Messages

[On-Board Camera at SILVERSTONE]

Hi, all:

On-Board Camera at SILVERSTONE

After the tech issues at Pembrey, working with 247.tv, we are giving the idea of a live on-board camera another try at Silverstone this weekend.

Nick Crispin, of DD Motorsport, has offered to carry the camera and kit in 89. He's happy to face down the 'camera curse'.

[On-Board Camera at Pembrey ?]

Hi, Simon:

On-Board Camera at Pembrey ?

I'm writing here with my personal views as the current 'project leader' on live stream coverage.

As a Club we were one of the pioneers of live streaming of Club races, with coverage of the CITROEN 24 Hour Race starting some years ago. The general concept has now been widely adopted across the sport.

As a long established Championship with cars of character, we are very storied and there is a lot of informal interest. I heard recently that there were 40,000 views of the Pembrey coverage. If we are to grow in a very competitive environment, then that public exposure could help encourage new cars to the grid.

As a very long standing Williams F1 fan I fully understand your point about coverage of cars further down the field. But in all sports it's the leaders who generate most interest and get most coverage. That's just the way things are. And to maximise viewer interest, the on-board should be in a car which is likely to run towards the front of the field.

Although it has no direct influence on the directors' choice of camera images played out, each driver has to do their bit to promote their presence in the race. There was a note in the most recent Club eNewsletter asking each team to prepare and send their own Commentators Notes to both the circuit and the live-stream commentators. I'm told that very few did that.

As for the cost of the live on-board camera, the production company did everything to get it installed and working as agreed. Its failure to work was nothing at all to do with them. We have a good relationship with 247.tv as they produce our 24 Hour coverage and they may be persuaded to carry it over to Silverstone.

Live stream coverage has lots of hidden costs, and in some areas we benefit from 'bulk buying' by BARC, who with BARC.tv also make it easy for the public to view the coverage.

On behalf of the Board I made the decision not to buy into coverage of the races at Donington last Autumn, and we got several complaints about that. Racers can be very hard to please!

Feel free to call me to discuss any ideas you may have which might help improve the coverage.

[Tunnock's Caramel]

Hi, Nigel:

Sorry that you missed your Tunnock's Caramel. My fault - I simply forgot to hand them out. They are still in their box and I should have it at Silverstone to distribute there.

Something nice to look forward to.

Sadly, the live on-board camera on the Proetti car was working fine but the link to the transmitter unit fsied and we could not find another anywhere at the circuit. We'll try again at Silverstone.

Thanks to all those who helped.

Hi, Luca:

Please bring you Go-Pro with you to Pembrey. There is some tech query about getting some special connector into the camera and they vary in small ways. So having a few to chose from may help.

Thx.

Hi, Luca:

I think that they assume many race cars now have cameras fitted. They supply the clever bit that gets the live signal from the canera to the production suite.

I'd guess that they have lots of experience in setting up cars and drivers to operate the system.

As I said, it is all an experiment on our part.

[Quick Update:]

Quick Update:

The live video transmission system requires a signal from a Go-Pro camera. We can loan a Go-Pro 3 but the TV guys have not yet confirmed whether that is technically satisfactory.

Thanks to you all for your offers to carry the camera, if it happens. Only for the reason that there would be different drivers in the two races, Luca and Sandro in the Baycon car are looking like being selected. It's all very experimental at this stage.

[On-Board Camera at Pembrey ?]

Hi:

On-Board Camera at Pembrey ?

We have a technical offer from 247.tv for them to fit a live transmission kit into a 2CV race car to send the signal from a suitable camera to the production desk. The car number and driver name could be in shot.

In this day of live streaming, it seems a good opportunity to trial an extension of the content going out from our two races at Pembrey. It is a marketing investment and the cost, around £350, would come out of the Club marketing budget.

