LATEST UPDATE.....WEDNESDAY 7TH MARCH 2018
Hi Everyone,
Well, once again round 2 was a brilliant event, which unfortunately ended in a little controversy! I’d like to stay off the topic but it does need to be addressed, it’s no use sweeping issues like this under the carpet. Im not going to go into who said what, who did what or so on, the fact is there was a cock up regarding results, and probably more importantly procedures.
The rallysprint rules are very basic and are pretty much the same as when the series’ first started way back in the mid-eighties. Here lies our biggest problem, but I can guarantee that it is already being addressed, I have spoken to a few people and still have a few phone calls to make. No rule changes will be made this season but I’ll be talking to the clubs who have rounds coming up just to try and tighten up a few little issues to avoid any more cock ups!
Without doubt we are struggling a little with our own success, which although sounds a little weird is so true. The numbers are high, as is the will to win, the competitive edge has gone up quite a few bars, pressure is on, and mistakes are really effecting people. For this we apologies. But flip the coin and it’s also putting the pressure on organisers, although annoying to those who have suffered it will inevitably strengthen and improve the series, hard to take at the moment, but it’s happened, let’s build a bridge and get over it………Sorry Rob!
So let’s keep things positive. Arcadia road was superb, albeit a little slippy due to a recent road re-grade, the entry was superb with 50 plus cars, the weather was hot and muggy, the surroundings and facilities at the Paparoa Showgrounds were superb. But the event itself did not quite flow as it has in the past, a couple of residents caused a few delays, a few breakdowns and a roll on the bridge caused the event to be cut short, again with such a large field and a few disruptions pressure was on the organisers, it was obvious time was going to be an issue and so the decision was made to drop a run. This was the start of today’s problems, but as mentioned above were not going to dwell on the issue.
Congratulations to Graham Featherstone on the win, pushed extremely hard by Matt Jensen, a full event report will be in the next issue of “A little bit sideways “, which will also have the round one report in as well.
So, the next round, hosted by the Pukekohe Car Club , this is once again a stunning stretch of road, the Bothwell loop road, used many years ago as a WRC road, and it is fantastic, offering a totally different challenge to the first two opening rounds. Heading south and into the franklin area we start to see that lovely dense deep New Zealand bush. The event will be run in the same direction as the last time (2016). I guess you could split the road into 3 sections, from the start line it’s a slight climb, a little twisty through a small forestry section before a tricky downhill bush clad section, the middle section you exist the bush and move into the rolling hills, again quite twisty with the occasional sea view, although im sure the drivers would be totally oblivious to this but it is quite stunning. Concentration must be maximum here, the last third is very fast. As you leave the twisty rolling hills there’s a decent fast section to the junction, a 90 right and a downhill fast section to the finish. Absolutely stunning country side, a stunning smooth road and one not to be missed. The touring section is probably a few k’s at the most.
A quick heads up here for any out of towners wanting to stay over, the Pokeno motel is great, its real close to the event, and it’s got a great little bar & Restaurant, has plenty of parking, the owner actually races a muscle car and being based between the Pukekohe and Hampton Downs race tracks its often full of petrol heads. I know the last time Tracy and I stayed there it was a good evening…..i think !
So, the next question is Regulations, they should be out this weekend so keep an eye on the various sites and facebook. I will post as soon as they are available.
See you all on the 25th.
Hi Everyone,
Well, once again round 2 was a brilliant event, which unfortunately ended in a little controversy! I’d like to stay off the topic but it does need to be addressed, it’s no use sweeping issues like this under the carpet. Im not going to go into who said what, who did what or so on, the fact is there was a cock up regarding results, and probably more importantly procedures.
The rallysprint rules are very basic and are pretty much the same as when the series’ first started way back in the mid-eighties. Here lies our biggest problem, but I can guarantee that it is already being addressed, I have spoken to a few people and still have a few phone calls to make. No rule changes will be made this season but I’ll be talking to the clubs who have rounds coming up just to try and tighten up a few little issues to avoid any more cock ups!
Without doubt we are struggling a little with our own success, which although sounds a little weird is so true. The numbers are high, as is the will to win, the competitive edge has gone up quite a few bars, pressure is on, and mistakes are really effecting people. For this we apologies. But flip the coin and it’s also putting the pressure on organisers, although annoying to those who have suffered it will inevitably strengthen and improve the series, hard to take at the moment, but it’s happened, let’s build a bridge and get over it………Sorry Rob!
So let’s keep things positive. Arcadia road was superb, albeit a little slippy due to a recent road re-grade, the entry was superb with 50 plus cars, the weather was hot and muggy, the surroundings and facilities at the Paparoa Showgrounds were superb. But the event itself did not quite flow as it has in the past, a couple of residents caused a few delays, a few breakdowns and a roll on the bridge caused the event to be cut short, again with such a large field and a few disruptions pressure was on the organisers, it was obvious time was going to be an issue and so the decision was made to drop a run. This was the start of today’s problems, but as mentioned above were not going to dwell on the issue.
Congratulations to Graham Featherstone on the win, pushed extremely hard by Matt Jensen, a full event report will be in the next issue of “A little bit sideways “, which will also have the round one report in as well.
So, the next round, hosted by the Pukekohe Car Club , this is once again a stunning stretch of road, the Bothwell loop road, used many years ago as a WRC road, and it is fantastic, offering a totally different challenge to the first two opening rounds. Heading south and into the franklin area we start to see that lovely dense deep New Zealand bush. The event will be run in the same direction as the last time (2016). I guess you could split the road into 3 sections, from the start line it’s a slight climb, a little twisty through a small forestry section before a tricky downhill bush clad section, the middle section you exist the bush and move into the rolling hills, again quite twisty with the occasional sea view, although im sure the drivers would be totally oblivious to this but it is quite stunning. Concentration must be maximum here, the last third is very fast. As you leave the twisty rolling hills there’s a decent fast section to the junction, a 90 right and a downhill fast section to the finish. Absolutely stunning country side, a stunning smooth road and one not to be missed. The touring section is probably a few k’s at the most.
