Historic Motoring Circus

The time has come I believe where competitors that currently participate in classic/historic racing should take a drastic stand with regard to their future participation in today's ongoing historic circus.  It's also time for you, the dedicated competitor to take into account as to who actually pays for who to race and who incurs such losses each and every time a new broom decides to sweep clean.

Allow me to take you back to around the year 2005/6 where at such time the northern region (HRCR) had a separate set of Pre-77 rules to that of the (WPMC) Western Cape.  By and large both regions were doing the same thing albeit under a slightly different set of specified rules.  At no stage have the two separate regions ever competed against each other in any championship but have on the odd occasion raced on invitation (non championship events) at various venues around the country in organised events e.g. 2005 and the 2006 Bosal Historic weekend at the old Wesbank Raceway circuit as well as various Springbok series events held at Kyalami, Zwartkops and Killarney over previous  years.  I recall witnessing some of the best historic racing during these years leading up to 2009 when it was ultimately decided by both the northern region and Western Cape region to come together and formulate a set of rules together along with the MSA appointed body, the HMC (Historic Motoring Commission).  [See WPMC Rules 2009 and HRCR Rules 2009]
Many hours, days and weeks were spent formulating such rules by all parties concerned and which eventually sufficed both regions (these being the largest in the country) and which the HMC felt was both workable and enforceable.  Allow me to reflect such written duties of the HMC: (See HTP MSA document) 

• The MSA Historic Motorsport Commission is charged by the BoD of MSA to approve all Club, Regional and National regulations relating to Historic Motorsport.  They are also charged with making sure that the regulations are adhered to and their TCs (Technical Controllers) have the authority to override any decision of a technical nature at the highest level. 
• Clubs are encouraged to submit their own Regulations to the HMC for approval.  Clubs and the HMC TCs then control these regulations. The HMC will approve these regulations by mutual agreement with Clubs on issues such as time periods and lists of eligible cars to the various time periods.

A further decision was taken that the (then) newly formulated rules should be put into place for a minimum period of at least 3 years where after they could be reviewed only if absolutely necessary and were to commence and to be enforced as from the beginning of the 2010 season.  This for the first time saw that a set of 'national' historic rules were now in place even although both regions still did not compete against each another in a regional or even a national championship.  The northern region had already as far back as 2009 already drawn up a list of engines that were deemed eligible and which merely indicated what was already being permitted since before 2005 already by the then HRCR.  Effectively little or nothing had really changed and everyone carried on with the now enforced set of 'national'  rules.  During the month of July 2012 a meeting was held at Kyalami by the northern region section (by then the HRSA) and it was also attended by a representative of the HMC , Dave Richardson, where it was stated categorically that the various 'clubs' around the country had called for the cars to be slowed down. This was disputed in writing at such time (2012) by the then WPMC classic car category chairman and such was duly submitted to the HMC.   

[Good morning Mr Dave Richardson,

I write this mail to you as the current chairman of the Classic Car Section of WPMC.  I have listened to the recording of your meeting where you made mention that the introduction of performance limiting is being motivated from the clubs and you make particular reference to the WPMC Classic Car Committee.  I respectfully request that in future if you wish to make comments of this nature that you first check with me to ensure that these opinions are in fact the opinions of our committee.  For the record we have had no formal discussion on this matter and we would not express our opinion without first debating the topic with our drivers.  As such I respectfully request that you formally advise your members who attended this meeting that your comments relating to the opinions expressed by the WPMC Classic Car committee were made without any consultation with us and they are not the opinions expressed by our club members.  We are not saying that we oppose Performance Limitations being imposed and we are open to debating them but we strongly object to our name being used in this fashion when we have never formally expressed this opinion to you.

Regards]

The then northern region saloon car vice chairman at the time was less reluctant to dispute such claim (makes you wonder why?) and effectively the subject was a closed matter, at least for the time being.

In a part reply from the HMC representative it was then subsequently stated:

[Hi ,

In view of (name withheld) mail which I have just replied and copied to you to, I have assumed that performance limitation is on your agenda. Regarding the recording, the context is that nothing major would be changed “without the clubs driving it” not that they were. My apologies if this was misunderstood.

 it went on further to state;

The HMC will not implement anything for 2014 without at least WPMC, ZOC & HRSA agreeing.

