Silverstone GP, 13-14 October, Rounds 13 & 14, UKCG Monoposto Championship

Tuesday, 21 August 2018 / Published in Archive

The final two rounds of the 2018 UKCG Monoposto Championship are to be held at Silverstone on 13th & 14th October.

This meeting sees all eight classes share one grid in a double header format. This means that there will be qualifying on Saturday and two races on Sunday.

Qualifying will set the grid for Race 1 and the grid for Race 2 will be decided by the fastest laps set in Race 1.

We will be holding our annual drivers meeting/discussion forum at Silverstone on Saturday 13th at 4pm – location TBC. If you have any topics you would like to put forward for discussion please submit details to rachel@monoposto.co.uk by Thursday 11th October. All Monoposto members, whether competing at Silverstone or not, are entitled to attend.


Event Documents and Information

Documents will appear here as they are released or updated:

 

Brands Hatch GP, 18 August, Rounds 11 & 12, UKCG Monoposto Championship

Friday, 03 August 2018 / Published in Archive

We will be back at the ever popular Brands Hatch on the GP circuit on Saturday 18th August for a one day, double header meeting.

Monoposto will have two grids at the event, the first containing the Mono F3, 2000, FR2000 and Moto 1400 classes and the second comprising of Classic, 1800, 1600 and Moto 1000.

This event is a double header with both grids having qualifying and two races on the one day. Qualifying will set the grid for Race 1 and the grid for Race 2 will be decided by the fastest laps set in Race 1.

Monoposto have been given all of the garages for this meeting, the garage allocations will be detailed on the entry list.

Event Documents and Information

Documents will appear here as they are released or updated:

Cadwell Park, 21 July, Rounds 9 & 10, UKCG Monoposto Championship

Friday, 29 June 2018 / Published in Archive

We will be visiting Cadwell Park on 21st July for rounds 9 and 10 of the Monoposto Championship.

Monoposto will have two grids at the event, the first containing the Mono F3, 2000, FR2000 and Moto 1400 classes and the second comprising of Classic, 1800, 1600 and Moto 1000. This event is a double header with both grids having qualifying and two races on the one day. Qualifying will set the grid for Race 1 and the grid for Race 2 will be decided by the fastest laps set in Race 1.

Event Documents and Information

Documents will appear here as they are released or updated:

Coventry MotoFest 2-3 June

Thursday, 24 May 2018 / Published in Archive

We have been allocated space at Coventry MotoFest www.coventrymotofest.com on 2-3 June. This is a large two day outdoor automotive/motorsport festival.

If you have a car you may be able to loan for the club display or would like to help out on the stand then please let Rachel know as soon as possible and we can provide further details.

60th Anniversary Report – Snetterton 12th & 13th May

Thursday, 24 May 2018 / Published in Archive

Rounds 4, 5 and 6 of the UKCG Monoposto Championship at Snetterton on 12th and 13th May saw the club celebrate its 60th anniversary. It was hot and sunny on Friday whilst everybody was setting up and testing and this continued into Saturday morning for qualifying. This soon turned though and the rain started to fall just as the first race got underway which caused a fair amount of havoc and eventually ended up with the race being red flagged. The rain continued for much of the day, meaning the race for the second grid was wet, but thankfully the rain disappeared by the time of the barbeque in the evening. Sunday stayed dry all day, but was noticeably colder than the rest of the weekend had been.

The hub was upgraded for the weekend and was inside the awning of James Drew-Williams’ artic, where hundreds of photos from the last 60 years were displayed. The photos had kindly been supplied by ex-members and competitors over the previous weeks and made a fantastic display.  These photos were complimented by The Viking, Alan Baillie’s homebuild car which he took to championship victory three times in the 70s, which was on display in the hub. The car has just finished an extensive rebuild and it was very kind of Bob Boughton and Alan to bring it to the event. Alan took part in a lunchtime parade in the car on the Saturday; he was joined on track by a number of ex-Monoposto champions.

The photos and cars were not the only things happening in the hub over the weekend as the club did full DIY hospitality as food and drinks appeared sporadically all weekend for competitors, teams and guests to enjoy. The annual barbeque and Baking Grand Prix took place on Saturday evening, which over 100 people came to, this was a great success and very much enjoyed by everybody, especially since drinks had been provided by the club. Congratulations to Kevin Otway who won the Baking Grand Prix for the second year in a row!

