Disclaimer: The entries in this section are the personal opinions of the authors. Neither the Caterham Graduates Racing Club nor its site administrator have control of the content of this page and cannot be held responsible for any entries herein. http://www.graduates.org.uk 33870Oulton Park race - on the International circuitWed, 25 Jan 2012 21:56:59 GMT33852Caterham Graduates on-line racing "schedule":IT'S TIME TO TELL US ABOUT YOUR PLANS FOR 2012, PLEASE!For the benefit of our new members, I'll explain what this is.  Quite simply, it's an on-line system that allows all our Racing Members to tell us about their racing plans for the coming year.  Because it's a very great help to me and to the people that organize our race-days (and the track-day) if they have advance information about how many people to expect at each one!The system is accessed through our web-site's Members Area: log in, then click on "Update Your Race Schedule" (top LH side of the Members' Page).  All our events are listed there and you just need to click one of the "buttons" alongside each event to indicate the likelihood of you being there.Please try to be as definite as you can and click mostly "Definitely" or "Definitely not", as much as possible.  I know nothing is certain in this life and that, for many of you, for example, your attendance at Rockingham may be dependent on you not trashing the car at Donington, etc. etc., but if it is your intention to race at Rockingham, please click "Definitely" rather than only "Very probably".  You can (and I very much hope you will) revisit your schedule at any time throughout the year to amend your data if you change your mind about any event.Please note that it is just as useful for you to us if you click "Definitely not" as for you to click "Definitely".  The thing that is most unhelpful is if you do not provide any information at all!So, PLEASE, ALL OF YOU - GET CLICKING NOW!You can also, through the Members' Page, click on "View Race Schedules" - to check your data, and also to see who else is intending to be at any of the events.Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:00:12 GMT33837Autosport Show:  If any Grads are at the NEC tomorrow and want to meet with me, or each other, may I suggest convening at the Yokohama stand at noon?Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:00:39 GMT33801Donington Park - pre-race "testing", Fri 30 MarchI am delighted to announce that BookaTrack.com have organized a special Caterham Graduates / McMillan Motorsport trackday at Donington on Fri 30th March, the day before our races there.  Book early to avoid disappointment!  See here: http://bookatrack.com/-pE_Trackday-Calendar.html.Mon, 9 Jan 2012 15:24:49 GMT33753HURRAH!!!   ONE HUNDRED RACING MEMBERS - before 2012. Thank you one and all!!!Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:44:44 GMT33734MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR MEMBERS!!!                         *                      *o*                    *£*o*                  ***o***                 **o**£*o*               **£**o**o**             **o**£***£*o*           *****£*o**o****         **£**o*****o**£**       ******o*****£**o***     ****o***£**o***o***£*                ____!_!____                \_________/  Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:46:19 GMT33724I have just sent out a newsletter by e-mail to everyone who was a member in 2011 and/or has joined for 2012.  If you have not received it, please check your "spam filter" or junk mail, and check that we have your correct e-mail address stored against your membership profile.  The newsletter can also be downloaded as a pdf from here.Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:09:12 GMT33687Jamie has now published our detailed 2012 Race Calendar on our web-site, http://www.graduates.org.uk/2012/2012_Calendar.htm.Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:20:17 GMT33669 2012 Graduates Race Calendar!!!! Thanks for waiting so patiently.  Here it is: 31 March        Donington Park - Live on Motors TV!21/22 April      Brands Hatch Indy19/20 May      Rockingham16/17 June     Anglesey28/29 July      Thruxton (with Friday pre-race testing)8/9 Sept         Cadwell Park22 Sept          Oulton Park (single race)12/13/14 Oct  Spa!!! All in all, a pretty good selection, in my opinion.  As always, all dates are "provisional", but very unlikely to change.  All are double-headers except Oulton.  Friday pre-race testing should be available at all venues - Thruxton testing is emphasised just because it's very rare!Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:09:19 GMT33613Enrolment - opening soon...The link from the home page menu, "Enrolment 2012" is now active, see here.  Enrolment opens next Monday!Calendar news...  You all now know that the season will close with a fabulous double-header at Spa.  I can now announce that we expect the season to open with an equally fabulous double-header at Donington!  And lots of good stuff in between the two, very probably including weekend double-headers at ABC - Anglesey, Brands and Cadwell.  More details when I have them.Wed, 23 Nov 2011 01:10:35 GMT33577Chassis repairs:I am mildly surprised, but not wholly astonished, at the volume of discussion on the topic. The main thrust of the change to the regs is just to add the clarification that, "Only repair techniques approved by Caterham Cars may be used," and an explanation that they do not approve of the practice of straightening a bent or twisted chassis. It would seem to me that to have your chassis repaired in any other way, ie. not as approved by Caterham, would be, at best, imprudent. In the best interests of all our members, the board felt it was right that members should be reminded of this. If Caterham do not approve of a particular repair technique, we must assume that there is a good reason for it.Our Caterhams are not like our everyday modern road-cars, most of which are built to withstand much higher forces than they will ever encounter in normal road driving. Bear in mind that Colin Chapman (designer of the original Lotus 7) was famous for designing his cars down to a minimum weight, using only the least amount of steel that he thought necessary to do the job, and no more. We push our cars to the limit, every time we take them out of the box, corner after corner, lap after lap. Including some very unsympathetic driving, such as over-enthusiastic bouncing over the kerbs. Any repair which inadvertently weakens our chassis, even by only a few percent, could well result in a catastrophic failure. So, we obviously don't want a weaker chassis; and a repair which actually leaves our chassis stronger or stiffer then the original design is, of course, cheating.I contacted Mick about this area of the regs because I know that his company, M&M, undertakes chassis repairs, and that one of the techniques his company has available is that of straightening a bent car on a "universal jig". I understand that his workshop is fully accredited to industry standards to use this technique, when appropriate. What I regretted having to tell Mick was that this technique is not one of which Caterham Cars currently approve. M&M are free to repair our race-cars, provided they use approved procedures.Sun, 20 Nov 2011 14:57:43 GMT33556Caterham Graduates Racing in 2012:Championship Regulations - changesHere's the first step in getting ourselves organized for 2012.  You can now find a summary of the regs changes for 2012 via our web-site's "Competitor Info" page, here.  It will be a while until our full regs are properly ratified by MSA, but we have no reason to believe that these changes will not be implemented, nor that there will be any other significant changes.  There will undoubtedly be other minor changes to the wording, here and there, to improve clarity, but nothing of any real consequence.2012 Membership:With the recently announced changes to our arrangements for technical support, I am pleased to announce that the subscription fee for 2012 Racing Membership will be very significantly less than 2011.  Just £100.  Better still, an early-joiner discount of £15 for those who sign-up before 1st Jan 2012 - meaning that you need pay only £85 - £200 less than last year.  Enrolment will be on-line, as usual, but we are not "open for business" yet.  Hopefully that will all be set up in a week or so - watch for announcements on the forum.  And start looking forward to Spa - it's only 329 days away...Regards, Nick Frost, Chairman, Caterham Graduates Racing ClubFri, 18 Nov 2011 12:10:52 GMT33523Tech Support 2012:  In case anyone missed my original announcement, it's here.Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:29:18 GMT33512Cat exhausts for Supers and Megas.  McMillan Motorsport are considering placing an order with their exhaust manufacturer.  Price will depend on the quantity that MMM order but should be around half the Caterham price.  If you are interested in an exhaust please contact MMM now.Mon, 7 Nov 2011 13:18:25 GMT33474Supers, Sigmas and Megas rear brake pipes. The 2012 regulation will make fitting of rear brake braided hoses mandatory.  The brake hose supplier will not be specified in the regulations.  However suitable brake hoses can be purchased from Caterham Cars or from McMillan Motorsport.  The MMM hoses have the advantage of being plastic coated to prevent grit from getting under the steel wire and rubbing the PTFE pipe.  Brake hose end fittings are stainless steel.  Brake hoses are available now from MMM at a cost of £28+vat per set.Tue, 1 Nov 2011 14:48:01 GMT33384Trophies!  Awards dinner-dances.Now the racing has finished, the serious partying can start...First up is the Caterham Motorsport awards dinner-dance at the Copthorne Effingham Park Hotel (near Gatwick) on Sat 12th Nov, when all the 2011 winners (listed here) will be presented with their awards.  Never less than a really memorable night out (although, the next morning, some past attendees have found it difficult to remember very much at all...), whether you're going there to collect a trophy, or just to "support" those that are!  Information and booking form, here.Then, on 18th Feb, our four championship winners will get their special BARC winners' trophies at BARC's "Big Night Out", at the Chesford Grange near Kenilworth - info here, and booking form here.Book early to avoid disappointment!Wed, 5 Oct 2011 10:17:25 GMT33374Rockingham results - and championship results! Jamie has now uploaded all the championship tables and the Rockingham Results Summary. Please check the table and results thoroughly and let me know if you think there are any discrepancies. But I am pretty sure I can announce our championship winners:   Classics Sigmas Supers Megas 1st  John Parker Ian Anderson Reece Somerfield Myles Packman 2nd Rowan Williams Ian Dyble Dylan Stanley Mick Whitehead 3rd Graeme Smith   Neil Shinner Paul Manyweathers The Best Consistent Finishers winners can also be announced (the highest scoring drivers of those who entered and finished all 14 races, excluding anyone who features in the above table!) Classics BCF:  Sheila MarshallSupers BCF:   Andy SkinnerMegas BCF:   Nick HaryettMon, 3 Oct 2011 12:44:31 GMT33371Rockingham - day one.  And championship results/possibilities.Saturday results here.  Another fine day's sport (and amazingly good weather) saw all our classes' championship titles settled, but there are still a few tussles for the minor places to be resolved today.Sigma-Graduates:With the title already settled, Ian Anderson drove a "development car" (without a windscreen) - more about that later.  The Gil/Hayter race result could do nothing to take away Ian Dyble's second place in the championship, but confirmed John Gil as the third place man.Super-Graduates:A convincing win for Reece Somerfield gave him an unassailable lead in the championship table - Congratulations Reece!He was followed home by Shinner and Stanley and these two are now assured of taking the championship's second and third places.  Shinner has the disadvantage - his hopes for second places depend on him finishing second in today's race, with Stanley three places behind him; or a win, with Stanley two places behind.Fourth and fifth places are Briant's and Tzourou's, Toby being the slight favourite, although to use that benefit, he must finish at least 11th today and be no more than one place behind Tzourou.Megas-Graduates:Packman is the unassailable championship winner - Congratulations Myles!Whitehead, Manyweathers and Malkin are still in with a shout for second place.  If Malkin finishes better than 16th today, these three will lock out 2nd, 3rd and 4th places.  Manyweathers is favourite and can secure second place by winning today.  The nearest challenger is Whitehead, but he needs to finish better than 7th to have any chance of challenging for second place, and even that will only be of any use if he is also ahead of Manyweathers.  Malkin needs to finish better than 4th to challenge for second place, but he will need also to be more than two places ahead of Manyweathers and at least two places ahead of Whitehead.  Malkin needs to finish better than 6th to challenge for third place.Frost and Amison will be left to scrap over fifth and sixth (Haryett must win today to be able to improve on seventh).  Amison is the favourite and can secure the position by finishing better than 8th today.  Frost also needs a 7th today, but it will only of any use if Amison is 7 places further back!Classic-Graduates:The title was settled in JP's favour at Pembrey.  Only Graeme Smith and Rowan Williams can now be second and third in the championship.  The principle honour going to whichever one finishes in front of the other in today's race, although Williams must finish in the top 5, otherwise he will drop to third place.Fourth and fifth places must go to Russell and Thompson.  If Russell finishes in the top 7 today, it will seal his fourth place.NOTE:  I have done my best to check the accuracy of my calculations of the various championship position permutations - but please do not rely only on them or blame if they turn out to be wrong!Sun, 2 Oct 2011 09:09:05 GMT33357Rockingham - New Drivers' Briefing:Notes were supposed to be enclosed with your finals, but were not.  They will instead be issued at sign-on.Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:41:18 GMT33349Rockingham 1st/2nd Oct - marshals wanted!No experience necessary!  Marshals may be a little thin on the ground at the weekend.  All volunteers gratefully accepted!  Do just one of the days (or even half a day), or the whole weekend.  If you think you may be able to help out, please contact Chris Logan at BARC HQ (clogan@barc.net; 01264 882200 - then 2,2).Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:04:25 GMT33328Rockingham non-champ races, 12th Nov - not!(See earlier posting here)  Thank you to everyone who bothered to update their Schedule, or otherwise respond.  Unfortunately, a distinct shortage of interest from Grads means that there will not be any Grads races at Rockingham on 12th Nov. But it is not impossible that there may instead be some sort of open sports/saloon races, so watch this space!Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:38:39 GMT33311Very cheap non-championship races at Rockingham!    BARC have offered us space at one of their "Winter Series" rounds, at Rockingham on Sat 12th Nov.  20 min qualifying and two 20 min races.  Entry price is determined by the number of entries, but could be very low.  Just £200 if we can get 20 entries.  Even less, if we have more entries.These races are open to anyone with a car to any one of our class's specifications - you do not need to be a CGRC Racing Member, nor a BARC member.  So they could appeal to ex-Grads racers, and to potential new Grads racers.  Please all feel free to pass this on to anyone who they think may be interested.There will be winners' (and runners-up) awards for each of our four classes - subject to there being enough cars in the class to justify them.One advantage for many of us is that we will have raced there only 6 weeks earlier and will probably feel little need for pre-race testing.  But for others, the circuit is offering testing on the Friday, 11th Nov, for just £145, all day.But we do need to tell BARC whether we want it, within the next few days.  So I do need to get a good idea of numbers, very very soon.  For the moment, assume that the race will only go ahead if we get at least 20 entries, ie. at an entry fee of no more than £200.  If we have fewer then 20, the drivers will be consulted about the resulting higher entry fee before deciding whether or not to go ahead.Drivers who are not CGRC Racing Members should e-mail me to state their interest in these races. Current Racing Members:Please use our on-line Schedule to indicate the likelihood of entering these races.  Whether it's a "yes" or a "no".  (It's much more useful to me to be able to see a "no" than just no data at all - a no that tells me that you have read this and are definitely not interested; no data at all leaves me not knowing if you are even aware of this offer).Update your Race Schedule, PLEASE!While Racing Members are on the Schedule page there, it's a good opportunity for everyone to update their schedule and its history (it would be useful to me), so please use the yes and no buttons to indicate which of the past 2011 races you have actually entered, as well as to submit data about the next two races - both at Rockingham, as it happens!Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:06:39 GMT33271Pembrey, 10/11 Sept.Yet another great weekend's racing.  For the vast majority of us.  We went there in the face of an appalling weather forecast, but escaped the worst of the weather, which mostly seemed to be overnight.  A number of our sessions enjoyed the extra challenge of a damp, but drying, track, and one or two had a little mid-session drizzle, but no real wet sessions.Many of you will already have read that Gareth Cordey suffered brake failure during testing on Friday which resulted in both he and Roger needing very major repair work; and also his reminder that repeated flexing of rigid brake pipes can cause this.  Brett also suffered brake failure, on Saturday, due to a crack in a rigid brake pipe.  One of the pipes that gets repeatedly flexed is the one to the rear brake callipers - it is bent every time the rear pads (on all except Classics) are replaced.  The failures tends to occur inside the pipe coupling, so the only way you can even try to inspect it is to dismantle that part - not something which many people have thought to do, as a matter of routine, I'm sure; even then, there is perhaps more chance of damaging the coupling by dismantling it to inspect it than by leaving it alone!  So the CGRC Board has resolved not just to recommend that flexible pipes are used for the rear calliper couplings, but that they are mandatory for 2012 (on all but Classics).Back to the racing.  Jamie Ellwood has very kindly updated the championship tables and results summary.  Please do check them and report any errors to me, ASAP.  Some Classics and Megas may find that they have been awarded more points that they expected - this may be because Graham Smith (in Classics) and Tom Overton, Chris Fox and Gordon Halley (in Megas) were racing as "guest drivers" and are ignored when it comes to tallying the championship points.The ever-present dampness was not great for lap records and the only one of the weekend was set by Ian Dyble's Sigma on Sunday.Classics:John Parker went into this weekend knowing that he may be able to clinch the championship, depending on how well his rivals did.  No less than 6 other drivers were still in contention at the start of the weekend, although John needed only one 6th place finish to be certain of at least third in the championship.  He started very badly, qualifying in lowly P10.  But enjoyed racing up to fourth place (3rd for points, since guest Graham Smith was in front of him).  His main rival, Rowan Williams made an error on turn one of lap one, putting him way to the back of the pack, and he could manage only 20 points.  That left only John and Rowan in contention as championship winners.  But John needed only a third place to clinch the championship, while Rowan needed three consecutive wins from the three remaining races.JP could have settled for 3rd in race two, the 40 minute "endurance race".  But that is not his style and he hammered through from P9 to take the lead, and the win, and the championship!  WELL DONE JOHN!!!!Behind John, no less than eleven other Classics started the weekend as contenders for one of the championship's top three positions.  Saturday's race only excluded two from that list.  And Sunday's race has whittled it down to six.  But it's tight.  Rowan needs a win and a 2nd at Rockingham to be sure of second place.  Graeme needs two 2nd places to be sure of third place!  Anything could happen...!!!Sigmas:The Pembrey Sigmas races were combined with Supers.  And, since there were only three Sigmas, they started together from the back of the grid, as usual, but without any start delay.  Ian Anderson needed only a tenth place finish to be sure of the title.  What he did not need was the broken throttle cable which put him out of the first race!  In race two, Ian had better luck (it was Bill Scott's turn to DNF, with a failed clutch), scored yet another race win (his 9th from 12 races), and the title - WELL DONE IAN!  What we didn't notice at Sunday prize-giving, was that Ian Dyble's weekend's results were sufficient to assure him of second place in the championship - so, again, WELL DONE IAN!  Gil, Hayter and Dyer are all in with a shout for third in the championship but Gil is favourite and can be assured of claiming third position if he can score a 3rd place finish at Rockingham.Supers:The weekend started with the top nine drivers all in with a shout for the title!  And a further seven with a chance of top three honours.  Favourite was Reece Somerfield, who could have assured himself of the title by scoring a win and a 2nd.  Behind him, Dylan needed two wins and a second to be assure of second in the championship.  The Stanley/Shinner/Somerfield result of their first Pembrey race kept the championship very much alive, with just those three still in the title hunt, and a further seven drivers chasing the other championship honours.But their second race was to be more "exciting"...  An incident after about 27 minutes resulted in a red flag.  This was just short of the 75% race distance "cut off", which would have meant that a result would have been declared.  Instead it was a restart.  Dylan, inexplicably, pulled into the pit lane instead of returning to the grid, not mindful of the MSA rule that says that if you pull into the pitlane, for whatever reason, you take the restart from the pitlane...  Amazingly, on the restart he then ripped through the field to score a superb fifth place!  Meanwhile, Somerfield was sidelined with clutch failure...  This now leaves three drivers in the title chase.  Somerfield can now clinch it with just a single third place finish.  Stanley can assure second place by scoring two 2nd places, and a single 3rd place result would assure Shinner of the remaining championship honour.Megas:Packman, with a clean sheet of eight wins from eight starts should be a shoo-in.  