Scottish buggy champs? Anyone

[mark79]

Posted to every club i can think of so far!!!

''Hi there folks.
My names Mark Harris and i'm a member of CSOR and East kilbride buggy club. I'm trying to find out how much interest there would be in starting a 1/10th buggy off road series/championship in Scotland.

Possible participating clubs could be Falkirk Buggy club, East Kilbride buggy club, Ayr TC club,CSOR and anyone else keen to hold a round. I reckon most of those clubs i've listed will be interested in a series although a winter series for 2010/11 to begin with seems wise. If there's enough interest a summer series of 6/7 rounds could be on the cards with mostly outdoor races being featured.

At the moment i'm just trying to create interest and find out who's interested club-wise and individually. I'm happy to arrange a series website, publicity, booking in paperwork/entry/sponsorship etc but if anyones got ideas/input then i'll be happy to hear it. 2WD and 4WD classes will be the main stay with a SC truck class if there's enough numbers.

Also if anyone frequents clubs in other areas of Scotland please let me know if you think the club or people from that club would be interested in racing buggies.

Any takers for the 2010/11 'Revival' Scotland 1/10th EP off road race series?''

[KC]

Aye me.
Get it going.

[raymondkerr]

Count me in, maybe get a link setup on the EK site to advertise a winter series for 2010. Better start the Durango saving fund now me thinks -:)

[mark79]

Once we'e got enough clubs on board i'll make the website. Nothing too mental just info and booking in details but it'll look good. I've been wanting to try some new things for my company site so i can experiment with this :-D

So thats East Kilbride in but it'll most likely be a sunday event. Would that pose us any problems with regards to hall availability or do we just hire somewhere else for the one round (bigger?!)

I'm sure the Ayr club (Chris :-D) will be up for hosting a round also. I'll speak to John, Ross and Malcolm etc tomorrow and hopefully they're up for hosting a round. Waiting from word back from other clubs too :-D

I was thinking a summer grand prix one-off at CSOR during 2010 would be cool too.

[raymondkerr]

Mark, I think sundays would be a non-starter because EK is in a school, but I am sure we could find somewhere for a sunday event. Davie spoke a while ago about a place in Coatbridge and there might be other options as well in the Glasgow area, so we'll investigate more.

[Malcolm Williams]

Posted to every club i can think of so far!!!

''Hi there folks.
My names Mark Harris and i'm a member of CSOR and East kilbride buggy club. I'm trying to find out how much interest there would be in starting a 1/10th buggy off road series/championship in Scotland.

Possible participating clubs could be Falkirk Buggy club, East Kilbride buggy club, Ayr TC club,CSOR and anyone else keen to hold a round. I reckon most of those clubs i've listed will be interested in a series although a winter series for 2010/11 to begin with seems wise. If there's enough interest a summer series of 6/7 rounds could be on the cards with mostly outdoor races being featured.

At the moment i'm just trying to create interest and find out who's interested club-wise and individually. I'm happy to arrange a series website, publicity, booking in paperwork/entry/sponsorship etc but if anyones got ideas/input then i'll be happy to hear it. 2WD and 4WD classes will be the main stay with a SC truck class if there's enough numbers.

Also if anyone frequents clubs in other areas of Scotland please let me know if you think the club or people from that club would be interested in racing buggies.

Any takers for the 2010/11 'Revival' Scotland 1/10th EP off road race series?''

Count me in Mark

[Malcolm Williams]

Aye me.
Get it going.

Ha Ha Kenny you gave them up and to quote you buggies are budgies mate:confused:

[KC]

I gave them up because there was no real racing scene in Scotland.
If a Scottish championship started back up then I would be interested in taking part.

[scotty]

Even though i'm the chairman of the falkirk club and primarily run tourers, i'd gladly offer my services on this as i think it's a great idea and can only take racing forward.....

[mark79]

Thats really good to hear guys. Nice one :-D

I should be able to sort out some touring racing up at your place on Fridays soon. We can discuss it further then. I'll also hear back from other clubs soon too.

[Bryan]

We (DundeeRCC) would be interested in holding a round, the biggest drawback for us is hall costs, i'm sure the last time we had a quote it was over £400 for the whole day. It might be worth looking at what would be economical for the first year and going on the amount of entries look to expand it for the following year. Or all of the clubs involved in hosting a round share the expenses (a bit unfair for those with cheaper halls) and any proceed's left after the series get divided up evenly.