The club was honoured to welcome a number of ex-champions and members to the event over the weekend, with lots of people making the effort to come and show their support for the club. The oldest champion (in terms of championship year) to come to the meeting was Tony Goodwin, who won the 1960 championship. We had lots of visitors from every decade of the club’s history join us and it was fantastic to hear all of their tales of their time racing with Monoposto. All the competitors and guests who came to the event received a metal sign as a memento which lists all of the past champions. Many of the guests have said it will be put up on the wall in the garage, or kept safe alongside their 50th Anniversary mug.

On track, we had our usual two grids, but the Classic class had an extra boost at the meeting as competitors made the effort to bring their older cars out to celebrate the anniversary. Notably, Jeremy Goodman joined us again in his Ralt RT3 after a few years away from racing and Ewen Sergison brought Jim Blockley’s Ralt RT3 out to play. Jim won 6 Monoposto Championships in his Ralt between 1989 and 2013 which is the most championships anyone has won using the same car, although over the years it has moved from being a ‘Mono A Class’ car to a ‘Mono Classic’. It clearly still has its magic though as Ewen took the car to a class win in the first race on Sunday. Every race for the Classic class was exciting to watch with very close racing and it was lovely to see three different competitors take each of the class wins over the weekend. Ian Hughes with his Van Diemen RF88 in the first race, Ewen Sergison in the second and Peter Venn in his Anson SA4 in the third race.

The F3 class saw some close racing with Ben Cater taking two of the class wins and Tony Bishop the other. James Drew-Williams had a successful meeting, his first of the year, with two third places and a fourth. Neil Harrison also had better luck at this meeting, taking two second places. The 2000 class saw Terry Clark take the win in the first race and Kevin Otway the other two, plus all three fastest laps, which has now placed him at the top of the championship standings. Michael Jowett took part in his first ever race on the Saturday after being forced to take up racing by his daughter, Amelia. He enjoyed his first race weekend and came away with the 130R Driver of the Day award on the Sunday for his performance in the 2000 class.

The Moto 1000 class was extremely busy again and is by far the biggest class this season at the moment. We had a contingent of Jedis joining us for the weekend in the form of Dax Ward, Frazer Corbyn, Ross Boorman and Peter Lague. Frazer unfortunately had his engine let go in testing on the Friday so wasn’t able to compete over the weekend, but Dax Ward made up for that by putting in a dominant performance and taking all three class wins. It was great to have the lovely Peter Lague out with us again and he enjoyed himself behind the wheel of ‘The Rocket’ over the weekend, he had his share of problems but he came away with a well deserved third place in the final race.

The 1800 class had another good entry for this meeting and Chris Lord had a fantastic weekend in this class, taking pole in qualifying, all three class wins in the races and all three fastest laps. Jeff Williams joined the class for the first time in his orange Van Diemen RF82 and took three fourth places over the weekend – I’m sure he will be back again this season to claim one of our trophies!

Jock Sergison came out in the 1800 class in his son Ewen’s car. Jock retired from racing in 2015 and a trophy was donated to the club to commemorate his years of racing. The Jock Sergison Life Time Achievement Award recognises those who have made a big impact on the club during their time being involved. Jock raced with the club for well over 40 years and at the time of his retirement from racing he was the longest standing member of the club. He was well known for building his own cars, from the fantastic B.R.E.W which he raced in the 70s, to the somewhat questionable Highlander Mk 3 which was his final car. He only ever won one race and it’s still a mystery how that happened. Ewen convinced Jock to renew his licence this year to take part in the anniversary and he was thrilled to be there with his long suffering mechanic, Big Phil. Jock absolutely loved the weekend and even took third place in the second race of the weekend.

A man who definitely needs a mention in this anniversary report is Geoff Fern. What a legend. Geoff is the most successful man in Monoposto, with a massive 11 championships to his name. He brings a fleet of cars with him every meeting and supports the club with all its endeavours. He’s won pretty much every trophy going in the club and this year he is contesting two championships simultaneously – 1600 and Moto 1400. He had a great weekend at Snetterton and took 6 first place trophies home with him.

Each year we nominate a weekend to hold the Ray Dackombe Memorial Trophy. The trophy scores points across qualifying and all three races. It was hotly contested over the weekend and this year there was a tie on points as Chris Lord and Geoff Fern (twice) got a perfect score, it then went down to the competitor with the biggest class which made Chris the winner. As well as winning the trophy, Chris also took home a copy of ‘Monoposto Formula’, the sell out book about the history of Monoposto from 1958 – 1976. The book had kindly been donated as a prize by Ewen Sergison and it was presented by Duncan Rabagliati who is one of the three authors.

Thank you to everybody who came to support the event over the weekend, it was fantastic to meet so many people and hear the stories of their days with the club, it was also great to see ex-members catching up and reminiscing together.