But having missed Zandvoort, his title aspirations were not, and are not, totally certain.  He started the weekend needing three 6th place finishes, or equivalent.  A further ten drivers were all in with a shout.  And a further six with a chance of the lesser honours.  Myles did not claim his usual pole for race 1, that honour going to Nick Haryett.  But Myles recovered to finish second, giving a first race win to Dan Malkin, and Paul Turley in third.  Paul Manyweathers, one of the main challengers for the title, had suffered a gearbox failure in qualifying and started from last place.  But made up 13 places to finish a very creditable 9th.Race 2 result was fairly similar but with Martin Amison claiming 3rd, and Manyweathers making up 18 places to claim 6th.  Turley was side-lined when his knob fell off...  This leaves Packman needing just one 16th place to secure the title.  Manyweathers, Malkin and Whitehead are all in the chase for second place.  Malkin would secure second by scoring a a 4th a 5th at Rockingham, or equivalent.  Manyweathers needs two 3rds to be certain of the third place honours.Scrutineering:We were all briefed in the paddock about some scrutineering points:- post-race, all drivers' race kit - helmets and harness etc. - to remain done up and in place until cars are in parc fermé.- absolutely nothing can be put in, or taken from, a car between the end of the race and the cars being released from parc fermé.- all cars must have all eight screws which secure the pedal box cover in place.- and all cars must have all the available championship decals in place in order to be eligible to win points at the last two races.The weekend's success was assured by sterling work from all those involved - to whom, huge thanks.  The marshals and track workers, obviously; Karen for standing on the pit wall with her countdown board for a full three hours (!!!); the McMillan crew for a lot of very good work, including several gearbox replacements; Gail and Ben for the sarnies, and beef; Roger, Yo (and Ian A and Charles) for sorting out the trophies; and everyone else!That's it!  Roll on The Rock!Mon, 12 Sep 2011 20:02:43 GMT33235Pembrey - POWER!There WILL be power in the Pembrey paddock this weekend!!!Tue, 6 Sep 2011 12:44:36 GMT33233BARC "Loyalty Bonus":  Read all about it here:  http://www.barc.net/images/stories/news/Bonus_Letter_2011.pdfThis says that if you have entered every one of our championship's races, you are due a discount of £152 off your final (Rockingham) race entry - ie. £178 instead of £330.  8 Megas, 9 Supers, 3 Classics and 3 Sigmas have contested all rounds to date.  And all bar one seem to have entered our Pembrey races.  The document above tells you how to claim your discount.  Note that the on-line entry system does NOT allow for you to pay a reduced entry fee - you must either (a) pay the full fee on-line and then claim a refund, or (b) submit a paper entry form for Rockingham, together with the Loyalty Bonus Claim Form claim and reduced fee.  Experience suggests that the latter is the better!  Save yourself some further pennies by taking the paper forms to Pembrey and handing them in at sign-on (which you could do after you have raced, if your Rockingham entry is contingent on your car being in one piece after Pembrey!)Pembrey Tech Support:The circuit can be quite hard on brakes - especially if you are testing on Friday as well as doing the weekend's 80 minutes of qualifying and racing.  If you think you may need brake pads, be sure to call McMillan, soon, and pre-order them.I believe there is an option for us to enter the "Welsh Sports & Saloons" races.  Note that our Tech Support deal does not cover any wear/tear/damage that you may sustain in those races.  If you intend to enter those races, and would like McMM's support, please be sure to call them, beforehand, to arrange this.Tue, 6 Sep 2011 11:08:06 GMT33199Entry form for the BH races this weekend, as mentioned below.  Click below to download.Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:58:19 GMT33198Opportunity to race with Open Sportscars (MX5s & Westfields) this weekend at Brands Hatch Indy.  Qualifying on Sunday at noon, race 1 Sunday afternoon, race 2 Monday lunchtime.  Entry fee: £225.  Contact BARC HQ to enter - 01264 882200.  Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:58:48 GMT33158Motorsport under threat, again...  Write to your MP - PLEASE!Full details here:- http://www.laragb.org/pages/press_rel.html- http://www.laragb.org/pdf_files/press_rel/14-28day-briefing-notes.pdf- http://www.msauk.org/site/cms/newsarticle.asp?chapter=210&nid=1438- http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/1930771.pdf    )It may seem complicated, especially the government document (surprise, surprise).  But the point is very simple - much non-circuit motorsport, such as hill-climbs, trials, rallies, moto-cross, etc. is often organized under the 14/28-day rule, the planning measure that annually allows up to 14 days of motorsport on farmland without the need for specific planning applications.  This is now under review.  And open for public consultation - but consultation closes on 1st September, so prompt action is required!.  If the 14/28-day planning measure should be removed, it is a near certainty that much motorsport will be lost.Please do write, now.  You should send your comments to:- David Wilkes at UCOReview@communities.gsi.gov.uk;- The Planning Minister, Greg Clarke at greg@gregclark.co.uk; - Your own MP (find his/her e-mail address here: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mps/);And please send a copy to LARA, the Motoring Organisations' Land Access & Recreation Association, laragb@mac.com.Your comment might be something like:60% of UK motorsport (rallies, hill-climbs, trials, moto-cross, etc.) is run under the 14/28 Day Rule, ie. an event organiser does not have to apply for planning permission for the "change of use" of the land, on the day of the event, from agricultural to motor sport.  To have to so apply would be an enormous burden on clubs, farmers and planning authorities for no real benefit.  The Permitted Development Rights are essential to the continued running of a sport that now has over 100 years of tradition in the countryside, with over 5,000 events a year in England and Wales, which run to strict safety and environmental rules; which provide recreation for untold tens of thousands of competitors and spectators; which provide millions of pounds of business for the rural community and for the Motorsport sector; and which cause few if any problems.  Simply, there is no evidence-based reason to change the current system.  I hope that you will feel able to help in preventing this possible change in the planning legislation which can only increase the planning burden on small organisations and, of course the planning departments of local authorities.Please pass this on to your friends and motorsport associates!Tue, 16 Aug 2011 23:16:54 GMT33142Jamie has now uploaded full 'Combe info:  Results summary, championship tables and lap records.  Please check them all and report any discrepancies to me.Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:03:56 GMT33129Castle Combe, 13th Aug'Combe: Yet another great day's racing. With a few notable firsts.In Supers, following his first podium at Zandvoort, first pole position and lap record for Chris Rome; a second-ever race win for Neil Shinner; closely followed by Toby Briant and Reece Somerfield.In Sigmas, the first time this year that Ian Anderson has not been first to take the chequer - but a very impressive drive back to second place after an unforced error left him 16 seconds behind the pack - a lap record helped him on his way; a first 2011 Sigmas win for John Gil; Peter Mullineux took third.Classics: a first podium finish - third - for Amanda Black; a first 2011 DNF for James Russell; second place and a first 2011 race finish for James Carvey; a first Fastest Lap for Trevor Harber; a third 2011 win for John Parker.Megas: A first second-place for Paul Allen since Oulton last year; yet another win for Myles Packman; third to Trevor Carvey; a best result (4th) for three years from old man Frosty!Sun, 14 Aug 2011 12:21:17 GMT33112'Combe entry list:   here.If your name is not on the list, and you think it should be (or vice versa), please contact me, ASAP.  (Yo, Paul: I've already advised 'Combe about the 's' missing from both your surnames!) Total entry numbers:21 Megas12 Classics21 Supers6 SigmasTue, 9 Aug 2011 15:08:50 GMT33111Does anyone out there have one or two good pics of us racing at 'Combe? - If so, please get in touch ASAP!Tue, 9 Aug 2011 14:38:33 GMT33089IMPORTANT - GRADUATES' RACE TYRES FROM POLLEYSPORT - CASTLE COMBE, NOT PEMBREY:George Polley was scheduled to be at our Pembrey rounds to supply and fit tyres.  But he has been obliged to alter his schedule and is now planning to be at Castle Combe, but not at Pembrey.  So if you were thinking of getting tyres at Pembrey, think again: call Polleys, and ask them to take your tyres to 'Combe instead!  They will be at 'Combe from first thing Friday 12th Aug (or maybe Thurs evening) until Sunday.  So you can get new tyres fitted after our 'Combe races, if that's what you want.  If you expect to need tyres at or after Pembrey, but don't want them fitted at 'Combe, you have the choice of just taking delivery of the tyres at 'Combe and arranging your own fitting later.  Polleys may be at Rockingham on 1st Oct - if that would be useful to you, call them and tell them!  And remember that, as  a "last resort", Polleys will send tyres to you by courier, any time - just ask!'COMBE TRACKDAY:Two "last-minute" drop-outs are trying to find Grads drivers to take their slots at 'Combe on Fri 12th Aug.  If you want a space, contact them: Mark Gregory, Dan Malkin - ASAP!  We have managed to arrange a generous (but not quite 100%) refund deal for drop-outs, but only up until this Friday, 5th Aug.  If you need to pull out of your 'Combe trackday, you must let me know noon on Friday in order to get the refund.CATERHAM AWARDS DINNER-DANCE:At the Copthorne Effingham, as usual.  On Sat 12th Nov.  A great night out which I heartily recommend to you all - whether you hope/expect to win anything or not!  If you want to book a hotel room, I am told that, on-line, they appear to have no rooms left, but that this is because they are reserving them for this event; you must 'phone them and tell them you are attending the Caterham event, in order to make an accommodation reservation.  Tickets for the dinner-dance itself are not yet available.Wed, 3 Aug 2011 19:25:47 GMT33080Announcing the Caterham 100 trophy race on Sunday 14th of August at Castle Combe Circuit, Wiltshire The weekend of 13th and 14th of August sees yet another milestone in the history of Castle Combe circuit with the 100th Caterham race taking place, to mark this and thanks to the generosity of Combe's sponsors the competitor can enjoy:100 Kms of competition£100 entry fee£100 prize for the overall winner Eligible cars are any seven or clubman’s based car which conforms to MSA technical regulations, including noise limits.To enter contact Haydn Earl on 01249 782417 or haydne@castlecombecircuit.co.ukTue, 2 Aug 2011 08:54:47 GMT33078Castle Combe timetable now published and linked from this web-site's calendar page.  Thanks Jamie!Mon, 1 Aug 2011 15:32:37 GMT33064Racing at Mallory on Boxing Day! As many of you know, the Mallory Park "Plum Pudding" races have been very popular with all classes of Graduates for a number years.  There's a very strong argument that getting out on a race track is a much better sequel to Christmas Day than sitting around eating cold-turkey sandwiches with Aunt Maud and playing charades with the nephews and neices... The entry form is now available through our Competitor Info section (thanks Jamie).  Note the very special (unique?) "qualifying" arrangements - race one grid position is determined by order of receipt of entry forms!Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:09:32 GMT33055The Exec are looking into the possibility of changing the Classics control tyre for next season to Yokohama’s 021R.  This list-1B tyre is a bit "stickier" than the current list-1A one, which will put Classics at less of disadvantage when on a mixed grid with Sigmas, Supers or Megas.  The 70-profile would take us back to the original gearing, which again seemed to give faster lap times.  They are £50 a piece – just a fiver more than the current A539 (or a fiver cheaper than a shaved A539...); drivers at the sharp end of the grid might get through a couple of sets a season (instead of the current one-and-a-bit?).  They are also superb in the wet.  I ran the idea past most of the Classic drivers at Zandvoort and the response was generally positive (do let us know if you are vehemently against the idea).  We imagine Classics will be around a second a lap quick on an average length circuit – but can find out over the next few race weekends (Combe, Pembrey and perhaps Rockingham) as we are making a set on rims available for drivers to try in testing.  So what do you need to do now?  Nothing – its just an idea – but perhaps don’t go out and buy two new sets of A539s as there’s a possibility we won’t be using them next year.  And let me know if you want to try the 021Rs by e-mail to secretary@graduates.org.uk, not by simply replying to this e-mail, which will otherwise go to FrostyTue, 26 Jul 2011 14:58:36 GMT33024Castle Combe entry:  Form here (http://www.graduates.org.uk/2011/docs/Castle_Combe_SR_and_entry_form.doc).  Closing date, a week tomorrow, 29th July.  Original announcement here.Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:57:33 GMT33018Snetterton 24 hour race - safety car drivers wanted!A range of drivers from various series have done this in the past - basically it involves sitting in Mr Palmer's M3 for a couple of hours, waiting for a 2CV to plough up the Norfolk countryside.  And then driving round very slowly until the offending snail is returned to the black stuff.That's not quite as easy as it sounds (have you tried driving on track at a constant 50mph?), and the hours can be a bit antisocial (it is a 24 hour race after all).  But you get to see a race from another viewpoint, a few free laps of Snett, some food vouchers, and (on past experience) a goody bag from the 2CV club.The event is at Snetterton on the weekend of 26-28 August, with the race itself (i.e. the bit you have to be there for) starting at 5pm on the Saturday.  Drivers generally do 1 or 2 sessions of 2 hours, and we fit the rota around who wants to do what...If you are available during the Saturday, you can have a bit of a practice in the safety car between sessions.  If you can be there on Friday evening there is a late practice session: having a practise lap or two of Snetterton in the dark is helpful as I swear the circuit is bigger at night.All you need is a National B race license (or better) and a willingness to spend a few extra hours at Snetterton.If you're interested please drop me a line : Richard@Ormson.netTue, 19 Jul 2011 20:55:36 GMT32988ZANDVOORT!Surprisingly little gossip on the subject, considering what a fantastic weekend everybody seemed to have.  Even the few with damaged cars or other DNFs seemed to have largish grins for most of the weekend.The circuit and location will be very hard to beat.  A five minute walk from accommodation at Centre Parcs or the NH hotel, and from the beach and a huge number of bars on the beach.  The paddock was good too, with adequate power (eventually...) and water, and relatively flat, and enough space for us all.  The actual circuit was surprisingly good as well.  You might have expected a flat layout but the sand dunes have been used to excellent effect to produce some really good ups and downs - two really good banked corners, a swoopy "wiggly straight", followed by a fast blind crest, some nice "nearly flat" right-handers and a "rev limit in fourth" straight.  To my mind, only Spa can beat it (when they move the circuit closer to the coast...).For most, the weekend started in earnest on Friday, with BookaTrack "test" sessions.  Although Jonny wasn't impressed by the amount of red flags and damage.  All the damage, as far as I know, was to non-Grads cars/people.  The morning session was dry and sunny.  Then a quick monsoon at lunch time and a wet track in the afternoon.  Hearty cheers to Martin Kay - the only one of us who had the cojones NOT to take to the track before Saturday qualy!More rain overnight and then wet qualy on Saturday AM resulted in a few glum faces, but this turned out to be the last of the rain and we had glorious sunshine (and sun burn) from Sat lunchtime on.  Gail's usual excellent catering was complemented by McMillan supplying us with their "premier league" awning for the weekend.Megas qualy was "won" by those who nailed a good lap before the rain got heavier.  And resulted in a rare pole position for Nick Haryett.  Declan had suffered a gearbox failure on lap one of qualy and started last on the grid.  But Trevor Carvey was even behind him.  TC had been in the R300 race immediately before the Mega race, but had crashed out.  He failed to get to the Megas' assembly area in time and was thus obliged to start from the pit lane.  Worse still, he was thus behind the Sigmas who had a 10 second delayed start!  The R300 was beyond paddock repair and could not then be raced by Martin Amison - who was due to race the same car in R300s' race two.Graeme Smith made an error in wet Classics qualy, punted another car and punctured his own radiator - zero laps scored and thus started from the back of the grid.  Ed Benson was also sent to the back of the grid for passing under yellows during qualy.With Packman missing, the Megas' race result was far from certain.  A hard fought race resulted in a first Grads win (in any class) for Mick Whitehead, followed by Paul Manyweathers and George Longmuir.  Ian Anderson romped to yet another Sigma win, followed by Andrew Hayter and Ian Dyble.Classics started their race behind Supers, with a 10 second delay.  There was some excellent three abreast slipstreaming down the pit straight.  Reece Somerfield took a very convincing win, followed by Neil Shinner and Luke Tzourou.  Classics was also very hard fought, and the finish was made quite complex by the leader being lapped only just before taking the chequer.  Honours to Rowan Williams, Graeme Smith and John Parker.  James Carvey punted someone (Rowan?) and ended parked, with a puncture.Saturday night :  Bicycle is the preferred method of transport in The Netherlands.  But is more dangerous than motorsport.  Somerfield senior crashed into a gate when returning to the paddock on Saturday night (was alcohol a factor...?) and needed his head stitching up in A & E!Sunday dawned gloriously.  Carvey, back on pole, won the Megas' encounter.  Manyweathers had 2nd place in the bag (he says), but out-braked himself when defending from Mick Whitehead and they swapped places with only a couple of corners remaining.  Amison was a DNF.  And Malkin (slipped cam belt).  And I managed to lose a wheel (broken stub axle), which bounced high over the catch fencing and ended up missing three golfers by not very much at all, so I'm told!  But I DID get my wheel back!  Sigmas took the chequer just as on Saturday.  But Anderson was penalized 10 seconds for a jump start (he went on the lights instead of waiting for the 10s delay flag!); he only moved a few yards, but it's hard to deny that this WAS a jump start.  He was moved back to third place.In the last race, Classics was very much like the previous day's - right down to J.Carvey DNF-ing again (broken throttle cable).  The Supers race was suitably fraught and there was a penultimate tangle at Tarzan between Stanley, Elliot, and Briant which resulted in DNFs for the latter two.  Somerfield took the flag from Stanley, Rome and Tzourou.  A first podium for Chris Rome - congrats!  But Reece had lapped half the Classics field on the last lap, at the point where Gareth Cordey was parked up, ie. under yellow flags.  BRSCC Clerk took a dim view and docked 30 seconds from Reece, relegating him to 11th.  By the way, lesson to everyone: the Clerk told me afterwards that the penalty may have been less severe if Reece had conceded his error and apologized - calling the clerk "a prat", and slamming the door to Race Control is never going to lead to a penalty reduction...Apart from that, an excellent weekend.  My very sincere thank to all of you who helped to make it so!!!Lap records for all classes, obviously.  L.Tzourou, Anderson and T.Carvey only held their records for one day, to then be surpassed by Briant, Hayter and Whitehead.  J.Carvey, despite not finishing a race, scored a record on both days.This Grads' web-site's championship tables have been updated but the results summary page (BI's etc.) will have to wait until Jamie Ellwood returns from hols!  I am expecting a full results pdf, but do not have it as yet.Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:53:29 GMT32946Dutch underwear:  Contrary to popular belief, some of them do wear it.  Especially when on race circuits.   Our scrutineer has asked me to remind you all that full "FIA" gear MUST be worn - no ifs, no buts. Which, according to FIA Annex L, means "overalls, as well as gloves, long underwear, a balaclava, socks and shoes, all homologated to the FIA 8856-2000 standard."Sun, 3 Jul 2011 10:50:56 GMT32940TCT Donations:  If you are going to make a donation - or ask someone else to do so, in lieu of payment for something - please could everyone use the TCT "Just Giving" link which is at the top RH side of this page (also here).  It allows us to track how much we have raised.  And, if you're "selling", it also allows you to check that your generous buyer really has donated!Sat, 2 Jul 2011 10:40:24 GMT32933Everything about Zandvoort! All Racing Members have just been sent an e-mail containing "Everything about Zandvoort". If you have not received it, you can read it here (as a Word doc, with working links!).Fri, 1 Jul 2011 20:07:59 GMT32929BUT I HAVE ANOTHER 'COMBE SPACE AVAILABLE - IF YOU WANT IT, GET IN TOUCH, SOON!Fri, 1 Jul 2011 17:44:59 GMT32927CASTLE Combe trackday - vacancy:A place has become available on the pre-race trackday on Fri 12th August, ("The Glorious Twelfth").  Full details can be seen in the original announcement, here.Please contact me ASAP if you wish to take up this place.Fri, 1 Jul 2011 16:11:57 GMT32926Pre-race car preparation: - Some advice, a "caution", ... and some help!  Click here.Fri, 1 Jul 2011 16:06:29 GMT32914Yet more important Zandvoort info: More docs added to the "Comp Info" / "Race and Testing info": Final official Supplementary regs Circuit map Latest access info, for early arrivals: It will not possible to get into the paddock on Wednesday morning.  Unfortunately there is an event on circuit on Wednesday, so our ‘Tango’ paddock (see circuit map) cannot be accessed until the evening.  It should be possible to get early access into the ‘Heineken’ paddock, although trucks will need to be in by 8:50am.  Trucks will have to wait in Parking C until the event is over on Wednesday evening before moving into the Tango paddock.  