2012 National Round Rumours

simpson · Rehab Dropout...

RE: 2012 National Round Rumours

Nina · Powerhouse Poster

Simpson - I am on the committee of Finke Desert Race which is why I know some of the history. My involvement with the event goes back to before the time when CAMS approached Finke Desert Race to become a round of the Australian Championships In a show of full disclosure, I will also advise that I am the Clerk of Course for the bikes. Having said that, I have also given a lot of time to working on the car side of things. I have attended the last 4 or 5 Organisers Forums in Melbourne and each year worked closely with CAMS to develop and improve our event.

I'm glad to hear that you have supported us in the past and fully understand the position competitors are in at the moment.

The support that we need for the bikes is great, I admit, due to the shear number of competitors. However, this support would be in place regardless of the number of competitors or weather it was just cars or just bikes. We would still need road closure, medivac helicopters, fire equipment, sweep vehicles, check points, etc., whether there were 60 or 600 competitors on the track. These safety aspects can't be compromised.

Your wish that the outcome of the current events will improve Off Road Racing in the future is shared by the organisers. This is why we have taken the stance that we have. Most competitors would not be aware of the requirements to run an event to National Championship level, and in a way, that is a good thing. That way they can get on with what they do best - race and entertain our spectators! Having said that, some of the conditions that we are required to meet have become unworkable. This has been fed back to ORRinc and AORComm over a number of years but there has been no resolution. There was a particular incident this year that seriously jeopardized sponsorship arrangements that Finke Desert Race had in place. Although this was brought to the attention of ORRinc and AORComm, there was no acknowledgement to our concerns. We were put in the unfortunate position of having to withdraw our EOI or loose major sponsorship and have no guarantee that the same problem would not happen in 2012. As a competitor, you would appreciated the value of sponsorship - especially when it relates to real dollars, not contra deals.

As Jeremy has stated in previous posts, the biggest issues we face is communication. With no acknowledgement that there is a problem, there is no solution being sought and the same mistakes will be made year after year.

simpson · Rehab Dropout...

Thanks Nina for your input it could get back to what i said in a previous post we rely on volunteers and i don't know how we do it but at this point in time we could use a paid professional to dedicate the time to get it right or the people that are in place on all sides should learn from what has happened.

croweater · Powerhouse Poster

simpson wrote:
Thanks Nina for your input it could get back to what i said in a previous post we rely on volunteers and i don't know how we do it but at this point in time we could use a paid professional to dedicate the time to get it right or the people that are in place on all sides should learn from what has happened.

I know we would all agree that volunteers in this sport are absolutely critical and 99% of them do an amazing job, but, I am getting a feeling (and I hope I am wrong) that the other 1% either have agendas or are power trippers and causing damage to our sport. Maybe you are right that we need a paid professional, with no hidden agendas, to get this right. Maybe with the amount of money getting turned over nowadays it is not possible to control with volunteers. I'll watch with interest who pokes their head up after the dust has settled from this shambles.

Stingray 2212 · Rehab Dropout...

Just thinking, if there is one event that could "break away" from CAMS it would be the Finke. They already have insurance with the bikes so it would only be a matter of perhaps getting the bike insurer to do the cars as well. All the criteria for gaining insurance is already in place.

Magila · Forum Addict

Excuse me for thinking this but when you sign up to host a national round don't you sign up for a number of years ???

how long have Sealake signed up for ????

Stingray 2212 · Rehab Dropout...

Someone said the other day 2 years with anonother 1 as an option.

Nina · Powerhouse Poster

Taken from ABC interview on: http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3414747.htm

BERNIE CLOHESY: At this stage the club's applied for two years with another option to go for a third one.

simpson · Rehab Dropout...

Following is a statement from CAMS regarding the Australian Off Road Championship.

CAMS intends to work on re-instatement of the Finke Desert Race to the Australian Off Road Championship as quickly as possible.

Following is a statement from CAMS regarding the Australian Off Road Championship.

