August 27th 2010

The meeting of Modified class competitors at Brands Hatch agreed that a recommendation should go to the Championship Panel not to agree to a proposed change in the A1 gearbox regulations. Essentially, this means that gearboxes, other than those already permitted under Championship Regulation 5.9.1, can not be used. The final Panel ruling will be notified to all competitors in due course.

The BRSCC have asked us to help with a timetable problem they have at Oulton on September 4th. A bumper Formula Ford entry has meant that they have had to arrange a second race and therefore need to combine two other qualifying sessions. As a result, we have agreed that Alfa Romeo qualifying will be combined with Ford XRs, with Alfa competitors starting ahead. The gap is yet to be decided.

Both qualifying and the race at the final round of the Championship at Donington has been confirmed for the Sunday, October 17th, of the two day British GT meeting. As already announced, the race will be this year's running of the Kevin Griffiths Trophy.

The Dinner/Dance and Championship Prize Giving will take place on Saturday, November 20th at Horwood House, near Milton Keynes. Further details in the near future.

Alfa Romeo UK carried out a poll of Alfa enthusiasts recently to establish their favourite model. The winner, with 20.4% of the votes was the GTAm, winner of the 1970 European Touring Car Championship. A close second was the 8C Competizione with 19.8%, the Duetto ending up third with 16.01%.

August 16th 2010

The meeting of modified class competitors to discuss the proposal from Adie Hawkins and Tim Lewis regarding replacement gearboxes in class A1 will take place at Brands Hatch on Saturday, August 21 at 5.30pm in the media centre (on the first floor of the race control building).

Having missed our Snetterton race on Sunday July 25th, Tim Lewis was there a week later for the Dunlop "Motorsport News" Championship double header. In a wet qualifying he was second in the 18 car field, just 0.248" slower than habitual winner Rod Birley's much modified Ford Escort. However, a duff rear shock absorber meant a quick trip to see Adie Hawkins who removed one from his 33. In the first race, the track now dry, Tim was tipped into a spin on the first lap and came round last. By lap 4 he was up to 9th, having set a fastest lap in 1'13.317", way quicker than anyone else, only to have the crank pulley key way shear, taking the cam belt off and bending the flat four engine's valves. With Adie working to repair the damage, Tim is entered for Brands Hatch, his first appearance in the Alfa championship this year.

Class D looks like having a mini revival at Brands with three entries so far. Matt Abell will be there with his ex Tim Hayes 33 8v that we have seen several times this year and he will be joined by Tony Herbert, Paul Plant's father, in ex James Burland 33 16v while Paul Gillet has entered the similar car that Mel Healey raced so successfully. Tony has raced in the past but for Paul it is a new experience but he will have the support of the Spur Motorsport team. Are there any others out there eager to join in?

Dave Thomas was at Mallory recently testing his newly built Class E 146. Its best lap was apparently within a second of the class lap record (57.851" set by Paul Buckley's 156 back in 2006). The car has now gone to be painted but it looks as though its only race this year may be at Donington in October. Also testing the same day was Simon Bird with his Class B 156.

We have received an encouraging number of enquiries from potential competitors, mostly looking at Class E for 2011.

Excellent news is that Donington has re-opened this weekend for a classic motorcycle race meeting with over 400 competitors. A car track day is also scheduled for 29th August and the first car race meeting over the weekend September 4th/5th (Masters Historic Championships).

Who is going to be the first person brave enough to prepare a Mito for the Championship? So far, the car has been notable for its absence in races in its home country Italy. However, this may be about to change as long established preparer Romeo Ferraris is building a MultiAir for the new in 2010 "Campionato Italiano Turismo di Serie". This should make its debut in September. In the three rounds held so far, the BMW Mini has been the most popular car with a Seat Leon FR and Suzuki Swift making their appearances at the last round on the Misano circuit. The rules are very "standard production" so it will be interesting to see how the Mito performs.

August 2nd 2010

Members of the Championship Panel met at Snetterton to discuss a proposal that had been received from Adie Hawkins and Tim Lewis regarding a possible change to the gearbox rules in Class A1 (5.9.1). Essentially they want all cars in A1 to be allowed free gearboxes but, in particular, that their Boxer engined cars should be allowed to dispense with the old Alfasud based gearbox casings which were originally designed to cope with 68 bhp as opposed to the 350 bhp plus that they are now trying to put through them. With the kind of power and torque now available, the original casings, despite being strengthened have proved increasingly fragile. In order to improve reliability, Adie and Tim propose to fit a bespoke 6 speed sequential gearbox made by Elite Transmissions. This is in contravention of current regulation 5.9.1 which states that:

"Non standard gearbox casings are permitted where they have been used on a factory developed version of the model to be raced (for example 155 or 156 Super 2000). In the case of cars fitted with the Boxer engine (33 etc) standard gearbox casings may be strengthened. Sequential gearchange mechanisms are permitted in Class A1 (on gearboxes used on factory developed racing versions) but not in Class A2".

Part of the argument is that the Super2000 156 is allowed, under the above regulation, to use the gearbox developed by Hewland for N.Technology when they were running the cars on behalf of the factory in the World Touring Car Championship (and listed as factory entries). Adie & Tim argue that this is unfair and that they (and competitors not able to take advantage of this rule) are being penalised as a result.

The Panel decided that it was not able to make a decision on such an important issue without having a discussion between those competitors involved. There will, therefore be a meeting of Class A1 drivers and preparers at Brands Hatch after our race on Saturday, August 21. Details will be given on the website in due course.

The full proposal will be sent to all those running in Class A1. Other competitors with an interest and wishing to have a copy should e-mail Michael Lindsay on unabated@talktalk.net

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This year's running of the KEVIN GRIFFITHS TROPHY will be at DONINGTON over the weekend of October 16/17, the final round of the Championship. Once again we expect strong support from the Griffiths family and we hope Kevin's memory will be reflected by a particularly strong grid.

When it re-opens its doors next month, there will be a major change to the layout of the Donington National circuit in that the Goddard Esses before the pit straight will be moved back towards where the old Dunlop bridge used to be. This will allow a bigger run-off on entry to the right/left corner. As a result, the pit straight will be slightly longer and speeds at the entry to Red Gate higher.

Eagle eyed formula 1 watchers with memories of a close fought Alfa Championship Class F in 2001 and 2002 will have noted a familiar face on the Hispania Racing pit wall. Richard Connell has been Karun Chandok and Sakon Yamamoto's race engineer all year after previously having worked at Arrows, Super Aguri and Renault (test team). Together with father Ian and brother Marc, also past Alfa racers, Richard has also continued in European Beetle Fun Cup races including the Spa 25 Hours and the 8 hours at Pau in May where they finished 3rd.

William Morton was in action at the Silverstone classic (July 23 to 25) in the HSCC's 70s Roadsports race with his Alfetta GTV, now fitted with a Chris Whelan built engine. Will finished 20th overall (8th in class) in a 48 car field with a fastest lap in 2'24.637". This lap time would have put him 10th on the grid for our race on the Bridge GP circuit last October alongside Robin Eyre-Maunsell's 75 3 litre. Ex Alfa racer Roberto Giordanelli was also busy, racing a Ford Falcon in the Big Engined Touring Car category and sharing the fiersome Cooper-Maserati sports car once driven by Roy Salvadori in the Italian Historic Car Cup, finishing 2nd.

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Paul Plant took a break from racing in the UK to compete in the ADAC's Eifelrennen 300km race for pre 1981 Touring Cars on the combined Nordschleife and GP circuits of the Nurburgring on 18th/19th/20th June with Harry White and Gethin Llewellyn going along to look after the Bianco 1.5 Alfasud Ti that has been competed over the years by Gary Walker and John Symes. This is Paul's story -

"I have had never driven the Nordschleife or GP circuit at the Nurburgring before and the 26 km lap seemed very daunting. There were over 50 Alfas taking part (amonst the 230 car entry!) plus many other famous cars such as the Kremer Porsches with drivers such as Stefan Johannsen and Manuel Reuter taking part.

In Friday qualifying I managed to complete three and a half laps, the fourth lap ending with a gentle shunt into the barriers. On lap 3 I managed set to set a time of 11 minutes 44 seconds. This qualified me as 112th! However, it was very apparent that with the 1200 gearbox and 13 inch wheels limiting the car to 118mph this was no good on a lap that was 20% flat out. So we changed to the 1500 box and put a set of 14 inch wheels on the car which increased the top speed to approximately 130 mph.

I took the Saturday qualifying session steadier as the circuit was damp in places! My times didn't improve, however, as it was now apparent that although we were steel lacking in outright high speed potential, the 118 bhp engine was now suffering badly up the hills with the big wheels and longer gears! Then we woke up on Sunday to find the paddock soaking wet while rumour had it that the 'Ring itself was dry!

Come the start of the race I set off for the 20 minute green flag lap and the whole 26km was soaking and very slippery! The cars had to be run on road legal tyres so I was using the Silverstones donated to the Championship to compare with the Toyos before we made the switch. It was very slippery…………… The track dried in places and throughout the 12 lap, 3 hour, race the circuit was wet and dry in a different place every lap. On lap 5 I had to come in for a fuel stop and to check the tyres and brake pads and with mechanics for over 200 cars fighting for the 16 pit lane fuel pumps this was a spectacular experience.

Before the end of the race I had brushed against the barriers again after being knocked by a leading Porsche when lapping me but I had managed to climb 38 places to finish 74th! There were a few very large accidents, including a 944 Porsche that had barrel rolled at the end of the longest straight, flattening the roof to the door window line and without stopping the race, the marshals proceeded to cut the driver out at the side of the circuit!

The final result showed me as second highest UK entrant and I had managed to win my class of 27 cars which was up to 1800 multivalve. I was also the highest placed 'Ring novice and received an Eifelrennen banner for my driving effort of setting a time for the famous bridge to gantry of 8 minutes 37 seconds! The fastest for a production car is just under 7 minutes set by a Porsche.

Thank you to Harry and Gethin for their support and also to Gary and John for their loan of the Alfasud."

July 8th 2010

Alfa Romeo Centenary celebrations seem to be taking place almost every week whether it be at the Goodwood Fesitival of Speed, the upcoming historic GP on the streets of Copenhagen or SpaItalia at the superb Spa Francorchamps circuit. However, the main event surely had to be the gatherings organised in Milan at the end of June. It had always been Michael Lindsay's intention to be in Italy which sadly meant that he had to hand over the Championship Co-ordinator's role for Anglesey but it proved a thoroughly enjoyable trip which he will report in more detail for the website in the near future. However, just as a taster - imagine trying to move some 3000 cars from an exhibition centre (similar to NEC) in the north of Milan to the Castello Sforzesco, not far from the Duomo, in 30 degrees temperature with four different police forces involved trying to shut the roads, open the roads or do neither!

Some 80% of the cars had arrived from outside Italy with many coming in organised groups. The only disappointment perhaps was the relative lack of running pre-war cars in the parade -but then it was hot!  The new Giulietta was much in evidence around the city with displays in various squares drawing admiring looks from passers by.

                                
Last weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed inevitably had Alfa's Centenary as it centre piece and there were some mouth watering cars on display, including the P2 and 8C Competizione that formed the "sculpture" in front of Goodwood House. Of particular interest were the number of Tipo 33s with both V8 and flat 12 engines, and group of cars of Alfa's active Touring Car period in the DTM, ITCC and BTCC of the 90s. Alfa UK also made use of the event for their launch of the Giulietta.

Looking back at Anglesey it was especially pleasing to see Ian Brookfield having such an enjoyable weekend with his 164 (see his posting on the forum) with the emphasis firmly on fun. In the process he took a second and a third overall after battles with Chris Healey and Robin Eyre-Maunsell. Matt Abell has at last managed to cure his misfire (he probably passed it on to John Griffiths while they fought for track position!) and enjoyed excellent races, mainly in the company of Keith Williams, out for the first time this year, and Martin Jones. It must also have been a relief for Neil Smith to get his WTCC 156 running reliably even if the two wins were really just test sessions.

Andy Robinson made his race debut at Anglesey with the ex Peak Alfa 155 and has already entered for Rockingham. Class C there will include Graham Seager's GTV, the 147 GTA of Sarah Heels and Dave Messenger's 75. Championship leader Chris Healey will not be there because of work commitments, hoping that he can use the race as one of his discards at the end of the season.

However, we do need more entries for Rockingham. This is an important British F3/GT meeting and whatever we may think of the circuit, it is a privilege to  be a part of the Stephane Ratel Organisation package on this occasion. We should also remember that they are the organisers for our visit to Donington in October and we do not wish to see that put in doubt.

And talking about Donington - it is good to see that new leaseholders the Adroit Group expect to have the circuit operational by the beginning of September with a number of meetings planned through to the end of October. Other circuit news - a few of our racers have already used the new Silverstone Arena (British GP) layout on track days and seem to be impressed, particularly by the fast new Abbey right hander which leads onto the old International circuit in reverse. At the other end of the scale, it seems that plans to extend Pembrey to 2.2 miles are likely to go ahead soon with a new loop running from the old, tight, Hatchetts hairpin and re-joining behind the pit area.

Congratulations to Matt Daly and Kelly whose daughter Evie was born on June 1. The proud parents expect her first experience of the motor sport will be at Brands Hatch in August.

Chris Snowdon's daughter Bryony, who is likely to become of youngest ever driver in the Championship, was testing the CSR 75 3 litre again at Brands on Tuesday, Chris reporting afterwards that he was very pleased with her progress. The plan is that she should have her first race at Snetterton on July 25. Also already entered for Snetterton is Ron Davidson with his repaired (after a Brands testing incident) GTV and he should be joining the new car of Barry McMahon, having its debut, and the already successful example of Shaun Hazlewood.

We hear that Nev Simpson has bought the ex John Norrington/Peter Smart GTV6 into which he is planning to move the engine, transmission, suspension and brakes from his seriously damaged Alfetta GT. Maybe he could be tempted to race it as it is, though, with 3 litre 12v engine in order to return to racing as soon as possible.

Kevin Evans has almost completed his rebuild of the ex Chris Healey 156 and plans to race it at Oulton in September. The plan to have Autosport's Ben Anderson in Graham Heels' 147 for that round has certainly stimulated a lot of interest and we hope that a very healthy entry will result.

We are always interested in variety in the championship - so were very pleased to get an e-mail from Paul Granger who is planning to return to Class E with a GTV. The only 2 litre 916 GTV we have had in the championship before was built by Rob Lawlor (now at Rusper Alfa) which made a brief appearance in the hands of Chris Finch at Oulton Park a few years ago but since then has only been seen at track days. As we know, Paul is a very rapid driver and aleady a class winner in E with the Avon Racing renta' 156, so his reappearance, probably at Oulton, will be very welcome. He is using the project to promote his company Race Data (data logging and analysis).

MMC's Andy Hancock had been planning to race his 33 8v (in Class B) at Snetterton until he was unfortunately T-boned at Spa's La Source hairpin by a TR4 (!) during a CSCC event there recently. The car now needs a certain amount of repair work but hopefully we shall see it before the end of the season.

Roger Evans has now completed the build of his updated 3.8 engine but the project as a whole is running behind schedule and may not now appear until Brands Hatch. The rumour mill also hints that Brands might also see the re-appearance of Ian Stapleton similar capacity GTV6.

May 24th 2010

Despite the small entry at Oulton, we still got some good coverage in "Motorsport News", where it was the featured championship, and "Autosport", both printing pictures of Sam Laird's winning 75.

The Championship moves to Cadwell Park on June 5 / 6 for the first of three double headers this year, the others being at Anglesey and Brands Hatch. It looks as though Avon Racing are going to have a particularly busy day, running no fewer than 7 cars! After his Oulton success, Sam Laird will be out again in the 75 3 litre with Robin Eyre-Maunsell in the similar car which has been driven so far this year by owner Peter Sloan. Peter himself will be switching to the Ian Fisher owned ex Gareth Haywood 156 2.5 24v which has undergone some development by Clive Hodgkin over the past few weeks. Andy Inman (156) and Andrew Bramah (147) will be joined in class E by Peter Guy L'Amie in the Avon Racing renta' 156. This may be Peter Guy's only outing this year as he is concentrating on a mountaineering project. Finally, Chris Oxborough, currently leading Class A1, will be out again in  his supercharged 75.

Neil Smith is hoping that the engine Steve Dymoke's 156 will be re-built in time for Cadwell after Steve missed a gear in testing at Oulton. In the last call we had he said he was still waiting for pistons (from the States!) for his own 156 but he is determined to be there. The two cars which now feature the same factory/Selenia colour scheme should look stunning together in the paddock.

Disappointed to miss Oulton and defend his championship position, Chris Snowdon expects to be back at Cadwell with the Lahoma 33. He is now lying 9th but with plenty of points available at the Lincolnshire circuit that could change if he has a good weekend.

Although he has now repaired the gearbox that let him down at Castle Combe, Andy Page will have to miss Cadwell because of business commitments elsewhere. He is hoping to re-appear at Anglesey as is Roger Evans whose GTV has now returned to Peak Alfa after some work on the body and a re-paint at brother Kevin's Alfa Restorations. At Oulton, Kevin was talking about progress with the ex Chris Healey Class E156 which he might also race at Anglesey.

Will Morton gave his Alfetta GTV an outing in the HSCC 70s Road Sports race at Silverstone on May 16th, finishing 15th out of 24 finishers and 2nd in class D2. Jon Minshaw also raced his very rapid 2 litre Giulia Sprint in the Historic Touring Cars race finishing 7th and winning his class with a best lap in 2' 19.963". This would have been good enough to line him up on the third row for our race there last October.

Up to date news about the Alfa Centenary celebrations in Milan seems sparce but we understand that Gipo Salvetti, well know collector and patron of the "Alfa Blue Team" in addition two volumes under the "Alfazioso" title, is organising an exhibition around the first 100 years of Alfa. This is in conjunction with the Club Milanese Automoto d'Epoca and will take place in the Parco Espozisioni Novegro between June 19th and 27th. In addition to production models there will be several concept cars with contributions from Italian coachbuilders and major Alfa Romeo clubs in Europe.

The 159 upgrade announced earlier in the year has now gone on sale in Italy under the title "Model Year 2011" or "MY 2011" for short. Much attention has been given to re-working the interior and also to reducing CO2 emissions as this is now important in a number of markets including the UK. However, the 159 probably does not have a long life span ahead of it as, after much speculation to the contrary, it appears that plans for a replacement - Project 944 - are well underway. Amongst the engines, we could see a return to V6 configuration based on current Chrysler units, both petrol and diesel. The Giulia name might also be resurrected, following on from the new Giulietta.

May 13th 2010

Latest entries for Oulton are Steve Dymoke in the ex Neil Smith class A2 156, the Class D 33s of Matt Abell (8v) and Steve Fletcher (16v), Nev Simpson's Alfetta GT plus a 156 for Paul Plant in Class E. Paul's car will not be his usual 156 as this was damaged at Brands last weekend (see story below) but the similar (but red) car owned by Chris Finch which finished third in class at Castle Combe. There is also the possibility of late entries for Leon Bailey (33 8v), John Griffiths (156) and Chris Snowdon (75 3.0 24v). With the absence of any ultra rapid class A1 cars, it looks as though the 20 minute race will come down to a battle between the Class B and C cars and, of course, Steve Dymoke's 156. But Steve will not have driven the car before a test session on Friday and he will have a lot to get used to. Nonetheless, we know what it was capable of in Neil's hands!

The very well supported CSCC meeting at Brands (May 8 / 9) saw several Alfas in action, particularly in the Tin Tops race. Paul Plant and Tony Herbert qualified 17th on the 31 car grid and were running well in mid field until Tony went off at Paddock with two laps to go and damaged the car on the barrier. However, he was pleased to have lapped within a second of Paul which may accelerate his anticipated appearance in the Alfa Championship with the ex James Burland 33. Andy Hancock and Frank Pettit qualified their 33 but didn't start the race while there were three Alfasuds in the field including the Bianco car of John Symes. Ex Alfa racers Bob Godbold and Tony Matthews were also racing their 2002 Ti BMW and were delighted to finish 9th overall and take a class win. John Symes drove his 2 litre GT Junior in the Swinging 60s classes A,B & C race, finishing an excellent 6th overall and 3rd in class.

May 10th 2010

There is at last some encouraging news on the future of Donington. Kevin Wheatcroft has given the go-ahead for work to start on bringing the track back into a usable state and this will get underway on June 13 after a music festival there. Completion date is set as August 1 with the first race meeting due on September 3/4/5. This will be run by the Masters Historic series in the capable hands of Chris Tate and will commemorate the late Tom Wheatcroft. After that the BTCC, British GT/F3 (where we are on the programme) and the BRSCC's end October championships finale are all now expected to take place.

The opening of the new Silverstone Arena circuit has raised the question of whether or not the Britcar 24 Hours (and therefore our race on October 2) will take place on this or the old Bridge GP layout. The original plans were to use Bridge but who knows? It has been interesting, however, to look at some of the aerial images of the new circuit and the changes. For a while it was difficult see where the new National Extra circuit would go but it is now clear that it passes beyond Becketts to a new (and long) right hander before re-joining the old National Straight (renamed the Wellington Straight) at the new Aintree corner. We are certain to use this layout at some point in the future and it should offer much more of a challenge than the old National Circuit. The only disappointing change is the long way that the pit straight grandstands have been moved back with a huge gravel beach separating them from the track. Was this really necessary? When the FIA GT1 field was assembled last weekend the cars seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Perhaps it was done to keep the MotoGP fraternity happy.

It looks as though Class E will have its best entry of the year at Oulton Park. It will be good to see Richard Salt again with his 145 Cloverleaf, Richard not having raced since 2008. Martin Jones has now recovered from a nasty bout of chickenpox and will be there in his familiar yellow 145 while Andrew Bramah is giving his 147 its first outing of the year.  Having missed Snetterton, Ray Foley will be back with his 156, joining the similar cars of joint championship leader Mel Healey, Andy Inman and new Snetterton class lap record holder, James Ford.

The Lahoma 33 16v will not, after all, be at Oulton leaving Chris Snowdon with a difficult choice. Does he race his 75 24v himself and try to consolidate his championship position or, as originally anticipated, let Christina Holley drive it again. John Sismey promises that the 33 will be back for the double header at Cadwell.

