Registration Closes, the Series begins…
Registration for the 2016 British Autograss Series is now closed, with 555 drivers entered, very similar to those numbers of 2013 & 2014 but slightly short of 2015. With all rounds open once again this year to all comers the number of registered drivers is not a true representation of how many will actually race at each Round, but whatever the turnout you can be sure the calibre of driver & machinery is as high as ever and the standard of racing will be phenomenal. We ended the 2015 season with some of the closest title challenges, and best finals we’ve ever seen, and we only hope to take up where we left off.
As we’ve come to expect, Men’s classes Eight and Seven have the highest number of entrants with 70 and 56 drivers respectively. Classes Three and Six have proved more popular this year and join Classes One and Two at around the 40 mark with the other Mens classes (except Class Four) achieving approximately 30 entries. Of the Ladies Classes, it’s Class Two that is most popular with 19 registered drivers, although Classes One, Seven and Eight only fall short of this by 1 or 2 entries. All other classes (except Class Nine) have a healthy number of entries also. Meanwhile, in the Juniors it is the Saloons that have proved more popular this year with their 27 entries to the Specials 21. Last years Junior Saloon Champion Ollie Stevens has graduated to Men’s Class One this year, Class Nine and Ten Champion Phil Cooper has switched his Class Ten entry to Class Eight this year and in the Ladies Sarah Bateman has moved from Class Five to Seven, all other Champions return to the same class to defend their titles.
On the strength of a great closing round last season, there are few better ways to be starting the season than at the picturesque Red Roses venue of the South Wales League. As one of the sport’s most experienced Leagues, South Wales League are also blessed with one of the fastest tracks in the country and are well placed to open our 2016 Series. This will be the fifth time the League have staged the opening round of the Series, they did so in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2013 but have hosted other Rounds on a number of other occasions including last years Round Two. In previous years we have suffered the most extreme of weather conditions, be it the 2010 sea fog episode or the tail end of Hurricane Bertha causing the cancellation of Round Four in 2014, but we have also experienced glorious sunshine, strong winds, and perfectly dry conditions (cue water cart and lots of grumbles about that instead!). There’s a mixed forecast for the week ahead, giving sunshine and showers but in reality it is too early to say just what the weather will do.
With winter re-builds galore and lots of new machinery appearing in all classes it’s impossible to start talking about who’s going to do what at this stage but with five excellent clubs to visit this season we are clearly in for a great series. Each club is a known quantity and all venues, bar perhaps Border Counties, are familiar to most competitors and to the British Series. Here’s a reminder that the dates and hosts are:
1. 30th April & 1st May – South Wales
2. 25th & 26th June – Scunthorpe
3. 16th & 17th July – St Neots
4. 20th & 21st August – Yorkshire Dales
5. 17th & 18th September – Border Counties
RESERVE – 1st & 2nd October
For more information about Round One please visit our facebook page where we will endeavour to keep you updated with all of the latest information and happenings in the British Series.