BSCRA Annual Council Meeting – 5 November 2023 (Zoom meeting)
Those present -
Apologies Kev Gray (Membership
Secretary), James Cleave (Development Officer) , Will Stemman (Safeguarding),
Chairman's Report
Mark Witham thanked all the officials and volunteers.
Racing has returned to something near normal both Nationaly and at most clubs, although numbers still haven't recovered to pre Covid levels for many races.
Treasurer’s report
The Association income approximately covered its costs in 2023 despite suffering a steep rise in energy costs.
Our main expenditure is the National centre and track. The rent is the largest single
item. Once again we benefited from trophy sponsorship which as always is much appreciated.
Overall the pre-
Membership fees for 2024 will remain at £13 Adult & Club & £6.50 Junior.
Entry Fees
for National events will remain at £24 per person per class adult : £12 per class
junior: £90 for the team of 4 in the club team event.
Some reductions in entry fees were agreed where there were two events in one day;-
The
Production Challenge and F2 race will be held on the same day, entry fees for adults
will be £20 per person for one of the classes, £30 per person for both classes :
half price for juniors.
The Clubman Nationals will be a stand alone event. Entry fees for adults will
be £20 per person for one of the classes, £30 per person for both classes : half
price for juniors.
As always these are the fees for advanced payment, 25% extra will
be added to all fees if paid on the weekend of the event.
Racing Rules
Controller Eligibility
Controllers have again been scrutinised by tests at some major
2023 events on the Nationals track. All the controllers measured have met the rules.
There will be similar testing at future events.
Supplementary Rules
It was agreed that rules on such things as penalties for unjustified
track calls, late marshalling etc. that are currently applied as supplementary rules
at each national event should become a more permanent addition to the rules.
National Track and National Centre
There has been substantial maintenance on the track prior to the 1/32 Nationals. In particular a number of track joints and corners were re braided. A big thank you to all the volunteers . This dealt with the high priority work very successfully, more work is planned in 2024. Once this is completed less maintenance should be needed for a considerable period. The track does not need to be moved so there is less degradation particularly at the joints.
Competitors are generally doing a fair job of cleaning up their pit spaces at the
end of meetings, but this could be better. Council members will continue to ‘take
the lead’ and show an example in starting the clean up at the end of a meeting. We
must remember to include the drivers rostrum and floor round the track as well as
our pit spaces. Some more help with cleaning the kitchen and toilet at the end of
meetings would be appreciated.
Nationals Organisation
1 Clubman Nats 3 March – It was agreed the 2024 Clubman Nationals will be run
as a separate event There is encouraging news about the number of competitors and
the reduction in energy costs from the very high 2023 levels make this viable as
a stand alone event. The membership are being consulted on their preferred way of
timetabling a one or two day event.
2 1/32 Nats – 4-
The same qualifying procedure as 2023 will be used .
3 Club Team / Production Challenge – 7/8 September -
4 1/24 Nationals – 23/24 November This will be the final round of the 1/24 British Open Championship. The title had reverted to the 1/24 Nationals because since the pandemic we have not been attracting an International entry. It is a 2 day event as the size of the entry no longer justifies a 3 day event, this also means it doesn't have to be on a bank holiday.
5 British Open Championship –The 1/32 BOC has been attracting good size entries and
will continue to be run on club tracks. The restricted class and brushless class
are successful and will continue to be a permanent part of the championship.
Some
of the 1/24 BOC rounds have attracted disappointingly small entries. As some racers
will be more encouraged to attend when travelling some distance if only Saturday
night accommodation is needed it was agreed that Saturday practice should start at
lunchtime like the 1/32nd BOC. The brushless class was considered successful and
will continue as part of the championship.
The series levy will now be 10% of the
entry fees rather than a fixed fee per event.
The dates for both BOCs are agreed. Steve Sargent has invited clubs to apply for rounds, once they have responded a full programme will be published.
6 Endurance Racing An 8 hour endurance race for 1/24 Eurosport is thought to be more viable now that brushless motors are more widely used. The provisional date is 28 July 2024. Advanced entries will be invited and it is hoped there will be sufficient entries for the event to be viable.
An international attempt on the long standing 1/24 24 hour world record and the
build up race for a Laycock rules 1/32 record were planned for 2023. Neither attracted
enough entries to go ahead. It is thought we should look at this again in 2024
and possibly hold a record attempt in 2025.
Future Meetings
The meeting ran successfully using Zoom. The next Annual Council Meeting is scheduled for 20th October 2024 but interim meetings may be called by the chairman.
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