Despite the best efforts of the British weather in damaging parts of the grand prix wing of the Silverstone circuit, the WEC race at Silverstone next weekend and the Dunlop 24HR race in three weeks time are going ahead as planned thanks to the efforts of the Silverstone staff. The damage to the wing was not as extensive as it first appeared and will have no effect on the events.
Discounted tickets for the 24 HR race are still available until 14th April.
Just a quick one for you all, the provisional timetable for the 24hr event is available to view/download on our website via this link: britcar24hr.co.uk/home/time-schedule
We have received some information about the loss of Jem Marsh, Founder of Marcos Cars.
He passed away early last week at the age of 84.
Marcos is a marque that we have been very familiar with at Britcar and Jem himself has been to a number of our events.
Jem’s family have been in touch, as they will be having a “Celebration of Jem’s Life” on Friday 20th March 2015, Holy Trinity Church, Bradford on Avon, at 2.30.
Afterwards at Cumberwell Park Golf Club, Bradford on Avon.
We have a couple of photos of Jem, kindly provided by Gary Harman.
Jem being interviewed on the Grid of Britcar race at Castle Combe
Waving checkered flag as Topcats Marcos crosses the finish line
Paul Smith, Sean McInerney and James Thorpe are joining the SZ Motorsport Team (www.szmotorsport.co.uk) with Craig Davies www.craigdavies.co.uk to compete in the Dunlop 24hr race at Silverstone from 24th-26th April 2015 with their Seat Leon Supacopa.
Craig Davies has over 25 years of saloon car racing experience and recently competed in a couple of seasons of Britcar with many race wins, this will be his third 24 Hour. He also competes in The Spa 6 hour in an Alan Mann GT40 and competes in Masters Historic Series and HSCC in a Corvette Stingray and Shelby Mustang. He is regularly invited to The Member’s Meeting and Revival at Goodwood. He is also a front runner in The Super Touring Series with ex 1989 BTCC Brooklyn Ford Sierra RS500.
Paul Smith competed in the 1991 Honda CRX Championship, 1992 Alfa Romeo Championship finishing 2nd, and after a long sabbatical took part in the 2010 Fiat 500 Abarth one make Championship, 2011/12 Silverstone Classic (RS500), 2013 Supertouring Championship (RS500), and 2014 Supertouring Championship (BMW 320/Audi A4).
Sean McInereny has competed in 14 24hr races previously, was a driver of the 2011 Silverstone 24hr winning car, competed in the Le Mans Series and Le Mans 24hr in 2009, and was Multiple Champion with BMW M1 in the CER Series.
James Thorpe has been racing since 1997; he won the Rover Tomcat Series in 2003, and recently has been racing a Lotus, Cortina and BMW 2002 in the Masters.
Britcar drivers benefit from 10% off Walero products up to the end of 2015.
Walero provided us some information about their products:
“Walero base layers are the brainchild of Fiona James, a GT3 driver, they have been tried & tested in just about every situation during development, from ski-ing, cycling, & hill walking as well as in race cars by several people.
They came about when Fiona was looking at the technology for an equine product & asked if it was possible to add this into flame retardant fabric. Having experienced first hand the temperatures in a racecar, Fiona was keen to look at different ways to help reduce the heat stress suffered by drivers having found nothing suitable on the market that either didn’t cost huge sums of money or add lots of weight to the car.
Another thing Fiona was keen to address was the not so pleasant whiff of her kit bag after a weekends racing!
And so Walero was born. Fiona’s recently retired Olympic dressage horse was the inspiration & provided the name, & Fiona’s love of motorsports spurred things on.
What makes Walero products stand out from the crowd is the ability to actively regulate your temperature using technology developed for NASA to keep their astronauts never too hot, never too cold, but always just right. This uses microcapsules of a phase change material (pcm), which is incorporated into the yarn before the fabric is woven. It absorbs the heat energy. This will last for the lifespan of the garments.
The other technology we have utilised is an environmentally friendly anti-microbial additive. This works on bio-mimicry & was based on something the African Claw Toed Frog produces naturally! This will have a long lifespan in the garments but we are bringing out a laundry wash re-charge liquid so you can have all your kit smelling as sweet as you!
We do have other products coming out soon, including balaclavas, socks, & helmet (& boot!) sanitiser. There is also a second colour choice coming out soon.
Available exclusively through Grand Prix Racewear in the UK or direct with Walero www.walero.uk or for more information & testimonials.”