Apologies for any inconvenience. If you have a smartphone, consider downloading the above pdf's into it.  Here's a thought - while you're at it, consider downloading: our BARC regs MSA regs (it may be easier to copy the single file version from the MSA DVD) ZV timetable ZV paddock plan CGRC Tech bulletin CGRC Driving Standards rules and guidance The CGRC's rules BARC standing regsThu, 30 Jun 2011 16:45:52 GMT32909Zandvoort paddock plan: Now available via this site's Competitor info section, or click here.  I suggest you print this plan and take it with you.  We can take our road cars, trailers, support vehicles, etc. into "our" (blue-shaded) area, but nobody else should.  Our patch is large enough for us all, but only just, so if you see any non-Grads thinking of parking anything in our patch, please wave the plan at them and courteously suggest that they find somewhere else to park! If you look at my earlier posting with the link to the Google map of the paddock, you should see that our patch has a "roadway" delineated down its centre.  This should be kept clear, obviously.  It would be nice to see us all set up in neat rows down each side, with race cars at the front, all facing the road, if at possible.  Please put a little thought and effort into making our paddock area look "nice"; it ain't rocket science - we have a club to be proud of, so let's try to make it look as though we're proud of it, please!Thu, 30 Jun 2011 11:08:32 GMT32895Getting into (and out of) Zandvoort next week: Trucks taller than 3.3m should enter the track through ‘Parking C’ and cross the straight.  These gates will be open between 1900 and 2230 every night, plus 0600 and 0830 every morning. The gate in the paddock tunnel (lower than 3.3m) will be open for the duration of our event. There is a ‘concierge’ from 0700 to 2230 who will give you keys for the garages.  There is a deposit of €100 for the key. Arrival Wednesday evening is OK, as is departure on Monday morning (before 1030) Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:06:51 GMT32878Zandvoort - video:  No need for forms or anything.Mon, 27 Jun 2011 16:54:14 GMT32874 Parts, Zandvoort: Time to prep your car ready for Zandvoort. Especially if you may need McMillan to deliver parts to you, such as brake pads, at Zandvoort. McMM will be packing up and leaving their workshop on Monday 4th July, so you should be submittting your order for any parts that you may need during the next day or two. Please also be advised that CGRC have agreed that McMillan are entitled to withhold parts, and service, from any CGRC driver who has not paid all their McMillan bills up to date!Mon, 27 Jun 2011 10:59:32 GMT32858Going to Zandvoort? Need tyres?  George Polley is planning his trip and needs to hear, ASAP, from anyone who wants him to supply tyres there.  Contact details here.Fri, 24 Jun 2011 16:44:22 GMT32857Not going to Zandvoort? Second-best might be a BookaTrack day at Rockingham on Monday 11th July - details here.Fri, 24 Jun 2011 16:41:38 GMT32836DP Results now on-line: Jamie has kindly uploaded them and they are available by clicking "timesheets" from our Results Page. We have the full Perugia race results package (but not qualifying), which includes very complete analysis, with sector times, speed trap data, etc. etc. - interesting reading! At first I thought there must be some errors - eg. see p7, Mega's top speeds: Which shows our race winner, Mr.Packman, as scoring the lowest top speed, 171.7km/h.  But look at the analysis on p11 and you can see that most Megas recorded a number of laps with top speeds of around 171/172, but all except Myles also scored a few laps that were noticeably faster. So what was happening?  Easy - Myles, the lights to flag leader, was the only driver who never got a slipstream advantage along the back straight!  I think the data also indicates that, on a clear lap, with no traffic, every car out there was capable of achieving very much the same top speed, suggesting that our engine parity is pretty good.Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:37:56 GMT32828 Donington: Yet another great weekend's sport. In which we again managed to dodge any "proper" rain on track. The Supers started racing on a wet track, but ended on a dry track! And every class scored a lap record (which wasn't too hard since the two previous records were set last time we raced on this layout ten years ago, and they were both on different tyres!). Friday afternoon qualifying was a first for us, in the UK, but it didn't seem to put off hardly anyone - suffice to say that more than 60 drivers squeezed into the Friday morning trackday! The Mega's race was curtailed by a red flag after about 15 minutes (just gone 75% race distance, so no re-start) due to a number of cars parked up at various points around the circuit. In the Sigmas race, it looked as if Mr.Anderson was getting a serious challenge from Simon Pashley, until a broken throttle cable put SP out of the race, leaving Ian to romp away, yet again. Classics had a very typical Classics race, with a train of 6 cars almost permanently challenging for position, mostly led by Rowan Williams - until JP snuck through to the front when it mattered most. Reece Somerfield seemed to have Supers sown up after a few laps, with a very handy lead from Luke Tzourou and Dylan Stanley; but Luke doggedly reeled in Reece and scored his very creditable first race win. This site's results summary and championship tables have now been updated. Please could everyone check them and let me know of any errors or discrepancies. The official results sheets do not seem to have been published on-line, but I'm hoping to get electronic copies - I will upload them to our site when I get them!Mon, 20 Jun 2011 21:02:27 GMT32826Zandvoort details:Now published in our web-site's "Competitor Info" section under "Race & Testing Info".  Detailed timetable and downloadable entry form.  You are reminded of the need to have a full National A license (just six signatures on your "B" license is not good enough - you must send away to MSA for a full Nat A).  Also full FIA spec race gear, including gloves, underwear, balaclava and socks.  And a fire extinguisher with an in-date "tested" sticker.I'd also be very much obliged if everyone could check that their on-line "Race Schedule" data (here) is fully up to date!Mon, 20 Jun 2011 20:07:34 GMT32802CGRC AGM - this SaturdayI am pleased to announce that we have received one nomination for a new member of the Club's board - Ian Anderson.  He joins the three current members who are standing for re-election - John Parker, Nick Haryett and Roger Ford - in a contest for the three available places.Or he would, except that David Shaw has decided that he has too many other demands on his time at the moment and has offered to stand down.Thus, four candidates, four places, no election.   Or, to be precise, an election but it will not be contested, so no vote.Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:00:17 GMT32779Donington paddock access: I am told that we will be able to set up in the Donington paddock from Thursday evening.Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:06:38 GMT32757Castle Combe - regs and entry forms:Now available in our "Competitor Info" section, under "Race & Testing Info".  This is a "paper" entry form, available to download as either a Word document or a pdf.  You have the option of completing the "Word" version digitally and then e-mailing it to the circuit - but be aware of the risks of sending your credit/debit card details via e-mail.  Print, and put in the post might be wiser.There is also an information note, for those of you (original list here) who have registered for the Friday track-day through the club.Donington, 18th June, AGM:Just a reminder that this is scheduled immediately after prize-giving at Saturday lunchtime.  The original announcement is here.And also a reminder that we would like all nominations from anyone interested in joining the club's board to be with us by tomorrow!  If you are interested, but not quite sure what it entails, drop me a line, and I'll tell you!Fri, 10 Jun 2011 14:56:10 GMT32743Donington - entry closing date - TOMORROW!Tue, 7 Jun 2011 15:55:55 GMT32714Mallory: Well done Dan, indeed!  Two wins, in very difficult conditions, was an impressive achievement.  (It was raining when I arrived there at 8.30.  And it stopped at about 18:00 - just after the end of the day's racing; bl**dy marvellous!)  Full results here. I think there was plenty of action to keep the viewers entertained - it certainly seemed somewhat action-packed from where I was sitting!  There was one moment in each race which had just a little too much action for two drivers - Darrell Wilson in race 1 and Matthew Reeve, in his first ever Sigmas race, in race 2.  Commiserations.  Nobody hurt, thankfully, but some repairs needed. Apart from that, I think it was all fairly "clean".  Although several people, including myself, had some wet grassy moments that they would undoubtedly prefer to forget.  Ed Benson - always known to be fast in the wet - drove superbly to score two third places in his Super, by beating 5 Megas.  Bish "was robbed" (!!!) of a race 1 win by just a quarter second.  Dr.Bettinson - in his "Roadsport A" -  did very well to beat all but one Mega and score the other second place. The prizes that really matter (the prize draw) were as follows:- The set of Yokos - Mick Whitehead- The £300 BookaTrack voucher - Adrian Russell- The £200 BaT voucher - Dan Malkin- The McMillan Gearbox rebuild - Matthew ReeveMon, 30 May 2011 20:36:30 GMT32704Caterham Graduates Racing ClubAnnual General MeetingDonington Park, lunchtime, Sat 18th June CGRC members can read the full formal announcement by clicking here.There will be the usual dull AGM stuff, review of the accounts, etc. and then an election to select three members of the club's board.Details of how to nominate someone for a position on the board are in the official announcement.If you cannot access the linked file via internet and want it e-mailed directly to you, please let me know ASAP.Fri, 27 May 2011 13:50:48 GMT32684Caterham radiator grille found at Brands.  See previous message here.  Still no takers!Tue, 24 May 2011 23:40:58 GMT32676Mallory:  And now news of a fourth prize on offer - McMillan Motorsport have donated all the labour cost for a complete gearbox rebuild, to include removal and replacement of the 'box (but not the parts); worth several hundred pounds.  Come on!  That has to make it worth taking a gamble - enter tomorrow!Mon, 23 May 2011 23:01:26 GMT32670Mallory next Monday:  FREE RACE ENTRIES AVAILABLE!!!Entries are looking a little thin, I regret.  (Check our "schedule" for details).  And I want to put on a good show for the TV cameras.  So I thought you guys needed a little encouragement.  And now you have some - not exactly free entries, but prizes to the equivalent value of the entry fee - thanks to some very generous sponsors:BookaTrack have donated two vouchers that can be used in full or part payment for any BaT trackday booking:--    One for THREE HUNDRED POUNDS-    One for TWO HUNDRED POUNDSAnd Yokohama/Polley Motorsport have donated A SET OF FOUR 048s (worth £312 last time I looked).Each of these prizes will be awarded at random to three Mallory drivers (no more than one per driver!) by pulling three drivers' names "out of a hat" after race one.  Provided we get at least three more entries!!!  (If we get only two more entries, only two of these prizes will be awarded, etc. etc.)BARC are holding the entry fee, for guests or registered contenders, at £300 and waiving the "late fee".  But you must enter by noon on Wednesday.  Guest entry form here; others can enter using the usual BARC on-line system.  Sunday testing is still available - see here.Mon, 23 May 2011 15:55:53 GMT32649Castle Combe trackday - vacancy: A place has become available on the pre-race trackday on Fri 12th August, ("The Glorious Twelfth").  Full details can be seen in the original announcement, here. Please contact me ASAP if you wish to take up this place.Fri, 20 May 2011 09:24:37 GMT32644Mallory Park, Motors TV "Live TV races", Mon 30th May:We would now like to extend an invitation to Guest Drivers to enter these races.  Drivers need not be registered for the championship, nor members of the CGRC, nor of the BARC.To be eligible, cars can be of any current Graduates specification (any class), or of any of the current Academy, Roadsports-B, Roadsports-A or Supersports specs.One 15 minute practice and two ten minute races for £300.  All races broadcast live on Motors TV.  The Race timetable can be found here.Exclusive pre-event testing on the day before, Sunday 29th May - booking and timing details here and here.Specidfic guest driver entry form here.Please feel free pass this on to anyone that might be interested.  I would appreciate it if any guest drivers could drop me a line to let me know that they intend to enter.Thu, 19 May 2011 16:01:02 GMT32621Rover ECU checking / reconfiguration:Supers/Megas ECU and electronics expert, Ronnie Gibson, will be attending one or more event(s) this season, offering various services to anyone interested, and also potentially doing parc-ferme ECU eligibility checks with Keith Marchment.  The correct ECU specifications for Supers and Megas have been listed in the regs for the last couple of years, so if you are in any doubt that yours may be correct, you may be wise to have it checked.  Among other things, he also offers a very useful service to permanently disarm the immobiliser - in layman's terms this stops the immobiliser cutting in when you leave the ignition on, which can be a colossal PITA.The specific services Ronnie offers are:1.    MEMS ECU Eligibility Check £152.    Engine Management System - 'Quick' Health Check (includes 1. above) £253.    5AS Alarm/Immobiliser ECU Reconfiguration (See Note 1) £154.    In-depth Electrical Check & Diagnosis (See Note 2) £50 per hourAll prices are Inclusive of VAT.Note 1: Ronnie can disable the passive re-arming features of the immobiliser, essentially making it transparent to the user. The 5AS ECUs with part number YWC106240 and a large letter "D" are suitable for this reconfiguration. ECU part number YWC000980 with a large letter "G" cannot have all of the passive immobilisation features disabled.Note 2: This is a more time consuming process and involves Static Checks, including Sensors, Actuators and Harness/connectors.  In addition, the Dynamic functionality of the system is checked, ideally from a cold start to fully warm.At present the exact meetings that Ronnie will be attending are still to be confirmed, so if anyone requires any work from him please contact me at coyote_x_11(at)hotmail.com and I will attempt to put something together which suits everyone interested and Ronnie himself.  Or for any urgent ECU/diagnostic work, it may be possible to book time with Ronnie directly, again contact me and I will put you in touch.Wed, 18 May 2011 00:38:15 GMT32617Safety Car driver wanted.  To show Jonny Herbert the way around Donington:Seriously folks, we are looking for a Safety Car driver for 4 races on Sunday 19th June, the day after our races at Donny.  For the Italian Superstars races (Jonny Herbert and his mates, as I understand it) and also for the Euro Speed series, which also features at least one well known driver...!  I have not been told exactly what model the Safety Car will be, but given that it will need to circulate quickly enough for these boys to keep their full race AMG C63s' slicks warm, it probably won't be a 1300cc Fiesta.No disrespect to Duncan who, I am told, did an excellent job on SC duty at Snet a couple of weeks ago.  But this duty requires a very experienced driver, with at least a current "National A" license and at least, say, 5 years race driving and 60 races under their belts, preferably with Donington experience, who will be capable of giving the SC some serious - but 100% safe - welly, in order to keep those slicks warm!Any interested drivers, please e-mail or call me, ASAP.Tue, 17 May 2011 19:43:35 GMT32612Mallory "live TV" races - Mon 30th May:Please get your entries in now.  And please could everyone update their schedule to show their intentions for this race - which, by now, for all but one or two of you, should surely be either a definite "yes" or "no"!Tue, 17 May 2011 15:34:38 GMT32583Caterham Graduates - Brands Hatch report and NewsletterClick here to download the pdf newsletter.All the latest Brands results, lap records and championship tables now available on our web-site.  Please would everyone check for any errors and report back to me ASAP.Donington:  Still a few places left on BookaTrack's Friday morning track-day - our supported "test" session.  Book now to avoid disappointment!Mallory "TV" race:  Entry closing date on Wednesday - please enter NOW!Mon, 16 May 2011 15:57:44 GMT32562Grad racers - Donington testing:Here's the news you have all been waiting months and months for - sorry!!!  BookaTrack have done an excellent deal with the circuit and are putting on a "track day" for us on the Friday morning - that's Friday 17th June.  Which will be followed by our official qualifying in the afternoon.Places are limited so I strongly advise booking immediately.  £170 for three 25 min sessions is pretty good value for Donington - you'll only get two 30 min sessions for that money at Brands this coming Friday afternoon!Click here to book.  Note that this event is not listed in the calendar on BookaTrack's site's front page - you need to click "Track Days" and then "Calendar and Bookings" to see it.Wed, 11 May 2011 19:36:51 GMT32547Donington qualifying: Will be in the afternoon on the Friday - most likely after 2.30pm.Sun, 8 May 2011 19:54:01 GMT32546Brands Hatch, 14/15 May, Sigmas:Timetable change.  Sigmas will be racing (and qualifying) with Megas, not with Classics - ie, in races 7 & 18, not races 5 & 13.Sun, 8 May 2011 19:52:32 GMT32527 Our on-line Race Schedule: All but one or two of you have found this and used it, I'm delighted to say. And about 80% of you have put good, accurate and up-to-date data into your schedule. Many thanks. Unfortunately, it's usefulness is significantly reduced if 20% of the data is not correct. Last night, when I wanted accurate data about entries for our Brands races, I had to check individually with about 20 drivers who did not yet have either "Definitely" or "Definitely Not" against their Brands entry. So I would be very much indebted if ALL of you could check your schedule and put in the most accurate data you can. Especially for the next race or three. Please try to use either "Definitely" or "Definitely Not" whenever possible, rather than the woolly "maybe" options. You can always revisit later to amend your entry if necessary. While you're about it, you should all know whether you actually took part in the three past events and it would be a great help if you could amend your data for those to show whether you were actually there or not. Don't delay, please do it now. You can enter or amend your data here. And check the schedule for everyone here.Thu, 5 May 2011 20:11:46 GMT32525Brands testing, Friday 13th May. I understand that they still have space, for either half days (£145/£170) or full days (£230), but are filling up fast.  Prompt booking is recommended.  See here.Thu, 5 May 2011 11:52:06 GMT32524Fancy driving the Safety Car?  Snetterton, this Sunday (8th May) BARC need a SC driver, all day (say, 9.30 > 5.30).  All you need is race license, helmet, overalls and just turn up.  Novices welcome, and you can get one upgrade signature for doing this.  Please call me ASAP.  07768 540 848.Thu, 5 May 2011 10:01:04 GMT32517Cadwell Park, this Saturday, 7th May: Grads, all classes, are invited to compete in two Caterham-Cars/BRSCC non-champ races this coming weekend.  30 min qualy + two 30 min races for £395.  If you are interested, please contact Jenny Grace, ASAP -  Jennyg@caterham.co.uk, 01322 625800.  Click link below for timetable info.Tue, 3 May 2011 22:02:29 GMT32514Brands Hatch entries:  BARC's "Late fee" is chargeable and payable as from tomorrow, so I suggest that you all try to get your last minute entries in tonight, before midnight...!!!Tue, 3 May 2011 19:08:05 GMT32493Mallory park, "Motors TV", pre-race testing, Sun 29th May: Click to see booking information and timetable.Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:15:57 GMT32480Note from BARC: We have been aware for some time that late entry charges have been causing some competitors a concern and indeed may have prevented some from entering our race meetings. As a result of this and the difficult economic climate that we all find ourselves in the BARC have decided to ease things slightly for those entering at a late stage. With effect from the end of business today, Tuesday 26th April, we will be reducing the late entry fee to £25 in an attempt to ease the position for some. The closing date for entries remains unchanged and we would urge competitors to enter by that date in order that we can plan our meetings as well as possible.Tue, 26 Apr 2011 20:24:30 GMT32459Egg-timers now are eligible: Hurrah!  See the formally issued MSA Competitor Bulletin, under "Technical bulletins" on this site's "Competitor Info" page.  Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:24:06 GMT32442Snetterton 300:Well, another fabulous weekend's sport.  And great weather as well - how do we do it?Congratulations to our winners on the new Snetterton 300 layout.  Packman, Anderson and Williams recorded clean sheet double victories in Megas, Sigmas and Classics.  And one win apiece for Somerfield and Stanley in Supers.  Best ever podium results were recorded by Stu Thompson, Paul Hawker and Luke Tzourou.Lap records were established by Parker, Anderson, Charles Elliot and Paul Manyweathers - the latter two subsequently beaten by Stanley and Packman.  Anderson and Packman both recorded a "clean sweep" - the win, Pole Position and Lap Record.Jamie Ellwood has done his usual fabulous job of updating the championship tables, results summaries and lap records.  As before, PLEASE check all these carefully to ensure that they properly reflect your weekend!The new layout seemed to meet with nearly universal approval, providing new challenges throughout the circuit and throughout the field.  Putting a wheel outside the exit kerbs was harshly punished, as several discovered, but only one car came properly to grief and our commiserations go to new Mega, "Wag", who will be needing a long front.  The new in-field section seemed to split the pack up just a little more than the old Sear Corner, which meant that the slipstreaming down Revett Straight (sorry, it's now the "Bentley Straight") was not quite as frenetic as in the past.  The re-profiled Coram and the replacement for the old Russell chicane were very difficult to get exactly right and, somewhat disappointingly, is no longer the overtaking opportunity that it was - no longer a great place to watch racing!  But the new spectator banking inside Riches more than makes up for this.Many thanks to everyone who helped to make it a great weekend.By the way:  The Mallory Park "Live TV races" are filling up.  I suggest that you get onto the BARC on-line entry system to get your entry in sooner rather than later!  