My MSA National B Racing license arrived this week, and so today I took the plunge and registered for the 750 Motor Club Sport Specials championship. I had been toying with the idea of the BARC Front Engined Open Sportscar series, but on balance I preferred to race amongst the more eclectic mix of cars the Sport Specials attracts, plus the championship visits some circuits I really want to race at - Cadwell Park, Donington, Anglesey in particular. 

There are 7 rounds, and 2 races take place at each round, so there are 14 races altogether. Your best 12 races count for points so if you have to miss one round, it doesn't matter. 

The calendar is as follows: 
Brands Hatch Indy   26 April (Kent)
Snetterton 300   25 May (Norfolk)
Rockingham   5-6 July (Northamptonshire)
Anglesey Coastal   26-27 July (North West Wales)
Silverstone Intl   23-24 August (Northamptonshire)
Cadwell Park   13-14 September (Lincolnshire)
Donington Park National 4 October (Leicestershire)

This afternoon I managed to mount the exhaust properly, and I modified the sidepod to allow a little more ventilation. Also ran the engine up and while it ran OK there was a fair bit of backfiring and the air was rather rich, so we might need to do a little tweaking when it goes for a dyno session at Novatech in Slough in the next couple of weeks. 

Hope to see you there! 

Having passed my medical earlier this week I was able to complete my application for a National B Race Licence, which is obviously a big step towards going racing, and this afternoon I spent a pleasant few hours in the garage fitting a fully plumbed in FEV fire extinguisher kit, the new TRS 4 point harness, removing the passenger seat & wiper motor to save a few kilos, and fixing the rear lights. All jobs successfully completed, next thing to do think about is a dyno test to see how many horses have escaped, but also to work out which class it will fall into.

The 750 Motor Club have finally got their 2014 regulations out, copy of which can be found here. While the Sport Specials offers a superb mix of circuits, the championship is held over 7 2-day weekends throughout the year and so requires a fair level of commitment to participate at every event in both time & money. The upside is a superb organising club, great coverage, an interesting mix of cars, and circuits I really want to race at.

However, I am contemplating another series that has recently come out the woodwork, apparently being sanctioned by the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) and loosely labelled "Front Engined Open Sportscar Series". The rules are more liberal, allowing forced induction and higher power to mass ratios than the 750MC Sport Specials, and I would expect the field to include a strong field of high powered Caterhams and Westfields; my Veeteor LSR would even be allowed which gives me some dangerous thoughts for the future... 

The series of one off events are being planned at Rockingham, Lydden Hill, Brands Hatch Indy, Donington Park, & Thruxton, and with 2 races on a single day makes for a slightly more economic proposition. So now I have to choose whether to do one series or the other, or a bit of both, which is a nice decision to have to make. Hmm...strokes chin...

The next stage in my preparation for racing activities in 2014 is to ensure that my car and myself are up to the safety standards required to be eligible to race. 

Having recently passed my ARDS test, and to complete the application for the MSA National B racing licence, I have to get the sign off from my doctor that I can see, my heart isn't about to give up, and that my arms and legs work. So tomorrow I am off to the my local doctors for a racing medical, which should take about 20 minutes and will cost £60. 

On the car front, I have bought a transponder, which is a neat little electronic device that sends a signal to the circuits timing systems, and allows them to record your laps and work out who has come where in a race. Supplied by MyLaps, the Flex" transponder I bought comes with a 1 year subscription and mounting bracket, at a cost of around £140 including VAT delivered to my door. The system comes with easy to use software 

Other safety items I need to install to meet the championship regulations are a fully plumbed in 2.25 litre Fire Extinguisher, and a new safety harness, both sourced from Rally Design. My existing fire extinguisher is only a hand held item, but the new one can be operated with a remote pull handle, and will discharge into both the cockpit and engine bay simultaneously. This cost £99.50 plus VAT.

Safety harnesses have an expiry date to avoid deterioration in the webbing, and my existing harness had expired. So I had to invest in a new TRS 4 point harness with aircraft style release latch, costing £84.50. 

I will fit both the harness and fire extinguisher to the car over the weekend so more pics to follow; all that will be left is to make sure that all the lights work and then I can book the car in for a dyno test, as I also need to confirm power output.

Once the car is ready to go I will have to decide whether or not to enter the 750 Sport Specials, or a new BARC Front Engined Open Sportscar series, which has rather more open regulations than the 750MC SS and is aimed at producing a face off between a bunch of lairy Caterhams and Westfields. Hmm....