Sam Laird is a welcome entry for Oulton with his ex Julian Birley 75, now being prepared again by Avon Racing. The supercharged 24v engine has been replaced with a 3 litre 12 valve unit and at Oulton the car will join the similar 75 of Peter Sloan in Class B. In Class C, Graham Seager has entered his GTV for its comeback, facing the similar cars of Castle Combe winner Shaun Hazlewood, joint championship leader Chris Healey and the 147 GTA of Sarah Heels. Sarah is hoping to have a new exhaust system fitted by then.

Adie Hawkins has confirmed that he will be joining Tim Lewis by supercharging the Boxer engine in his 33. Tim is fitting a larger supercharger to the Alfasud Sprint as the previous unit was "overspeeding" and this lead is being followed by Adie. When either car will actually race is not clear although Tim is talking about being ready for Cadwell on June 5/6.

News from Italy indicates that Alfa Romeo may be looking at a return to the WTCC when the new small turbo engine formula is introduced. However, Fiat Powertrain Technologies boss, Paolo Martinelli, has indicated that the engine would have to have bio gas fuels specified to make it of interest.

The new Giulietta has received rave reviews here and in Europe. UK prices will start at £16,995 when the model goes on sale later in the summer which is quite a lot less than the prices in Euros being quoted for the Italian market. The first sight of rhd versions may be at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in early July although some dealers are expecting to have lhd versions of display before then.

March 25th 2010

Despite some mixed weather and a few new car probems Sarah Heels' newly built Bianco Auto Devlopments Class C 147 GTA had a successful shakedown test at Silverstone today. Also testing were newcomer James Ford and 2009 Champion Paul Plant in their Class E 156s.

March 20th 2010

Details of the Castle Combe timetable can be found on the "next race" page. We now also have information regarding round 2 at Snetterton. All our action will be on the Sunday (April 25) with qualifying at 10.00 a.m. and the race at 3.20 p.m. Registered competitors should have received the first of our new e-newsletters in the past few days. If not, please let Michael Lindsay or Graham Heels know.

One of the Alfa Championship's worst kept winter secrets was revealed in all its glory this week when Neil Smith sent us details of the new car with which he intends to try repeating his 2004 and 2008 title successes. He has bought an ex Autodelta Squadra Corse/N.Technology Super 2000 156 that was driven in the 2004 European Touring Car Championship by Gabriele Tarquini. His team-mates that year were Fabrizio Giovanardi and Augusto Farfus. Gabriele eventually finished third in the championship behind the two leading BMWs.

Despite only having a 2 litre engine, the car will be run in our Class A1 as it has a 6 gearbox with sequential shift specially developed for the car by N.Technology in conjunction with Hewland. Power output was given (in 2004) as a modest 275 bhp at 8200 rpm but somehow the performance of these cars belies these figures. Maximum torque is developed at 7000 rpm and weight with driver around 1140kg. Neil hopes to return the 156 to its original Squadra Corse red and has already entered for Castle Combe on Easter Monday. His previous, very successful and quick, 156 has been sold to someone who will be racing it in the Championship but who wishes to remain anonymous for the moment!

Many congratulations to Howard Strawford (Castle Combe) who was present at the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall last week  with his wife Pat to receive a well deserved MSA "Lifetime Achievement" award. If you see Howard wandering around the paddock on Easter Monday you can add you own thanks for keeping the well loved circuit open for so many years against considerable adversity. Howard and Pat are seen in the accompanying photograph with MSA Chairman, Alan Gow.

With the long winter now, hopefully, behind us there is some testing activity to report. Chris Healey has been getting used to his ex Kevin Evans GTV at Castle Combe and Snetterton, Ian Brookfield also driving it at the Norfolk circuit and reporting it as "very quick with loads of power". Mel Healey has had her ex Sarah Heels in action at Combe, Brands Hatch (on a wet track) and Snetterton. Also seen at Snetterton recently were John Griffiths with his Class B 156, aided and abetted by Paul Plant, and Alastair Iles who was giving his 147 GTA its first run since being converted to Class A1 spec. With 300 bhp on tap and driving on slicks for the first time there was a lot to get used to but Alastair seemed upbeat afterwards and plans to race it at round 2 on April 25.

Over at Avon Racing, Ian Fisher, Clive Hodgkin and Peter Sloan were at Silverstone recently in the rain. Not the best of circumstances for Ian to test his new acquisition, the ex Gareth Haywood Class B 156 but by the end of the day (Clive had also driven the car) Ian was getting himself acclimatised. Getting back into the swing of things with the now Class B 75 after his absence in South Africa was Peter Sloan. "Quicker than when I last drove it!" was his comment afterwards. Since then, Andy Inman's 156 and Chris Oxborough's 75 have also been in action and both are entered, as is Peter Sloan, for Combe.

It was good to get a call from Graham Seager. His Class C GTV, which was badly damaged at Oulton last September, has now been completely rebuilt and has been testing at Mallory, complete with new Q2 diff as permitted by the regulations. Graham reported that it did make a difference at certain parts of the circuit, notably Devils Elbow, where there was less scrabbling for grip from the inside front wheel. Oulton on May 15 is his first planned race.

Tim Lewis will not be at Castle Combe as he is planning a brief holiday France over Easter but thereafter says he is hoping to do all the rounds, gearbox reliability permitting. The Sprint, which was engine-less at Race Retro, will have a larger supercharger for 2010 as the old one was "overspeeding".

Sad news is that we may not see Gareth Haywood this year. He now has the ex Ian Fisher 156 Selespeed but wants to do a complete rebuild, including fitting a manual gearbox, before he races it. In the meantime he is going to keep his reflexes sharp with a bit of Moto Cross.

March 16th 2010

Tim Lewis's Alfasud Sprint and the 33 of Adie Hawkins were much admired at Race Retro last weekend as they represented the Alfashop Alfa Romeo Championship on the BRSCC stand. This was also part of a major celebration of Alfa Romeo's Centenary which saw some fabulous examples from the marque's history distributed around the Stoneleigh exhibition halls. Many of the cars had come from the Alfa museum at Arese.

It was good to see many past and present championship drivers during the three days and including those to visit the stand were Roberto Giordanelli whose exploits with his GTAm replica were much enjoyed between 1985 and its final appearances in 2003. Modified class race winner in the early days, Willie Dick, came to reminisce as did Richard Harman (GTV6 1991-1994) who reminded us of his wife Suzanne's willingness to forego a new washing machine so that Richard could go racing! It was nice to catch up with Bill Gower, now running a Lexus dealership, who was an enthusiastic Alfasud Ti Class F driver for three seasons, 1998-1990. Dave Hood was another Championship regular from the late 80s to stop for a chat while it was good to see both Will Marton and Jim Nairn who raced in our classic invitation class at Silverstone last October. Both said that they would like to do it again. Chris Tate who made his last Alfa appearance at Croix-en-Ternois in 2002 was very busy on the Masters Historic series stand.

It was good to see our sponsor, Alfashop's Jeremy Wales, enthusiastic as ever, who had organised a group visit from Norwich brining along Alfasud Ti racer Richard Drake. John and Margaret Sismey called in, John reporting on progress with the Lahoma 33 which he hopes will be ready for Chris Snowdon to drive at Snetterton. Steve Fletcher was there, saying that his 16v 33 should be making its first appearance of the year at Oulton in May.  On the next door stand we had Richard, Max and Andrew Banks from Alfaholics, displaying two cars built to their usual high standards plus many be-spoke parts for Giulia 105s.

Michael Lindsay was present on the stand for the first two days, being helped on Saturday by Eurosaloons co-ordinator Sara Pryce and husband Graham.

Our thanks go to Dominic Ostrowski of the BRSCC for offering us the opportunity to be at Race Retro and to Tim and Adie for making the effort to bring along their cars.

March 2nd 2010

The Alfa Romeo presence at Race Retro looks as though it is going to be unmissable with cars from the Museum at Arese forming a central display. These will include the World championship winning 159, Disco Volante, Tipo 182 GP car as driven by Bruno Giacomelli and Mario Andretti and the World Sports Car Championship 33/3.

We are looking for volunteers to help man the BRSCC stand (which features Tim Lewis's Alfasud Sprint and Adie Hawkins' 33) on any or all of the three days, Friday to Sunday, March 12 - 14. If you can help, please contact Michael Lindsay on 01223-891219. Race Retro is held at the Royal Agricultural Showground, near Kenilworth and Warwick.

We are pleased to report that we have a new sponsor for the Championship's Driver of the Day awards - MMC Motorsport Insurance. MMC has been founded by three insurance professionals who have specialist knowledge of the Motorsport insurance industry in both the UK and Europe - ranging from the occasional clubman racer through to professional drivers and teams participating in major championships.
One of the three, Andy Hancock, started his career with an Alfa 33 last March at Silverstone, subsequently racing frequently in "tin tops" but he plans to do more Alfa races in 2010, particularly where the races are on the Britcar programme in which the other two MMC directors are involved.

MMC offer a very wide range of products, having access to several UK underwriters, and cater for both historic and contemporary race cars and their drivers. They can provide on trackquotations on an annual basis, or for individual race weekends or tests for any vehicle running in the Alfa Romeo championship. Or if you are just looking to insure your vehicle (and trailert and tools) while it is parked outside your home, being driven to a race meeting, or left overnight at the circuit. MMC can also provide storage and transit quotations on an annual basis. Most policies cost less than the price of a tyre or two, so is it worth taking the risk of not insuring?

For On Track and/or Storage & Transit quotations (or for any other motorsport related quotes) please contact Andy on 01474-362400 or by e-mail at andy.hancock@mmcbrokinggroup.co.uk  All competitors in the Championship will be required to carry an MMC decal on their race cars.

March 1st 2010

The BRSCC's on-line entry service is expected to be up and running in the next few days. All registered competitors will be e-mailed by the BRSCC with their own pin number which will allow them access to the new system.

Another car "exchange" has seen Ian Fisher take over Gareth Haywood's Class B 156 2.5 while Gareth now owns the 156 Selespeed which Ian has raced since 2006. Rumour has it that Gareth plans to replace the Selespeed gearbox with a manual unit.

The Championship will be represented on the BRSCC stand at Race Retro (March 12 - 14 at Stoneleigh by the Alfasud Sprint of Tim Lewis and Adie Hawkins' 33 16v. This is part of our celebration of the Alfa Romeo Centenary.

Word has it that an announcement about the future management of the Donington circuit will be made at a "Save Donington" event being organised there on Sunday, March 7.

We have often missed the lack of events such as the old AROC run Practice Days at Goodwood which offered an element of competition as times (over the permitted 3 laps) were taken and made available after each run. Trackdays do not normally allow published timing. However, we were interested to see AROC going back to "grass roots" in association with Javelin Trackdays Ltd  and organising a 4 round "Sprint Cup" with support from our old friends Chris Knott Insurance. The format would be similar to a special stage rally and much like the events run for a couple of years on a "circuit" for which the club gained homologation at Waterbeach. The idea is to encourage standard road cars into the events. There would no roll cage, race seat or fixed fire extinguisher or MSA competition licence requirements and cars would be divided into four classes. The dates for this year's events are March 7 (M.O.D Woodbridge), March 21 (Rockingham), June 5 (RAF Barkston Heath, Lincs) and September 12 (Tockwith Motorsport Centre, Yorkshire). Goodwood produced many of those who raced in the early days of the Championship and it would nice to think that these AROC events would give some of those who take part the urge to pursue the possibility of racing a modern Alfa. More information can be found on www.aroc-uk.com/motorsport/sprint-cup.htm

There are some newcomers amongst the drivers registered for 2010 - Andy Robinson with the ex Roger Evans/Graham Seager 155 3 litre which will be running in Class C, James Ford who has been building up a class E 156 and Paul Gillet who will race the ex Mel Healey 33 16v in Class D. We are also expecting to see Tony Herbert with the ex James Burland 33 16v at some point in the season.

February 22nd 2010

Paul Plant received his BRSCC championship winner’s trophy from Chairman Bernard Cotterell at the Club’s dinner/dance & prize giving at The Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon, last Saturday evening. The photograph shows him in the capable hands of Carole Jackson (right) and Vicky Evans. It was a very well attended and much enjoyed evening and our thanks go to Dominic Ostrowski and Rodger Tello on whom fell the bulk of the organisation.

We were pleased to see Linda Stearn as the successor to Michael Lindsay as the holder of the BRSCC’s Bert Lamkin salver. Linda, of course, is well know to us as the hard working and ever helpful Secretary of the Meeting at Snetterton where we shall be for round two of the championship in April.

February 13th 2010

Tim Lewis is making a splash again with a two page spread in the featuring his Alfasud Sprint in the latest issue of "Autosport". It was interesting to learn about the steady development of the car over the years from a very standard (and fairly rusty!) car used by Tim in Sprint events to its current (totally unrusty!) supercharged form today.

A small tweak to the calendar -  the round of the championship supporting the Britcar 24 Hours at Silverstone will now have qualifying late on the Friday afternoon with the race at around 11 a.m. on Saturday. This proved to be very popular in 2008 and heightened the atmosphere of the
meeting for Alfa competitors, particularly for those who stayed to watch Friday's night qualifying.

We hear that Chris and Mel Healey enjoyed a relatively trouble-free day recently testing their new mounts - GTV 3 litre and 156 respectively - at Castle Combe.

Nick Anderson has taken delivery of his rebuilt 8v Boxer engine from Brunswick and it has now been re-united with the ex Alex Heynes 33 which will run in class A2 this year.

Remember Paul Smith? Probably not……he raced with us for one year (1993) with a Class F 33,
finishing 3rd in the points table behind Nick Baughn (Arna Ti - yes, that's right, Arna TI!) and Martin Parsons (33), taking class wins at Brands, Cadwell and Castle Combe.  Next in line that year were Graham Heels, Phill Snelling and Paul Edwards, all in Alfasud Ti's. In recent years Paul has kept his hand in with a modified BMW E36 at trackdays but he now plans to contest the new Fiat Abarth series.

Accolade for the first driver to register this year goes to Richard Salt, closely followed by Sarah Heels, Martin Jones and Barry McMahon.

February 7th 2010

We were very sad to hear that Nancy McDonough finally lost her battle with cancer on January 31 at the Cynthia Spencer Hospice in Northampton. Many competitors, past and present, will remember Nancy's friendly and welcoming presence at AROC events and she will be greatly missed. We send our condolences to Ed and to their daughter Heather.

Class B looks as though it is going to become quite interesting this year. Allowing in the 12v 3 litre V6 engined cars has caused several drivers to look at their options. We heard the other day from Peter Smart, who now owns the ex John Norrington GTV6, that he is hoping to take part. Peter Sloan is now back from his stint in South Africa (we saw him a couple of times last year as a spectator and at the dinner/dance) and he is planning to resume his sharing arrangement with Robin Eyre-Maunsell and the Avon Racing prepared 75 3 litre. There seems to be further progress with Sam Laird's project to fit a 12v V6 in place of the unsuccessful supercharged 24v that previously powered his ex Julian Birley 75. Clive Hodgkin is also going to race in B, probably in his familiar 75 3 litre although he may well surprise us with something different! We can add to this the Alfetta GT 2.5 of Nev Simpson, Gareth Haywood's 156 2.5, the 2 litre versions of John Griffiths and Simon Bird, plus the 33 16v of Kevin Reynolds

Excellent news is that Leon Bailey is planning a return to racing this year as he thinks he will be spending less time working abroad. He now has the ex Keith Broom/Brian Thorp 33 8v and will start with that in Class D but might later move to the ex John Artis 33 8v in Class B.

Race Retro

The BRSCC will have a stand at Race Retro (The International Historic Motorshow) which takes place at Stoneleigh between 12th and 14th March. The stand will be large enough to accommodate two cars and, in view of the Alfa Romeo Centenary, we have been asked to provide them. The idea is that we should have one car from the 33/Alfasud/Alfetta era with an example of something more recent. Anyone wishing to offer a suitable car is asked to contact Michael Lindsay on 01223-891219 or by e-mail on unabated@tesco.net, bearing in mind that it would have to be delivered to the stand on Thursday 11th March and removed on Sunday, 14th.

The BRSCC and ARCA members can take advantage of a discounted tickets offer, if bought in advance, at the following rates -

                                                Friday tickets       £25 reduced to £18
                                                Saturday tickets   £20 reduced to £13

To take up this option, call "See Tickets" on 0871-230-7517 by 10th March quoting reference BRSCC.

One of the halls at the Show will be devoted entirely to Alfa Romeo owners' cars and it is hoped that there a number of leading Alfa drivers from the past will be present, led by Bruno Giacomelli. Bruno was a works Alfa driver between 1979 and 1982, competing in 49 Grand Prix with the 177/179 and 182 versions of Carlo Chiti's design. His best result was 3rd at the Las Vegas GP in 1982.

Other attractions at Race Retro will be the Live Rally Stage and a tribute to the Audi Quattro.

Race Retro is open from 9.30 each day to 5.30 p.m on Friday and Saturday, and 4.30 pm on Sunday. Parking is free throughout. For the latest updates, visit www.raceretro.com

January 30th 2010

Panel member David Thomas has now confirmed that he will be returning to racing this year with a 146 in Class E and work is underway to get the car ready for Castle Combe on Easter Monday. David will be sharing the car during the year with his son James and Jon Lawrence who works with him at David Thomas Garages in Codicote

Confirmation also that the Tom Allen/|Len Brock 146, last seen enveloped in smoke after an engine failure at Brands Hatch in August, will be returning to the track at Combe. It has been in the care of Avon Racing over the winter.

Class C news - Barry McMahon is having a new GTV 24v prepared by Peak Alfa, the old car being demoted to track day use,  and Roger Evans reports that Graham Seager has been making good progress with the rebuild of his similar car that was badly damaged at Oulton in September. In the meantime, Chris Healey has now taken delivery of the Kevin Evans built GTV and plans to test it alongside Mel's ex Sarah Heels 156 when the weather improves.

We have also heard from Dave Hughes who we have not seen on the track since the very unpleasant collision he suffered at Snetterton during that accident filled day in October 2007. The 156 has apparently been straightened by Alfatune but needs some mechanical work. Dave just needs a budget!

The next event on the social calendar is the BRSCC Dinner/Dance & Prize Giving at the Holiday Inn, Stratford on Avon. Paul Plant will be present to receive more plaudits for his 2009 Alfa Championhip win.

The Alfa Romeo Centenary is being celebrated by a myriad of events worldwide - Alfa will be the featured marque at Race Retro, have prominence at both the Goodwood Festival and Revival events while Milan will be the focus at the end of June where a "Disco Volante" sculpture will be unveiled in the centre of the city on the Saturday morning. On the Sunday an attempt will be made to break the Guinness Book of Records figure for the largest gathering of classic cars by reserving a lane of the Tangenziale (ring road) for over 3000 Alfas!
                                                                                                                       
The Alfa Challenge is planning a Centennial race at Zandvoort over the weekend August 28th / 29th. There will be two qualifying sessions plus a one hour race (so big fuel tanks will be needed!). Drivers from the UK are being offered a special deal on the entry fee of 400 euros. Anyone who is interested should e-mail Michael Lindsay at unabated@tesco.net or go direct to Christiaan Verhoog on c.verhoog@xs4all.nl

The full Alfa Challenge calendar of 2010 is as follows -

Apart from Zandvoort, the programme will comprise two qualifying sessions and two 30 minute races. A single race entry would be 575 euros, all seven meetings 2625 euros with various options in between.

January 19th 2010

Michael Ward, chief photographer of "Auto Italia" and other magazines in the CH Publications Group, reckoned that Anthony George's 156 was the most photogenic car at the Autosport Show! It certainly made an impact as you turned the corner towards the impressive BRSCC stand. Our thanks to Anthony and his team for getting it there in the snow and slush and for making it look so pristine.

The stand saw a number of current or ex Alfa competitors coming along for a chat. Graham Heels, Martin Jones and Sarah Heels arrived with a list of purchases to be made, most for Sarah's new 147 GTA. Adie Hawkins and Leon Bailey were present on the Friday. Adie was not sure how much racing he will be able to do this year as he needs to work on his new house but Leon said that he was hoping to bring out his 33 in Class D, the first time he has raced with us since 1999. Martin Parsons popped in to tell us that he will be doing some more Britcar in the Brunswick BMW. He also regaled us with tales of racing the same car in an endurance event in Lithuania with re-fuelling taking place in the local garage which just happened to be beside the track - you paid the attendant as you left! Chris Snowdon and Christina Holley were there - Christina trying to see if she can raise a budget to do something "different" while Chris will be racing the Lahoma 33 once again. However, the 75 24v that Christina raced so successfully last year is being further upgraded. The word "trumpets" was used. Chris's daughter Bryony is also planning to go racing with an Alfa in 2010. Ian Brookfield, Joanne Eastwood and Chris Healey were caught on their way to the Racecar Engineering section although what secret piece of equipment they were going to look at was not divulged. Andy Page came by and is expecting to continue with his familiar Giulietta Turbo although he has long range plans that are front wheel drive. He even has a 156 shell but not much more! Dave Messenger reported that he has a newly rebuilt 12v V6 for his 75 although the bigger brakes now permitted in C have had to be put off for a while as all the money has gone on the engine! Andy Hancock, who raced the ex Graham Scott/Jackie Osborne 33 at the March Silverstone race last year is hoping to do more Alfa races in 2010 plus tin tops. Panel member David Thomas said that, as yet, he has nothing to race this year having sold his Sud Ti back to Ted Pearson but is thinking seriously of preparing a 146, Karen's ex road car, for Class E. We also saw briefly Chris Tate (last Alfa race at Croix in 2002) on his way to discuss the Masters Series with Drew Furlong.

Michael Lindsay was on the BRSCC stand on Thursday and Friday while our thanks go to Eurosaloons co-ordinator Sara Pryce who kept an eye on the 156 at times and fielded enquiries on our behalf. We were also grateful to Kevin Reynolds who spent some time there on Saturday while Anthony George returned on Sunday.

There were a lot of well known faces at the Coventry Museum of Transport last Tuesday when a surprise party was held to celebrate Robin Eyre-Maunsell's 70th birthday. Among those joining in the fun were John Watson, Russell Brookes and Dave Richards (see photograph), Alec Poole and many of those who looked after Robin during this days as a Rootes Group works rally driver. These events were primarily in Ireland and the South of France and those present were entertained by many an anecdote relating to the 60s and 70s. A slide show demonstrated the outrageous angles at which Robin was able to hold a Hillman Imp or Avenger, and there were pictures of his later efforts in Historic Rallying with Sunbeam Rapier, Tiger and Porsche 911. Robin's second "career", in Alfa racing, which he started at the age of 65, brought along Clive and Christine Hodgkin, Michael and Diana Lindsay and his nephew Peter Guy L'Amie. It was also good to see David Batten who looked after Dave Walker's Championship winning 33 in 1996.