Anyone entering the Mallory Race may also be able to race in Live-TV races at Castle Combe on 2nd May - same deal: about £300 for 15 min qualy + two 10 min races.  If that interests you, please drop me a line, ASAP.Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:28:37 GMT32439Donington testing - we're looking into a supported track evening in lieu of testing.  Give us a week or two...Mon, 18 Apr 2011 20:17:40 GMT32425ATTENTION ALL GRADUATES AND GRADUATES SUPPORTERS AT OR NEAR SNETTERTON: We need volunteers for marshalling, today and/or tomorrow. No experience necessary, but drivers especially welcome. Do an hour, or two, or all day! See Nicola at Race-Control/sign-on, ASAP, PLEASE. Or call me - 07768 540 848.Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:32:09 GMT32418Snet New Drivers' Briefings: I decided to end the pointless speculation, by asking the Clerk of the Course!  The answer is that only drivers who have never raced at Snetterton at all need to attend the briefings.  The rest of us will be"briefed" on the new layout via a handout that we will get at signing-on.Wed, 13 Apr 2011 22:56:57 GMT32381Mallory Park, non-champ, "Live TV" races: On-line entry now available through our usual BARC on-line system.  There is very limited space - if you want to get into these races, I recommend prompt entry.  Mon, 11 Apr 2011 10:22:05 GMT32378Regs change - egg timers: A Big pat on the back to all of you - I have now received agreements from all registered drivers to implement the proposed regs change to permit timers!  Many thanks. Hopefully, it will all be in place for Snetterton.Sun, 10 Apr 2011 23:38:08 GMT32366Scrutineering notes: Minimum weight limit Worried that you and your car may be under-weight at post race/qualy weighing-in? Just ask one of your pit crew to pass you a lump of lead over the parc fermé fence - simples! Hang on though, that doesn't sound right, does it? Course it ain't. So you will only need half a moment to realise that your pit crew handing you a bottle of water through the fence is also not right. This was observed by a scrutineer at Silverstone and was allowed to go unpunished only because the car/driver was later found to be well overweight. Nothing should be passed to or from a driver in parc fermé and future culprits of this practice can expect to be penalized, regardless of the actual weight of the car/driver. If you feel that you really really need a drink in parc fermé, strap a bottle of water into your car's boot and carry that weight throughout the race! Another way to protect against being found underweight is to stop at a marshals' post on your in-lap and ask them to pass you a brick to use as ballast. Uh-oh, that would be wrong as well, wouldn't it? Just as wrong as getting one of your discarded wings handed to you by a marshal. This one is actually a little trickier. Picking up debris from the circuit is not encouraged by our masters in Race Control. But if a friendly marshal waves you down in your in-lap and hands you back your own wing, it would be rude not to accept it. Just remember to take it out of the car before being weighed. Again, I suggest that you do this regardless of whether or not you expect your weight to be marginal, since you could be penalized for carrying illegal ballast onto the scales, regardless of your actual weight! A final point: it was noticed that one or two of our drivers were having jolly fun allowing small children to sit on their laps and steer their Caterhams while driving in the Silverstone paddock or garages. Jolly fun until something goes disastrously wrong - brake failure, jammed throttle, collision with another car, etc. etc. Please don't do it!Sun, 10 Apr 2011 10:49:51 GMT32355Zandvoort Trackdays – Booking Deadline Due to overwhelming demand, BookaTrack will be closing bookings for guaranteed slots on the pre-race Friday trackday at Zandvoort on the last day of April.  If you are racing at Zandvoort and want to get track-time before the weekend, please book now!  Remember, a minimum of 3 x 25 minute sessions are being held for you to guarantee that everyone racing has the opportunity to learn the circuit. After the end of April, these places will be opened up to drivers that already have track-time booked and have requested additional time if it’s made available.  Click here to see the original information about the day in the attached pdf.Sat, 9 Apr 2011 09:16:50 GMT32295  Silverstone, and all that:Thanks:  Well, that seemed to go pretty well, I thought.  My very sincere thanks to everyone who helped to make it an excellent weekend:  The BARC team, the McMillan crew, Gail's catering crew, the great Sun-God, Yo and Roger for sorting out trophies, the Driving Standards team - and of course to all the drivers for just being there!The summary race results and championship tables have now been published on our web-site (many thanks Jamie).  Please do check them and let me know if you think there is any error - much easier to put something right, now, than later in the season!Driving Standards:  I was a bit concerned when Race Control asked to speak to me after our races on Saturday.  But it was to compliment me (and all of you) on the very high standard of driving which they had observed all day.  So, a big pat on the back to you all for that!  The driving standards on Sunday were, regrettably, not quite so high with one or two drivers demonstrating a little more enthusiasm than skill...  Please, everyone, remember our Driving Standards briefing on Saturday - if you have anything negative to say about anyone's driving, please consider making a formal complaint to our DS Team via the members' area "form".Minimum Weight limit:  I don't want to "rub his nose in it", but for the benefit of anyone who was not at Silverstone, I should tell you about the amended result of the Classics' first race.  Every car in all the classes was weighed after qualifying.  Everyone was told what their cars weight was.  And anyone who was "marginal" was told that they had better make darned sure that they were not under-weight after the race.  Rowan Williams then scored an admirable first race win.  But was then found to be 1.5kg under weight.  This is what can happen, so easily, if anyone tries to get maximum benefit of the lightest possible weight without properly thinking it through.  Rowan would almost certainly have been OK for weight if he had not carelessly discarded two rear wings, and light clusters, during the race.  Obviosuly he couldn't have known that he would lose those wings, but he should have realised that he might do.The very obvious lesson to all of us (except for those who eat too many pies and have zero expectation of ever surprising the scales) is to weigh our cars, whenever we can, and always to plan to ballast it, with lead or fuel, to be at least 5kg over-weight at the end of a race.  Given the various hardware (wings, nose, tyre-rubber, brake pad/disk material, etc.) that can be lost during a race and also fluids (coolant, sweat [yuk], screen-wash, oil) 5kg is not a huge amount of "insurance" and is almost certainly worth very very little loss of lap times.  Anyhow, Rowan was duly stripped of his win and scored nil points.  But I am delighted to report that he bounced back and won on Sunday, to demonstrate that his Saturday win was not due only to him being under-weight!Some scrutineering tips for our next race:  Our scrutineer observed that some cars have some holes in the so-called "fireproof" bulkhead between the engine compartment and the cockpit.  Even a 4mm hole left over from, say, moving a cable clip from one location to another is not permitted.  Please make sure to properly block up all holes.  Expect this to be rigorously checked at your next race.  He also found some extinguisher "pulls" to be seized.  This is very much not OK.  Make sure that yours works.  It might just save your life some day...The McMillan crew reported a good weekend, with very very little that could be considered to be "contentious".  The one word of caution from them is that anyone who wishes to order brake pads to be delivered to the next race would do well to contact them a little earlier - not on the day before the test day!"Egg timers":  Hmmm.  Leave that with me for a few days, please...Snet:  Entry deadline, to avoid the late fee - this coming Wednesday.  And while you're thinking about Snet, please go on-line to bring your "Race Schedule" up to date - please provide your best possible info about your intentions for all future races.  (And, to "tidy up", please amend your entries for the now past events to show whether you were actually there or not!)Regards, Nick Frost, Chairman, Caterham Graduates Racing Club  Mon, 4 Apr 2011 13:15:32 GMT32254Driving Standards - briefing for ALL driversThere will be a Driving Standards briefing for ALL drivers at 12:00 on Saturday in the catering garageTue, 29 Mar 2011 21:58:44 GMT32253McMillan Caterham Graduates Newsletter, March 2011Lots of important and useful information on a whole range of topics!  Please click here to down load the pdf.Tue, 29 Mar 2011 21:34:15 GMT32250 Tyres at Silverstone: Please note that Polley Motorsport will be at Silverstone to supply and fit new Yokohama tyres from Friday morning until Saturday lunchtime. If you want tyres, please be sure to contact them in advance to order them. Your season's allowance of three sets of tyres includes all qualifying sessions and races, but not your "Friday" testing. Note that the set of tyres you use for Saturday's qualifying is counted as your first set, whether they are brand new or half-worn - so if you choose to use a half-worn set, you will effectively be limiting yourself to only using two and half sets this season!Mon, 28 Mar 2011 19:40:28 GMT32233Silverstone races - closing date for entries - NOW! Enter today to avoid the late entry fee!Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:06:22 GMT32223And, following on from the recent query about the day of our Castle Combe races (here and here) we can now announce that Combe's provisional timetable has all our racing on the Saturday, and our site's calendar now shows this.  But bear in mind that, like all race timetables, it is provisional, and could change.Mon, 21 Mar 2011 19:55:14 GMT32218List of all drivers now booked into the Combe trackday, via CGRC 1   Paul Turley2   Myles Packman5   Martin Amison6   Trevor Carvey7   Nick Frost9   Robert Draper14  Tim Jump20  Mick Whitehead25  Keith Pennington32  Peter Neal33  Darrell Wilson36  Jo James48  Daniel Malkin50  Declan Dolan59  Adrian Wagstaff69  Adrian Russell71  Graeme Smith76  Trevor Harber82  Daniel Lewis84  Sheila Marshall86  Darren Grainger88  Amanda Black89  Paul Hawker102 Jamie Waring104 Dylan Stanley105 Neil Shinner107 Andy Skinner108 Gareth Cordey109 Toby Briant111 Yolande Humphreys112 Steve Humphreys114 Duncan Lewis116 James Batchelor123 Martin Gee124 reece somerfield133 Andrew Redd139 Mark Gregory166 Charles Elliott172 John Gil177 Ian Anderson178 Peter Mullineux191 Chris Shackleton192 Bill Scott199 Nick DyerMon, 21 Mar 2011 10:43:06 GMT32216 Castle Combe trackday:  Confirmation I am delighted to be able to announce that everybody who booked a place through our on-line system now has a confirmed place. That applies to all the "full" entries, and also the "reserve" entries. A full list will be published here a little later on. Note that these places are not automatically transferable - anyone wanting to drop-out and transfer their place to someone else, must contact me. Anybody who did not use our on-line system may still be able to book a place by contacting the circuit directly - but not at the CGRC's advantageous rate, obviously. Everyone also has the option of booking a place on the circuit's test day on the Thursday, 11th August - although please note that CGRC are not arranging for McMillan's technical support on that day, but that McMM may be able to arrange it, at extra cost, if enough people want that.Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:08:36 GMT32183Caterham Graduates - pre-race "testing" at Combe.  Book your place HERE!There is a trackday at Castle Combe on Friday 12th August, the day immediately before we race there, which is very probably going to be the only pre-race day that CGRC will be asking McMillan to support - rather than supporting the test day on the Thursday, which is £275 for the day!  We have negotiated a group discount at the advantageous price of £150, which we will be brokering to Racing Members who intend to race at Combe, through our own web-site's "Online Event Entries" section (via the Members' Area).  We are told that the attendees will be split into four groups, and that each should get on track once an hour, for 7 sessions of roughly 15 minutes each.  Our web-site will open for bookings at 6pm on Friday 18th March.There are a limited number of places available and they will be allocated on a strictly first-come first-served basis.  If demand is high, as we expect, and our allocation becomes fully booked, we may continue taking "reserve" entries for up to one week.You should all be aware that the 'Combe noise limits are very tight - 100dB(A) at 0.5m and 4,500rpm.  Your silencers will need to be in "sound" condition (ha-ha) to meet this.Newer members who may not have previously used our on-line event entry system should be aware that these events can fill up extremely quickly.  If you are very keen to secure a place but not certain that you will be able to access the internet at the stated time, you may wish to consider asking a friend or associate to book on your behalf, but note that they will need your CGRC username and password.Regards, Nick Frost, Chairman, Caterham Graduates Racing ClubThu, 17 Mar 2011 22:10:59 GMT32180BARC, late entry fee glitch: The problem I reported on Monday (see here) has been resolved, I'm told.Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:08:14 GMT32163Graduates twitterers. Some time ago, "resting" Supers racer Andy Hawken set up a twitter feed @gradschair to "tweet" red announcements, such as this one, from this forum and twits may like to follow this in order to get prompt notification of important announcements (although you will only be able to read the first 140 characters, obviosuly!). Now that more and more Grads members have twitter accounts, Andrew Smith has set up a dedicated Grads Club twitter page.  You can find us at @caterhamgrads - feel free to follow us, tweet us, and retweet anything of interest to your followers. The updates will probably be more 'occasional' than 'daily', but it's worth a look and is another way of keeping up with the club - in addition to this forum, our Facebook, our wikipedia page or even the old-fashioned way of coming to see us at race circuits!! The tweets do not in any way replace this forum, which will continue to be the primary source of Grads' information.Tue, 15 Mar 2011 15:23:36 GMT321552011 Decal layout: The 2011 McMillan Motorsport Caterham Graduates championship decal layout plan and instructions are now available to download from our Competitor Information section, here.Mon, 14 Mar 2011 15:48:39 GMT32145Race entries - closing dates, supplementary regs and late fees: Don't do an on-line entry for Silverstone just yet!  Their is a glitch in BARC's system which means that an on-line entry submitted right now will be subjected, incorrectly, to their £50 late entry fee.  BARC's web-site developers are working on this and it should be resolved shortly - I'll announce here to let you know about that. The eagle-eyes regs-monkeys among you do not seem to have spotted the error in our Supplementary regs, which quote two different closing dates - in para (2), the closing date is given as the Wednesday 10 days before a race but in para (5), the Monday 20 days before the race.  The "10 days" is the correct one.  So, closing date for our Silverstone races is Weds 23rd March.  Our own on-line calendar actually gives closing dates two days earlier, on the Monday 12 days before a race.  That was deliberate - effectively giving you all two extra days to wake up and take notice - and will be left like that! For our newcomers, be aware that entries will still be accepted by BARC after the "10 days" closing date, but at an extra fifty quid.  But there is a final "drop dead" closing date a week later, noon on the Wednesday before a race, after which your entry will not be accepted. Regards, Nick Frost, Chairman, Caterham Graduates Racing ClubMon, 14 Mar 2011 09:43:59 GMT32140Rockingham, today: The sun shone, the cars roared.  What more could we want?  It seemed to be an enormously successful day, with smiling faces almost wherever one looked.  My sincere thanks to all concerned - Rockingham, McMillan Motorsport and all the sixty drivers who were there.  Roll on Silverstone!!!!    Sat, 12 Mar 2011 19:55:09 GMT32138FRONT ANTI-ROLL BAR - WHO HAS MINE? Some time last year, someone asked if they could borrow my front anti-roll bar - a wide-track "Freestyle" adjustable bar.  And I duly loaned it to them.  But I have just realised that it was not given back - and I'm struggling to remember who borrowed it! If it was YOU, please get in touch!Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:02:08 GMT32134 McMillan Motorsport Caterham Graduates Pre-season track-day, Rockingham, 12th March 2011 The following files were e-mailed to all members on Tuesday, but here they are for anyone who missed them: "Dear Customer" "Indemnity form" "In-car camera form" They should contain (almost) everything you need to know about this Saturday's trackday. If you have booked a place, please download and read them all. (And please print and complete the forms that you need to complete, if you can - it all means less paperwork to deal with on the day!) If you have not booked a place, there's still space - contact McMillan Motorsport, ASAP! (Andy Adshead, McMillan Motorsport, Tel - 01455 239900, www.mcmm.co.uk, info@mcmm.co.uk). Current Graduates Club members, past members and potential members are all welcome! Please note that passengers must sign-on as well, but for no charge (so long as someone doesn’t turn up with 10 people!), the garages listed are free for use (however we have taken a few for technical support and transported cars), Rockingham have a couple for briefing and the ones below 12A are not in use. Hopefully that answers all the questions... Regards, Nick Frost, Chairman, Caterham Graduates Racing ClubThu, 10 Mar 2011 20:53:11 GMT32108Gearbox maintenance: The Club has agreed a "policy" about how gearbox failures will be handled at any of our "supported" test days and race-days.  Please click the link below to read it.Mon, 7 Mar 2011 17:20:36 GMT32091Zandvoort Ferry special deal: Click the link below to see details of a special deal on SeaFrance Dover/Calais.Thu, 3 Mar 2011 15:09:35 GMT32074Zandvoort Testing: Well, you've already seen it...  (I turned my back on my PC for 4 hours and there it was...).  So BookaTrack, full-day on the Thursday, or half-days on the Friday.  Full explanation in the document below.  Early booking strongly recommended!Tue, 1 Mar 2011 22:14:31 GMT32064Donington - exciting news! Our Donington races on 18/19 June will be supporting the high profile "Superstars International" series (also here). The catch is that our qualifying sessions are likely to be on the Friday afternoon...  So, those dates should actually be 17/18 June!Tue, 1 Mar 2011 12:57:52 GMT32052Testing - booking is now open for our supported pre-race test days at Silverstone and Snetterton: Click here to read about booking Silverstone for Fri 1st April (this should be book-able on-line, but it seems not to be at the moment - you may have to call them).  Only whole days are on offer, at £210.We have been allocated pit garages for the race weekend, so you may wish to consider booking one for the Friday, so that you don't have to move yourself and your stuff around the paddock on Friday evening.  We expect to have 21 garages between us, so we will be sharing, roughly four cars per garage, so think about finding others to share with.  I have discussed the situation with Silverstone and I believe they will be allocating garages so that we can then stay in the same place all weekend - but this is not 100% guaranteed. Snetterton testing, on the SN300 layout, on Fri 15th April can be booked here.  We will not be in the garages for racing, so it is perhaps less worthwhile to book one for testing.  Whole day testing is £225; AM only, £145; PM only, £165.Fri, 25 Feb 2011 18:59:34 GMT32006Feb "newsletter" - info about decals, sponsors, etc. - has just been e-mailed to all Racing Members, but you can also click the link below to download it. There are three new items about your 2011 decal requirements in the Members' on-line Schedule requiring your response, please.  Please tick "Definitely" against any decal that you do need, and “Definitely Not” against any decal that you do not need.  Just click here. If you are a Racing Member and did not receive the e-mail, please check your Junk Mail filter!!!Sat, 19 Feb 2011 13:38:50 GMT319622011 McMillan Motorsport Caterham Graduates - Regulations I am delighted to announce that our 2011 regs have now been published, at last.  They can be found on the BARC web-site, here (and also in Competitor Information on our own site).  You will find that a lot of the detailed wording, "structure" and numbering of the document has changed from 2010 - and is hopefully clearer then before - but I believe that the "real" changes from 2010 are only those that I had previously announced (here) and that there are no other changes of any great significance.  But you would all be well advised to download them and study them! Please do get in touch with me or Nick Haryett if you think there has been any error or if you would like anything clarified further.  While you are downloading documents, you should also take a look at the championship's Supplementary Regs, here and BARC standing regs, here and BARC's H&S guidelines - when you register for the championship, you will be agreeing to be bound by all these regulations! If you have previously registered on-line with BARC, and they have your e-mail address on file, they will not be mailing you a hard copy of the regs this year.  If anyone has trouble downloading the regs and would prefer to deal with hard copy, please call Nicola Bush at BARC (01284 882200) and ask her to mail paper copies.  (And if you know of anyone who is intending or contemplating racing with us but who does not have easy access to e-mail and the web, please suggest that they also call Nicola). REGISTRATION:In order to take part in the championship, you MUST register for it with BARC.  On-line registration is very much preferred, but you do have an option of completing the back pages of the regs and mailing them to BARC.  Access to BARC's on-line registration system is here.  Use your previous year's log-in BARC username and password if you had one, or click "Register as a Driver" if you did not.  Be sure to register for the correct class of our championship and to use the correct CGRC race number.  Note that registrations will only be accepted from CGRC Racing Members, so if you have not yet enrolled with us, you must do that first! BARC registration is free, do please don't put it off!!!  