Finally, a big thank you needs to go to John Fox who was instrumental in the organisation of the event, from providing contact details for ex-champions and members, to providing the most fantastic photos from the early days of Monoposto. John gave his time for free out of passion for the club and was chatting away to everybody in the hub all weekend. The event would definitely not have been such a success without his input, for which I am extremely grateful.

Oulton Park Int., 30 June, Rounds 7 & 8, UKCG Monoposto Championship

Friday, 18 May 2018 / Published in Archive

We will be visiting Oulton Park on 30th June, using their international circuit for rounds 7 and 8 of the Monoposto Championship.

Monoposto will have two grids at the event, the first containing the Mono F3, 2000, FR2000 and Moto 1400 classes and the second comprising of Classic, 1800, 1600 and Moto 1000. This event is a double header and is always a busy one, with both grids having qualifying and two races on the one day. Qualifying will set the grid for Race 1 and the grid for Race 2 will be decided by the fastest laps set in Race 1.

Event Documents and Information

Documents will appear here as they are released or updated:

Zandvoort 6-8 July

Friday, 27 April 2018 / Published in Archive

Monoposto will be visiting Zandvoort for the first time in 2018 on 6th – 8th July. We will be one of the races involved in the British Race Festival. More information about the festival will soon be available here: britishracefestival.nl/en

 

For those who have not visited the circuit before, the circuit is located in the dunes north of Zandvoort, Netherlands, near the North Sea coast line. The circuit is on the beach and walking distance to the local town, so is ideal if you’d like to turn a racing weekend into a holiday!

The entry fee is £500 and the event will consist of 1 qualifying and 3 races, all 20 minute sessions. There will be a practice sessions available to purchase from the organisers on the Friday – €60 for 30 minutes.

Please be aware that you must hold a minimum of a National ‘A’ or equivalent licence to enter this meeting.

This is a non-championship event and will be run according to the Reprise IT Tiedeman Trophy Regulations. Cars from outside the normal 8 Monoposto classes can apply to enter our invitation class. Please note that for this event, Guest Member entries and Invitation entries will not be considered until after 1st June. Full Competing Members of Monoposto will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis and are given priority until 1st June. After 1st June, Guest/Invitation entries will be accepted in order of application.

All cars from all 8 of the classes will be on one grid for this event.

The are many different ways to travel to Zandvoort, the route with the least driving is Hull/Harwich to Hook of Holland, this is an overnight ferry and the drive from Hook of Holland to Zandvoort is approximately 1.5 hours. Another option is Dover to Calais/Dunkirk, this route involves approximately 4.5 hours drive from the port to Zandvoort.

If you are sending your car with somebody else and plan to fly over, there are many budget airlines that fly to Amsterdam. The circuit is only 15 miles from Amsterdam Schiphol airport, with good public transport links.

We will be allowed access to the inner paddock to set up on Thursday evening, but teams are allowed to arrive before then and park in the outer paddock (Team AViT will be there from Tuesday morning).

Signing on, scrutineering, drivers briefing, practice and qualifying will all be held on Friday 6th July, races 1 & 2 will be on Saturday 7th and race 3 will be on Sunday 8th July, finishing nice and early to allow competitors to set off for home at a reasonable time.

Please contact rachel@monoposto.co.uk if you have any questions. Please see below details of teams who have space to bring more cars if you want your car taking for you. If you are taking a truck and have extra space, please contact Rachel who will add you to the list below.

EVENT DOCUMENTS AND INFORMATION

Documents will appear here as they are released or updated:

TEAMS WITH TRUCK SPACE

  • AViT Motorsport – Ewen Sergison – avitmotorsport@outlook.com – 07930 371965
  • Timms Transport – Jason Timms – 07917 155701

 

ON BOARD WITH EWEN SERGISON AT THE HISTORIC GRAND PRIX OF ZANDVOORT

https://www.facebook.com/ewen.sergison/videos/vb.528381259/10153699054241260/?type=3

 

 

Monoposto 60th Anniversary Meeting

Sunday, 22 April 2018 / Published in Archive

We will be celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Monoposto at Snetterton on 12th and 13th May.

Monoposto will have two grids at the event, the first containing the Classic, 1800, 1600 and Moto 1000 classes and the second comprising of Mono F3, 2000, FR2000 and Moto 1400. Qualifying and Race 1 for each grid will take place on Saturday, with Race 2 and Race 3 on Sunday. The grid for Race 2 will be decided by the fastest laps set in Race 1 and the grid for Race 3 will be set by the fastest laps set in Race 2.