The race is currently not part of the Australian Off Road Championship in 2012.

David Morgan, CAMS CEO, says he is disappointed that the Organisers of the Finke Desert Race chose not to be part of the Championship, but would like to see it return to the Championship in the near future.

The Finke is one of the iconic Australian races, said Mr Morgan. It is a marquee event on the Australian Off Road Racing calendar, and we are working to have it back in the championship.

Organisers for the race withdrew their Expression of Interest to be included as part of the 2012 Championship late in 2011, and subsequently declined to attend a meeting in December with CAMS to negotiate a resolution to their key issues.

Organisers of the Sea Lake Mallee Rally in Victoria submitted an Expression of Interest for the Australian Off Road Championship in January 2012, which was accepted.

The Sea Lake event is the second longest-running event of its type in Australia, and returns to the Championship after an eleven-year absence to open the series on 8-10 June, 2012.

The Sea Lake event has traditionally been held on the June long weekend since 1973, said Mr Morgan.

This is the weekend it is always held, and it was the only event that the Championship had a submission for on that weekend for 2012.

We welcome Sea Lake back to the Championship as it, too, is a special race in Australian Off Road Racing.

taiterchips · Newbie

Stingray 2212 wrote:
Tait, can you please find out, or do you know how long (maybe always) has CAMS owned the commercial & television rights to the AORC. Thanks.

Looking into it for an accurate answer. Can hopefully reply soon

Nina · Powerhouse Poster

http://www.finkedesertrace.com.au/publish/pdf/2012/TFDR12%20Media%20Release%202012-01-28.pdf

TravisRobinson13 · Newbie

Leaving all the Bullsh*t a side.

Is having them on the same weekend going to make our sport better or worse?

Is ORRINC and AORCOM doing the best for our investments and lives?

Should CAMS think about a re-structure of AORCOM and ORRINC?

-- Edited by TravisRobinson13 on Tuesday 31st of January 2012 06:32:27 AM

SANDMAN · Forum Addict

Does that mean it is cheaper to fly to China to sign up a team than fly to Melbourne to secure a round of the 2012 AORC?

Nina · Powerhouse Poster

Sandman - Flying to China had (and did) the potential of a positive outcome. Can the same be said for flying to Melbourne?

SANDMAN · Forum Addict

Dont know only you guys can answer that but it appears it would give Cams some extra ammo to throw back at you guys? Good luck with your negotiations.

simpson · Rehab Dropout...

I don't know if i am missing something but Finke withdrew and the Sealake club that have run there event on that weekend for a very long time said yea we could run a National round. Now i don't know if Cams or AORCOM planned this but i am happy to race at Sealake as others will.

For those that want to do Finke then thats there buisness no one holding a gun to your head. I know with the changes to this years callender a lot of State guys will do more Nationals because the cost of doing races like Hyden & Finke arn't possible for a number of reasons.

NOW IF WE HAD HAD ALL THE EVENTS AND WE COULD HAVE DROPED A ROUND OR TWO THIS WOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM WOULD IT. But to keep both events means one has a date problem.

Commercial agreements with the prospect of loosing the great majority of cars from Finke should they look at there merchandise agreement and allow some competition from who ever has the contract for the cars for the other events and in the future the Finke sponsor exposure problem won't happen again i would think ?

FOA Prolite · Rehab Dropout...

Looks like CAMS has bowed to the pressure with this statement on OFFROAD RACING.

Three of the Four to Count Friday, 03 February 2012

In a statement made today, the Australian Off Road Commission announced a change to the way the 2012 Australian Off Road Championship point score will be calculated.

In a move to increase participation at the four scheduled AORC events for 2012, a competitors point score will be compiled using their best three events, ie three of the four events to count.

Official statement below
The Australian Off Road Commission has announced changes to the way in which Championship results are decided.

The Australian Off Road Commission met on Tuesday the 24th January via teleconference to finalise the structure and documentation of the 2012 Australian Off Road Championship.