Once you have registered on-line, you can also enter races on-line.  Although everyone also has the option of submitting paper entry forms, see here.Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:08:05 GMT319222011 Grads racing - Classes and Grids:Somebody has already posted on our forum to bring your attention to the race timetables that BARC have now published for our first few races.  They are now easily accessible via links from our calendar page - just click on the dates.I feel that I need to explain the way that the various classes are timetabled, and combined, and the reasons for it.  And especially to remind everyone that the timetables are provisional drafts and may change!The real catch is that BARC feel the need to get their plans in place well in advance.  Even though they have zero Graduates competitors registered for the championship, as yet.  (because they cannot take registrations until MSA ratify our regs.)BARC's task is to provide racing for us, and for 36 other championships.  And to control the costs.  Which means not "wasting" the very expensive track time and grid space.We have asked BARC to provide us, at each event they are organizing for us, either three or four grids.  Depending on entry numbers and on grid capacity.  (Each circuit's license defines the maximum number of cars that may race together.)Of course, there may be an element of "chicken and egg": perhaps if we had somehow managed to get BARC to agree to four grids everywhere, a significant number of "potential" Sigmas (who may be "out there", watching from the sidelines, perhaps delaying signing up until they see whether or not they will get their own grid?) might have decided to sign up.  If there are any out there, I ask them to get in touch, pronto, because there is still a possibility of us getting more grid space, if we need it.  But the longer we take to find that out, the more difficult it will become.The apparently "slow" rate of re-enrolment has not helped  Currently, there are about thirty of 2010's Racing Members who have not re-joined nor told me whether or not they intend to, and I urge all those to re-join for 2011 ASAP, or at least to drop me a line to advise me of their intentions, PLEASE!And it would also be a great help if all those who have re-joined could update the data in their Race Schedule - details here - so that we have a better idea about how many intend to contest each round.Anyhow.  Timetabling and grid sharing:We are introducing a proper fourth championship class for Sigmas this year.  To date, we have ten Sigmas signed-up.  We also announced that the Sigmas may or may not get their own grid but that their class status enables us to at least give them their own start - ie. if we have two classes racing on the same grid, they will start separately - and thus effectively get their own race.  We also said that we would try to vary the way that classes share grids, ie. not always have the same two classes together.Thus far, the Megas' enrolment numbers are streets ahead of any other class (38), and it seems unlikely that there will often be few enough of them racing for them to share grid space with any other class.  Although that may happen at a circuit with a very large grid capacity, such as 'Combe (42 cars max) - again, it would be a great help to get more data in the Schedule!Meanwhile, with us having to provide BARC with information for our first three events' draft timetables, right now, we have done the best we can with the info we have and asked that Sigmas share grids with Classics twice (Classics are anticipated to be the next smallest class after Sigmas), at Snetterton and Brands, and with Supers once, at Silverstone.  I know that this may not suit everyone but can only apologize - it's our attempt to make the best of a bad job!However, when we get a better idea of championship numbers and about who intends to enter which races, THIS MAY ALL CHANGE!  We do already have a "back-up" plan for four grids at Brands (the smallest of our first three circuits) which may kick in if we get loads of entries.  So watch this space!!! Thu, 10 Feb 2011 16:20:23 GMT31891BARC Registration: Yes, this is the next step in getting ready for the season. But one which we cannot take, as yet. This process is for registering as a competitor in a particular BARC championship. Which means signing up to compete under a particular championship's regulations, so you cannot do that until said regulations are available. And ours are not available, as yet. They are still awaiting MSA ratification. Along with those of a number of other championships. Sorry, not much more to say about this at the moment. Except that you will all be notified immediately I get word that the regs are published.Fri, 4 Feb 2011 12:03:26 GMT31829Zandvoort pre-race testing, travel, etc:I regret that I have no firm data about this as yet.  But it's quite possible that, as at Zolder last year, there is some sort of on-track opportunity on either the Thursday, or the Friday - or possibly both!  If you can keep your plans flexible, I suggest you do so!  If you have to book "time off" well in advance, you might want to consider arranging this so that you can choose to travel over on the Wednesday (6th July).  I guess the same goes for ferry and/or hotel bookings - you shouldn't go far wrong if you plan to be available at the circuit first thing on the Thursday morning - the worst that can probably happen is that you are forced to spend the day on the beach instead!And, as at Zolder in 2010, it will be some time until we have an indication of the race-day timetables.  One or other of the classes racing that weekend is bound to be last race on Sunday, although nobody will want to be.  For the time being, you should probably assume that it could be you and that a prompt departure for an early ferry/train is not something you can count on!  So, given the location and time of year, you may wish to consider counting this as part of your "summer holiday" and schedule Sunday evening for sitting around at beach-side bars!Speaking of foreign travel, if you're not a frequent European visitor, you may want to check that your "European Health Insurance Card" is up to date - you can apply for one, or renewal, here.Tue, 25 Jan 2011 11:23:35 GMT31792Caterham Graduates pre-season trackdayJust a quick reminder that there is a special "early bird" discounted price for our pre-season trackday (at Rockingham on Sat March 12th), which expires TODAY!  See details here and call MMM today (01455 239900) to secure your place!The trackday is open to any Caterham (or even other Lotus 7 lookalikes...) and to any driver, with or without a race licence.  I understand that there will be a mixture of "fast" test sessions, for racers, and "gentler" trackday sessions for others.  And passengers will be permitted.  So, something for everyone - whether you are a seasoned racer wishing to give your car a serious pre-season "shake-down", or a novice who wants to see what Caterhams and Graduates racing is all about.  (See earlier posting on our forum, here)And, as always, full technical support from McMillan, in case of breakdowns!   And tyre supply/fitting from Polley Motorsport (call to reserve your tyres in advance).DON'T DELAY - CALL TODAY!!!Fri, 21 Jan 2011 11:43:09 GMT31753Caterham Graduates on-line racing "schedules":IT'S TIME TO TELL US ABOUT YOUR PLANS FOR 2011!For the benefit of our new members, I'll explain what this is.  Quite simply, it's an on-line system that allows all our Racing Members to tell us about their racing plans for the coming year.  Because it's a very great help to the people that organize our race-days (and the track-day) if they have advance information about how many people to expect at each one!The system is accessed through our web-site's Members Area: log in, then click on "Update Your Race Schedule" (top LH side of the Members' Page).  All our events are listed there and you just need to click one of the "buttons" alongside each event to indicate the likelihood of you being there.Please try to be as definite as you can and click mostly "Definitely" or "Definitely not", as much as possible.  I know nothing is certain in this life and that, for many of you, for example, your attendance at Snetterton may be dependent on you not trashing the car at Silverstone, etc. etc., but if it is your intention to race at Snet, please click "Definitely" rather than only "Very probably".  You can (and I very much hope you will) revisit your schedule at any time throughout the year to amend your data if you change your mind about any event.Please note that it is just as useful for you to click "Definitely not" as for you to click "Definitely".  The thing that is most unhelpful is if you do not provide any information at all!So, PLEASE, ALL OF YOU - GET CLICKING NOW!You can also, through the Members' Page, click on "View Race Schedules" - to check your data, and also to see who else is intending to be at any of the events.Sat, 15 Jan 2011 13:49:34 GMT31751Caterham Graduates pre-season Track-Day - Rockingham, Sat 12 MarchAs usual, we are holding a pre-season track day.  Intended primarily as an opportunity for the club's 2011 racing members to "shake-down" their cars after their winter re-build works. But it's also a great opportunity for: anyone to come along and find out more about racing with the club racers to give "passenger rides" to their wives/girlfriends/mothers/grannies/toy-boys/sponsors, etc. novices, with or without race licences, to try their cars (or somebody else's...) on track in special "novices only" sessions marshals to get a taste of life on the other side of the bank any Caterham driver - whether road car or race car, from 100bhp "Academy cars" to R500s - to bring their cars along and sample Rockingham's unique banking! All Caterhams welcome!The track-day is being organized by new title sponsor McMillan Motorsport.  Click this link for details and booking info.  NB: Special price for booking promptly!  Please do try to support this day and help to make it a great success!Polley Motorsport will be there to supply/fit your race tyres - please call in advance to order tyres (they can also do tyres for your road/tow car - ask for a quote!).Sat, 15 Jan 2011 13:17:14 GMT31737NEW TITLE SPONSOR!            NEW TITLE SPONSOR!                NEW TITLE SPONSOR!                NEW TITLE SPONSOR!I am delighted to announce that our 2011 championship will be known as the "2011 McMillan Motorsport Caterham Graduates Championship". McMillan have provided support services to the Club since the early days of its inception and this union serves to reinforce the existing relationship between the two parties.I am also pleased to announce that this year's "pre-season track day" has now been set for Saturday 12th March at Rockingham.  More here. Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:43:03 GMT31712It's the Autosport International Show at the NEC next weekend (Actually Thursday thru Sunday, 13-16 Jan). It's a fantastic show, well worth a visit - whether just to gawp at the shiny race cars or snap up some show bargains from the various exhibitors. But, even better, we will have a car on display on the BARC's stand. Come and see us!!!Sun, 9 Jan 2011 17:17:27 GMT31646RE-START PRESS!    RE-START PRESS!        RE-START PRESS!            RE-START PRESS!                RE-START PRESS!                    RE-START PRESS!Ooops.  Very sorry everyone.  Yesterday's post was a cock-up.  Donington date is not changed and remains as 18/19 June.  Sorry....!!!! BARC offer their sincere apologies for this error and tell me that it is highly unlikely that there will be any further calendar changes.Fri, 24 Dec 2010 09:36:26 GMT31642STOP PRESS!    STOP PRESS!        STOP PRESS!            STOP PRESS!                STOP PRESS!                    STOP PRESS!My earlier "2011 Race Calendar" posting did stress that the dates were provisional, didn't it?Because I must now announce a change.  Our Donington date is a week earlier: Now 11/12 June.  Incidentally, this removes one R300 conflict, but adds a Roadsports conflict...Thu, 23 Dec 2010 18:04:50 GMT31621Caterham Graduates, Race Calendar 2011:As always, I need to to stress that the following calendar is "provisional", although there is no particular reason to suppose that it will change.2/3 April                 Silverstone (Nat'l?)     x 216/17 April             Snetterton (SN300?)   x 214/15 May              Brands (Indy?)           x 230 May (bank hol)   Mallory                       all class, non-champ, 2 x 10 mins, "Live TV"17/18 June             Donington                  x 19/10 July                Zandvoort                  x 213/14 Aug              Castle Combe             x 110/11 Sept             Pembrey                    x 2 (one at 40 mins)1/2 Oct                   Rockingham              x 2Note that the Mallory round is non-championship (probably with testing on the day before).Also note that all other rounds are two-day race meetings but as yet we have no indication which day(s) we might be racing.  Hopefully, where we have a double-header (which is every round bar Donington and Combe), each class will have one race on each of the two days.  And single-headers will see all of us only needing to be there for one of the days.  But all of that is yet to be ascertained.All races should be "20 minutes + one lap" except where stated (and Zandvoort race length is yet to be determined).So, a 14 round championship calendar, again.  But only 8 weekends - our move towards a more double-header oriented calendar will be popular, I trust.  And the gaps between races are reasonable - the only close gap is the two weeks between the first two rounds (a fairly "busy" start to the season...), but after that only two gaps of three weeks, two of four weeks and two of five weeks (ignoring Mallory).  In fact, after the first two events in April, it's one event per month.  Those needing to do family hols during the schools' summer break will appreciate that there is only one race between mid-July and mid-Sept.It seems to be a reasonable spread of circuits.  As always, there are some omissions that will be missed (Cadwell, Oulton?), but some that we haven't visited for a year or two that will, hopefully, be relished (Donington, Combe, Rockingham).If you are interested in "clashes" with the other Caterham championships, according to their (also provisional) calendars, there are R300 races when we are scheduled to race at Silverstone, Brands, Donington and Pembrey; but no clashes with the Road/Super-sports calendar.Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:27:18 GMT31606Caterham Graduates - 2011 race calendar! Ooops, sorry if that got you salivating. No calendar as yet, but I thought I should just let you know, just in case anyone thought they may have missed it! I have had a draft calendar but I thought it could be improved and have asked BARC to try to do so. Any change could result in wholesale changes, so there is little point in releasing information which may yet change completely! I think, and fervently hope, that we will have something ready to announce next week, but definitely before Christmas.Sat, 11 Dec 2010 18:15:36 GMT31555Enrolment 2011: All members should have recently received an e-mail all about racing in 2011 and how to to enrol. In case you missed it, click the link below to read it!Thu, 25 Nov 2010 11:25:14 GMT31554Caterham Graduates - overseas race 2011:I had said that our "exotic" overseas round was confidential and would be announced later.  And it was - at the Awards Dinner.  But, of course, you were not all there!  The answer is ZANDVOORT.  On 9th/10th July.  Like 2010's Zolder rounds, we are again joining forces with the BRSCC and the other Caterham championships.We had hoped to go back to the greatest circuit in the world - Spa - but driver feedback was that the October date of previous years is not very popular; winter comes early to the Ardennes...  We tried for a Summer date there, but they were not able to confirm it promptly enough.So, Zandvoort.  On the Dutch coast.  Find it on Trackpedia, Wikipedia.From Calais, it's about 30 miles further than Spa.  But there are other interesting routes - it's only 15 miles from downtown Amsterdam, so ferries to/from Rotterdam and Hook of Holland may be viable options.It's far too early for talk of timetables, but it does seem very likely that there will be some sort of testing opportunity on the Friday, if not the Thursday.I am told that, being a seaside location, with some great local attractions, hotels can quickly become fully booked-up, so accommodation may be worth your attention sooner rather than later.Check out some circuit action here (Graeme, earlier this year, getting some sneaky advance practice...) and here (Dutch Caterham Academy).Thu, 25 Nov 2010 10:53:20 GMT31541It is a bit of a tradition that we all meet in the bar next to the main hotel lobby for a pre-awards dinner drink and a few small presentations. So see you all there just before 7pm.Fri, 19 Nov 2010 19:23:11 GMT31436More Results:The Thruxton results have been added to the results page.  And the lap records page updated.And the "Best Consistent Finishers" have been figured out:Megas:  Nobody!  Seven drivers entered every race but only two finished them all - Packman and Shaw.  And they have excluded themselves from getting a BCF pot by winning main championship pots!Supers:  Nine drivers entered all possible races, and four finished them all.  Two (Malkin and Waring) win main championship trophies, leaving Whitehead and Skinner.  Mick Whitehead scored most points and is the "Best Consistent Finisher".Classics:  Impressive stats, given a class of just 23 drivers.  Seven entered all races and five finished them all.  JP and Graeme got main pots, leaving Grace, Harber and Marshall.  Jenny Grace scored most points and is the "Best Consistent Finisher".Thruxton driver of the day (if we had such an award) would perhaps go to Paul Allen.  You may think that all he did was start 7th and finish 7th.  Which is true - but I just noticed Tony Barson's lap chart, which shows Paul getting up to 2nd place after two laps, throwing it away and rejoining 16th, then fighting all the up to the front again by lap 12, only to then sink back to 7th!  So maybe he also deserves plonker of the day...? Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:53:36 GMT31431NEWSLETTER - Thruxton and season's end:Thruxton:So, another year over.  And ended in great style.  There was a brilliant end-of-term feeling at Thruxton.  Very much helped by so many of the championship leaders turning up to race, even though they had little to "prove" and no chance of getting a bigger end-of-year championship pot.  Prior to this race, there had been some grumblings about it being a long way to go for just a single race with no testing.  The flip side of this - although not to everyone's advantage - was that a good number of the "home counties" drivers could do the whole thing in a day without an overnight stay.And "no testing", a problem?  Well, no testing (or none immediately pre-race) means that yesterday's race was the opportunity for Thruxton virgins to get to know the circuit ready for the next time we race there!  Some took that opportunity, some didn't.  But some clearly found that testing wasn't necessary!  Witness Mark Brunning, on his first visit to the circuit, scoring his best Grads finish to date - a very impressive Second in Megas (just one hundredth of a second away from a win - at 80mph, that's about 14 inches!); and it was nice to see Martin Amison back to his race-winning form.  And a superb fourth for Rowan Williams in Classics.  Sibbet's lack of Thruxton knowledge also did no harm as he zoomed to his EIGHTH WIN IN A ROW.  And a lap record!  And congratulations also to JP, who notched up a third win-in-a-row.There was a bit of a contretemps on the Supers' first lap which resulted in a red flag, a longish wait, and the cars of Messrs Kay, Ford, Rome and Mighall unable to take the re-start - my commiserations to all of them.  But apart from that, nothing very untoward to report.The Championship:In the championship, the two remaining tussles for third places were settled - Malkin beating Stanley to the honours in Supers, and Shaw beating Haryett in Megas.  While Somerfield surprised nobody by securing the Sigmas title.Anyhow, the season's final championship tables are now posted up on our site, here.  Please check all your results carefully and let me know if you think there any errors.Awards dinner-dance:And then go and book your AWARDS DINNER-DANCE TICKETS!Donations for Marshals:If you missed it, we made a presentation at Thruxton.  Martin Amison had managed to cajole our drivers into contributing a superb total of 2,000 throughout the year.  And we presented cheques for 1000 each to Trevor Jackson - BARC Chief Marshall - and to Ray Cook, representing the British Motorsports Marshals Club.  Trevor intends to use the cash to provide some much-needed marshals' training aids and orange tabards for trainee marshals.  Ray said that BMMC would be using our cash in various ways to help recruit - and keep - marshals, including a subsidy scheme for their orange overalls.THANKS!It only remains for me to offer up my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped to make this such a good season:  Jamie Ellwood, for all his hard work on our web-site; Karen for her pit-board work and Best Improver calculations; Roger and Yo for sorting out all those trophies and medals; our kind and generous driver sponsors - Jenny's MSAR, Nick Pancisi, Steve Pattemore and Paul Turley; our other sponsors - Easytrack, Yokohama/Polley, Arch, REIS; the many hardworking and down-trodden (!) McMillan Motorsport personnel - Andy, Kevin, Pete, Jimmy, Richard - and one or two others; Gail and Ben for that early morning coffee, 10,000 sandwiches, 40lb of excellent - and nicely rare - roast-beef and a barbecue prepared under atrocious conditions; Sheila for keeping the Club's accounts under control; the Driving Standards Team - JP, Paul M, Charles E (and now, Yo!); Gail (again) for all our branded clothing and gear; the Exec Committee for keeping me in check - Graeme, Nick H and JP; and the Trustee Directors for keeping the Exec in check - Andrew S, Roger, Yo, Bish, Myles, David S and Trevor N; Keith for our scrutineering; JP for dealing with decals.  And, and, and ... oh - EVERYONE!  (Lord help and forgive me if I've overlooked mentioning anyone - it's not deliberate, honestly!)2011:So, next year...???  More of the same, obviously.  No major changes to announce.  Other than to remind our Sigmas (and potential Sigmas in this year's Academy/Roadsports), that they get their own "proper" championship class next year.  The Full 2011 regs won't be issued until the '11 race calendar is fully sorted, probably not until January.  But we will issue, shortly, a summary of principle changes to the regs.  Off-hand, about the most significant changes I can think of are that we will propose allowing Polycarbonate windscreens, and that the (very successful) "Rakeway" half-shaft mod will be mandatory in Classics.The calendar?  Far too early.  But we plan a schedule of 14 races and hope that they will comprise 6 double-headers and only 2 single races.  