In 2009 Alfa Romeo had its best sales figures in the UK since 2003, up a massive 52% on 2008 with 9067 units. Demand for the Mito was largely responsible, over 6000 being sold since its introduction 12 months ago. However, the 159, Alfa GT, Brera and Spider also contributed. From personal observations, there are definitely more 159s on the road now.

January 13th 2010

The BRSCC on-line entry service will be up and running for the 2010 season. Anyone attending the Autosport Show can have instructions or a demo on how to use it – ask on the stand (7250) for Carole Jackson.

December 22nd 2009

We do hope that competitors, friends and regular readers of the website have not had their Christmas plans too badly disrupted by the present extreme weather. Everyone connected with the running of the Championship would like to send their thanks for all support we have received in the past year and look forward to a busy and successful 2010. In the meantime, wherever you are, keep warm and dry!

Many congratulations to Tim Lewis whose Alfasud Sprint was nominated No.5 in Autosport's Top 10 club race cars in 2009 (see bumper issue of December 17/24). Considering how many potential contenders there were, this was some achievement and a reward for the hard work that has gone into this superb car which is now 28 years old and continues to dominate so many races.

One of the exciting projects due to appear in the 2010 Championship is Sarah Heels' Class C 147 GTA. The car has now had it is cage fitted and has been in the paint shop before returning to Bianco Auto Developments for the next stage of preparation.

Sarah's ultra reliable 156 - four years without a retirement - has been sold to Spur Motorsport as Mel Healey's championship contender for 2010. Rumour has it that Chris Healey will appear in the ex Kevin Evans Class C GTV, Kevin taking over Chris's Gulf liveried 156. Kevin says he may race the 156 a couple of times to see how he fares before selling it on and concentrating on a new car for Class B. Other news from the Spur Motorsport camp is that Matt Daly and his partner Kelly are expecting a baby in June which could mean that the four wheels Matt is happily driving in 2010 are fitted to a pram.

It seems that the ex Kevin Evans/John Pogson Class C 155 3 litre could have a new owner before long. The driver concerned is not new to racing although he has not driven an Alfa before.

Not having raced since he appeared in the Avon Class E 156 at Snetterton in 2008, Sam Laird is talking about bringing out his ex Julian Birley 75 as a Class B car, replacing the current supercharged 24v engine with a 3 litre 12 valve.

Registration Forms for the 2010 Championship will be sent out as soon as possible after the Christmas break. The forms will be in a new standard format as beloved by the MSA.

December 8th 2009

We have agreed with the BRSCC and Britcar an addition to the previous race calendar already published elsewhere on the website. This will be July 24/25 at Snetterton (probably on the Sunday). The reason for this is that a problem has arisen over the track time available at Rockingham the previous weekend. An extra hour is required to complete all the planned races which, if not granted (and we won't know definitely until early January), might see us bumped from the meeting. This would have meant an unacceptable 7 week gap between Anglesey (end June) and Brands Hatch (third week in August). We thought it better, therefore, to a have a "bird in the hand" date at Snetterton. If we do, as a result, have meetings on successive weekends, then that is preferable to having nothing at all.

It could be argued that we should just drop Rockingham but from the long term point of view we need to maintain our relationships with various race organisations of which SRO (The Stephane Ratel Organisation) that runs British GT and F3 ( with the BRSCC) is an important element. In addition a visit to Rockingham adds variety to our race programme in 2010. We also have to bear in mind that the outcome at Donington is far from becoming clear and we might, after all, be finishing our season on October 2 at Silverstone if a new lease is not granted there and work completed to make the track usable.

Of such imponderables is calendar planning made!

December 6th 2009

The BRSCC have confirmed provisional race dates for the 2010 BRSCC Alfashop Alfa Romeo Championship and these can be found elsewhere on the site.

Rockingham (July 17/18) is a British F3/GT meeting while at Silverstone (October 2) we shall be part of the build up to the returning Britcar 24 Hour race.

The three double header meetings (Cadwell, Anglesey and Brands Hatch) will be over two days. Where both days are shown for single races, it is likely that our qualifying and race will only be on one of the days.

The Donington date (with British GT) which we hope will be the final race of the season will, of course, depend on future developments at the circuit but recent comments have been more optimistic about the timescale for returning it to use in one or both of the old layouts and we understand that there are several parties currently talking with the administrators about doing that.

                                                            -------------------

Diana Lindsay would like to thank everyone who sent cards, e-mails and messages following the unfortunate incident at our dinner/dance in which she and Kelly White tried to intervene when a drunken female interloper physically and verbally attacked Gemma Griffiths. Diana was taken to Northampton |General Hospital where it was found that she had a broken left elbow and on Sunday Michael was able to take her to Addenbrooke's (Cambridge) where the elbow was operated on that night. Diana was able to go home on the Monday afternoon and the elbow is making good progress, albeit still in plaster. We are also pleased to say that Kelly is fine after stitches in a foot she cut on broken glass in the same incident.

                                                            --------------------

The special awards for 2009 made at this year's dinner were as follows -

      
Co-ordinator's Champagne Moment (s!)  -  Shared between Mel Healey and Emma Karwacki for the entertainment they provided at Oulton in September.

The Preparers Award was very closely fought during the season, Avon Racing winning with 496 points from Bianco Auto Developments (462) and Spur Motorsport (432). Points are awarded from all races - no dropped scores - taking into account the top three scorers (irrespective of class) from each team.

                                                            --------------------

Other recent news -

We were very sad to hear about the sudden death of Grant Stewart at the age of just 44. Grant was Chief Executive of the BRSCC between 1999 and 2004 and was pivotal in the formation of ARCA as the organisation to run the Alfa Romeo Championship at the end of 2001. Our condolences go to his family and friends.

Anthony George's exciting but yet to be raced Class A1 turbocharged 156 will represent the Championship on the BRSCC stand at Autosport International (January 14 to 17 - slightly later than usual). Anthony fully expects to be racing the car in 2010.

Another driver who plans to return next season after a year off is Graham Presley. Andy Page is also hoping to able to fit in more races in 2010 but a Giulietta "replacement" project is still a little way off.
                                                                                   
Ted Pearson has bought his old Alfasud Ti back from David Thomas and plans to re-paint it in the metallic green colour in which it won the Championship for him in 1991 and 1992. What his wife Lesley describes as his "mid life crisis" may yet result in Ted racing the car occasionally although the specification has yet to be decided. It would be great to see him back in what is now Class B. In the meantime, David Thomas - now back fully from his time working in the Ukraine - has other plans, yet to be revealed!

It seems as though emotions and worker power still exert a strong influence in Italy. The 147 replacement was due to be announced as the "Milano" but a last minute decision indicates that it will now be known as the "Giulietta". The virtual removal of Alfa from Milan to Turin has stirred up a lot of ill feeling and it was though inappropriate to call the new car after the company's "home" city. Whatever, it looks as though the "Giulietta" will play an important role in the future of Alfa Romeo, in Europe at least. The car will be launched at the Geneva Show in March, offering an exciting range of new generation petrol and diesel engines, and should be on sale in the UK by the end of 2010.

We were sad to hear that our old friends LMA, run by Stuart and Margaret Cumming, have decided to end their sponsorship of the Eurosaloons Championship. Eurosaloons, of course, developed out of the Auto Italia Championship in which many of our competitors raced at meetings where both series were present. This also offered opportunities for cars to be shared. Anyway, our thanks to Stuart and Margaret for all the moral support they have given us and also hospitality at times (rainy days at Silverstone spring to mind!) and we hope that we shall still see them around as Stuart expects to continue his involvement with Tony Soper's GTV. Sara Pryce will continue as Eurosaloons co-ordinator and we wish her well.

October 10th 2009

Michael Lindsay would like to thank everyone who contributed to and organised the splendid cake with which he was presented last Sunday to commemorate 60 years of visiting Silverstone – he had no idea it was coming but had been having some nostalgia chat earlier in the day with Robin Murphy in the commentary box during which memories of that very first meeting (on August 20 1949) had been raised. Looking at the programme you can see that Michael had already got into the habit of keeping a lap chart – the main race was won by Alberto Ascari in a Ferrari from Giuseppe Farina’s Maserati. The circuit used only the perimeter roads and the pits were halfway between Abbey and Woodcote, built from scaffolding with a corrugated iron roof. There were no Armco barriers – just hay bales and rope!! Some of the best visits were in the days of the pits balcony – heaven for a photographer – but one could reminisce for ever………………………… Over £500 has been raised for the Prostate Cancer Charity in memory of Brian Evans and the family would like to send their appreciation to all those who donated so generously. In addition to Roger, who was racing anyway, it was good to see Kevin and their mother Eunice at Silverstone, continuing their support of the Alfa Championship.

October 2nd 2009

It seems that some people have been having trouble interpreting the Silverstone paddock plan for this weekend - particularly after printing it off in black and white!  However, we are in the area that you see diagonally to your right as you come over the second road bridge (the one that crosses the National circuit). We will occupy the line on the left hand side of this area, nearest to the fence. On Friday and Saturday the Palmer Audi trucks will be there but they have been asked to pack up and leave as soon as possible after their third race on Saturday.

The annual championship photograph will be taken at 12.15 on Sunday beside the Lindsay motorhome and this will be followed by a short drivers briefing.

Sadly it looks as though Neil Smith will not be in action with his 156 this weekend. The engine which suffered a broken cambelt at Oulton appears to have a previously undetected cracked block.

There have been two late entries in the Classic Invitation class. Will Morton (Alfetta GTV) and Jim Nairn (2000 GTV) will be familiar to many ARCA members after their battle in the Alfa "Enduro" at Snetterton in 2006. Their participation brings the number of classic Alfas up to 4, the others being Mike Watson with his Alfasud Sprint and the 1600 GT Junior of Robert Barter.

It looks as though Paul Plant will be making another class change for the final race of the season. The plan is for him to race John Griffiths' 156 in Class B, providing that the engine can be finished in time, with Gethin Llewellyn taking over the Class E car. John is planning to race the ex John Day 155 in B. This is the car that his wife Gemma is hoping to race in Class E in 2010 after necessary changes have been made to make it comply with the E regulations.

Another Class B entry for Silverstone has come from Kevin Reynolds. His previously 8 valved 33 now has an ex Nik Mantikas 16v engine. Paul Legge will be helping with the spannerwork on the car.

September 23rd 2009

Wem in Shropshire was a happy place last Saturday as Kevin Evans and Jessica Wilkinson were married, entertaining family and friends afterwards at an evening reception with plenty of familiar faces from the Alfa Championship there to celebrate with them. 

Among those at the party was Ray Foley who had come to look at his rebuilt 156 that had been receiving the finishing touches to its bodywork just round the corner at Alfa Restorations before being taken off for a mechanical check at Peak Alfa. Ray hopes to race the car, in its new black livery, at Silverstone on October 4.

It was also good to see Graham Seager who reported that the damage to his GTV at Oulton was not quite as severe as might have been expected although the rebuild will undoubtedly keep him busy during the winter. Ian Stapleton was also there, expressing his determination to do a full season with his GTV6 next year.

A newcomer at Silverstone will be James Trett, a work colleague of Nick Gooch, who is hiring Wayne Ashford’s 33 16v for the day. Nick will be racing his usual 8v version.

September 14th 2009

Congratulations to John Griffiths and Gemma Weightman who were married last Wednesday at the Barn Chapel, West Malling (Kent) after which family and friends, including several Alfa racers past and present racers, celebrated with them at The Tickled Trout at West Farleigh. The honeymoon destination was not being revealed, John merely saying “I have a plan!!”. To which Gemma’s comment was “Surely not Oulton Park”. Well, we were happy not to see them on Saturday and look forward to welcoming the newlyweds on their return in time for Silverstone.

We had a visit the other day from Ian Connell who gave us a report on his Beetle Fun Cup victory at Anglesey over the end August Bank Holiday in company with son Marc and French driver Frank Pelle. Frank is temporarily taking the place of Richard Connell who is holidaying in South America. Another Alfa driver success that weekend was a Sports 2000 Endurance win by Chris Snowdon at Snetterton.

Early entries for Kevin Griffiths Trophy Race at Silverstone (October 4) include Chris Oxborough and Keith Waite with their 75s, the 156s of Paul Plant,  Andy Inman and Sarah Heels, the Martin Jones 145 and, making a welcome return, Mark Bevington with his Class D 33 8v. We also have a first “Classic Invitation” class entry in the shape of Robert Barter’s 1600 GT Junior.

August 27th 2009

An interesting early entry for Oulton Park is Dave Pinkney in the ex-James Thompson WTCC car that Dave drove in the 2007 BTCC. The car will run at the Oulton meeting in an "invitation" class and is likely to be looked after by the Team Dynamics BTCC team.

August 24th 2009

The final round of the Championship at Silverstone on Sunday, October 4 will be run for the Kevin Griffiths Trophy and we look forward to having several members of the Griffiths family with us for the day. We are also going ahead with the plan to have an invitation class for classic Alfas at this race and considerable interest has already been shown. Entry forms are being mailed to all competitors but can also be downloaded from the website. The provisional timetable shows qualifying (25 Minutes) at 9.00 a.m and the 25 minute race at 3.10.

This year’s Annual Dinner/Dance and Prize Giving will take place on Saturday, November 21 at Sedgebrook Hall, Chapel Brampton, near Northampton, the same venue as for the past couple of years.

The Class E 156 of Paul Plant, having been sealed at Donington, was tested on Friday at the designated rolling road of Bob Watson Engineering and was found to comply fully with the championship regulations in respect of maximum power output parameters and permitted gear and final drive ratios. Panel member Lee Penn was present to oversee the test.

August 19th 2009

The funeral of Brian Evans will take place at Shrewsbury Crematorium on Wednesday, August 26 – 12 noon. The family would welcome the support any Alfa Championship friends who are able to join them. If you wish to make a donation in Brian’s memory cheques should be made out to The Prostate Cancer Charity and sent to Roger Evans at “Torre”, Castleton Road, Hope, Hope Valley, Derbyshire S33 6RZ.

August 13th 2009

We were very sad to hear that Brian Evans, father of Alfa racers Roger and Kevin, died on Tuesday following a lengthy illness during which we had always admired his sense of optimism and good cheer. Brian had been a long time supporter of his sons’ racing activities. Even earlier we can recall the family standing on the spectator banks as avid enthusiasts or coming to see us at various Alfa events over the years. Brian started Alfa Restorations in Wem, where he built up a reputation for superb work on all types of Alfas, being joined by both Roger and Kevin before Roger decided to start his own company, Peak Alfa. At the last ARCA Dinner we were able to celebrate Brian and Eunice’s support for Roger and Kevin (and for the championship as a whole) by presenting them with a special award. We are sure that everyone will join us in sending Eunice, Roger and Joy, Kevin and Jess and the rest of their family and friends our deepest sympathy. We shall miss you Brian.

August 6th 2009

Final instructions for the Brands Hatch double header (15/16 August) confirm that we shall NOT be in the pit garages this year. Given that we have an early afternoon race on Saturday and a race before lunch on Sunday those who wish to leave early and whose vehicles will not negotiate the vehicle tunnel can do as they please. There will be a prize giving after each race although only one free entry draw which will be on Sunday.

The Driver of the Day and Best Prepared Car awards were the icing on the cake for Lee Penn who had his first races in the ex Jonny Heynes/Nick Humphrey 33 8v at Brands Hatch, on the full GP circuit, last Saturday. Lee, Tim Lewis and Adie Hawkins were taking one of those rare opportunities to run on the 2.3 mile GP layout by contesting the "Dunlop Motorsport News Saloon Car Championship" double header. A monster 45 car entry took part in a dry qualifying session and the DMS regulars appeared somewhat shocked to find the three Alfas ending up 3rd (Tim), 8th (Adie) and 10th (Lee) surrounded by Turbocharged Fords and Nissan Skylines! On the downside, the race lengths had been cut to a measly 12 minutes, this being made even less satisfactory by safety car interventions. Nonetheless, in the dry first race Tim (after an excursion in the gravel at Stirlings) finished 5th with Adie just behind him while Lee was 9th, taking a class win in the process. In the wet, late in the afternoon, Tim finished a superb 2nd behind the dominant Rod Birley's Escort turbo, with Adie 4th and Lee going even better to take 7th and another class win.

For once, thanks to commentator and Alfa enthusiast David Addison, we had two much fuller reports of our Donington race in this week's "Motorsport News" and "Autosport". Good to have a contributor who knows what he's talking about!  In the former, this was accompanied by one of the "Round the Bend" series featuring Roger Evans and an item about the classic class we are planning to incorporate into the Silverstone GP circuit race in October. The previous week's issue also covered Mel Healey becoming the first woman driver to lead the Championship.

July 29th 2009

Congratulations to Keith Williams and his partner, Kayla, who gave birth to a girl at 19.55 on Sunday. This is good timing, a non-race weekend, as Keith will be racing at Donington this Sunday.

July 22nd 2009

Many congratulations to James Hodgkin and Andrea Hallaway who were married last Thursday at St. Peter’s Church, Leckhampton (near Cheltenham). Friends and family were entertained afterwards The Royal George, Birdlip. Two days earlier, Andrea had enjoyed some laps round the Silverstone GP circuit alongside Clive to get herself into the swing of life with Avon Racing!

June 26th 2009

After missing Donington three weeks ago with a leg infection, Championship Co-ordinator Michael Lindsay plans to be back at Silverstone next Sunday, albeit in a fairly sedentary capacity. As he cannot drive at the moment, Diana has taken on the role of chauffeur. Graham Heels will continue in the role of co-ordinator on the day, as he did under such trying conditions at Donington. He is also looking after the championship to good effect while Michael is out of action. In the meantime, Michael would like to thank all those who have sent their good wishes and get well soon messages.

The Silverstone entry has shaped up better than we might have expected on a version of the circuit that is perhaps the least popular of the three we use. Class C is particularly strong with the GTVs of Kevin Evans (making his first appearance of 2009), Graham Seager, Barry McMahon and Ron Davidson. Sadly, the class "benchmark" this year, Shaun Hazlewood, cannot be there after his gearbox started producing worrying noises at Donington. In Class B, Gareth Haywood, whose 156 2.5 made an excellent debut in the pouring rain of Donington qualifying, will be joined by the 156 of John Griffiths which has had a major rebuild since its crash at Cadwell in April. Class D has come to life in the last 24 hours as Neil Smith has entered in Emma Karwacki's 33 16v, joining the similar cars of Mel Healey, who had been on the list for some time,  Paul Plant and Gethin Llewellyn. For Neil it will be an opportunity to address some of the suspension issues which Emma feels have hampered the car's performance.

Class E sees the return of Will Inglis who has done most of the recent work on the 145 Cloverleaf himself, with advice down the phone line from Clive Hodgkin, a new engine replacing the one that "let go" at Snetterton last October. Sarah Heels and Graham were planning another test session before the weekend so see if they could find some more of those fractions that might take Sarah ahead of those with whom she has been battling so far this year.

It was good to see Keith Waite (75 3.0 V6) and Lee Penn (33 1.8) at Donington, making their
first appearances of the year. Sad to have their efforts thwarted by the weather and the state of the track. Hopefully they will both be back for the re-run on August 1/2.

Agi Eugeniou, who raced an Alfasud Ti between 1986 and 1989 in company with compatriots from Cyprus Andrew Economides and Nikos Kyriacopoulos, and is returning to racing after a 20 year absence. Sadly not in Alfa but a Sports 2000.

Recent news from Italy is of the final closure of Alfa's Centro Stile design centre in the old factory complex at Arese. With the 147 and 159 replacements now signed off, all design work will be undertaken in Turin. It also looks as though the major re-structuring of the Alfa Museum has been put on hold because of the financial downturn.

May 22nd 2009

Ardent TV motorsport watchers will have seen the BTCC in action last weekend at a very wet Donington. The previous meeting for the Masters Historic Championships had followed the MSA’s granting of a track licence. The BRSCC has received confirmation from Donington that their meeting scheduled for June 6/7 will go ahead as planned with a very busy 22 race programme during the two days. All Alfa Romeo activity will take place on the Sunday with a 20 minute race timetabled for mid afternoon.

Round 5 of the Championship takes place this Monday at Castle Combe, and among the entries is Simon Bird who is returning with the Class B 156 last seen at Silverstone in September. Simon tells us that he will have his son Adam and Chris Baker as his support crew. Adam competed briefly in Simon’s Alfasud Ti in 2002. winning the Young Driver award that year, while Chris raced in Class F with a 33 between 2000 and 2003, making a final farewell appearance at Oulton Park in 2006 when he took a fine class third.

The number of women drivers to have competed in the Championship will go from 21 to 22 at Castle Combe when Sports 2000 driver Christina Holley makes an appearance in Chris Snowdon’s Class A 75 3.0 24v. Stella Shutler was the last to race a modified car, at the wheel of Alan Marshall’s 33 in 1991. Chris Snowdon himself should be out in the rebuilt John Norington owned 145.

Adie Hawkins returns at Combe with his Cadwell winning 33 16v and it will be interesting to see how it performs against Tim Lewis’s Alfasud Sprint on the fast Wiltshire circuit, likewise Neil Smith’s whose 156 now sports wider wheels (9”) and wheelarches, plus polycarbonate windows replacing the original. In Class D, Gethin Llewellyn will be hoping for a better race than he had at Snetterton where an off course excursion loosened his exhaust system and caused his retirement after just 3 laps.

Gareth Heywood reports a successful day spent on the rolling road with his 2.5 156, the engine producing a satisfying increase in power. Although he couldn’t be at Castle Combe he is looking forward to do as many races as possible from Donington onwards.

An e-mail from Louise West has brought us up to date on the extensive rebuild of her 33 which will have a 16v engine, bigger wheels and slicks and lightweight body panels when it reappears in mid summer. Rockingham in July is the target.

April 23rd 2009

At Silverstone and Cadwell, a scrutineering issue arose in relation to towing eyes. It was pointed out to competitors that the relevant paragraph in the MSA Yearbook has been revised for 2009 and G99 (page 276) now states -

"There should be substantial towing eyes securely fixed to the main structure of the body, front and rear, within the confines of the body, to enable the vehicle to be moved………………………..Towing eyes should have a minimal internal diameter of 60mm. Towing eyes /towing points should be painted a contrasting bright colour (dayglo red, orange or yellow."

The previous regulation did not specify and internal diameter, competitors relying on what was supplied as the norm (50mm) by Demon Tweaks etc. DT offer an FIA spec 80mmTowing Eye and fitting kit. Also available is a 100mm
Towing Eye strap.

