races depends on the final count for
our Assen race. Everything about this race is just outstanding, how anybody
could miss this truly superb track especially at such a high profile meeting is
beyond me. Life is all about experiences and this one has to rank very high
up there indeed so don’t miss this golden opportunity to experience one of the
best racing pleasures you will ever have.
HOSPITALITY Great news on this front as Tim Perry has volunteered
to run his car (Royale S2000M) from one side of a new up market lorry and our
hospitality from the other. This will improve the presentation of our hospitality
area which is good news for potential sponsors. Having said this, on behalf of
all our competitors I would like to thank Geoff Rees and his helpers who for the
last 2 years have (and many times under great duress) provided our hospitality
awning and believe me it’s no fun erecting and especially dismantling it after a
hard days racing!! Thanks Geoff you really have saved the day as I feel the
hospitality plays such an important role in establishing and maintaining the
strong camaraderie that exists within the SRCC. This does mean that the
trustee lorry is now for sale at £3,000, it can take 2 cars and passes its MOT’s
with no problems.
MAGAZINE
I know you all enjoy receiving them
but I am at a loss how to get any of
you to send me anything. I know
for a fact that 99% of competitors
have some information for the
magazine be it a novel repair,
sourcing a part, part number for
bearings etc etc I can put it all
together and research the main
features but I still need your help
with some articles or snippets of
information to fill its pages. Why
not write an article on your car???
PLEASE HELP
SEND SOMETHING
NOW

CAR/DRIVER PROFILE
This new section will be on our web
site soon, there is a slight delay as
the software flexibility of this section
needs to be modified and improved.
I feel this section will be one of the
most visited parts of our web site as
over time we will be compiling the
complete pictorial A to Z of Sports
2000 cars for all to view.
This means you will be able to view
any make and model of any Sports
2000 to find out what the car looks
like.
As the service matures we will be
adding more and more information
on all the cars both historical and
technical.
VAN DIEMEN RF02
We must now be in the Sports 2000
silly season as competitors plan to
change cars or progress to the Pro
series championship. There are
always some fantastic bargains to have
and now is no exception. Mike Turner
is keen to buy one of the new
generation Pro cars and is selling his
immaculate championship winning (ex
Nik Johnson) Van Diemen for a give
away price of £12,500 as a roller and
£14,500 complete with engine.
Amodern competitive Pinto car at an
old price!! Win the 2004 championship.
Complete with set of slicks and wets
and other spares. Ring Mike Turner on
01386 793001
DONINGTON PARK RACE
Our Historic Class (Lola T592) competitor Alan Tomkins this year has bought
a hotel just a couple of mins away from the circuit. There are only 10 rooms
so lets make it a Sports 2000 only hotel for our race!! An evening meal is
planned Saturday night in the hotels superb restaurant so why not make our
final race a social weekend to remember. Alan can be reached on 01332
865353 or www.melbourneviewhotel.co.uk.
You will need some relaxation as it is going to be a real tense weekend with
virtually all the class championships still to be decided. For many its going to
be finishing is the name of the game others it will be a fight to the end but
whatever you have decided you must do, its going to be a cracking
weekend…. Lets hope its another sunny race!
One of the few class winners that already has been decided is the Historic
class, Andy Giles winning his second title. The new owner of the beautiful
Lola T590 is Alan Gibbens who’s first race in the car will be at our Donington
round. We wish him all the best, I know he will enjoy the race at this top UK
circuit.
CARS FOR SALE
ROYALE RP37
DURATEC PRO CAR
Louis Jones Duratec powered Pro car
is now for sale at a rock bottom price of
£12,500.
Louis has already ordered a new Gunn
TS7 and is keen that his Royale stays
in the Pro series hence the silly price.
Any serious buyers are welcome to test
the car. If you have ever thought about
going into the Pro series then this has
to be the cheapest entry and I can
guarantee you once driven you will buy
it!!
Any interested people can contact
Louis on 0788 7776580 to arrange a
test or to view. The car will also be at
Donington Park for our final
championship round on October
18/19th if you would like to take a
closer look.
A competitive Class B car, lots of fun to
drive come and play NOW!!

FINALLY
I hate being so money orientated lately but dare I say it again with no sponsor and
at the end of the season we do have to be rather frugal in our spending.
Therefore is there any company who would like to utilise our last round at
Donington for their benefit in return for sponsoring our trophies and hospitality for
the meeting. You could utilise the hospitality as well as free tickets and rides
round the track lunchtime etc. We have a full grid and with most positions still to
be decided there is going to be some great racing.
While we are on the subject of costs, our stand at the Racing Car Show needs to
be met and therefore any help with this is always appreciated. We have space
for a couple of cars so any Sports 2000 manufacturer or sponsor for a car to be
on show, if you can help please get in touch.
Help with PR and backdrop material again would be always welcome and
appreciated.

