The Australian Off Road Commission (AORCom) has announced the Australian Off Road Championship (AORC) calendar for 2009, which will comprise of five rounds.
Prior to considering the calendar, an online survey was conducted and a meeting was held in Alice Springs at the time of the Finke Desert Race to determine competitor preferences.
The majority of AORC competitors indicated their preference for the championship to be reduced from six rounds to five, with a six-week gap provided between each round.
After considering the six submitted applications, AORCom allocated the five rounds for 2009* as follows:
Rd 1 Hyden - WA 11/12 April (Easter) Rd 2 Alice Springs - NT 6/7/8 June Rd 3 Mildura - Vic 25/26 July Rd 4 Millicent - SA 5/6 September Rd 5 Goondiwindi Qld 17/18 October
AORCom also decided that all five rounds would count in the point score which is a change from previous years. In order to keep the championship alive until the last round, the Goondiwindi event will continue to attract a bonus of 1.5 times the regular points on offer.
The AORC has a strong group of promoters and it is disappointing that all applicants could not be successful in their bids, however the needs of the competitors were paramount in determining the 2009 calendar, said AORCom Chairman John Paterson.
Due to the various issues affecting the time when events could run, the Commission simply could not achieve a six-round calendar with the appropriate spacing between each round.
The inaugural Tri Series is growing in popularity and the Australian Off Road Commission is pleased to advise that it will continue in 2009. We look forward to next years championship for which a number of further developments are planned.
* Note: The calendar is subject to ratification by the Board of the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport Ltd.
Donald was an obvious success this year, will it be included next year in a round robin arrangement? Any talk along these lines?
That was a suggestion put forward by some competitors at Mildura, but it really is not an acceptable arrangement for organisers, so the short answer is no.
I am sure that Owen and the VORRA club will still run the event, but I hope the timing of it is right so that they get a good entry list. It was great this year with such a large field, but in my personal opinion I am not sure how successfull it will be long term if it gets entry numbers like in 2007 (20-odd cars).
It is a pity, as I think it is a great event, and from the outside looking in it appeared to be a very successful and popular event this year, however I can understand the reasoning behind dropping back to 5 rounds.
For Donald to run successfully at state only level it would need a great deal more support from competitors than in 2007 and I cannot see the momentum which has slowly built over the past number of years being maintained to keep the event at the level it is. Reading between the lines (which may be wildly inaccurate) it appears Donald has little chance of regaining National Championship status in the near future unless another event folds or there is a huge ground swell of support from competitors to keep it as a round of the championship. Whilst congratulations are in order to those events which are running National Championship status in 2009, this decision appears to go against the building of the exposure of Off-Roading which AORCOM and ORINC should be trying to build.
I may have a vested interest in Donald, but an event which has so far attracted the largest entry list must have something going for it.
Hyden 64 Donald 75 Finke 66 Mildura 49
At a time when the sport is trying to grow, the decision to reduce the number of rounds seems to be a backward step and rather unfortunate for the progression of off-roading.
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"I'm dangerous when i'm cornered. I fall to pieces so quickly people get hit by the schrapnel" Zaphod Beeblebrox - Galactic President
As with most downsizings it was probably just a case of last in first out. Many expected Finke to be shown the door (even the president hinted as much by asking Hayden Bentley on ABC radio if people would still come to Finke if it was not a National Round in 2009.)
Shame about the short answer being no.... We were planning on running it if it was a national round as part of the tri series in '09.
Why is it an unacceptable arrangement for the organisors?
Mind you, it goes to show the strenght of offroading at the moment if there are more tracks (and volunteers more importantly!) willing to run a national round than can be catered for.
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Green Sally up. Green Sally down. Lift and squat, gonna tear the ground.
Shame about the short answer being no.... We were planning on running it if it was a national round as part of the tri series in '09.
Why is it an unacceptable arrangement for the organisors?
Mind you, it goes to show the strenght of offroading at the moment if there are more tracks (and volunteers more importantly!) willing to run a national round than can be catered for.
Wolf, I think the costs/effort of running an even of this size would be very, very high, so if it is only mildly supported by a field of 20-odd cars like it was in 2007, then there would be no benefit for the club to run the event. The township of Donald put a lot of support behind the event, so for it to go back to such a small field could lead the township itself to question their support of the event.
maybe donald could move there race meet to easter , these is no other race going on ,on the east side of town , and the races that dont run nationals have a race to go to , it seems to work alrigth on the june long weekend to have two races
In the previous two years (prior to being a National event) Donald was run at Easter. The first year was well attended, however the second year (2007) had a low number of entries. I think there may have been a lot of things combined to make that number small, with a lot of people having holidays around that time, drought causing problems for farmers, a number of cars being worked on at that time, etc.
Latest report is that Donald will again be happening next year. Make sure you all give it the support it deserves and lets crack the 100 entry mark in 2009
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"I'm dangerous when i'm cornered. I fall to pieces so quickly people get hit by the schrapnel" Zaphod Beeblebrox - Galactic President
