MNZ board nominations

[jellywrestler]

Id say his campaign already demonstrates a level of co operation & organisation rarely seen in racing circles.

So where do I find out details of Chris Lawrances Campaign and his contact details so we can ask him questions ourselves then?

[scott411]

So where do I find out details of Chris Lawrances Campaign then?

it was listed on the first page of this thread,

but here are the profiles of each from the MNZ site

http://www.mnz.co.nz/newsDetail.aspx...rticleID=35622

[sidecar bob]

So where do I find out details of Chris Lawrances Campaign then?

Phn Andy, I believe you have his number.
This is probably the worst place to run a campaign from, so dont expect a huge presence from Chris & Andy on here.
I on the other hand, while mostly short on useful information, will usually be lurking around here to take the piss out of someone for my own amusment.

[lostinflyz]

all i see is scrivvy's speil. whats Chris's opinion and reaction to items or are we just voting for scrivy. hows he react to the hostility that hes bound to face, when everyones got a different opinion and u can't appease them all.

whats he offering outside not being Jim Tuckerman???

[jellywrestler]

Phn Andy, I believe you have his number.
This is probably the worst place to run a campaign from, so dont expect a huge presence from Chris & Andy on here.
I on the other hand, while mostly short on useful information, will usually be lurking around here to take the piss out of someone for my own amusment.

Most people can work out whether people are taking the piss or not on here. You've given us lots of training on this Bob!
You can't deny that this is one of the modern ways of communications available and will play a part in whether a candidate flies or dies.
I welcome Chris as nominee and wish him well and know that he has a team behind him too. But I still invite Chris himself to come on here and answer some questions too, as he has earlier in this thread.
Post 55 in this thread is one area I have a strong interest in and a question I have asked Chris himself to answer.
I look forward to Chris's response
Spyda

[The Chow]

The perilous state of Australian motorcycle racing revealed
By, Trevor Hedge

Those of you familiar with my mcnews.com.au musings over the past 12 years know that overwhelmingly this site has supported - and continues to promote - all facets of Australian motorcycle racing, bigger and better than any other web or print publication. This is an indisputable fact.

So it is with quite a heavy heart that I report on some matters covered in the most recent meeting of the Motorcycling Australia board, the governing body for motorcycle sport in this country. However, I am a motorcycle scribe so it is my duty to bring you the news without any undue favour or fear.

I came across the minutes from the Board of Directors meeting on the Motorcycling Australia website. Clearly, it is a matter of course for minutes such as these to be available on the MA website; they have an index page titled ‘MA Reports & Meeting Minutes’ for such correspondence and, although no entries have yet been made in that index for 2011, this document was still publicly available on the MA website. After conferring with some members of the industry and providing them with the link to the relevant document, the PDF containing the minutes was removed, obviously at their request.

There are many concerning items raised in the minutes, such as the current perilous state of the Australian SX Championship, including details that the promoter is severing ties with main drawcard Chad Reed and that the series promoter owes Motorcycling Australia a considerable amount of money.

Of further concern is that on further investigation myself I discovered that the Australian Securities & Investments Commission currently lists Super X Australasia PTY Ltd as ‘Under External Administration and/or Controller Appointed’. Dated March 25th, ASIC also report a ‘Notice of Creditor’s meeting to Consider Voluntary Winding’ and a ‘Notification of Resolution Winding Up The Company’. Clearly, the sport of Australian Supercross is in dire trouble.

The minutes state Motorcycling Australia’s budget deficit is currently $334,000 and the insurance arm of MA made a loss in 2010. This is a first and should be seen in the light of the GFC etc. as of little concern.

Issues with track usage clearly continue to be a matter of review. Currently, ASBK is unable to run events at Winton Motor Raceway or Eastern Creek as those circuits will not accept their bookings. I have reported before that most suspect this is most likely the result of some tactical bastardry on the part of the recently-formed Australian Road & Track Rider Promotions Pty Ltd, which runs the rival Formula Xtreme road race series and a separate race licensing program. Both circuits are in partnership with the rival series and thus, putting two-and-two together, it makes sense that they would play their hand strategically, preventing ASBK gaining access to these key markets.

