According to the Ma5da Racing website they have now bought out MaX5 racing so only one MX-5 race series in 2009.
Read it here,
Not so cut and dried on the MaX5 website though.
We await the final outcome with interest.
Ok so who will be where on 12/13 Sept - (the National at Mallory) - or will the owners club be there and the racing at Brands? I’m sure you have noted both race calenders!
2009 Draft Calendars
Max5
28th March Oulton Park
12th April Thruxton
2-3 May Croft
27-28 June Lydden
8-9 August Snetterton
29-30 August Pembrey
13th September Mallory Park
31 Oct - 1st Nov Brands Hatch
Ma5da
Mar 28/29 Silverstone 1 & 2
Apr 18/19 Cadwell 3 & 4
May 4 Castle Combe 5 & 6
May 16/17 Croft 7, 8 & 9
Jun 6/7 Donington 10 & 11
Jun 27/28 Anglesey 12, 13 & 14
Jul 26 Mallory 15 & 16
Aug 15 Oulton 17 & 18
Sep 12/13 Brands Hatch 19 & 20
[:$] oops! Could be a quiet weekend for the good folk of Mallory village!
According to Motorsport News this week, Jonathan Blake has bought out MAX5 and is combining the two series’.
Lets hope it works out, as two competing series’ was unlikely to be a good situation at this stage of development of MX5 racing.
Which brings me back to my original point - if it is now one series will they be racing at Mallory on 12th/13th Sept (when and where the owners club 15/20 is meant to be) or will they be racing at Brands Hatch that weekend …
The race calender on Ma5da website still shows Brands for that weekend …
Could any of those on the committee enlighten us?
No, I don’t think we can yet, sorry… [*-)]
We too await enlightenment…
OK - I’ll try and be patient then [:$]
I have been assured there will be Mazda racing cars at the OC Mallory event if it goes ahead.
This is part of the latest statement from The British Automobile Racing Club
[quote user="BARC"]
Much has been written about the 2009 Max5 Championship of late, so it seem prudent for the BARC to confirm to you exactly what the current situation is, as of this moment.
The Max5 Championship will most definitely continue in 2009 under the control and with a slightly greater involvement of the BARC
[/quote]
The Max5 website appears to have been taken off line, What does that mean I wonder?
It means it has a temporary error that is being fixed as it is now back.
good… [:D]
Yes but will they be racing and how many will there be?
Ma5da Racing already appear to have 43 drivers registered for 2009 according to their website - including many from last year’s MaX5 championship.
It does beg the question of how many does that leave for MaX5 this year?
Perhaps I can help?
Ma5da Racing Purchase of MaX5 …Update!
As you all know Ma5da Racing had agreed to purchase MaX5 and a full framework agreement was agreed between Jonathan Halliwell and I. Although Ma5da have not been officially informed by MaX5 or BARC it would appear from publications that the agreement is being reneged on? Ma5da Racing have tried to contact Jonathan Halliwell on several occasions over the past week and have not had a response. I therefore have no alternative to “assume” the agreement has been dropped by MaX5? I guess that means more money in my pocket for racing?
MaX5 2009 clarrified…
It is understood that a six event, eleven race season has been planned by MaX5 and BARC as published in this thread. NickD from MOT will be working alongside Jonathan Halliwell and with MaX5 through 2009. A modified class has been introduced for “any” MX-5 that complies with MSA regulations. This class will run in the same race but will not be eligible for Championship Points. In general this would suggest a race of MaX5 eligible cars scoring Championship points with modified cars beating them on the track? No regulations or registration forms are currently available?
MaX5 Website …
The website has been changed in direction of intent several times over the past three weeks as stated in this thread. It went down last Sunday evening. According to the Web Registration information and the information provided by the hosting company it was taken off-line due to outstanding administration. The site has now been moved to the back of the ACSNetworks website and the web address has been redirected accordingly. The forum, gallery and some information pages are not currently live?
MX-5 Owners Club 15/20 - (Mallory)
I spoke with NickD at the Autosport Show on Saturday 10th January about the event at Mallory on the weekend 12/13th September. Indeed our race calendar is correct and we are racing at Brands Hatch, but as explained to NickD only on the Saturday! NickD gave me the impression that there were various items planned, drifting, record attempts etc etc, but also indicated that it may not be that weekend, but instead be moved to 2nd October? In general I came away not knowing quiet what was planned or when?
I then spoke with Tracey Sparling by telephone and provided a Ma5da Racing updated interview for the February edition of STHT Magazine. During this update I did question the Mallory 15/20 and what had been indicated and discussed by NickD.
Ma5da Racing pledged it’s full support of the 2009 15/20 Owners Club Event back in October 2008. As Drivers we would be only too happy to be involved and help to add to the celebrations. I hope my next comment is not out of turn but I may as well be honest, I think there may be a conflict of interest for NickD with his close affiliation with MaX5 and Jonathan Halliwell? If I am correct this seems a shame for Ma5da Racing to be shunned despite our clear objectives to work with and improve relationships between the Owners Club and the MX-5 Racing as demonstrated in 2008. For the avoidance of doubt, NickD has not spoken to Ma5da Racing about the event or requested the presence of any cars?
