Originally Posted by
Mark Pav
I have observed recent writings on this site and it is with some regret that I feel compelled to write here. This probably would have been better served as a personal message, but as Robert Taylor has chosen a public forum to write his opinions in, I feel that I must likewise reply in such a forum. Firstly let’s put all our cards on the table. I am the older brother of the current CEO of MNZ so I do not claim impartiality. But it seems that such a virtue is in short supply around here anyway, so let us continue in spite of it…… My brother will probably be annoyed that I have taken this course of action but unlike others who have both declared, and undeclared interests in the recent discussions, I have at least had the courtesy to disclose my identity. I am thus moved to address Robert as he has the courtesy to identify himself. The anonymous phantoms in the mist deserve no such respect.
I am saddened by the fact that I have come to lose respect for someone that I have admired as a very capable expert in the disciplines of motorcycle engineering, particularly suspension. Credit where it is due though, Robert has not chosen to hide behind the anonymity that the internet can provide. He has stuck his head up and voiced opinions that have become increasingly personal in nature and he has taken to playing the man and not the ball. He has apparently embarked on a campaign of personal vendetta and in doing so has lowered his standing in the eyes of many people. The CEO is facing a crisis in participation in a sport that he has been associated with and loved for many years. The quality of entries at the sharp end is not the issue, the quantity is. Competitor numbers in National Champs have fallen from the 2006 level of 35 entrants in the 600’s down to 26 entries in 2009 . The big capacity class has fallen from 23 to 15 entries in the same period. Back in 2005 there were 30 entries in the big capacity class. The CEO has seen fit to initiate responses to this perceived crisis. If he stood idly by and let the numbers in Road Racing’s premiere classes decline even further, the same hounds that bark and whine that he is trying to do something now would be howling for his blood, crying that he stood by and let it die…..
Paul’s job is to help grow motorcycling in New Zealand. MNZ is an organising body, not a branch of the trade. He has been told repeatedly by competitors that costs are too high, and in an effort to reduce these he has made proposals to reduce the cost of running a competitive machine. Robert Taylor has attempted to hijack the discussions about change and convert them into an argument about motorcycle suspension and chassis dynamics, an area I am sure that he is comfortable in discussing, but in doing so the debate is distracted from where it really needs to be. Robert has become an outspoken critic of the CEO. A small chorus of the disaffected have generalised it into derision of all MNZ staff. Among this group are people who have probably been disciplined for assaulting stewards and making potentially criminally libellous statements about MNZ staff. Robert claims that the CEO is acting in a dictatorial and single minded way, whilst he himself has proceeded to behave in precisely such a manner, closing his mind to all possibility of change to class rules that alter the current market for suspension products and expertise. He and others have expanded this reaction into a critique of all aspects of MNZ’s operations , even down to pathetic dribblings about car park spaces…. I doubt that their $120.00 would buy much in any specialist race suspension shop, yet for the small sum of their annual subscription ( only a part of MNZ funding ), these anonymous critics expect that they should control every last detail of the administration of a complex organisation. Perhaps Robert might be able to inform them about the subtleties of the provincial real estate market, but I imagine that the car park might have actually risen in value since it was purchased thus becoming an appreciating asset. Do not mistake outspokenness for correctness.
Roberts shock and alarm at the voluntary departure of Paul Stewart seems to have played a part in generating much of his animosity. It is sad to see attempts to turn Paul Stewart’s departure into some sort of Jihadi martyrdom as these detract from his achievements.
If you want to play the man Robert, consider the following. In developing a personal attack on PP you need to realise that you are attacking a man who spent every moment of his life between 1974 and 1998 breathing racing motorcycles. He spent every cent of disposable income for 24 years on his passion for racing motorcycles, risking his life and limbs , and sustaining serious injuries for the beautiful madness that is Road Racing. If I am not mistaken, you have always been a bench racer , risking at most, a pinched thumb from an errant shock spring….. Conversely your involvement in motorcycle racing over a similar period of time has mostly derived you income in some way or another, So don’t talk lightly about the love of motorcycle racing around here mate. Whilst enjoying a good income at present, Paul left behind corporate sector jobs that paid multiples of what he is probably on now, so he’s not in it for the money.
So now Robert hopes that a new President of MNZ might enable him to take the fight to the CEO...this will of course, immediately solve the entire issue !!( enter appropriate Tui beer advert slogan here )
Change needs to come to Road Racing in NZ. In my opinion, alignment with Australian Superstock rules would enable an affordable and competitive race series that would enable a two way traffic of riders and machines . If you think that would make boring racing just ask any of the riders and spectators who have seen it in Australia.
So before you dismiss me as a sycophantic sibling Robert, remember its not too late to change yourself and possibly your point of view. There might even be a place for you, God knows you are intelligent enough to adapt…….
As for your various political ramblings, I think somebody should contact Labour Party headquarters and let them know that they are losing the support of small provincial entrepreneurial capitalists. I’m sure they would be “shocked” to find that they are losing the battle for what must surely have been their traditional support base……
bloody hell!!!
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