For those who have already done so, thank you for registering for the 2013 REIS – Get Connected MSA Asphalt Rally Championship – we hope you have a very enjoyable and successful year with us. For those who have not yet registered you can do so on-line at
https://www.btrdamembership.com/index.php. With the number of registrations already received for the new season, plus those who have indicated they will be joining prior to the start of the first event, we are sure that this year will be just as challenging for all involved as 2012!
The purpose of this newsletter is to outline some of the Championship’s bits & pieces in advance of the first round as inevitably, on the day, your attention will be focussed on the rally itself. We hope you find the following useful but, if you have any questions, please
call us via our contact details below.
On registration you will receive your BTRDA membership card. However, don’t worry if it hasn’t arrived by the Tour of Epynt as I will be on hand to confirm your membership. The card carries both your BTRDA Club membership number and Championship registration number (drivers start with a 9 and codrivers with an 8 – e.g. 9001, 8001). You will also be
able to register at the Event.
CHAMPIONSHIP SIGNING-ON
Signing-On before each Championship event is a very important process for us. It is primarily to identify which Class, Category & Group you will be running in on any particular round. These details are then fed into the results system prior to the production of Championship points and, so, we need to get it right. All you have to do is declare your class eligibility and tick a few boxes – nothing too arduous but, nevertheless, vital to the
correct allocation of championship points.
Of course, the other purpose of signing-on is to meet up, hear how things are going and generally enjoy the Championship year with you. It’s also an opportunity to hand out replacement decals and discuss any issues you may have.
CHAMPIONSHIP SPONSORS
We are very pleased to be continuing into the second year of the partnership with our main Championship sponsors REIS and Get Connected, two companies who are now well established through their high-profile involvement in motorsport. With their very valuable support, they have helped to raise the profile of the Championship, particularly in relation to the introduction of TV coverage of every round.
REIS are motorsport insurance specialists for car and motoring enthusiasts, as well as the Motorsports Industry. Their friendly personal service provides tailored products for your own individual needs. They don’t just provide insurance for competitor vehicles but
probably areas of your motorsport life you have not even considered. So, if you want to know what REIS can do for you, just visit their website at http://www.reis.co.uk or call 0115 965 1020.
Get Connected is the largest independent mobile phone provider based in Wales which, if you consider the competition in this particular market, is a remarkable achievement. They have over 70 high street stores throughout England and Wales, as well as
online stores which you can find at either http://www.get-connected.com or
http://www.upgrademyorangemobile.co.uk .
Get Connected is ready to supply your mobiles for motorsport, whether you need 1 or 100! For general enquiries, call 01873 858811. In addition, they also have an excellent design and print company trading under the name of ‘Get Noticed’.
DECALS – FIRST ISSUE AND REPLACEMENT
Championship decals have now been posted to all registered drivers as at 15th February, so you should receive them in time to put them on before the Tour of Epynt. With them is a letter explaining exactly where they must be fitted to comply with the Championship
regulations.
The purpose of the decals is two-fold – firstly, to recognise the significant contribution each sponsor puts into the Championship and, secondly, to identify your car to the TV crews when they are filming on events. Without the screen strip, your car will not be considered for possible inclusion in the programme for that particular round. Decals will be available at the Championship signing on desk on each event.
SMS TEXT RESULTS – NEW FOR 2013
On most of the Championship events, North East Rally Services (NERS) provide results & Championship points. Using software from Tynemouth Computer Services (TCS), who have one of the most comprehensive results systems currently operating, it enables competitors, spectators and sponsors to follow events through the live web results service. TCS introduced a considerably updated system in 2012 providing greater flexibility and information for all users. On some rounds of the Championship, NERS will be providing SMS text results. To book direct with NERS go to http://www.nersresults.co.uk/sms/ Events likely to be covered are the Tour of Epynt, Manx National, Jim Clark National, Mewla and Wexford.
CHAMPIONSHIP ELIGIBILITY AND EVENT SCRUTINEERING
Ensuring that competing cars meet their eligibility requirements as set down in the Championship regulations and the MSA Competitors Yearbook (Blue Book) is an important part of any Championship. To do this, cars may be randomly selected at the end of an event for conformity checks to be carried out by the Championship Eligibility Scrutineer.