Where?  Everywhere/anywhere!  But almost certainly including a foray to the continent, again - we just don't quite know where!We hope to open up for 2011 enrolment sometime in November.  So you'll hear from me again quite soon!R300s:If any of you are interested in the ex-Grads' (and some current Grads') performance in R300s, they also had their last race of the season yesterday.  And their championship table can be seen here.  Very, very creditable results for McMillan and Ellwood to take 2nd and 4th places (as well as 2nd in the team championship); and great to see Rowland (7th), Haigh (8th) and Simpson (10th) in the top ten.Oh, and the Thruxton results table, and Best Improvers, etc., will be added to the web-site soon! Mon, 18 Oct 2010 12:55:35 GMT31408October Newsletter - click below to read it now! Note slightly revised Thruxton timetable!!!Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:15:03 GMT31401Thruxton Catering: Reminder: If you are intending to bring guests that will want to avail themselves of our tea/coffee/catering, please be sure to let Gail know, ASAP. E-mail her here.Tue, 12 Oct 2010 21:51:25 GMT31400On your way to Thruxton... You may want to stop off and watch the ex-Grads racers in the final R300 rounds at Donington. Link to the timetable below.Tue, 12 Oct 2010 20:47:21 GMT31382Thruxton access: I am told that we can get access to the paddock at any time on Friday afternoon/evening. And also that the paddock caff/bar will be open on Sat eve.Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:50:20 GMT313649th Annual Caterham Karting Challenge: See here. Despite the fact that this annual event was originally started by our very own CGRC, our results over the last few years have not been so hot...!!! Now is the time for someone out there to put together a team of our very best karters and show these other guys how it's done! It is timed to coincide with the awards dinner-dance, but attendance at the dinner is not mandatory for karting competitors!Fri, 8 Oct 2010 17:21:17 GMT31339Learning Thruxton: There is a way of doing this, on Fri 15th October, but not in your Caterham. See here.Fri, 1 Oct 2010 13:34:03 GMT31332Caterham Motorsport Awards Dinner 2010 See below: Copied from Caterham Car's September edition of "Caterham Life": That&8217;s right, the motorsport season is coming to an end, the nights are drawing in and the legendary Caterham Motorsport Awards Dinner is looming large on the horizon.  Without wanting to blow our own trumpet, we are pretty confident that our end of season party is without a doubt the greatest awards dinner on the planet.  You see, we&8217;ve been to lots of awards dinners over the years &8211; primarily under the thinly veiled excuse of &8220;researching&8221; what other people are doing at their events - to get some ideas for ours.  The thing is, every time we go to an event we just realise that our own get together is already at the top of its game.  For those of you who have never attended, we promise it is much better than anything you&8217;ve been to before.  Forget stuffy, overly formal, more-boring-than-watching-paint-dry black tie dinners; we&8217;re all about having fun, laughing, drinking and dancing the night away.  This celebration is as much for the hard working teams, organisers and long suffering &8220;WAGS & HABS&8221; as it is for the drivers, who after all get to have fun behind the wheel all season!  We try our best to get the small matter of the actual awards ceremony out of the way in a reasonable amount of time as frankly we&8217;d hate for it to impinge on time that is firmly set aside for partying.  Hard.  With the event being limited to just 500 people and tickets selling fast, avoid disappointment by ordering your ticket without delay.  Great fun, brilliant music, lashings of alcohol and lots of laughing; the Caterham Motorsport Awards Dinner 2010.  Good times.  Ticket hotline: 01883 333700. This "party" is not just for "winners", it's for all of us.  Personally, I have not missed one of these since I did the Caterham Academy in 1997, and have always found it to be hugely entertaining (but have not always thought so the next morning...)  And the more Graduates that go, the better it will be!The dinner is on Sat 20th November, at the Copthorne Effingham Park Hotel, near Gatwick.  For accommodation, at preferential rates, call 01342 348882.If you would like to subscribe to "Caterham Life", please e-mail sales@caterham.co.uk with "Subscribe to Caterham Life" in the subject field.Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:33:57 GMT31298Thruxton - entries; "Schedule":By my calculations, 25 of our drivers have entered all of the season's races to date and are thus due their BARC "Loyalty Bonus".  Meaning that their Thruxton entry fee will be just 30.  So if this is you, get your entry in sharpish!I would GREATLY appreciate it if all Racing Members would visit their CGRC on-line "Schedule" and update their entry to show, as accurately as possible, the likelihood that they will be racing at Thruxton.  Do it right away, PLEASE!Mon, 27 Sep 2010 17:36:27 GMT31294Snetterton Results:The Classics, Supers, Sigmas and Megas championship tables have been updated.  And the Snetterton results summary (podiums, FLs, poles, BIs, records, etc.) has been added here.  Please will everyone check their results and report any discrepancies to me ASAP?And championship standings:I've done some sums and it seems to me that a number of the final championship standings are now beyond dispute:It seems that the Classics' top three is now settled thus: 1 Graeme Smith 2 Charles Fitzhugh 3 John ParkerAnd in Supers: 1 James Sibbet 2 Jamie Waring 3 TBD: Stanley or MalkinIn Sigmas (average starters per round now cannot exceed 5, so just one pot - as per 1.7.3 - I regret!): 1 TBD: Somerfield or Gil or DybleMegas: 1 Paul Turley 2 Myles Packman 3 TBD: Haryett, Shaw or CarveyBut there are still the "Best Consistent Finisher" pots to fight over!  Although surprisingly few contenders!  (FYI, BCF is awarded to the highest scoring driver (total scores, no "drop 3" nonsense) in each class who have entered and finished every one of the season's races.  But each class's top three finishers are excluded).  So, in Megas, the BCF competition is now between Milligan and David Shaw.  In Supers, the contenders are Malkin, Whitehead and Skinner.  And in Classics - Grace, Harber and Marshall.Mon, 27 Sep 2010 14:22:08 GMT31282Snetterton weekend! Yes another superb weekend's sport. And very well attended! Despite ridiculously cold and wet weather. Fortunately, there was just enough dampness and "light showers" around to make most of our races "interesting", but there wasn't a really wet Grads race all weekend. Champ tables and results summaries will be published on our web-site tomorrow. Together with my understanding of the championship winners, where applicable. If anyone is trying to figure out championship standings, they should be aware that we had a number of guest drivers racing this weekend - they do NOT score points, so it is important to take that into consideration. They were: Ellwood and Marson in Megas; Pearce, Collier and Sykes in Supers - figure out points for everyone else by deleting these names from the results.Sun, 26 Sep 2010 20:56:34 GMT31267Updated Snett timetable with extra race: http://barc.net/images/stories/pdfs/timetables/HQ1038_SN252609v5.pdfThu, 23 Sep 2010 13:09:58 GMT31254"Extra" race at Snet - tech support - IMPORTANT: Our Technical Support deal with McMillan Motorsport is that they provide support for all our championship events - to get broken cars back out on track for championship races. As you all know, this does not include mending a car that breaks during the last race of the weekend. Once they have sorted out all problems that may have cropped up in qualifying and race 1, their job is done (apart from emergency assembly area and pit-lane support for race 2).And, at Snet, this means that everyone's "last race" is perceived as being our 2nd championship race, not the 30 "Extra" race. So you can NOT rely on Andy's team to mend your car for the extra race, if it should need it. Having said that, if you have a problem after race 2, if you speak nicely to MMM, they may be able to help you out. But CGRC is not paying them to do that, so you must expect to be asked to pay their workshop rate for that extra service.Tue, 21 Sep 2010 23:39:44 GMT31244Snet timetable change - EXTRA RACE!!!Something has just changed, but I don't know exactly what, as yet!  So please watch for a later announcement and a revised on-line timetable.  It might mean an earlier start for some of us.The good news is that the revised timetable has some "slack".  So BARC have volunteered to put on an extra race just for us (all classes).  Estimated to start at around 3pm on Sunday.  And exceptional value at just 30 for a 30 minute race!  (Open only to those who have already entered the championship races).  Pay and sign-on for this race at Snet on Saturday.Tue, 21 Sep 2010 11:54:03 GMT31237Do you want tyres at Snetterton? Our calendar shows that George Polley is scheduled to be at Snet to supply/fit tyres. But right now, he has had no orders whatsoever! He's not too inclined to drag himself there just in case some of you wait until Saturday to decide that you need tyres, so please contact Polley motorsport ASAP if you want tyres at Snet, or else he won't be there! By the way, although George's main aim is to supply our race tyres, he can also supply and fit other Yokohama tyres for your road car - that could be worth trying!Mon, 20 Sep 2010 10:54:35 GMT31228IMPORTANT - Tech Support at Grads races - payment for parts:McMillan Motorsport have advised me that a number of Grads racers have outstanding bills that are well overdue - their standard terms are "7 days from date of invoice".  This could put MMM in a difficult position if any of these drivers want/need parts at our forthcoming Snetterton races weekend.  Why should they provide further parts to anyone who has not paid for previous parts/service?  I have told them that they should feel free to refuse parts to anyone with outstanding bills.  Unless the driver turns up with a cheque to pay the outstanding amount in full, and also to pay for the new parts that are supplied at Snet.  You have been warned...! Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:11:59 GMT31215BARC "loyalty" bonus:There was a posting about this 5 or 6 weeks ago, here, recommending one way of claiming it.  To remind you, the entry fee due for the last round at Thruxton is reduced by 175, to 30, but only if you have competed in all of this season's previous rounds.  So you can't really claim it until you have competed at Snet (since any one of us can suffer a last-minute problem which keeps us off track at Snet - and you'll be better off claiming your Snet refund than your Thruxton loyalty bonus!).  But the Thruxton closing date is the Monday after Snet!But there's an easy answer, which BARC have approved.  Put in your Thruxton entry, on-line, now.  But don't pay.  If you're planning to claim this refund, you must be racing at Snetterton.  And, as it happens, BARC's Competitions Secretary, Nicola, will be our Snet sign-on secretary.  So, take a cheque with you to Snet.  Make it out for 30, payable to BARC.  And write on the back, "Thruxton bonus entry fee, Caterham [xxxx]-Grads, [name], [number]".  And hand it to Nicola at Snet sign-on.  If something goes awry and you don't race at Snet, just don't hand your cheque in. Simples!Tue, 14 Sep 2010 11:48:14 GMT31206Caterham Awards Dinner details & order form now available in "Competitors Info" or call Caterham showroom on 01883 333700Mon, 13 Sep 2010 13:33:48 GMT31183The Graduates "for sale" web-page - please check your advert:Hopefully most of you know about it.  It's here.  There are quite a few race (and some road) cars for sale and a large number of bits and pieces, both for sale and "wanted".  Unfortunately, quite a few of the adverts are getting quite old.  Meaning either that the item is proving hard to sell/find, or that it has already been sold/found and the advertiser has omitted to delete the item!In order to keep this page as useful and up-to-date as possible, all adverts over three months old will be deleted within the next week or so.  So please check your adverts and see if they are still current.  Just in case you may have forgotten, click here and log-in to see if you have an advert.If your ad is over three months old but you wish to keep it on the site, please just re-post the ad and delete the original. Tue, 7 Sep 2010 21:42:23 GMT31180Actually, the Snett race order will be Supers, Classics then Megas (the timetable did say provisional - look out for version 3 soon...)Tue, 7 Sep 2010 16:41:54 GMT31179 Snet timetable change:Please ignore the comment and link about the Snet timetable in my previous "BBQ" mail/posting.  It has now been revised - see here - and shows us racing on both days and all but Megas done by Sunday lunchtime!Tue, 7 Sep 2010 15:33:35 GMT31178Easytrack Caterham Graduates Barbecue at Snetterton - will you be there?We will be holding a BBQ social event in the Snetterton paddock during the evening of Saturday 25th Sept, as previously announced here.It would be a great help if we can get some advance info about how many people to expect.  And Jamie has kindly set up our on-line Schedule to capture that data for us.  Just click here, log-in and click the buttons next to "Snetterton BBQ" to indicate the likelihood of you being there!BUT - it is not easy to alter the Schedule's headings to say different things for different events, so I would like you to try to use the buttons to mean different things than what they actually say!  eg.  Definitely          - tick this to indicate that you intend to be there, with more than one partner/guest/friend  Very probably   - tick this to indicate that you intend to be there, with just one partner/guest/friend  Don't know       - tick this to indicate that you intend to be there, by yourself  Very unlikely     - tick this if you are undecided  Definitely not    - tick this to say you will not be at the BBQYou can revisit the Schedule at any time to update your information, so please do!While you're there - please consider updating your Schedule to show the probability of you racing at the remaining two events, please?  (And you could even set about correcting your past data to show whether you definitely WERE or definitely were NOT at this season's previous 8 events!)Social members (and prospective 2011 members) would be especially welcome at the BBQ, but cannot access the Schedule, regrettably.  So if you are not a Racing Member and are interested in attending the BBQ, perhaps you could drop Andrew Smith a line to let him know.Before committing either way, please check the (provisional) weekend's timetable here and note that it shows us all to have a busy Sunday and a quiet Saturday afternoon!Tue, 7 Sep 2010 14:56:52 GMT31144Grads racing next year:  Format & regsTechnical regulations, 2011:At a recent meeting of the board of the CGRC, next year's car specs were discussed in depth.  It was resolved that we will implement only a very few minor detail changes to the regs, mostly connected with convenience and parts availability, but nothing that will substantially alter performance (with the possible exception of permitting a specific 100 cells-per-inch catalytic converter for Sigma-Graduates, similar to the one already used by Supers and Megas).  After a large amount of consultation, consideration and discussion, it was resolved that both Super-Graduates and Sigma-Graduates will keep their windscreens.Graduates classes, 2011:It was also resolved that, for 2011, the Sigma-powered cars currently running in the Super-Graduates class - and any other incoming Sigma cars from the 2008 to 2010 Caterham Academy series - will have full championship class status and will be known as "Sigma-Graduates", in addition to our existing Classic Graduates, Super-Graduates and Mega-Graduates.  Each of these four classes will have its own totally separate championship points system and table.  2011's Super-Graduates will be for Rover-powered cars only.When we race at the smaller circuits, each of the classes can expect to have its own grid.  At larger venues, it is more likely that our four classes will race on three grids.  When grid-sharing is thus necessary, the CGRC Executive will endeavour - depending on turnout numbers and grid capacity - to vary the two classes that share a grid so that each class gets its own grid as often as is practical.  Our regs already make provision for two classes to share one grid but for the Sigmas, the major difference from 2010 mixed Rover/Sigma Super-Graduates is that when any two classes share one grid in 2011, each class will get it's own section of the grid and all cars in any one class will start separately from the other class.Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:39:25 GMT31143Snetterton Social Event, 25 Sept!As Snetterton is our last double-header of the year (and probably a number of people's last event of the season) we thought we would organise a bit of a get-together on the Saturday night. The plan is to hold a barbecue in the Grads tent from around 7pm onwards, with the usual burgers, sausage, chicken, salad and even a vegetarian bbq option, all hosted by our Catering Supremos Ben and Gail Rockey.We will provide food, plates, tables etc, all you need to bring is your own booze and/or soft drinks. And it doesn't matter if it rains, as the Grads tent is under cover! It should be a great night.To cover costs we will be making a nominal 5 per person charge (a couple of quid for children), I will come round on the Friday and/or Saturday and collect names and fivers from those people wanting to attend. Or come & find me if I miss you somehow. Everyone is welcome including friends, family, general hangers-on and anyone interested in racing with us next year - the more the merrier!Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:28:39 GMT31069Snet testing: A week or two ago, many of you were disappointed to find that the option of booking just a half day testing at Brands was withdrawn shortly before the event. This option is still available for Snetterton on 24th September, but I don't know how much longer it may be there! Click here!Tue, 17 Aug 2010 20:00:23 GMT31044Brands: Analysis? Yes, I linked to the web address that I expect Tony Barson to use for round 10 Graduates race analysis, but they're not available yet, so his system defaults to round 1! Hopefully the link will work when Tony has done his round 10 updates... The results summary, championship tables and lap records page have all been updated so please take a look and check that everything seems to be correct, and let me know if you think it isn't! Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:28:29 GMT31021Brands Paddock space allocation: Still no plan, sorry. But it has been promised for tomorrow AM. We'll see... However, I've been told that: (a) There will be paddock police to "welcome us" and tell us where to park. Joy oh joy. Whether they will be there on Thursday evening remains to be seen. (b) we will be at the far end of the lower paddock - surprise, surprise. But, I am told, we have "all of the far end". Wed, 11 Aug 2010 20:07:41 GMT30996We want your best videos and pictures!As you hopefully saw, here, we have been invited by the MSA to participate with their GoMotorsport.tv site.  This is a great chance for us to generate some publicity for the club (and get your driving prowess up in lights).  Chairman Frost has asked me to look after this for the club, so what we are after is a "greatest hits", ie. your best couple of videos so that we can put a collection of videos from across our classes on the site.Ideally we are looking for some decent quality on-board (or track-side) footage showing some close and exciting racing.  What we are not after is unedited 20 minute files or big crashes!  If you would like to have your footage broadcast to the racing world via the site (and don't forget that MSV, BARC and several other circuit operators have waived their normal restrictions), then please e-mail me.On a related note, it seems like a good time to update the photos we have on the grads website, at the same time.  There are some great photos that crop up now and again - if everyone could send in their best 1-2 pictures we would have a superb library of images for the site and also the rolling gallery on the homepage.  Again, if you could e-mail me any such pictures (pls send them individually) then I will collate the "best of the best" and put them on a disc for Jamie to update the site.Please ensure that you own the copyright of all pics/vid you submit, or that you have the owner's permission to send them.  By sending them to me, you will effectively be declaring that you have the right to do so and that you agree to them being used as described here.  NB. we cannot use video with backing music, for copyright reasons (unless you are the musician and you own the copyright!) Sat, 7 Aug 2010 14:44:15 GMT30966BARC have run a Loyalty Bonus scheme for over a decade, where if you enter all the championship rounds you get the final one free (or nearly free). With the new paperless entry system this year, the scheme hasn't been well publicised nor has it been apparent how to claim it. In previous years, you sent a cheque in for the race entry fee minus the discount this season, you enter the Thruxton round on-line as normal, then let Claire Nixon at BARC know by email (nbush@barc.net) and she'll refund your credit card for 175. If you're still entering with paper forms, you'll have to phone BARC to arrange the discount. On a related note, a number of drivers have been commenting that they were thinking of not entering the Thruxton finale because of the lack of testing. It's a great slipstreamer of a circuit, hacking back to the ballsey tracks of the 60s & 70s, and this is a rare opportunity to race on it (there's only a handful of race dates a year there, most of them for TOCA & BSB). It is relatively easy to learn, with only two braking points (I jumped in a Clubmans car there for a race last month, and was roughly on the pace within half-a-dozen laps). There is instruction on the circuit on the Friday before our race (and also 27th August) in your own normal road-car (but not Caterhams!) or by renting an Elise or Mazda from the circuit - http://www.barc.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28:personal-instruction-sessions&catid=12:thruxton&Itemid=31. There's also experience days at the circuit - http://www.thruxtonracing.co.uk/ Thu, 5 Aug 2010 13:49:47 GMT30965Do you need tyres at Brands?We are now about two-thirds of the way through the season.  So if you are trying to optimize your three-set tyre strategy, it might be about time to get your third set!  Polley Motorsport will be at Brands Hatch on Fri/Sat 13th/14th Aug.  If you want tyres, please contact them in advance and order them.  George is expecting to be there on the Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, but is keen to get away promptly on Saturday - so, when ordering, please tell them when you would like them fitted.Thu, 5 Aug 2010 13:26:03 GMT30946Anglesey!Wow!  