Scrutineers at Snetterton on May 3 will be looking to see that cars comply with this regulation.

The Donington track licence saga rumbles on and nobody can say with any certainty exactly when it will be resolved. The BRSCC are monitoring the situation closely and in an e-mail to all co-ordinators, Drew Furlong wrote that "Donington have informed us that the cause of the track licence issue is a difference of opinion between the FIA and the MSA on the amount of run-off area required on the infield between McLeans and Coppice. They are awaiting clarification from the FIA which they are hopeful of receiving this week. They have also indicated that the work on the outside run-offs will be completed before the end of May. Donington have confirmed that they will keep us informed of further developments which we would imagine will be on receipt of a definite response from the FIA. Please rest assured that we are doing all we can to ensure that our meeting (on June 6/7) will progress. As and when we have any further information, we will of course let you know".

The general opinion expressed by those closely in touch with the situation seems to be that should be necessary work not be completed in time for the BTCC meeting on May 16/17 then the whole Donington season might unravel. However,  it is encouraging that plans for the Masters Historic meeting on May 9/10, masterminded by our old friend Chris Tate, are going ahead as normal. We remain optimistic that all will be well. The impression this is giving cannot be helping to assure Bernie Ecclestone's final approval of Donington as the venue for the British GP in 2010.

Since the above was written, we have "hot off the press" news that the owners of Donington Park, Wheatcroft and Son Ltd, have commenced legal proceedings against Donington Ventures Ltd, the track's current leaseholder and operator, over unpaid rent totalling some £2.47m. In addition they are seeking forfeiture of the lease. Where all this leaves everyone else, goodness knows! Just "watch this space"……

Hoping that all will be well for Round 6 at Donington on June 7, there is a new procedure that will operate for competitors who want to run in-car cameras.

• Forward a request in writing at least 5 days prior to the event (failure to comply with this could result in requests being declined) to Diana Hardy (Tel: 01322-819507) e-mail Diane.Hardy@donington.park.co.uk or fax on 01332-814411)
• Diane will then send out an "In Car Camera Request Form" which should be completed and returned to her.
• On receipt of the completed form, Diana will complete and forward an "In Car Camera Authorisation Form" to the competitor which they should submit to race officials (presumably at signing on and scrutineering).

The MSA have issued a Bulletin advising a revision to the Safety Car Rules. This can be found by clicking here.

It was good to see Graham Hall at Cadwell with the 145 Cloverleaf that he has bought from Phil Snelling. Testing on Friday, Graham was very happy to have lapped 7 seconds quicker than he had ever managed in his Giulia. On Saturday he finished both races, with a best result of 6th in class in race 1.

Graham has also been busy talking to several classic Alfa racers to raise interest in the invitation class planned for Silverstone on the GP circuit in October. Will Morton was present at Cadwell on Sunday for the HSCC meeting with his familiar blue Alfetta GTV and told us that he is intending to be at Silverstone as is Mark Oldfield who has now replaced his green and yellow Alfetta with a black Alfasud Sprint.

An early entry for Snetterton (May 3) is Anthony George with his long awaited turbocharged 156. He has a test session planned for April 28, so we shall be keeping our fingers crossed that all goes well. Back at Snetterton will be Chris Oxborough with his supercharged 75 that went so well at Silverstone in round 1 while making his 2009 debut will be his Avon Racing colleague Robin Eyre-Mansell in his normally aspirated 75. Winner of the first free entry draw, Nick Anderson, has entered his Class A 33 8v which has been receiving some attention to cure the gearbox breather problem it suffered at Silverstone.

We hear that Chris Snowdon is a likely Snetterton entry, but not in the Lahoma 33 this time. He should be in John Norrington's 145 Cloverleaf which he has driven before - at Cadwell in 2008.

It was good to hear from Ray Foley that he had suffered no lasting  physical damage ( just annoyance after a particularly enjoyable race!) in an accident at Cadwell on Saturday which ended with his 156 on its roof on top of the barrier at Charlies. He wishes to thank all the many people who stayed to help get his battered car onto the trailer at the end of the meeting, despite facing their own long journeys home – another true example of the Alfa Championship spirit.

April 12th 2009

Congratulations to the Connell family – father Ian and sons Richard and Marc – who won the first of this year’s VW Beetle Fun Cup races run over 6 hours at Rockingham last weekend. Ian was a successful Alfa racer with an Alfetta GTV and 33 between 1988 and 2002 being joined by Richard (1997 to 2002) and Marc (2001). More recently Richard has been involved in F1, with Arrows then as a race engineer with Super Aguri before it folded. He then found a role in the Renualt F1 test team but recent cuts have brought that to an end so, for the moment, a “world trip” beckons. However Richard would like to get back into F1 in the future while he once said that he felt he had “unfinished business” in the Alfa championship. In the meantime, he will certainly be helping to bring more success to the “Spar – Cuisine de France” Beetle team.

A small change in our 2009 calendar – the final round on the Silverstone GP circuit will have both qualifying and the race on Sunday, October 4. Hopefully, this will help the increasing number of our competitors who are finding Saturday races a problem. For those arriving the night before, the 6 Hour race that replaces the 24 Hours will run from 4.00 pm to 10.00 pm.

After several discussions during the winter, it seems likely that we shall run a Historic/Classic Alfa invitation class at the final Silverstone round. If it proves a success, it could be the forerunner of a more such races on circuits where the grid size permits.

Good news from the Lahoma camp – their 33 16v which Chris Snowdon managed to roll at Silverstone two weeks ago has now been repaired and is entered for Cadwell on April 18. Len Brock and Tom Allen will be sharing their 146 Ti at the same meeting with whoever does the second race qualifying with the Fiats. A full entry list will appear early next week.

April 3rd 2009

Congratulations to Rachel and Andy Page on the safe arrival yesterday (in the middle of the night) of Victoria, a sister for Jason. "I am sure that she will be making a public appearance quite soon!" e-mailed Andy. Cadwell? We well remember Jason arriving at Rockingham just 13 days old.

It was good to see one-time Alfa regular Roberto Giordanelli at Silverstone last weekend, finishing third with a Lotus Elise he was sharing in the 90 minute Britcar Production race.

Adie Hawkins (Class A 33 16v) is the latest competitor to put in an entry for Cadwell, a circuit on which he always goes well. If you want to be included in the free race entry draw, don't forget that your entry must be with the BRSCC by mid-day on Tuesday, April 14th. With Easter interrupting the post, do leave enough time for the entry to arrive. First Class postage rates are also going up on Monday from 36p to 39p.

We chatted to Gethin Llewellyn at Silverstone. He expects his Class D 33 16v to be ready in time for Snetterton on May 3. Those who recall his efforts with a Bianco Alfasud Ti 1.7 in 2004 are looking forward to seeing if he can match the pace of Paul Plant. Also in D, Mel Healey (2nd at Silverstone) is hoping to be able to do a full season, saying that she is really enjoying her Alfa racing now.

Gareth Haywood was not at Silverstone as he was working hard to get his 156 2.5 ready for Cadwell. A call to Roger Evans let him know that the engine was now running! Also making good progress is another Peak Alfa car, Graham Seager's new Class C GTV.

Paul Granger had a panel to himself in the Racing News section of "Motorsport News" under the heading "Karting Star wants further Alfa race outings". For those who don't know, 25 year old Paul has been Karting for 10 years and took six wins in 2008 in the highly competitive Rotax DD2 gearbox kart series on his way to 5th at the end of the season. "If I can find any weekends spare I'd love to keep going (in the 156) because it's actually cheaper in this than Super One".

March 18th 2009

Having looked at "the numbers" it seems clear that we cannot run Class E on its own at Cadwell (April 18) as we had hoped. The meeting will therefore become an all classes together double header. The entry fee is now, as previously mentioned, £295. The races will be of 20 minutes duration. All this means that the Championship will now be run over 10 meetings, three of which are double headers - 13 rounds with 2 dropped scores, so the 11 best results will count. This is in line with the majority vote
in last year's questionnaire.

Latest confirmed entries for Silverstone on March 28 have been Nick Gooch (33 8v), Paul Granger (Avon Racing 156) and John Griffiths (156). This brings the grid to 23 so far but we are expecting 27 by race day. Anyone still intending to enter is reminded that forms and cheques have to be in Michael Lindsay's hands by next Tuesday, March 24, to be entered in the "lottery" draw for a free race entry.

Sarah Heels, Martin Jones and Graham Heels enjoyed a productive day testing with Sarah's 156 at Silverstone last Saturday. Graham reports that both Sarah and Martin (with Graham as ballast in the passenger seat as he identified areas for improvement) managed satisfying cuts on their previous lap times. So watch out Class E!  Paul Plant was also there on the same day with his 33 16v, completing a lot of laps but suffering from a continual misfire which kept his times well off the Class D pace.

Testing at Snetterton yesterday was the new GTV of Shaun Hazlewood (Photos below by Giles Groombridge) which, after sorting out a malfunctioning "kill" switch, looked to be going well although no times have come our way. Also spied were Alfa "Old Boys" Stephen Chase and Micky Bolton. Micky's daughter Harriet is hoping to race an Alfetta GTV this year, probably with the HSCC.

Phill Snelling has sold his 145 to Graham Hall, who is moving from racing a classic Alfa, and has already entered for Cadwell (the first entry - so only 27 places to go!!)

We had a call from Keith Waite telling us that he intends to do three or four races this year with his 75 3 litre, still with 12v engine although he has a 24v sitting on the workshop floor. First race will be either Snetterton or Castle Combe.

Good news from Chris Snowdon's workshop is that Nev Simpson is making considerable progress with the rebuild of his Class B GTV6 2.5 and although he won't be at Silverstone, there is a chance of it being ready in time for Cadwell.

Anthony George's  turbocharged Class A 156 was featured, with photograph, in the Racing News section of this weeks "Motorsport News" (Page 11). Anthony overall champion in 2002 and 2005 with his 33) talks of getting over 400 bhp on the dyno, now detuned to 350 bhp to make it more "manageable". Selected races are planned, starting with Snetterton on May 3.

The Pomeroy Trophy has also been a very popular season opener for the VSCC, an event in which James Diffey always used to excel. His brother Simon was at Silverstone for this year's event in a Vauxhall Astra GTE - his first race car! John Norrington boosted Alfa spirits with a third in class with his 145, the car seen on a single occasion last year (Cadwell) in the hands of Chris Snowdon.

March 3rd 2009

Following representations from several drivers, we have agreed that the side head protection wording of the seat regulations should be changed to “very strongly recommended”. “Changes and Clarifications has been amended accordingly. An official Bulletin to this effect will be required before the first meeting. However, we should like to emphasise that our eligibility scrutineer John Monk will be taking a hard look at all seats and fixings as drivers’ safety is of great importance to us.

The correct wording under 7.5.1 (A) regarding the origin of engine blocks and cylinder heads is “…..the engine block and cylinder heads are Alfa Romeo production units in origin”.

The full 2009 regs have now been approved by the MSA and can be found elsewhere on the site. Also the Supplementary Regulations and entry forms. Some confusion may arise in that the Castle Combe (May 25) does not appear as a round in the SI’s but does appear on the entry form! This is because the Castle Combe Racing Club have their own Supplementary Regulations which will be put on the website in due course. Entries for this meeting should go to the BRSCC in the normal way.

As already stated in New & Gossip (March 1st) entry fees for Cadwell Park will initially be £195 for a single race. If sufficient entries are not forthcoming the meeting will become a double header as shown (£295) and competitors will be asked to pay an additional entry fee. Races will be of 20 minutes duration in either case.

March 1st 2009

News from competitors - Tom Allen and Len Brock will continue with their silver 146 Ti which made its debut at Donington. Tom plans to drive it at Silverstone on March 28 while they hope to be able to share it at Cadwell.  Lee Penn expects to be able to race five or six times this year in his Class A 33 8v, dovetailing his commitments in the ALMS series where he is engineering a privately run Ford GT. Robert Buchele will be returning for a second season with his Class D 33 8v starting at Silverstone. Andrew Bramah's new Avon Racing Class E 147 was last heard of sitting on a trailer waiting to go to Bruntingthorpe for a test session while Clive Hodgkin's own Class A 75 has been receiving some t.l.c. over the winter on the bodywork and chassis. Tim Lewis was an early entry for Silverstone with his ultra quick Alfasud Sprint, Tim continuing with the supercharged engine that we saw briefly last year. One driver we probably shall not be seeing this year is Tim Hayes who is moving house and with only one garage instead of three will be selling two of his cars. Hopefully, though, he will keep the 33 8v and race it in 2010.

Joanne Eastwood has completed the first batch of Alfashop sunstrips and they will be
sent to all registered competitors over the next week or so.

A number of Class E competitors have contacted us regarding the projected Class E only race at Cadwell. If this is to go ahead we need to know everyone's intentions, so a call to Michael Lindsay (01223-891219) or an e-mail (unabated@tesco.com) would be much appreciated. If we do not attract sufficient Class E competitors, the meeting will become an all classes together double-header.  Initially we will ask everyone to pay the single race entry fee of £195. If the meeting is a double header, the fee will become £295.

We don't usually think of the current 159 in terms of a race car although there were rumours when it first appeared that it would replace the 156 as Alfa's representative in the WTCC. It was interesting, therefore, to hear of the success of a 159 2.4JTD which won the "big diesel" class in last weekend's Bathurst 12 Hours. Completing a very satisfactory Alfa Romeo event, a 147 1.9JTD took the "small diesel" category.

Photos: Alfa Romeo Australia
                       

The Geneva Motor Show (March 5 - 15) will see the first appearance of Alfa's new "rocket ship", the Mito GTA. This uses a 230 bhp of the latest Alfa Romeo 1.8 Turbo engine, one of many new units that are emerging from FPT (Fiat Powertrain Technologies). The first pictures certainly make the car look more aggressive than the standard Mito and early driving impressions indicate that problems putting that amount of power through the front wheels of such a small car have been solved by the use of Alfa's Q2 differential. Also on show at Geneva will be the revised versions of the 159, the basic version of which will also be fitted with a lower powered version of the 1.8 Turbo replacing the JTS units which are gradually being phased out after a relatively short (in Alfa terms anyway) lifespan.

Photo: Alfa Romeo

We had a call from Colin Barnett (our long-time eligibility scrutineer) the other day. He had recently driven a Mito which he had thoroughly enjoyed and would probably have bought if it had been on the Commercial Motor (his employer) approved list. However, one comment he did make was that he found the steering feel (in "dynamic" mode) quite acceptable. This was an aspect of the car that had provoked some criticism in early tests. The latest issue of "Auto Italia" confirms that Alfa have actually made some changes since the first production cars appeared and that this would have benefited all the Mitos sold here. So perhaps Alfa do listen!

Two Mito "specials" have appeared recently - one a somewhat extreme cream and red vehicle that tyre manufacturers Marangoni are using as publicity vehicle and the other for members of RIAR - Alfa Romeo's select vintage and classic owners' support club.

February 11th 2009

Anthony George has sent us some photographs of the superb turbocharged 156 with which he hopes to make an impact on Class A. As long as forthcoming testing doesn’t produce unexpected problems, Anthony (overall champion with his 33 16v in 2002 and 2005) expects to be at Silverstone on March 28.

February 10th 2009

Entry forms are now available for Round 1 of the Championship (Silverstone International, March 28) and can be downloaded elsewhere on the website. The entry fee is £195 if paid before March 7 and £210 thereafter. As this is one of the two Britcar meetings this year where ARCA is buying the grid, it is essential that we have as much support as possible from competitors.

Completed forms, and cheques made out to "Alfa Romeo Championship Association" should be returned to Michael Lindsay at 97 High Street, Linton, Cambridge CB21 4JT.

As announced at the Dinner/Dance, at every meeting we are planning to offer a free entry for a future round of the Championship. The winning driver's name will be drawn from the "hat"  at each prize giving. In order to be eligible for the draw, your entry must be in the organiser's hands (ARCA in the case of Britcar meetings or the BRSCC for all other rounds) by the Tuesday morning before the meeting. To win, you must also attend the Prize Giving.

January 31st 2009

Shaun Hazlewood and Graham Seager are both hoping to have their new Class C GTVs at the first round of this year's Championship at Silverstone on March 28.

After spending two years trying to sell his two modified 75s - the 3.6 litre V6 and the ex Nick Humphrey 2.0 Turbo - Julian Birley has now found buyers for both of them them. Sadly not here though. They are going to Denmark and will probably join several other 75s in the in the 2009 European Alfa Challenge.

A newcomer to our Championship this year will be Andy Hancock who has bought the ex Jackie Osborne 33 that has been floating around the "For Sale" pages and ebay for a while. Although Andy is new to competing himself he is not new to racing as he is team manager of the Bluefin Britcar team. Giles
Groombridge and Dave Ashford have been helping with advice and sourcing parts. The car will also have a new colour scheme which those who remember the previous blue and green might not think is too bad an idea!

The MiTo, Alfa's all important new small car, went on sale in the UK last weekend. Further information, specification details and a full price list can be found on www.italiaspeed.com (scroll through to 25.01.09). "Autocar" had a brief test of the 1.6 turbo diesel version this week which was not exactly glowing, highlighting "fidgety ride" in any of the three software control packages and a "notchy, long-throw gearchange". Can't argue with nearly 60 mpg economy, adequate performance and classy looks though, added to a price that is £1000 cheaper than the comparable Mini, the Cooper D. 

Surprising news from the Fiat Group is that Alfa (and Abarth) CEO Luca de Meo is moving on, probably to new job with the VW. Seems that it was an offer that came into the "something I couldn't refuse" category. De Meo was a young and dynamic leader of the kind that Alfa needs if it is to stay viable in a
time of such uncertainty in the current financial climate. On the other hand, he may have felt that with the MiTo launched and the 149 and 159 to follow soon, his current role at Alfa was complete and he needed another challenge. He will be succeeded by current marketing director Sergio Cravero. Harald Wester will add Abarth to the roles he already has with Fiat and Maserati. "AutoSprint" feels that these moves make it less likely that Alfa Romeo will re-appear with any meaningful competition programme in the near future.  Abarth are building up a new rally presence and Maserati have involvement with the FIA GT Championship and a proposed one model series with the Granturismo S.

Interested in the days when Alfa Romeo GTAs took on Lotus Cortinas, BMW 2002 Ti's and Minis in the European Touring Car Championship? Well you might like to know that the U2TC Touring Car Challenge (1963-1965) has four dates in 2009 including the Silverstone Classic (24 - 26 July). The other meetings are: Monza (4 - 7 June), Dijon (18- 21 June) and Spa (25 - 27 September).

"Race Retro" the annual Historic Motorsport Show takes place at Stoneleigh Park over the weekend March 13 - 15. Further information can be found on www.raceretro.com

January 28th 2009

We are very pleased to announce that Julian Birley has accepted the Panel's invitation to become the first President of the Alfa Romeo Championship Association. Without Julian's strong financial and moral support in the early days ARCA might never have got off the ground and we shall always be grateful to him for giving us the chance to reach what will be the Association's eighth season in charge of the Championship in 2009. The photograph below shows Julian after one of his race wins in the fiersome 3.6 litre 75 at Castle Combe in 2002 in company with some other familiar faces!

January 23rd 2009

Congratulations to Kevin Evans and his partner Jess on the safe arrival of their daughter, Sarah Elizabeth (6lbs 2oz). So that's another hi-tech pram we'll be seeing around the paddock!

Michael Lindsay has just completed the first stage of what we hope will be a comprehensive statistical history of the Championship. This is a list of everyone who has competed with us over the past 27 seasons - 678 drivers in all. The full list can be seen by clicking here and we hope that it will jog a few memories and promote some discussion along the way. Of particular interest is the number of seasons in which some drivers have competed. Clive Hodgkin leads the way with 21! The top few are -

                       
The next step is to list every driver with the cars they drove and the number of races in which they took part. But that might take a while!

Andrew Bramah was at the Autosport Show telling us about the Class E 147 that is being built for him by Avon Racing. The car was originally his wife's 1.6 and she kindly donated it to Andrew so that he could go racing. It now has its new 2 litre engine and gearbox and will hopefully do 5 or 6 meetings in 2009.

We also bumped into Autodelta's Jano Djelalian who was telling us about the supercharger he is fitting to Chris Oxborough's 75 3 litre 12v. The car will continue to be run by Avon Racing.

Claire Williams has sent us a provisional timetable for Round 1 of this year's Championship at Silverstone (International) on March 28. Signing on will be at 8.30, Scrutineering 8.00 to 8.45 followed by qualifying at 10.20 (20 minutes). The race will be at 1.00 pm (25 minutes).

Competitors are reminded that this year's discount registration fee (£80) runs until February 15. Thereafter the rate is the normal £100. If you have lost your form it can be downloaded by clicking here.

Silverstone Circuits have sent us details of some forthcoming test days -

Friday, February 6. International Circuit. Closed Wheel only. Open pit lane. £595 per car inc VAT and free garage.

Friday, February 20. National Circuit. Sessioned, Open & closed wheel. £219 per car inc VAT.

Friday, February 27. National Circuit. Sessioned, Open, closed & sports. £165 per car incl VAT.

There is no additional cost for extra drivers. All drivers must show their 2009 MSA/FIA Competition Licence (minimum National B) and sign an indemnity form before driving on the circuit.

January 14th 2009

"Autosport International" last weekend saw the superbly presented Class A 33 of Adie Hawkins as a focal point for Alfa racers on the BRSCC stand. Although in terms of overall numbers the attendance may have been down on previous years we certainly saw many past and present Championship drivers and preparers. ARCA interests were covered over the four days by Michael Lindsay, Graham Heels and Adie himself.  Jeremy Wales and Philip Clay were there on the first day admiring the new Alfashop sunstrip on the 33 which will mandatory wear for all competitors in 2009.

Among the visitors we welcomed  Roger Evans & Joy Fairy, Gareth Haywood (reporting that his 156 is receiving some serious upgrading), Ian Fisher, Andy Page, Andrew Bramah, Kevin Reynolds, Gus Lambrou and John Clonis (talking excitedly about Britcar), Ian Stapleton (with pictures of the GTV6 in a state of complete disassembly!), Keith & Lynn Waite, Ian Brookfield, Chris Healey, Joanne Eastwood, Leon Bailey, Paul Granger (hoping to do a few more Class E races in 2009), John Sismey & Chris Snowdon, Alan Meaker (from Toyo confirming our on-going arrangements for the coming season), and commentators David Addison and Brian Jones. We also encountered Ian Connell who brought us up to date with the family team's "Fun Cup" news and also that after Super Aguri folded, Richard had found himself a place (maybe temporary) with the Renault F1 test team. Sadly no return to Alfa racing looks likely for the moment although Richard has always thought of it as "unfinished business" as far as he is concerned.