This meeting will host the Ray Dackombe Trophy which will be contested over the weekend. The winner will not only have their name added to the coveted Ray Dackombe Memorial Trophy, but an extra prize has been donated by Ewen Sergison. The prize is the ‘Monoposto Formula’ book, which has just been released and details the history of Monoposto from 1958 to 1976.

The Ray Dackombe Trophy runs across all eight classes and can be won by anybody, for more information about the Ray Dackombe Memorial Trophy and the criteria for the award please click here.

On top of this we will have a display of ex-Monoposto cars, including some ‘specials’. Monoposto has a fantastic history and we are looking forward to celebrating this over the weekend. There will be a demonstration in the lunchtime of the Saturday at 1.40pm which will be for the display cars and the ex-champions.

The hub will also be upgraded for the weekend and will be located next to the display and snacks will be available over the weekend along with the normal offering of tea, coffee and biscuits.

The annual BBQ and Baking Grand Prix will be held on the Saturday evening at 7pm. Tickets are £15 and are available to purchase by clicking the link below or contacting Rachel Lovett. If you would like to come, you can pay in advance or pay cash on the day but you must let Rachel know in advance so we can cater for you.

The Baking Grand Prix will be hosted by Joanie Harvey, entries will be taken on the day and will be judged by a panel of ‘experts’ and there will be prizes for the winners. The baking grand prix entries will then provide the dessert for the BBQ.

We would like to have as many ex-members and ex-champions at the anniversary meeting as possible, so if you are an ex-member or champion please get in touch with Rachel (rachel@monoposto.co.uk or 01302 364715) if you would like to attend. Please also get in touch if you have an old Monoposto car that you would like to put on display at the meeting.

Event Documents and Information

Documents will appear here as they are released or updated:

Ray Dackombe Memorial Trophy 2018

Sunday, 22 April 2018 / Published in Archive

The 60th Anniversary meeting at Snetterton on 12th and 13th May has been nominated as the 2018 Ray Dackombe Memorial Trophy Meeting.

Ray Dackombe very sadly died in 2008. He was a longstanding and key Member of the Club. His abilities as Paddock Coordinator on Race Days contributed in many ways to the Club’s success, and to everyone’s enjoyment of the racing. After his death a trophy was donated in his memory and a race is nominated each year to be the Memorial race where the trophy is contested.

The Ray Dackombe Memorial Trophy is awarded for performance on track. The criteria is standard “class” points which are awarded for both qualifying and race positions, plus a point for fastest lap in class. Points will be added up for each Monoposto class and the driver with the most points will be awarded the Trophy.  Ties will be decided in favour of class wins/poles and if still tied, awarded to the leading point scorer of the largest class.

This is one of the most prestigious Trophies awarded by the Club and with such a large entry for Snetterton, competition is going to be intense. In addition to the trophy, a prize has been donated by Ewen Sergison which will be presented to the winner. The prize is the ‘Monoposto Formula’ book, which has just been released and details the history of Monoposto from 1958 to 1976.

Previous Winners:

2017: Matthew Walters
2016: Not Awarded
2015: Not Awarded
2014: Richard Gittings
2013: Daniel Hands
2012: Lee Cunningham
2011: Olly Thorpe
2010: Ian Hughes
2009: Chris Woodhouse
2008: Tristan Cliffe

Donington Report – 14th & 15th April

Sunday, 22 April 2018 / Published in Archive

The 60th year of Monoposto kicked off at Donington on 14th & 15th April 2018. This meeting saw a rearrangement of the grids with the Moto 1400 cars joining the F3 grid and the Classics moving across to the Moto 1000 grid, a move that worked well over the weekend. Both grids were busy and we were joined by nine new drivers who are starting their first season with Monoposto this year. The Moto 1000 class was exceptionally big with fourteen cars entering that class.

Testing on Thursday saw terrible weather at the track, with cold and wet conditions. But by Saturday we were enjoying hot sunshine all day which continued on into a warm evening. Things changed for Sunday though as it was another chilly day and the rain came in the afternoon.

F3, 2000, FR2000 and Moto 1400 Grid

Qualifying for the F3, 2000, FR2000 and Moto 1400 grid saw a few people experience some early problems. Richard Greening, in his newly rebuilt ‘Leyton House’ Swift, suffered fuel starvation after leaving the assembly area and came to a stop on the inside of the first corner, not managing to complete any qualifying laps. Richard Fores got up to third on the grid on his fourth lap of qualifying but followed that up by parking his Dallara in the tyre wall at the last corner on lap 5, luckily both the car and driver escaped unharmed and Richard stayed third in the times overall. Neil Harrison completed six laps of qualifying, but then he pulled in with engine problems and had to retire from the rest of the weekend. Jason Timms also stopped early in qualifying with a misfire.

