Minutes of the Meeting of the SA Autotest Panel held on 21 st February 2018, in the SA/NT State Office Conference Room 3/43 King William St, KENT TOWN, SA Present: Adrian Flynn (Chair) Karien Heimsohn Graham Vanderhoek Ashley Dunn Dave Beames NDCC SEAC MCSA MGCC Apologies: Nil Visitors: Nil 05-1802-49-01 Opening The Chair opened the meeting at 7.30 pm and welcomed those in attendance. 05-1802-49-02 Minutes of previous meeting The minutes previously approved via email were confirmed. 05-1802-49-03 Business arising from minutes Nil 05-1802-49-04 Correspondence 1. A summary of the Forum held on the 13 th of December 2017 was published on the Facebook page and a copy will be attached to these minutes. 2. An email was sent to panel members reporting on various changes since the last meeting. In essence, the Chair had reported to State Council that due to competitors wishes to have two runs per test, as identified at the forum we would not run a State Championship Series as 2 runs were not allowed. Michael Clements (board member) suggested we change the rule. With his assistance it had gone to the AMSDC and been approved. 05-1802-49-05 Reports The Chair reported on changes to the NMC, as reported in correspondence.
05-1802-49-06 General Business 1. The Chair reported that he had informed State Council that, due to competitors wishes to have two attempts at each test we would not be running as a championship as this was not allowed in championships. Michael Clements, the Board Member suggested we change the rule. He put this to the AMSDC EO and the commission changed the rule at its next meeting. Hence the change to a State Championship Status for our events. 2. The Chair rang Kevin Raedel of S.E.A.C from the meeting to offer the panel s assistance with the upcoming Australian Khanacross Championships if required. A short discussion around tyres ensued. A reminder that the next round of the SA Motorkhana Championships would be in Mt. Gambier on March 24 th was given along with a bi-lateral promise to stay in contact. 3. The chair reported that Panel member Trevor Palmer had received a CAMS Service Award at the recent Awards night. The Panel congratulated Trevor on this achievement. 4. The Panel had a lengthy discussion about the February 18 th Motorkhana. The first decision was that, contrary to the assertions of some, it constituted a valid motorkhana as 4 tests were attempted. The event had not gone as well as one might have hoped, largely due to factors unforeseen or out of the organisers control. It was decided that rather point accusatory fingers the sport would be better served by learning from those mistakes and moving on. 5. In an effort to move on the panel reviewed the SA Appendix, this would be written up and sent to SA State Council for ratification in March. Possible changes to the NMC would be pursued with the AMSDC. 6. The reasonably strong turn-out on February 18 th, particularly among newcomers was attributed to the work Stephen Ormond has put into the Facebook page. The panel would like to publicly acknowledge and thank him for those efforts. 7. Adrian reported that CAMS was once again having a stand at the Adelaide 500 and Autotest had been given a spot. Steve Ormond s Special would be on display. While a Special is the top end of Motorkhana they are still relatively cheap and do attract interest which then opens the door to conversations about normal cars. The proposed flyer would have more emphasis on cars driven to the event. Steve has offered to man the stand all 4 days with Adrian providing relief during the weekend. 8. Karien reported on a possible venue of limited size and available for restricted use at this stage. 9. Adrian reported that most of the 2017 Series trophies were presented at February motorkhana, a couple had been presented at the CAMS Awards and the rest would be distributed when the recipients were encountered. He asked that he be reimbursed $323.50 as per the attached invoice & payment receipt. A motion was moved Dave Beames, seconded Karien Heimsohn; Repay Adrian Flynn the amount of $323.50 for trophies The motion was carried. 10. The Chair noted that to the best of his recollection MG, Modified Mini, Nissan/Datsun and Southern Districts all owed $100 each for the 2017 Trophy levy. Delegates were asked to enquire within their respective clubs about this matter.