Team CHF500 (Children’s Heart Federation) are running a Porsche 968 in the Dunlop 24hr, the vehicle first raced with us in the 2007 Britcar 24hr. This is a charity team, all proceeds and sponsorship will be going to the Children’s Heart Federation. The teams aim is to raise a £24,000, £1,000 for every hour that they race.
There are four drivers racing that all have a connection to the car; Paul Follett and Jonathan Evans, both previous owners of the car and have raced in the Porsche Club Championship, Jonathan is also a trustee of the Charity. Alex Eacock of EMC Motorsport, who originally built the car and the fourth driver, Ben Demetriou who trained Paul and Jonathan, is a previous Porsche Club Champion in a Porsche 968.
The Children’s Heart Federation is dedicated to helping children with congenital, or acquired heart disease and their families in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. CHD (Congenital Heart Disease) is the most common birth defect in the UK, thousands of babies are born each year and hundreds develop a heart condition at some point after birth.
For more information on the charity visit their website:
To make a donation, follow the links below;
http://www.chfed.org.uk/events-and-fundraising/chf500-dunlop-24hr/
https://www.justgiving.com/team-CHF500/
The Britcar team look forward to seeing how they perform and wish them all the best for reaching their goal.
Beechdean AMR will be returning to the Dunlop 24hr this year with the championship winning British GT Aston Martin Vantage GT4 car.
Andrew Howard comments; ‘We are looking forward to returning to the Dunlop 24hr in April – we’ve had good history at this event, and with the Beechdean AMR teams’ success of late, we are hoping for a strong result. This race provides us with great seat time, and with the reliability behind the Aston Martin GT4 vantage we are quietly confident.’
As an Aston Martin customer team for the last 4 years, Beechdean claimed the British GT4 title in 2014 and were GT3 champions in 2013, as well as finishing 2nd in Baku World Challenge last year.
Previous history: 2010 LMP1 Beechdean Mansell Motorsport, ELMS & 24 hour Le Mans 2010, 2nd overall in 2008 Britcar 24hr Aston Martin GT4 car.
A couple of months ago we posted a link to an e-petition that wavered noise complaints made by new residents moving into the proximity of race track. The e-petition has to date over 39000 signatures. As the e-petition has received more than 10 000 signatures, the relevant Government department have provided the following response:
Introduction: The issues raised in this e-petition relate to land use in England and Wales. They touch on the law relating to the ownership of property and the private law of nuisance as well as the planning system, statutory nuisance and the regulation of public events. The underlying complaint is that new residents object to established activities within their new neighbourhood. Individuals are in general free to live in any part of England and Wales. They may buy, rent or be permitted to use a residence. On taking up residence they generally have the same rights as the existing inhabitants. Removing the rights of incomers to protect themselves against nuisances would discriminate against them and probably intensify the enquiries made by prospective residents, making transactions more complicated and expensive, as well as increasing the risk of post-transaction litigation about non-disclosure or limited disclosure.
The Government has no plans to change the law in this respect. The law of nuisance The private law of nuisance is a long-standing common law tort, or civil wrong, which affects a person’s private rights in relation to land. The law recognises that, in general, every person is entitled to the comfortable and healthy enjoyment of the land or premises owned or occupied by them. It is open to anyone with an interest in land to bring a civil claim where there has been an unreasonable interference with the use and enjoyment of their land as a result of the unreasonable use of neighbouring land by another person (the defendant).
Remedies available could include an injunction to moderate or cease the unreasonable use of the land and/or damages for the interference suffered. The standard to be applied by the courts in determining whether the claimant is entitled to a remedy is an objective one based on what is reasonable to the average person. It is also necessary to take account of the circumstances and nature of the locality in which the claimant is living.
While any benefit to the wider community arising from the defendant’s use of their land is not a defence against a claim, it may be a factor considered by the court when assessing if the use is reasonable. The fact that the defendant may have been using the land in that way before the claimant came to the vicinity is also not a defence, although the extent to which the claimant was aware of the activity when acquiring their interest in the land may be a factor that the court will consider as part of the overall picture.
Applying these general principles, the court has to reach a decision in the light of all the circumstances of the individual case. Achieving a just outcome in such civil disputes is a matter best left to the courts, and the Government has no plans to change the law in this area. There is also statutory nuisance legislation which draws on common law nuisance. It would apply to noise from premises that unreasonably and substantially interferes with a person’s enjoyment of their property or damages their health. It also places a duty on local authorities to take action, rather than individuals relying on seeking redress through the courts.
