At the end of the 2023 season the MG Trophy Championship found a new home, with the Classic Sports Car Club. We take a look at how the season has gone so far and why it's a great place to race an MG ZR and MG3 in this rebuilding phase.
With MGCC backing away from racing in '23, the various MG championships scattered and found homes with new clubs and categories for 2024, with some drivers mothballing their ZR's for the time being. For those looking at where to race, the 'new' CSCC MG Trophy has a few differences that sets it apart.
Tyres
Three years ago, after tyre testing took place, the drivers voted to move to the faster Yokohama A052. The Yokohama is literally seconds a lap quicker than the Toyo and who doesn't like driving faster?
Whilst prices vary, a Toyo R888R is £148, whilst a Yokohama A052 from CSCC supplier, Adams & Page is £230 including fitting, balancing and VAT.
At first glance the Yokohama is of course more expensive, but in reality some have found they have actually been a better value tyre over the course of a season.
Cheaper, how? The A052 has excellent performance in the wet and dry, meaning it is not necessary to spend money on another set of list 1A tyres (Uniroyal's) and wheels for the wet. If conditions change mid-race the Yokohama performs well in most conditions. Drivers have found that by rotating the Yokohama across axles they can extend the life of the tyre, with minimal performance drop off, such that some drivers can get through a season on just 6 tyres total.
Yokohama A052 work well in wet and dry.
We welcome enquiries from all MG ZR drivers, we want to find ways of welcoming those on Toyo's and the previously used Dunlop Direzza onto the grid. The CSCC is happy to waive the registration fee for those drivers wanting to join us for a single round, there are awards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd for those on other tyres, including Toyo and Dunlop-shod cars. The championship is looking forwards to 2025, at possible ways to welcome Toyo-rubbered cars to compete in the correct, points-earning class, perhaps with a slight weight reduction, to help level up performance in the dry.
Shared grids
At most rounds in this re-building year the MG Trophy shares a grid with the Berkshire Jag Components Jaguar Championship. There was at first some apprehension at this mix, but it's actually working out brilliantly. By utilising split starts (one category starts 10 or more seconds behind) it keeps each category apart for the first part of the race, with courtesy and understanding being shown between drivers in each marque if/when they do catch each other. All other MG's racing in the UK compete as part of a mixed class grid in any case.
The smallest grid of the year at Thruxton, but a great example of close, clean racing in the CSCC MG Trophy.
Fairness
We like that we are treated with equal status as all other CSCC categories, racing on their classic days. We alternate each meeting, as to whether the Jaguars or MG's start 1st or 2nd on the split-start. We have already received the garages and been allocated first and last races too. Some meetings are live-streamed, with no pressure on us co-ordinators to have to raise independent funds for this. We are grateful of the support we've received from Drive MG, Acorn MG and Perrys MG.
Driving standards
The CSCC have a robust process of dealing with driving standards, should any car-to-car accident have been deemed avoidable. To date we have only had one case of contact involving an MG in the very first race, this was dealt with as gentlemen and we moved on, with no further issues. The high standards of car presentation is further proof that rubbing is not racing with the CSCC.
Grid sizes and costs
There is no hiding from the facts, money is tight for some competitors and the MG Trophy grid is smaller than we would like. It does now have all the ingredients needed to grow, with a more varied selection of circuits, equal standing with other categories, some live-streaming and efficient, friendly organisation from the CSCC team. The grid sizes are slowly recovering, getting back to double figures at Silverstone National in early June. More important than outright numbers is quality of racing. In that respect, the level of competition has been superb, with cars separated by mere tenths on many occasions.
Entry fees are typically between £395 and £455, depending on the circuit, that's for a 20 minute qualifying session and 2 x 20 minute races. Drivers wanting extra race time can also take part in the Co-ordSport Tin Tops series at the same round, with no extra registration cost and a half-priced entry fee.
2024 Calendar
Please get in touch with Pete, Doug, or a member of the CSCC office team, about racing your MG ZR with us in 2024 or '25: https://www.classicsportscarclub.co.uk/mg-trophy