Ma5da Racing 2009 Update … Now a Championship
As most will know an application was made for Championship status for 2009. After several months of clarification and correspondence this has now been granted by the MSA. So the “Ma5da MX5 Championship” for 2009 with scoring points is now confirmed. Registrations opened on 5th December 2008 and to date there are now in excess of 40 registered cars for the 2009 Championship, including 11 new to MX-5, Drivers. Previous MX-5 Champions, Tom Roche, Jonathan Greensmith and Paul Sheard are all registered for the capacity wheel to wheel action.
The Calendar as published in this thread is correct although we are currently clarifying the exact days and timetable drafts for the whole season. These will be update shortly. The weekends will not change, but we may be racing on one of the days rather than both at some of the meetings.
One final snippet…due to the number of registered cars we have now increased the Race Weekend Coordinators to two! Hugh Hartley will continue to provide the usual services to all of the Drivers, but this year will be joined by Bob Marsh, former photographer and race reporter for MaX5 2007/2008 and keen MX-5 Owners Club Member. Bob will make an excellent addition to the team and by knowing a large number of the Drivers already will soon settle into the new role.
Sorry this has been a long posting but I felt that it was important to clarify the points being raised and dispel any rumors as much as possible. I do hope that the current confusion over the 15/20 event can be resolved so that we will be allowed to assist where possible?
Kind regards
Jonathan Blake
Ma5da Racing Coordinator
Congratulations Jonathan for finally securing Championship status for Ma5da Racing. I know how much hard work you, Simon, Alyn and co have put in to make Ma5da Racing the success it now is. I guess you don’t need to purchase MaX5 now?
It will be great to see the full grids of 30-40 MX-5s battling bumper to bumper back again for 2009.
Now all that’s needed to put the cherry on the cake is for someone from the 15/20 organising committee to formally invite the UK’s biggest MX-5 race series to the UK’s biggest MX-5 party!
Ouch!!! That is certainly a different attitude to the smiling happy one from Saturday Jonathan!
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> What a shame it has come to this. I must admit to have struggled to know how to respond to this post all day. Generally I don’t like to wrap my emotions around the failings of others but since, in my own personal opinion, your post is full of hidden agenda and subtle accusations, I feel I have no option but to answer it publically. It is no secret that there is a conflict between Ma5da Racing and Max5. I don’t care what the reasons are for this and I have worked hard to keep myself, Mazda on Track and in particular the Owners Club from becoming involved in any political issues. It is not our fight. You will not find anywhere on the internet or elsewhere any derogatory comment from me about either race series of any of the respective participants, and so to find such an inflammatory post as this is, is indeed, in your words, “out of turn!” Since I am being accused of “shunning” Ma5da Racing from this Owners Club event I think it becomes important that I, “for the avoidance of doubt” just recap our history, since it would seem to me that you are being very economical on certain things. Mazda on Track had already identified the potential to host a Mazda Performance Event and were working towards that in early 2008 and I can point you to several public forums that support that. My first contact to any race series was to you as principal of Ma5da Racing in May of 2008 and you invited me to meet you at <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Mallory Park. Having paid to enter and after an initial hand shake I had to amuse myself and my badly infected leg for 4 hours while you attended other meetings. We eventual met in your motor home at around 5:30 where you gave a non committal interest in the project on the understanding that there would be a significant amount of advertising for your company. After that meeting you did kindly get me a lift back to my car and I returned home and wrote you a message outlining the plan. That message remained unanswered until Late August even though in the mean time I had sent you repeated emails, phone messages and PM’s asking if you could respond. I wrote back to you on the 25th August and explained that unfortunately as there had been no response from you for such a long time that I had made the logical assumption that you had no interest in the proposal and so sought help from the Max5 series. You wrote back to me again a number of weeks later on 15th Sept telling me it was not a problem and wished me well. Now I raise all that, not ridicule or accuse, but to ask you, as a business man, if you were faced with a deadline and a disinterested and non responsive supplier, would you seek an alternative supply? So, as the answer to the question above will be yes, and since we had not met or spoke since that day at Mallory in May, neither have you made any contact with me in any capacity since September I resent strongly the accusation that I have shunned Ma5da Racing and their offer in October. Who did you make that offer too? The OC Committee? The 15-20 team? Further more I need to clarify some other points for everybody’s benefit. When the 15-20 team was formed in August last year, one of my first actions was to declare that Mazda on Track had plans for a Performance Event and that if the OC decided to hold a similar event we would offer our event management services to the OC to host that event, but that I would take no part in the decision making process of accepting or rejecting that plan as being on the 15-20 team represented a potential conflict of interest. This was accepted by the team and that remains fully declared. I would even ask if any of the other team members feel this is not the case to state either publically or privately and I will resign from the team. Also as an Area Coordinator and therefore officer of the Club and with it’s best intentions in mind I even declared in writing to the Chairman of the club the reasons why Max5 had been chosen and that due to the political issues between the two organisations that I believed that