SHAKEDOWN

As most of you must know by now the unsavoury events at the opening meeting resulted in the Gladiators loading up and going home and deciding that after 2 seasons of threats and abuse they won’t be coming back to race at Arena. As far as the Promotion is concerned it is a sad day when someone decides to give up racing because of the threats of violence against them, it is a sport and a hobby and it should be enjoyable. This incident has done untold damage to the reputation of the track and it remains to be seen what the long term implications will be. Arena has always been a hard and fast Banger circuit and is not everyone’s cup of tea and a lot of drivers find it easier to race at smaller and slower tracks elsewhere so losing 12 – 15 drivers is something we can ill afford to do. The ORC as a collective have decided that enough is enough with threats of violence and are clamping down on all aspects of it and have decided that for threatening behaviour you will be banned for 6 months and for physical violence it will be a minimum of 12 months. All PRI licensed drivers and especially those involved with the above incident now have a duty to support the track in every way possible and put these problems behind us and prove that the Arena is still one of the best in the country. Support the track and race as often as you can.

SCUMBALL 3000

The organisers of this years Scumball Rally in association with the Whizz-Kids charity are having their Launch Party at the Arena on Thursday 17^th April. Both bars will be open and there will be various on track entertainment and we are looking for some Lightning Rods and Bangers to give us a couple of demo races each as there will be some people here who don’t know what our racing is all about. Please call the office if you want to take part. Gates will be open at 6pm, there is no charge to get in. All entries will be through the MAIN gates and not the back gate.

2008 PRI COMMITTEE

The 2008 Committee is  now complete and is as follows;

77 Steve Davies representing the Bangers      6 Mark West for Group A Hot-Rods

5 Roy Rawlins for the Outlaws                       711 Clark Wells for 1300 Stock Cars

Phil Stevens for the Ministox             152 Jumbo Kingsmill for the Lightning Rods.

We are now looking for another Banger driver to replace Ian Smith on the committee if any one is interested see Tony at the track or in the office.

TRANSPONDERS

Unfortunately the deal that the ORC had with AMB has now run its course and therefore drivers will now have to purchase their own transponders directly from AMB which is obviously going to be dearer than the deal the ORC had. It is also the responsibility of the driver to have it sent away for replacement or repair if it is not working, forms are available from the office. We do have some transponders that we have purchased direct from AMB ourselves and we are selling these on for £220 but once these have gone you will have to get them yourselves direct.

BANGERS & LIGHTNING RODS DATE CHANGE

In light of the current climate with regards to Banger numbers we have decided to drop the National Bangers off of the 25^th May and replace them with the Lightning Rods.

Fixtures and Bookings

Please see page 2 of this newsletter for bookings and fixtures news.

ORCi Levy

Please see page 3 of this newsletter for details of the new ORCi Levy.