Does Britcar have a future.

[Drumroll]

Having been at Croft this last weekend (23 & 24 July), it made me wonder does Britcar in it's current format have a future?

[88racing]

According to our drivers, we're not doing anything wrong - its just that we need more of them! We've already made changes to cut costs and hence our entry fees - plus opened up Production to GT cars too, so if you're not able to find another driver to share with, you can attend the same weekend and do the shorter races.

Chris - Britcar media.

[Drumroll]

But with small grids why not combine classes? 3 hours at Croft for less than 10 cars was boring. I know you don't put on your events for spectators, but I would have thought it should be a consideration. Also think of the marshals stood around for a 3 hour event.

[88racing]

Drumroll said:

But with small grids why not combine classes?

There are already five classes in that race. Not sure what you mean.

[Drumroll]

I mean combine the endurance and the GT & Production into say a couple of 90 minute races. You would let them run together for the 24hrs so why not at other times?

[88racing]

That is an option we are considering. On the other hand we don't want to duplicated what other championships already offer - its doesn't make good business sense.

[Drumroll]

That maybe where part of your problem lies. Maybe you need to look at running a "racing club" not a business.

[88racing]

You have to do both really - there's too much money involved to not take a business attitude, but we do pride ourselves on our friendly club atmosphere.

[randy]

Speaking as a competitor, Britcar has completely transformed the way they operate (for the better!) this year and its a fantastic place to race. Its going to take a little time for that to filter through but it surely will. My car runs in class 3 which has been well subscribed this year with both quality cars and quality drivers providing some close racing. A year ago Britcar was in a difficult place but now with the new management it has a future.

[coppice]

My thoughts - having seen Britcar for the first time at Croft-

Any series with grids that small has a short shelf life.

The cars look right , sound right and lap at a decent pace- so the raw materials are there

Long - hour plus races - are dull as ditchwater if the grid is fewer than 20 cars minimum ,30 plus preferably

I know the series is different from GT , even if I haven't checked precisely how. But the cars are very similar and to many of us it seems like two series fishing in the same pool of cars and drivers and potentially diluting both.

I was at the the Silverstone Classic the week after Britcar, and Croft Nostalgia the week after. There is a huge contrast to the 'customer friendliness' of these meetings with an access all areas approach to the rather hostile attitude to spectators I saw at Britcar (And I see also in much modern racing )- bloody privacy boards and tape etc. Odd that I can walk round a £10m Ferrari or unique Can Am car but can't get a closer look at a Z4 or similar in the pits . It does you no favours.

You may think - 'so what have mere spectators got to do with it ?'. Well , try getting sponsorship for private race meetings or planning permission for a venue with no public benefit . Sorry if that sounds chippy but it is an attitude I have encountered before and having been involved with the sport for a long time (low level competition, organisation/marshalling and journalism ) I am a bit touchy ...

Bigger grids- even if it means introducing more accessible classes and /or combining them and some more inclusivity for racegoers would be a good start. Latter's easy - but good luck with the former.The Northern Sports and Saloons series may be Poundland stuff in comparison but its approach works - lots of classes for huge diversity of cars and full grids

[88racing]

coppice said:

There is a huge contrast to the 'customer friendliness' of these meetings with an access all areas approach to the rather hostile attitude to spectators I saw at Britcar (And I see also in much modern racing )- bloody privacy boards and tape etc. Odd that I can walk round a £10m Ferrari or unique Can Am car but can't get a closer look at a Z4 or similar in the pits . It does you no favours.

We would be interested in hearing more about this as "hostile attitude" isn't something I've ever witnessed or want to witness in our paddock. Contact details are here:
http://britcar-endurance.com/contact.php

coppice said:

Bigger grids- even if it means introducing more accessible classes and /or combining them and some more inclusivity for racegoers would be a good start.

We have done that because the GT & Production Championship is precisely that - these 50-minute races are open to almost anything other than open wheel, or downforce/prototypes for which we have a separate series.

