BAS plans to progress with split race programme

Events forming the 2010 British Autograss Series will separate registered BAS racers from other competitors under a new proposal put forward by the BAS Committee to the host clubs.
Under he revised plan BAS events will comprise three qualifying heats and finals for BAS registered contenders and a separate set of races for non-registered competitors who wish to compete in the event. The latter group will not have a final, and races from this second section will be the first to be reduced should the timetable come under pressure.
The new plan has been put forward after the BAS Committee withdrew a proposal put to the August meeting of the NASA directors. The withdrawn proposal sought to close BAS events to all except registered drivers and home-league members (Supergrass 09/5).
Three other changes outlined in this proposal have been retained by the BAS Committee which intends for all five rounds to count towards the 2010 championship, a ‘Jackpot’ round will be introduced, the right to cap registrations is retained.
It is possible for events to be run to the new plan largely because of the computerised system of drawing up race grids that has been pioneered by the BAS. The system can easily create two different sets of grids, one containing only BAS registered racers, the other accommodating non-registered drivers.
Using data from the first round of this year’s championship at Evesham, a model has been produced to illustrate how the event would work. Creating two different sets of races does not greatly affect the number of races in an event; the Evesham model requiring just three extra races per heat to accommodate the entry.
The BAS has brought forward its proposals in the face of continuing growth in the number of competitors at BAS events and a recognition that non-registered competitors are very often those involved in on-track incidents or technical disputes.
“The revised format fits within the rules and addresses the concerns of competitors as well as the needs of event organisers,” said BAS Committee member Steve Langley.
There was broad approval from racers as details circulated during the final round of the 2009 championship, perhaps most succinctly summed-up by Autograss veteran Mal Cooper; “Perfect. That’s a great solution, it gives everybody something. It stops trouble with non-registered drivers and let organisers plan events better because it’ll be easier to predict numbers,” he said.

2010 BAS proposal
• BAS events comprise three heats and finals for registered drivers plus a separate set of races for other competitors.
• All five rounds to count
• Introduce a ‘jackpot’ round where the highest scoring round for each driver scores double points
• Reserve the right to close registrations due to excessive numbers