Newsletter 59 - Sports 2000

SPORTS 2000 RACING CAR CLUB51 London Lane, Bromley, Kent BR1 4HB TEL: 020 8460 3511 (eve) 020 7277 5572 (day) Email: srcc@dial.pipex.comNEWSLETTER 59 www.sports2000-srcc.com March 7th 2004Dear Members, As normal the season seems a long way away, thensuddenly it’s just around the corner and its panic time!! With our first raceat Brands GP, panic mode to get the car finished on time must havealready set in!! The huge hike in hire charge for the Brands GP circuitmeans you need to take advantage of this opportunity while we have it!We have lots of changes and new faces which is great news for theformula.On a global level, interest in Sports 2000 is still growing and interest willcontinue to grow thanks to the introduction of the Duratec engine.I would like to welcome the following members who have recently joinedthe SRCC:-John Brewer USA Swift DB5James Richmond USA Tiga SC84Alan Gibbins UK Lola T590Henrik Rosencrantz Sweden Lola T492Paul TuckerUKBo Hammarling USAStuart Olley UK Tiga SC80Scott Brink USA Swift DB5Henk Bokenkamp Holland Swift DB2Gary Schoultz UK building new Duratec carKevin CookeUKGeorge Dellinger USA Swift DB5Michael Crumay USA Swift DB2Andy NixonUKLew Wright UK Tiga SC79David GrayUKLance Renshaw USA Royale S2000MIan DobleUKLarry Bergman USA Tiga SC84Dud Moseley UK Motus Mk10bxTrevor Farrington UK Elden Mk 23Greg Robison USA Chevron B52HISTORIC SPORTS 2000As you know our first stand alone race willbe in September but already we haveseveral more historic cars joining us thisyear. Two of note will be Dud Moseley’sMotus as featured in issue 3 of the SRCCmagazine and Trevor Farrington’s Eldenwhich must be the oldest Sports 2000 onthe track (featured in issue 4). SteveHarvey is also scheduled to come out in hiscreation which originally appeared in 1982(featured in issue 1). Getting a full grid ofhistoric cars next year will definitely not bea problem.SPORTS 2000 The Pinto enginedcars will remain as it is today apart from aclass restructure once the historic carshave split. A lot of attention will be paid tothis series to ensure it continues to growand that new cars will still be built for thischampionship despite the success ofSports 2000 Duratec. Sports 2000 will be agreat entry level into our formula as by andlarge the non historic Pinto cars will becheaper to buy so we hope to attract notonly the novice driver but those on a limitedbudget. As once you have a car and aftera few seasons it gives you something tosell to buy a new or second hand Durateccar and continue enjoying the very best ourformula has to offer.SPORTS 2000 DURATECThose that have been promoted to Duratec include Colin Rodger (Lola conversion), Anthony Wilds (Gunn TS7), JonathanLoader (Gunn TS7), Nick Bates (Lola conversion), Graham Rowan (Lola conversion), Harry Chapman (Fox-Lola) plusseveral in the process.Matt Manderson may have secured a sponsored drive in GT helped by his successful run in Sports 2000 winning both the2002 and 2003 championship in his Carbir. I will keep you posted and if it goes ahead we wish him luck in his future racingcareer.The good news is that he used Sports 2000 as a stepping stone and he was kept honest in the latter stages of thechampionship by several other competitors. This will lead to some exciting races if he does contest another year with us,especially as there are some good peddlers arriving all the time.The best news of all is that we are in talks with Ford who could officially recognise Sports 2000 Duratec as a steppingstone to a higher formula. This will fit in with our S2 ladder by using the Pinto series as a training ground for new andnovice drivers. All this is good news for our formula and the SRCC.Clearly if we get the official nod from Ford it will help to obtain and achieve greater things for the Duratec championship inparticular and the S2 as a whole. I will keep you posted on developments.Now is a good time to try out a Duratec car as there are several available for hire, the Carbir, the converted Lola of GrahamRowan and possibly the converted Tiga SC85. If you are thinking of buying a second hand Duratec car why not try LouisJones Royale (new GunnTS7 on order) and have a test drive, you will love it (see cars for sale on our web site).For sure Sports 2000 Duratec is going to go from strength to strength, already we have had some promises of great tracksand events for next year and we hope to have TV coverage as well.We are already in talks with TMS as a possible sponsor for the next 3 years, all very encouraging for the continuation ofa flourishing and highly successful series for the future. It won’t be long before other countries adopt the Duratec andrealise what a fabulous combination it is. You just can’t beat Sports 2000 as a modern Sports Racing car being both funto drive and at the same time more affordable to run than a Pinto car!!