A heck of a weekend, again!Classics - metal fatigue:For a few, the weekend started with the trackday on Thursday.  Including Colin Rothwell.  Who had an alarming incident when his A-frame became detached from his differential, while on track, resulting in the whole axle assembly rotating 180 degrees or so, taking out his fuel tank, prop shaft, dampers and a few other bits and pieces.  Post-incident analysis suggests that the lug on the bottom of the diff - the one to which the apex of the A-frame is bolted, via the A-frame bushes - had broken off.  It's just possible that this could have been due to the diff being banged against a high kerb somewhere, but it's more likely that it is down to "old age", possibly helped along by sometimes having been driven with worn bushes (not necessarily by you, Colin) which could result in the A-frame hammering backwards and forwards against the lug.But there was a suggestion that the lug had been cracked for some while.  This car is twelve years old.  And we might have to expect that this sort of thing will simply fail, eventually.  Reminding us all, hopefully, of something I brought up only a few months ago: the benefit of giving our cars a really thorough inspection - thorough enough to spot a critically cracked part before it actually fails.  Which in this case might mean some backbreaking crawling under a car with some rags and an inspection lamp.  Sounds unpleasant.  But perhaps less unpleasant than Colin's recent bills!  The good news is that Colin's Rakeway half-shafts stood up to the abuse!Friday, wet testing:Back to Anglesey circuit.  It's a glorious place and the circuit seemed to be beautifully presented.  A real treat to go there.  With a superb view of the sea and of North Wales' mountains.  When you can see them.  On Friday, we couldn't.  Everyone who spent the night in the paddock, was treated to a dry night, then woken by rain at 8.30.  Rain which barely stopped all day.  The morning sessions could be said to have been in alternating light and heavy showers.  The weather for the later afternoon sessions could only be described as "heavy rain"!  But many Grads went out and got wet and seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves, exploring the limit of grip.  There were a few grassy/muddy cars in the paddock, but to my knowledge, only one, Trevor Newman, hit the tyres hard enough to cause any real damage!My sympathies to Trevor (who was not even in his own car, but was driving Andrew Smith's Super!).  Although he did us a favour in one way, since he then pulled out of the weekend's racing; this together with a phone call from James Sykes saying that he was unable to race on the Saturday meant that Supers would not need the anticipated qualifying race!Saturday, dry racing (mostly...):Saturday dawned dry.  The only weather-related problem which then faced some people was wet kit.  Those brave souls who were in tents had trouble getting Friday's kit dry and unpleasantly found themselves competing in dry weather, but wet race suits.  Yuk!  Top tip: Nobody seems to care about the "spec" of your race suit or helmet, or Nomex underwear on test days - so if you have some "out of date" gear, consider bringing it to use for wet testing.  You may even want to consider buying some cheap or second-hand kit, just for this.We have yet to hear from a volunteer to write elegant race reports, so you will have to put up with these very brief recollections, and piece the rest together from various drivers' forum and Facebook postings, our web-site's results tables, Tony Barson's excellent analyses, and TSL's factual results sheets.The "normal" race order was reversed, with Megas going out first, then Super, then Classics.  Saturday racing was on the shorter "Coastal" circuit.  The Megas race was won by Paul Turley with Guy Halley, guesting in father William's car, a very creditable fourth, after a four year absence from Caterham racing.  The track was slightly damp for Supers, but Waring's FL was within half a second of the lap record.  Steve Humphreys had an "unforced off" and bent his car - MMM thought they could put it back together but scrutineer Keith Marchment ruled that it was too damaged for it to be repaired to a high enough standard to race, so Steve had to sit out the rest of the weekend.  Luke Tzourou trashed his engine.  But was very fortunate to be able to borrow Andrew Smith's engine (since Trevor was no longer going to race it) for the next day's race.  The Classics race was "slightly wet" and won by Graeme Smith, with a fastest lap 7 seconds outside Gillbanks record dry lap.Sunday's racing, dry:Dry all day, in fact.   On the longer International layout.  There was an eventful start to the Megas race, with several cars from the top ten having an unpleasant pile-up at the last hairpin, gifting some easy place gains to the rest of the pack!  The damage didn't seem too severe, with all the cars driving away from the accident and only two retiring because of it.  And Myles Packman scored his first race win!  While Turley's FL scored a new lap record.  New novice driver, Peter Neal, in his first race ever, scored a very creditable 18th place, out of 24 finishers, and also picked up a Best Improver medal (as did I!).  In Supers, Reece Somerfield was again impressive in his Sigma-powered car, running in the top 5, until something broke and he parked up.  Stanley and Young had an unfortunate coming together on lap one, and both retired.  Whitehead took the lap record and Sibbet took yet another win.  The Classics race was perhaps the best race of the whole weekend, frequently featuring 6 cars hurtling around just feet apart.  There were several firsts: a first pole and first podium for Justin Cox, and a first 2nd place finish for Jennifer Grace. although Gillbanks' record remained unbroken.The PA Commentary:Was hardly above "dire" for most of our races.  You are all reminded that most commentators welcome input from the various championships and if you ever want to have a go at the microphone, let me know and we can put you in touch and try to get you up in the commentary box!On-track:Weaving:  You are all reminded that MSA rules require that you should use no more than half the track when "weaving" to warm up your tyres on the "green flag" lap.  I think I saw one or two cars using the full width, which is not permitted.  I also saw some drivers not in the correct order on the green flag lap, also wrong!Retiring:  If you unexpectedly need to park your car during a race (or qualifying), there are two things that you should consider: (1) your safety, (2) everyone else's safety.  For everyone's safety (and perhaps to avoid a red flag), try to park off the circuit, preferably as far away from the tarmac as you can possibly go.  For you own safety, try to park at a point from which you can easily, and safely, get to a marshal's post or behind a safety barrier - it's especially useful to park near the marshals because they always have fire extinguishers!  One or two of you didn't quite manage one, or both, of these at Anglesey...!Driving Standards:I overheard one or two grumbles about one or two drivers in the paddock, post race.  I will remind you that slagging off a driver to your mates in the paddock is unlikely to result in a change or improvement to his driving.  We have a driving standards system (see it on our web-site's Members Area page) which was created specifically to address this sort of thing.  If you see some on-track driving which you consider might be dangerous, unfair, or just plain wrong, put in a complaint.  Even if it does not directly affect or hinder you.  It can never be wrong.  If the incident that you report was a rare one-off for that particular driver, the chances are that nothing will result from your report.  But if yours is one of several (or many!) received about the same driver, action needs to be taken, and will be.  This system is good; it works if you all use it; if you don't use it, it certainly will not work!Acknowledgements:I'll close by thanking those who did (and often do) something specific to help make it a great weekend:  Gail and Ben for the catering; Andy, Richard, Kevin and Jim for the tech support; Roger and Yo for the trophies; Karen and Graeme for pit-wall lap-boards and Best Improver calculations; David Guy for helping with the AGM; JP for decals, Driving Standards and the new drivers' briefings.  But also to all of you who helped to make it a great weekend by just being there and being great supporters of this club - THANK YOU!Wed, 4 Aug 2010 00:34:02 GMT30945Brands Hatch - how many will be racing?Here we go again.  More nagging.  Sorry.  But, as ever, there seems to be too many drivers who have yet to decide whether they will race at Brands, or not.  According to our on-line Schedule.  Which does not help us to figure out whether or not we need to consider sorting out qualifying races.  Your urgent attention to your data in your on-line Schedule would be very much appreciated!Tue, 3 Aug 2010 22:34:22 GMT30905Anglesey - The AGM:There was a healthy Q & A session at the AGM, but the main business was, of course, the election of the CGRC's board directors.  You will recall that three directors were to retire, as required by our rules, but all were standing for re-election (Yo Humphreys, Andrew Smith, Graeme Smith).  These three were joined by two new candidates who had offered their services to the members (Myles Packman, David Shaw).  Thus we were required to elect three directors from a choice of five.But there was an interesting last minute change.  Just minutes before the AGM, Trevor Newman, who was first elected to the board in 2007, also at Anglesey, tendered his resignation.  On behalf of the board, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Trevor for his three years of service.This last minute change meant that we now had to elect four directors from our five candidates.  And this suddenly added some spice to the election, as it meant that at least one of our new candidates was bound to succeed.  Anyhow, I'm waffling, time to tell you all the result.  But I'm struggling to find the right words.  Maybe I can just describe the result as "bittersweet".Because both our new candidates were elected, and I believe that both have a lot to offer to the club and I am delighted to have them on board.  But this meant that one of the other three board members had not been elected and that their term of office was at an end.  And although I am delighted to welcome "new blood" to the board, I am actually very happy with the "old blood" and had no desire for any of them to be replaced.  I am also sure that our new directors, although keen to serve, also had no particular wish for any one of the directors to be removed from office, although it was going to be an obvious consequence of their success.As it happens, the director thus replaced was Yo Humphreys.  About which, I was shocked and bitterly disappointed.  And judging by the mood and comments around the paddock afterwards, so was everyone else!  I feel sure that there was no deliberate "anti-Yo" vote, but just a few too many people who wanted to see what our new candidates could offer.  Yo was also first elected in 2007 and has done a lot of work for the club over her three year tenure (much of which was in the background and thus many of you were unaware of it) and, personally, I always valued her contributions at board meetings.  On behalf of the board and the whole club, I offer my very sincere thanks to Yo for everything she has done for us - and my sincere wish that she will treat the next 12 months as a "holiday" and stand for election back into the fold next year!  She will be greatly missed.As required, the new board met immediately after the AGM to appoint from amongst its nine members, the four-man Executive who will lead the club for the next year.  One of the Executive offered to stand down to make way for new blood, but there were no takers and your Executive remains as before - myself, Graeme Smith, Nick Haryett and John Parker.  My thanks to the other three for agreeing to put up with another year of nagging from me! Mon, 2 Aug 2010 09:50:16 GMT30897Seemingly weird question: Has anyone out there ever completed an "Outward Bound" course. If so, please contact me.Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:36:24 GMT30894 Anglesey - Supers, over subscribed: Qualifying race?It looks as though we will have 34 entries for Anglesey.  Circuit race grid capacity is 38 on the "International" layout on Sunday, but only 32 on the "Coastal" on Saturday.  Saturday Qualifying capacity is 32 + 20% = 38, so at least everyone can qualify together.  But then we have a problem, if more than 32 cars/drivers are still ready, willing and able to compete at the end of Saturday's qualifying.A problem, but not a new nor insurmountable one.  It means having a qualifying race.  Supers is the second of our races, after Megas, with a reasonable time gap between them (about one hour of "paddock time"), and the max number of Megas we expect is 28.  So there will be at least four empty spaces on the Megas' grid.  So, Supers can do a qualifying race with the Megas.  Our provisional plan is that the qualifying race will be for the three Supers with the slowest qualifying time.  The other 31 cars will be allocated grid positions as usual, but slot 32 will be the one that the other three are racing for.  They will race with the Megas, starting behind all the Megas, and the one Super who finishes in front of the others will take Supers' grid slot P32.If you see more than 32 cars on the Supers qualifying sheet and your name listed as 32nd fastest, or slower, it seems as if you will be in the qualifying race - we'll come and find you and tell you what you need (or don't need) to do.So, everyone gets a race on Saturday, but one driver may get two races (for no additional fee)! If perchance we should get 35 entries, we will amend the above so that the qualifying race accommodates the slowest four Supers.  If dropouts, or crash-outs, reduce the number of Supers to 32 or fewer, by the end of qualifying, we can abandon all of the above and go back to "Plan A"!Which is the prime reason for posting this: any entered Super who withdraws or drops out, either because they suddenly cannot get to Anglesey or because of a problem in testing or Saturday qualifying, is asked to contact any of the Exec (Nick Frost, Nick Haryett, John Parker, Graeme Smith) and tell them about it ASAP, OK?  That way, we can avoid running around unnecessarily organizing an unnecessary qualifying race!Note that one of the Supers entries is a "guest" driver - James Sykes, who many of you will remember from previous years' Super-Grad racing.  It would not be right that championship contenders are forced to undergo a qualifying race if the only reason is to make space for a guest.  So, if we end up with exactly 33 cars ready to race, and one of them is James, he will be asked to step down so that the championship Supers can have a "normal" championship race.The more thoughtful among you might think that a possible solution would be to use this as an opportunity for the Sigmas to run separately from the rest of the Supers.  Yes, it would.  They could run with the Classics, for example.  Except that this doesn't work within our MSA championship regs.  The system for allocating championship points to Sigmas is based on the fact they race with all the other Supers - there is no defined mechanism for awarding points for a "Sigmas only" race, so we can't do it.  Simples.Finally, all Supers should be aware that it could be you who has to do a qualifying race (after all, anyone could break down on their first qualifying lap), and should consider that they may then need access to ten litres more petrol than they otherwise would!Regards, Graeme Smith, Secretary, Caterham Graduates Racing Club Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:10:56 GMT30882The five candidates for three places on the Club's board in this coming weekend's election at our AGM: Yo Humphreys I joined the club in 2007, having first competed in the 2006 'Formula Woman' Championship. I specificallychose the CGRC because of its friendly and helpful attitude towards new members, and I was not disappointed! I am currently a member of the club's board, serving as a trustee director for the past three years. During this timepossibly my greatest contribution was perhaps raising over 1500 for our adopted charity, TCT. I am passionate about making new members feel welcome and try to ensure, where possible, the opinions ofnew our members are used to help the club continue to develop as the front running club in which to race yourCaterham. You will be aware (if you've seen my results) I believe in racing for enjoyment. Affordable racing is always my priority and I willcontinue to ensure we get the very best possible package available for our members. I am very proud of the club and the membership which makes the club what it is and would very much like to be given the opportunityto continues to help it grow. Myles Packman First raced with the club in 2006 and have competed in Megas (with one "guest appearance" in Supers) sincethen. Now that I'm doing all the rounds I'm keen to contribute more to the running of the club. I've always beenactive on the forum and in providing suggestions and ideas to the Exec so this seems like a logical step.Over the last year I've promoted the idea of varying our timetables so we all have our share of dawnscrutineering and late races. In addition I was vocal in my opposition to the Megas' engine upgrade as itappeared to risk increasing reliability issues without making the racing closer.My "manifesto":* Focus on maintaining and improving the best (and best value) UK club racing* Work to keep costs down wherever possible* Make best and most efficient use of race weekends* Give Sigmas more recognition as a separate class* Introduce a volunteer press officer to promote the club and expand our online presence* Reinvigorate the promotion of the club to potential new drivers* Work with sponsors such as Arch to provide deals for club members* Be available to represent the views and ideas of all members of the club David Shaw Mega 40. Married with 3 kids and work as a teacher of Design & Technology. I have been racing with theGraduates Racing Club for the past 4 years in both the Supers and Mega classes and have raced in otherseries (Porsche 924's, Tomcat Vento Challenge, MGF Cup) for over 10 years.I am very enthusiastic about Graduates Racing and its continuing success and feel I would like to offer myservices and get more involved with the running of the series. I have helped out McMillan Motorsportoccasionally so have quite a good knowledge of the cars and needs of the drivers, technical support and theclub.I am keen to promote 'self help' checklists for drivers with set-up advice, simple maintenance checks and 'whatto look out for' to maximise the weekends enjoyment with the minimum of problems!I also wish to work with the board to look at new ways to develop the reliability of the cars and find cost effective ways of keeping thecars running with even performance. Having previously worked as a Design Manager for a metal fabrication company I feel that I havethe skills combined with racing experience to do this. Andrew Smith I started racing in Classic Grads in 2005 and have raced in all our classes.  After 5 pretty much full seasons Iam having a bit of time off and only doing a few races this year, though I still attend almost every event. I havebeen the club&8217;s &8220;new drivers&8221; person since 2006 &8211; a role I created - as it&8217;s important we encourage and helpnovices to come racing with us.I have served on the board as a trustee director for the past 2 years, and have been very keen thatthe membership gets more say in the decision-making &8211; hopefully you&8217;ll have noticed morequestionnaires/canvassing opinion recently!  I have also been taking the lead in helping the board come up witha long-term strategy for the club, with the various challenges that entails.The same things remain important to me as when I was elected in 2008 - that the playing field remains level, we have the safestracing we can, and that costs are kept down.  But above all that we keep our great club spirit both on and off the track, where aweekend&8217;s racing is something to be looked forward to and enjoyed. Graeme Smith I've been racing with Graduates since 1999, and was co-opted to the management committee in 2000.  I wasChairman of CGRC from 2002 to 2004, before handing back over to Nick Frost.  Along with Nick, I&8217;m one of theBARC drivers&8217; reps, feeding back issues to BARC to improve our racing.  I recently represented a Grads driverin a judicial protests - and won!I&8217;m one of the points of contact for new members and attend, and minute, all board meetings.  In 2005, Iinstigated overseas championship races at Spa and, after several years of trying, arranged last year&8217;s races onBrands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.  I&8217;m currently negotiating a return to Spa Francorchamps for 2011.I liaise with race organisers over all the details to ensure smooth running of our events, such as  timetabling,qualifying races, qualifying arrangements & correcting timing errors,  and have organised marshal&8217;s rewards. With Karen, we do thelapboard for all racers and calculate the best improvers.  I&8217;ve been  a big defender of the Classics class, ensuring its survival &growth, and did much of the &8220;fetching & carrying&8221; for the Rakeway axle upgrade. (note: only Racing Members who attend in person are permitted to vote)Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:15:09 GMT30862Anglesey, AGM, Election of board members: See earlier posting here. Closing date for nominations is TOMORROW. Don't be shy!Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:50:29 GMT30860Brands Hatch Closing date This coming Monday, 26th July (three days hence)! (See here)Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:42:07 GMT30853Race Schedule - update your info for Anglesey - please!We need to finalize our plans for Anglesey and it would be a great help to know exactly which drivers are intending to race there.  Currently, it seems as if 16 drivers haven't actually made up their minds - by now, I would expect almost everyone's entry in our on-line Race Schedule to say either "Definitely" or "Definitely not", although I accept that there might be a good reason for just one or two to still be "Don't Know".PLEASE help us to help you by ensuring that your schedule data is correct.  It couldn't be much simpler, just click here, log-in, and click the appropriate buttons next to each race.  While you're there, please check not only your Anglesey data, but also see if you can provide more accurate information about your intentions for the rest of the year.  And, since it provides useful data about past race entry levels, perhaps you could even check that your data for all the past 2010 races really matches your actual attendance (how can anyone still be a "Don't know" for the Easytrack day at Oulton????)  