OSS [Open Sportscar Series ]

OSS [Open Sportscar Series ]

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griff150457

Original Poster:

22 posts

240 months

Monday 24th November 2008
quotequote all
Hope you dont mind this blatent advert but I am trying to get some feed back
on our new for 2009 OSS [ Open Sportscar Series ]This is somthing that Myself
Graham and Alan in conjunction with the BRSCC will be running next season.
Please post any questions and I will answer them as soon as I can.
Thanks for looking.
GRIFF
PS
This might look a little impersonal but I have lifted the text straight of
our section of the BRSCC web site.


Whether factory backed professional or seasoned clubman, the class structure is designed with simplicity in mind, allowing the regulatory freedom for the ingenious clubman to compete with even the best heeled factory cars.

Cars compete in an eight event series, featuring up to sixteen races at premier circuits in England and Wales with the possibility of a further European invitation event to-boot.

Primarily designed to attract small and big-engined prototype race cars, entries can be expected from a wide and diverse range of marques making for a wide variety of car performance characteristics. Some will be better on the straights, some better on the brakes, and some better around corners. Not to mention the differing characteristics of the drivers ! With such diverse performance characteristics, processional races are not expected !

A normal race day or weekend will feature two twenty minute races and a fifteen minute qualifying session. What makes this series different though is that competitors have a practice test session at the majority of race weekends included in the entry fee, giving those who have to work for a living the same chance as their more affluent competitors to set their cars up properly for the qualifying/races.

Class A is basically a no-limits category, allowing freedom of marque, engine, and chassis selection, within the broad MSA definitions, enabling manufacturers and budding car designers to explore different performance options for their race packages.

Typical entries in this category are expected from Turbo-charged radicals, SR8’s, Pilbeam’s, Jade’s, larger engined Nemesis’, big-engined Chiron’s, V6 Juno’s, Stealth’s, Spaceframe sports cars, ADR’s, etc., etc.

Class B is for cars of a similar nature to Class A although here the engine size is limited to 2000cc. Typical entries might include Jade 2.0L, Nemesis, Chiron, ADR, Radical SR3, Mallock, MCR, Westfield, Norma, Ligier, etc.

Class C caters for cars up to 1300cc, and, as well as some of the nippy Japanese engines cars, prototypes with motorbike engines are expected to feature prominently. Consequently, entries are expected to include Radical Prosport, 1.3L SR4’s, ADR, Caterham’s, or in fact anything which will handle well with a 1300cc power unit installed !

Last but certainly not least, Class D caters for cars up to 1100cc, and is the only class in which the seating position is free, allowing the maximum degree of innovation for the competitor. Several marques take advantage of this feature to retain central weight distribution, although having said that, if lap –times are anything to go by, Radical Clubsports are likely to feature strongly in this class, along with the whole range of lightweight prototypes taking advantage of this design feature.

Finally, don’t worry at all if your sports car is not listed here. The classes are wide open, and variety is the name of the game! It is this diversity and the innovative thinking of the Racer–Organisers that make OSS a series designed by race drivers for race drivers…!

Get in early and join the OSS grid in 2009. Demand for places is expected to be high !!

Contacts for the Series are Alan Jenkins Coordinator, Steve Griffiths and Graham Cole dedicated sports racers who know what you guys want . So come and support them in their quest to put sports racing cars back on top of the British National racing calendar.

Contacts.

Alan Jenkins
alan.jenkins1@ntlworld.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Tel: 07753 617087 01633 663920

Steve Griffiths
sgriff@ntlworld.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Tel: 07836 672046

Graham Cole
colegraham@btinternet.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Tel: 07825 805660



anonymous-user

61 months

Wednesday 26th November 2008
quotequote all
sounds like britsports resurrected... which is ok with me (as a spectator)

is there really a market for competitors though at present, particularly a championship focused on running big protoype cars though as I assume you are after the VdeV/Radical crowd...