There being no further business the meeting was closed at 9.00 p.m. 05-1802-49-07 Next Meeting 21st March 2018 Actions arising from these Minutes: Minute No Action By 05-1707-49-03-1 Contact Viterra Roseworthy. Adrian Flynn Various Search for venues All panel members 05-1705-49-06-7 Think of new panel members All panel members 05-1710-49-06-7 Investigate MEECAMS Adrian Flynn
APPENDIX : Notes from the Motorkhana Forum held on the 13 th December 2017 Note this document was correct at the time of writing, early January but is now incorrect in the areas in italics. It is for reference only and has no regulatory value whatsoever. Thank you to those who participated in the Forum both on line and in person. Until now I haven t had an opportunity to collate what we ve talked about and it s back to work tomorrow so today s the day. The thing I find most interesting is that people are not really looking for change. The overall result of the forum was largely to continue with business as usual. I see this as a success rather than a failure. We were looking to head in one direction which would probably have been a mistake. I ll talk in a number of major areas and the following is the general consensus. We still have opportunity for some feedback which I d encourage once you ve read this. Scoring System The overwhelming majority are happy with a handicap system and the DPI in particular. We have had a look at a simpler handicap system and a comparison will be conducted throughout this season to see if that will simplify things while still remaining fair. We are bound by certain rules, namely the SA Appendix to the National Motorkhana Code which dictate the DPI is the way we have to proceed. The Appendix can be changed and thanks to a recent change of rules on how we change the rules the NMC can now be more readily changed but both processes take time. I don t think anything is broken so we don t need to fix it. To satisfy curiosity we will try to include an extra column in the results giving position by outright time. Championship The Championship will be a single day event held at Mallala on July 29 th and will be two runs at each test. Your first run counts for the Championship and your fastest run counts towards the series. Series The CAMS Calendar has gone to print and the events are listed as a championship series. This however, is incorrect. Despite what may happen interstate the National Rules clearly state that in a Championship no test can be run more than once. As the majority wanted two runs at each test this cannot happen in a Championship. Therefore we will run a series similar to 2017. The Series will consist of four rounds at Mallala. Due to the potential of finding new venues and running extra rounds the series may change. While this is not ideal there is nothing we can do about it. A separate set of series regulations will be written and if additional rounds are to be included in the series we will notify people who have entered the series and the general public with as much prior notice as possible. The Series regulations will state that N-1 Rounds will count, that is you must drop the results of a round from your series total. Of course you can do all the rounds but drop your worse performance or miss a round. The confirmed rounds are-
February 18 th Round 1 at Mallala MG Car Club April 29 th Round 2 at Mallala Modified Mini Car Club May 20 th Round 3 at Mallala Nissan Datsun Car Club July 29 th Round 4 & State Championship at Mallala Autotest Panel Promotion A lack of promotion was seen as a failing of the system. Steven Ormond has generously offered to keep the facebook page updated with results and upcoming events. We will also try to use email notifications before each event. To this end we will be trying to use fillable on-line entry forms so we can actually read your details. Nature of events There was some desire for larger OZ-Gymkhana style events however we are only concerned here with Motorkhanas in the strict sense of the word. We have some scope for variation however there are strict rules about what is and what isn t a motorkhana and we will need to stick to those. Reversing While most people had trouble with reversing the majority agreed it needed to stay for the competitors who enjoyed it or needed the practice for Championships. I m not real good at reversing through the slalom in a Paddy but do enjoy getting a front-end throw correct from time to time. The argument from those who say it is about having fun and not worrying about Championships is equally well served by simply not doing the reversing tests. You have the fun, you just get a DNS time, which you wouldn t care about if really was just about fun. I would encourage promoters to put the reversing towards the end of the day so it is easier to skip but I would equally encourage everyone to at least try reversing. Venues We continue to search for new venues. The Bend will become available but the cost will be one and a half to two times higher than Mallala and therefore we have no plans to use it at this stage. Cost of entry has proved to be an issue and clearly we would prefer venues that are free or of minimal cost. Such venues are not easy to find however we are exploring options both north and south of the city. Awards Mixed feelings about awards many of the people who win them regularly are not interested and those who win them rarely love them. We will continue to have awards based on the number of competitors much the same as last year. The Ladies Trophy issue became somewhat overblown the decision taken at National Level was that it would no longer be compulsory to have a Ladies Trophy at the Australian Motorkhana Championships. However, if any promoter wanted to award Ladies, juniors or any other trophies they were welcome to and people could also opt out if they did not wish to receive a particular award. South Australia has not presented a Ladies Trophy for at least 20 years, probably more. The panel would be prepared to review this if there was sufficient demand from female competitors. Cost Cost is clearly a factor for some and something we have very little control over. A
motorkhana at Mallala costs a club around $1200 dollars to put on, in venue hire and permit fees alone. We usually like to feed our helpers and there are minor printing costs, trophies etc. You do the maths, 60 competitors @ $20 each = $1200, 50 @ $24 ea =$1200, 40 @ $30 ea = $1200, 30 competitors @$40 ea=$1200, 25 @ $48 or 20@ $60 each. 30-40 competitors is a good number to have and you should get 12 runs for the day. 20 is closer to the number we actually get. For events at Malalla we are proposing $50 for entries in advance and $60 for entries on the day. We will continue to have Come & Try spots available at the same price. As a trial this year we would like to offer free entry to juniors who are accompanied by a fee paying adult. You don t have to ride in the car with them just enter yourself as well. Helpers We need more people to be involved in running motorkhanas in SA. The Autotest panel has about half of its members with over 20 years service, so fresh blood would certainly be appreciated there. Many of those people run much of the set-up of motorkhanas as well, be it laying out the tests, taking entries or verifying and correcting results etc. before and after the event. In many cases it is those people who man the tests during the event when they would rather be competing. It takes 3 people to run a lane and often it is those 6 people we are short of. Clubs who run events have an obligation to find enough help but if you have a friend or partner who will be there watching all day ask them if they would like to help out. We will train and guide them as required and they will be able to get closer to the action. The help we get from competitors to change tests during the day and pack up at the end of the day is greatly appreciated but more help would be better still. Practice Due to the high costs of Mallala we are unlikely to have stand-alone practice there but we will continue to set aside an hour at the end of each day for untimed practice for entrants. This is dependent on assistance with packing up and a desire for it to happen. If it is 40 degrees or raining it probably won t happen but if you would like to practice have a word to the Clerk of Course before driver s briefing and it can be discussed.