Ben Cater and Tony Bishop had a good battle for pole position with Ben taking it by 0.35 seconds over Tony. James Densley was fastest in the FR2000 class and fourth overall, with Richard Crisp just behind him. Kevin Otway was the fastest of the 2000 cars, sitting sixth overall and Jason Timms still managed to be fastest of the Moto 1400 cars even though he had a misfire, but he was down in thirteenth overall on the grid.

As the cars joined the assembly area for the first race, there was a car missing – Richard Fores, who was due to start from third. He had stripped the threads out of the oil pump in qualifying and his mechanics were working hard to fix it to get him out for the race. The rest of the grid left the assembly area as they were putting the car back together and he made it to the pit lane just after the lights went out for race start, so he joined the race but was dead last.

The race got underway cleanly with Ben Cater maintaining his position at the front into the first corner. Bryn Tootell got past Kevin Otway quickly to take the lead of the 2000 class and by the end of the first lap they were separated by Geoff Fern who had come flying through the field from fourteenth and sat seventh by the end of lap one. Tony Gauntlett was second in the Moto 1400 class lying in tenth at the end of lap one, having started seventeenth. Tony maintained this position for a few laps until he retired from the race in a giant plume of white smoke going into the first corner on lap four.

Meanwhile, Richard Fores was steadily making his way through the grid – he was up to ninth by lap three. At the start of lap nine he was up to fifth behind the FR2000 battle of James Densley and Richard Crisp. They had a big gap ahead of them to the leaders – Ben Cater was still in the lead, five seconds clear of Tony Bishop, who was fifteen seconds up the road from James Densley. Unfortunately things changed as Tony suffered a puncture that put him out of the race on lap 10, this elevated James Densley and Richard Crisp to second and third overall. Richard Fores then made short work of getting between the two Formula Renaults, before taking second place overall on lap twelve, earning him the driver of the day accolade.

James Densley managed to maintain third overall in the race but a spin for Richard Crisp on the penultimate lap of the race saw him drop to fifth overall behind Bryn Tootell. Bryn took the 2000 class win with Kevin Otway second and Terry Clark third, in seventh and eighth overall respectively. Kevin took the fastest lap in class though, setting a new lap record. Geoff Fern finished sixth overall, taking the win in the Moto 1400 class. Jason Timms finished second in class but was down in twelfth overall whilst still suffering problems with his car.

The new format for triple header meetings sees the grid for subsequent races being set by the fastest laps in the previous race. This meant that Tony Bishop was still up in second on the grid even though he had suffered a DNF in the first race of the weekend. Kevin Otway also prospered from this system as he was in fourth, three places ahead of Bryn Tootell. Geoff led the Moto 1400 class from eighth on the grid, whilst Jason Timms and Martin Wright lay in fourteenth and seventeenth respectively.

The start of the second race of the weekend for this grid saw drama from the start, Russ Giles spun on the green flag lap which dropped him to the back of the grid and he was not allowed to take up his grid slot. Richard Crisp put his hands up as he had stalled on the grid whilst they were lining up for race start and was pushed off the circuit because he couldn’t restart the car. The decision was taken to run a second green flag lap to make sure the cars didn’t overheat which then meant Russ was able to take up his original grid slot – a rule that perhaps those less technically minded wouldn’t have realised!

As the race started, Richard Crisp was able to start from the pit lane, by the end of the first lap he had made it past five cars and gradually climbed up the grid during the race to finish eighth overall and second in class. Kevin Otway sat between the two Formula Renaults, finishing second in class but again taking the fastest lap. Bryn Tootell won the 2000 class having taken the lead of the class from Kevin on the first lap of the race. In the Moto 1400 class, Jason Timms had eliminated his gremlins from the previous day and was back on form, climbing from fourteenth to ninth on the first lap and taking the class lead from Geoff Fern on lap two. He then continued to climb up the field, eventually taking third overall away from Richard Fores on lap nine.

The fight for the overall lead of the race was a good one, Ben Cater had a good start and pulled out a 4-5 second lead in the first couple of laps, but then his engine died going across the start line. As he checked the dash, it flagged up that the fuel pressure was low and in a moment of desperation, he realised that there was that switch on the dash called “pump 1/pump 2”. After flicking the switch, the engine came back to life but not before Tony Bishop had passed him into the Old Hairpin. Tony maintained the lead for a few laps before Ben got back past on lap seven and retained the lead for the rest of the race with Tony close behind. Tony took the fastest lap though which set a new lap record in the F3 class and also secured him pole for race three of the weekend. Jason Timms was second fastest, which bumped Ben down to third on the grid for the final race. Richard Fores sat fourth with Richard Crisp in fifth, out qualifying James Densley who was in sixth. Kevin Otway was seventh at the head of the 2000 class, with Bryn Tootell behind him in eighth.

