… The Future of Rallying …
Last night representatives from many of Scotland’s car clubs gathered in Stirling for the quarterly meeting of the Scottish Association of Car Clubs. It was a quiet affair as the President, one J C Cleland Esq, was unable to attend due to business commitments, but there was a guest. The visitor was the MSA Chief Executive, Rob Jones, and he joined the committee members on the top table.
Chairman Pete Weall, welcomed the delegates and read out the apologies from those who weren’t there and had bothered to send in their apologies! Then it was on the with usual humdrum business of Chairman’s Report, Treasurer’s Report, Calendar Manager’s Report and the Secretary’s Report. Then Alison Clark had a word about GoMotorsport followed by Rory Bryant from Scottish Motor Sport and his new helper, Gillian Sefton, reporting on Sport Development progress.
The old practice of specific committee members and the various co-ordinators reporting on each of their own responsibilities and disciplines has mostly been done away with. Instead these reports are emailed out to the clubs before each SACC meeting and the delegates are supposed to read them before they arrive at the meeting. Still, it stops the delegates from falling asleep when they do arrive at the meeting, at least most of them. Perhaps that’s down to the magic of ‘smart’ phones these days, even in silent mode, the occasional buzzer and muted chime can be enough to keep the nodders from interrupting proceedings with their snoring.
Following the previous meeting two working groups had been set up to look at Marshalling and Rallying and although reports were due to be made, it would appear that there were some conflicting outcomes from both groups. This will necessitate the two of them getting together to sort out their differences. Oh, the drama.
However, one topic did arise from this discussion and that concerned the ‘Scrutineer’s Bulletin’ which is circulated regularly by the MSA to all Scrutineers. This advises Scroots of new rules and regulations and technical things to look out for. Many folk are of the opinion that this should also be circulated to competitors as they are the ones who will be most affected by such rule changes and will have to implement any new regulations. There has been some opposition to this in the past as some regard these Bulletins as sensitive and confidential.
That surely is a rather odd defence considering that competitors’ need to know in advance what to do in order to pass Scrutineering at events. It would surely help the Scroots if competitors arrived at pre-event Scrutineering with what they think is the correct kit and machinery, and not be told it’s past its sell by date or doesn’t meet the new technical regs. Anyway, Mr Jones thought this a good idea, took note, and said he will take it back to Colnbrook for discussion. Fingers crossed, eh?
There followed a few more short debates and discussions on the Training Trust, the recent RallyFuture meeting in Aberdeen, and dates clashes on the motor sporting calendar while Alison Clark pointed out that since the MSA announced their annual competition for ‘Car Club of the Year’ nominations last month (63 CC were runners-up last year), the MSA has received ONE nomination. Things weren’t much better in the ‘Volunteer of the Year’ category (won last year by our very own Digby and who’s still trading on the glory of rubbing shoulders with the sporting glitterati at the MSA Awards night of stars, and he got a fancy dinner!) as so far only 10 nominations have been received. So there’s work to do here club mates.
Anyway, the stage was turned over to the evening’s star turn who had earlier removed his jacket. Whether this was because it was simply warm in the room, or to aid a swift departure, Rob Jones took to the floor to bring folk up to date with what was going on in the corridors of power.
He told us he’s been in the job two and half years now, but reminded us that it hasn’t been an easy ride since he got the role. Just days after his appointment was confirmed came the tragedy that befell the Jim Clark Rally and ushered in a set of radical new rules and stipulations that all rallies right across the UK have had to implement. He did pay tribute to the many organisers, officials, marshals, medic and recovery crews who have just knuckled down and got on with it. He also paid tribute to Forest Enterprise who were playing a stronger supporting role in pre-event planning with regard to clearing spectator areas and creating spectator access paths.
Then came the bombshells. I heard a pin drop in the room next door. This was no stunned or shocked silence, this was acceptance of the inevitable, but it didn’t make comfortable listening. Rob explained the ongoing (and they are still ongoing) discussions and negotiations with Natural Resources Wales. It would appear that NRW are seeking total recovery of costs for road repairs, but that would just price rallying out of the woods instantly. Also, support for the MSA has come from an unexpected source, social media. The ‘Rally4Wales’ campaign has influenced the NRW to think again and they have actually been invited to join the negotiations. So full marks to the Welsh fans.
However, the Welsh agreement will have no bearing on the Scotland and England agreement which reaches its third year of the most recent three year agreement at the end of this season. That means the MSA have had to negotiate a new three year deal starting next year and Rob revealed that such a deal has been reached with Forest Enterprise. But instead of the almost customary cost of living increase next year, the cost per mile charge will increase by 5%. It will increase by a further 5% n 2018 and again in 2019. That’s a 15% increase spread over the next three years. I think I heard another pin drop, but that could have been in the adjoining building.
And there’s more, the MSA is still intent on bringing in on-event Tracking and negotiations have reached the final stage. So much so that the new system will be introduced from February next year. Details are still sketchy until contracts have been signed but Rob has assured me that the MSA will confirm the final details very shortly, hopefully within the next 10 days – and I’ll let you know then what is to be expected.
In the meantime. Every rally car contesting an MSA National or Regional forest rally championship will have to carry a ‘Tracking cradle’. This will be fitted inside the car and will need to be hard-wired into the electrics. There should be a one-off cost of £75 for the cradle, wiring and aerial. As for the Tracking module that will only be available to rent, at a cost likely to be 45 quid plus VAT per event, every event. On the plus side, competitors should be able to download the data for up to 30 days after reach rally, and who knows, this might help them improve their own driving skills.
This all stems from the Scottish Government’s report and 29 recommendations that were published 18 months ago. Which begs the question. If rallying has turned itself around in a such a record time, how come the Government and the Lord Advocate haven’t responded with similar speedy deliberation to the sport’s requests for Closed Public Road legislation and the resumption of closed road rallying in the Scottish Borders?
What rallying lacks is an effective pressure group. Perhaps the ‘Rally4Wales’ initiative could provide us with some inspiration, eh?
No doubt there will be more to come on all the above. Anyone for tennis?