North Shropshire

After the wet build up to our first race meeting I expect most N.S members were getting abit twitchy about how the weather was going to be for our Qualifier… especially with STAR having no alternative but to sadly cancel their qualifier. As you are probably aware the scenic location of the NS track is not suited to wet conditions leading up to the meeting specifically for getting people off the field once racing has finished. Well… fortunately the weather gods were on our side for once, after last year it was with huge relief that the day was perfect. Sunny, Warm and the Wind blowing in the right direction (most of the time!) we couldnt of asked for a better day

Ernie and his team had been busy in the weeks leading up to the meeting, I think it was mainly Ernie & Pusher who we have to thank for the new double armco section (mind you it was Ernie who tested it last year   Apart from a marshal post being dinked the track survived the meeting without any major damage, which is always good.

We did have a delay due to an incident that needed Ambulance attendance in the spectators area, I am sure that everyone wishes Ian a speedy recovery.  We also had an unfortunate problem with Diesel for the tractor (in that it ran out of diesel … oops) and I think the major problem was with NS members not preparing to volunteer for marshalling this is not really very good as the meeting dragged on till nearly 7pm. Mostly my own opinion but I did find it hard to believe that with the meeting obviously running behind schedule I think only 2 NS members came forward to marshall.

I hope that NS members understand that we are all volunteers and we give up our time to run (hopefully) a good race meeting for you. We are not paid. Yes it is our choice to give up our time, but when an appeal is put out on the speakers for marshalls, with the racing stopped until people come forward and to only get 2 NS members I think it is beyond belief and is taking the mick abit… we normally put up with minimal help at normal meetings but Sundays meeting was hopefully an exceptional set of circumstances which snowballed into major delays that hopefully wont get repeated at our next meeting.

Anyway… thats my moan over with. Please help if we ask, we only ask because we need it.

The highlights of the day for me were Ernie Ashley NS143 (chairman) winning the 1st Class 3 race, we knew you could do it Ernie Well Done.

Then Derick James SR3 won the next class 3 race, well fought for as it was a full grid, deserved & very entertaining!

NS123 Rian Rowland showed some good racing spirit after having a heavy shunt yet still coming back out to race afterwards.  

NS83 Gareth Williams was absolutely flying off the start, I honestly felt like I was working on an aircraft carrier out at Sea when his Class 5 started off the Grid right next to me ..

We had quite a few cars doing controlled wheelies off the start line, particularly grid number 1 seemed the best grid for lifting front ends, must of the been the grip in that grid on the day? We think the post in the ground on the start line worked okay and as the starting bungee has been lowered for this year we hope everyone will see it better.

Special thanks goes to Lyndon Williams for some excellent flag waving on the bottom marshalls post.  I hope helping out made up for not racing?

Most races had full grids and on behalf of the committee I would like to thank all of the away drivers that made the effort to travel to NS, apart from the unfortunate delays we hope you enjoyed your visit and you will return in the future. I would also like to thank everyone that DID help in some way on Sunday, whether it was before the meeting started, during the meeting or afterwards it was appreciated.  Our next meeting is on Sunday 9th May, if you are reading this and would like to get involved with helping to run the meeting please just get in touch with any of the committee. You are Very Welcome to join us!

The club points will be updated as soon as possible once they are available.  Thats all for now Folks !

Already the last race meeting at North Shropshire has been & gone, its been a difficult year with the weather being against us for 2 meetings, so its no wonder the year seems to have gone quickly.

We had a dry meeting yesterday, a very good turn out which was a good way to end the year. The racing started on time and we had plenty of fast and very close racing which is always interesting for the spectators! Class 2′s, 3 and 7′s put on a good show and the Juniors were as eager as ever!  The club points from the days racing will be updated as soon as they are available.

Our chairman Ernie provided some entertainment when he got “dusted out” in his 2nd race and ended up checking the strength of the armco posts. Luckily he wasnt badly hurt and came back out racing later in the day. The Dads got a chance to race the Junior Specials which was good to see and the club marshalls race was also run.

A nice surprise was seeing some old faces, Mark & Shirley Lawrence, Tizzer and Dave Evans (obviously I dont mean that you’ve aged at all! but it must be 7+ years since we have seen you)… anyway it was nice to see you all there and we hope you enjoyed your return visit to North Shropshire and we hope to see you again next year

Martin had made a new start line for us, so now instead of pulling the bungee and ducking for cover when it gets cut we have a very efficient upwardly shooting start, which to re-set only takes one short pull with one finger! I must admit that in the past it has took me until about Thursday the following week to recover from pulling the bungee, this morning when I got up I couldnt tell I had done the start line, apart from the dodgy ankle of course!   its funny how you get used to doing a job a certain way, my foot kept trying to start the races and anyone watching may have noticed me going to the wrong start post a few times ! I hope the drivers liked the new start set up, we know one or two struggled to see the rope and this is something that will be discussed at the next committee meeting and we do have more plans for the start line next year as we struggle with the start grid wearing. 