DRIVING STANDARDSI’m sure to the dismay of some, our driving standards program will not onlycontinue but will become more pro active.The black book will be re-introduced this year, for those not familiar with thisit is a book that is on display in the Hospitality awning and has a record of allincidents reported by the observers. The reason for the book is that it picksup trends. How many times have you heard that “it wasn’t my fault it was aracing accident”. On many occasions this could be true but if you find thereis always an incident caused by the same driver at every race then clearlythis is not the case and the driving standards of that particular driver needsto be improved. Accidents can cost a huge amount of money let alone injuryso we intend to get tough on any reckless drivers this year. Mike Wilds is nopussy cat and he knows the difference between competitive contact andusing your car as a weapon. We educate those that undertake stupidmanoeuvres often it’s a case of learning your race craft but we will nottolerate those competitors that knowingly and deliberately put others at risk.Our good driving standards is one of the top reasons why people join ourseries, the club can and does do an awful lot to police standards. Howeverto improve further we need your input. If you encounter a situation whereyou have been put at risk TELL Mike Wilds, he won’t act on your commentsbut what he will do is take note of the offender and if he gets repeatedcomplaints from various competitors then he will speak to the person and thecompetitor will be under observation for future races. So you see it isimportant that you all cooperate, keeping quiet or getting revenge achievesnothing, people cannot learn if they are unaware of what they have done.Therefore it is important to relate your experiences not only to stop perpetualoffenders but also to help competitors to become better racers. Even the GTteams are not interested in quick drivers that are forever causing accidentsso it’s in the interest of everyone to inform!!ENTRY FORMSThe block booking form should be sentin asap if you are to guarantee anentry. Please remember we get fullgrids so leaving your entry to the lastminute is not advisable. Class S isopen for Pinto cars in the Duratec racethat only do the Duratec race and isideal for those who want to share acar. The invitation class for Pinto carsis there for those that want to do anextra race at the unbelievable price ofjust £100, it is not there for you toscrub your tyres in or bed in brakes. Ifyou enter you must race. The order ofselection for the Duratec race isDuratec cars followed by Class S andthen any remaining places can betaken up by the invitation Pinto cars.Remember this is the final year youcan do this.CAR/DRIVER PROFILEThese forms have now been sentout and will be available via ourweb site home page. I will bestarting this section at thebeginning of the season. Theway it will work is that eachcountry will have their ownCar/Driver section which will listall their competitors with pics ofthe driver and car.There will also be a Car onlyprofile page taken from allcountries which will only have cardetails and picture and there willbe only one example of thatparticular car/model. The idea isthat over a period of time we willhave a pictorial reference libraryof every Sports 2000 car everbuilt.TRANSPONDERSOur discount price from MST is £217.38 including p&p. To get yourtransponder at that price please quote your membership number, you mustbe a member of the SRCC to get the discount.Please note that the use of transponders is mandatory as directed by theMSA.We will have some for hire at £20 per race meeting if you don’t buy your ownbut considering some formula have been running with these since 1998 theyare worth buying rather than renting. The best one to buy is the directpowered one. Go to their web site www.mstworld.com for the order form.MAGAZINETalk about flogging a dead horse, howdo I get some info from you guys? Iam quite prepared to do the hours toput the mag together but I do needyour help to give me something to putin it!! It is important to get ourmagazine out on a regular basis as itis the main reason why we getmembers from all over the world.Having such a global membership canonly be good for the formula. BUTwhat do I have to do to get you to writedown or email me thoseinterchangeable part numbers or foryou to report on the rebuild or thosehints and tips you pick up through theseason?I hope to get the history of Chevronout soon and the Tiga history will beout next issue but what about Swiftand the other US manufactured cars.Can any of our US cousins track downthe relevant information? Informationon the one offs that used to competein the hey days, information on thetweeks or safety improvementspeople have done etc etc. Everyonewill have some information even if it isjust where to get the wheel bearingsor how to repair the steering rack etcetc. These things wear out sosomeone must have changed them!!Anyway please shut me up and sendme something so I can get stuck intothe next issue!!!!PLEASE HELPSPA RACEAs you may be aware the FIA islooking at controlling all races withforeign participation. They want allcompetitors that race abroad to havean International license and the eventto be officially registered with the FIA.The consequence of this wouldbasically kill all club racing abroad asthe organising club could not affordthe full FIA registration fees and therewould not be enough club drivers withInternational licenses.The moral of this is make the most ofyour opportunity to race on thisfabulous circuit. You will be able toshare a car as there is an extendedpractice and we have 2 races one onSaturday and one on Sunday. Therace schedule is as follows:-Practice: 6.20pm FridayRace 1: 12 noon SaturdayRace 2: Between 1pm - 2pm Sunday