No-one should be concerned if they are asked to attend such checks as we would much prefer to confirm your car is correct than find a problem. However, the onus lies with the individual competitor when it comes to eligibility and it is, therefore, important that you know what regulations your car is required to comply with. If you have any doubts, please contact the Championship Eligibility Scrutineer.
One common mistake is the failure by competitors running Group A or N cars to carry an original (not a copy) set of the relevant homologation papers in the car at all times. By not carrying them or having incorrect ones, you risk not scoring any championship points on that event. A simple job, but often forgotten!
SPECIAL STAGE TV PROGRAMMES
Following on from the successful TV coverage of the Championship in 2012, Special Stage will again be providing coverage of all nine rounds of the Championship on Motors TV.
Filmed and produced by the very experienced MCVideo company, led by Wayne Goldring, the programmes, running under the title name of ‘Special Stage’, will appear on Motors TV throughout the year, including an end of year review in December.
The programmes have been very conveniently scheduled to run on Friday nights and the anticipated schedule is as follows :
Tour of Epynt Friday 29th March – 9pm
Manx National Friday 31st May – 9pm
Jim Clark National Friday 21st June – 9pm
ALMC Stages Friday 26th July – 9pm
Tyneside Stages Friday 30th August – 9pm
Mewla Rally Friday 13th September – 9pm
Wexford Stages Friday 27th September – 9pm
Patriot Stages Friday 18th October – 10pm
Cheviot Stages Friday 8th November – 10pm
Season Review Friday 20th December – 10pm
Any changes will be advised in future Asphalt Asides. If, for any reason, you miss the programme, the recordings will be available shortly afterwards on the Championship website: http://asphaltrallying.com/
Special Stage always want to make the programmes as extensive and entertaining as possible and, in order to achieve this, depend very much on information received from you both during and after each event. Therefore, they would love to hear from you with
snippets on how your day went and any particular incidents or dramas. They will also consider taking film coverage taken from your in-car cameras.
CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDAR/CONTACTS 2013
March 10 Tour of Epynt (Llandovery)
Baryan Joseph 07895 085585
baryan@hotmail.co.uk
Robert Wilson 01639 849413
wilsonrobbie@hotmail.com
May 10/11 Manx National Rally (Douglas)
Mark Quayle 07624 479587
mark.quayle@manxautosport.org
Terri Cook 07624 417870
entries@manxautosport.org
May 31/June 1 Jim Clark National Rally (Kelso)
George Hay 07966 030596
george.hay@jimclarkrally.com
Dave Malthouse 07792 226914
entries@jimclarkrally.com
July 7 ALMC Stages (Dublin)
Raymond Scullion +353 87 6187829
coc@almcstagesrally.com
Lyndsay Doran +353 86 1519697
entries@almcstagesrally.com
August 11 Tyneside Stages (Otterburn)
Maurice Mabon 01665 602690
maurice@mabonm.freeserve.co.uk
Maurice Mabon 01665 602690
maurice@mabonm.freeserve.co.uk
August 25 Mewla Rally (Builth Wells)
Brian Jones 07974 948193
brian@epyntmc.co.uk
Keith &Trina Edwards 01982 551246
mewla.rally@virgin.net
Sept. 7/8 Wexford Stages Rally (Wexford)
Pat O’Dowd +353 87 9184022
podowd1@eircom.net
Karen O’Dowd +353 86 0247121
kodowd1@eircom.net
Sept. 29 Patriot Stages Rally (Caerwent)
Neil Fuller 07798 868865
neilfuller12@hotmail.com
Fiona Evans 01873 881043
caerwentrally@aol.com
October 20 Cheviot Keith Knox Stages (Otterburn)
Charlie Tynan 0191 2583509
secretary@cheviotstages.org.uk
Gordon Bradford 0191 4960926
entries@cheviotstages.org.uk
30th November: Awards Evening, Moor Hall Hotel, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands
CHAMPIONSHIP CONTACT DETAILS
We value any communications from competitors and therefore if you have any news, comments, questions or simply require advice we would like to hear from you.
Coordinator – Andrew Haill: Tel 0121 313 1416, Mobile 07836 729 549, andrew.haill@btconnect.com
Eligibility Scrutineer – Colin Salkeld: Tel 0191 492 1771, Mobile 07860 960 489, colinsalkeld@btinternet.com
Website – http://asphaltrallying.com
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/asphaltrallying
Twitter – @AsphaltRallying
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