| To our motorsport community,
I am pleased to say that motorsport is slowly starting to return around the country. In recent weeks, a number of small, grassroots events have successfully occurred, with organisers working closely with Motorsport Australia staff to ensure a safe and enjoyable environment for all. Pleasingly, more events are planned for this weekend at a number of clubs around the country.
As restrictions start to ease around Australia, we are receiving a number of queries from our loyal clubs about how they can run events in accordance with any government requirements. While it’s important to note that each state is very different, grassroots events can now proceed in every state.
We have been working extremely hard to get motorsport up and running and have shared our Return To Race strategy with governments around Australia who have been pleased with the plans we have in place and the level of detail we have provided. If you haven’t seen the strategy, it is available on our website and provides event organisers and competitors with detailed information about their responsibilities at events in this very different environment we now operate in. I am also delighted to say that other sporting bodies around Australia, as well as international organisations have used our Return To Race document as a template for their own return plans. Our staff have also been sharing their expertise with the FIA and its member clubs globally, with Australia being used as a shining example of how to get the sport running safely again.
I encourage you all to familiarise yourself with our online COVID-19 Resource Centre, where you can find helpful information and up-to-date state-by-state breakdowns of motorsport’s status across Australia. In this Resource Centre, we have also made available some excellent motorsport specific signage available for events to use, as well as many other important documents to reduce the risks of spreading the virus. There is also a link to download the COVIDSafe App, which we highly encourage anyone planning on attending an event to download and use as another level of protection for both yourself and others.
Pleasingly, a number of our national Championships have released revised calendars, including the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship and the DeWalt SXS Motorsport Australia Championship to name just three. Supercars have presented a very detailed plan to return racing at the end of the June, which we will all be tuned in to, and I’d like to thank Supercars’ CEO Sean Seamer for working so closely together to ensure this return to competition is a safe one, especially for our volunteer officials who these events couldn’t run without.
While our staff remain on reduced hours, our membership hotline remains open for any queries you may have. I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly thank our staff for their ongoing dedication and commitment during this difficult time. Our Board, staff, clubs and members are certainly all working towards the same goal – allowing motorsport to return as quickly and safely as possible, in line with any local restrictions that are in place.
As previously announced, our licence extensions have now been applied for Clubman and National licence holders – your new expiry date can be found by logging in to our member portal at www.motorsport.org.au.
Stay safe, healthy and look after each other. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can assist in any way.
Regards,
Eugene Arocca
Motorsport Australia CEO |
