New Zealand Superbikes and Grand Prix

[Billy]

Billy...you're a genuine GC. But you needn't get so worked up about people pointing out serious issues with the way MNZ do certain things.

They're not personal attacks, yet you're taking it like they are.

There is some SERIOUS money spent by certain teams at the superbike level. It's not on that it gets handled in an amateurish way in my opinion. To say it wasn't handled that way...is doing yourself a disservice. As Tana Umaga said a few years ago..."It's not tiddly winks"

The top teams are doing their very best to be professional...time for MNZ to match the effort.

Na Mate,Im not getting worked up,Im just saying it like it is,Im well aware of the shortcomings with in our roadrace scene,But if you knew 10% of what went on that behind the scenes,You'd be stunned that anything ever gets done,Its an absolute nightmare,Add to that half the people in the clubs dont know the rules and are really in some cases only there because they got caught with their hand up at an agm when a position was being sought and nobody else would do the job,Then the clubs dont want to run to the rules in some classes and think its their right to just make shit up as they go along and flaunt the MNZ rules and their riders turn up at a national round and start arguing the point cause some tosser in their club filled them up with shit and they believed it and on and on it goes,Its all stuff the under rescourced clubs running the National rounds shouldnt have to and dont have the time to deal with,Sure I'll be the first to admit the redflag/65% rule is a dogs breakfast,I dont think anybody really understands it in its current state and Ive already brought it up with the commission chair and Im sure after this fiasco it'll be revisited,But there were also other issues we were trying to deal that at the time seemed more important,Fuck I could go on for hours about it,But the short version will always be,If your not happy with how things are being run,Then get in and give the guys who are trying a hand,Slinging shit at them and calling them useless is most definitely not going to improve anything,If you tell somebody theyre usless often enough,Eventually they'll believe and hey,Maybe thats where we are,Who knows.

[Crasherfromwayback]

.a systems failure maybe?...an MNZ fiasco?...but definitely not a failure by the crew in control....

Yes, yes and yes.

Mate, the Commentator went and told the officials how many laps were done. They weren't sure.

The Officials do a great job considering they're not paid. They don't always get it right but what do you expect when you don't have paid professionals with lots of experience to run things. Given the information they had at the time they made the right decision.

Don't lose sight of the fact the the riders (most of them anyway) aren't paid either. In fact...they pay serious money to compete at that level. I personally think it's only fair enough they expect and get treatment according to the very rules they have to abide by. Time to stop hiding behind the fact the the MNZ people don't get paid mate. Volunteer fire brigade workers and surf lifesavers don't get paid. But if they made mistakes as basic as the one made last weekend a lot of people would be spewing.

Too many arseholes like Jim Tuckerman taking on roles like he does so he can control people and throw his weight around seeing as he was probably not tall enough to get into the police force way back when.

I've raced most forms of bikes mate...here and in Australia. I've gotta tell ya. MZN take it in the ass.

[Crasherfromwayback]

,If your not happy with how things are being run,Then get in and give the guys who are trying a hand,Slinging shit at them and calling them useless is most definitely not going to improve anything,If you tell somebody theyre usless often enough,Eventually they'll believe and hey,Maybe thats where we are,Who knows.

Mate...I work 6 days a week, every fucking week, and have done for the last 25 years. How the hell would I find the time to help out?

I can't even find the time to go and watch Rachel racing even though I'd love to. It's a fucking joy to even get the vintage bike out once in a blue moon!

If I one day win lotto...I'll put in the 6 days a week I work now to try and make a differnce to MNZ. As long as Jim Tuckerman isn't there.

Promise.

[RobGassit]

Yes, yes and yes.



Don't lose sight of the fact the the riders (most of them anyway) aren't paid either. In fact...they pay serious money to compete at that level. I personally think it's only fair enough they expect and get treatment according to the very rules they have to abide by. Time to stop hiding behind the fact the the MNZ people don't get paid mate. Volunteer fire brigade workers and surf lifesavers don't get paid. But if they made mistakes as basic as the one made last weekend a lot of people would be spewing.

Too many arseholes like Jim Tuckerman taking on roles like he does so he can control people and throw his weight around seeing as he was probably not tall enough to get into the police force way back when.

I've raced most forms of bikes mate...here and in Australia. I've gotta tell ya. MZN take it in the ass.

As the technical steward told me on the weekend, "yes i know but we are all here for fun aren't we?" To be fair he was a lovely bloke but he obviously isn't paying any of my bills.

[Billy]

Mate...I work 6 days a week, every fucking week, and have done for the last 25 years. How the hell would I find the time to help out?

Yip,I do to and so does Jim Tuckerman and Kevin Goddard as well as most of the other mnz officials and club presidents,Secretaries,Treasurers and so on,So now you realise just how much spare time those people have to do the job,Most of us are up til well into the small hours dealing with MNZ business so you can understand how things dont run quite as smoothly or professionally as they could.

[Drew]

So there was confusion whether Stroud had completed 65% of 5 laps rather than the 65% of the original planned 15 laps?? If the wording is so clear cut, why was there any confusion?

As far as transponders go, the guys on pit row don't have that information in front of them either.