Graham Heels reported some serious interest from potential competitors on the first of the two public days with the emphasis mainly on Class E.

The general atmosphere around the Show was not one of total gloom and doom although there were some familiar company names missing. Most organisers and individual championships seem to have taken the route of cutting the number of meetings in 2009 to what they hoped would be sustainable in the current financial climate. The Castle Combe team just want some decent weather (don't we all!) as their gate receipts were hit hard by the rain that accompanied most of their events in 2008. Over at Britcar (with Claire Williams) we were able to confirm the details of our opening round with them at Silverstone on March 28. A provisional timetable will be available soon and entry forms will be sent out before the end of the month.

Our thanks to the BRSCC team, and to Dominic Ostrowski in particular, for all their help during the Show.

The 750 Motor Club are keen to see an Alfa team back in the Birkett 6 Hour Relay which takes place on the Silverstone International Circuit at the end of October. As our season ends in early October, this might be an opportunity for those still keen to go racing, and in something different, to put a team together. The maximum number of cars per team is 6 and the entry fee £1200 per team. Anyone wanting to be kept in the information "loop" on this should contact Michael Lindsay by e-mail: unabated@tesco.net

December 22nd 2008

ARCA will be represented on the BRSCC stand at Autosport International by the race winning Class A 33 16v of Adie Hawkins. The show's layout has been changed for 2009 and the BRSCC stand (7030) can be found in Hall 7 which is on the way to the Live Action area. The Show is open from Thursday January 8 to Sunday January 11 (9 a.m to 6 pm), the first two days being  for Trade and BRSCC members who can gain free access on one day only. Anyone who is willing to help promote the championship by being able to chat to potential competitors on any of the days would be very welcome and should contact Michael
Lindsay or Graham Heels beforehand.

Old Boys News - Congratulations to Ian Jacobs, who raced a 2000 Spider very enthusiastically with us in the mid 80s,  for winning the HSCC 70s Roadsports Championship in a Jensen-Healey. Another winner was sometime Alfasud and 33 driver Dean Spurr who was surprised to win the Easytrack Production BMW  Championship after a points "recount".

News from Brunswick - apart from one of their customers buying an N24 Aston Martin for British GT racing next season, we hear that Nick Anderson's 33 has now been rebuilt after his accident and fire at the Snetterton Time Attack meeting in October. The car now has outboard front brakes instead of the original inboard (ex Alfasud) set up and Nick is raring to go. We also hear that the rollcage is now in Tony Russell's new Class E 156.

Elsewhere there are many ideas and plans being hatched by existing and would-be competitors but
nobody seems to want to go public at this stage - a sign of the times maybe?

December 3rd 2008

Over 70 drivers, team members, friends and families enjoyed another excellent dinner/dance and prize giving at Sedgebrook Hall last Saturday. The winners of the various special prizes can be found on the Home Page and there is also a selection of photographs elsewhere on the website. There was a special award during the evening to Brian and Eunice Evans for the support they have given to both Roger and Kevin over the years (and in all weathers!) which had been triggered by a championship "1st" at Silverstone in August when both appeared on the front row of the grid. There was plenty of talk during the evening about "who plans what" for 2009, including a number of planted "red herrings". Best not to comment right now, we'll just wait and see!!

Our thanks once again go to Rachel Page for organising the event and to Graham Heels for making sure that this year's raffle was one of the best ever. £610 was raised.

During the evening there were two important announcements regarding 2009. Firstly, we are delighted that ALFASHOP will be continuing their title sponsorship into a fourth year. Secondly, the Championship Panel decided at a recent meeting that funds would be made available for an entry fee voucher , worth a maximum of £200, to be drawn from the hat at each race day prize giving. To qualify, competitors would need to be entered that day and present when the names were drawn.  This initiative would benefit
competitors to the tune of some £2000 next season.

We are now happy to be able to announce a Provisional 2009 calendar-

*** We already know that this meeting may be subject to change, either to one day only
or possibly a week later.

All meetings are organised by the BRSCC except where shown.

November 24th 2008

Championship Co-ordinator Michael Lindsay was the surprised recipient of the "Bert Lamkin Memorial Salver" at the BRSCC Dinner Dance & prize Giving on Saturday. The trophy goes to "the Club member who has done most to promote the name and interests of the Club". Rick Smith and F1 ITV's Louise Goodman were compering the presentations - "this year the Bert Lamkin Salver deservedly goes to one of the BRSCC's longest serving championship co-ordinators who has dedicated himself to his particular championship for over 20 years. He continues to be the very model of what a championship co-ordinator should be, providing excellent customer service to his competitors and keeping entries on track for the Club". The trophy was presented by Stuart Turner and the photograph shows Michael celebrating afterwards with Louise Goodman, commenting that he felt that this was a tribute to all those competitors, teams and friends who had also contributed so much to the success of the championship over the years.

Earlier in the evening Neil Smith had received his trophy as 2008 BRSCC Alfashop Alfa Romeo Champion and also Paul Plant for winning Class D. It was also good to see Emma Karwacki who had her "reward" when she won a set of Avon tyres in the raffle to put on her Ferrari, plus a session with Michael Lindsay on the dance floor - well if John Sergeant can do it, then they can do it!!

October 4th 2008

DONINGTON LATEST :

We have received the following from Drew Furlong, Competitions Director at the BRSCC:

Dear All,

Following discussions with Robert Fearnall at Donington Park, I can now confirm that our scheduled BRSCC Championship Finals event will now take place on Saturday 1st November 2008 only.  The cancellation of Sunday’s activities is due to planning problems encountered by Donington and it is with their assistance that we were able to secure our now one day event.

Obviously many of our championships were due to run double headers at this event and to now try and fit all scheduled races into one day would prove impossible.  We have been discussing this matter with the MSA, but as yet we have no definitive answer as to how races will now be scheduled.  At this stage we are hopeful that a compromise may be reached which will see all championships which were due to run still take an active part in the revised event.

I will of course let you all know as soon as we have agreed a new format for the event.  In the meantime I would be grateful if you could inform your fellow competitors of the above.

October 3rd 2008

Sadly there is a cloud of uncertainty surrounding what should have been our final race meeting of the year – the double header at Donington. If it happens, it will definitely only be on Saturday November 1 and not spread over two days as originally planned. This could mean a somewhat original raceday format and perhaps only a single race instead of two,  bearing in mind the number of championships that were due to have their final rounds. Daylight track time would be short because the meeting comes a week after the hour change. We would stress that none of this has been caused by the BRSCC and that the decision to go ahead with the meeting is entirely in the hands of the current Donington management. From the latest information we have, it looks as though Tuesday will be the earliest we can expect to hear whether it is on or off.

The latest entry list for Snetterton (October 12), which could possibly now be the final Championship round of the year, is shown elsewhere on the site. At present we have 18 confirmed entries but expect this to be at least 26 by race day. Our allocated paddock area for the meeting will be beside the scrutineering bay/parc ferme (as on May 4). There has been a small alteration to the timetable with qualifying at 10.15 (20 minutes) and the race at 3.40 pm (20 minutes). Although we are providing the only race at Snetterton, there will be plenty of action throughout the day from Time Attack plus a whole range of colourful static displays under the “Modified Live” banner. As our entry fee is only £165 it makes our best value for money race of the year. At present we have 18 confirmed entries but we expect this to be at least 26 by race day.

One very welcome entry at Snetterton is the supercharged Alfasud Sprint of 2006 Champion Tim Lewis. This will be his first race of the season and follows a successful test session at the circuit where he completed 40 laps, the best of which were in the 1.15s which is below our current lap record.

October 1st 2008

Bianco's now-annual pilgrimage to the Spa Six Hours meeting (26-28 September) ended in success when Gary Walker & John Symes took the trusty Sud to second in class in the Top Hat Masters All Series 61-minute race, finishing 51st out of a massive field of 71 cars, the majority of which were rather more powerful. To add to the pleasure on what was a gloriously sunny weekend, Mr & Mrs Hugh Griffiths, the only previous owners of the Bianco Sud made a week-end trip to Belgium to see their former pride & joy race.

Our next round at Snetterton is part of the final round of the 2008 Time Attack series. The Time Attack organisers are doing their bit to promote their series and the fact that we are the only race taking part in their meeting. For more information visit one of the following web sites:

www.timeattack.co.uk

www.modifiedlive.co.uk

September 24th 2008

Congratulations to our Alfa Championship colleagues who brought their two cars, albeit one a BMW Diesel (!), home to the finish of the Britcar 24 Hours last weekend. The BMW was run under the Alfatune banner with Gus Lambrou running the engineering side while the team management role was in the hands of  Bryan and Tom Shrubb. The car was driven by Phil Donaghy, Chris Bentley, John Clonis, Phil Brough and Anna Walewska while among those helping in the pits it was good to see Paul Legge again plus David Cannard and Kevin Reynolds. The BMW 330tdi ran extremely well all through the race, finishing 20th overall (there were 51 starters and  37 classified finishers) and 2nd in the Diesel class only 2 laps behind the winning VW, having completed a total of 529 laps of the GP circuit.

Things were not quite so straightforward for the Brunswick team who were running a 156 with Nick Gooch and Chris Forrest as part of the driving strength. They suffered an alternator failure early on and then lost a further three hours in the middle of the night when they were forced to change the engine. Nonetheless they still completed 416 laps to be classified 36th. Dave Ashford and Giles Groombridge were running the team, and we also spotted Wayne Ashford hard at work. Dave reported that the drivers loved the car and were already planning their next endurance even with it.

We had numerous visitors to our paddock area on Friday and Saturday. Nick Baughn, back from his home in Vietnam for a week or so, was remembering the Snetterton Willhire 24 hour races he did in both an Alfasud with Andrew Thorpe and later a VW Golf GTi. Sharing the latter with Rob Kirby he finished 3rd overall in 1988. Rob Bishop is another who really enjoyed endurance events after stopping racing in the Alfa Championship and was seen talking to Graham Heels.  Ron Davidson, who had originally intended to do the Alfa race at Silverstone, was present to support Michael Walsh and Barry McMahon. Keith Waite and family also came to visit, Keith telling that he has been spending his time of late running a rallying Lancia Stratos. However, he plans to be back on the race track in 2009. Chris Baker, having sold his 33, was helping Simon Bird with the Class B 156.

September 3rd 2008

The winner of the Silverstone GP circuit race on September 20 will be this year’s recipient of the Kevin Griffiths Trophy. Kevin’s brother Simon plans to be present, with several other members of the family, to make the presentation.

Anyone who has not yet entered Silverstone is asked to do so as soon as possible so that the paperwork can be kept tidy and all entries appear in the programme. In addition, it would make life easier if all entry fees could now be paid by cheque (made out to ARCA) as the payment for the grid has now been made and any entries by credit card would have to be refunded to us by Britcar.

Competitors who are present on Friday afternoon at Anglesey might like to take advantage of the Drivers Briefing for the weekend scheduled in the Cafeteria at 5.30 p.m. There will also be briefings on Saturday morning at 9.00 and 9.45 a.m. It is mandatory for all drivers to attend one of the three briefings. AND DON’T FORGET TO TAKE LOTS OF BOTTLED WATER!

August 22nd 2008

The full provisional timetable for our October 12th "Time Attack" meeting at Snetterton can be viewed by clicking here.

Qualifying (20 mins) at 10:45

Race (20 mins) at 15:55

August 21st 2008

The latest Snetterton entry list can be found elsewhere on the website. Nick Gooch, who was "Driver of the Day" last time out at Rockingham has entered Class D but we have unfortunately lost Tim Hayes for this meeting. The addition of Alastair Iles (147 GTA) and Kevin Evans (GTV) has produced the largest Class C entry of the year, Alastair and Kevin joining Michael Walsh and Barry McMahon in their 3 litre 155s and Ron Davidson with his GTV. Alastair's 147 was seen testing (suspension and to see if its Silverstone overheating had been cured) at Snetterton yesterday, Calum Lockie and Graham Heels also having a turn at the wheel. Graham did a handful of shakedown laps in the new Bianco renta Class E 156 which will make its first race appearance at Anglesey.

It is good to see Richard Salt returning to Class E for the first time since Cadwell where his 145 Cloverleaf was badly damaged, He will join 9 other cars in an excellent Snetterton Class E field. After a major engine problem at the end of the Silverstone race, Chris Bentley should be back with another engine which was due to be fitted by Alfatune today. "If it starts OK we'll be there"!

Chris Snowdon is entered with the Lahoma 33 16v to which John Sismey has given complete mechanical rebuild since finishing 2nd at Rockingham. "It won't have turned a wheel before Monday qualifying" says Chris.

Anyone around Snetterton on Sunday morning will see several ex Alfa Championship competitors competing in the 4 hour Beetle Fun Cup. The Connell family, father Ian and sons Richard and Marc, will be sharing their usual SPAR car while Bryn Griffiths (brother of John) will be racing alongside Ted Reddick who raced a JSM 156 with us back in 2000.

The Anglesey meeting (September 6/7) will be run on the all new 2.1 mile International circuit, the longest of the three versions available. The timetable is as follows -

August 13th 2008

John Monk has e-mailed to say that several scrutineers at Silverstone last Sunday with long memories took the trouble to say to him that they thought the standard of presentation of the whole series was excellent. "I enjoyed the reflected glory" he says "and think this ought to be passed on to competitors as, believe me, it doesn't happen often!"

Class E continues to expand. At Silverstone we saw the first appearance of Chris Bentley's 146Ti in Class E specification, the changes to enable it to move from Class D having been carried out by Gus Lambrou at Alfatune. Chris found the re-fitting of ABS the most difficult thing to get used to initially. In the race he finished a strong 5th, despite an engine problem right at the end. It was good to see Paul Buckley having his first outing of the year in his Avon Racing prepared 156, taking 4th in class plus fastest lap. Paul's next appearance will be at the Anglesey double-header (September 6/7).

A new Class E car, due to run at Snetterton (August 25),  is the Avon renta' 156. This was tested by Clive Hodgkin on the Silverstone GP circuit last night with satisfactory results and will be driven at Snetterton by none other than previous Avon regular, Sam Laird. Sam says that he has not totally given up hopes of racing his supercharged 75 3.0 V6 Class A car at some point but is really looking forward to trying something different and to "just getting back on the track".

The Bianco 156 renta' is also making good progress and the plan is for it to make its debut at Anglesey where it will be shared by two brothers who are new to the Championship, one of whom has had some previous racing experience.

Well done Paul Plant and Timothy Perry who, on the Tuesday before Silverstone, took part in the Daytona 100 Karting event at Milton Keynes and won it! Paul reports "There were 24 entries which included 4 from the Honda F1 team, fully kitted out in their overalls and custom helmets (they even had their names along the side and on the strap of their overalls), two entrants from current Britcar drivers and various other people well known in motorsport. The conditions were similar, if not worse than when
we raced at Combe, with massive puddles and virtually no traction at all. After 2 hours of racing, totalling 57 laps, Team Alfaracer came out on top by over 30 seconds despite a 3 minute pitstop! So during the celebrations there was lots of 'check out Alfaracer.com'. It was an extremely wet but enjoyable event for all, although the Honda boys were not too pleased!"

Sometime Alfa Championship racer Sean Woodard and his co-driver Simon Ward had an excellent run with their 33 1.7  in a wet 40 minute CSCC "Tin Tops" race at Oulton Park last weekend, finishing fourth in a 22 car field. 5th was another ex Alfa driver, Robert Dyball (Alfetta GTV 1990/91) in his Honda Civic.

August 8th 2008

Congratulations to Montse and Alastair Iles on the birth of Hermione Ellen on Monday August 4th. Montse and Alastair have been busy, having moved house only 4 days earlier!

July 21st 2008

A Championship Panel meeting took place as notified last Thursday (July 17) and all members apart from Lee Penn and David Hughes (stepping down) were present. Five names were put forward for the vacant position on the Panel and it was finally agreed that the place would be offered to Neil Smith who now joins Julian Birley, Graham Heels, Clive Hodgkin, Lee Penn, David Thomas, Gary Walker and Michael Lindsay.

Amongst other matters discussed was the class structure for 2009 which will remain unchanged. However, some concern was expressed that neither Class B nor Class C had shown the hoped-for growth during the current year. Both these classes would be closely monitored next season.

The number of race meetings, circuits, spread of dates and double headers was also discussed and it was generally agreed that the number of meetings should be reduced from 13 in 2008 to (probably) 11 in 2009, two of which would be double headers. If possible, double headers should be held over two days rather than one. It was agreed that in planning the calendar, visits the same circuit more than twice in the year should be avoided. The Panel will also be taking a look at possible changes to the points structure and associated Sporting Regulations for 2009 onwards.

Entry Forms for our championship round on the Silverstone GP circuit (September 19/20) have now been sent to around 85 potential competitors. The entry fee is £250 and all completed forms should be sent to Michael Lindsay, 97 High Street, Linton, Cambridge CB21 4JT. We have a provisional timetable with qualifying (25 minutes) at 5.35 pm on the Friday afternoon and the race (also 25 minutes) at 11.45 on the Saturday. This, of course, is part of the support programme for the Britcar 24 Hour race which starts at 4.30 on the Saturday. However, those staying at the circuit will be able to get a feel for racing at night by watching Friday night qualifying from 8pm to 10pm.

This year's Annual Dinner/Dance & Prize Giving will take place on Saturday, November 29 at Sedgebrook Hall, Chapel Brampton near Northampton. More details in due course but please put the date in your diary now!

June 27th 2008

The next meeting of the Championship Panel will take place on Thursday, July 17. Anyone wishing to have an item included on the agenda is asked to e-mail Michael Lindsay on unabated@tesco.net with details of the subject that you think needs to be discussed.

It was good to see a number of temporarily non racing Alfa drivers at Brands including Panel Member Julian Birley, Keith Waite (helping out Steve Fox), Nick Suiter (collecting parts from Neil Smith for his Class B 146), Tom Allen (currently doing the Boeing 747 pilot’s training with BA), Richard Wilkins (supporting Phil Astell), John Day, Rebecca Draper and Nev Simpson (working on the next tweak to baby Scott’s pram suspension – it already has coil over dampers!). And then we must not forget Ian Brookfield who had his hands full tending the Spur Motorsports 33s.

Entries so far for Rockingham include three cars from Spur Motorsport – Mel Healey (33 16v), Chris Healey and Matt Daly (33 8v’s). All of them were rather “in the wars” at Brands so they will be hoping for a more straightforward day. Nick Gooch returns to Class D with his Brunswick prepared 33 8v while the 16v version of Steve Fletcher – 3rd last time out at Oulton – will also be there. Both Matt Daly and Paul Plant will be hoping to close the points gap between themselves and Class D leader Emma Karwacki.

Robin Eyre-Maunsell’s 75 3 litre has been repaired following the damage incurred at Castle Combe and will re-appear in Class A at Rockingham. Chris Snowdon is due to re-appear in the Lahoma 33 16v for which we hear that John Sismey has bought some new wets! The only other Class A entry at the moment is Nick Anderson who enjoyed his first race with the 33 8v after non starting at Cadwell and Snetterton. 6th overall was a good result after such little previous running with the car.

Alfa Romeo are about to reviitalise Alfa GT sales by bringing back the Cloverleaf name to the UK market as it introduces four upgraded versions. Top of the range will be the 1.9JTDM16v Cloverleaf with 170 bhp engine and the Q2 limited slip differential. All models will feature 18” double spoke alloy wheels, red brake callipers and satin effect front grille and door mirrors. They go on sale on July 1 and will be available in Alfa Red, Carbonio Black or Atlantico Blue. Prices go from £18,980 to £21.980.

June 14th 2008

Entries for Brands Hatch have continued to drift in over the last few days, bringing us to a comfortable 30 car grid. The latest to enter was Phil Astell who we have not seen since Castle Combe last July. However, he now has the black ex Dean Spurr 33 fitted with the 16v engine from his previous yellow 33. A 33 16v due to reappear is that of James Burland whose first race this will be for a couple of years. James tested the car, prepared as ever by Bianco, at Brands earlier this week and seemed to settle back in the groove very quickly. Also testing was the ex Graham Seager 155 now owned by Barry McMahon. The car suffered a broken clutch but we are told that it will be back in action by Sunday.

We had not expected to see Michael Walsh’s 155 at Brands after it suffered major frontal damage after an incident at Castle Combe on May 26 but it seems that repairs have already been completed and Michael expects to be raring to go.

Another car in the wars was Keith Williams 145 Cloverleaf that crashed while Keith was leading the first class E race at Cadwell. The rebuild was complicated by damage that also been done to the engine but Clive Hodgkin took it to Bruntingthorpe yesterday evening and reports that all is well, so Keith will be  one of 10 Class E cars in the Brands entry. Also returning is Philip Ellwood who has not raced his 156 since Silverstone where he retired. After his success at Castle Combe, Will Inglis is hoping for another good run although he might welcome some rain again – not that most other people will!

Missing from Brands is Chris Bentley who is racing on the same day in the 4 hour Beetle Cup race at Anglesey. Should enable him to get in plenty of practice on the new circuit before we go there in September.

Disappointing news from Gareth Haywood is that continuing problems with getting the engine management sorted for the 24v engine now fitted to his 156 means that we won’t be seeing it in action until Silverstone in August, Gareth having to miss Rockingham as he is on holiday then.

Timothy Perry took the opportunity for some Rockingham acclimatisation last weekend when he competed in the Toyo Tires Racing Saloons race with his 33 16v. He qualified an excellent 7th in the 38 car field and finished 11th in the race with a fastest lap in 1’43.204”.

One we missed – the ever busy Chris Snowdon took a fine win in the Sports 2000  1 hour race on the Silverstone National Circuit on May 31 driving a Carbir with owner Martin Ellis

June 2nd 2008

We thought you my all like to see one of the new baby cards send to Becki and Nev Simpson following the recent birth of Scott.

May 28th 2008

It was good to see Steve Dymoke at Castle Combe on Monday. He says that he plans to get back to competing over the next few months, probably starting with a couple of events at Prescott with his “Bertie” before rejoining the championship with the 146 towards the end of the season.