[mark79]

Excellent, nice to hear from you :-D

I think EK club would be in the same boat for a whole day weekend venue. i think we have to suss out numbers to know if its going to be a problem. There's plenty of time to work this out as the first round, in theory wouldn't be til October (ish!). 50 racers plus people running 2 or 3 classes should do the trick though.

Its a good point to consider if the entries for the season should be divvied up to help cover more expensive venues. Once we know how many venues we're dealing with and how much it'll cost at each we'll know.

So thats: Dundee, Falkirk, EK and Ayr (?) Ideally a Stonehaven/Grampian combo would be on offer too? Anyone know any of the guys there or in Dunfermline too?

BRCA are already in the loop via e-mail/talking on Oople. We could do with someone like CML/Horizon etc. as a sponsor/prize provider :-D

Now if i can get somebody on Oople to give us a damn Scottish buggy club/champs thread we'd have a good start to coverage :-D

[Bryan]

Seems there is some talk on the Grampian forums about buggys.... [click] (http://www.grampianrcc.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?tid=79&page=1)

[mark79]

Nice one, thanks.

I've just posted on there in the last 5 min, fingers crossed they're up for some racing :-D

[Bryan]

The only problem with Grampian is they only have the hall for 5 hours on the Sunday, thats it. They race in a very busy sport centre so there are alot of other bookings for the hall. I dont know if they could ever book it for a full day.....

[mark79]

A combined Stonehaven/Grampian might prove easiest? If so a different venue would be in order. geographically it makes sense. we may even find combining the Ayr/East kilbride clubs better too making the travelling easier for everyone? it would just mean less rounds.

We'll know more once we know who's up for it.

[raymondkerr]

We should have a word with SDRCC (Stonehaven) I remember they normally run outdoors in the summer, using the grassed pit area of their onroad track for the buggies. I am sure George, Dan and Dom will be up for hosting a couple of outdoor rounds during the summer months next year. Mark and I went up with the buggies a couple of years back where they ran nitro's and 10th scale offroad and it was a good days racing.

[mark79]

Already on the case Mr Kerr :-D

I think by the looks of things we'll find a half and half split with some clubs finding it easier to run an outdoors event and the other half finding indoors easier.

hmmmm...

[Malcolm Williams]

Excellent, nice to hear from you :-D

I think EK club would be in the same boat for a whole day weekend venue. i think we have to suss out numbers to know if its going to be a problem. There's plenty of time to work this out as the first round, in theory wouldn't be til October (ish!). 50 racers plus people running 2 or 3 classes should do the trick though.

Its a good point to consider if the entries for the season should be divvied up to help cover more expensive venues. Once we know how many venues we're dealing with and how much it'll cost at each we'll know.

So thats: Dundee, Falkirk, EK and Ayr (?) Ideally a Stonehaven/Grampian combo would be on offer too? Anyone know any of the guys there or in Dunfermline too?

BRCA are already in the loop via e-mail/talking on Oople. We could do with someone like CML/Horizon etc. as a sponsor/prize provider :-D

Now if i can get somebody on Oople to give us a damn Scottish buggy club/champs thread we'd have a good start to coverage :-D

When you say somebody on oOple, surely someone who is already registered with them can request that a thread section be inserted, I am under a sudonym if thats any good?

[mark79]

Its cool Malcolm,already done :-D I've asked a moderator to contact me with a yes or no answer and take it from there.

[mark79]

We (DundeeRCC) would be interested in holding a round, the biggest drawback for us is hall costs, i'm sure the last time we had a quote it was over £400 for the whole day. It might be worth looking at what would be economical for the first year and going on the amount of entries look to expand it for the following year. Or all of the clubs involved in hosting a round share the expenses (a bit unfair for those with cheaper halls) and any proceed's left after the series get divided up evenly.

Scott's idea of having a mixed meeting with touring cars and buggies could be a solution for enough entries to cover your hall costs. The last thing i would want to happen is for a club to be out of pocket due to a low turn out.