The minutes of the MA board meeting note that MA Director David White is to write to the current Minister for Sport and Recreation in NSW, concerning access to Eastern Creek. Again, this is not ground breaking stuff as most involved in the sport know this state of affairs only too well, rather it is provided to the uninitiated as background to what follows next.

Stated in black and white in the MA Board minutes is the following admission; ‘D. White stated that Y. Konsky is meeting with John Tetley to try and prevent Formula Xtreme going to Queensland Raceway.’ (Yarrive Konsky is the promoter of the Australian Superbike Championship and John Tetley manages Queensland Raceway.)

Now, while we have all suspected that such shenanigans have long been played by the other side, they have been smart enough not to admit such tactics. I pressed Australian Road & Track Rider Promotions Pty Ltd Director, Terry O’Neill, on the matter of Eastern Creek and Winton Motor Raceways deliberately putting barriers in the way of ASBK in their quest to run events at those complexes in an interview I conducted last year, but my thrusts were skillfully parried by Mr O’Neill.

Other matters raised in the document also infer that the ASBK is struggling for funding and has asked Motorcycling Australia for more funding. In the current economic climate that would hardly come as a surprise to anyone.

I spoke with Yarrive Konsky, Director of IEG, the promoter of the ASBK Championship, and he assures me that the discussions he was having with MA in regards to funding were with a view to 2012 and beyond. He said that there is absolutely no threat to this year’s ASBK Championship and funding is secured to fulfill the complete 2011 calendar. Mr Konsky also swore that he has had no discussions with Queensland Raceway concerning Formula Xtreme, and that his discussions with Mr Tetley only concerned future ASBK events scheduled at Queensland Raceway.

The real clanger in this document, however, is the following: ‘D. White stated that industry representatives are stating that if IEG are not successful, there will be no option but to move over to Formula Xtreme.’

Honda and Suzuki are the primary supporters of the Australian Superbike Championship and at the moment it must be said that these two companies currently underwrite the series and are almost solely responsible for its survival, something that the MA Board minutes infer is in a particularly tenuous situation.

I spoke to Suzuki General Manager, Perry Morison, concerning the statement noted in the minutes and the long time Suzuki head honcho had absolutely no hesitation in labeling the statement contained in the MA document a complete misrepresentation of any discussions that he had undertaken with them. He also firmly stated that Suzuki Australia has absolutely no intention - or wish - to compete in the rival Formula Xtreme series.

I certainly believe Mr Morison's protestations that Suzuki has not indicated any desire to take his company’s racing efforts over to Formula Extreme. It is a position entirely consistent with every discussion I have ever had with him on the matter, thus his apparently being attributed as making a comment to the contrary in this MA document has the normally quite reserved Suzuki man none too pleased.

Honda Motorcycles General Manager Tony Hinton was perhaps not quite as dismissive of the option as his counterpart at Suzuki but still reinforced Honda’s support for the ASBK in the following statement.

“I have regular meetings in conjunction with Motorcycling Australia and other key industry representatives to discuss the state of various championships. At the World Superbike event in February, we took the opportunity to discuss the Australian Superbike Championship.

“From time to time, as industry representatives, we put our view forward of what we think is in the best interests of the championship. Whether it be a two-day meeting or one bike per rider, as per the British Superbikes, those ideas should be put on the table and considered.

“While we are fully committed to the Australian Superbike Series, Honda Australia does have contractual obligations to its supplier of road race services which is, of course, Motologic Pty. Ltd.

“If the Australian Road Racing Championship, for whatever reason, failed to run in some way, we acknowledge that contractually we would have no option but to move to an alternative race series

"We will address that situation only when and if the need arises.”

