As some of you will know The North Western League approached The Cholmondeley Pageant of Power with regards to getting Autograss Racing included in this years event and they have been successful. The event takes place at Cholmondeley Castle between the 15th and 17th of June 2012.  

As the NS club is practically neighbours with the Cholmondeley Estate the North Western League have kindly invited the North Shropshire Grass Track Car Club to take part in their display and I am pleased to announce that last night the committee voted in favour of accepting this offer.

Final details are still to be arranged but at the moment it is looking like 6 North Shropshire cars will be picked by the committee to show on the day, the club will have its own display stand and area to show 6 of the best North Shropshire cars. I am certain that it will look pretty impressive together with the stands producd by the North Western League clubs; ARC, North Wales and Leewood.

If like me you have always fancied going to this event but never got round to it, maybe this is the year to make the effort and go to give support to what is the ultimate in racing as far as we are concerned! 

It is hoped that there will be a discount code issued in order that club members can book tickets at a reduced price, keep an eye on this website as more details will be provided as they become available. However, if you are desperate to book your tickets i’ve just booked mine on-line using the following Discount Code that Lynn Cooper posted on the Yorkshire Dales Forum, which is AGDT

Check out The Cholmondeley Pageant of Power website for more details of the other attractions that will be available at this prestigious event  http://www.cpop.co.uk/

If anyone has any objections to any of the pictures that I have posted I will be happy to remove them,  just let me know. Emily….

The pits was packed when we arrived, we got unloaded and got through scrutineering, then I had a good mooch around the pits taking some pics to put in the “Gallery” section while Jacko set up the start line. The pictures I took are nowhere near as good quality as the professionals but they will be posted up at some point this week (time permitting)

The track looked in good condition and it was definitely the right thing to do to cancel the first meeting as all of the hard work put in before the season started would of been a waste of time and as you know the workers are all valuable volunteers.

There was a good turnout of league cars which was nice to see, many thanks for your support, it would be good if this could be kept up for the rest of the season. We also had a few visiting drivers who are always welcome, we hope you had a good day and we look forward to seeing you again.

With the drivers meeting out of the way the racing got started. From my memory the first 2 heats flew by without incident. Unfortunately in the third set of heats we had a few incidents and the St Johns Ambulance team were kept on their toes!

There was plently of tussling going on in the Junior Saloons with NS207 Tom Pipe and NS294 Ben Dorsett coming away with damage, also a few of the top league cars suffered with mechanical problems off the start line which I am sure was very frustrating for the drivers but I am certain they will sort their cars ready for the next Qualifier at STAR on Sunday 22nd April.

“Re-Run Trophy of the Day” goes to the Class 2 drivers who got plenty of races in towards the end of the meeting…. its a wonder you all had enough petrol!

Class 2 NW51 “Smithy” had a roll coming down the finish straight, as did NS206 Joe Pipe in his first season in Class Four, his car looked a mess. Happy to report that both drivers were okay which is a testiment to the strength of the cars build. 

“Walked Away Trophy of the Day” goes to our League Chief Marshall Steve Atkins (Inch) and also the Assistant League Chief Marshall Dave Law (Loggy) who were both hit by the same car, some would say they were lucky to walk away, others would say they were unlucky to get hit in the first place! It was a freak accident and I am sure the driver was just as shocked as the marshalls, the pits went very quiet while St Johns attended, thanks to the first aiders who went to help (sorry dont know your names but if you let me know I will put them in). Best wishes to everyone that “walked away” from the meeting with bruising we hope the following week(s) are not too uncomfortable!

“Worst Driving Trophy” goes to Pusher for running into the back of Chris Smith’s Jeep.

Bangers and Smash Photography attended the meeting to capture the days events, visit http://www.bangersandsmash.co.uk/gallery/north-shropshire/2012-04-01  

Also Simon Tickle attended the meeting to take pics of the day check out http://www.anyhowracing.co.uk/ to see if you were snapped, Simon also has some on-board footage of Dan Owen NS15 in his Junior Special which is worth checking out.

This meeting had a new angle to it from a spectators point of view as I am pleased to announce that we now have a club commentator, Jake Sanson ~ I personally couldnt hear it on the start line but according to feedback I have heard he did a very good job and long may it continue. There is nothing worse than watching cars go round and round with no information!

Many thanks to all that chipped in to help run the meeting, if you helped on the gate, scrutineering, signing on, marshalling, covering the start line while I did my racing, litter picking believe me whatever you did it made a difference. I am sure you will know that we do have a loyal band of volunteers that do the regular jobs but we are always short of marshalls so if your reading this and wishing you’d helped dont be shy next meeting, even if you can only do 3 or 4 races it does help! Special Thanks to Linda Owen for the “Next Meeting” sign that she has made and is happy to keep up to date for the club. Extra Special Thanks to Pat for providing me with a pack of Eccles Cakes! Just what you need after a day on the start line with racing in-between…

This write up is my own personal opinion and not necessarily the opinion of the North Shropshire Committee, if you saw the meeting from a different perspective and want anything adding just get in touch by emailing me startlinem@talktalk.net or telephone 01948 666936 or visit me in the pits NS444 Boggy!

Thats all for now Folks:!: Emily Jacks.

1st Class LARGE (was 75p) now 90p.

2nd Class LARGE (was 58p) now 69p.

The postage needs to be a LARGE stamp due to the Members Handbook being so Thick!

So if you have ever wondered what the track looks like from the Canal? Well now you can see thanks to Bryan Burgess (Bash) kindly sending in this picture…

If you have any pictures you would like putting on the website just email them to me as a JPEG image and I will do my best. email startlinem@talktalk.net Thanks!

If you were there & I didnt get you with my camera, sorry!