Kind Regards
Dave Richardson]

At the end of the 2012 season those very same rules were effectively up for renewal and or amendment yet the decision was again taken by all parties concerned including the HMC to retain the very same set of rules for the 2013 season. Effectively then, for a 4th year without any change to the rules.
At the commencement of the 2013 race season there was already an awkward awareness of potential outside interference and coercion with certain persons running up to the election period to be held in the northern region.  Around 13 March of 2013 the northern region held their category annual AGM where the various sub-committees were elected to serve their term in office.  By the end of the sub-category elections it was blatantly evident of how things were likely to pan out within the pre-77 category and many were now simply waiting for the 'new broom' effect to commence.  Exactly 11 days later on 24 March an email was released with proposed rule changes for 2014 with the specific intention of slowing cars down yet they used the reasoning that it was the racing costs that were the main reasoning behind such proposal. It was also requested that competitors provide the category with feedback and ideas in this regard.  A meeting was then subsequently held on the 15th April 2013 with the HMC along with the various sub-category chair persons where changes were tabled and which will have a huge impact upon the pre-77 category should such be non-democratically and or autocratically enforced.  In addition it would also appear that a decision to move the category cut-off date from pre-77 to pre-79 has also been taken again without any consultation or input from the competitors.

Whatever the intention is or may have been with regard to any supposed cost saving as originally alluded to in the email of 24 March 2013 is largely in my opinion nothing further from the truth.  Without elaborating in any detail on all the changes proposed, consider that most if not all Anglia's currently racing (nationally) will have to replace their engine blocks to conform to the maximum allowance of a standard 1600cc Kent block for which you will still be further penalized.  Others include the infamous Datsun 1200's which now have to use a maximum of a standard 1400cc A14 block specification which is only 200cc bigger than original compared to the Anglia's permitted 400cc capacity increase. (Somehow the Ford's are still favored.)
As for many others like the Mazda rotary's a balance of performance will now be introduced for those cars, such performance formulas yet to be announced and not to mention the sudden prohibition of perfectly legal porting that is to now be prohibited.  Effectively the HMC TWC (Technical Working Committee) has lost the plot as one fails to fathom how they derived to permit a 200cc engine capacity in some car makes while permitting a 400cc in others.  Does the Capri v6 Essex 3.4L still qualify?  No, the use of a standard crank will take care of that. In some cases they have not even taken into account of what was actually raced within the period.  So much for the commission being on top of their game.
Of course they also intend to conveniently prevent the SSS box shaped Datsun to run anything bigger than the L16 engine even although sufficient proof  exists to show that it was raced in 1972 in the SCCA Trans-AM 2.5 series with the L18 engine.[See article]
Yet in other cases they have all of a sudden permitted the use of equipment which was not even used or permitted within the period such as the Oettinger 16V cylinder head which was not ever available prior to 1977 and which was only permitted from 1981 in the 1600 Volkswagen Golf S (which stood for 'Soupapes par cylindre ').  It was homologated only in December of 1981 under homologation number 677 which means it could not have been homologated prior to 1977 for use thereof. [See proof]
They correctly first ban the use of the out of period Cosworth YB cylinder head and then at a later meeting change their minds to then allow it and all of a sudden to also allow a BMW M3 multi-valve cylinder head which is also from outside of the cut-off period.   How is it logically possible to run a 16V non period head cheaper than a 8V cylinder head if 'cost' was such an issue to them?  And so the list continues with omissions and changes not properly and carefully thought through but merely to please those few who are once again determined to change rules NOT to please the majority of existing competitors but rather some minority.
  
The rules which have been in place since 2010 and that were once agreed upon by the various regions and technical consultants (TC's) including the Historic Motoring Commission (HMC) and which were accepted and adopted by all the competitors of the Pre-77 category on a 'national' basis, are now suddenly no longer OK as from 2015.  At least that is what it appears to be by the sounds of it.  This comes upon after the AGM of the northern region Saloon Car category where it was specifically stated in the minutes of such AGM: 

Saloons as a category, is very healthy at the moment with the usual suspects at every race meeting. The standard of our cars keeps on getting better and better, so let’s all be proud of our achievements in this area. There are some great cars being built at the moment and we can expect their arrival in the new year. The trend with Saloons at the moment is if you don’t go big, go home, which is brilliant to see.

The proposed changes (such made without any input or any proper consultation with the WPMC) as intended will effectively ADD huge cost and expenses to many competitors to now simply throw away currently eligible and permitted engine blocks, forged pistons, con-rods etc. and replace such AT OUR ADDITIONAL cost to merely appease.