I don't think anyone was questioning weather Stroud had completed 65% of the planned race distance, nor that he should have. Since if the race has gone past 65%, it wont be restarted.

Here's my proposal for the simplest way to clarify the rule.

Add an appendix to it saying just this. "Race distance shall be deemed to be the number of laps, the race leader had completed at the time of the stoppage". Easy fuckin peasy. I'm pretty confident that this is exactly how almost everyone understands the rules as they are anyway.

[Grumph]

Too simplistic....international convention takes it back a lap for very good reasons. There can be a considerable delay between accident and red flag for one.

[Billy]

And as I expected,An email in my inbox at 1.15am from within the purple circle of us useless twats that know nothing,Requesting us to do a clarification of the redflag/65% ruling to be presented at AGM !!!

Now I wonder who we're gonna upset with that,Possibly the competitor that told us in no uncertain terms we couldnt release the rules on September the 1st then in November wanted us to change them and release them on Jan the 1st,6 days before round 1 and THEN decided they'd make their own rules and hand them out at sign in at round 1 ??????or the team manager who rang and abused us for changing a rule(That incidently hadnt been changed,Hed just never read the rules properly before)7 weeks out from round 1 and then got his mechanic to request a rule change 2 weeks later.

Fuck yeah,This easy peasy,Cant think why there arent people lining up in their droves to do this job,Or can I ????

[wayne]

once the gate was open for riders to be on track, how long before it is closed for pit lane start only ?

[Biggles08]

once the gate was open for riders to be on track, how long before it is closed for pit lane start only ?

they told us 60 seconds at riders briefing

[discodan]

Any time the rules are used differently for one rider over another it is harming the sport, not helping it.

Will it still be better for the spectacle when we don't get any international riders next year as they perceive the championship to nothing more than a joke?!

It is easy to criticise the officials after the matter but the reality is that Stroud probably affected the results of other riders simply by being on track when he was not supposed to be.

Is this the same steward who had no idea about the rules last year and had a go at anyone who brought up saftey concerns?

[RobGassit]

It did seem to cost Robbie Bugden an engine and I remember poor Nick Cole having to start from pit lane in Timaru for what appeared to be another misunderstanding. It's club level stuff the car guys would never accept at National level. Maybe we need to pay a team of officials to do it all the time.

[merv]

First thing MNZ should do is call in Hitcher to proof read its rules when it writes stuff like this excerpt from the race stoppage and restart rules:

"6.13 `Stopping and Restarting a Race`
Road Race Events


B. If three or more laps but less than two thirds of the race distance have taken
place.
a. The race shall be considered to be more than one part. The race
positions at the end of the lap preceding the stopping of the race. In all
cases where a restart takes place, this will be 30 minutes at the latest
after the previous part has stopped."

The bit I've highlighted in bold isn't even a complete sentence so can everyone be sure it says what they think it should say.

[Bykmad]

First thing MNZ should do is call in Hitcher to proof read its rules when it writes stuff like this excerpt from the race stoppage and restart rules:

"6.13 `Stopping and Restarting a Race`
Road Race Events


B. If three or more laps but less than two thirds of the race distance have taken
place.
a. The race shall be considered to be more than one part. The race
positions at the end of the lap preceding the stopping of the race. In all
cases where a restart takes place, this will be 30 minutes at the latest
after the previous part has stopped."

The bit I've highlighted in bold isn't even a complete sentence so can everyone be sure it says what they think it should say.

In the MNZ Manual of Motorsport I have, the passage reads:
6-13
B.
" a. The race shall be considered to be more than one part. The race
positions at the end of the lap preceding the stopping of the race WILL BE THE GRID POSITIONS IF A RESTART TAKES PLACE. In all cases where a restart takes place, this will be AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AFTER THE PREVIOUS PART HAS BEEN STOPPED."
b. The distance of the restarted race will be that required to make up the initial full race distance.

c. Only those riders who have accomplished at least 65% of the laps realised by the first rider of the preceding part will be authorised to restart. Machines cannot be replaced.
d. Half points will be awarded to each part. If it is impossible to restart the race, half points only will be awarded towards the championship.

That is from the MNZ Manual of Motorsport Rule Book delivered late December and which is in force effective 01/01/2012.

[Tony.OK]

In the MNZ Manual of Motorsport I have, the passage reads:
6-13
B.
" a. The race shall be considered to be more than one part. The race
positions at the end of the lap preceding the stopping of the race WILL BE THE GRID POSITIONS IF A RESTART TAKES PLACE. In all cases where a restart takes place, this will be AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AFTER THE PREVIOUS PART HAS BEEN STOPPED."
b. The distance of the restarted race will be that required to make up the initial full race distance.

c. Only those riders who have accomplished at least 65% of the laps realised by the first rider of the preceding part will be authorised to restart. Machines cannot be replaced.
d. Half points will be awarded to each part. If it is impossible to restart the race, half points only will be awarded towards the championship.

That is from the MNZ Manual of Motorsport Rule Book delivered late December and which is in force effective 01/01/2012.

Looks like the online MNZ rules have been changed since yesterday to what you have shown.