So thats it for 2009. Track work is planned for the closed season, if you would like to get involved please tell Ernie so that he can let you know what is planned.  Keep your eye on the website as the dates for next year, the Club AGM and League AGM dates are still to be announced. Your vote does count at the AGM’S so we always recommend that you attend, its your way to try to make sure your opinions are listened to, plus if you fancy joining the committee its your opportunity to be voted on

Thanks to everyone that helped out this year, whether it was picking up litter, rolling up ropes or marshalling all day, no matter how large or small the job your help is appreciated by the committee.

See you at the Dinner Dance

Well we finally had abit of weather on our side, with not racing since May at North Shropshire it was nice to get back to Hinton Hall. There was quite a good turn out and plenty of close racing, we had a shower in the afternoon which kept the dust down and the track was in prime condition.

From the start line we can remember good racing in class 1, 2, 7 and Junior Specials. Very close and entertaining to watch, keep it up ! 

As some may know that we had some Very Keen Drivers, as such we got through about 8 bungee’s on the start line ! to keep us on our toes we also had a male driver who could’nt wait to get on the track and decided to go out with the ladies ! (mentioning no names), he ended up with a black flag just after a coneage incident on the bottom bend ! but it did make us laugh on the start line after such a tiring bungee snapping day.

It was nice that we had a visit from Autograss Review Magazine, the lady was busy taking photos throughout the day, please check out their website using the link on this website to see the pictures taken.

The club points have been updated, some of the new additions to the classes are not in the normal uniform state due to the loaned computer that I am using, as soon as Jacko gets me sorted out with another computer I will tidy them up, some classes are very close for the all important end of year trophies, which I am sure will make our last meeting of the year on 27th September very exciting ! 

Many thanks to everyone that helped out at the meeting, if you are reading this and you would like to marshall or help with the club in anyway please just call or email any of our friendly committee members.

Thanks must also go out to Panther Computers in Whitchurch & Market Drayton for the loan of this computer while ours is fixed (or scrapped !).

Results on the day were as follows:

Class One: SR295 Carl Whitfield ~ NS697 Josh Fowler.

Class Two: SR33 Pete Morgan ~ NS48 Stuart Belcher.

Class Three: NS293 Leon Dorsett ~ NS334 Ben Gould.

Class Four: NS71 Simon Lunt.

Class Five: NS76 Paul Darlington ~ SR42 Russell Cashion.

Class Six: NS434 Ben Gould ~ NS121 Ian Rogers.

Class Seven: SR2 Tommy Law ~ NS277 Alan Miles.

Class Eight: NS55 Geoff Berrisford ~ SR88 Drew Butters.

Class Nine: NS4 Johnny Williams ~ NS334 Sam Gould.

Class Ten: NS29 Mike Holroyd ~ P8EM Ian Morson.

Class Eleven: SR227 Dawn Faulkner ~ NS66 Beverley Holland.

Class Twelve: NS121 Carol Rowlands ~ NS122 Teri Rowlands.

Class Thirteen: No Entries.

Class Fourteen: NS11 Julie Thorborn.

Junior Saloons: NS19 Will Henry ~ NS206 Joe Pipe.

Junior Specials: NS151 Tom Chadwick ~ NS155 Matthew Berrisford.

Open Race : Allcomers Winner NS55 Geoff Berrisford.

Rear Wheel Open Winner : NS143 Ernie Ashley.

Front Wheel Open Winner : NS92 Darren Ikin.

Specials Open Winner : NS55 Geoff Berrisford.

Thats all folks ! any stories from this meeting for the website (either for now or future use) will be gratefully received please email them to me at: startlinem@talktalk.net

No results available for this meeting due to the heavy rain on the Thursday & Friday leading up to the meeting on Sunday and a grim forecast for race day Sunday , unfortunately we had no choice but  to cancel this race meeting.

The track is in perfect condition and we look forward to seeing everyone at our next meeting on the 23rd August.

! Keep your Fingers Crossed for some Good Weather !

No results available for this meeting due to the heavy rain on the Saturday and a grim forecast for race day Sunday , unfortunately we had no choice but  to cancel this race meeting.

The track is in perfect condition and we look forward to seeing everyone at our next meeting on the 19th of July.