Competitors should now once and for all decide;

1. Do we remain in this current  historic circus with such ever and on-going rule changes or do we throw caution to the wind and waste even more money (so much for them reducing our racing costs) which most competitors can simply ill afford in this day and age to merely please a minority group's thinking.
2. Do you perhaps move on to a different race sector (e.g. Super Saloons) which would in all probability welcome you with open arms and thereby diminish the existing Pre-77 category substantially for them to carry on and do as they please as from 2015?
3. Do the existing competitors (nationally) perhaps even consider forming a new category of club racing named something entirely different or perhaps even amalgamate with an existing category and withdraw entirely from the WPMC and HRSA's Pre-77 Historic Racing category as well as from the HMC who has clearly demonstrated its inability to be consistent, fair and prevent such ever on-going rule changes within the Pre-77 category in addition to its inability to live up to its obligation to merely approve such submitted regulations from each club/region? (Also remind yourself of what has become of the annual Retro 9-Hour event and which now enjoys only a mere hour at each race meeting.)

It is perhaps now time for you the competitor to finally sit down and think long and hard.  Think of what has already been proposed/decided by those that were supposedly elected to represent the interests of the sub-category's members.  Familiarize yourself with the club members constitutional rights.  Then finally ask yourself, do I continue down this same path yet again, wasting more money and continue in hoping that things will change.  The writing is on the wall.
(Einstein once quoted; "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.")

The Way it Was Then vs The Way it is Today

All my life I've been a keen lover of music, mostly of rock music but my likes also includes a wide variety of across the board type genres.  I do have my personal favorite bands, musicians and best artists of all time and am as happy to listen to 40 year old music as I am of the more modern day era compilations.  This evening it suddenly dawned upon me that my music likes and dislikes have something in common with motor racing which is another favorite of mine.  I know you may think I've gone totally bonkers but hear me out.

You see the type of racing that I enjoy and in fact actively participate in is known as historic racing or classic car racing which was done before January 1977.  This format or category of motorsport is governed by a set of rules which specifically stipulates that the parts used on the car e.g. engine, gearbox, cylinder head, bodywork etc. must all be from within the period which occurred before 1977.  We're talking here of some 36 years and more ago I may just remind you.  Of course, as time moved on so parts for those 36 year and older cars became obsolete or in the least scarce and as such, allowances had to be made to accommodate those older cars.  In reality, then these cars are not 100% accurate as they were in the day simply due to the unavailability of such original parts.  While most racing cars in this category around the country still largely conform to the original manufacturers parts such as engine type, gearbox, cylinder head, bodywork etc.compromises were permitted and afforded so that by and large it still resembles the way it was raced many moons ago and affords that such wonderful cars can still be seen today on a track near you.

Now the more purist type would argue flat that this is not how it was done back then and takes away from how it was raced nearly 40 years ago and that every effort should be made to race it like it was in the period.  A lot easier said than done and as such it often leads to much heated debate at times when one tries to explain that manufacturers simply no longer make these parts and are as such not freely available any longer.

So what has this all got to do with my opening statement regarding my music preferences?  Well, quite a lot in fact.  You see way back in 1962 a British band called The Rolling Stones was formed and became famous with band members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts.  They were a huge hit in 1960's and early 70's with famous songs such as Honky Tonk Women, Time is on my side, Under my Thumb, Brown Sugar etc. to name but only a few.  They toured the continents and became one of the greatest British bands to ever tour the world.  Which made me sit down and think a bit.  Here they are below playing another famous hit of theirs which was released on 13 May 1966 called Paint it Black;

You see more than 45 years ago, they used pretty basic type musical equipment with not many frills and stage lighting effects, backdrops and such like yet they churned out hit after hit, album after album and became music sensations.  Many, myself included still have some of their original material of the 60's and 70's on vinyl.  As we grew older such was eventually transferred onto more modern media such as cassette and still much later onto compact-disc and even DVD.  Whatever format their music is contained on, it remains as ever popular and brings back such wonderful memories of more than 40 years ago.  I also observed their playing style, musical equipment and individual stage personalities as they performed some 40 years back, their clothing fashions and stage movements.  I then compared them performing in modern day on 25th November 2012 at the O2 arena as seen here below performing the exact same hit, Paint it Black;

So the question I pose is this:  The Rolling Stones were formed back in 1962 and are still performing live concerts around the world to this very day and have just completed their 50th Anniversary Tour and are still playing in front of thousands upon thousands of fans worldwide.  What I immediately observed is that they don't make use of the semi-acoustic electric guitars, valve VOX amplifiers, cabled microphones and guitar cables.  Everything today is cordless microphones, cordless guitars, modern transistorized amplifiers, stage props etc.  Does that now make them no longer the Rolling Stones as we once knew them back in the 60's simply because although they are still playing the same songs they played all those years ago, such is now performed by using more modern equipment?

