Gurston Down attendance

[Terry Everall]

This was poorly attended by only 2 people

Howard Gaskin in class D and Barny Francis in class J1 (Mini)

Looks like a review for next year

Only 2 practice and 2 Timed runs of around 35- 40 secs !

[Howard]

Yes, but what a 35 secs!

I made a three and a half hour drive to go there, followed by a 4 hour drive the same day to go to Hethel for the next day, followed by a three hour drive home. It's worth that much to me.

Some of us like hills and their unique character.  It's not all about seat time.  I know I said I might start considering circuits more after bending my car at Wiscombe but they still have a special place in my heart and I'm bitterly disappointed about the loss of Barbon, Wiscombe and Llys Y Fran from our calendar. Let's not lose Gurston as well.  If the trend continues I may well have to consider other championships instead of the Speed Series.

[Terry Everall]

Howard..I understand your concerns and interests....you are supporting the hills but others clearly are not!

The best supported hills seem to be Shelsley, Loton Park and Harewood

[B.RAD]

I think this year is just a one off Terry, it is usually very well attended. Like with all things, there are ebbs and flows of attendance, it wouldn't make sense to cancel an event based on one year alone. I think we'd all like to see Wiscombe back as well.

Keith would have been there but made a mistake with his entry

Barry would have gone but has decided not to race this year

Martin would have been there but his cars not ready

Graham Frankland is usually there but not sure why not this time (maybe in Spain?)

Also if you take Gurston off the calendar, there is literally nothing left south of Watford Gap.

 

[pete g]

i wanted to go but decided on hethel instead .unfortunately it takes to long to pack up and do two events so far away on the same weekend . 

keep taking them away and you will  lose more competitors   .your choice 

[Terry Everall]

Pete please remember that this is not my choice or any other single person on the SSOT. The choice is actually to be decided on what competitors want and are prepared to support by attending and making it a worthwhile and sustainable event in our calendar.

Gurston has been reducing in numbers over the last few years and thats why we need people's opinions

Many competitors are saying that they want events where there is a good attendance of fellow SS drivers across a range of classes.

[woodman]

When I was competing properly I would have liked to visit Loton more than one W/E in a season

It is , ( IMHO) the best all round hill.

To lose any more hills would be a shame, they are all very challenging  in their own way.

Perhaps attendance was low because of the shift to a more northern/Sprint  basis/calender?

 

[Terry Everall]

Dont forget travel involves east and west not just south and north. Please remember that the centre of England is Birmingham not Watford! For example it takes me longer to get to Anglesey than it does to Snetterton or Hethel.

[Keith the Teeth]

As already stated I would have gone but messed up my entry.  Gurston is a brilliant event and a fantastic hill. 

Thankfully I managed to get a late entry at Hethel but not many people there either. Perhaps we had better drop that as well?

 

[woodman]

Yes , Birmingham is centre.

how many events are south of there?

it a spiraling effect with more Hills/southern events being removed = less southern competitors = poor attendance = more hills/southern events removed

[Terry Everall]

Last year we removed Wiscombe due to a lack of support and also Barbon for the same reason ( 1 north and 1 south ). We have also removed Olivers Mount at Scarborough a few years ago.  This year we still have 37 events in the calendar and they are the most well attended events and hence most popular.

So we have more events than most clubs to try and satisfy the wishes of the majority 

[Ian Podmore]

Just a thought but is 37 events not spreading things too thinly?

[Howard]

Quote

Just a thought but is 37 events not spreading things too thinly?

Agreed.  in 2008 we had 102 entrants and 22 events. This year we have 54 entrants and 37 events.

[woodman]

I think the drop in O/A competitors is more to do with the MSA onslaught on our wallets with new rules/reg rather than the number of events or anything that the SSOT have changed.

But I do feel that there is a movement to a more sprint based championship (eg  with 12 event at Blyton/anglesey )

[Howard]

Clearly something is up with the Speed Series attendance at certain hills. The events themselves seem to be well attended - Gurston was full, so other people clearly enjoy them. It's a puzzle why there's been a drop off from the Speed Series. There were 22 of us at Gurston in 2010.  I had a couple of years off competing in 2015/2016 so that didn't help the attendance at Wiscombe, Barbon and Llys y Fran, but it's not all about me :-)