I do not post on this site very often but I do feel moved to comment on what is being said on here.
Let us face face facts:
There is little or no support for MSA racing in the North East of England compared to other parts of the UK.
MSA racing at Warden Law died a slow and painful death through a lack of support from MSA licenced competitors. Anyone who wants to challenge this just needs to look at the numbers who entered their fun meetings in recent years versus the local MSA events.
DYCK was a brave attempt to try and "grow" MSA racing in the region, but despite a lot of hard work from the club it has obviously and very publicly failed. This is not a criticism, just a statement of fact.
If you want to race on a good sized MSA grid then be prepared to travel. If you are good enough you will do well, if you are not, you will sink without trace. Some, but not too many from the North East do this and fly the flag for the region and long may they continue to do so.
For those that do not travel I question the need to compete at this level but I do accept that this is down to personal choice. Non MSA racing can and often is just as much if not more fun, and judging by the grid sizes at Warden Law recently, particularly prokarts, appealing to drivers old and new.
For anyone to attack Bob Pope as greedy then they are very much out of order.
I do not know the facts but did he charge DYCK what other tracks would normally charge the organising club to hire the track for their events.... I very much doubt that he did, but I am sure that I will be told otherwise if he did!
Bob Pope and Ian Lawson are great supporters of karting in this area and have come up with a format that appeals to competitors and that is commercially viable. Profit is not a dirty word and many MSA competitors / entrants are people involved in the preparation and /or supply of karting equipment. Do they provide their services or equipment for free?.....Probably not.
I would just like to add that I am not 'anti' MSA racing, having been involved with a national championship this year, but the RAC are ultimately responsible for the mess that karting is in at the present time.... too many classes, dwindling entries, inconsistent 'policing' at events, cost of licences etc etc etc.
Something is very obviously wrong and people are voting with their feet.
I believe that non MSA events will replace the planned DYCK meetings in the future. There is nothing to stop MSA competitors turning up and racing and I hope that they will, but I wonder if this will happen....Let's wait and see.
Gordon Welsh
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