TO THE VICTORS
At the end of the racing year, you start to think about the year to come. But first comes the annual event that all at the CRMC enjoy.
Double TT winner and well-known TV presenter Steve Plater was the guest of honour at the sold-out CRMC annual awards and dinner/dance, held at the usual venue of the Mercure Daventry Court Hotel. Kevin Hunt and Alan Cracknell retained their Sidecar Racers of the Year Trophy, with George Hogton-rusling taking the equally coveted Racer of the Year award. Hunt and Cracknell again proved to be the dominant sidecar crew on their distinctive all-white Patterson Imp, while ‘GHR’ won every round of the King of the Classics championship, the CRMC 1300 Classic Multis, the Classic Racer Syndicate 1300 National Series and last but by no means least, the ACU Post Classic UK 350 championship. The club’s other ACU UK championship, for 500 Classics, went to Mike Cooper who, despite having to cut back slightly on his racing during 2017, was able to once again take the Craven Manx to victory. Additional trophies announced on the night included: Sally Russell (Chairman’s Cup); Len Hunt (Marshall of the Year); Ashley Beckett (Doug Jones Trophy, best young rider); Paul Klatkiewicz (Cathcart Trophy, non-committee
member); Gavin Kidwell (Lodge Brothers Trophy); Jeff Smith (Commentator’s Cup); John Warwick (Rear of the Year); Phil Luhr (Bob Anderson Trophy, clubman of the year); John Hynes (Mick Collins Trophy, achievement beyond all odds); Eddy Wright and Kieran Clarke (Daytona Cup, best overseas performance); Cormac Conroy (Paris Soir Cup, best overseas rider); Andy Guy (Micky Gray Gold Star Trophy); James Dickinson (Stella Cathcart Trophy for best novice) and David Holden and Krishna Hanns (Micky Gray Sidecar Trophy). The afternoon’s AGM began with chairman Mark George referring to the loss of Fran Fletcher at the club’s final meeting at Brands Hatch and thanking all officials and other members who had dealt with the tragedy so respectfully and appropriately. This, together with the deaths through illness of several other well-known members, inevitably cast a shadow over the 2017 season. Turning to racing matters, the chairman announced that 2017 had been a season in which the club had received good support and found itself in a sound financial position. From 2018 the club was introducing the option
for online entries, although paper entries will continue to be welcome. Sports Timing Services will be assuming responsibility for timekeeping, which will not only enable the setting of progressive grids, but also provide a wide array of real-time race information. The open discussion saw lively debate on a number of subjects, none more so than the question of tyre warmers. A number of riders from the P/C Superbikes class had asked the club to consider allowing the introduction of tyre warmers based on safety grounds, but after what could be called a robust discussion, a show of hands indicated very little support for either warmers or wet tyres. Interestingly, on being asked about this at the evening’s awards dinner, Steve Plater came out strongly against tyre warmers for racing at this level. The provisional 2018 race schedule was announced as follows: Pembrey, March 31 & April 1; Snetterton (200) April 28/29; Oulton Park, May 26-28; Darley Moor, July 7/8; Donington Park Classic Festival, August 3-5; Mallory Park, September 8/9; Cadwell Park, October 6/7. The club will also be facilitating the running of the Endurance Legends event at Donington Park on May 12/13.