[Malcolm Williams]

Its cool Malcolm,already done :-D I've asked a moderator to contact me with a yes or no answer and take it from there.

Talk to Jimmy Storey Mark hes the boss

[mark79]

Aaaaaah! Nice one, Ta :-D

[Dom]

I can't say for def if SDRCC will run a round Off-Road (I'm no longer involved with the running of things there) but I can let you know meantime, what and how they run.

They run about 7 or 8 Off-Road meetings a year, outdoors on a "hoses & jumps" type course. They have a fairly laid back running order and it makes for a very social fun meeting. However, the guys there are very experienced in running top level events so can scale the event accordingly.

Attendance is good - two heats, around 10 regulars, with others coming along to try outdoor/off-road. There is a compressor which really clears the muck on a wet day and makes running outdoors very tolerable.

There is a lot of talk about a permanent off-road track at either Stonehaven or in Aberdeen itself and could very easily become a top outdoor venue in Scotland, with a few other experienced inputs at this early stage.

I'm sure they'd be interested in holding a round of a Scottish Off-Road Championship. Correct - talk to Dan or George. In the meantime, I'll contact Dan ASAP and let him know what's happening; I'm sure one of them will be in touch.

[mark79]

Thats great, thanks very much for the info. I'll be sure to come up and visit once the weather's less sketchy. I'll bring the TC too :-D

I look forward to hearing from the guys there soon :-D

[mark79]

UPDATE:

So far i've spoken to Dundee, Stonehaven, Ayr and EKilbride and we're looking good for it. I'm still waiting to hear back from others but we've enough to get the ball rolling in January

CSOR is still pending til i get my arse over there with my nitro buggy in the new year!

A 5 round series is within realistic reach. The time of year it kicks off due to some clubs being outdoors track-wise will probably bring it into summer time next year (without conflicting with anything else!!!) :-D

[bigchris]

Mark I can categorically say that ayr will run a round 100%

[mark79]

I kind of had you down anyway Chris :-D

If Ayr club's happy to hold their own round we could have 3 down this way potentially (Ayr, East Kilbride (Glasgow) and CSOR?)

I must admit though, i would be worried that would make it a bit less appealing for the clubs to the north if there are more rounds down here i.e travel costs. I suppose if you make it best out of.... it would be ok. The upshot is northern england racers would be into doing the series if the numbers are there and its within reasonable driving distance . There were 80 odd racers at Bury and even if 20 average were to travel up for a few rounds it would be good as the standard of driving was high IMO.

Hmmmmm......

[rolymo]

id defo be interested in entering a series. in regards to the oople thread your best bet would be to have a thread with ppl wanting a scottish champs section also having some solid dates/venues would go a long way. plus if it does come about then remember to get lots of pics and get a race report of the event. may well be an idea to get a shop involved (say tay for instance) so theres a supply of tires, wheels ect at the events. i guess what i mean is if it looks well thought out then more people would be willing to enter

[mark79]

Totally, it'll be up to the clubs who they'll have as a on-site shop/ sponsor. I'm sure some will have a preferred way of doing things like that and have done for some time. Anyone without shop support will hopefully be sorted via the series sponsor. Details and arrangements of that are in the pipeline.

Once i've ironed out dates next year the website will be on with an emphasis on it being a relaxed affair that each individual club can promote themselves. Not just for buggies but in general.

Watch this space.....

[rolymo]

one lil thing i thought of is once the site is set up then have a mailing list so everyone interested knows the dates ect but im sure thats already been considered as you seem to have this almost in the bag so to speak:-D

[rolymo]

yet another idea.................. how about approaching the councils to see if we could get a spot at some of the fairs/ canivals in the parks? we could set up a smallish track with some good jumps (for the fans:-D) even could possibly sort out a club car for the general public to have a shot at say 50p a go............oh and if we could get a sponsor then could run a fastest time of the day wins a prize sorta thing? i remember my old club in hull did a few and ok it may not seem much but it did spawn 20 or so new racers.

[mark79]

It'll be up to the respective clubs how they want to arrange things when they hold a round. All i'm trying to do is arrange dates for 5 or more rounds and construct the website to hold the championship side of the info i,e where, when and info on each of the clubs and what they race in general. There will also be updates with regards to points classification and a wee write up on the jist of each round.