The final race for this grid on Sunday afternoon saw another dramatic start, with Richard Fores shooting himself into the pit wall whilst trying to go around Jason Timms who was slow to get away. As Richard had wiped out the entire front left, it wasn’t possible for the marshals to push him off the track, resulting in the safety car being brought out for two laps whilst he was recovered from the start/finish straight. The start had been more successful for others though as Ben Cater got up to second place behind Tony Bishop and James Densley was up to fourth from sixth, with Richard Crisp losing four places before the safety car came out. Bryn Tootell got ahead of Kevin Otway again for the lead of the 2000 race and Russ Giles was up in seventh, but third in the F3 class.

When the race restarted, Tony Bishop maintained the lead ahead of Ben Cater for a lap but then Ben got past on lap four. Tony was close behind and fighting for the lead of the race but unfortunately spun out on the last corner of lap five, getting beached in the gravel and putting an end to his race. This let Ben take the win for the third time of the weekend, but he didn’t run away with it as Jason Timms wasn’t far behind him in second place and the lead of the Moto 1400 class. Russ Giles came in second in the F3 class, with Mike Hatton taking third.

Kevin Otway didn’t fare well on the restart of the race after the safety car, as he had a spin which dropped him down to tenth overall and third in class behind Terry Clark, he got back past Terry on lap five but only managed to get back up as far as sixth by the end of the race, leaving Bryn to take the class win again in fifth overall, eleven seconds clear of Kevin. For much of the race, after Tony dropped out, the top four was made up of a representative from each of the four classes on the grid. Ben Cater was leading in the F3 class with Jason Timms in Moto 1400 second, James Densley was third overall but leading the FR2000 class and Bryn Tootell was fourth overall as the leader of the 2000 class. On the penultimate lap Richard Crisp got past Bryn Tootell for fourth overall, but he didn’t have enough time to catch James who won in the FR2000 class. The driver of the day on Sunday went to Mat Jordan.

Moto 1000, 1800, 1600 and Classic Grid

Qualifying for this grid saw problems early on for Will McAteer, who broke a drive shaft leaving the assembly area, and Matthew Bromage who had a fuel pump issue. Neither of them managed to do a lap in qualifying but they both got the problems fixed in time for the first race that afternoon. Ian Hughes completed qualifying but a mystery oil leak saw him decide to call it a day and go home for fear of causing further damage to his engine. Tom Rawlings, in the Moto 1000 class, qualified on pole on his first time out on track – having only just gained his race licence after stepping up to single seaters from karting and junior rallying. Dean Warren, also in Moto 1000, qualified second with Peter Venn third overall and first for the Classic class. Chris Lord qualified top for the 1800 class and was twelfth overall and Geoff Fern was top for 1600 and seventeenth overall on this huge grid of twenty eight cars.

On the start of the first race, Tom Rawlings was slow away and lost the lead to Dean Warren. Mark Reade also found his way past on the first corner, but Tom immediately fought back and regained the position. Peter Venn dropped back slightly in fourth place overall but quickly caught up to Mark Reade and got past him on the third lap of the race. Tom Rawlings managed to take the lead back from Dean Warren on lap three and he quickly pulled a gap, gaining eight seconds over him by lap eight. Unfortunately, Tom then had gearbox problems which meant he couldn’t select any low gears and Dean started closing up on him, eventually getting past him to take the win on the final lap. Tom did well to bring it home in second place. After the first couple of laps, Peter Venn was racing by himself for most of the race to take third overall and the Classic class win, as well as setting a new lap record for the class. Mark Reade was running in fourth for most of the race until a broken half shaft saw him retire on lap ten. This bumped Nigel Davers up to fourth overall and third in the Moto 1000 class. Mick Kinghorn came fourth in the Moto 1000 class and Dominic Shepherd had a great drive from eleventh to sixth overall and fifth in class.

