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Post 24hr newsletter

Started by Chris Yates, August 30, 2016, 21:08:43

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Chris Yates

Dear Classic 2CV Racing Club Member,



It has been a hectic couple of months since I was asked to chair the board; and I am conscious that we have focused almost entirely on ensuring that the 24-hour race is a success.  This is a race of which we as a club should be immensely proud.  It is the longest-standing 24hr race in the country and is often the only 24-hour race in the country.  Most are major events like Le Mans, Daytona and the Nürburgring 24-hour, dominated by manufacturer teams and heavily subsidised by sponsors and TV coverage.  Ours is one of the very few that is independent; and is genuinely unique.  Oddly, the only country that I can think of to host two 24-hour races is Belgium and one of those is a 2CV 24-hour race.



I am delighted to say that the Herculean efforts of Philip, Chris, Nick, Katy and others have paid off; and as well as running pretty smoothly, the 24-hour has been a financial success.  It is easy to forget what a risk it is for the club.  The 24-hour costs around £60,000 to put on; the vast majority of that has to be paid out before the event; and is committed before we have many entries.  For some reason, entries this year were running materially lower than they have in prior years:  we don't know what caused that, whether it's the cost of HANS devices this year, the location, the timetable or what; but had all the effort not resulted in enough entries, we may not have had the resources to run the 24-hour again, which would have been a great shame.



As it is, we ended up with 33 entries altogether, of which 16 were 602cc 2CVs; the lowest number of 602s in the race's history.  There has been a lot of concern about the other classes in the 24-hour this year, especially the C1s.  Its important to remember that we wouldn't have a 24-hour race at all without them; and that the purpose of allowing other classes into the race is to ensure the survival of the race (and the club); and to keep the costs affordable for the 602s.  If the race did not have other classes, the entry fees this year would have to have been around £4,000 with no early bird or other discounts.



The board has, therefore, decided to rebate a portion of the surplus to the 602 entries in the 24-hour:  why not all of it?  Firstly, the sprint series loses money, so we need to cover that; and secondly the board believes it is right to retain part for investment for next year.  We have still to finalise all the bills, but our intention is that the rebate will be £250 per 602 entry in the 24-hour, which will be sent to the relevant teams around the last week in October, once the accounts themselves are finalised.



Looking forward, you will all shortly also receive a survey from the board, as I indicated in Snail's Pace.  This is going not just to current members of the club, but also to those who have driven with us or owned cars in the past and broadly anyone who is interested in 602cc 2CVs.  These things always say that your views are important, especially when you are on hold on the telephone, but it really is the case here.   As a board, we need to be able to act on facts and information, rather than our own opinions or wishes.  We need to know where you want to race, when, how much you are prepared to spend as owners and drivers?  We need to understand why so few 602s are now entering the 24-hour; and why only around a quarter of the racing 602s are entering the sprints, so that we can structure the racing programme to entice them back again.  This is your club, so please tell us what you would like us to do.



At the AGM, in addition to the usual administrative points, we intend to set out the findings of the survey in full.  We need to be realistic that the "good old days" are gone, and that there are some areas of costs which we can't fully control.  Hopefully, however, it will provide a clear picture of the direction in which we need to go; and we will act on it.  I have already asked the Technical Committee to make recommendations for any immediate changes that could reduce costs for 2017; to look on a longer-term basis at further measures to reduce costs, which will include a rewrite of the regulations for 2018; and to consider whether a return to Solex carburetors would be advisable or not.



In addition to the survey findings, we will also set out for you a clear picture of financial position of the club, where we make or lose money and what resources we have; the package of regulation changes which the board recommends for 2017, including a number specifically designed to reduce costs immediately; and the racing programme for next year.



I look forward firstly to receiving your survey response; but secondly to meeting you in person at the AGM and dinner dance.  The board is there to run the club for you, so if you have anything you would like to say in addition to the survey, please let me or Philip know directly:  we have set up direct emails for each main board member; they are on the website as well, but mine is

[email protected]



and Philip's:

[email protected]



We'd be glad to hear from you.