Based on the rounds that have committed to the Championship, and feedback from AORC Competitors, the Australian Off Road Commission resolved that for 2012 the final AORC results will be compiled using each competitors best three results.

This decision is a positive move, and should increase participation levels at each of the four AORC rounds.

jump1 · Rehab Dropout...

gee talk about change your mind every 5 mins

Dusteater · In rehab

This decision I think is to appease the high profile teams that run Finke. Talk about having your cake and eating it. Instead of screwing around with this years AORC further they should be concentrating on how to make 2013 a standout year. Still got 4 months till the first round so stay tuned for more changes, maybe best 2 out of 4 with half points to Finke and Sealake and double points if you have to travel more than 1000kms. Can it get anymore rediculous.

SANDMAN · Forum Addict

What a Joke this all is, should give double point score for Sea Lake now just to offset it. I am wondering who is running this whole show?

Buggy924 · Powerhouse Poster

Why not just pay the CAMS annual number and registration fees and then put our names in a hat and draw out each class and then National winners.

Would save a lot of travelling and money.

tumbleweed · Forum Junkie

I wonder if they still plan bonus points for last round?

Dusteater · In rehab

And what about the Nationals Tri Series

Patrol842 · Forum Addict

Dusteater wrote:
And what about the Nationals Tri Series

Thats what they just turned it into. The 2012 #1 plate wont be quite as much of an acheivement as previous years. It's just a tri series winner. Still good work but not what it was meant to be.

I feel for Sealake, they've just been torpedoed. AORCom and ORRinc aren't talking, they're just issuing statements. I hope this mess is resolved by next year. Talk to your members people, if you don't then clubs will have to make their own arrangements.

FULLSCALE · Forum Addict

note with interest that Flinders 450 has reappeared on the SA Champs calender. wasn't even down for an event in 2012 after the nationals fiasco. also interesting is the timing of late April. Could this be the start of a push back to the Nationals in this time slot. It would be available if you went by this years final calender.
Just happens to be 6 weeks prior to Finke this year. the other thing that has a few backs up is it's round 2 of the state series just 2 weeks after rnd1. Baroota always used to be Oct. long weekend when it was a SA champ round. i think it's more about establishing a date through the year for upcoming seasons

Lamby · In rehab

SA State series will be same as nationals, 4 out of five rounds to count, and the october long weekend was not available due to another club having an event calendared for that date.
Should be a great SA championship this year.

tumbleweed · Forum Junkie

The aorc.com.au site shows the calendar for 2012 but still has points from part way (after Baroota 22-7-11) through 2011. It spent the entire 2011 season behind the 8 ball for info.

To say nothing of the two australian teams competing in the US last weekend is not supporting the teams that support the championship and borderline negligent to the AORC - they are your customers. Videos on outerboundsracing facebook site with australian flags hanging off the back of the cars in competiton would be pretty good youtube links to start with.

I dont get it. We are not just on a different page we are writing a different book. I wish the AORC well and cannot devote any more attention to this. I am off to help run the best state level race that WA has ever seen. We invite any interstate teams to come at Easter and have a blast. We will be hitting the airwaves with some news spots over the next week or so.

-- Edited by tumbleweed on Friday 10th of February 2012 07:53:33 PM

simpson · Rehab Dropout...

I agree the aorc site is a joke and always has been and does someone get paid for this ?. They would be better off giving the funds to Offroad .com.au they do more to keep us informed than this site could ever do. JUST ANOTHER QUESTONABLE DECISION. confuse

-- Edited by simpson on Saturday 11th of February 2012 08:31:05 AM

Dusteater · In rehab

It's now a week since the 3 out of 4 rule was announced and the AORC Official website still has nothing about it. You've got to give them points for consistancy.

jones off road · Rehab Dropout...

I did not know anyone looked at the 'official site', much more benefit to look at the established sites!
Just another f-up by the powers that be.