Peter Whitmore took second in the Classic class with Jared Wood coming in third in class, they held seventh and eighth on the grid overall. Will McAteer and Matthew Bromage drove well from the back of the grid after their qualifying issues to take thirteenth and fourteenth out of twenty two overall, this earned Will the Driver of the Day award. In the 1800 class, Chris Lord didn’t make the race as he suffered a starter motor issue after qualifying top in the class. Phil Davis had a great drive from eighteenth on the grid to finish twelfth overall and taking the class win. Six places behind him was Steven Griffin who came second in class, David Jones and Doug McLay continued their trend from last year and were racing well between them, David was running third in class but had a spin on oil on the last lap which put him out of the race and left Doug to take third in the 1800 class. Geoff Fern came first in the 1600 class and was fifteenth overall with new driver, Seamus Wild, coming second in the 1600 class.

Tom Rawlings had qualified on pole for the second race of the weekend, because of his performance in the Saturday race, but unfortunately couldn’t cure his gearbox issue so had gone home and didn’t take part in the two Sunday races. This promoted Dean Warren to pole with Peter Venn second and Nigel Davers third. Mark Reade had earned fourth on the grid before he’d retired from the race the day before but he was back out thanks to team boss, Paul Heavey, catching a ferry across from Ireland with a half shaft to do an early morning fix on the car so Mark could get back out in the Sunday races.

The start of the race was interesting with Dean Warren getting a bit ahead of himself and setting off before the lights had come on, this caused a bit of confusion and when the lights did come on and then go off some people were quite slow to get away. Nigel Davers notably lost a few places, ending up ninth after the first lap. Conversely, Matthew Bromage had a great opening lap to go from ninth to fourth by the end of lap one and Geoff Fern went flying through the pack to take sixth place by the end of lap one, having started seventeenth! Geoff dropped back on the grid during the race, but still took the class win. Phil Davis had a spin at Redgate on the first lap which dropped him from sixteenth to dead last and Peter Venn lost a place to Mark Reade off the start and then had a spin on the last corner of the first lap which saw him stuck in the gravel and out of the race. Marcus Sheard completed the first lap in seventeenth place but stopped at the end of the pitlane after not being able to select any gears. A safety car was put out for two laps whilst Peter and Marcus were recovered from the track.

Things calmed down a bit after the restart, but there were some great battles happening right through this huge grid. Dean Warren and Mark Reade had a great battle for the lead which lasted for the entire race. Dean finished 0.1 seconds ahead of Mark but, after his ten second penalty was applied for the jump start, the places were reversed. Third in the Moto 1000 class was Nigel Davers who finished fourth on the grid overall having made up lost ground after his poor start. Ahead of him was Classic class winner, Matthew Bromage, who had a great race to take third overall. Jared Wood came second in the Classic class and seventh overall and Peter Whitmore was third in class and eleventh overall.

In the 1800 class, Chris Lord started second to last after not taking the grid in the first race the day before and behind him in twenty fifth place and last was Amnon Needham who was only taking part in the Sunday races. Chris had a phenomenal first lap which took him from twenty fourth place to eighth and five places ahead of Steven Griffin who sat second in class. Chris maintained eighth position and the lead of the 1800 class until the end. Amnon Needham was up to twelfth overall and second in class by the end of lap four, which is where he finished the race. Steven Griffin held third in class for most of the race until Phil Davis came past him whilst making up lost ground from his early spin.

The final race of the weekend saw a few people from the back of the grid drop out because of car troubles and young families to take home which left twenty people to take the grid for the final race. This was good news for Peter Venn who was bumped up five places before the race even began. He was starting at the back due to not setting a lap time before going off in the race earlier in the day. Everybody was on wet tyres as the rain had come about an hour before the race, but the sun started to break through again as they were heading out onto track. Luckily Sunday was quite a cold day so the track didn’t dry out too quickly.

Mark Reade had a great start to the race and immediately pulled away from Dean Warren. Dominic Shepherd stuck with Dean and looked like he might take him round the first corner but Dean managed to fight him off and then start to pull a gap. Mick Kinghorn, Nigel Davers, Chris Lord and Matthew Bromage all headed to the first corner in a tight pack. Mick Kinghorn lost out on the first lap though as he spun on oil at Coppice which dropped him down to second last, just ahead of David Jones who spun on the oil after him. Peter Venn had a great start and gained four places before the first corner, he ended the first lap in tenth place. Chris Lord had done a good job getting into the battle for fourth off the start, as he had come through from ninth on the grid. He finished the first lap in fourth place.