Its the first one for a while so i'm keen to keep it simple and hold rounds when clubs would normally if possible (if they race sundays normally of course). The less complicated the better as if it runs ok there will be a series next year too.

[rolymo]

cool cool! keep us posted on how it comes allong! im totally up for this

[mark79]

Possible decent sponsor is getting back to me regarding support/ possible prizes etc. etc.

Website version 3 half done (should be final draft)

Back in contact with other clubs so should get more definitive answers either way (I assume Stonehaven are NOT interested as my post has been deleted twice on their forum)

[mark79]

Could someone contact Dunfermline's club to see if they would be interested in this?

I'm planning on going to the Feb round of the carpet champs but it might be better to speak to them beforehand. I've tried to e-mail but i'm having difficulty through their site.

Thanks

[Dave]

Contact Details for Dunfermline would be:

chairman@ddrcc.co.uk

Cheers

[mark79]

Perfect, thanks Dave

[Dasbo]

Hi Mark,

I'm not sure whats happening with regards to Stonehaven and your post being deleted on the forum. I will talk to the offroad guy this Sunday about it and get back to you.

Dasbo

[mark79]

Nice one, thanks.

I think it may have been the forum provider that erased it rather than the club itself. I was going to email them with all the info I have so far anyway. It was the chairman of stonehaven that I spoke to before and he said on their forum they'd hold a round (they race on a Sunday anyway)

cheers

[Dasbo]

I had it confirmed by Stewart Alexander yesterday that Stonehaven would be interested in holding a round.

[mark79]

Fantastic. Thanks for finding out for me.

I'll send him an email in the next day or two.

[mark79]

After speaking to John on friday night regarding running a championship and how it could be incorporated into the SRCA season, what needs to happen to make it work for everyone concerned?

Personally i think it would be better to run the classes under the same banner as the system is already in place.

[Dom]

Firstly, speak to Alex Lindsay. Although, the SRCA AGM was in November, and therefore the decisions for 2010 are already finalised, I don't think it'll be easy to get them to ratify an off-road championship under the SRCA banner this year.

But I'm sure they'll be happy for a few of the off-road guys to form a sub-committee, just to make decisions purely for the Off-Road Championship. Or that might be a wise move now, just spread the workload and show it can be organised amongst ourselves. Then I presume it will be brought into the SRCA at the next AGM in November 2010.

And as Alex is formulating the SRCA calendar for 2010 at the moment with the TC clubs, now's a good time to get in touch with him and see how this series fits into this calendar.

I'd recommend that if you want the Stonehaven guys to travel down, then you will have to steer clear of their club days, which are normally 2nd Sunday of every month, March to October.

And to encourage people to run Off-Road as well as their TC, then avoid clashing with SRCA nationals and really big events such as the MM GP's (Scottish, English and Irish).

Plus you'll want to avoid the BRCA Off-Road!!!

[mark79]

Fortunately the workload isn't that big. As long as each club can organise their own round its just a matter of dates, website to publish details and sponsorship.

I'm keen to use the BRCA rules for 1/10th off road as a basis for the series with a more relaxed stance towards LiPo's similar to the new rules for them in TC's nationally i.e hard cased but open in terms of 'c' rating and capacity.

Thats a good point about the AGM being passed. John Lindsay did suggest having a buggy rep/s at the next AGM also. That'll need to be the case for 2011 then. Good point Dom, thanks.

I need to send off some more e-mails and chase a few things to start to get dates. Once thats sorted and published online i'll take it from there. For now the sub-committee will be the chairmans from each involved club and me as secretary i suppose! Keep it simple until it can be included into the SRCA calendar proper in 2011??

[Bryan]

Thats more like how the SRCA operated in a previous life, John Reid was the focal point/organiser for the SMTCA series we all used to race in and it was up to the clubs to organise there own rounds. I know we all called for a commitee to be in place and the SRCA formed then but as ever in hindsight things were better when they were simpler.

What classes are you planning on for this year Mark? I'd suggest keeping the meetings dates on the same weekend of every month just like Stonehaven and the SCC does. It makes it alot easier to plan ahead for the racer as you just know when it is.