As I declared in my opening paragraph, it gives me absolutely no pleasure to report on the matters in this article, but it is my duty to report the news, even when some of that news is clearly unpalatable for any enthusiast that holds motorcycle racing dear to their heart. Make of it what you will.

-- Addendum. As we published Motorcycling Australia issued a statement that we were alerted to by an MA press officer, who referred us to their website where we retrieved the following: Motorcycling Australia (MA) CEO David White would like to release the following statement regarding the release of Board Minutes from the February 2011 MA Board Meeting:

...Starts

It has come to my attention that the minutes from the February MA Board Meeting were incorrectly placed on the MA website on Monday 28 March.

The minutes contain minimal notation of issues discussed at Board level, and are completed for internal use to formulate reports for general dissemination – this is normal operating procedure.

These minutes, though final, were not for general distribution and should not have been made publically available as they do not provide the necessary level of context and could potentially be wrongly interpreted – they have since been removed from the website.

MA is currently investigating how this occurred, and will undertake a review of its internal processes and procedures immediately to ensure formal structures are adhered to.

I would like to personally apologise to all parties affected, assuring them that the issue is of the upmost importance and MA is currently dealing with the situation.

The finalised February 2011 MA Board Report will be released shortly, and will be made available on the MA Website.

In light of the situation I would urge media to consider the context of the information when reporting.

I would encourage any affected parties to contact MA directly with their concerns so they can be addressed and once again I would like to apologise on behalf of MA.

[The Chow]

Personal issues aside , Jim is a mate , but I have to say sometimes he drops the ball. But other times he is good to have around. Remember you are MNZ and have always had a say , but you have to go the correct procedures to be heard. Chris I have no problems other than why would I vote for someone who has other people speak for him. By the way I'm not a MNZ member so makes no difference to me. I will work with anyone , no matter what the board make up is.

As for the sidecar issues , this is just BIG egos on both sides of that fence. To me it is a shame , but until they sort their own crap out , and not drag solos in to it then it is a no win for them I guess.

Everyone bitches about the nats. Well why is it then that this years nationals had more entries than previous years (apart from Round 4). 122 at Timaru , 114 at Teretonga , 140 at Christchurch , 106 at Manfeild. And the support races were down in numbers. Superbikes/Superlites/Prolites all up in numbers , 600SS/STK around the same , Pro Twin around the same and 125GP varied a bit more down south than up north (nothing new there) , so perhaps the changes have worked.

Who am I? I'm the guy that gave you live coverage from every round , plus Video and more , what was I paid? $2500 by Castrol directly not MNZ and this did not cover my costs.

[Tony.OK]

Who am I? I'm the guy that gave you live coverage from every round , plus Video and more , what was I paid? $2500 by Castrol directly not MNZ and this did not cover my costs.

And you did a bloody good job too.................thankyou for that, much appreciated!

[scrivy]

Guys, believe it or not, but KB is not the be all and end all of NZ motorcycle sport!

A few on here have said I'm speaking for Chris, but rather I'm just giving you the true FACTS on issues that certain people have raised. Why have they raised them? I believe to insinuate certain mis-truths about Chris's position on matters. I feel that is really sad coming from the same bunch of people I share the track with in our little niche sport.
Chris has been busy in the last few days, but will come on here to answer your questions when able to.

To the people on here regarding my posts speaking on behalf of Chris, why is it that a few are also commenting for Jim too, but you haven't tried to stitch them up?
Where are Jims comments also? No ones asked for him yet.


Scrivy

[gixerracer]

Guys, believe it or not, but KB is not the be all and end all of NZ motorcycle sport!


Wot you talkin about willis

[brads]

WTF - Where in this thread did I write these words????

Originally posted by Wingnut, well hell I think my alter personality has taken over!

I'm off - this thread is going gay anyhow!