Before using this legislation, the local authority would assess whether a statutory nuisance exists based on the circumstances of the case, taking into account a range of factors including how the character of the locality (including existing noise sources) affects the situation. Individuals may also bring private actions under this legislation There are safeguards for motor sport venues in relation to complaints from nearby residents. When assessing statutory nuisance and deciding on potential enforcement action and whether mitigation measures are required, the venues – or any businesses – have a defence of best practicable means if they can demonstrate that they have done all they reasonably and practicably can to minimise the noise impact.
Planning: The planning system has an important role to play in helping to prevent nuisances occurring in the first place. National planning policy for England as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework expects local planning policies and decisions to avoid noise from giving rise to significant adverse impacts on health and quality of life as a result of new development, and mitigate and reduce to a minimum other adverse impacts on heath and quality of life arising from noise from new development, including through the use of conditions. However, it should be borne in mind that the grant of planning permission does not license a nuisance and in some cases businesses may need to do more than just comply with their planning conditions to avoid causing a nuisance.
Where appropriate, the courts will look at planning decisions and compliance with any planning decisions when assessing whether a nuisance exists. Elements of an ‘agent of change” or “right of first occupant” principle already exist within national planning policy and guidance.
The National Planning Policy Framework, for example, states that existing businesses wanting to develop in continuance of their business should not have unreasonable restrictions put on them because of changes in nearby land uses since they were established. In particular, the planning guidance supporting the Framework directly addresses the issue of noise sensitive developments, like new residential developments, where there is an existing noise source and includes advice on noise mitigation measures.
In a recent update of the guidance, the Department for Communities and Local Government underlined planning’s contribution to avoiding future complaints including through looking to developers building new homes near venues giving rise to noise to include sound-proofing in the homes.
Motor sports venues The Government fully recognises the huge popularity of motor sport in this country both on 2 and 4 wheels. Motor sport is important in terms sporting participation, volunteering, engineering, advancements in technology, job creation and wider economic benefits.
Summary: our policies and legislation, along with existing planning guidance, allow people to enjoy motor sport while managing the noise environment and without placing an unnecessary burden on businesses that operate as motor sport venues.
The Government considers that it is striking the right balance between those who welcome motor sport and those who have concerns about it. This e-petition remains open to signatures and will be considered for debate by the Backbench Business Committee should it pass the 100 000 signature threshold.
Over the past two years we (Backdraft Motorsport) have built an Audi S3 2.0T race car specifically with endurance in mind. Having gained a wealth of experience knowledge in endurance racing we have been able to build a competitive based on all the things we have learned over the years. Towards the end of 2014 Nick Jarvis purchased the car and entered the 2015 Dunlop 24hr race at Silverstone. Nick will be driving the car with a the team of drivers (names T.B.C) and we (Backdraft Motorsport) will be running the team. The car it’s self is a 2007 Audi S3 2.0T Quattro and produces approximately 360hp at the fly. Amongst other things it is equipped with air jacks & centre lock wheels for fast wheel changes. Meticulous effort and detail has gone into building the car and it should be an excellent performer, especially in tricky conditions.
Topcats Racing have long and successful history in British and European endurance racing from British GT in 2002 to joining the Britcar Endurances series in their inaugural season in the same year and competing in the series to the present day. The team also compete in GT Cup as well as high profile European stand alone endurance races for modern day race cars with their 600BHP Marcos Mantis GT cars and the Mosler MT900 R as well as Historic Endurance Racing with a 1965 TVR Grantura. The team hold multiple class and overall championship wins as well as current Britcar 500 overall winners. The team is owned and run by husband and wife Charlotte and Warren Gilbert, both successful racing drivers; Charlotte having raced in TVR Tuscan Challenge, British GT and Britcar and Warren in Caterham Series, Britcar and GT Cup.
At full capacity, Topcats Racing manages a 14 strong team of highly skilled and dedicated engineers and strategists.
Topcats Racing have competed in every Britcar 24 hr race since the event began in 2005. They are the only team ever to enter and start 3 cars for the race and have all 3 cars finish. Topcats are fully equipped with an extensive spares package and geared for 24hr racing and provide a unique and fully comprehensive managed service for its drivers including, accommodation arrangements for hotels/motorhomes, massage therapist, full catering for drivers for the duration of the event, PR and media management, dedicated sub teams (4-5 engineers per car) and sub team manager for each car as well as driver management incl. strategy and driver wellbeing.
