Show & Shine at the National

Hi Allā€¦

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1st of all Great weekend and for the most a VERY well organised eventā€¦

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My onlyĀ negative was withĀ the Show & Shine

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Judging seemed a little rushed in some aspects and some of the things people were getting marked down for seemed a little far fetched, Ā 

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also the categoryā€™s seemed a little strange in some areas, for instance, is does adding a few chrome bits make it a modification ???.. If thatā€™s the case the so it adding an air freshener isnā€™t it ??..

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I would like to add I DID enter my car on this occasion and am VERY pleased with my score card before any one states im a sore looser lolā€¦

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I have how ever been entering cars in Show & Shine comps for many years and feel that there is room for improvement if you want to encourage more people to enterā€¦ I spoke to a few competitors on the day that also feel a certain amount of frustration and as a results wont be entering again which is a shameā€¦

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I also had NO idea when and where the awards was taken place, I didnā€™t even know who had actually won any of the sections apart from seeing some cars with a trophy on them later in the dayā€¦

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I honestly thought competition was good reallyā€¦ tough for all competitors really loved the grey mk3 with black mods ,it was a lot cleaner than mines was at spring rally. I never knew who won as never heard of any announcement or award presentation. I also feel a lot of the mods were unclear ,maybe an a4 sheet describing work on the individual cars would help clear this up. Not a negative comment was just a little confusing . All in all great day keep up the great work

Had an amazing day, with fantastic companyā€¦

I also entered my car into the lightly mod comp after I came 3rd in the spring rally with hardly any prep unlike the national having already knowing what the car gets judged onā€¦I also added a lot more to the car since the spring rallyā€¦

However I feel that the judging was rushed and some of the things I got pulled up on was a little patheticā€¦before anyone statesā€™ I am not a sore loser, Iā€™m happy with my score sheet, but a rusty bolt and fan surroundā€¦really? I also didnā€™t know when the announcements or award presentation was.

Not only this but my entry form got muddled and after checking my emails after arriving home I DID enter all my mods and ticked the lightly mod box so I have no idea what went off there!
I wont be entering my car again, but look forward to the next rally.

On the awards ceremony, I only heard about this as I was on a club stand chatting to a member when another rushed onto the stand and said ā€œThe competition awards are about to startā€. I dinā€™t follow the rush. In the past, the awards were presented at the Clubs main marquee, but at Donny there didnā€™t appear to be one.

It took me ages to find the Motorsport gazebo, not at the side of Mission Motorsport, but squashed in the middle of the traders area? The area on the program marked ā€˜Club tentsā€™ seemed to be an error, as there were no Club tents that I could see, other than registration and the Club store.

On a different thread, thereā€™s several comments abut Donny ā€œinsisting on this and thatā€, and every space had to be paid for, so I donā€™t know if that applied to Club tents/marquees or what.

And elsewhere Club cars were part if the main event - many people wandered round checking them out, but not possible at Donny, except you had to walk by them before and after the event. However, our events get bigger and bigger every year, so recent and future venues will mean this wonā€™t happen, except where cars are grouped close to the main attraction. Gaydon is one example, others may follow suit.

 

I have to agree an A4 sheet explaining the list of modifications to each car would be helpful and I know the list of modifications to my car are not totally obvious at first to everyone but there are many, 25 in total & mostly trim, spoiler, exhaust tail pipes, chrome filler cap etc etc so I did present the judge an A4 sheet  with a list of all engine bay, interior and exterior modifications but they didnā€™t read it or ask me to explain what all had been done to the car some of which I done myself like designing my own new centre console storage and carpeting it instead of just buying and fitting an IL Motorsport item and an Alclad metal finish on brake calipers , and I also think judging a bit rushed, the car next to me was asked to raise up the roof for inspection but I wasnā€™t only realised this after the event. Was also marked down on a few things also like rust on chrome filler cap, I still canā€™t see any. Quality of all the cars was very high though some really nice cars indeed.