For sure these guys have all aged, are using more modern type musical equipment than what they played with nearly 50 years ago but all their music is still instantly recognizable, it's still a big hit with many folk of that era and is still enjoyed by millions around the world not giving a shit about equipment not being exactly the same as when they originally played it back then.  It's time that classic/historic motor racing wakes up to the same fact, that time doesn't stand still and that it actually waits for nobody including the so-called purist.  So to all those still believing you can't get no 'Satisfaction' wakey wakey, life's too short, enjoy it while you can, after all, you are running Out of Time    So please Get off my Cloud  and let this be 'The Last Time'

Trackside camraderie

Hello 2013!!

Its been a while since I last posted anything new but we have been caught up with many other things among them work which without, almost everything would come to a halt.  Since the season ended last year we have started on the new car project but have a very long long way to go still.  As for the other cars (BRE, 140Z and the Datti) well they're standing literally where we left them last year and will decide in due course how we play the year 2013 that lies ahead.

A while ago I overheard someone saying there needs to be more atmosphere and camaraderie especially among the classic car guys.  I stopped and thought about this for a while and came to the conclusion the we have been 'gooi-ing gees' for the last 6 or more years at virtually every race meeting.  I mean we practice like everyone else on the Friday and if our cars are all sorted we light the fire and the camaraderie starts flowing.  By 18h30 most of the other competitors have dwindled away while we are participating in the 'gees' with a handful of die-hard buddies.  Of course a couple of liquid refreshments (hydraulic sandwiches) are always enjoyed especially a few 'cold ones' after a hot Friday session and by later that same evening we sometime have up to 15 or more visitors and a few 'bos luise' as well. The more the merrier as the saying goes.  As the vocal cords start producing greater air velocity with many stories and jokes doing the rounds, so too does the volume of music increase which can range anything from the Mamma & Pappas, 60's, 70's to even German folk songs and in between we even squeeze in some Weskus traditional music.  By then the 'cold ones' are almost finished and 'Rich e Lieu' starts to take over.  On a bad month 'Drosdyhof' does some fine dining. 

An overseas visitor last year for the Ford & Friends weekend says he's never ever experienced such a vibe anywhere else in the world and he travels the racing world for a living doing photography.  See Speedhunters - Z

Pictured below on the extreme left (right as you look) is Bryn Musselwhite who did a photo shoot for Speedhunters.  After the shoot an interview was conducted and we explained that we braai (BBQ) after a practice day.  He popped the question, So tell us about that? “A fire creates atmosphere, we said, add meat and alcohol and with those two and it’s a bloody good combination.” - I’ve never been to a race circuit like it before and I’ll show you some more in another post, it’s a great place" said Bryn.

He even waited for the sun to set before whipping out his camera and snapped the occasion.

“The motor racing is the cherry on top. On a Friday night we all get together and Braai (BBQ), drink and we talk sh*t. If we get a chance to race then that’s a bonus. The camaraderie and the talking is what it’s about.”

These photographs above were taken at the 2012 Ford & Friends event and is unusual in the sense that we don't normal take photos.  Spanners, crowbars,stop watches we have but not cameras at the track.  What has become a custom is that we are often some of the first to get to the track and definitely the last bunch to leave. 

Taking it one step further, such tradition, camaraderie and track braaing is not only reserved for Cape Town (Killarney) but is enjoyed and performed at even away races we attend such as the past weekends racing at Zwartkops in Pretoria West (3 Feb 2013).  A completely different atmosphere but one with the same result.  We are again the last to leave the place and the 44 gallon drum nearby is equally filled to near overflowing capacity with recyclable beverage holders.

So while our cars may not be ready as yet for 2013 we have already secured enough wood, a case of 'Polisie Koffie', we have Bells by the dozen, Windhoek Lights by the case, plenty ice and a Jukebox loaded with plenty oldies ready to start the new season. 

So if you are not finding sufficient camaraderie or feeling the 'gees' at the track don't look our way, we already have a reputation for not knowing when to go home and its infectious towards other petrol heads and competitors alike.

So where were you??