2013 SEASON REVIEW: BRSCC OSS CHAMPIONSHIP


CATEGORIES:

2013 champion, Doug Hart, on his way to victory at Brands Hatch. Photo: www.snappyracers.com

2013 saw a totally revamped BRSCC OSS Championship, making it the best season in the Championship’s short history. After the inaugural 2009 season, the Championship went through three mediocre years, so after consultation with all interested parties the 2013 format of four meetings at top circuits, with three races each weekend was agreed. This provided competitors with as many races as previous seasons but at a lower cost and less commitment in terms of time.

Another important factor in making the 2013 season such a success was that twenty-two competitors paid the entry for the first two meetings before the end of December 2012, thus ensuring that a big grid of cars was guaranteed and entries in the mid-twenties were then common place throughout the season.

The season started at Snetterton in June and the three newcomers to the Championship, Darren Luke, Craig Fleming and Duncan Williams, all in Junos, really set the standard with some great racing. Luke claimed two overall and class wins with Fleming taking the other win. One of the pre season favourites, Doug Hart, could only manage a third and fifth.

Brands Hatch Indy circuit in July was the second meeting of the season and Doug Hart bounced back to take three class wins and two overall wins, having some good battles with Championship returnee and double Champion Tony Sinclair in the awesome Jade 3. Duncan Williams and Darren Luke provided some stern competition in Class B. Craig Fleming’s championship hopes took a dive with pre race testing problems so he couldn’t race. A dark horse for Championship honours started to emerge in Graham Hill in his Class C Radical Prosport, whose reliability was starting to pay off.

Donington Park was the third meeting where the consistency of Graham Hill again paid dividends and started to increase his Championship hopes. However, strong showings in Class B from Craig Fleming and Doug Hart meant they started to close in on Graham. Tony Sinclair continued to dominate Class A but had only one overall win, the others taken by Doug and Craig, who produced a superb wet weather drive to claim the third race.

On to Silverstone for the Championship finals in October, where discarded points now came into consideration. Graham Hill’s lack of class contenders now put him at a disadvantage as Doug Hart and Craig Fleming had already discarded rounds so they had all to play for. A very strong weekend from Craig with yet another wet weather drive to win overall (he must be the OSS wet weather master), was not enough to stop Doug as all he had to do was finish third in class to win the Championship. Craig ended up second overall with Graham a well-deserved third.

So a very successful season with great racing, and a fantastic paddock atmosphere generated by a great bunch of competitors. My apologies for not mentioning everyone as all of you are important. What 2013 did show is that with consistency and low class numbers you can still have a chance of the title, as demonstrated by Graham Hill. Also sharing a car can be a good option to reduce costs and again still be near the top as proven by Dave and Chris Enderby, who finished sixth overall.

Another first for 2013 was the OSS/Scout hospitality marquee hosted by my long term friends Laurie and Miranda Young. I think everyone associated with the Championship thought that this was a great success. They provided the marquee on a voluntary basis, the Championship paying them a fee to raise money for their Scout fund to help under privileged families. Despite not asking for any donations they collected over £1,000 so a huge thank you on their behalf to all the OSS gang of drivers, mechanics, family and friends.

On a final note, again big thanks to everyone who supported OSS in 2013 and let’s make 2014 even better.

Alan Jenkins
Championship Co-ordinator


CLUB PARTNERS

Race Entries
& Membership