[mark79]

It might not be possible to arrange each date on the same weekends every month or even on consecutive months for that matter. Once i've got further on with dates clubs can do without any hassle i'll be posting them online well in advance so there's plenty of time for everyone. Clubs that already race on a sunday will, i assume, want to run their round on a normal club day which is fine. Most clubs involved will be relying on halls being available etc. It may take longer than 6 months to run 6 rounds. Some of the indoor rounds in the winter would be nice in what is normally an 'off-season' for some racers anyway.

At least thats the plan :-D

[mark79]

Almost forgot Bryan, it'll be 2WD and 4WD for this year and take it from there.

[Dave]

Thats more like how the SRCA operated in a previous life, John Reid was the focal point/organiser for the SMTCA series we all used to race in and it was up to the clubs to organise there own rounds. I know we all called for a commitee to be in place and the SRCA formed then but as ever in hindsight things were better when they were simpler.

Same is true for the SRCA as each club does their own round but it is a central booking system. 3 office bearers but each club holding a round has a representative on the committee.

Im sure it could run along side the SRCA then get incorporated next year.

[mark79]

Im sure it could run along side the SRCA then get incorporated next year.

That would be better in the long run i think :-D

[John Lindsay]

Like I say Mark it would be good to get everything running together under the SRCA name. To set up separately could create an "us and them" situation where there would be little crossover between classes, or one will take over as the other dies.

You seem to have everything pretty well organised so far and getting your guys to the next AGM would be a good idea once you've got a series on the go.

Gordon Dempsey is the SRCA Chairman, however the best contact may be my dad, either at the club or via alex@a4ets.co.uk

John

[mark79]

Like I say Mark it would be good to get everything running together under the SRCA name. To set up separately could create an "us and them" situation where there would be little crossover between classes, or one will take over as the other dies.


John

My thoughts exactly. They are too close in rc class terms with people easily able to cross over when they feel like it. Ideally everyone would do both!

[Dom]

Stonehaven have just posted their Race Calendar for 2010. So Stuart or George are the people to call to arrange a date to hold a round.

Plus, will this series become a Regional Series for the BRCA this year or next?

Is it worth asking the question of Paul W now? It would make the series more attractive if people could obtain a BRCA F ranking from racing in the series.

[mark79]

I'll contact Stonehaven this week, thanks.

I'm Interested in having the buggies part of the srca next year. I'm not sure what role if any, I'll be able to take in this due to family commitments late in the year. We'll have to work that out at the srca agm possibly.

[Dom]

Hi Mark. SRCA inclusion is something to get arranged at next SRCA AGM. I think that is sorted.

My question was about BRCA, to get the Championship sanctioned as a BRCA Regional Series.

If no-one has done it yet, I can have a chat with Paul Worsley to get the Championship recognised as a Regional Series and then talk to Jimmy Storey and get the new section organised on Oople.com.

[mark79]

One thing at a time Dom, we still need to get this year sorted! Lol

seriously though, any help with regard to Oople or the BRCA is most welcolm.

Thanks

[Dom]

NP. I was thinking it's a good opportunity to get it recognised since Paul and Jimmy have a face to put to the request now.

I'll give Paul a call this week or drop him a line and report back. If we get a green light from Brca, Jimmy has to put the forum up soon after.

I'm also chasing Rob Nelson for a copy of the 4wd results from Worksop although I had two DNF so am expecting the worst - beaten by a girl or worse - dead last!
(sorry ladies for the blatant sexist comment!)

[Dom]

I've been in touch with Paul Worsley at BRCA and they are happy to view the Scottish Championship as a BRCA Regional Championship.

There are a number of small caveats and operating procedures that should be observed, but nothing that can't be done by the clubs running each round.

The important thing is that John should contact Paul as soon as, to discuss this and to ensure the meetings are run to the minimum requirement and that the calendar, rules, results are published and documented, and then communicated to the BRCA.

Once received, the BRCA can give all participants an F grading for 2011, plus the championship would take on a much more significant stance. I'm sure everyone who's racing in Scotland would like to see an officially recognised championship.

Mark - between you and John there would have to be a regular communication stream to the BRCA, otherwise the championship will be regarded merely as a simple local event, which would be a missed opportunity for it to grow.

[mark79]

Thats great new Dom, i'll speak to John and Scott this weekend and take it from there.