Nigel Davers got past Chris Lord on the second lap for fourth place and then quickly got up past Dominic Shepherd and into third. Dean Warren was struggling for grip in the wet and he started losing places quickly, going from second to fifth by lap four and eventually ending up sixth overall. This put Nigel up into second place and on the tail of Mark Reade. Nigel got past Mark on lap four for the lead of the race and pulled away to eventually finish the race a full twenty seconds ahead of Mark Reade. Chris Lord got past Dominic Shepherd for third place overall on lap six and started closing the gap to Mark Reade, but he was too far behind to challenge for second. Fourth overall went to Peter Venn, who won the Classic class. Having started last, Peter got up to sixth by the end of lap three and had some big gaps to close to get up to fourth. Dominic Shepherd ended up fifth overall and third in class after a very impressive drive in tricky conditions from the novice driver.

Jared Wood finished the race in seventh overall and second in the Classic class and Peter Whitmore came third in class and tenth overall. After his success in the race earlier in the day, Matthew Bromage had a difficult final race. He maintained sixth overall and second in class for a couple of laps, but a spin on lap three left him at the back of the grid. He gained a few places back during the race but only managed fifteenth overall and fourth in class in the end. In the 1800 class, Chris Lord had a dominant class win, Amnon Needham had a good race, coming in second in class and ninth overall and Steven Griffin came third in class. Phil Davis had a good start to the race and had been running second in class, but an off on lap four dropped him right back so he ended up fourth in class and sixteenth overall.

It was a late finish to the weekend, but an exciting last race which was worth waiting for. Thanks as always to all the competitors, teams, officials and marshals for a great weekend!

Donington National, 14-15 April, Rounds 1, 2 & 3, UKCG Monoposto Championship

Sunday, 08 April 2018 / Published in Archive

The first three rounds of the UKCG Monoposto Championship will be held at Donington on the National circuit.  The three round format is being used again this year after it proved popular last season.

Qualifying and Race 1 will take place on Saturday, with Race 2 and Race 3 on Sunday. The grid for Race 2 will be decided by the fastest laps set in Race 1 and the grid for Race 3 will be set by the fastest laps set in Race 2.

This year the grids will be moved around slightly with the Mono Moto 1400 and Mono Classic 2000 classes swapping. Therefore, Grid 1 will be for the F3, 2000, FR2000 and M1400 classes and Grid 2 will be for the M1000, 1800, 1600 and Classic classes.

Documents will appear here as they are released or updated:

2018 UKCG Monoposto Championship Regulations

Monday, 19 February 2018 / Published in Archive

The 2018 UKCG Monoposto Championship regulations have been published.

You can view or download the regulations by clicking this link: 2018 UKCG Monoposto Championship Regulations

 

2018 Monoposto Yearbook Released

Monday, 19 February 2018 / Published in Archive

The 2018 Monoposto Yearbook has now been released which contains information about the club, the classes we have, the two championships we run, the dates for the year and more.

The Yearbook is designed to be a guide for newcomers to Monoposto, but has useful information for established competitors as well.

To view or download the Yearbook, please click here: 2018 Yearbook

Fire Extinguisher Regulations

Monday, 19 February 2018 / Published in Archive

Regulation (K)3 in the MSA Yearbook has been amended to require all fire extinguishers to be serviced in accordance with the manufacturers guidelines, or every 24 months, whichever is sooner.

This regulation change was ratified by Motor Sports Council for 01 January 2018 implementation. Unfortunately, there was an error in the rule changes notification sheet published in October 2017, which indicated an incorrect date of implementation of 01 January 2019. It has been confirmed that this regulation is as per the MSA Yearbook, effective as of 01 January 2018.

To summarise, where an extinguisher is required by the discipline regulations, it must now be serviced in accordance with (K)3.  If you have any doubts, please feel free to contact the MSA Technical Department for further clarification or assistance.

For FIA-homologated fire extinguisher systems, the servicing must always be carried out by the manufacturer or their approved agent to maintain the validity of the homologation. Current regulations for non-homologated systems do not require the service to be carried out by the manufacturer or their agent. Before submitting an extinguisher for service check with the manufacturer, because servicing outside of the manufacturer’s network may affect their recognition of that product.

UKCG Announced as Monoposto Championship Sponsor for 2018

Sunday, 18 February 2018 / Published in Archive

Monoposto is delighted to announce that we have a new sponsor on board for the Monoposto Championship for 2018 – UKCG.

The UK Carbon & Graphite Company Limited (UKCG) is a UK based company specialising in the controlled manufacture, machining, testing and global distribution of carbon and graphite products utilised in varying applications and industrial sectors.

To find out more about UKCG, please visit their website: uk-cg.com

The championship will be referred to as the “UKCG Monoposto Championship” for 2018 and the logo above will be included on all official championship paperwork as well as the new championship decals which will be handed out at the start of the season to go on every car scoring points in the championship.