This offer is all last-minute rush, rush, and the Board has not yet discussed the idea. It would mean the front running 10 or so cars putting their names into a draw. I know that some people are afraid of the camera curse.

I don't think that any car would gain an advantage by having the live camera in a sprint. The 24 Hour could be a different matter.

If anyone has a particular desire to be included in or to be excluded from the draw, please post a note here soonest please. It would be helpful to get this sorted during today.

With some responses, the Board can consider the proposal.

Thx.

[Pembrey car and truck races in May will be live streamed at BARC.tv.]

Hi, all:

Pembrey car and truck races in May will be live streamed at BARC.tv.

Live timing and race timetable available at TSL

For those not competing or going along to watch a great weekend's racing at Pembrey, the Citroen 2CV races, the truck races and most of the others will be live streamed and available at BARC.tv.

Production by 24/7.tv. Same people who will also be covering our races at Silverstone and the whole CITROEN 2CV 24 Hour in August.

[AUTOSPORT Feature 'How to Build a CITROEN 2CV Racer']

Hi, all:

AUTOSPORT Feature 'How to Build a CITROEN 2CV Racer'

We now have the five page PDF file of the Autosport feature. We are adjusting it to make it easier to download. As agreed with the publishers it will be made available from next Thursday, February 24.

[AUTOSPORT Feature: 'How to Build a CITROEN 2CV Racer']

AUTOSPORT Feature: 'How to Build a CITROEN 2CV Racer'

In today's Autosport, February 10, there are five pages devoted to a feature on building a 2CV racer.

We will be able to make a PDF of the feature available for download, but for obvious commercial reasons, the publishers want us to hold that for a couple of weeks.

[The Club board is pleased to publish a provisional schedule for the nine round 2CVParts.com Championship 2022]

The Club board is pleased to publish a provisional schedule for the nine round 2CVParts.com Championship 2022

April 23/24        Cadwell Park       Rounds 1 & 2   2 x 15min

May 7/8            Pembrey             Rounds 3 & 4   2 x 20 min Trucks & Live streaming

June 4/5           Silverstone         Rounds 5 & 6  2 x 15 min  National, old pit lane

August 6/7        Croft                  Rounds 7 & 8  2 x 20 min

August 26-28    Snetterton          Round 9  CITROEN 2CV 24 Hour race  Live streaming

The BARC calendar is such that there were not too many options. The Croft meeting went from one day to two days and moved from late July to the August date this week.

The 20 minute races at Pembrey and Croft will make the longer drives more worthwhile.

BARC are still waiting on some costs from circuit owners before they can give us our costs. We will also be talking to them about split qualifying and some other details.

Hi:

Responding to some of the questions raised. I am only the message boy as this seasons' racing is covered by the agreement the Club made with BARC at the beginning of the season.

- Our 15 minute races are down to cost. The track is charged out per minute and this keeps entry cost down. For 2022, longer races may be possible, but at a higher seasons cost.

- The single split 20 minute qualifying session is also a way to keep entry costs down. Agreed that it is not a great idea on longer circuits.

- We can guess that Sunday racers will not be admitted until some of the Saturday-only racers have left. The paddock at Dony is huge, so maybe there is flexibility there.

Negotiations with BARC for 2022 are active just now. There appears to be strong demand for race track time and possibly fewer meetings planned, so there is not as much choice as we would wish. Provisional calendar will be available before the AGM.

The race entry price is set based on two key factors. What BARC need to charge per minute, and how many cars we have on our grids. Our race cost is the same right up to the grid max. If we could have just a few more cars at each race that helps us have longer races or keep costs level.

Anyone know why we got 16 per car last year and 3 per driver this year? As it happens, it does not affect most teams, but interesting to know.

[CITROEN 24 Hour Race Times Updated]

CITROEN 24 Hour Race Times Updated

On the Saturday morning there will be a 2CV warm-up 10.50 - 11.10

The race will start at 15.45 and yes, it will finish on Sunday at 15.45