The smaller cars (clubsports/ADR etc) seem well catered for and i doubt many would switch from their regular seriesto run around at the back watching their mirrors for Junos, Jades and such like. Its hardly fun for those guys either if they are lapping every four laps...

griff150457

Original Poster:

22 posts

240 months

Wednesday 26th November 2008
quotequote all
Hi Pablo
We hope this is going to work because at the moment as it stands there is only one venue in the country where you can run a sports racing car over 2ltr
and thats Castle Combe and even that is disapearing in 2010 so they can fit
more cars on the special gt grid,and on a personal note I realy dont see the point of owning quite an expensive sportscar just to go round and round one
circuit all season.Hopefully the format will draw a little more interest than Britsports did because the races now without pit stops means less people to run the car and also smaller entry fees !!which means less cost overall One last thing you realy should give a little more credit to the smaller engined cars because when prepaired properly with a decent driver at the wheel and normaly with their lighter weight these are not slow and with all this in mind it should from your point of view as a spectator make for some good entertainment and also for the drivers to.
Hope this sheds a little more light on our thinking I could go on all night about the other reasons we think it will work but I cant type fast enough!!!
GRIFF

Kevp

584 posts

258 months

Wednesday 26th November 2008
quotequote all
Im interested. I'v been looking for a series like this. However at the moment my car is in road trim and your class looks a tad more serious than that.

kev

griff150457

Original Poster:

22 posts

240 months

Wednesday 26th November 2008
quotequote all
What car is it ?

Chris Wilson

122 posts

262 months

Wednesday 26th November 2008
quotequote all
1.6 turbo charged 4 cylinder engine in a Zeus? Which class? Sounds a good series, was wondering if my new project was destined to be a track day only "toy". Good luck with this.

griff150457

Original Poster:

22 posts

240 months

Thursday 27th November 2008
quotequote all
Hi Chris
Good chassis, car will run in cass A as per blue book forced induction regs
with its light weight and good handling should be a competitive package even against larger engined cars.
we should have some dates by the begining of next week if you want to email me your details I can put you on our email list so you can be kept informed of developments as they happen.
Look forward to hearing from you soon
GRIFF

andy97

4,737 posts

229 months

Friday 28th November 2008
quotequote all
I do think that there is a market for such a series but if it was me I'd concentrate on the "sub V de V" market. That already offers a decent series for the Normas, Ligiers etc but I think that a series below this catering for the old Vauxhall Supersports type cars, Clubmans Mallocks/ Phantoms/ Visions, Sports 2000s etc might be attractive to some, and far cheaper than V de V. It has to offer something different to the existing series, though, and for this reason I would offer up 40 minute 2 driver races.

Its a formula that has been attractive with the Classic Sports Car Club road car based series'and the opportunity to share costs is often seen as a major bonus. I'm not sure whether these sorts of cars will race for 40 min without a fuel stop but not allowing refuelling would cut done on costs and team personnel greatly.

anonymous-user

61 months

Friday 28th November 2008
quotequote all
with regards to combe, most people are local(ish) and are there for fun despite having an expensive car, the reason they can afford the expensive car is because they only run at one circuit, its a simple trade off.

i think the idea of catering for the Clubmans/S2000/Supersports market is good as there are a lot of drivers who would be interested in something new but again you are drawing cars from other classes which the organisers have worked hard to build up support and trust through the years.

To offer them something they dont already get, longer, dual drive races is important as the OSS needs to offer more than they can currently get if they just turn up with their friends at their regular championship each weekend and enjoy racing as they already do.

cutting it off at <2L might be the best idea, realistically, how many of the Normas/Ligiers etc would regularly compete and would they not be more inclined to go for VdeV rather than the OSS should there be a date clash or a week between the two?

i dont dispute that a good driver in a clubsport can embarrass the bigger cars but he will still suffer at circuits like silverstone and be fodder...

you may not attract many novices/intermediates though as i am sure (in this example) they will stick to the Radical Cup series and a half decent clubsport driver will stay there were he has the chance of an overall championship rahte rthan be at the back of the OSS?