Yeah thats right Geoff Jones(wingnut) of Oamaru.....stir up the shite and then run away....not like you have got anything else to do with your time.............................................. ...ps..hope the new member to the family doing ok

[Kevin G]

first of all Kevin, thanks for coming on here and answering some questions, and thanks and congrats for standing again as a Board Member

i find it hard to believe that trail rides are considered more dangerous than street racing or supercross? as the injury count per rider or per event for these would be much higher, is it due to the fact that their are more trail rides, the fee for trail rides have always been double what a normal clubday event was. which i can understand as you do not need a competition liceince.

As a reference, i run 5 trail rides a year, last year the fees for the permits for these rides were $510, with this new regime the series fees from MNZ will be around $4500, do you not think that this will push more trail rides away from MNZ sanction?

I know the Permit fees had not increased for a long time, and a increase was more than overdue, but a 9 fold increase, for only one side of the sport seems over the top.

Hi Scott.
The total insurance for public liability and competitor and officials insurance is near on $60,000 PA. The permit fees alone do not pay for this and it has a shortfall of around $18,000. The Insurers have stated they see the trail rides as the biggest risk of all the factions of our sport due to injury stats and the numbers that attend and the lack of clear guidelines and rules for trail rides. This is an area (rules and guidelines) been worked on and if the insurance situation changes then the levy fee can also be amended or removed.
Hope this helps clarify the levy.

Kevin Goddard

[Wingnut]

Yeah thats right Geoff Jones(wingnut) of Oamaru.....stir up the shite and then run away....not like you have got anything else to do with your time.............................................. ...ps..hope the new member to the family doing ok

LOL - I have been waiting for you to speak up....

Yea thanks mate - little girl is mint.

[jellywrestler]

I believe to insinuate certain mis-truths about Chris's position on matters.

Count me out on that little game. That's why I asked Chris a question and in due course you say Chris will come on here and answer. There' are too many second hand answers and hidden bits of info already.
As for Chris Lawrance; I have known him for well over twenty years and his old man for longer. There are few people with his level dedication to their sport.
Chris was the driving force that saw 19 sidecars, 38 competitors, on the grid at Timaru about four years ago at the nationals.
Ringing around and either getting bikes and teams back out there or encouraging people to sell their bikes to those who would use them, if they had lost their enthusiasm.
I was proud to be commentating when he took his first national points win just two seasons ago, proud to follow his sojourn to the Isle of Man, to race and to live there, to satiate a life-long dream.
I was also proud to watch him race with just 14% of kidney function left intact, at the tri series 2 series ago.
The MNZ presidency is a huge job. I've no doubt Chris and his team will apply themselves we just need to know that he's got the right angle on it all.
Let's see his agenda and stop promoting him via slagging off other candidates, after all it is a sport.
Christ there's going to be enough of that later this year when the governments up for re-election.

[The Chow]

Personal issues aside , Jim is a mate , but I have to say sometimes he drops the ball. But other times he is good to have around. Remember you are MNZ and have always had a say , but you have to go the correct procedures to be heard. Chris I have no problems other than why would I vote for someone who has other people speak for him. By the way I'm not a MNZ member so makes no difference to me. I will work with anyone , no matter what the board make up is.

As for the sidecar issues , this is just BIG egos on both sides of that fence. To me it is a shame , but until they sort their own crap out , and not drag solos in to it then it is a no win for them I guess.

Everyone bitches about the nats. Well why is it then that this years nationals had more entries than previous years (apart from Round 4). 122 at Timaru , 114 at Teretonga , 140 at Christchurch , 106 at Manfeild. And the support races were down in numbers. Superbikes/Superlites/Prolites all up in numbers , 600SS/STK around the same , Pro Twin around the same and 125GP varied a bit more down south than up north (nothing new there) , so perhaps the changes have worked.

Who am I? I'm the guy that gave you live coverage from every round , plus Video and more , what was I paid? $2500 by Castrol directly not MNZ and this did not cover my costs.

Oh and by the way I will be back next year as well.