THE SRCC 2003 QUESTIONNAIRE
Please indicate if you are answering the following Questionnaire as a Pintor or a Duratec racer.
Name ………………………………
Date................................
PINTO ……………
DURATEC………. (please tick one)
1. Circuits:
Please indicate your circuit preference between 0 to 10 where 0 = would never race on the circuit to 10 = the best circuit to
race on.
Brands Hatch GP _____
Cadwell Park _____
Castle Combe _____
Croft _____
Donington Park _____
Knockhill _____
Lydden _____
Anglesea______
Mallory Park _____
Oulton Park _____
Pembrey _____
Brands Hatch Indy _____
Silverstone _____
Snetterton _____
Thruxton _____
Mondello Park _____
2. Length of Meetings:
Do you think our championship races should be: (please tick one)
Over 2 days (ie weekend) _____ Over 1 day _____ Mixture of both _____
3. Entry Fees
At present the Pinto championship races get 20 min practice and 25 min race, the Pro cars 20 min practice and 30 min race.
Cost is approx £200. We could get more practice sessions and/or double headers but this would put up the cost of the entry
fee. Would you like more track time but:-
Only if the entry fee does NOT increase_____ Yes and would pay higher entry fees, approx £300_____ £400_____
3. Policing the Technical Regulations:
Do you think the policing we currently undertake is (please tick one)
Too strict _____ Just right _____ Not enough _____
4. Driving Standards:
Do you think our “Code of Conduct” rules and the current set up with our Clerk of the Course and Driving Standards Pannel
headed by Mike Wilds is (please tick)
Too strict _____ Just right _____ Not enough _____
5. Can you Help the SRCC with:
Publicity _____
Race Reports _____
Social events _____
Sponsorship, if we do not find a title sponsor next year then can you find sponsorship for the following items (the figures
shown are for the 8 UK championship rounds only, if you were able to help with just some of the rounds please also indicate.
This has been especially helpful in 2003 with welcome support from some of our members for individual rounds with trophies
in particular and some hospitality. Similarly if you or your company wanted to use a round of our championship to promote
something specific then this can also be done):
Hospitality £6,000 _____
Trophies £4,000 _____
Sports 2000 Festival £5,000 _____
Club Regalia _____
Magazine article _____
One Hour Endurance race £2,000 _____
European Race £2,000 _____
Historic Race £2,000 _____
Dave Whitham had a good idea of companies sponsoring a championship race day/weekend for £2000. If we can find 8
companies then we are home and dry!! Dave has already found 2 so that leaves just 6 more????? Any ideas?

6. Paddock Discipline:
We know that we need to improve our image to attract sponsors and it’s a question of the best way to achieve this. One
suggestion has been made to firstly improve the way we look, especially in the paddock.
It has been suggested that each competitor provides details of their requirements (space wise) in the paddock, ie. Type and
size of vehicles/trailers used etc. A generic paddock plan would be drawn up at the beginning of the year and which would
be adopted at all venues. This would cost the club nothing to do this and would help create a much better image. Naturally
we are aware of the usual paddock mayhem with other series parking in our allocated area, but we feel that with a more
professional approach from us we would receive stronger support from the organising club. That said it would require two
significant pieces of input from yourselves.
A). Providing us with accurate information on your requirements, physical space needed, who you need to be next to etc.
B). A disciplined approach to keeping to the plan once operating.
Would you: SUPPORT._____ NOT SUPPORT._____
7. How can the SRCC help YOU:
Please indicate here (or on attached sheets of paper if you need more space) any area where you feel life would be made
easier, more economical, cleaner, fairer or whatever. Please consider that any suggestions should not require huge inputs
of time or resource that we don’t have, as all this work is done by volunteers with full time jobs to do, wives and families to
consider – thank you.
8. What topics would you like to see discussed at this years AGM:
9. How We Work:
We know that everyone appreciates the huge amount of work that goes on behind the scenes and your committee is
appreciative of the support it gets from its membership. We also acknowledge that this should not, and does not, put us above
criticism. We are particularly keen to avoid the problems created by our errors at last years AGM. So we wish to make it quite
clear that, as the AGM is not attended by everyone, the AGM will not be used to take votes on issues. The purpose of the
AGM is a live forum for any member to put forward a case for consideration on any item receiving sufficient support to be
included on the AGM agenda. Hence question 7 above. Similarly any opposition to such proposals will have the opportunity
to have their say as well. To enable the results of this questionnaire to be analysed and in particular the AGM agenda to be
notified prior to 6th December 2003, you must return this completed questionnaire by 10th October 2003. We will then put
the AGM Agenda out two weeks prior to the AGM.
After the AGM, any topic requiring a vote from the membership, will be done by post giving a closing date for returns and a
date when results will be published.
10. Any Other Topic: