The BRSCC and the Silverlake Garage – Motor Salvage Ltd C1 Racing Club are delighted to announce an agreement for the C1 endurance racing programme to be hosted by the BRSCC from the 2022 season onwards. Both parties view this new partnership as an exciting opportunity to further develop the hugely popular race series, and to deliver the best racing and support package possible to C1 Racing Club competitors.
 
On announcing the new partnership, C1 Racing Club owner Robin Welsh said,
“I’d firstly like to thank everyone at BARC for the support and assistance given to me since I took ownership of the C1 Racing Club, and also for their commitment to the previous owners. I wish them all the very best for the future.
 
Paul McErlean (the BRSCC’s Chief Operating Officer) has been a friend for many years, and I’ve also worked closely with Greg Graham (BRSCC’s Head of Formula Development) on racing projects over a number of years too, however, aside from these relationships I’ve been greatly impressed by the way the BRSCC have developed over the past few years, and I’m confident that they can assist me in giving C1 Club members the best levels of support and service going forward”.
 
Commenting on the release of the news, Paul McErlean said, “I’m delighted that Robin has made this decision, as both of us have very similar views when it comes to providing the best levels of customer support and service. The BRSCC have a long history of delivering successful endurance and 24hr race events, and I believe that this new partnership with the C1 Racing Club will enhance and grow what is already a very successful and popular series.
 
The BRSCC and BARC have a great working relationship, and whilst we both focus on developing our portfolios with as little conflict as possible, we accept that movement of independently owned race formulae between clubs is a fairly normal situation. BARC have done a great job assisting the development of C1 endurance racing in the UK, and the BRSCC look forward to continuing that progress for the benefit of all involved”.
 
The 2022 race calendar is already being planned, and C1 Racing Club and BRSCC look forward to sharing more details soon.



 

Check out the new C1 Racing Club YouTube Playlist.

Post Silverstone – Bulletin 1

It is extremely disappointing to be having to write this bulletin but it is imperative that solutions are found to prevent the amount of car contact that occurred during the 24hr race at Silverstone this weekend.

We have, over the winter, put a number of rules into place to help remedy these things, one being the mandatory use of cameras. However, we can only act if we have the evidence to use in a disciplinary hearing, where possible we initiate reviews and we spent a lot of time during the race reviewing incidents that we either saw or our attention was brought.

We are now asking you to help us with this situation, your cameras have the evidence that we need to take the culprits to task with anything that occurred during the race. We have already received a number of video clips of incidents which we are now reviewing.

Specifically, within rule 2.22 the following statements are made

  1. Review of the footage is encouraged and anything that a competitor feels needs review be brought to the C1 Series Organisers attention.
  2. Where it is necessary for the C1 Series Organisers or Clerk of the Course to review footage after an event that such footage should normally be reviewed within a period of 7 days of the event.

If you need to remind yourselves what is expected from a driving standards point of view please read our Driving Standards Policy here.

We will do everything within our powers to take action and resolve incidents that are brought to our attention. As an example of action that was taken during the race one driver received 3 points on his licence and a £700 fine by the CoC for a totally avoidable collision.

Please be a positive part of the solution, with suitable evidence we can initiate a disciplinary procedure that still has time to be escalated to the CoC and Msuk. We also have the powers within our rules to take internal disciplinary action and apply penalty points onto members records, ultimately this could mean that a driver would no longer be able to compete in the C1 race series.

Any evidence that you send to us will be treated with total confidentiality and anonymity, send your clips to board@c1racing.club and we will take action.

Best regards

The C1 Racing Team

Scrutineering is going to be really busy as BARC have to safety and compliance scrutineer 100 cars, weigh and seal ballast trays on 100 cars and check the clothing, helmets and Hans devices for 425 drivers. It will start at 9am on Friday morning and run throughout the day. Please remember that the scrutineers are there to help you race safely and not to stop you from racing. These notes are to help you get through the process as quickly as possible.

Cars

All cars should be presented to the scrutineering bay full of fuel and in a ‘ready to race’ condition. This includes all series stickers applied in the correct positions. Please make sure the car’s log book is with the car before arriving at Scrutineering. If you don’t have a log book you can apply for one at Club HQ.
Scrutineering starts at 09:00hrs on Friday morning and will be finished by 20:00hrs on Friday evening. If you are testing on Friday, please bring your car to scrutineering after your last testing session.
The following list of items may, among other things, be checked by the scrutineers, so please make sure you are compliant with these safety checks.

  • Roll cage
  • Fire extinguisher and mounting
  • Seat and mounting
  • Harness in date
  • Windscreen and window film
  • Master switch
  • Remote operation of master switch and signage
  • Remote operation of fire extinguisher and signage
  • Towing eyes and signage
  • Left, right and interior rear-view mirrors
  • Lighting (side lights, rain light, brake lights)
  • Race numbers
  • General condition
  • Transponder present and location
  • Central locking disabled
  • Petrol tank guard

Things that often catch people out and you might want to check are as follows:

  • Fire extinguisher must be in-date. That means that it must have been officially tested within the last 2 years.
  • Your race harness must be in-date.
  • Make sure both external pulls for the fire extinguisher and electrical cut-out are free and working correctly. They often get corroded in the Bowden cable when left over the winter.
  • Check that your rain light (rear fog light) shows on both sides of the car.

The scrutineers may also want to check any other items for compliance with our regulations.

Tuff Jugs

All Tuff Jugs must be presented at scrutineering for checking. If the jug has a vent plug it will be checked and any with holes will be replaced. Every jug will have a seal applied and only sealed jugs can be used during the race.

Weighing and ballast sealing

Once you have passed scrutineering, your car will be weighed and your drivers’ race kit will be checked. It is in your interest for all your drivers to be present for weighing so that your ballast can be wire locked and sealed at this time. If some of your drivers are not present, your ballast will be wire locked and sealed and the missing drivers must present themselves for weighing by 19:00hrs at the very latest. Your car will not receive its scrutineering ticket until all drivers have been weighed and their race kit checked. If your car is subsequently found to be underweight you will have to refill your car with fuel, have it re-weighed, and the ballast adjusted and re-sealed before it will be allowed on track for qualifying.

Each car will be weighed full of fuel, to enable us to calculate the minimum weight of the car. It is in your interest to make sure the car is completely fuel of fuel, if it is not, you will need to carry more ballast to meet the minimum weight.  Any car arriving at scrutineering not full of fuel may be turned away. Each driver will then be weighed with their race suit, gloves, boots, helmet and Hans device. The weight of the lightest driver will be added to the weight of the car and 28.4kg will be deducted. The resulting weight must be more than 910kg. If it isn’t, you will be told how much ballast you need to fit and you’ll need to go back to your garage to fit the ballast. You will not be allowed to work on your car in the scrutineering area. You can then return to the scrutineering area to have your car re-weighed and sealed.

If you do not need any ballast, a seal will be applied to a drilled cap screw that will be fitted to the rear near-side seat mount. You do not have to use a ballast tray if all your drivers take your car over the weight limit.

A ballast tray and its fasteners weigh 3kg. If you don’t need any ballast on the ballast tray, the drilled bolt supplied with the ballast tray must be fitted to the hole nearest to the B-pillar with the bolt shank uppermost, so that the lock wire hole is easy for the scrutineers to get at.

If you intend to run with alloy wheels, you must present the car with alloy wheels for weighing and scrutineering.  BARC will identify cars so presented with a sticker and any cars running alloys during qualifying or the race without the identifying sticker will be subject to further scrutiny.

Should you need to remove your windscreen (and therefore the rear glass hatch) you must ensure your car still conforms to the minimum weight rules.

Clothing

The scrutineers will be checking that your helmet, race suit, gloves and boots are all in-date. They will also check the specification of your balaclava and socks.

If you haven’t raced before (or if you’ve bought a new helmet or Hans device) they will need to check the approvals on both. They will then place an MSUK sticker on the outside of your helmet and Hans device, for which you will have to pay a total of £5, so please bring some cash with you if your helmet or Hans device aren’t already stickered.

Parc Fermé

The pit lane will be used as Parc Fermé. At the end of qualifying and the race all cars will be held at the pit lane entrance. The pit lane will be cleared of all personnel and all garages doors must be shut. Please assist the marshals in getting the pit lane clear. Cars will then be released into the pit lane, where they should park on the left side of the pit lane next to the pit wall and as directed by the marshals. Some cars will be selected for more detailed scrutineering and they should carry on down the pit lane into the scrutineering bay.

Important note: When you finish qualifying or the race do not touch anything in the car. Just get out of the car and congregate as directed by the marshals. Do not put the safety pin back in the fire extinguisher.

We hope you all have a fantastic weekend and if you have any questions please come and see us in the Club HQ.

C1 Racing Club Board

Quite how all four of us could manage not to have noticed the typo in the summary timetable, none of us can now work out, but many apologies.

Here is the correct summary timetable, with one-and-a-half hours available for qualifying, which is still tight, but at least possible!

The correct important bits for us are:

StartEndActivity
 
Friday
09:0017:00Paid testing
14:00OnwardsSigning on
14:00OnwardsScrutineering
21:0022:30Qualifying
 
Saturday
17:1517:20Pitlane open
17:30Race Start
 
Sunday
17:30Race Ends
18:00Prizegiving

Many apologies and kind regards.
 
The C1 Racing Team

Silverstone 24hr Essential Information

Here is some essential information and the timetable for the upcoming 24-hour at Silverstone. This will be the largest grid ever to start a race in the United Kingdom.

Timetable
BARC have published the timetable, which can be found here. The important bits for us are:

StartEndActivity
 
Friday
09:0017:00Paid testing
14:00OnwardsSigning on
14:00OnwardsScrutineering
21:0021:30Qualifying
 
Saturday
17:1517:20Pitlane open
17:30Race Start
 
Sunday
17:30Race Ends
18:00Prizegiving

Location
If you haven’t been to Silverstone before, the circuit has an excellent set of maps and instructions that can be found here

Don’t forget the speed camera on the A43 just before you get there.
 
Access
Access to the circuit will be available from 1900 hrs on Thursday 25th April.  Tickets will be required to gain access to the circuit at all times, including Thursday evening.
 
4 tickets will be issued to each driver directly from BARC. Tickets will not be required for support vehicles or motorhomes. If your team needs more tickets these can be purchased from the Silverstone ticket office.
 
We will have to vacate the area behind the garages by 2300 hrs on Sunday 28th April as Silverstone have another event on Monday. You will be able to camp at the circuit on Sunday night, but will have to move to the Centre 1 Car Park behind the motorhome park. Please remember that the electric hook-up in this area is 3-phase, so you’ll need a splitter.
 
Paddock
The paddock is going to be very busy with 100 cars sharing it.  Here is a link to a map setting out what you can park where.  Please be considerate of other teams, it is not a land grab and everyone has to fit in somewhere.
 
Car parking for all drivers, mechanics and team members will be in the area marked A on the map
 
Trailers must be parked in the trailer park marked on the map. Trailers will NOT be allowed into the area behind the garages. If you are towing a trailer, you must drive to the trailer park, unload your car and drive the car to your garage, leaving your trailer neatly parked in the trailer park.
 
Motorhomes.  Each garage (not team) has been allocated an area behind their garage and garages 1A to 9C a bay in the motorhome park. Garages 10A to 12E have an extra area for motorhome parking behind their garages.  Each bay in the Motorhome Park can accommodate up to 6 motorhomes/campers depending on their size and the space needs to be shared with up to 3 teams. Please be considerate to the other teams in your garage if you’re the first to park your motorhome.
 
Electrical hook-up is available from the garages for those parked immediately behind the garage. Those parked beyond the service road behind the garages will have access to the 16-Amp blue round-pin single phase sockets and 32-Amp red round 5-pin 3-phase sockets on the side walls of the ‘pods’. Those parked in the motorhome park will have access to one 32-Amp red round 5-pin socket that is available for each bay. This means that a splitter will be required to go from a 32-Amp 3-phase plug to 3 x 16-Amp single-phase sockets so that everyone from the garage can hook-up. Teams sharing a garage will have to liaise to decide who will bring the splitter.
 
Garages & Facilities
The garage & Paddock plan has already been sent out separately to each team.
 
Each garage has the following electrical supplies:
                2 x 13 Amp square pin sockets on the back wall
                2 x 10 Amp round pin European sockets on the back wall
                3 x 16 Amp blue round pin sockets on the back wall
                1 x 32 Amp 3 phase red 5 pin sockets on the back wall
                1 x TV socket for live timing on the back wall
                1 x 16 Amp blue round pin socket on the front wall
                1 x TV socket for live timing on the pit wall
                1 x 16 Amp blue round pin socket on the pit wall
 
There is no compressed air available in the garages
 
Other Facilities
Loos and showers (both male & female) are marked as WC on the map. Behind the garages there are 14 ‘pods’ which have a shower, loo and wash basin. There are 4 male and 2 female showers in the main paddock toilet block.
 
The café is shown on the map. The opening hours are as follows:
                Friday           0700 – 1900 hrs
                Saturday       0700 – 2100 hrs
                Sunday         0700 – 1900 hrs
 
Testing
Testing is available on Friday. It can be booked directly with Silverstone circuit here.
 
Fuel
The fuel station is shown on the map. It is unmanned and is open 24/7. You will need to pay for your fuel each time you use the pumps using a credit or debit card. The only fuel that will be available during the race will be 97 RON. The other pumps (99 and 102 RON) will not be available.
 
HuTags
The C1 Series runs with HuTags, which are a second transponder worn by every driver on his / her right wrist, in addition to that fitted to the car.  The purpose is that we have a constant record of who is in each car at all times. TSL can then publish this on the timing screens and there is no need for teams to fill out driver change and pit stop forms, hand them to marshals etc etc.  If you are not familiar with HuTags, please attend the New Drivers’ Briefing, where their operation will be explained in detail.
 
Signing On
Signing-on will be in the first-floor office in the Race Control building shown on the map. You will need to have your Club membership card, race licence, HuTag and one driver from each car must have their BARC membership card. You will be breathalysed before signing on, anyone failing the breathalyser test will not be allowed to sign on until they pass the test. Remember the limit is zero.
 
We will be breathalysing drivers and pit crew throughout the weekend. If you have finished the race and want to have a drink, please feel free, but hand in your HuTag to Club HQ first, and collect it at the end of the race.  Anyone found or photographed with drink in their hand wearing a HuTag will lead to their team being disqualified.
 
If you haven’t got your Club membership card or HuTag yet you will be able to collect them from the signing-on office above Race Control before being breathalysed, after 1400 hrs on Friday.
 
Scrutineering
Scrutineering will be very busy.  BARC have 100 cars to scrutineer, check for safety and weigh in a relatively short period.  Please do not assume that you will be able to turn up at the last minute.
 
Scrutineering will start at 1400hrs on Friday afternoon in the scrutineering bay which is marked on the map.  Cars will be weighed at the same time they are scrutineered at the circuit weighbridge.
 
Please present your car full of fuel, with all the drivers together with their race gear; and with the lock wire post facing upwards located in the corner of the ballast tray nearest the B pillar.
 
Drivers’ Briefings
The time and location of the Drivers’ Briefing will be posted outside Signing On and distributed on the Club’s WhatsApp broadcast.
 
The new driver’s briefing will be outside Race Control or in the garages under Race Control if it’s raining.  Timing will be posted outside Signing On and distributed on the Club’s WhatsApp broadcast.
 
Pit Lane Etiquette
The pit lane can be very busy with 100 cars on circuit; as they tend to come in for driver changes and fuel at broadly the same time.  The Club therefore operates a 40 kph speed limit in the pit lane at all times and enforces it rigorously with the Club’s two speed guns.  The penalties for breaking the speed limit are deliberately harsh; as it is there for your own safety and the safety of the other teams.  The penalties for speed limit infringements and other misdemeanours are set out here.

A maximum of 2 people per car can be on the pit wall at a time and must be wearing a high visibility vest.
 
Pit perches may be used, but they must not cover any access holes in the pit wall safety fencing.
 
WhatsApp broadcast group
We will be using the WhatsApp broadcast group for a variety of updates and messages over the weekend.  At the very least, your team manager should have provided their telephone number to the Club. We would suggest that all Team Managers and Drivers should join it.
 
If you’ve not joined, or if you would like additional numbers added so that you can receive information over the course of the weekend, then please let Nick know by sending a WhatsApp message to the C1 Racing Club phone (+44 7586 460197).  In that message please include: team name, car number, and your name.  To receive notifications from us on WhatsApp, you will also need to have the C1 Racing Club phone number in your WhatsApp contacts, or you will not receive the broadcast messages.
 
Cameras / Driving Standards
New for this season is the requirement to have a forward-facing camera in every car. The principal purpose of this is so that there is evidence of any driving-standards indiscretions. However, if you don’t tell us about it, we won’t be able to do anything about it for you.
 
If your car is involved in, or behind, an incident, please can you tell us about it, with the time, point on the track and as much other information as you can.  We will watch it and, if appropriate, bring it to the attention of the Clerk of the Course.
 
Club HQ
Club HQ will be behind the garages, opposite the burger bar as shown on the map. It will be manned 24/7 during the race weekend.  We will have our usual welcome for you including tea, coffee, soft drinks and biscuits throughout the weekend.  Please come and say hello!
 
You can contact any of the club directors as follows:

Caryl Willscaryl@c1racing.club+44 7919 260 223
Meyrick Coxmeyrick@c1racing.club+44 7768 392 962
Nick Patonnick@c1racing.club+44 7771 123 899
Philip Myattphilip@c1racing.club+44 7736 906 090


Spares
We will be taking a small quantity of spares to the circuit. Drive shafts, wishbones, light brackets, lights, 1144 and F4R brake pads and Tuff Jug spouts will be available from the Club HQ. Small Cars R Us (www.smallcarsrus.co.uk) will also have their usual cornucopia of parts at the meeting including wings, struts, engines and so on. They will be in bay 1 in the Motorhome Park.
 
Tyres
You will need to bring all the tyres you will need for the race; you will not be able to buy them at the circuit. Tyre fitting services will be available from Amigo Motorsport in garage 6C and RAW Motorsport in garage 6B.
 
Journalists
Peter Scherer has been doing race reports for us during the season and these help us promote the series. Peter may well be contacting teams and drivers to get their impressions of race preparation and the race. He is acting on behalf of the Club, so please help him to write an amazing report on this iconic race.
 
Dan Trent and Matt Prior will both be driving one of the Club cars, and may want to interview you during the weekend.  Dan will be writing for the Goodwood and Jalopnik websites; Matt for Autocar and Pistonheads.  Please support them, since we all like reading about our series.
 
Finally, we’d like to thank you all for your support this season and especially for this race. It’s pretty amazing to have 100 cars going to a 24-hour race at one of the greatest circuits on the planet; and breaking records in so doing.  Thank you all and look forward to racing with you.
 
Good luck to you all and we look forward to meeting you at Silverstone. If you have any questions or need more information please give one of us a call.

The C1 Racing Team

Stop Press – Silverstone 24hr

Today we secured agreement with Motorsport UK and Silverstone that 100 cars can compete at our 24hr race, April 26th-28th.

We would like to thank Motorsport UK for allowing us to run the largest ever grid at a UK circuit race.

The effect of this is that all previous reserve entries can be elevated to fully accepted entries, and we now have one space available for this epic race.

If you would like the last available space, please contact Philip (philip@c1racing.club).


The C1 Racing Team

Entries Update

The first C1 race of the 2019 season was last weekend, despite the worst weather possible it provided two very close races and throughly tested the skill’s of all the drivers, one event completed nine to go.

The entry for our next event at Silverstone on 26-28 April is full. If you aren’t racing try and come along to see the biggest grid ever for a race in the UK.

The entries for the next 4 events are already open and receiving entries, these are as follows

25-26 May    Anglesey         4hrs
8-9 June       Pembrey         2 x 6hrs
28 July          Mallory            3 x 20mins
11 August     Snetterton       3hrs

A few spaces are currently available, visit our calendar page here to fill in the entry form and secure your place on the grid.

Anglesey 24hr entries are opening this weekend
Entries will open this Sunday 24 March at 8pm for our second 24hr race of the year, this is at the demanding Anglesey Circuit on 6-8 September and will prove to be a spectacular race. 
Follow this link after 8pm on Sunday to get a place in the race.

Thank you to everyone for your support in making our series so special

Croft 16th March

The journey begins…
We are all just about to head off for the long journey up to Croft, so a few final points.

Everyone is welcome at Croft
We have Croft to ourselves for the weekend, so everyone, friends and family, is most welcome.  There are no tickets needed, so please just come and join us.
 
Many are testing there on Friday, so there will be plenty of C1s around before the weekend as well.

Don’t forget your membership card for signing on!
You will need your C1 Racing Club membership card in order to sign on with BARC on Saturday morning, so please make sure you collect and sign it, from Nick at the C1 Club HQ on Friday evening.

WhatsApp broadcast group
The WhatsApp broadcast group has already started.  If you would like additional numbers added so that you can receive information over the course of the weekend then please send a WhatsApp message to the C1 Racing Club phone number (+44 7586 460197). In that message please include: team name, car number, and your name.

Timetable, final instructions and entry list
BARC have published the final instructions, which can be found here, and the entry list, although there are bound to be some last-minute additions, which can be found here.

Checking your car
Caryl and Philip will be at Croft all day on Friday.  If you want your car checked for compliance with regulations, or weighed prior to scrutineering on Saturday morning, please see them.

If your ECU has not been read, we can read it at Croft to add to our database; and also so that you can check that it has not been tampered with.  It would not be the first one that has been.  Be warned that we will be checking ECUs over the weekend as well.

Pitlane Speed limit
Don’t forget that our regulations now include a full-time pit lane speed limit of 40 kph, which will be rigorously enforced by BARC with the Club’s two radar guns throughout the season.  

Come and say hello on Friday evening
We will all be at Croft for Friday evening, so please come and say hello. See you then.

The C1 Racing Team

Croft Update

The season opener
We hope that you are as excited as we are; that the first race of the season is nearly upon us.

We had such a nice time at Croft last year, that we thought that we would open the season with a double-header of two three-hour races there.  Time to head to “The North” again.  Hopefully they won’t have closed quite as many roads as last year; and the traffic will be a little kinder to us all.

We have the circuit to ourselves for the day, so no other cars racing; however, since it’s the first race of the season, its going to be very busy with new cars, new members and all our usual scrutineering to get through.

Just remember, you can’t win an enduro on the first corner, but you can wreck your whole team’s race….

WhatsApp broadcast group
We will be using the WhatsApp broadcast group to the team managers that have provided their telephone numbers to the Club.  If you would like additional numbers added so that you can receive information over the course of the weekend then please send a WhatsApp message to the C1 Racing Club phone number (+44 7586 460197).  In that message please include: team name, car number, and your name.  To receive notifications from us on WhatsApp, you will need to have the C1 Racing Club phone number in your WhatsApp contacts, or you will not receive the broadcast messages.

Cameras /Driving Standards
New for this season is the requirement to have a forward-facing camera in every car.  The principal purpose of this is so that there is evidence of any driving-standards indiscretions.  However, if you don’t tell us about it; we won’t be able to do anything about it for you.

If your car is involved in, or behind, an incident, please can you tell us about it, with the time, point on the track and as much other information as you can.  We will watch it and, if appropriate, bring it to the attention of the Clerk of the Course.

Drinking / Alcohol
The Club breathalyzers will be in action in the trusty hands of BARC officials.  We will be breathalyzing drivers and pit crew throughout the weekend:  if you are finished and want to have a drink, please feel free, but hand in your HuTag to Club HQ first, and collect it at the end of the race. 

Anyone found or photographed with drink in their hand wearing a HuTag will lead to their team’s being disqualified.

Timetable & final instructions – be in the right place at the right time
BARC, with admirable efficiency, have now published the full weekend timetable, which can be found on:

https://barc.blob.core.windows.net/barcnet/hq01-cr-1603-v2-9yjyk.pdf

but here are the most relevant bits:

Paddock access will be from 1800hrs on Friday; and we have been asked, a little ambitiously, to vacate by 1900hrs on Saturday; at which point the gates will be locked until Monday morning (which is a pretty good incentive to leave on time!). 

Start 
End
0730Signing on
0735Scrutineering
09301030Qualifying
1100
1500
 
1400
1800
 
Race 1
Race 2

Paddock parking etc
We will publish a garage plan shortly.  We have all garages fronting the track, but please be considerate of the other competitors, as Croft is not over endowed with space.

Club HQ & Signing on
Club headquarters will be in our new race centre awning for the entire weekend.  Membership cards will be available from Club HQ on Friday evening:  you will need them for BARC signing on.  Club HQ is also where breathalyzing and Club signing-on will be; if you already have a HuTag, you will need to bring with you, those that do not have one will need to purchase one (£10) from the Club.  HuTags need to be worn on the right wrist all weekend.

BARC signing on will be in Race Administration.  At least one driver in every car (not team) needs to be a member of BARC, so please ensure that you have joined before the day.

Drivers’  briefings
The main driver briefing will be at 08:30hrs in the room to the left of signing on.

There will be a briefing for any driver who has not raced at Croft at 0900hrs on Saturday outside the rear of Race Administration.

Weighing & scrutineering
BARC are now responsible for all weighing and scrutineering at our races.  We believe very strongly that the regulations are there to be enforced tightly in order to ensure equal racing; and BARC have our full support in so doing.  They will be checking all manner of areas of compliance:  you have been warned!

We only have two hours to check and weigh all the cars before qualifying, so we are going to need you all to be very organized.  Please present your car full of fuel with all the drivers (in their kit with helmets and HANS devices) present, so that we can manage this efficiently.  Please also ensure that, if your car has not already got a yellow weight tag, the drilled bolt is oriented with the hole at the top, and ideally in the rear outer corner of the ballast tray.  Each car will be allowed a test and a check weigh only, so you will need to bring with you any ballast that you need, as the club does not supply it.

ECUs
You should by now have sent your ECU to us for reading.  If you have not, we will read it at Croft.  We now have a database of around 110 ECU software / maps; so will be in an excellent position post Croft to select and install the Club map in time for Silverstone. 

It is a slightly frustrating process, but Citroen (understandably) will not provide us with a full suite of software / maps fitted to all ECUs; hence we have had to run a two-stage process of collecting the data, selecting the best software / map combination and then installing it on all C1 race cars.  The advantage of this process is that we will all be running a standard Citroen OEM software / map combination, so there should be no compromise in reliability, driveability or economy.

Penalties & Pitlane Speed limit – stick to it!
Our regulations now include a full time pit lane speed limit of 40 kmh, which will be rigorously enforced with the Club’s two radar guns throughout the season.   If any of you saw the accident in the pit lane at Croft last year, you’ll understand why we have a low pit lane speed limit:  for those that didn’t see it, we run with full grids at most circuits, so the pit lane is very busy with a lot of people in it.  We don’t want anyone getting hurt.

For those of you who haven’t read the Club’s fixed penalties, they can be found here:

https://c1racing.club/wp-content/uploads/documents/Citroen%20C1%20Event%20Penalties.pdf


New wheels and tyres
We have had plenty of questions on when the new Club alloy wheels and C1 Club tyres will be available.  Nankang have a few of last year’s buffed tyres remaining, but they are going fast; as soon as they are all gone, the new ones will go on sale.

The Club alloy wheels are now available direct from Citroen; and remember that you will also need the matching wheel bolts, since they have a flat washer; and the steel wheel bolts won’t work with the alloy wheels.  The alloy wheels are approximately 1kg lighter per wheel than the steel wheels, so if you intend to run alloy wheels, you will need to be scrutineered and weighed with the car sporting them.  Cars weighed with alloy wheels will be identified with a sticker; and you will not be able to run alloy wheels without that sticker.

Come and join us for a drink on Friday evening
We will be arriving on the Friday, traffic and weather permitting, so please come and join us for a drink – although bear in mind that the club breathalyzers will be in action again for drivers, pit crew and team managers throughout Saturday until racing is over.  See you then.

The C1 Racing Team

2019 Regulations update.

Following consultation with MSUK and input from a number of competitors, we have changed the wording of clause 2.22.1 which used to say:

Competitors must fit cameras that shall capture an image that provides a view of the circuit ahead with a field of vision at least 160 degrees. The camera shall be mounted to the windscreen. The camera power must be fed from a plug or adaptor plugged into the original 12v socket.

It now says:

Competitors must fit cameras that shall capture an image that provides a view of the circuit ahead with a diagonal field of vision at least 149 degrees. The camera shall be either mounted to the windscreen using a permanent adhesive mount (if double sided tape is used it must be VHB type) or bolted to the top of the dashboard above the radio. If windscreen mounted, the camera and mount must be tethered to the cage or bodyshell using a suitable wire or strap and must not allow the camera to hit the driver in the event it becomes detached from the windscreen. The camera power must be fed from a plug or adaptor plugged into the original 12v socket.

The reason for this change is to allow GoPro cameras to be used, to qualify the field of vision, to allow the camera to be mounted on the top of the dashboard as an option and to specify how the camera is to be mounted to the windscreen. We hope this gives you more flexibility in terms of the equipment you can use.

A number of people have asked for advice on an appropriate camera to buy and there are some good suggestions on the Citroen C1 Racing Unofficial Drivers And Fans Groups on Facebook.

The C1 Racing Club Team

We have been working hard over the winter on many things for you, one of which is to deal with a lingering concern that many of you have expressed to us, that other people are tinkering with their ECUs and gaining an advantage.  We are determined that the Series will have a level playing field for all competitors and that, through rigorous scrutineering, all competitors will have confidence that the field is genuinely level.

We are therefore going to require all cars use the same C1 Club-supplied map.   We aim to create a map that maintains reliability at the same time making the car more fun to drive, with a slightly increased rev limit, a little more power and improved throttle response.

Having solved the riddle of how to access the ECU we have asked the owners of all cars to help us work through this 2-stage process. The first being to analyse everyone’s ECU software and to uniquely tag each ECU for future identification purposes. We would like to complete this stage by the 18th March.

The second stage will be to upload the club ECU map that pertains to the software version installed in each ECU, we are determined to complete this stage before the Silverstone 24hr race at the end of April, to achieve this target we still need your help in supplying as many ECU’s as possible for data collection. There will be a charge of £80 plus VAT per ECU to cover the cost of map development, engineering time and shipping. It is intended that all cars racing in C1 Racing Club races from Silverstone 24hr onwards will be required to use a tagged ECU with the Club map installed.

You are reminded that the Club Regulations state the following about ECUs:

“No modifications or additions to the standard ignition system are allowed whatsoever. The electrical and physical attributes of the Engine Management Systems (ECU) must be totally standard. The C1 Series Organisers reserve the right to download data from a competitors ECU and to upload C1 Series Organiser’s data to the ECU. The C1 Series Organisers reserve the right to require competitors to submit their ECUs for compliance checking at any time”

We will be checking compliance with the Club map and software at each race meeting to ensure that all competitors are running the correct map and software.


The C1 Racing Team

The 2019 season rapidly approaches and the C1 Calendar is confirmed as follows.

Event Date Circuit Duration Entry fee Entries
£ open
1 16th March Croft 2x3hr 890 open
2 26-28 April Silverstone 24hr 3500 open
3 25/26 May Anglesey 4hr 690 open
4 7-9 June Pembrey 2x6hr 1170 27th Jan
5 27/28 July Mallory sprints 450 10th Feb
6 10/11 Aug Snetterton 300 3hr 800 10th Mar
7 6-8 Sept Anglesey 24hr 2700 24th Mar
8 21/22 Sept Croft 4hr 760 7th Apr
9 25-27 Oct Spa 24hr tbc 2nd Jun
10 9/10 Nov Brands Hatch 2hr 700 14th Apr

The first three events are now open for entries with the fourth opening this coming Sunday at 8pm.
Visit the calendar page on our website here to fill in the entry forms.

The C1 Racing Team

We did say mostly….. We were conscious, when we announced the provisional calendar, that the closure of Rockingham had taken quite a bit of track capacity out of the market, so we hadn’t got as much as we’d wanted.  We’ve been working away at that with BARC, and have managed to secure three more race dates; and you can rest assured that we are working on getting hold of more for you.

Date Circuit Format
16 March Croft 2x3hr
25/26 May Anglesey 4hr
21/22 Sept. Croft 4hr
The updated calendar remains provisional for now.  We’ll keep you posted.

The overall 2019 Calendar for all the C1 Racing Club organized events now looks like this:

Date Circuit Format
16 March
27/28 April
25/26 May
8/9 June
28 July
10/11 August
6/7/8 Sept.
21/22 Sept.
26/27 Oct.
16/17 Nov.
Croft
Silverstone
Anglesey
Pembrey
Mallory
Snetterton 300
Anglesey
Croft
Spa
Brands Hatch
2x3hr
24hr
4hr
Double-six hour
Sprints
3hr
24hr
4hr
24hr
2hr

 

We will accord the deepest respect to anyone who manages all the races!

The C1 Racing Team

The news that you’ve all been waiting for is at last here.  Well mostly.  The calendar remains provisional for now, but this is next year as we know it today.  We don’t have prices yet and these are still a couple of weeks away, but at least this will allow you to put some dates in your diary.

As soon as we have firm prices agreed with BARC, we will start to open the entries to the races using our time-honoured system on the website.  We will email you a week before entries open and the forms become available, so you’ll have some notice.  As per Silverstone 24hr, you will need to enter the drivers for your race entry to be valid; and those drivers will have to be members of the club.

Date Circuit Format
27th/28th April Silverstone 24 hour
8th/9th June Pembrey Double-six hour
28th July Mallory Sprints
10th/11th August Snetterton 300 3 hour
6th/7th/8th Sept Anglesey 24 hour
26th/27th Oct Spa 24 hour
16th/17th Nov Brands Hatch 2 hour

As you may know, we have now launched in Portugal, as well has having a sister series in Belgium; and the Citybug series in Holland, so in total we are invited to the following races:

Date Circuit Format
30th/31st March Zolder, Holland 8 hour
7th April Braga, Portugal 6 hour
20th/21st April Magny Cours, France 6 hour
22nd/23rd June Anneau du Rhin 6 hour
23rd June Portimao, Portugal 6 hour
1st Sept Estoril, Portugal 6 hour
14th/15th Sept Zandvoort, Holland 5 hour
8th/9th/10th Nov Anglesey, RoR 12 hour
9th/10th Nov Mettet, France 6 hour

We’ll be distinctly impressed by anyone that manages to do all the races, especially as some of the international ones clash; but there’s enough to keep us all busy in 2019.  We look forward to seeing you there.

The C1 Racing Team

Why Even American Drivers Are Showing Up To Race A 67 HP Citroën In Belgium

Spa-Francorchamps has many well-known corners. Eau Rouge you likely know. But the one that prompts a reflexive wriggle against the harness straps on approach is Pouhon, a downhill, fourth-gear left-hander round the back of the circuit. It’s probably just a lift but I’ll confess to a confidence dab before committing. Both actions have the same, butt-clenching effect of making the back end go light at around 90 mph, just as the full corner reveals itself

Only this time it’s not just the corner. I’m three-abreast in the dark, the lightning illuminating the Ardennes forest has turned to rain, and the guy in front has just discovered the grip levels have totally changed since the last lap. I’m fixated on his elegant pirouette before sense kicks in and I’m looking for an escape route over the curbs.

I juke right. This is fine. We’ll be okay. Oh shit, he’s now coasting backwards into my path. Cars scatter across the run-off area, weaving wildly in all directions. A good 20 yards past him and we’re all back on track, scraping doorhandles as battle resumes for the next corner.

It’s 1 a.m. on a Saturday night in Belgium and I want a beer. God, I want a beer. Instead I’m on shot tires, the rain is so intense I can’t see where the track ends and the grass starts and I can only hope the taillights ahead are going the right way. Meanwhile the car behind is so close he’s pretty much parked in my trunk, his lights dazzling me in the mirrors as I try to find a line through the dark and the spray. Pretty standard for Belgian freeway driving as it goes. But even that, and Spa’s reputation for dramatic weather, hasn’t quite prepared me for the intensity of this fight.

Welcome to Citroen C1 racing, upstart addition to a 24-hour 2CV eventthat’s been a fixture at Spa for over 30 years. They’re still here, their slammed Deux-Chevauxs and Dyanes corrupted by air-cooled, flat-twin BMW bike engines with over 100 horsepower and crazy homebrew bodywork, faired-in wheels and all.

And they are fast, carving through the traffic like weird, scuttling bugs. These are now $100,000 machines though, a series that started as affordable fun in cheap old cars now a budgetary arms race

 

Which is where the C1 picks up.

C-what, you ask? Picture your stereotypical, front-drive Euro hatchback with a gutless, 1.0-liter, 67 HP three-cylinder engine and you’re there. Also sold as the Peugeot 107 and Toyota Aygo, first-gen donor cars can now be bought for a $1,000 and converted into a racing car for less than $5,000. This explains why there are nearly 70 in this 121-car grid, 40-plus of them from the UK-based C1 Racing Club

It doesn’t, however, explain why so many drivers from supposedly more prestigious and (let’s face it) faster race series seem so eager to compete in a stripped and caged shopping car. One of my teammates is fresh from driving a million-dollar historic in the most blue chip of blue chip races at Goodwood Revival. Others are salty VLN and Nürburgring 24-hour veterans or have experience in GT3 and GTE, including here at Spa. There’s one guy from Idaho more accustomed to racing Porsches and guys and girls from fiercely competitive one-make Caterham, Ginetta and Radical series back in the UK. A team of American drivers led by New Jersey-based Jon Meyer have, with help from the C1 Racing Club, had a car built in Germany and are ready to race on SCCA national licenses. Why are they all here?

Because it’s competitive as hell, not 24 Hours of LeMons-style wacky racing. It’s basically everything we love about circuit racing. Minus the bullshit or million-dollar budgets.

“First it’s Spa. This is hallowed ground,” says Meyer. “Second, night racing. We just don’t get the chance to do that back home so much. And the third is we’ve all watched British and German touring cars and the level of racing here makes this really attractive.”

The C1 Racing Club succeeds where others have failed by maintaining strict control on car specs. You can only build one with the parts and packages supplied by the club, the idea being it’s the fast drivers who get to the front of the grid, not just the rich ones. Writing the rulebook from scratch gives them authority to enforce component changes on anyone they suspect of buying extra speed, up to and including swapping out their engine for a spare stored in the pit garage.

“Trust me, between us we know all the tricks,” says series co-founder Meyrick Cox, “basically because we’ve thought through all the ways we’d cheat if we were doing it.”

Bottom line, if the next guy is faster than you, it’s not because of the car.

So it’s as much about brainpower as it is horsepower. You may nail that guy into La Source hairpin with a fist pump for the GoPro and social media glory. But he’s now got your tow all the way into Eau Rouge and along the straight that follows, ducking out of your draft with the extra five miles per hour you gifted him. Six-car battles for position can last—literally—hours, the lead changing constantly as every corner becomes a who-blinks-first battle of bravery and wits, inevitably spiced up by one of those ridiculous 2CV prototypes carving between you at a critical moment, or a standard one blocking your path and costing you five seconds in one lap.

For much of the race 70-car C1 field are circulating the 4.3-mile circuit to within two or three seconds of each other, it’s that tight.

At night I find myself drafting so close I’m watching the track unfold through the windscreen of the car in front, using his lights to pick my braking point and opportunity to duck out the slipstream. It’s the kind of racing where you’ll be locked in a fight to the death one moment and exchanging thumbs-up the next, my battle with one car lasting half an hour and having us swap position but not paint once or twice a lap.

The driving standards are ruthless enough to make you wince but respectful with it. Rubbin’ is definitely racin’ but anyone taking it too far won’t be invited back, simple as that.

There’s nowhere to hide in these cars and the fact you have to earn every mph and fight to maintain it is the essence of pure racing. The modifications mean the C1s slide and move around according to how you drive them. A fractionally greedy corner approach results in ugly understeer while artistic trail- or left-foot braking can be exploited to rotate the car into the corner and gain whole seconds.

I manage this once through La Source and the satisfaction is still making me fizz a week later, likewise the sideways at 90mph approach to Pouhon when I came in a little too hot one lap.

It’s at this point most successful championships lose the plot and money starts talking. Not in the C1s. If anything the organizers are doubling down on regulations, a recent deal with Nankang meaning the control tire will be manufactured to spec, sparing the faff and expense of shaving down road rubber. A new direct-sale brake pad meanwhile lasts a season rather than a race and saves more money for teams.

And as demand for grid space increases so are the races getting bigger, the Club confirming a new 24-hour round on Silverstone’s full Grand Prix circuit next April. It’s a sign this little series is now outgrowing its club circuit roots and able to fill internationally renowned, F1-grade venues. Meyer is already having a second car built with the aim of selling seats to American drivers, joking he could fill 20 cars if he could field them.

Want in? Get yourself on the C1 Racing Club’s match-making forum with a fistful of dollars and you’re good to go for less than a transatlantic air fare. See you there.

Dan Trent has been working as a car writer for 15 years, several of which were spent editing Chris Harris while he was at Pistonheads, from which he has several stories not for repeating here.

McATTACK TRIO DOMINATE SPA WEEKEND

44 cars made the trip to Belgium to join the Belgian, French and Dutch C1’s as part of the 2CV 24 Heures.

With the race starting in glorious sunshine and 25C, it went through heavy rain, thunder and lightning and fog, before its Sunday afternoon conclusion.

The McAttack trio of Declan McDonnell, Joe Wiggin and Simon Walker-Hansell already had wins at Pembrey, Snetterton and Croft under their belt, before taking pole for the weekend’s race, over two seconds up on second best Preptech UK, with Carlito Mirraco, Cody Hill, Ryan Firth, Simon Byrne and Bill Kirkpatrick.

There was some confusion at the start, with a late announcement of split grids, which saw the UK C1’s, join the Belgian and Dutch drivers on the Grand Prix grid.

However David Watson’s Atomic Racing car was sent to the wrong grid and was forced to start from the pitlane, but was released half a lap before the rest of his grid, which showed him as the class leader for the first five laps.

The actual lead was a terrific five-car battle, with McAttack’s Walker-Hansell, Old Hat’s Daniel Bruce, Welch Motorsport’s Tommy Field, Hurricane Motorsport’s Adam Higgins and Preptech’s Mirraco.

But the safety car was soon out after Rhys Lloyd’s Amigo Motorsport car had slowed for a yellow flag at Blanchimont and was hit very hard in the rear by Faisal Bin Laden in the second Preptech car. Lloyd was taken to the medical centre and wasn’t allowed to drive again until the morning.

The changes among the lead group were many, Walker-Hansell tried to break away a few times, but Field also led with both Higgins and Mirraco inches behind.

As the end of the first hour approached, Bruce had started to lose touch with the lead quartet. “Everyone was swapping and changing in the slipstream, it was incredible. But then when we came to lap at 2CV at Blanchimont I lost the tow and had to hold off Pro-Drivers Alex Sedgwick for fifth,”  said Bruce.

Overall it was Walker-Hansell from Field, Higgins and Mirraco, with Bruce fifth and Adam Burgess sixth for Team C-Tron C1, with Sedgwick and Kraken’s Stewart Linn close behind.

Most teams had planned to go just over the two hours before making their first stops, but Walker-Hansell was the first of the frontrunners to stop and hand to Wiggin. “Each time I managed to get a break, they got me back up the hills, as I am carrying a bit extra weight,” he admitted.

Mirraco had the lead, but Field had dropped to the back of the lead quartet. The first 1 ¼ hours were very good but the clutch cable broke and there was just no pull out of the corners,” he explained after dropping well down the leaderboard.

“I was just trying to keep my pace consistent, as it was so tight at the front, like being back in Fiesta’s or Mini’s again,” Mirraco added.

Three hours down and varying strategies had McAttack a lap up on the C1 Club car of William Burgess, but Hurricane ‘s Adam and Bob Higgins, were 12 secs back in third, while GMP had shot up to fourth, with Adam Lucas, Chris Astley and Matthew Jeffrey sharing the early stints.

Kraken had lost ground, dropping to 11th, while Preptech continued to run fifth, with Firth taking over from Hill for the third stint, while Cockwombles completed the top six, with Tristan Judge, Scott Lawrence and Zoltan Csabai sharing.

Into darkness it was initially fine and dry, but the weather was to take a severe turn.

Fox Motorsport had come through strongly and became McAttack’s closest challenger. After 4 hrs they were third, having started with Nick Halstead, before Graham Davidson, Andrew Perry and Daniel Quintero took over.

Preptech continued strongly too and joined McAttack and Fox in the fight for the podium, after Hurricane dropped to fourth and Cockwombles continued their progress.

There were plenty of dramas along the way and as the predicted bad weather arrived, the safety car became considerably busier.

“I got in after five hours and did a 2hr 40mins stint, but Simon go the thunder and lightning, then came the rain and the fog. But being on a different strategy, it was hard to tell who our main threats were,” said McDonnell, as McAttack completed the half way point a lap up on Cockwombles, who had Old Hat and Fox chasing them, both a further lap down, Fox having had a spell in front earlier too.

The Spy Motorsport quartet of Peter Young, Paul O’Reilly, Brent Millage and Jon Barnes made good progress in the early hours though, into fifth from C-Tron C1.

Off the leaderboard though went Hurricane, after Adam Higgins crashed heavily. “I lost the back end turning in at Pouhon, thought I had held it and it snapped the other way into the barrier at about 90mph,” he explained. Preptech had also plunged down the order, as the battle scars continued to show.

There was a catastrophe too for Old Hat. Bruce had hauled them up to second place after 13hrs, but after Callum Hutchings had taken over, he collected the pitwall on his way out and although the car was eventually repaired, they were out of contention.

For McAttack it was more self-preservation through the second half. McDonnell took over from Walker-Hansell before handing to Wiggin to bring it home. “I had been knocked off at the chicane, so we knew we had to be careful still,” said McDonnell. “I had gone through some of the worst weather around 2am, the wipers didn’t work and it was all smears. But it was so nerve wracking at the end, people wanted to play but I couldn’t take any risks,” said Wiggin after sealing victory by two laps.

Cockwombles managed to keep Fox at bay for second, but only had 10.934 secs in hand in the flag. “Zoltan handed me the car for the last stint almost out of tyres, after Tristan decided we would stay on the wets,” said Cockwombles Lawrence. “Some dodgy people hit us too,” Judge added.

“I think we could have had second. I came in early for one stop after a half spin at Pouhon, to get the tailgate shut,” said Fox’s Perry. “I have never not been on the podium when I have raced at Spa, great fun too,” Davidson added.

C-Tron C1 had been looking like podium finishers too until they were disqualified in the penultimate hour, after a flat battery necessitated a push start from the pits. One of the crew was then caught on camera stepping onto the live track and dancing.

Misty Racing had been consistent in the early hours and it paid dividends when others hit trouble. “We had no real concerns at all, and then when it said P4 with 30 minutes to go, I thought that’ll do,” said team boss Steve Kite, who brought the car home after sharing with Wayne Rockett, Matt Allen, Richard Anderson and Richard Isherwood.

Bianco Developments also came through strongly at the end for fifth, having climbed from 14th at halfway, “it could have been a lot better, but we got a drive through penalty for a driver going over his three hour maximum,” said Giles Billingsley, who shared with son Jon, Simon Cresswell and Riccardo Losselli.

Complete with broken exhaust the Pro-Drivers, Sedgwick, Katie Milner, Scott Jeffs, Andy Mollison and Cameron Davies completed the top six. “We were down on power a little with the exhaust, but we had a drive through penalty during the night,” said Davies.

Spy’s challenge had ended during Sunday morning, when a wheel broke with Barnes at the wheel, while in third place. “It was making a horrible grinding noise and then the front wheel came off,” he explained.

So in into seventh came the second Preptech car of Andy Shovel, Luke Alen-Buckley, Sam Moores, Faisal Bin Laden and Nilesh Parmar. “The car was just great, but the tyres were wrecked though,” said Parmer.

GMP’s Adam Lucas, Chris Astley, Matthew Jeffrey, Thomas Mallett, Jordan Sanders and Paul Brown were eighth, despite Lucas collecting a puncture in the early hours, a few near misses and a stop go penalty for exceeding track limits 15 times! “Not all the same driver,” added Team boss Garry Parkes.

The first of the Academy cars of Stephen Nuttall, Matt Dyer, Paul Donkin and Elliott Norris was ninth after holing the radiator in the fifth hour and in 10th came the Cock Endurance sextet of John Moon, Conrad Bos, Marcus Batty, Andrew Hinch, Adam Cunnington and Adam Norris, after picking up a penalty for one driver going over his limit.

Out of the 44 starters only two were unclassified, one of the Mission Motorsport entries and Team Green Racing.

PUBLISHED BY PETER SCHERER FOR C1 RACING CLUB, 9th OCTOBER 2018