2-Litre National Bangers Winter Open Championship
28 January 2010
The result of the final of the 2-litre National Bangers Winter Open Championship, at Smeatharpe on Sunday 24 January was suspended on the day, and an alleged illegal tyre from the car of 190 Steve Bailey, which crossed the line in first place, was confiscated.
The suspect tyre was duly sent to an authorised ORCi tyre supplier, who was able to cross reference the "K code" markings on the tyre with the manufacturer. This then proved the tyre's identity. The tyre is illegal to the 2010 National Banger rules, as issued by the Oval Racing Council.
Accordingly, Steve Bailey has been disqualified from the result, and suspended from racing, pending a recommendation from the Oval Racing Council on further penalty.
The result has been amended, and 10 Paul Whiteman, whose car passed the post-race scrutineering checks, is confirmed as the 2010 Winter Open Champion.
Click here to view the meeting report and result.
1 February 2010
This year's Winter Open Championship for National Bangers gave rise to a high profile case of illegal tyres. Unsurprisingly, this has provoked much reaction - and a lot of ill-informed comment. Below, Autospeed detail the full details of this matter, not to condemn nor defend any driver involved, but as an attempt to add some clarity to the situation.
The relevant section of the WHEELS AND TYRES rule for 2010 National Bangers is:
No Yokohama, Avon 7.3 wide safety, town and country, M & S, Toyo, Kingpin Alpine Series competition type or cut tyres. All wheel nuts must be fitted. The ORCi reserve the right to ban any tyre make or type which give an unfair advantage.
In advance of the meeting, each driver who had entered to race at the meeting, was sent a Booking Confirmation. Amongst the details in the confirmation letter was the following note:
The ORCi no longer permit the use of Toyo tyres. A tyre's indentifying markings must remain at all time.
At the end of heat two, the car of 208 Jimmy Randall, who had crossed the line first, was subject to usual post-race scrutineering checks. During this task, it was noted that Randall was running at least one tyre which had the manufacturer's markings removed. Randall was informed that this was against the spirit of the note contained in the Booking Confirmation. Randall accepted the decision and was excluded from the result.
At the end of the Winter Open final, the car of 190 Steve Bailey, who had crossed the line first, was subject to usual post-race scrutineering checks. His car was found to have at least one tyre which had been recut, and manufacturer's markings removed. Bailey was informed that this was against the spirit of the note contained in the Booking Confirmation. Bailey disputed the decision and claimed that the markings were only removed so that intrusive folk in the pit area could not copy the tyres he was using. Bailey insisted the tyre was legal. With the identity of the tyre in dispute, the result of the race was suspended and the tyre confiscated. Bailey co-operated fully and presented the tyre without protest.
At the end of the race meeting, Bailey and his father made representations to senior Autospeed officials that they believed the tyre to be a Dunlop.
When deflated, and with the tyre gaiter removed, it was clear that not all of the manufacturer's markings had been buffed off. It was also possible to identify, to a reasonable level, what the make of the tyre was. However, rather than being mostly sure, Autospeed senior officials wished to obtain an indisputable identification of the tyre. Hence, the tyre was delivered to Polleysport (Yokohama dealers), who confirmed it was a 14" Yokohama Advan A048-R, that had been re-cut. Written confirmation has been provided by Polleysport.
Bailey was subsequently suspended from racing on 27 January 2010. Autospeed then sought a recommendation from the ORC as to the length of any ban to be imposed. Having taken on board those recommendations, Bailey was duly notified on 29 January 2010 of a three month ban from racing.
Questions That Have Arisen
Why were these tyres not noted at scrutineering?
Firstly, drivers had been warned in the Booking Confirmation, about removal of manufacturer's markings.
Secondly, it is important to note that, the onus is on the driver to present a legal car at all times.
Thirdly, the tyres on a car at scrutineering need not necessarily be the tyres on the car for racing.
Why has Steve Bailey been banned, and yet Jimmy Randall not?
Randall accepted the post-race decision that, because markings had been removed from his tyres, there was no way of positively identifying the tyre. Randall was disqualified and excluded from the result, which was the end of the matter for Randall's tyre. Bailey did not accept the move to disqualify him and exclude him from the result of the final. He chose to dispute their legality, which in turn provoked the chain of events that led to the revelation of their true identity.
Is three months too harsh, or too lenient?
Autospeed recognise that the length of ban is open to a degree of subjectivity. Inevitably, followers of Steve Bailey will consider it to be too harsh, whilst his detractors will consider it too lenient. The length of ban followed a recommendation from Autospeed's fellow member promotions in the Oval Racing Council.