Chris.

[Thurbs]

For me I would never concider BritCar because of the entry fees.

I have just signed up for my second 750mc Club Enduro race at Silverstone next weekend which is around £600 (inc VAT) for 90-120 minutes.

Or I could do BritCar this weekend for 2.5 hours at £1800 + VAT.

BritCar is clearly a different product between club and professional racing, I hope it finds it's niche in the market.

[coppice]

88 racing - the hostility certainly didn't come from individuals (who all seemed friendly enough )but the boarding off of pit garages so you can't even look in,let alone walk around, does create an unwelcome 'us and them ' attitude .

[88racing]

Ok I understand now - some teams tend to do that. I guess it's just the way they prefer to do things.

[andy97]

They may prefer to do it, but they shouldn't be allowed to do it, in what is basically just a high end club Series!

[MrLizard]

well - just completed my first weekend with Britcar in a lowly 350z - the grid size is a bit small but it wont get larger without people getting involved, the amount of racing and practice and qually i got in the car was 150mins for 1100quid, which given the hospitality and the professionalism throughout the day I really enjoyed it, in fact I walked through all the pits and garages, even the FF corse garage, found all of the people really friendly and the racing taken seriously (which is what i wanted), everyone was lending each other tools just as with most other series ive been involved in.

On another note the Z needs a bit more power in a straight line but I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope it does expand - as it deserves to.

[evilmiyagi]

Coppice - I can see what you are saying but I don't think changing the direction BritCar are going is going to change how big the grid gets...

If you've got plenty of money you're going to be in British GT, if you don't have lots of money, you're going to be doing Club Enduro (I took part in the Donington round).

My assumption is that, What Claire and the team have done is try to strategically place a happy medium between the two (high end club racing or low end national racing, you choose).

Speaking to Claire at Croft I think she mentioned that 6/7 (can't remember the exact number) teams were out with mechanical failures that couldn't be sorted in time for the weekend.

In answer to your question, Does BritCar have a future? I'd say yes, but give it time to find its feet. "Rome wasn't built in a day" and I think the same can be said for both club and national race series'

One thing I will say, having done the testing sessions on Friday at the same time as the FF Corse Ferrari is that they are seriously quick, in fact he seriously scared the st out of me going through the Jim Clark Esses!!! and the sound was something else

Edited by evilmiyagi on Wednesday 24th August 15:38

[ribiero]

evilmiyagi said:

If you've got plenty of money you're going to be in British GT, if you don't have lots of money, you're going to be doing Club Enduro (I took part in the Donington round).

What Claire and the team have done is try to strategically place a happy medium between the two (high end club racing or low end national racing, you choose).

High end club racing is low end national racing isn't it? the lines blur for me. Seem's like this years Britcar is a bit kitchen sink.

Nice to know there's a step between Club Enduro (that's only going to get bigger and bigger) and GT-Cup->BritishGT

[evilmiyagi]

ribiero said:

High end club racing is low end national racing isn't it? the lines blur for me. Seem's like this years Britcar is a bit kitchen sink.

Nice to know there's a step between Club Enduro (that's only going to get bigger and bigger) and GT-Cup->BritishGT

It depends who you ask lol... For me (and you) it is a very blurred line

But I really do hope the work Claire and the team have been doing pays off! It'll be a long journey but they are well placed to make it happen IMO

[macgtech]

randy said:

Speaking as a competitor, Britcar has completely transformed the way they operate (for the better!) this year and its a fantastic place to race. Its going to take a little time for that to filter through but it surely will. My car runs in class 3 which has been well subscribed this year with both quality cars and quality drivers providing some close racing. A year ago Britcar was in a difficult place but now with the new management it has a future.

Couldn't agree more.

It is also probably worth mentioning that the standard of driving in Britcar is a LOT higher than other Championships, which is very welcome both from a competitive perspective but also from a 'not going home with needless damage' perspective.