Gethin Llewellyn was helping Bianco at Combe and telling us about his plans to race in Class D later in the year with a 33 16v – the ex Alan Hudd shell fitted with a new engine. Those who recall Gethin’s brief spell in the Championship in 2004 when he drove an Alfasud Ti fitted with a 1.7 8v engine, taking two seconds at Pembrey and a third at Brands, will be expecting some strong performances. His target is to have the car ready for Rockingham where Mark James is also expected to have his first outing of the year, his 33 now having a 16v engine to replace the successful 8v.

Ian and Kelly Stapleton upheld the tradition of bringing children to race meetings at the first possible opportunity when 27 day old Asha appeared at Castle Combe, well wrapped up against the elements!

Rumour has it that James Burland will return to the Championship at Brands Hatch with his 33 16v. James missed the whole of 2007 and most of 2006 but should still be a strong contender in Class D.

Clive Hodgkin seemed confident at Combe that Keith Williams’ 145 Cloverleaf would be ready for Brands Hatch while an entry is also expected for the similar car of Phill Snelling.

Mike Roberts rang to confirm that he has bought Tim Newman’s Class E spec 145 Cloverleaf. He plans to make his first appearance with the car at Anglesey (September 6/7)

John Symes enjoyed a strong day at Brands Masters Meeting on Saturday when he won his class with the GT Junior 2 litre in both the Stars of the 70s and Allcomers races, running some 70 minutes in the process without missing a beat. There were several ex Alfa races in action over the weekend including Roberto Giordanelli who took 2nd place in the “Cloth Cap” race with his Lotus Elan and Danny Wright who won the GP 60s race in a Brabham BT23,  Simon Diffey coming home 5th in the same event with a Cooper T86.

Steve Fox e-mailed to say that he is going to have a one-off outing at Brands with his Alfasud Sprint. “The engine is complete and ready to be moved from the back garden to the front garden for installation (I wonder how many people left in the championship are still building engines in the garden!”). Steve’s well known van has been sold to a Christian Charity and should be somewhere in Africa by now. So effectively he has a new sponsor in the shape of Waterfall Garage Services in Wimbledon who apart from bodywork, tyre fitting, repairs and servicing also run one of SW London and North Surrey’s busiest recovery services “so hopefully I have answered the transport question for Brands!”.

May 21st 2008

It was good to see Richard Salt at Oulton on Saturday. His damaged 145 is at present waiting for Gus Lambrou (Alfatune) to find a slot in his schedule to repair it. However, that will inevitably dent Richard's budget and we may not see him back until much later in the season.

Rumour has it that Graham Seager is planning to build a GTV 24v for Class C. His current may be sold in the near future to Barry McMahon, a friend of Michael Walsh and Ron Davidson. If all the arrangements can be made in time, Barry plans to race it for the first time at Brands on June 15.

Another with GTV plans, Shaun Hazlewood, was an enthusiastic spectator at Snetterton on May 4 and reports steady progress on his car's preparation although the departure of the entire Brunswick team to Germany for the Nurburgring 24 Hours may delay work on the engine and gearbox. If it survives the 'Ring, the Brunswick 156 may be raced in the second half of the year by Nick Gooch in Class B.

Easytrack Tim Newman's "ready to race" 145 Cloverleaf was being offered for sale at Oulton at a bargain price of £3250. Serious interest was being shown by Mike Roberts who last raced with us in 1996.

After his fine class win and second overall at Oulton, Chris Snowdon was hoping to race the Lahoma 33 at Castle Combe, but clashing commitments mean that its next appearance will be at Rockingham on July 13.

Having missed Oulton, it looks as though Keith Williams will not be at Castle Combe either. The shell of his 145 has been repaired but the engine also sustained damage in the Cadwell accident and this has delayed getting the car back to race fitness.

Championship supporters may have been wondering what has happened to Andy Millar, David Thomas and the ex Ray Mears 33 Turbo. Andy is at present working on a contract with the banking arm of Tata which requires occasional visits to India while David is involved in the setting up of a huge new farming enterprise in the Ukraine. He is responsible for organising the maintenance of the many vehicles being used (both very large and - not quite so large!).

Another addition to the baby ranks! Congratulations of Saara and Kevin Reynolds on the safe
arrival of Markku Juha Michael on May 12. "Alert from the moment he arrived" writes Kevin. Didn't comment on his own state after a few disturbed (??) nights! No doubt, though, it will put the 33 on the back burner for a while.

May 8th 2008

Message from Diana Lindsay –

Dear Alfa Championship,

Thank you all for the beautiful flowers which Michael brought back with him from Snetterton. My new hip is making good progress and I look forward to being back at race meetings later in the summer.

Diana

May 2nd 2008

More baby news! Congratulations to Ian & Kelly Stapleton on the birth of Asha Rae at 5:48 pm on April 30th weighing 5lbs 14oz. Ian says "Note the initials AR (Alfa Romeo) was this intentional?".

April 30th 2008

Congratulations to Becki and Nev Simpson on the safe arrival of their son Scott. Coming on top of a house move and a new job for Nev, they have been having a pretty busy time. Becki reckons that getting the engine back in the Alfetta might now stand a chance of moving up the priority list as they have been missing us all!

Dean Spurr had a very successful weekend at Brands Hatch, winning both BMW Production Cup races at the Classic Sports Car Club meeting, which started with capacity grids.

After running in the opening round of the Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup at Snetterton, Paul Lund has concluded that the series has made little progress since last year in attracting more competitors and has decided to sell his 147. The car is basically to Alfa Class E spec apart from the suspension which would need to be changed back from coil-over dampers. Its fastest lap at Snetterton was a 1’ 29.107”. Anyone interested in the car should give Paul a call on 07775 918284

April 18th 2008

Competitors are asked to note that although we are running at Oulton Park and Castle Combe with the MG Car Club and Castle Combe Racing Club respectively, entry forms should be sent to the BRSCC in the normal way.

Qualifying at Snetterton (May 4) will take place at 11 a.m. and our 20 minute race at 3.00 p.m. As yet, we do not have a provisional timetable for Oulton (May 17) but Castle Combe (May 26) will see qualifying at 9.55 a.m. with a race at 2.00 p.m.

Early entries for Snetterton include Alastair Iles (147 GTA), Robert Buchele (33 8v), Ray Foley (156), Chris Oxborough and Robin Eyre-Maunsell with their Avon Racing 75 3 litres and Will Inglis (145 Cloverleaf). Those intending to race are asked to get their entries in as soon as possible. The meeting is only two weeks away don’t forget!

Peak Alfa are trying hard to finish the 155 3 litre V6 12v that Mike Walsh will be racing in Class C this year and they are optimistic that it will be ready for Snetterton. Its new orange colour scheme will be hard to miss we are told! Hopefully, Ron Davidson will also be at Snetterton with his GTV.

After his success at Cadwell, Matt Daly is hoping to do as many rounds as possible for the rest of the season. If testing goes according to plan, there should be three Spur Motorsports 33s at Snetterton, Mel Healey, with the ex Chris Baker 8v,  joining Matt and her father Chris. Ian Brookfield can quickly see his chances of preparing and racing 164 this year all but disappearing!

The Lahoma 33  and the BLS car of Bryan Shrubb will both miss Snetterton but should be back for Oulton Park. Another we are not expecting in Norfolk is Ian Stapleton as May 4 is the “due date” for the arrival of no.1 Stapleton junior.

April 10th 2008

Competitors in Class E who had their engines and gearboxes sealed at Silverstone are asked to note that we have passed this information to the Clerk of the Course at Cadwell in a single letter. This means that each driver does not have to do so individually which will reduce the amount of paperwork flying around on what is going to be a busy day.

Michael Lindsay asks that everyone racing at Cadwell should park in the area designated in the paddock plan in Final Instructions. This will make communication with competitors that much easier.

One of the last entries to be received was that of Chris Snowdon for a second car – John Norrington’s 145 Cloverleaf – which he will race in Class E. As he is also driving the Lahoma 33 in Class A, Chris is going to have a pretty hectic time!

Matt Daly was also a late addition – he was due to celebrate his 21st birthday on Saturday night but with his gearbox now selecting all its gears again there wasn’t much choice about where he would rather be. Let’s hope he is rewarded accordingly!

Chris Bentley is being supported this year by Alfa Romeo main dealers Dewe in Brighouse. His ex Graham Heels 146 has now been rebuilt, for the second time in 12 months, by Italia Autosport and, having missed the opening round as he was away ski-ing, Chris would like a good bag of points at Cadwell to get his season underway.

Good to welcome back John Symes who will be racing the Bianco Auto Developments “historic” Alfasud Ti in Class B. He enjoys the challenge of Cadwell and is there for the fun although as the car is used to doing much longer races, we wouldn’t bet against him ending up with a trophy by the end of the day if others fall by the wayside.

Missing from the Championship is still Tim Lewis but he told us today that he is well on the way to sorting out his head gasket problem and has also revised the gearing to fit in with the new characteristics of the supercharged boxer engine. He fully expects to be ready for Snetterton on May 4.

Kevin Evans is the only representative of Class C  at Cadwell with his 3 litre GTV but he could find the (reduced) points available useful at the end of the season.

April 2nd 2008

We were very sad to hear that Maggie Dymoke, wife of Class A competitor Stephen, had died at the weekend. This followed a chest infection that was complicated by a lowering of her immune system after treatment for a brain tumour earlier in the year. Maggie was a lovely, warm lady who had encouraged Stephen's return to racing last year and we were happy to have been able to enjoy her company at the dinner/dance and prize giving in November. We send our condolences to Stephen, and to family and friends in their loss.

March 29th 2008

Eligibility Scrutineer John Monk was busy at Silverstone. During the day he sealed the engines and gearboxes of all the Class E cars present and was also seen measuring Class A rear wings.

The Easter Monday Castle Combe meeting saw John Strickland take an excellent 6th overall and class win in the Toyo Saloons race. As the next car home in the class finished 21st, you could say it was pretty clearcut! Also racing was Martin Williams who hasn’t been out in his 75 3 litre for a couple of years. He was competing in the pre 1993 Production Saloons event in which he took a 3rd in class.

At the moment there is provision for split grids at Cadwell Park on April 12. However this will only be possible if competitors get their entries in as soon as possible before the timetable is finalised. The maximum number of starters is 28, so if we have to revert to a single grid there may well be some disappointed drivers. One idea is run Class E on its own but again that will only be possible if sufficient entries materialise.

There is a possibility that John Symes will drive the Bianco Alfasud Ti at Cadwell. A confirmed entry is Len Brock in the 75 Twin Spark he shares with Tom Allen, the car now benefiting from better brakes in accordance with the revised regulations affecting this model. Nick Anderson has also entered the ex Alex Heynes/Keith Turner/John Liddle Class A 33 8v. Preparation is now in the hands of Brunswick. Nick and his wife were interested visitors to round 1 at Silverstone.

March 20th 2008

A few pictures of Phil Donaghy's ex-Fabrizio Giovanardi 156 Super Touring car that Phil and John Clonis drove to 5th place in the EERC's Production S1 race at Silverstone yesterday.

March 20th 2008

Absent from Silverstone will be Tim Lewis whose, now supercharged, Boxer engine blew out all its water testing at Snetterton yesterday (Ray Foley’s following 156 was the recipient Tim told us in a phone call afterwards). However, while it was running, on a damp track, Tim described the car as “stonkingly quick”.

This brings our numbers down to 35. Graham Seager was in doubt at one point but has now confirmed he will be there, as will John Griffiths with his Class B 156. It is certainly going to be interesting to see who emerges at the front end of the grid. Tyre temperatures (or lack of them!) will have a strong part to play while if the track is wet everyone should remember Neil Smith’s performances at Oulton Park last year. There may well be some surprises……

The BRSCC have agreed that Alfa Championship qualifying and racing at Snetterton over the early May Bank Holiday will all be on the Sunday (May 4).

March 19th 2008

Graham Presley and Alastair Iles were seen testing at Silverstone last weekend. Graham suffered a broken drive shaft after just half a lap – a left over from the Round 1 accident a year ago and so the chase is on to find a replacement. Anyone who has a pile of 75 driveshafts sitting in a corner of their garage (!) should give Graham a call on 07768 605774. Graham says that the new colour scheme is a smart white, red and blue.

Everyone is looking forward to seeing how Alastair Iles’ new 147 GTA performs although it won’t have its proper suspension set-up in time for Silverstone. Can’t miss the colour scheme though!

John Griffiths called to let us know that he is planning to be at Silverstone. His 156 has more power now but then, as he says, “Neil (Smith) has got some more as well!”

Alfa Romeo have come up with some strange names for their cars over the years and there appeared to be quite a choice for the new model that will go head to head with the BMW built Mini. “Junior” was the favourite title it seemed but instead Alfa have come up with something totally different – “Mi.To” , presumably pronounced “Mee.toe” which is a combination of Milano and Torino. The car will use all a range of engines that range from 90 to 155 bhp, both petrol and diesel, including small capacity turbos. Oh Dear – that’s another re-write of the Class E regs then!

Model enthusiasts should keep an eye out for the M4 Alfa Romeo range which started to appear a couple of years ago. They were quick to come up with a model of James Thompson’s 2007 WTCC 156 and their recent list includes the 33 Stradale, which we cannot recall being modelled before, and a current 159 with colour scheme apparently used in the Australian Production Saloon championship. The quality is excellent and the price less than a Minichamp equivalent.

Louise West has been testing at Oulton with her Class B 33 8v but suffered a misfire which seemed difficult to pinpoint at the circuit. The car is now red with larger diameter black wheels and Louise is confident that with father Peter’s help it will be on going well by Silverstone.

March 16th 2008

Alastair Iles' Class C 147 GTA will be racing at Silverstone on Saturday. The car is almost race ready and was shaken down by Alastair during a track day at a very wet Silverstone today.

Phil Donaghy reports that he has finally managed to get out in his 156 Super Touring car. The car, which will be raced at Silverstone on Easter Saturday in the Britcar Production S1 race, was tested at Oulton Park.

Depite lots of red flag interuptions Phil says he was very happy with the car once he was able to get sufficient heat into the tyres. Phil reported "The car is a country mile away from the 145 and after I finally mastered not to stall the thing from starting the day was very encouraging".

Phil wasn't the only person at Oulton who was pleased to see the 156 out though. A certain Fabrizio Giovanardi was there testing for Vauxhall and when he saw the car he came running out of the pit garages and jumped into the car and pasionately showed his love of his old car. Phil was certainly left with the impression that Fabrizio would rather have been testing the Alfa!

March 8th 2008

Seven championship competitors took the opportunity to run yesterday (Friday March 7) at the final Silverstone International test available before Easter. Class E was well represented by Graham Heels (147), the 156s of Chris Finch, Philip Ellwood and Sarah Heels and the very smart (and easy to spot!) yellow and black 145 of Martin Jones. Chris Healey was running his Class D 33 16v (with revised colour scheme) while Steve Dymoke was having another outing with his Class A 146. Graham Heels was trying his uprated ECU for the first time and he was hoping that the glitches of 2007 were a thing of the past. By the end of the day, he had worked down to lap record pace, despite the extra amount of concentration needed with so many very quick cars from GT and Britcar series around. Martin Jones, despite only running in his engine, expressed himself happy with his new mount. Out of luck was the returning Chris Finch who has been building up a new 156 over the winter, with the help of Bianco. The car suffered a leaking crankshaft oil seal after just three laps and a replacement fitted during the lunch break failed to solve the problem. Michael Lindsay and Clive and Christine Hodgkin were there to keep an eye on what was happening as were Eligibility Scrutineer John Monk and Alan Meaker from Toyo. John was on hand primarily to discuss scrutineering matters following a number of changes that have been implemented for 2008.

The Easter Silverstone entry has now reached 32, with two weeks still to go, the latest additions being Steve Fletcher (Class D 33 16v), Tony Russell (Class D 33 8v), Neil Smith (Class B 156 2.0), Chris Finch and Philip Ellwood (Class E 156s) and Emma Karwacki (Class D 33 16v).

A recent contribution to the Forum by Phil Donaghy indicated that he might run his 156 SuperTurismo in a couple of Alfa races this year “just to see how it compares”. His main programme will involve Britcar Production series and we understand that John Clonis might be sharing the car with him. There is no word about the future of Phil’s rebuilt Championship winning 145. Might he bring it out for the odd Alfa race as well?

March 6th 2008

Registrations for the Championship have now topped the 50 mark. There are several well known names missing although we know that they intend to race this year. Rachel Page will be pleased to hear from you!  

It is good to see that Graham Presley will be back in action, his 75 Turbo now repainted white (if his Silverstone entry form is to be believed). Perhaps he has been trawling through various Alfa Corse liveries from the late 80s!  Another returning 75 driver is Chris Oxborough, his Avon prepared car joining the similar 75s of Clive Hodgkin and Robin Eyre-Maunsell in Class A. Robin has also acquired the ex Jeff Kite 75 Twin Spark and that may be driven at some point in the year by Peter Guy L’Amie.

The BRSCC have increased our entry fees by the minimum amount possible this year – generally by just £5. However, they have been able to peg the Cadwell double header on April 12 at the same rate as in 2007 - £295. Full details of entry fees are available on the BRSCC entry pack which can be found elsewhere on the site.

There will be a Drivers briefing at Silverstone , after qualifying – 12.00 pm in the Jimmy Brown Centre which can be found above the pits via a staircase halfway between Race Control and the pedestrian bridge.

Adie Hawkins has been sent a photograph of what may turn out to be the sister car to his 33. It has recently been rebuilt and is now in Holland. It has many of the features of Adie’s car including centre-lock wheels, rear calipers, on-board jacking system and dash.

Paul Paggiosi has bought the ex Angus Cunningham 156 that was recently for sale on ebay. The car started life here in the hands of Jackie Osborne and Graham Scott (painted in a strange green and blue combination), running mainly in the Auto Italia Championship, although its last appearance in Graham’s hands was in the Alfa Championship Silverstone International race in April 2004. Angus Cunningham used the car in four rounds of the Castle Combe Championship in 2007 but has now moved on to another project. Paul Paggioisi plans to do some track days initially and to develop the 156 in conjunction with long-time friend Jano Djelalian, whose company Autodelta Services has built some fairly stunning “added performance” versions of production Alfas, mostly recently the GT and Brera. If all goes well, Paul will race in Class B later in the year.

Roger Evans tells us that he hopes to be racing at Silverstone but is still waiting for several small but vital parts for the latest version of his Class A GTV. Failing that, he definitely plans to be at Cadwell. Gareth Haywood is still building the 2.5 V6 24v destined for his 156 and will definitely not make the first round.

Remember Micky Bolton? Over a 13 year period between 1983 and 1996 he was a frequent competitor in the Alfa Championship, his speciality being victory in the handicap races that were still the norm in his first year. His Alfettas were also always easy to spot in a number of colourful liveries! We recently heard from his wife Ruth that daughter Harriet is eager to race and that Micky is busy preparing another Alfetta GTV for her. We have said that she is always welcome to race with us but suspect that she may end up in one of the classic saloon series such as Top Hat.

February 23rd 2008

At the time of “going to press”, registrations had reached 49, with four weeks to go before Easter. We will publish a list in the near future. As emphasised elsewhere on the website, it is essential that competitors are registered for the Championship (with ARCA) and that their BRSCC membership is up to date. This is part of the Championship Regulations under paragraphs 1.4.1 to 1.4.3 It is also essential that applications for a Competition Licence are not left to the last minute- the new credit card style licences take longer to process. Not having any of these items in place will render an entry unacceptable.

It is good to hear that the 33 8v last raced by Alex Heynes has at last found a new home and will be raced by Nick Anderson in Class A in 2008. Nick (not the same Nick Anderson that raced with us between 1993 and 1998) has not raced for some 10 years but before that had some success in a number of cars, in particular a Triumph TR6. His 33 has a long history in the Alfa Championship, having been built originally by John Liddle (well known as the Parts Box 33 as it had the same orange with black Alfa decals colour scheme as the official spare parts boxes). In John’s hands (his last race with it was in 1991) it was supercharged but this was discarded by subsequent owner Keith Turner. Sadly Keith was unable to race it much due to ill health and it was sold on to Alex Heynes. Well known Harlow preparer Mark Fish will be involved in the preparation of the car for Nick who hopes to have it all ready in time for the opening round at Silverstone.

Michael Lindsay visited the new Brunswick workshops near Ely earlier in this week and was able to photograph the Class A 146 (with Dave Ashford) which had tested successfully at Silverstone recently. His impressions were that the car (which apparently weights only 800kg) looked very small on its lowered suspension. Awaiting an engine and gearbox was a black 156 which, apart from a possible entry in the Nurburgring 24 Hours may also appear in Class B of the Alfa Championship (driver t.b.a!). Outside was Shaun Hazlewood’s GTV 3.0 24v which is destined for Class C and which he acquired from a dealer for another make who had had it traded in and just wanted to get rid of the car for what appeared to be very little money! Apart from needing some new bushes in the gear linkage and a few scuffs on the bodywork it seemed ready to drive away. Shaun will be starting the basic preparation soon while Brunswick will look after the engine and gearbox.

Steven Griffin has e-mailed to say that his GTV6 (another visitor to Brunswick of late) has been brought back from its more radical spec. “The rear end has been returned to near standard and the suspension has been set up as raced in period” he writes. “The trawl of magazine articles and old internet pics has been very well used. The bodywork has been refreshed and she looks very nice again. With a new foam filled original fuel tank, she should run for about an hour or so”. The original plan was to do the Nurburgring Youngtimer but having been given some tickets for the Monaco GP the same weekend, that has been put on hold. The aim now is to do the CSCC’s Future Classics series and Steven hopes that the car will run strongly against the other 70s and 80s cars taking part. He can also race his Formula Renault Monoposto at the same meetings. Sadly, this means that for the first time in 10 years, Steven will not be registering for the Alfa Championship, however we wish him well with the GTV6.

Ray Foley sent us a few comments on Silverstone track day outing – “…..unfortunately I met Lee Dixon, the ex Arsenal and England Footballer driving an Elise belonging to Lotus. I need a new door and the sill pulled out but it is not the end of the world. Think his film crew must have some good footage but I imagine the Lotus instructor probably doesn’t want to watch it!”. All being well Ray plans to be Back at Silverstone for the opening round.

