MX-5 Club Track Day - SMP South Circuit - 27th October 2012

[Suspense]

Yes that's correct. Our tentative dates at SMP South are 4th May and 6th July ... both are Saturdays. Mike's trying to get one more on the south circuit in 2013. We're also hoping to fit in a driver training day at Marulan in March. All of this is work in progress and to be confirmed.

Is the third SMP date looking to be later in the year (i.e. like this year's)?

Sounds really good to have that variety in club days, both for different circuits to drive and for the different geographic locations to give everyone a good go.

[manga_blue]

Sounds like a good mix, it's a very good track for us. There are, however, some issues with SMP South, in fact with the whole SMP complex. I wouldn't want to see us commit too heavily to SMP without getting some assurances from them about improvements first.

We need to see provision of decent shade and shelter at the South circuit. This applies in the pits, the grid area and the track entry.

As it is now, the South circuit is very labour intensive for race control because of the poor view from the control room and absence of flag lights. We should think about pushing for lights and CCTV monitoring for the whole circuit.

The constant droning noise from the drift mob gets pretty tiring at the South circuit after a few hours. A few people who'd done a Supersprint round at the big circuit commented that it's a nightmare down at the main pits, with many people leaving early to escape it. We need to press SMP to apply proper noise control limits and enforcement there. I personally didn't think the noise from the drags was a problem, although some didn't like it much.

Within our club we may need to think more about safety there. It is a riskier track than Wakefield and we should think about deeper preparation for new and problem drivers.

Also its very hard for country competitors to get into Sydney and find decent accommodation for cars and trailers, etc. Goulburn is pretty democratic about the metro/country thing but Sydney is distinctly country unfriendly. Country competitors will need support from the metro guys to make regular trips to SMP viable.

[Hjt]

I agree in the shelter and the visibility. I don't think the other tracks will always run concurrently with our events.

[Hammer]

Speaking of shade (or lack there of).... is this a working progress for the South Circuit? If so, do you have any idea of tiimeframes when they'll put them up? Or is that it (ie. shadeless)?

It definitely needs shade. But I'm thinking more for when it rains (though the hot sun was bad enough). I'm sure no competitors would want their gear get soaked if it rains (ie. carpets, bags, spare clothes, tools, etc). I know it says in the entry form that we can use the main garages to store our gear but only after scrutineering is complete. That doesn't really help if it's already raining prior to scrutineering and all our gear needs to be out of the car.

That's why last Saturday, since I was only 30 mins away from home, I chanced it and emptied my car at home. I remove the boot carpert and my spare wheel & jack and left them at home. And I simply bought a tarp just in case it rained.

[cooper1896]

No worries Joe.

It's fantastic to see lots of people keen to try out the other circuits at SMP. Maybe one day the club will be able to host a round beyond the south circuit. North, GP and Long circuits are a much bigger commitment in terms of costs and officials required, but will keep it in mind. For now we'd love to see more club members join us in the state supersprint championship, which utilizes all four layouts at SMP plus a couple rounds at Wakefield Park. Club members can enter ANY of these events, even if they're not championship entrants. Come along in 2013 and give it a try!

Very Valid points. Personally, I am a little concerned about the scruitineering process with Supersprints. I know I am not 50mm below my roll bar with a helmet on. I would imagine the Supersprint scruitineers are not as sympathetic to the mx5 specific issues. (Not necessarily an issue for other memebers).

[Guran]

I really love directon we are heading in, what month does the supersprints resume?

The 2013 Supersprint calendar is yet to be finalised but the draft for Round 1 is 24th March at Wakefield Park. They are aiming to have two rounds each at SMP South, SMP North and Wakefield Park, plus one round each at SMP GP and SMP Extended.

[Charlie Brown]

Very Valid points. Personally, I am a little concerned about the scruitineering process with Supersprints. I know I am not 50mm below my roll bar with a helmet on. I would imagine the Supersprint scruitineers are not as sympathetic to the mx5 specific issues. (Not necessarily an issue for other memebers).

I have been attending Supersprints for about 5 years in NSW, VIC & QLD and in that time there has been only one scruitineering call on a BD roll bar as not beng compliant with the CAMS regulations, that was about 3 years ago. Mike sorted it out then and I'm sure, provided you have the roof up, there won't be a problem.
My head is above the standard NC "roll bar" and it's never been raised as a problem.

[mazmad]

Any idea on the plans for carports on the Sth Circuit Bryan? They have done a good job getting it to the stage it is now, but one wet club track day and we will have a bunch of soggy members

As per Manga Blue's comment, in the wet it is hairy (I saw a write-off a couple of weeks back). Not sure how this can be managed but something for the club to consider in that eventuality.

[cooper1896]

Very Valid points. Personally, I am a little concerned about the scruitineering process with Supersprints. I know I am not 50mm below my roll bar with a helmet on. I would imagine the Supersprint scruitineers are not as sympathetic to the mx5 specific issues. (Not necessarily an issue for other memebers).

I have been attending Supersprints for about 5 years in NSW, VIC & QLD and in that time there has been only one scruitineering call on a BD roll bar as not beng compliant with the CAMS regulations, that was about 3 years ago. Mike sorted it out then and I'm sure, provided you have the roof up, there won't be a problem.
My head is above the standard NC "roll bar" and it's never been raised as a problem.

Thanks Charlie, and that's good to hear.
I guess the technical difference is that the NC roll bar is standard.

[mazmad]

Just to clarify cooper1896 , bars are not mandatory.

There are a bunch of things that are such as apparel, helmet, fire extinguisher, blue triangle and plastic forward lenses.

[Suspense]

Just to clarify cooper1896 , bars are not mandatory.

There are a bunch of things that are such as apparel, helmet, fire extinguisher, blue triangle and plastic forward lenses.

I think the concern is having a bar and then being told it's not going to pass scrutineering, the implication being that you would effectively be told you can't run with a BD or MX5+ bar, but you can run without one and that's somehow safer!

[mazmad]

My understanding is bars are not required or scrutineered. People are running with / without, some CAMS certified probably most not, some street legal some not.

Comes down to YOUR personal safety standards with respect to a bar for SSprints.

Eg. attached of supporting regs.

[Guran]

Scrutineering at Supersprints is not all that different to MX-5 club trackdays. In some ways, our club scrutineers can be tougher than you'll get at Supersprints because they're more familiar with what to look for in MX-5s (eg. Peter is particularly critical of loose batteries in the boot!).

I have been attending Supersprints for about 5 years in NSW, VIC & QLD and in that time there has been only one scruitineering call on a BD roll bar as not beng compliant with the CAMS regulations, that was about 3 years ago. Mike sorted it out then and I'm sure, provided you have the roof up, there won't be a problem.

Yep agreed, although we did have another one last year too (you missed that round Phil). Brown Davis or MX5 Plus rollbars are fine for road-registered cars in Type 1, 2 or SV at Supersprints. They might be questioned in Type 3 or 4 since these are mostly logbooked racecars, but Steve Green and Peter Browning have been using their BD rollbars in Type 3 all season with no questions at all. Really, it's nothing to worry about.

I've asked Mike about the carport situation and will pass on some answers when I receive them.

[cooper1896]

Thanks everyone for your feedback.
I hope it didn't seem like I was trying to cause a storm in a tea cup!

[Suspense]

Thanks for clarifying Bryan and Phil.

Puts paid to some of the fear and paranoia in this [url=http://mx5cartalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=54818]thread[url]. Not to take anything away from those guys, it looks like they've designed a great bar, but the derogatory statements about other bars are a bit over the top (even if they aren't named, the fact that there's really only 2 other bolt in bars around makes it obvious).