backing one mutually excluded the other as I could not give any guarantee that the politics would not become more important that the event it’s self. At this point I am also seeking to understand of what concern it is to the Owners Club if Mazda on Track do work with Max5 in 2009? Does it affect the Owners Club, or is it more of a concern to Ma5da Racing? Do all MX-5 racing issue now have to be passed through you? Further more I would ask you to ensure your assumptions are correct before you post then on public forums on the internet particularly if they are about me or other members of the club. Ma5da racing has not been shunned from anything by me or Mazda on Track. I would remind you that it was your tardy response that resulted in me talking to Max5 in the first instance and since they have been responsive and professional in all their dealings with me, they have yet to give me doubt that they will not continue to be credible. Since I am removed from the team voting process of recommending the plan to the National Committee, and since the National Committee has yet to vote to sanction or reject the Mallory proposal, at this current moment in time there is no event to shun you from or to invite anyone to. There is however an alternative proposal for the celebration event. This is to park in the grounds of a stately home. Would you like to give your commitment now to that celebration in assuring the 15-20 team that you will get 40+ race cars and drivers to that event? I can also provide you with the other team members names so that you can publically state that they have shunned you too. I would as well ask that you fully represent both the tone and the content of conversations that you decide to summarise publically. I do not seek to embarrass you so will not recount the conversation at the Autosport show. However, both you and I know at no point did you ask about what you could add to Mallory, you were mainly concerned with other issues and people. However, to end on a positive and less acrimonious note; my sincere congratulations on achieving Championship Status. That is a good thing and can only help to strengthen the image and reputation of Mazda Sports cars as more than pretty convertibles or second string performance tin tops. I truly hope that we can all, together, encourage more people to the joys of motorsport and the friendship it brings. Surely that is the goal of us all, wouldn’t you agree?Hi Nick
I think you may have taken my comments out of context?
Let me clarify…
The potential conflict of interest is in direct relation to the fact you will be working with MaX5 through 2009 and therefore it may be difficult to be impartial as the event is being proposed to take place during a MaX5 Race weekend, organised by BARC. The initial MaX5 race calendar showed a race weekend at Mallory Park on 12/13th September. The latest revision now shows a race weekend on 4th October 2009. If the 15/20 weekend is being planned in direct relation to a MaX5 weekend it would be difficult for the Ma5da Race cars to attend for obvious reasons.
The Solution…?
Why not make the weekend completely separate from either race series and therefore both MaX5 and Ma5da Racing could promote the celebration weekend to all MX-5 race car drivers. This would give the best possible outcome in support of the event and I confirm that Ma5da Racing are more than happy to publicise the event to all of its registered members, suppliers and sponsors through our website.
The Result…?
We would all able to provide support to one of the largest and most recognised Owners Clubs in the UK and rightfully the celebration of the MX-5 sports car that we all know and admire.
I hope this helps…?
Regards
Jonathan Blake
Co-ordinator - 2009 Ma5da MX5 Championship
Hi Jonathan,
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Thank you for clarification for your comments, if I took them out of context then I apologise for that, however I do feel it was very easy to do so. I disagree that there is conflict because of any associations with Max5 and the Owners Club, the goal is to provide a racing spectacle for the OC, however; I can understand how one series would feel excluded from the others event, BARC or BRSCC because potentially one can not race in a Championship series for the other. There are various important considerations to be taken into account when planning such an event. Location, cost and time of year are all essential factors, Mallory ticks these boxes. As you will appreciate I can not coordinate individual governing clubs race calendars particularly as this will involve several race series not just Mazda. The date has already had to be moved to avoid clashing with TRAX at Silverstone and so date, time and venue is far more to do with what is possible rather than any desire to exclude anyone. You will also appreciate there are various other financial considerations involved in holding a two day event. Mallory’s planning prevents racing on Saturday and the cost of using the track for limited racing on the Sunday is prohibitive unless that cost is shared with another activity, namely a race program. It is particularly important to share these costs as there is strong feeling in the OC management and members that cost of admission to OC members should be minimal. Therefore the plan is to pay for one day and get two. The alternative is no MX-5 racing. So to reiterate the conflict you perceive is actually to do with time, date, venue, cost and planning and nothing to do with exclusion of cars or series. On a positive side, however the latest proposal of Max5 invitation class would allow any MSA suitable MX-5 to race. The new challenge is to get BARC to reinstate MX-5 racing to the 13th either as a Championship or non Championship rounds. To run this as a non race day would require another £15,000 to £30,000 to hire the venue and compensate Mallory for gate receipts they would expect for a race meet. That funding is not available so the Sunday has to be run in conjunction with a race meet. As you can see all of this is no simple task and the above is just a basic overview of some of the complex coordination issues and also explains why I am unwilling to ask people and organisations to commit to things until such time as there is approval to proceed. I for one welcome your commitment to the solution. Best regards, Nick Dougill