Kevp

584 posts

258 months

Friday 28th November 2008
quotequote all
Steve. I'v a 2L Zetec Stylus kitcar. Kev

morgscars

26 posts

204 months

Thursday 4th December 2008
quotequote all
Andy97 you've hit the nail on the head, many of the cars will be exactly those you mention, I will be out in my supersports Chiron and I think this will really work . it has none of the Britsports complications ( refueling, tyres power to weight logger, etc) and is more clubman focused you should be able to turn up with a mate and race , above all it is going to be cost effective , well run and fun. If the hoped for testing session on the day works out we won't need to take an extra day off to go testing just to keep up. The guys have done a great job to get this off of the ground and in such ashort space of time it deserves all the support we can give it. If you've got a sports proto that you thought you'd never find somewhere to race this is the answer!
cheers
Morgan

jellison

12,803 posts

284 months

Friday 5th December 2008
quotequote all
griff150457 said:
Hi Pablo
We hope this is going to work because at the moment as it stands there is only one venue in the country where you can run a sports racing car over 2ltr
and thats Castle Combe and even that is disapearing in 2010 so they can fit
more cars on the special gt grid,and on a personal note I realy dont see the point of owning quite an expensive sportscar just to go round and round one
circuit all season.Hopefully the format will draw a little more interest than Britsports did because the races now without pit stops means less people to run the car and also smaller entry fees !!which means less cost overall One last thing you realy should give a little more credit to the smaller engined cars because when prepaired properly with a decent driver at the wheel and normaly with their lighter weight these are not slow and with all this in mind it should from your point of view as a spectator make for some good entertainment and also for the drivers to.
Hope this sheds a little more light on our thinking I could go on all night about the other reasons we think it will work but I cant type fast enough!!!
GRIFF
Not heard of Brit sports. But this sounds ok - anything is better than the STUPID 1 venue Castle Combe Crap.

But can't see many people jumping ship in the present climate.

Hope it work for you. But personally no fan of these trackday toy things.

Josh Smith

437 posts

243 months

Friday 5th December 2008
quotequote all
Hi Jellison,

Can I just ask you what is 'stupid' about the Castle Combe Series?

Full grids, a massive variation of cars. Lots of spectators at each event. Money back from entry fees when there are large grids (always). Merlin Motorsport on hand all day. Friendly paddock atmosphere. Grid Walks for spectators. Green flag lap even when on road tyres.

Doesnt seem that stupid to me.


Josh

Edited by Josh Smith on Friday 5th December 11:26

andy97

4,737 posts

229 months

Friday 5th December 2008
quotequote all
morgscars said:
Andy97 you've hit the nail on the head, many of the cars will be exactly those you mention, I will be out in my supersports Chiron and I think this will really work . Morgan
Yes, except for the Class A things mentioned in the original post. I would not be surprised if the very thought of those things being present will put a lot of people off.

Better to keep the top class to a 2 litre limit & maybe even have seperate sub classes for cars conforming to Sports 2000 & the old Vauxhall Supersport rules

jellison

12,803 posts

284 months

Friday 5th December 2008
quotequote all
Josh Smith said:
Hi Jellison,

Can I just ask you what is 'stupid' about the Castle Combe Series?

Full grids, a massive variation of cars. Lots of spectators at each event. Money back from entry fees when there are large grids (always). Merlin Motorsport on hand all day. Friendly paddock atmosphere. Grid Walks for spectators. Green flag lap even when on road tyres.

Doesnt seem that stupid to me.


Josh

Edited by Josh Smith on Friday 5th December 11:26
You are entitled toy your opinion and so am I.

To race at JUST one track in a championship is ..........Words fail me.... pointless, don'tthese people want to have a go at other tracks. Combe is fine but just one type of track, a series need lots of different venues.

griff150457

Original Poster:

22 posts

240 months

Friday 5th December 2008
quotequote all

Kevp said:
Steve. I'v a 2L Zetec Stylus kitcar. Kev
Sorry I havebeen so long in getting back to you, I am not 100%
sure what that is but I will get Graham our regs man to contact
you about eligability
Thanks Again for the interest
GRIFF
PS I have no details for you keep a look out for another posting

andy97

4,737 posts

229 months

Friday 5th December 2008
quotequote all
[quote=jellison
To race at JUST one track in a championship is ..........Words fail me.... pointless, don'tthese people want to have a go at other tracks. Combe is fine but just one type of track, a series need lots of different venues.
[/quote]

