The newest venture got off to a great start on Thursday the 16th October 2014 when we ran the first round of a six event series of Airedale and Pennine Production Car Autotests. It has been several months in gestation and was inspired by ideas presented at a meeting with the Bradford Metropolitan Council’s City Centre Regeneration Manager and senior Police. They are concerned that performance car owners apparently have few outlets for their enthusiasm so are tempted towards illegal activities including racing on the M606. Neil Andrews has for many years pioneered the idea that we should be doing something positive to maintain a healthy membership but we have constantly met with difficulty in gaining permission to use suitable venues. Because rallying needs such a great deal of organisation and trialling involves the impression that land is damaged we decided that if we could find a large car park or similar, we would run an Autotest. Following a recommendation from the Council’s Manager I met with the Manager of Richard Dunn’s Sports Centre in order to assess the possibility of using their ‘hard’ surface football pitch. It soon became obvious that there were six pitches available, two huge areas of three linked play areas. At the time the weather was dry and the surface was rock-hard with a fine covering of shale, wonderful for our purpose. How it would respond in the rain was anyone’s guess. A few days of worrying what needs to be done, a few more reading the blue book, preparing and copying paperwork, several telephone conversations and emails later and it was time to collect the cones from their resting place, where all the snails in the world are born, behind a shed somewhere in the wilderness of Allerton. It’s a good job I have a sizable trailer, it was full! I was very greatly relieved when a helpful grandson offered to assist in the laying out of the 100 traffic cones and a half mile of barrier tape. In an hour and a half two tests and a parking area were surrounded with a crowd control tape to keep the surging masses safe. As people started to arrive I relaxed more and I could hand out the time cards and test diagrams. A good number of helpers turned out to time and otherwise support the event for which I am eternally grateful. The ten competitors drove the same test twice and discounted their slowest time, then moved on to the other test. So twenty attempts for a tenner was seen as good value and apart from a little re-adjustment of cones to minimise damaging the ground surface, it went pretty well. As everyone helped to dismantle the course and re-stack the trailer I was able to calculate the results which were announced immediately. Although the pitch looked rather cut up under the floodlights and we attempted to smooth it out with a garden rake, the daylight of the following morning showed that nothing disastrous had happened. I was assured by the Centre Manager that a brushing over with a machine that the Parks Department used would soon sort out the wrinkles. He added that I should let him know about the other five dates that I wanted to book. Just what I wanted to hear! To hedge my bets during the winter months when the ash surface is vulnerable I met with a manager at The Bulls ground too. She showed me their access roads and car parks which are eminently suitable as they are well weathered tarmac which is very unlikely to become damaged despite our antics. I have not spoken to their finance person so dont know what rent they will want but I have approached the Motor Sport Association about a grant and I believe the Council may be able to do something similar for sports clubs. The story continues.....
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 18:23:13 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015