Popular venues make for an exciting season.

The dates and venues for next year’s Kent Cams/Simpson Race Exhausts British Autograss Series were announced this week and have been met with praise and enthusiasm.
The title used above was the succinct response on Twitter by front running class three driver Becky Shaw, and there have been a number of similarly positive comments on social media since the announcement on Thursday.
It’s no secret that the BAS has benefited hugely from the inaugural running of the UK Autograss Championship; the smaller entries and subsequent return to longer heats and finals, creating a higher quality event for both driver and spectator, and the affordability of a more relaxed attitude for the host club have led to this year’s series being regarded as one of the best for many seasons. With all rounds next year being held at popular and esteemed venues, there is huge potential for next year to be another classic year for the BAS to continue the success of 2013.
The cancellation of the Solway round and its relocation to Scunthorpe’s venue at Blyton Park means that the club will effectively host back-to-back round of the championship, as the series will begin there next year on May 3/4. The venue is highly regarded for its hard-standing pit areas and for the quality of the track, which are valuable assets in the event of the kind of adverse weather conditions we experienced at the Men’s Nationals, and that led to Solway cancelling their round of the series.
Round two on June 21/22 will be the same as this season at the Cwmdu Car Club’s venue in Kington. The venue, known as ‘The Ovals’ offers an old-school style circuit with an unpredictable surface in its undulations that favours the thinking drivers. The finals at the venue this year offered some scintillating racing – the battles between Pete Robinson and Aaron Mackenzie in class three, and Rob Corbett and Luke Smith in class four will stick in the memory for a long time. The venue also offers arguably the best track view of any club from the top of the hill on the pits bend.
Much of the feedback offered regarding next year’s series was about the return of Javelin Park for the Stroud club on July 12/13 The scene of some incredible races over the years in the BAS and both Nationals, many of you are delighted to return to the huge power circuit once more, and even though the track has been moved slightly, it is virtually guaranteed to be a great event with the club benefiting from being able to start afresh on the same piece of land.
The decision to hold round four in south Wales on August 9/10 has been the subject of much work for NASA, and that this event has been sanctioned for the weekend after the Men’s Nationals means it will stop competitors potentially having to travel to and from that part of the world on separate occasions. The BAS will be held at the same venue that staged the season opener this year, while the Men’s Nationals will be on a virgin field at St Florence in west Wales, which offers a great chance for a week-long break in the school summer holidays in a beautiful part of the country.
With a number of brilliant Men’s Nationals events in mind, it’s remarkable that the Yorkshire Dales club have never hosted a BAS round at their Thornborough venue, so round five next season, on September 13/14, will be their first. The circuit and venue need no introduction as we’ve all been there when it’s fast and dry, and many will remember it being waterlogged for the Men’s event in 2012 where the club did a great job to channel away the standing water so the event could reach its conclusion.
The reserve date will be set for the equivalent weekend as this year though one hopes that the September 27/28 date will remain unused next season; that the weather will reach a lesser extremity compared to the past couple of years, and that we may have a year free of cancellations and rescheduling.