Hmmm, I think that its more pointless to drive for 3 hours to get somewhere, potentially have to stay overnight and then have just a 15 min practice session and a 15 min race before driving for 3 hours home again. But plenty of people do it. Good luck to them but personally I think that at club level regional or one circuit racing is far more sensible for thise that are local enough. Sure I'd like to do a national series (and currently I do travel from Brands to Anglesey to Cadwell etc but If I could just race at Donington or Mallory I could probably race 12 times a season rather than 6 and that would be far better for the clubs who would get more of my entrance fee money too.

griff150457

Original Poster:

22 posts

240 months

Friday 5th December 2008
quotequote all
[
Yes, except for the Class A things mentioned in the original post. I would not be surprised if the very thought of those things being present will put a lot of people off.

Better to keep the top class to a 2 litre limit & maybe even have seperate sub classes for cars conforming to Sports 2000 & the old Vauxhall Supersport rules
[/quote]
Hi again
cant keep quiet any longer you must have a problem with large sportscars
as you seem to be so negative about their presence Most people I speak to
love watching and driving [if you have ever driven one you would understand]
these impressive looking and sounding RACE CARS The idea of this series is for people who want to race SPORTSCARS of ANY size can come and have a race
not a presesion with people of simular pace even if from another class for
a sensable cost but still have reasonable time on circuit
The philosiphy is we have 4 classes please come and race and enjoy yourself but please dont ask us to try and please every body because this is just not posible If people do not like our format then well so be it at least
we would have tried our best to stop proper sportscar racing in this country
dieing a death.
GRIFF

anonymous-user

61 months

Friday 5th December 2008
quotequote all
jellison said:
griff150457 said:
Hi Pablo
We hope this is going to work because at the moment as it stands there is only one venue in the country where you can run a sports racing car over 2ltr
and thats Castle Combe and even that is disapearing in 2010 so they can fit
more cars on the special gt grid,and on a personal note I realy dont see the point of owning quite an expensive sportscar just to go round and round one
circuit all season.Hopefully the format will draw a little more interest than Britsports did because the races now without pit stops means less people to run the car and also smaller entry fees !!which means less cost overall One last thing you realy should give a little more credit to the smaller engined cars because when prepaired properly with a decent driver at the wheel and normaly with their lighter weight these are not slow and with all this in mind it should from your point of view as a spectator make for some good entertainment and also for the drivers to.
Hope this sheds a little more light on our thinking I could go on all night about the other reasons we think it will work but I cant type fast enough!!!
GRIFF
Not heard of Brit sports. But this sounds ok - anything is better than the STUPID 1 venue Castle Combe Crap.

But can't see many people jumping ship in the present climate.

Hope it work for you. But personally no fan of these trackday toy things.
sorry Jelli but you are being an arse wink if people live in the south west they have one option, combe. they might not be able to afford to travel the length and breadth of the country to go racing so choose a series at one circuit and still enjoy racing. The atmosphere now combe is run by the CCRC is better than any other circuit and the spectators can follow season long battles. locals can get up in the morning, trailer the car to the track and be home before tea time without worrying about the cost of petrol to croft or overnight accomodation.

morgscars

26 posts

204 months

Friday 5th December 2008
quotequote all
The point is that up to now the only place was Coombe GT's there wasn't anywhere else! As for the class A's well I suspect they will be just the same as ever slower on fiddly bits and quicker on the straights. There will always be someone quicker than you but thats missing the point which is to get out and race, at the moment these cars are homeless, and as for being trackday thingys jelly - how wide are the mark are you! these are pure racing cars not converted road cars - there are plenty of series already available for people who like that kind of thing.As Griff said once you have driven one of these cars you understand.

As for Britsports - failed
National Supersports - Failed
Why try and do the same thing and expect a different result.?
The point is there are plenty of guys out there who bought a supersports / britsports car and had nowhere to race it - now they do. wether they choose to leave it in the garage or get it out to play is another thing and that is going to be down to the individual , but these cars aint cheap so why not use itsmile
cheers
Morgan