February 19th 2008

Although we knew that Diana Banks had been ill for some time, necessitating regular trips from home in Devon to the Marsden Hospital in Sutton for treatment, it still came as a considerable shock to hear from Richard that she had died on Sunday following a rapid deterioration of her condition. As the telephone voice of Alfaholics, Diana was well known to so many Alfa people, in particular Giulia 105 owners, while her presence at many events and race meetings in support of Richard and sons Andrew and Max (both Alfa Championship racers on occasions) brought her into contact with a wider circle over the years. Her opinions were always forthright but she remained a loyal friend at all times and a real backbone of the family’s various endeavours. As Richard said of Diana on Sunday in relation to her illness “she has certainly fought the good fight” – we shall miss her and send our condolences to Richard, Andrew and Max at this difficult time. The photo below shows Diana beside one the beloved Giulias at Cadwell in 1998 with Andrew (left), Richard (behind her) and two friends.

February 13th 2008

Plans are being discussed with Toyo to mark all control tyres supplied to the Championship to ensure that they come through the approved ordering and delivery process. This will allow them to monitor more accurately the number of tyres we use. It is likely that marked tyres will become mandatory for 2009. Competitors are also reminded that the only acceptable compound is marked GG (see accompanying photo). Tyres marked SG (a softer, hillclimb tyre) are not legal for Alfa racing.

Stephen Dymoke has sent some more news on his testing with the 146 at Silverstone last week –“Did 2 laps pottering around at 5000 revs just to bed everything in and the clutch jammed – slave cylinder stuck wide open. Happened when I spun at Abbey due to cold tyres and damp/green track. Fixed quickly by Dave (Ashford) and team, and proved to be the only technical problem that occurred during the day. Gradually wound the car up after playing around with tyre pressures etc, and ended up finding that it didn’t like running under 6000 rpm at all. Sounds like a cooker being dragged across cobbles. Much happier between 6000 and 9000 rpm. Occasionally blipped up to “nine” in second and third, otherwise stuck to around “eight”. Final stint at around 2.30 showed that the car went very well (overtaking a Lotus Exige and slow GT3s with no bother at all). Unfortunately a new resident to Silverstone has arrived and creates a huge fuss with any event going on so an ultra vigilant tester failed the car on a 105db drive-by test. We were black flagged and unable to reduce the induction noise – you can hear it well before you see it! One of the things we will have to sort out for Easter…..Times were difficult to gauge due to the weather etc, even so it is obviously bloody quick and easily beats the Sud into a cocked hat. I reckon Tim and Adie will have some more serious competition!”

John Norrington is planning to run the 145 Cloverleaf he shares with Chris Cousins in the VSCC Pomeroy Trophy at Silverstone on February 23. This is an event that features cars from many different eras, so John may find himself running alongside a T35 Bugatti, BMW 1800 Ti or Blower Bentley. He tells me that the 145 is actually for sale as Chris has decided not to race it due to other commitments. It is prepared to Class E spec, with much of the work done by Chris Snowdon. The price is likely to be around £6000. John Norrington can be contacted on 07831-853120.

Keith Williams has e-mailed to say that he will be continuing with his 145 in the coming season. Phil Snelling had been thinking about building up an Alfasud to have some “fun”, but he now also has a 145 which he is looking at as a possible Class E car instead.

Exciting news for Class C is that long time Alfa racer Shaun Hazlewood is planning a return to the Championship later in the year with a GTV 3 litre 24v with a fuller season in view for 2009 if all goes well. The car is currently with Brunswick and it is hoped to get it prepared in time for the Silverstone GP circuit round in September. Shaun was the winner of Class F in 2006 after finishing third the previous Year. For 2007 he decided that a new challenge was required, moving into Sports 2000, but somehow it never quite worked out for him. Welcome back!

February 8th 2008

We received some sad news from Terry Davies (who raced a modified 33 with us between 1988 and 1995) that Alwyn Kershaw, a longtime part of the Alfa fraternity in the UK had died on Wednesday. He was in his mid 70s. For many years Alwyn ran the Alfa garage in York that bore his name and was much involved with Roger Kay both before and after his championship winning years with the 75 3 litre in 1990. Later he also helped Tim Lumb with his modified-production 33. Never afraid to express his views he was always well liked and respected, with a wealth of Alfa knowledge. Michael Lindsay reporting in the AROC magazine when Alfa Romeo Dealer Team competed with two Alfasuds and a 2000GTV in the  1975 RAC Rally: “We were very lucky in being able to use Alwyn Kershaw’s excellent facilities in York and for this we were extremely grateful. It’s not very easy having a load of virtual strangers suddenly invading your premises but I am sure that all members of the Team would wish to thank Alwyn and his staff for their help, often at awkward hours, their forbearance and interest while we were there”. The archives again came up with a photograph of Alwyn (right) with Roger and David Kay after one of the class wins in Roger’s championship year. Our condolences go to Liz and all the family.

We were sorry to hear that Maggie Dymoke had been in hospital for a serious operation. Stephen is going to be administering some t.l.c for quite a while and has disposed of some of his “toys” including the two Ducati bikes as a result. Our best wishes go to Maggie as she recuperates. However, Stephen does still hope to race in 2008  and was actually able to test the Brunswick built 146 Class A car on the Silverstone GP circuit yesterday. It was mainly a systems check and apart from being thrown off the circuit for being too noisy, all seemed to go well. Stephen went home with a smile on his face anyway!

Also testing was Ray Foley’s 156 which was also driven for a few laps by Dave Ashford who expressed himself much impressed apart from the ABS which he thinks the Panel should scrap! Later, Ray’s day was brought to an end by another car which chose the 156 as a braking aid. He now needs a new door.

Having looked at the calendar, Lee Penn reckons that he will able to fit Brands, the Silverstone National and GP, Anglesey and Donington into his busy Ferrari schedule. He now has the ex Jonny Heynes 33 8v, of course, which has been undergoing much revision over the winter.

Tim Hayes hopes to compete in at least 6 rounds this year, possibly 8, starting with the opening race on March 22 and certainly including out visit to the Silverstone GP circuit in September.

Nick Suiter continues to work on his 146 with the eventual intention of running it in Class B. Neil Smith has supplied cams, pistons, rods and other components but as Nick has just moved house, and we know what this can do to one’s budget, it may not be until later 2008 or even 2009 that the car actually races again.

Gareth Haywood has fitted a 2.5 24v V6 to his 156, replacing the previous 2 litre unit. The car will remain in Class B and hopefully will allow Gareth to challenge for regular podiums during the coming year. With 2.5 V6 roadcars being readily available at low prices, this could prove a good route for other competitors in the future.

February 6th 2008

Email sent to ARCA drivers by Michael Lindsay on 5th February :

Dear Alfa Competitor,

I am sending this e-mail to all competitors as our website hosting company currently has some technical problem that is stopping Graham from updating the site – hence nothing new since January 22.

However, I wanted to tell everyone about some changes/additions to the calendar which have developed in the past few days. Firstly, much to our irritation a non motorsport interest with a big cheque book has persuaded Donington to let them have the weekend of October 25 / 26. We have now been moved to November 1 / 2 and the meeting will also include a Britcar night race on the Saturday evening plus a barbecue and fireworks.

Much better news is that the negotiations I have been carrying on with Britcar for several weeks have now borne fruit and they are able to accommodate us during their Silverstone 24 Hour race weekend in September. We shall therefore have a 25 minute qualifying session on the Friday afternoon (September 19) with a 25 minute race on Saturday (September 20).

Before I knew about Silverstone, I had already accepted a date at Snetterton (yes, I know it will be our third visit there) on October 12, otherwise we would have had an 8 week gap between Anglesey and Donington. This date now splits the 6 week break between Silverstone and the final round. This particular Snetterton meeting is unusual in that is being run in conjunction with Time Attack whose main aim seems to be how quickly can we make a powerful but beautifully prepared monsters go round any given circuit although it is more timed track day than sprint. If you want to know more, take a look at www.timeattack.co.uk

As a result of the extra races, the number of dropped scores in 2008 will be increased from two to three.

If you have any news about your plans for the coming season, please let us have them so that they can be used when the website is up and running again – hopefully very soon.

January 22nd 2008

Those who have been Alfa Championship watchers over the past decade will certainly remember Brian Thorp who raced in Class F between 1999 and 2001. After finishing second to overall championship winner Dave Ashford in 1999, he went on to dominate the class in 2000 and narrowly missed snatching that year’s overall title from Enzo Buscaglia. It was, therefore, with considerable interested that we noted an article in the Property (!) section of last weekend’s “Mail on Sunday” which reported that Brian and his wife Sam were about to sell their Manor House near Evesham and move to something more modest near Lake Garda. Reason? Their 15 year old son James has been making a name for himself in European Karting circles, finishing third in the 2007 Junior Championship, and is planning a move to the Senior level for 2008 with Team Maranello in a quest to emulate Lewis Hamilton which is likely to be costly. James used to accompany Brian to many of his Alfa races so we saw him quite often as a bright 7 year old and our archives produced a picture of him at Mallory in 2000 with the year’s two stars, father Brian and champion Enzo. We wish him luck and no doubt “AutoSprint” will keep us up to date with his progress.

Louise West has e-mailed to say that she has put her Class E aspirations on hold, at least for 2008, and will continue with her Class B 33 8v. Her best result last season was a fine third in class and 12th overall, having started near the back of the grid, at Silverstone in August. With the help of father Peter, as usual, she hopes to upgrade to a 16v engine at some point in the season.

Wayne Ashford will not be racing in the Alfa Championship in 2008 as he and Rachel are expecting their first child in the summer – many congratulations. It may be sad for Wayne’s supporters that his press-on style will be absent from our grids but he has not given up racing altogether as he has bought a Kart. He reckons it will be more accommodating to his modest budget! The plan is to compete in the TKM Championship kicking off in just under two weeks time at Rye House, near Harlow. “I have thoroughly enjoyed my 2 years racing in Alfas, I have learnt so much about driving and myself – I wouldn’t have changed anything (apart from my natural ability to break gearboxes). What I hope will happen is that karting will tidy up my driving, so that I am not so lairy – if I hang it out sideways in karts then I will be nowhere, so I have to learn to keep it tidy) – and when I return to car racing hopefully I will be a better driver and will certainly be aiming for more class wins (at least I got that monkey off my back!)

January 16th 2008

The Alfa Championship’s corner of the BRSCC stand at “Autosport International”, featuring Graham Heels’ 147, was often a busy place during the four days of the Show. Graham was on hand throughout being kept company by Michael Lindsay on Thursday and Friday’s trade days and by his wife Andrea on Saturday and Sunday. Interestingly, Graham reckoned that Sunday was the best day for genuine enquiries from potential new competitors.

Of particular importance on Friday was a visit by Jeremy Wales and Philip Clay who confirmed Alfashop’s continuing role as our title sponsor for a third season. They plan to increase their visible presence at meetings by bringing along one of their Alfashop liveried vans which will act as a focal point alongside the Lindsay motorhome and they plan to have available a number of basic items to assist competitors should they need, for a example, a new 156 clutch or brake pads. In additional they are always happy to bring parts ordered beforehand.

Among the many visitors to the stand we welcomed Martin Jones and Sarah Heels, Martin having taken the opportunity to buy a new trailer and some snazzy driving gloves as his enthusiasm for his 145 Cloverleaf grows apace. Tom Allen and Len Brock came along to check the additional “freedoms” we have allowed for the 75 Twin Spark in Class D, Tom also saying that he had been investigating the latest in on-board cameras. Ian Brookfield, Matt Daly, Joanne, Kevin and Tom Eastwood all arrived together. Ian was disappointed to hear that the Oulton Park date had been moved to May 17 as he had received an invitation to take his 164 to Spa for what would probably be its only race of the year. The parts are all ready to start the rebuild of Matt Daly’s 33 (seriously damaged at Snetterton last October) while Tom Eastwood can’t wait for the season to begin! He has a new 145 Cloverleaf to run in Class E.

Martin Parsons, called in to tell us that he was hoping to arrange a few races in the Belgian Endurance Saloon Championship. Around the same time, his old Gatwick Alfa team mate, Ron Davidson appeared with Michael Walsh. Ron’s GTV is being re-shelled by Peak Alfa and Michael was very enthusiastic about the 155 3 litre that he plans to race in a full Class C season. A close friend could also join later with another GTV. Andy Page spent quite a time on the stand, saying he couldn’t find anything to spend his money on!  Chris Healey and Gary Orchard appeared on Friday, Chris confirming that Spur has bought Chris Baker’s 33 8v, last seen at Oulton Park in 2005. Chris and Mel will test both cars before the season starts but the betting is that Mel will end up driving the 16v version. Alastair and Montse Iles were busy discussing 147s with Graham Heels, Alastair reporting good progress with the 147 GTA that he will be running in Class C.

CR Scuderia Racing, the new team set up by Chris Niarchos and Andrew Kirkaldy, to contest the FIA and British GT Championships with several Ferrari 430s was something of a honeypot during the Show with Lee Penn on hand as one of the team’s senior engineers. Some of the figures quoted by Lee for the cost of the cars, spares and a season long race deal were somewhat eye-opening but Lee assured that the level of interest was high. Adie Hawkins and Ian Stapleton had delivered Lee’s Class A 33 8v to home before coming on to the Show. Andy Page was delighted to receive a CRS T shirt even if he couldn’t afford a drive!! Tony Soper was busy on the LMA stand, promoting Eurosaloons with Stuart Cumming and co-ordinator Sara Pryce.

Stephen Dymoke was at the Show saying that he hopes to be testing the Brunswick built Class A 146 in February, probably at Silverstone. Others we were happy to see included Phil Donaghy, Alan Meaker from Toyo, Keith and Lynne Waite, Tom Shrubb and David Cannard, Gus Lambrou, Graham Lay, Tony Russell, Ian Fisher, David Hughes, Chris Bentley, Roger Evans and Joy Fairy, Kevin and Brian Evans, Gareth Haywood, Kevin Reynolds, Phil Snelling, Gary Walker, Harry White, Chris Finch, Bryn Griffiths and Colm Flannagan.

We had a call from Dave Ashford today telling us that the Brunswick team had managed to finish in the Dubai 24 Hours last weekend – 52nd overall (out of 90 starters) and 4th in class. In addition to Dave, the driving crew had included Nick Gooch and Giles Groombridge. Had they had a better re-fuelling system, they reckoned that a finish higher up the order was possible. Biggest problem seemed to have been (during one of Dave’s night stints) that of the lights going out when the brakes were applied! On a circuit with little in the way of marker points, this made life somewhat difficult. Departure from Dubai was made impossible by the arrival of President Bush, everything being cordoned off so that nobody could get to the airport to catch their flights!

The January 2 issue of “Autocar” carried a fascinating insight into the future plans for the Alfa Romeo brand under the leadership of new CEO Luca de Meo. Of great interest to the UK market will be the arrival of the new “Junior”  in 2009 which will have a range of new mouth-watering small engines, including a 1.4 litre petrol turbo producing some 180 bhp. The car will be targeting the BMW Mini with a base price of £11,000 although no-one reckons you will ever get a car with no options, so realistically this is probably £15,000.

The 159 is due to go on a diet for 2009 as it is generally reckoned as being too heavy. The 147 replacement may not get here until 2010 but will almost certainly be a larger car, nearer in size to the 156. Of considerable interest to big Alfa fans is the 166 replacement which could well be based on the aluminimum Jaguar XF chassis. Computer generated pictures of the final car make it a “must have” if you are dedicated 166 owner – if you could afford it, of course!!

41 8C Competiziones are apparently destined for the UK. How many will actually be registered for the road and how many will just be stored as investment opportunities (like the SZ) remains to be seen. SMMT figures reported a 41% increase in UK Alfa sales in 2007 but this was from a low 2006 base. New models such as the Junior are urgently needed.

Alfa Romeo Owners Club has issued the dates for its 2008 events and, significantly, National Alfa Day is missing. Spring Alfa Day (April 13) in Chatham Docks will be expanded and there will be a track based “AROC live” on August 31. In between, the AROC Concours will be held at the “Auto Italia” Day on June 1 at Stanford Hall, for so long the National Alfa Day venue. Click Here for details.

January 9th 2008

It's showtime - well almost. This was the BRSCC stand at the Autosport International show at lunchtime today - and it was far more complete than many of the other stands!

December 10th 2007

The Championship Panel will be holding a meeting in Borehamwood (Herts) next Monday (a.m.) to “sign off” the Regulations for 2008. Any competitor who has a last minute suggestion that  they wish to have discussed would be welcome to attend although space is limited. Please ring Michael Lindsay for details on 01223-891219 if you want to be there, Alternatively, you can send him an e-mail outlining any ideas you may have. The bottom line is that the Regs must go to the BRSCC/MSA the following day.

December 9th 2007

For news on the last ever appearance of N. Technology Alfa 156s please Click Here

November 29th 2007

At last Saturday’s very successful Association Dinner/Dance and Prize Giving, Michael Lindsay was happy to announce that Jeremy Wales at Alfashop had signified his intention to continue his company’s title sponsorship of the Championship into a third year. Michael was also able to give a very provisional list of 2008 racedates (which have already appeared on the Home Page) indicating a return to both Donington and Anglesey and confirming that the opening round would be at Silverstone (International) on Easter Saturday, March 22.

During the evening, a number of special awards were presented:

The “meet the panel” gathering during the afternoon before the dinner generated a number of proposals for discussion and probable inclusion in the 2008 regulations. Those regarding aerodynamic devices and lights in Class A have already been notified to competitors but we are also nearer to defining the ECU, rolling road and sealing rules for Class E, the roll cage regulations and action regarding driving standards.

We hear that Wayne Ashford has now sold his 33 16v but unfortunately, to begin with anyway, it will only be used for track days. Wayne’s own plans for 2008 should become clear early in the New Year

November 21st 2007

Phil Donaghy was presented with the first of his championship winner’s trophies by Bernard Cotterell at the BRSCC’s annual dinner/dance and prize giving at Stratford on Avon last Saturday.

Members of the Championship Panel will be on hand between 2 pm and 4 pm at Sedgebrook Hall on Saturday to discuss any matters relating to the Championship with drivers and preparers. So if you have anything you wish to put forward, whether it be for the Sporting or Technical Regulations, don’t miss the opportunity. Coffee and biscuits will be available all afternoon.

We have some excellent prizes for this year’s raffle, including a set of control tyres (or slicks to equivalent value), donated by Toyo, a BRSCC entry fee voucher and the latest edition (just published) of the superb and heavyweight (!) two volumwe  “Alfa Romeo Production Cars from 1910 by Stefano D’Amico and Maurizio Tabucchi. This comes courtesy of Roger Evans at Peak Alfa. There will also be reduced entry fee voucher from the first round of the 2008 Championship and some of the latest 1/43rd Alfa offerings from Minichamps, one of which is the 8C Competizione.

News from the North! Peak Alfa have been busy…… Ron Davidson’s GTV which was one of the many cars badly damaged at Snetterton is being rebuilt using Roger Evans existing Class A shell. Roger’s car for 2008 is being constructed around a spare shell that he already had and the outcome should certainly be lighter. The 3.8 engine will also feature throttle bodies for the first time. Michael Walsh’s 155 is also at Peak Alfa and part of the plan is to fit a 3 litre 12v engine for Class C. In the meantime, Graham Seager’s 155 is at Alfa Restorations for a necessary rebuild.

Meanwhile, were are told that Gus Lambrou has been hard at work straightening the two 145s of Richard Salt and Phil Donaghy, and the 156 of Dave Hughes that were all damaged (and in the case of Phil and Dave’s cars thought to be written off!) at Snetterton. It seems that they are all now up and running for the 2008 season although Phil is hoping to move up to Class A and his 145 may be for sale.

Congratulations to James Thompson who came so close to winning the 2007 WTCC title. In the end he had to be satisfied with third after the two hard fought Macau races but as he said afterwards for such a low budget team, with virtually no testing during the season, to grab a championship podium was a fantastic result. The 156 thus brings its participation in major international championships to a close.

November 15th 2007

Championship Co-ordinator, Michael Lindsay, has returned from his travels and is already very encouraged by the number of projects already emerging for 2008. Top of the list is Alastair Iles’ plan to run a 147 GTA in Class C. He already has the car and work is underway to prepare it in time for the opening round on Easter Saturday at Silverstone. Alastair’s Class D 33 8v has gone to the previous owner of the 147, Rob Bushell, who will be joining the Championship next season.

While parents Kevin and Joanne were away with the Heels' enjoying an end of season weekend in Hamburg, young Tom Eastwood went out and bought a 145 Cloverleaf to race in Class E in 2008. Another colour scheme for Joanne to work on then! That brings to 6 the number of 145s we know about that should be racing in E next year – the others being the cars of Richard Salt, Keith Williams, Martin Jones, Will Inglis and Chris Cousins. Chris Finch is planning a return to the Championship although in his case it will be with a 156.

After two seasons in the Renault Clio Championship, it looks as though Mel Healey will be returning for a year in Alfas. At present she doesn’t have a car but the search is underway for something to run in D. Failing that, father Chris might find his drive in the Spur 33 16v under threat!

2007 Championship runner-up and Class B winner Neil Smith is planning to continue in B next season with his 156. Emma Karwacki aims to have a full season in D with her 33 16v. This follows a couple of strong drives at Silverstone and Brands that were not rewarded with the results she deserved due to engine problems.

There are rumours that 2007 Champion Phil Donaghy is planning a move to either Class A or B for 2008. He is apparently looking at a number of 156 options.

Sounds as though Tim Lewis is going down the supercharged route with his Alfasud Sprint. The 2006 Champion had a more difficult 2007 season although he still took five overall wins, including the final rounds at Brands Hatch and Snetterton.

Both of Julian Birley’s Class A 75s are for sale – his familiar red V6 24v car and the ex Nick Humphrey 2.0 Turbo in the old Totip colours. Ideally, Julian would like to sell one and keep the other so that he could still race occasionally as and when other commitments permit. Anyone interested should call him on 07775-796566.

This weekend sees the final outing of the N Technology 156s when the 2007 WTCC title is settled in Macau. James Thompson has an outside chance of lifting the driver’s championship for the first time and will have help from local hot-shoe Andre Couto who also raced for the team there in 2005. Couto replaces Thompson’s regular team mate Olivier Tielemans for this event. With a 12 point deficit to make up to current leaders Yvan Muller (Seat) and

Andy Priaulx (BMW) it is a tall order but then look what happened to Kimi Raikkonen in Brazil! Thompson has raced four times at Macau with 4th place his best finish. Alfa may be ending their association with the WTCC but N.Technology are not and it would appear that a new association with Honda is on the cards for 2008.

October 30th 2007

The Championship Stewards met on Monday evening (29th October) to consider the appeal against the final championship points table issued on October 18 that had been lodged by Neil Smith.

The decision of the Stewards was that the points has been allocated correctly and therefore the appeal failed and the championship points table was declared as final.