Great show though and thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend
 

First show for me as a competitor and mildly surprised to get 96/100 but donā€™t understand why the nice guy next to me also got 96/100 but won a cup .This is not a moan by any means and enjoyed the day but as others have said the judging seemed somewhat rushed and muddled with pieces of paper changing hands willy nilly [or it seemed so ] and one guy looking about 14! all in all a learning curve

Several competitors comment on the class they were in.Ā Can I add that I only put cars in the class THAT COMPETITORS MARKED on the registration form. If there was nothing on the form I contacted the competitor and asked what class they would like to be entered in.Ā Ā  There was only one competitor who omitted to putĀ their class down and I contacted her and she replied straight back.

I think it depended on what class the competitor was in as toĀ how long it took to judge. I had 4 teams of judges working on Sunday so I would not have expected them to take any longer than they did. In most cases there were 3 Judges judging one car and towards the end there was up to 4 judges.

I showed several competitors the registration forms that I received. I did not alter nor have reason to alter any of the forms.

As forĀ not knowing when and where the presentation was, all bar 2 competitors were there, those who were not wereĀ watching the racing. There was also a parade of the winners in the main arena.

My team worked extremely hard, Both Claire (doing the spreadsheets) and myself worked all day and saw nothing of the event until the very end.Ā  I was stopped from seeing much due to the action of some of our members pulling doughnuts on the way out.

In closing, may I say that if any of you can do better then please stand up and be counted at the AGM and put your name forward as competition coordinator. You can do this now by contacting Roger Mead.

Also if you think that you can do better at the judging then please put your name forward to help at the Spring Rally in Bristol. It is comments like those above that stop judges coming back, I have 6 experienced judges and I am trying to get a bigger pool of judges together to get some consistent judging.Ā 

Judging any thing whether cars, animals or art work is a matter of tasteĀ Ā what wins one day will not necessarily win the next.

I have judged cars and animals and still show animals and there are some I will put forward to some judges and some I will not, as I said it is a personal preference.

Mal Jones

Competition Coordinator.Ā 

THERE WERE NO TIES ON THE DAY. and the lad, Chris was with his dad learning not judging.

Ok when can we expect a list of placements please , as to only 2 competitors being missing I must be one as I had gone for a walk around the show and did know when the prize giving was taking place . My comments are not meant to be personal by any means but I had to comment , being part of an operation /organising a show is no doubt stress full I have been there and can sympathise

PM me an email and I will send you a copy of the spread sheet

Did you not read the manual.?

 

If competitors want to do a sheet on what has been done that is up to them, but, it will make no difference to the judging.

 

As I showed you on the day, there was nothing on the sheet at all.   I do not have the time or the inclination to alter or change any of the competitors registration forms.  As for the rusty bolt and fan surround, I to would have marked it down for that. The standard of the cars is so high the judges have to look for things like that to get a result.    As you are not going to enter again then perhaps you would like to try judging?

Iā€™m going to keep this short and sweet because those who know me know I speak my mind and I say it how it is but the outcome for the mk3 lightly modified category was an absolute shambles, that red mk3 was in the wrong category for starters! A bit of chrome does not make it modified fact!! . How that galaxy grey one with the many many modiflocations didnā€™t win God only knows, it was spotless, especially for its age, utter utter shambles

 

Hi, it was my car that  won that category, the lightly modified category and from the entry criteria,
Light Modification - Some cosmetic and light modifications with aftermarket accessories (most members cars)
 
Which category should I have entered the car into then? 
 
Can't enter it into standard as its not as it left the factory and the only additional bit of chrome it had is the fuel filler cap, in fact here is the full list of what has been done to the car, as stated in my post above I did have an A4 sheet printed off to show the judges what all was done to the car but they didn't read it or ask what had been done. It's a 2006 car, it got covered in sea salt on the ferry on the way over to the show and needed another thorough clean before the show also.
 