I've been too busy recently to get much done. i still need to email all the clubs and get dates but EK, Ayr and CSOR are all TBC pending their respective venues.

In the next two weeks i'll be doing less and less and by march i can't see me being able to sort anything apart from dirty nappies. Work/ home is just too busy at the moment to find time for much else. i'm having to bust a gut to keep my weekends semi free as it is.

I'll be doing the final set up on the website on monday and handing most of that over to Raymond.

Hopefully other interested parties can continue the e-mails etc to keep the ball roliing from march.

[Dom]

New Update.

I've now contacted Jimmy at Oople to request a proper Regional Forum area.

I've highlighted that we have spoken to Paul Worsley and that he's on board with what's happening and that given that we run it along the lines of similar Regional series, it will proceed under the auspices of the BRCA.

I've also suggested that Mark Harris and Raymond Kerr are the forum admins, and offered John Allan and my own assistance as backup admin. Any of you not up for that, post here and then other people can put their name forward, through me for now, until the admins are established.

:-D Looking forward to this a lot - you can tell, as I'm going at it like a steam train!

Dom

[mark79]

It's best to leave me out of any things requiring set commitment for now (such as admin on forums) I'll be happy to help out in the background and keep the website going or bits and bobs needing done like that. I'm also on the case with sponsors etc so I can forward details etc if needed.

I'll need to speak to folk on Sunday and see what's what and who's interested in helping you Dom

[Dom]

NP. I'm happy to do obvious stuff that I think I can contribute to.
Check that Ross is going to take the lead and I'm happy to do any donkey work at his instruction.

These projects need a decision maker at the top, otherwise we have too many chiefs.

I'm just happy enough keeping busy.
If I've got too much to do, I'll ask around and see who's keen to do it instead.

But the championship needs a decision maker, def.

[mark79]

I'd love to see this through but some things in life are more important ( I never thought I'd say that!) I can't make the commitment this year that the series deserves.

I agree, one person needs to co ordinate. Someone who knows people in the other clubs would be a bonus!

I have one or two in mind but I'll speak to them personally rather than volunteer them by proxy!

[raymondkerr]

emailing, forum admin and web updates I can deal with, Mark if you forward on the login details once the site is live, I should be able to maintain it along with the EK site.

Dom has better contacts with most clubs up here and with the BRCA, but I am more than happy to assist with any communication like that if Dom requires help.

Raymond.

[Dom]

There is now have a Forum on Oople, for Scottish Off-road!
Jimmy's finally moved house and created a forum for us!

I think it's probably more sensible to post info on Oople, rather than here - more people would expect to find info on a Scottish Championship looking at a more global forum, rather than a club specific site. Hope I don't upset anyone here.

A calendar is being organised and application forms will be posted on the Oople forum very soon.

Go to Oople, Forum, Events & Venues, BRCA Nationals & Regionals, Scotland (http://www.oople.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=100) you'll find all the info there, as soon as its available.

[Dom]

It is starting to look as if I'll have to pick up the reins of this, for this year, and once running we'll see if SRCA want to organise it next year.

So for now, I'm proposing that I'll pick this up and contact those clubs that I can, see who's interested running 1 or 2 rounds. Anyone other than EK, Falkirk and Stonehaven that want to run a round, please contact me directly.

Each round of the Scottish will be run as club rounds of a club's own calendar; we just take results from each nominated club round, as a round of the Scottish. Each round is run to the club's own regular rules and format.

What I need is a date or two, that you want to nominate as a round of the Scottish RC OR Championship. We must try to not clash with SRCA TC events, BRCA OR events or other nominated Scottish OR events. I'll be able to coordinate the dates, contact me directly.

SDRCC dates for their Off-Road are published already, so if EK, Falkirk or any other club checks that and contacts me, either here or by email, we can put a calendar together quickly and get things organised for 2010. I'll contact George and see which two rounds they want to nominate.

I'll set a deadline for requests to run a round or two; by April 5th

What we have by then will be the calendar. After that, anything else can be an open event or regular club round. We can add it to the calendar for 2011, at the SRCA AGM or after that if SRCA doesn't absorb this competition.

Thanks for your interest and will be posting more info soon. Once the calendar starts to form, I'll be posting more on Oople.com