Therefore Phil Donaghy is confirmed as the 2007 Champion with Neil Smith as the runner-up.

October 28th 2007

We can now confirm that the opening race of the 2008 season will again be with our friends from EERC (Britcar) on Easter Saturday, March 22 at Silverstone, using the International Circuit. The only other confirmed date at present is Bank Holiday Monday, May 26 when we shall be returning to Castle Combe. It looks as though Donington will be back on the calendar plus a visit to the much heralded new Anglesey circuit, probably in early September.

Congratulations to Stephen Dymoke who has been awarded the prestigious Peter Stubberfield Trophy by the Bugatti Owners Club. "I don't quite know why" said Stephen but he has been competing with his Alfasud Ti at Prescott which, of course, is the home of the Bugatti club.

Alfa Romeo have now officially announced that they will not be competing in the 2008 World Touring Car Championship having seen out their three year commitment to the FIA. Over the past few decades there has rarely been a year without Alfa participation at the highest levels of Touring Car racing - European Touring Car Championship, DTM, ITCC and WTCC - and the marque will be sorely missed. Let us hope that James Thompson and N Technology can go out in a blaze of glory at Macau and win this year's WTCC title, despite all the odds being stacked against them. But then look at what Kimi Raikkonen did!

PROPOSED CHAMPIONSHIP RULE CHANGES FOR 2008. Among the changes proposed for the coming season are a number that affect Class A.  At its meeting on October 24 the Panel decided to restrict the width of rear wings to a maximum of 160 cm. However, they would still have to remain within the plan view of the vehicle. Front splitters/spoilers should not extend more than 4 inches in front of the lowermost point of the front panel and must follow the contours of the front of the car. There must be no additional aerodynamic devices above the wheel centre line of the vehicle.

We have been concerned that the rules regarding headlights on class A cars have been "stretched" somewhat.  In future at least one legal headlight must function on each side of the car. It need not necessarily be of Alfa Romeo origin but it must be in the standard position. Headlights or coloured perspex covers that reduce the amount of light being shown will not be permitted. This is essentially a safety issue as in 2008 we shall be asking all drivers in modified or Class B cars who are lapping slower cars to have their headlights on.

There will be some tidying up of the regulations for Class E in 2008 with particular emphasis on sealing ECUs, engine and gearboxes and visits to the rolling road. We have a new type of seal to use on ECUs. In addition to separate sealing, engine blocks will also be sealed to gearboxes. All cars must have been to the rolling road before the first time they race, otherwise their points will be regarded as provisional.

Clarification will be given regarding roll cages and we are also very concerned that the current regulations regarding seats is not being met by all competitors. This is a matter of essential driver safety.

During 2008 we shall also be giving much closer attention to driving standards and those drivers who are persistently involved in on-track incidents will be put under official observation and could, if they are subsequently reported to the Clerk of the Course for transgressions, find themselves losing their "invitation to race".

There will be additions to the Sporting Regulations to formalise the way in which we deal with the kind of circumstances that occurred at Snetterton on October 14.

October 25th 2007

An official appeal against the final championship points table issued on October 18 has been lodged by Neil Smith. The appeal will be considered by the Championship Stewards when they have all the necessary paperwork and a decision made as soon as possible which will be posted on the web site.

We are pleased to report that Graham Heels has accepted an invitation to join the Championship Panel at a meeting held on October 24. He has been a regular competitor since 1989, starting with an Alfasud Ti and then racing a 33, 146 Ti and most recently a Class E 147 He was the overall champion in 2003 and was responsible for the relaunching the ARCA web site two years ago and moving it forward to its present much envied position. Graham’s enthusiasm and knowledge of the Championship is well known and he will certainly be a strong addition to the panel for the future.

Much of the Panel meeting was devoted to the rules for 2008 and more detail will be given on this after the weekend. In the meantime, we are able to confirm that the basic class structure will remain unchanged for next year.

All Championship enquiries or queries between October 29 and November 11 should be referred to Clive Hodgkin on 01572-823514 or to Gary Walker on 01293-821843 (daytime Monday to Friday).

John Norrington e-mailed to tell us that Chris Snowdon had won the Historic Sports 2000 Championship after the final round at Brands Hatch last weekend. “Not bad for a 50 year old!” said John. He also said that Chris Cousins has been doing some more track days with the Class E 145 Cloverleaf that he was hoping to race in the last three rounds this year and will certainly be racing it with us in 2008.

A couple of notable achievements at Snetterton on October 14 – Steve Fox at last managed to get some points on the board with his Alfasud Sprint while Louise West finished a race at Snetterton for the first time. It has always been her bogey circuit so there celebrations in the West camp, particularly after dirt in a carburettor and spilling fuel had nearly scuppered her chances earlier in the day.

It looks as though we shall have at least one car at the “Autosport” Show. However, in order to make the most of the opportunity we are keen to hear from those connected with the Championship as drivers, preparers or non racing members, who would be willing to give up their time to be on a stand or stands for all or part of the four day show. If you are interested in helping, please e-mail the Championship Co-ordinator on unabated@tesco.net or Graham Heels on 01483-834383 or via email at graham@heels.me.uk

October 24th 2007

Brunswick Automotive haved moved to the following address:

Brunswick Automotive
Unit 1
Ashley Park
Common Road
Witchford
Cambridgeshire
CB6 2HZ

Tel: 01353 668840

They also tell us they have also purchased an ex-Super Production Alfa 156 (pictured) which will be readied for the 2008 Nurburgring & Silverstone 24 Hour Races, the car will also be available for hire for Class B of the 2008 ARCA series. One potential driver is Nick Gooch who is looking to drive something a bit faster than his 8 valve Class D car next year.

October 12th 2007

Alan Meaker from Toyo, who many competitors met earlier in the year, will be coming to Snetterton on Sunday and looks forward to having discussions on drivers’ experiences with the Toyo control tyres during the current season. The existing agreement with Toyo has two more years to run.

After a couple of scintillating drives at Monza last weekend when he took two third places in his N.Technology 156, James Thompson goes to Macau at the beginning of November as one of six drivers who have a mathematical chance of taking the WTCC title. James is currently fourth,  12 points behind joint leaders, Seat driver Yvan Muller and BMW driver Andy Priaulx.

Paul Lund took another class win with his 147 in the Dunlop Maxx Sport series at Brands Hatch last Saturday.

We shall have three cars being shared at Snetterton this Sunday – John Pogson and Matt Shaw (155), Tom Allen and Len Brock (75 Twin Spark) and Mark and William Bevington (33 8v). This will be William’s first race meeting. Matt Shaw drove the 155 in a Eurosaloons race at Oulton in April and had a couple of races in Chris Bentley’s 146 Ti at Pembrey while Len Brock’s only outing in the 75 was also at Pembrey.

October 9th 2007

TOP HAT RACE, SPA FRANCORCHAMPS, 7 October

October 5th 2007

IAIN BROWN LEAVES THE BRSCC: The following Press Release was received this morning.

The BRSCC has announced that Managing Director Iain Brown has left the Club with immediate effect. Iain was appointed to the position of MD in September 2006 following a successful career working for Prism, various Formula 1 teams and running his own consultancy. Iain commented “I am relocating to the North of England to pursue other business opportunities so regrettably I am parting company with the BRSCC. In my year with the Club there have been a number of initiatives developed which, given support and time, will take the BRSCC closer to where it needs to be. I wish the Club and the members the very best for the future”. BRSCC Chairman, Bernard Cotterell added “We thank Iain for the strategic guidance and direction he has given to the Club over the last year and with him the best for his future career. The Board and I will now give serious consideration to the options available before making any announcement on the future management structure of the Club”.

We now have two reserves for Snetterton, Steve Fox (Alfasud Sprint – Class B) and Stephen Dymoke (Alfasud Ti – Class A). This brings the total entry to 40. Looking through the history of the championship,  there seems every likelihood that both reserves will get at least one race (and they will have adjustments to the entry fee to cover this eventuality). However, we haven’t done as spectacularly as LMA Eurosaloons who have 7 reserves which, at the time of writing, was more than the total Fiat entry! To be fair, Fiat will probably conjure up more cars before race day but they still face the spectre of the MSA’s “red card” for 2008.

A welcome last minute entry is John Strickland with the ex Shaun Hazlewood 33 16v that he has been racing in Pre ’93 Touring Cars this year. Adie Hawkins has found most of the missing power and the gearbox that gave trouble last time out at Donington has been rebuilt. John held the old Class F lap record at Snetterton for some time until Lee Penn came along, so he should be able to mount a stern challenge to Mark James.

Sadly missing from Snetterton will be the well-loved Giulietta Turbo of Andy Page. In fact, we wonder if we have seen its last race. The engine blew out all its water at Brands and rather than rebuild it for Snetterton, Andy is putting all his effort into what intriguingly he refers to as  “next season’s preparations”. Could we be in for a surprise for 2008? The last race meeting we recall Andy missing was Croft in 2005.

Will Inglis, who will be making his racing debut at Snetterton on October 14, tested his Avon Racing built 145 Cloverleaf there on Wednesday with promising results. Will’s is one of several more 145s scheduled to appear in the class next year. Martin Jones, whose 33 was written off in an accident at Pembrey in May, has taken over the car that was to have been the Bianco Auto Developments renta’ while Richard Salt has already run the ex Phil Donaghy (green) in 145 in Class D at Silverstone and Brands. Next year it will run in E. We also expect the Chris Cousins/John Norrington 145 to appear. Bianco have now converted Philip Ellwood’s ex Chris Finch 156 to Class E spec while Avon Racing are preparing a 156 to replace their 75 renta’ which may be earning honourable retirement as one of the most raced Alfa Championship cars of the lot. So Class E continues to grow!

The WTCC returns to Monza this weekend for rounds 19 & 20. The 156 has always gone well on the fast Italian track and James Thompson has been a winner there in the past. However, with more Seat Leon diesels in the field, including one for Gabriele Tarquini, N. Technology could find it hard to repeat their previous successes, as if the horde of BMWs and 60 kilos of ballast was not enough!

September 27th 2007

Steve Fox was at Brands for the WTCC meeting last weekend and has sent us these pictures of the N Technology 156's in action.

September 24th 2007

Just for fun, and to fill in the five week gap between Brands and Snetterton, Avon Racing with families and friends went to Croft over the weekend to race in the Darlington & District Motor Club’s Northern Sports and Saloons double header. Clive Hodgkin, Robin Eyre-Maunsell, Keith Williams, Andy Inman and Peter Guy L’Amie were in their regular cars facing a collection of cars that included SEAT Cupra, Jaguar D type replica, various quick Fiestas, a BMW M3, 5 litre MG ZT and much modified Peugeot 306 and 205 to name a few. The organisers had also added an “Alfa class” for Avon’s benefit. Clive was the most successful of the five Alfa drivers, finishing 12th overall (out of 30 starters) on both days.

James Thompson enjoyed his second best result of the year when he finished 2nd in race 1 of the WTCC double header on the Brands GP circuit on Sunday. His N Technology 156 crossed the line less than a second behind winner Alain Menu but the Chevrolet driver always seemed to have the race under control. The championship moves to Monza on October 5/6 before the final two round at Macau in November. So far there has been no official word from Alfa about their continued participation in the Championship but they have undoubtedly been watching SEAT’s progress with their diesel engined Leon. A 147 diesel might be a very competitive proposition.

Paul Lund was out again in the Dunlop Sport Maxx series at the weekend, this time at Pembrey. He won Class B on both days, taking a 5th and a 7th overall, although the grid sizes remain disappointingly small. However, the BARC and Dunlop have secured championship status for 2008 and that may well prove to be the turning point. Interestingly, Paul fastest lap was very much on the Alfa Class E pace.

With 21 entries already received for the Championship finale at Snetterton on October 14, competitors are reminded that there are now only 17 firm slots remaining. We estimate that there are some 25 drivers in the “likely and possible” lists which means that the entry situation may get very tight before race day. So it is the usual cry from Championship Co-ordinator, Michael Lindsay, “get your entries in now!!”.

September 8th 2007

The Class A to D Drivers briefing at Brands on Sunday will take place at 12.00 pm beside the Lindsay Motorhome. Class E competitors are asked to attend the LMA Eurosaloons briefing in the LMA paddock area at 12.45 pm. The Clerk of Course will be there to explain the procedure for the delayed grid start and answer any questions that relate to it.

A late withdrawal from Brands is Michael Walsh who should have been driving the ex Ron Davidson 155 in Class E. The car is not yet ready to race, the plan now being to run it for the first time at Snetterton in October in preparation for a full season in 2008. However, Ian Brookfield, having had the stitches removed from the finger that prevented him racing at Silverstone will be at Brands with the Class A 164. A late entry was Gareth Haywood with his Class B 156.

Richard Salt has confirmed that although he intends to finish the season in Class D with the 145 Cloverleaf  he has bought from Phil Donaghy (the green one) he will switch to Class E in 2008. Had he been running the car in E at Silverstone, his first outing with it, he would have finished 4th in class just ahead of Andy Inman.

September 1st 2007

Paul Plant tells us that he has successfully been testing in his ex-Christopher Wright Class D 33 and if his ARDS test goes ok he expects to be at the final meeting of the year at Snetterton.

August 29th 2007

If anyone is interested in a hospitality unit for the Brands Hatch round we have been contacted by a company that have a privately owned ground floor suite. The suite can accomodate 5 - 35 perople and being ground floor it has outside access right up to the side of the circuit. Prices for the Brands meeting start at £25 per person - this includes entry to the circuit, use of the suite and free tea, coffee a soft drinks. Details of other packages can be supplied. If you are interested please contact Steff on 0795 132 1233.

August 28th 2007

With a 5 week gap between Brands Hatch on the 9th of September and our final meeting at Snetterton on October 14th some of the Avon Racing drivers will be keeping busy by racing in an allcomers race at Croft over the weekend of the 22nd & 23rd of September. The double header race will see qualifying (15 minutes) and a 15 minute + 1 lap race on Saturday followed by another 15 minute + 1 lap race on Sunday. The entry fee is £250 and if any other drivers are interested in taking part they should contact Clive Hodgkin at Avon Racing on 01572 823514.

August 23rd 2007

Sharon Smith has left the BRSCC after only a short spell as Competition Secretary and the job will now be advertised as there is apparently no obvious candidate to replace her. In the short term that will only affect entries which should now be sent to Carole Jackson. Her e-mail address is carole@brscc.co.uk

The mandatory drivers briefing at Silverstone will be held at 11.30 in our paddock area outside the Lindsay Motorhome. We are believing the latest weather forecast that it will be dry and sunny!

The final Silverstone entry looks like 38 cars. A number of competitors will have been at Nev Simpson and Becki Badger’s wedding on Friday – we hope they all have a fantastic day and arrive at Silverstone in good shape!

There will be a welcome return at Silverstone by Ian Brookfield in his Class A 164 which has not  been seen since 2005 when it appeared at the Anglesey double header, taking a second place on the Sunday. Quite a lot of work has been done on the car since then although it remains bright yellow which will still make it easy to spot. One of the most exciting cars in the entry will be Kevin Evans new class C GTV which should give the 155s of John Pogson and Graham Seager something to think about.

Louise West rang to say that her engine has been rebuilt and, under the eye of father Peter, she will be trying to find a bit of Silverstone tarmac to run it in before Sunday qualifying.  We haven’t seen Stephen Dymoke since Pembrey but he will be back with his Alfasud Ti, running in A. He had hope that the Brunswick built 146 would be ready but Dave Ashford is insisting that they have time to test the car before it is raced, so Stephen will have to remain patient!

Steve Fletcher will be running his 33 16v in Class B as he needs to use up his old Dunlop control tyres before investing in a set of Toyos for Class D. Fingers are hard crossed that the latest engine rebuild will give him some reliability after its predecessor failed in qualifying a Rockingham back in April. Making his second appearance of the year will be Mark Bevington in the 33 8v he shares with Simon Hampton. Not having raced since the end of 2006, Mark was less competitive at Castle Combe than he had hoped  but is looking forward to a stronger race at Silverstone. Peter Guy L’Amie will be making one of his regular trips from Lithuania,  where he is working at present, to drive the Avon Racing 75 Twin Spark in Class D. Missing from Class E will be Ray Foley who is on holiday but he has entered his 156 for the following round at Brands.

“Motorsport News” carried some frightening figures for the damage done during the BTCC Demolition Derby at Brands Hatch last weekend totalling some £250,000 of which the three Alfa 156s (all innocent parties really) accounted for £98,000! (Dave Pinkney £85,000, Richard Marsh £10,000 and Eoin Murray £3000). Need deep pockets to cope with that! As a result it looks as though Eoin Murray, who was on an ultra tight budget anyway, may not make the remaining rounds.

August 22nd 2007

Although I've not been badgering you all too much for money this year, I thought you might like to know that I have been able to send a cheque to the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity for £600. A considerable amount of this has been raised by you so WELL DONE EVERYONE!! The total we have
raised so far is over £1700, again, mostly from the competitors, friends etc. of ARCA.

There will be cakes available at Silverstone this weekend, so bring some extra change with you and help us to help Breakthrough Breast Cancer achieve their goal of  "a future free from the fear of breast cancer".

August 18th 2007

A message from the Championship Co-ordinator: “ BRSCC has produced a late change to the Silverstone timetable which  they failed to tell me about!  As a result the Competitor Bulletin I sent out yesterday is already out of date. I have expressed strong dissatisfaction and have been assured that the timetable will be adjusted early next week. Either our qualifying will be later or the race earlier. Also, the race distance will revert to the normal 20 minutes (not 15).So please keep an eye on the website “.

August 14th 2007

Chris Snowdon tells us that he was driving on the “kill switch”  for the last 6 laps at Snetterton (August 5) after his throttle stuck open at the end of the Revett Straight.

A faulty switch on Wayne Ashford’s 33 had caused his engine cut-out problems in qualifying and then during the race Wayne found his brakes left a lot to be desired, giving him “all sorts of trouble slowing it down for Russell and Sear which was compromising my lap times – just ask anyone following me!”  Further investigation revealed that the pads were probably not bedded in properly. “I’ll try and give Mark a better run for his money at Silverstone” . 

The engine on Louise West’s Class B 33, which has not been used since 1999, suffered a damaged big-end bearing after 5 laps of the race The crank will have to be re-ground but Louise is hoping to be back for Silverstone.                                                                                          

Others in trouble at Snetterton included  Julian Birley whose clutch disintegrated and Steve Fox, a water pipe having blown off on his Alfasud Sprint.

David Hughes, who finished 2nd in E at Snetterton e-mailed to say that the 156 was “the same as it had been at Oulton and Combe, I was just braver and more confident with it! If I’d been able to pass Phil (Donaghy) I would have disappeared up the road”. After the grassy moment at Russell,  Gus (Lambrou) gestured a “what the b***** h*** was that manoeuvre”  as David passed the pits.

Chris Bentley has also been in touch to say how much he enjoyed the race “I was actually surprised how well I went. I spent Friday testing and could only get into the low 1’30s on the old Dunlops. I used last year’s times as a bench mark and figured I would be at the back of the mid field. There must be some differences with the Toyo tyres and maybe the hot weather affected lap times. Still it was fantastic to get a third in class and to beat people who have all finished in front of me at previous meetings”.

There were a number of ex Alfa races around at Snetterton racing in other series. Ian and Marc Connell were teamed up with Pete Cate in the Uniroyal VW Beetle Fun Cup, finishing an excellent 5th (in a field of 26) while Alan Hudd and Shaun Hazlewood were both there with their Sports 2000 cars. Giles Groombridge was looking after the Brunswick prepared entries – Ray Foley, Wayne Ashford and Nick Gooch. Tony Soper probably doesn’t regard himself as “ex Alfa Championship” but just doesn’t have his GTV to race at the moment. Instead he has been running his Harrier Ford Turbo in the LMA Championship and finished 5th at Snetterton Definitely not “ex Alfa” but still with time to devote to other classes, Chris Snowdon took another fine win in the Historic 2000 Championship in his Royale.

Keeping an eye on the website’s hit rate revealed that the Monday after Snetterton was its busiest day to date.

August 10th 2007

It's enormous! Well the News and Gossip section was and it was getting really slow to load so I have archived it again. If you want to go back and read any of the old News and Gossip then click on the links to the right.

August 3rd 2007

We have just heard from Julian Birley that he tested his 75 3.6 24v at Mallory on Wednesday and all seemed to go well. The car has been fitted with some new “shorter” gear ratios by Nick Humphrey and Julian says he will now  “only be satisfied with a win and new lap record on Sunday!”. Class A should be quite a spectacle.

Latest news regarding Snetterton is that the Class E 155 that was due to be driven by Michael Walsh has been withdrawn. Michael will now drive Ron Davidson’s GTV in Class C. Sadly, Paul Buckley is unable to be there on Sunday. However, it is likely that his 156 will be qualified by Clive Hodgkin and, if all goes well, Clive will drive it in the race. It will be recalled that he took part in qualifying with the 156 at Silverstone in March but a clutch problem stopped him starting the race itself. David Hughes now has a confirmed entry with his Class E 156 having originally been first reserve.

August 1st 2007

The Championship’s post 2007 season DINNER DANCE & PRIZE GIVING will take place on SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 24 at a familiar venue, SEDGEBROOK HALL, Chapel Brampton near Northampton. The earlier than usual date is in response to many requests from competitors that the party should be nearer to the end of the season when memories are still fresh  and before Christmas expenditure starts to bite! We look forward to a strong turnout, particularly from those who will be receiving trophies, so please put the date in your diary now.

All those competing at Snetterton this Sunday should note that there will be a mandatory drivers briefing during the lunch break. With luck the weather will be warm and dry so that we can have the meeting in our allocated paddock area but please listen for announcements regarding both time and location.

Remember the 156 Diesel Sportwagon? We had a call from Bryn Griffiths indicating that he plans to race it again and that it might even appear as second reserve at Snetterton this weekend. The car would now run in Class B on slicks.

There are various cars that were almost ready for Snetterton, but in the end not quite! Included in those are the Class A 164 of Ian Brooklfield, the new Class C GTV of Kevin Evans and the 145 Cloverleaf (Class E) of Chris Cousins and John Norrington which was bedded down successfully at the Nurburgring last weekend but still needs one to two items such as the plumbed in fire extinguisher system before it is race prepared. Hopefully these and the 33 16v of Steve Fletcher will be ready for Silverstone and Dave Ashford tells us that some progress is also being made on the Class A 146 which Stephen Dymoke will be driving at some point.