It seems to me that at least 29 of you have incorrect historical data, which makes me worry about the accuracy of the data for the remaining events!So PLEASE - EVERYONE - don't just assume your schedule data is correct, click the link and CHECK IT!(If you have mislaid or forgotten your Members' Area log-in details, contact me)Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:49:28 GMT30848ANGLESEY, PROVISIONAL TIMETABLESATURDAY &8211; COASTAL CIRCUITPRACTICE               Sign on          Scrutineering              Practice2. Megas                 08:55            09:05 &8211; 09:30          10:20 &8211; 10:355. Supers                10:05            10:15 &8211; 10:45          11:20 &8211; 11:357. Classics               11:00            11:05 &8211; 11:30          12:15 &8211; 12:30RACING                  Laps/Time                                       Start2. Megas                 16 Laps                                          13:306. Supers                16 Laps                                          15:20 (est)8. Classics               15 Laps                                          16:40 (est)SUNDAY &8211; INTERNATIONAL CIRCUITPRACTICE               Practice2. Megas                 10:20 &8211; 10:355. Supers                11:35 &8211; 11:507. Classics               12:15 &8211; 12:30RACING                  Laps/Time                                       Start2. Megas                 12 Laps                                          13:30 (est)6. Supers                12 Laps                                          15:45 (est)8. Classics               11 Laps                                          16:45 (est) Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:33:15 GMT30847http://www.gomotorsport.tv/This is a newish web-site provided by the MSA specifically for its member clubs (which we are) to upload motorsport videos to promote our club in particular, and the MSA and motorsport in general.  I have registered as the CGRC's "publisher" and uploaded one video.  If you click on "Circuit Racing" and then on "Caterham Graduates Racing Club", you can view it.  If you do view it, please click on the "stars" to the LH side of the video to "vote" for it (and preferably click on the 5th star to vote "5 stars") so that other people viewing this site may see our videos in the "Top Rated Videos" category!The one video I have uploaded was filmed by Julia Marryat.  As I am not a video camera user; I have very little other video, and none to which I have any "rights".  And I know that the vast majority of our race videos will be in-car and, of course, it is not permitted for any of us to publish on-circuit video on the internet.  Or it wasn't until now!  I have been in contact with both BARC and MSV and they have kindly granted blanket permission for CGRC to publish - to this site only - their in-car video from any of their eight circuits.  I will endeavour to get the same permission from the other circuits at which we have raced.Very few clubs, certainly in the field of "Circuit Racing" seem to have started using this site yet, so we can get a massive "head start" if we upload loads of our videos!But this is not my speciality!  Although I think there might be one or two members out there who enjoy nothing better than messing around with this sort of stuff.  So, I wondered whether anyone out there would like to volunteer to take over as our official gomotorsport.tv publisher and make it their business to collect clips from all and sundry and publish them?  Please get in touch if you want to have a go!Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:44:15 GMT30814MSAR-Safety:Many of you now know of our generous sponsors - MSAR-Safety - and of their sales executive, Classics racer Jenny Grace, and who they are and what they do, but there may be a few of you who don't, so I thought I would just take a moment to explain.They supply motorsport equipment, from seats, harnesses, fire extinguishers, race clothing, HANS to gaffa tape and race numbers.  They have been busy updating their website and adding more products to their catalogue so if you haven't looked in a while, why not take a little look at the new website layout - www.msar-safety.com?One of the new schemes you will find on there is 'Try before you buy HANS'.  If you are thinking about a HANS device and would like to try one out, why not take a look here http://www.msar-safety.com/detail.asp?p=987&o=HANS_Try_Before_You_Buy?They also have NEW accessories for the GoPro HD cameras.  Coloured silicone covers so you can match to the colour of your car or just make yours individual so it stands out!  Jenny, of course, has a pink one!!Also just to let you know that Jenny takes a selection of products with her to most race meetings, so if any of you want to try on race underwear or gloves or have a look at HANS device, etc. she normally has a selection with her.  If there is something specific that you would like to try, like a helmet, if you let her know in good time before the next race meeting, she can make sure she takes that with her.  If you have any questions you can contact Jenny on jen_msar@yahoo.com or 07912 842 320 Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:06:31 GMT30808Plum Pudding races, Boxing Day, Mallory Park:Yes, already!  Some drivers claim this to be the best race of the year - it's certainly better than sitting around eating turkey curry and watching The Great Escape...  And, at £100 for two races, exceptionally good value.  Regs and entry form here (thanks, Jamie).Note that grid positions for race one are created by order of receipt of entries!!!!!! Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:53:48 GMT30805Anglesey - closing date: Monday, three days hence.Fri, 9 Jul 2010 12:45:51 GMT30794CGRC Directors - duties and responsibilities: Hopefully, some of you are considering running for "office", but may be wondering what is involved. I won't bore all of you by telling you here, but I have put together a summary and will happily send it to anyone who would like to see it - please let me know.Tue, 6 Jul 2010 23:36:13 GMT30790Nominations For Board Election: Anyone who wants to put themselves forward as a candidate for election to the Grads board should do so by emailing me at the address below by 5pm on 24th JulyTue, 6 Jul 2010 13:09:46 GMT30788CGRC - 2010 AGM - Anglesey:As usual, the Club's board have chosen to hold the AGM on the Saturday afternoon of a double-header race meeting.  Members can find the formal AGM notice and agenda here.There will be the formal business of approving the minutes of the last AGM and presenting the board's report and accounts for 2009 and then the election of board members.  The formal notice has more information about the election and nomination procedure.  If you would like to be more involved in the way the club is run, consider standing for office, please!If any of you have any queries about the 2009 accounts, please consider raising them over the next few weeks rather then waiting until the AGM. Tue, 6 Jul 2010 12:52:49 GMT30777Easytrack day at Snett, Mon 20th Sept:Easytrack are offering this day (5 days before we race there) at a special price for us. See the email I just sent to all Racing Members and  here.Mon, 5 Jul 2010 16:21:05 GMT30774Anglesey testing: I have just booked mine. Contrary to earlier reports, the Friday test session (30th July) will not be run only on one circuit configuration - they will use one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. This could sell out, so early booking is advised! See here.Mon, 5 Jul 2010 15:56:54 GMT30712On-line donations to our marshals' fund: Now set up by our excellent webmaster - see RH side of our Members' Page!Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:29:13 GMT30710750MC Birkett 6 hour relay race, Silverstone GP circuit, 30th Oct 2010:The biggest ever - 60 teams to commemorate this race's 60th anniversary. It should be one heck of a race!  Info here.  And precedence usually goes to the earliest entries.  (for more Birkett "background", type "Birkett" into our forum's search facility).Thu, 24 Jun 2010 07:58:41 GMT30705CGRC cash collection for marshals:Martin Amison was touring the Oulton paddock on Saturday, asking for donations.  He collected the very creditable total of 965 and 260 Euros, (which we will exchange for 214) making a total of 1,179.  Quite a good start, considering that about half of you said you would pay him next time!  For those that missed him, his "suggestion" was for donations of around 40.  But he/we will also take your left-over Euros!Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:17:34 GMT30704Oulton Park:The championship tables have been updated, and also the results summary page.  For clarity, the Sigmas now have a championship table all to themselves!  And new lap records for every class.  PLEASE will everyone check their own results in the tables and let me know of any discrepancies.  (It must be dead easy for one person to check their own points allocation - a maximum of just 7 scores so far - compared with the effort needed for one person to double check everybody else's - 466 scores so far!).Oulton gave us yet another great day's sport, helped by yet more fine weather - although Sunday's wall-to-wall sunshine might have been even better...  There was a little rain during Friday's afternoon testing, but nothing too calamitous.  I think the races were notable for the distinct shortage of DNFs - just one in the Supers' race.  And, apart from that one incident, I think there was only one lost wing.  Well done everyone!Congratulations to Luke Tzourou who scored a first podium; and to Neil Shinner for getting himself onto the lap records page.Time to set our sights on Anglesey, almost 6 weeks away.  Where we will again be racing on two different circuit layouts.  So there will be one qualifying session and one race on Saturday, and the same again on Sunday.  And the highlight of the year (!!!???) - the club's AGM, scheduled for the end of the racing day on Saturday.  For those that don't know, the main focus of the AGM has always been election of three members of the club's board - if you think you have something to offer, it's time to consider "running for office"!  More AGM details to follow.Before that, we have the non-champ race(s) at Rockingham.  PLEASE will ALL OF YOU get your on-line Race Schedule up to date to indicate your intentions for the Rockingham and Anglesey races!Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:23:04 GMT30680Rockingham non-champ race(s) - 3/4 July:You have a choice!  A Saturday-only single race for 210, or a two day double-header for 360.  20 min qualy at 9.55am on Sat, then 20 min race at 2.05pm.  Race 2 on Sunday at 11.15, also 20 mins.Full timetable for the weekend here (includes three R300 races, Academy, Roadsports and Supersports!).Paper entry form - download here.Our on-line Schedule suggests that the entry won't be huge, but I suggest that all interested drivers get their entry in promptly, eg. immediately after our Oulton races - if entries are too thin by middle next week, BRSCC could decide that it's just not worth doing.By the way, this would be a good time for everyone to update their on-line Schedule to show their Rockingham intentions more exactly.  And, of course, whether or not they actually intend to be at Oulton this weekend!Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:08:58 GMT30677WARNING: Just a reminder of what happened last year at Oulton when Andy Mac and Trev had things stolen from their unlocked vehicles in the paddock on raceday. Keep you cars locked and valuables out of sight.Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:40:32 GMT30673Grads non-champ races at Rockers, 3/4 July: It looks as if this WILL go ahead. More news/info later. Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:21:13 GMT30672Oulton Park access times/info:I am advised that access into and out of the circuit will be possible at the following times- Thursday evening: from 5.30pm to 11pm- Friday: 7am to 11pm- Saturday: 7am to 9pm    No access at all on Sunday.Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:23:24 GMT30667Race-prep:Life's too short, isn't it?  If you were racing at Zolder, you probably feel that you have only just got back.  And it will seem that you need to get ready for Oulton Park tomorrow.  Sorry about the short gap between races (we do try to get at least three weeks between races, but it never seems quite possible to get that throughout the whole season).Anyhow, if you're only just getting around to thinking about preparing your car for Oulton, you've left it a little late!  But please give your car as thorough an inspection as you can.  Because, I regret to say, McMillan Motorsport have commented that they had one or two car problems brought to them at Zolder which really should have been found if anyone had done a halfway decent pre-race check of the car.  And please remember that the CGRC has told McMillan that they have no obligation to fix problems if they are of a type that should have been found by your pre-race prep.MMM also commented that they were asked to work on several cars which were very dirty.  Not just muddy wings but greasy and oily undercarriage and engine compartment.  That's a problem for two reasons:(a) it means that the mechanics get grubbier than they should have to when fixing your car, but more importantly -(b) it illustrates that the car had not been thoroughly checked before being taken to Zolder.  Because you cannot reasonably expect to spot a loose or damaged wire or pipe in the engine compartment if everything's caked in old oil.  Nor will you spot a cracked wishbone or DeDion if they are covered in cr*p.If you walk around a race paddock, you will get some idea of how it's done, especially if you watch some of the old-hands with old race cars at work.  Between races, they will get busy with a clean(ish) rag and a squirt of WD-40 to clean every inch that they can possibly get at.  Not just for the pleasure of driving a smartly presented car, but because it's the most reliable way of finding those tiny broken bits that they know can cost them a race finish.So, clean your car, at the very least - at least we might then think that there's a possibility that you have properly inspected it.  I have told McMillan that if they are asked to work on a car which has obviously been taken on circuit in a very unclean state, they should consider selling the driver a bottle of Gunk and telling him to take his car away and come back in half an hour when the car is acceptably clean!  If this happens to you, you will have only yourself to blame!Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:36:13 GMT30666Oulton Park - driver catering "extras":Gail needs to know, very soon, about any additional bodies you may be taking to Oulton, if you want her to feed and water them.  Please e-mail her, ASAP.Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:29:27 GMT30650Rockingham non-champ races, 3/4 July: Currently, the proposed Rockingham non-champ race(s) seem unlikely to happen, with only 13 drivers showing a significant interest. But there are still 53 drivers who have not expressed any indication either way. PLEASE can all of you visit your on-line Race Schedule and enter data about your Rockingham intentions (and about other races, like this coming weekend at Oulton)! If you want to race at Rockingham and you know people who show on the Schedule as not yet having submitted their data, perhaps you want to get in touch with them and suggest that they do so. If we don't have a clear mandate within the next few days, the Rockingham plan will be abandoned.Sat, 12 Jun 2010 10:02:06 GMT30628Non-champ races at Rockingham, 3/4 July:All Racing Members have just been sent an e-mail telling them all about the possibility of non-champ races at Rockingham, and asking them to indicate their degree of interest, and date/format preference by entering data into their on-line Schedule.  Please read it and respond ASAP! Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:07:58 GMT30622Post-Zolder (and pre-Oulton Park) race prep:BRAKES:  Some of you may have noticed that Zolder was very hard on brakes.  Not surprisingly, since most of us did more than two hours track-time, perhaps 70 or more laps, and each lap included four places where we braked from 100mph-ish to 30mph-ish.  I suggest that all Zolderists inspect their pads ASAP and, if necessary, place their order for replacements ASAP.  Remember that you cannot rely on McMillan having spare pads for you at Oulton if you do not order in advance.  Also bear in mind that MMM's standard technical support deal does not include fitting brake pads.  If you want them to fit pads for you, at Oulton, for a fee, make sure you talk to them about this in advance!OIL:  Zolder was also very hard on engines - the combination of very hot weather and close slipstreaming over 30 minute races led to quite a few cars getting quite hot.  Prolonged excessive engine heat can lead to oil breakdown, so consider the "preventative maintenance" of doing an oil/filer change before your next race!Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:08:36 GMT30570Zolder safety car. Our regs, section 3.13, permit the use of a saftey car at the discretion of the Clerk of the Course. It is highly likely that our races WILL use a safety car if necessary. A safety car has been used at our previous Spa races and is preferable to red flags and race stops.Wed, 2 Jun 2010 12:01:15 GMT30565Zolder finals - now on-line: Our inexhaustible webmaster, Jamie, has done his stuff, as usual. See the first three items under "Race and Testing Info" in "Comp info"!Regards, Nick Frost, Chairman, Caterham Graduates Racing ClubTue, 1 Jun 2010 18:07:20 GMT30563Zolder final regs: I have scanned them and can find nothing of any special interest, or that is likely to take anyone by surprise. You may notice that the regs say we are running under FIA regs and those of the DMSB (the German "MSA"), which might seem to imply the need for full FIA-spec driver apparel. But Caterham's Simon Lambert assures me that all the scrutineering is being done by Brits and that only MSA regs will actually be applied...! C-o-C and Stewards are also Brits!!!Note that our "usual" fastest-lap/second-best-lap system will be used to detrermine our grid positions.Tue, 1 Jun 2010 17:25:04 GMT30559Latest Zolder info:Paddock access times:Tomorrow, Weds, eve:  Only up until 7pm.  No idea if that is the same on the following evenings.  No garage access until Thursday.Garages:A bit of a muddle, I very much regret.  With a possibility that not all of our full complement of 13 garages will be available on the Friday.  I will be endeavouring to sort it all out on Thursday!  Look for signs on garage doors when you get there. Finals You should all just have received your "final instructions" by e-mail from BRSCC.Tue, 1 Jun 2010 14:34:24 GMT30557Doing our bit for the Marshals:Marshals?  You know, the guys (and gals) in the orange suits.  Those people that stand at potentially dangerous locations at the side of the circuits - come rain, snow or sun-stroke.  Always with a fire extinguisher within reach and always ready, willing and able to do whatever they can to make your motorsport safer.  Without whom, we would not be able to race at all.  All for no reward.  Or next to nothing.And that's where we come in.  What do they want?  Well, when asked, they say that cash isn't the issue - which is just as well, because we couldn't afford to pay them even as much as 10% of what they're worth.  What they want is acknowledgement, respect and appreciation.  The acknowledgement costs nothing, and most of you are getting the hang of acknowledging them with a friendly post-chequer toot of the horn!So, cash isn't the issue, but what better way to illustrate your appreciation then by donating your hard-earned cash?!  Every year we make a cash collection for their benefit.  And use it in various ways, intended to show them that we, at least, appreciate them.  We have used your cash donations in previous years in various ways.  For example, we have funded marshals' breakfasts when we knew that the organizers/venues were not supplying them.  We have funded some generous raffle-prizes, such as the supercar driving experience we funded at Mallory Park one year.  We have provided CGRC hats for a whole circuit-full of marshals.  etc. etc.  The point is that we provide stuff for the marshals at our races.  Providing a direct reason for them to choose to marshal our race-day rather then going somewhere else.  Little by little, we may even be gathering a small core of marshal loyalty.  So that when there are a lot of races on one day and the marshals are "spoilt for choice", there's a good chance that just enough of them choose to come to where we are racing! MONEY, PLEASE! So, contributions please!  Please dig deep into your pockets and see how much you can find.  The size of the contribution is entirely up to the individual but, as a guide, 40 for the season looks like amazing value given that it works out at about 3 per race?Our very own Martin Amison, star of the Mallory "TV races", has again volunteered to take on the thankless task of going around with the "hat" at our next few rounds - please make a point of finding him and thrusting as much cash into his "hat" as you can possibly afford.  Martin is a lawyer, and therefore thoroughly trustworthy...Here's an idea:  If you discover on Sunday, at Zolder, that you've got 30 or 40 more Euros in cash than you need for the journey back to Calais, you'll probably realise that it's barely worth the effort of taking them to the Bureau de Change; but if a few dozen of us all give our "few" Euros to Martin, it would certainly be worth his while to go to the bureau, for the marshals' benefit!Tue, 1 Jun 2010 01:33:29 GMT30552Zolder garages: JOS (and everyone else): I was going to put out a note about this anyhow. We just need one person from every "garage group" to book a BookaTrack garage. That person then "owns" the garage for the day and is free to share it with as many others as they wish (so, for a group of four, the garage-hirer could expect to be able to collect a tenner from the other three sharing his garage!)Mon, 31 May 2010 19:38:49 GMT30548Things you need for Zolder: You could do worse than use Jenny's excellent check list!Sun, 30 May 2010 11:52:11 GMT30547Zolder: Getting thereBy road from Calais (or Dunkirk), there is a choice of two obvious routes.  E40 (A16, A18, A10) to Gent.  Then either:- E17 (A14) to Antwerp, around the ring-road, and then E313 (A13) to the A2 junction- E40 (A10) to Brussels, around the ring-road, and then E40 (A3) to Leuven then E314 (A2) to the A13 junctionFrom the A2/A13 junction, it's just 2 miles East on the A2 then take first right turn onto the N729.  The circuit entrance should be less than a mile down there, on the RH side.Both those routes seem to be about 180 miles from Calais.  One is quicker, I expect.  But I don't know which!  My instinct says Antwerp will be less congested than Brussels, but I don't know for sure - can anyone offer any better information?Sun, 30 May 2010 11:35:53 GMT30546Mallory DVDs: I have a Mallory Park "highlights" DVD for each of the drivers who were in the "Motors TV" race. Please collect from me at Zolder. (Or your next race).Sun, 30 May 2010 11:17:09 GMT