Interior
IL Motorsport aluminium pedal set.
IL Motorsport satin finish heater control knob rings.
Piano black door switch surrounds.
Mazda speaker surrounds.
Door handle caps airbrushed in " Alclad " polished aluminium to match interior trim.
Mazda red LED footwell lights.
3M carbon fibre door handle inserts.
3M Carbon fibre dashboard/console side panels.
Leather & brushed aluminium gear knob.
iPod connector.
New designed by owner centre console storage tray and carpeted.NOT an IL Motorsport part
 
 
Exterior
rear lip spoiler and I never seen another the same as mine at the show
Genuine Mazda accessory exhaust tailpipe extensions.
Stubby aerial.
Clear side indicators.
F&R mud flaps.
Brake calipers airbrushed in " Allclad " metal finish.
Chrome fuel filler cap.
Painted roll bar covers.
Front fog lamps with piano  black bezels.
Black insert front Mazda badge.
Chrome surround to lower front grille.
 
Engine
Polished exhaust heat shield and strut tops.
Painted engine cover with 3M Carbon fibre badge insert.
Gloss black vinyl front panel rubbing strip.
Mazdaspeed aluminium oil filler cap.
 
So tell me again, which category should I have entered the car into?
 
Knowing that the car is judged on its overall condition I spent several days preparing it for the show including printing off the judging criteria and going through it as best I could, yes I was surprised I won as the standard was so high all the cars where great and all deserved to win something, I even lent my vacuum cleaner to any other competitor who asked to borrow it.
 
I appreciate your comments but maybe cars with more modifications such as lowered suspension, different wheels, stainless exhaust systems etc should be entered into the modified category, Modified - Numerous enthusiast modifications and also forced induction cars (*except standard fit)
 
 

 

And i speak my mind to sirā€¦We judge on condition regardless of section, and for the mods section we judge on how well the mods have been done, if anyone wants to come and help the menders do the judging , by all means feel free, if anyone wants to tell the menders judging on the day that they are doing it wrong and have no idea ,then good luck, we donā€™t rush, we just know what to look for as we have been doing these mazsters since time began we eat and sleep these Roadsters , what we donā€™t know is not worth knowing, this roadsters are in our blood.

The only section personally i have never judged for the club was daily driver, which myself and Duncan judged the MK 3 class also and we left that section with all owners very happy as we had nothing to hide and never have to any owners roadster we judge as we are hands on and let owners know why i have marked down and in most cases explain on how to rectify the problem , we donā€™t white glove judge,the only think that personally i was not happy with was the chap in the Modded MK 2 class that had a engine running and expected a judge to judge itā€¦common sense goes both ways guys and girls and we are there to enjoy the day just as much as the comps competitors do.

Now some mentioned about a young lad with his dad enjoying the day to , there should be a lot more families involved and encourage in my book and i say bring it on, my lad as been judging the comps for the last 4/5 years and he is only 20, and i dare anyone to tell him as no idea what he is doing with this cars in the judging and mending, passion starts young , donā€™t kill it.

Never ever had any issues with the owners we judge the Roadsters for and always receive great banter back as we are real.

To all the owners we have gotten to know through the comps,get them polishing cloths out, always good to see you all again chaps.

Drive safe, and lets talk about resolving issues than making even moreĀ , off now to sort owners problems and issues in menders online garage x

M-m

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THERE WAS NO MODIFIED NCā€™s IN THE SHOW. ONLY LIGHT MODIFIED.

Can I just clarify for all who asked the question re the young lad it was my son Chris. He is 12 years old and just as passionate about 5ā€™s as me.I was doing the judging he wanted to help out so I let him hold the clip board and put any marks down that I told him too ,if any competitorā€™s have a problem with that then please say and will quite happily show my son the replyā€™s and you wonā€™t need me to tell you how upset he will be in not being allowed to help out.

Thank you Wayne, and thanks to you and your crew for the help on Sunday