A quick heads up here for any out of towners wanting to stay over, the Pokeno motel is great, its real close to the event, and it’s got a great little bar & Restaurant, has plenty of parking, the owner actually races a muscle car and being based between the Pukekohe and Hampton Downs race tracks its often full of petrol heads. I know the last time Tracy and I stayed there it was a good evening…..i think !
So, the next question is Regulations, they should be out this weekend so keep an eye on the various sites and facebook. I will post as soon as they are available.
See you all on the 25th.
LATEST UPDATE.....THURSDAY 1st FEBRUARY 2018
Hi Everyone,
Well, what an event to start the 2018 series, 57 crews entered round 1 at Ruarangi Road, with 49 registering for the 2018 series. Hosted by the Northland Car Club the day went well, the weather threatened to spoil the party, but although we did see several showers and the sky was overcast it really did not effect the event. There were no major offs although several drivers had timing issues.
This was unfortunate and certainly soured the day for a few, i have had several calls informing me that the results are wrong. Now, whilst we do sympathise there is nothing we can do, we cannot alter results after the event has finished, can you imagine what a can of worms this would open? the correct way of sorting this out in future.....and everyone should know this is at the event. You have 30 minutes once the provisional results are put out, in this case there was a board running all day and it certainly was still there for quite some time prior to prize giving.
People, who i must add are un-paid volunteers do make errors, things breakdown and things go wrong, it's a fact. So, we are going to have to stay with the results that were supplied by the organisers, no one seemed to be complaining at prize giving. The results & points table will be up in the next few days, so keep an eye on this site.
Now, another bleat from me, im not going to mention any names or point fingers at anyone but it's about time people started reading rules and adhering to them, especially if your going to point out other peoples errors!
It may seem trivial, but registering for the series is a joke, having sponsors stickers on is a joke. I know for fact if this was a national rally then either many would be missing out on points or not even starting the event. I hold my hand up for a mistake on the registration form regarding the banking details...drivers form only, but still many figured it out.
We had a table at documentation, we had forms for both drivers & co-drivers, we had sponsors decals and i even had a quick chat at drivers briefing regarding this, and yet people still refuse to put them on, throwing money through my window as im driving out is really unacceptable, not filling forms out is also unacceptable, telling me your signing on but not paying is also unacceptable, registering for two but paying for one is also not on.
So, please check out the rules, check out the car clubs rules, regulations & entry forms, they are not hard to understand. I will have another chat at drivers briefing at Arcadia Road.
Due to the above, it's taking a little time to get sorted and load everything up, so please bare with me regarding the points tables.
This series is possibly one of the best clubmans series around, we need it to continue, we have stunning roads to run on, they are all quite different, the numbers are good, the environment around the pits is very friendly and yet the competition is pretty fierce, the end of year prize giving is second to none, and all the car clubs involved try their best to put on the best they can. There's nothing wrong with what we are trying to promote and carry out. So please guys, treat it with a little more respect. It is getting bigger, and we have to lift our game to keep it growing.
We are working on a new website which will hopefully lift our profile a little more, hence the lacklusture site we have at the moment.
Don't forget your copy of the next issue of " A little bit sideways" for a full report & photos of round 1.
Sorry for bleating, but it's round 1 and we need to be a little more professional for the rest of the season, we'll wipe the slate clean but from now on if a competitor complains about no stickers on a rivals car and he's correct, then no points, if we spot no stickers on, then no points, if you,ve not paid then no points.....we,ve had it all before...you have been warned.
See you all at Round 2, Arcadia Road.....another stunning road.
LATEST UPDATE.....MONDAY 15th JANUARY 2018
Hi Everyone,
This week end, Sunday 21st January will see the start of the 2018 ABC Pipefitters Northern rallysprint series, the 33rd consecutive year of running of this clubman’s championship. Hopefully the weather will stay with us and everyone will have a very enjoyable day.
At documentation we will have a table set up for registrations, so please try and be prompt with your signing on, to say some people leave it till the last minute is an understatement. If you are signing on could you also please also try and have the correct amount ready, we don’t have EFPOS. The registration fee is $20.00 per person.
It is in the rules that no fee or registration prior to the start then no points will be allocated for that event. Registrations will be open for the first three rounds only. We’ve been pretty relaxed in the past and we certainly don’t want to turn anyone away but please put it on your to-do list at the start of the event.
Registrations have been coming in via e mail, so many thanks to everyone who has already registered, a list is below of those who have already done so.
So, down to the action. We are very excited about the 2018 series with the new format, bringing the season forward. It was great at the last couple convenor meetings to see all clubs agreeing and working forwards together to do this. Admittedly it does not always please everyone but with this new format it is hoped we can get into it early, and with better weather conditions hopefully we can avoid event cancellations, miss clashes with rallies and therefore have a much better series than that of 2017.
As many of you are well aware 2017 was ok, but by previous years standards it was a little of an anti-climax, due to cancellations. Also a bit of a let-down for us was the coverage that we produced, which was again pretty well below average. The website & Facebook pages served their purposes but due to personnel circumstances, and all cameras breaking down it was very lack-lustre. If it wasn’t for Jason’s articles in “A little bit sideways” we would have had very little to showcase, we were well under par. We are working on a new website, which should be a 100% improvement on our existing one. We have purchased new cameras so hopefully we can get back to showing everyone else what you’re up to. So, with six superb events in front of us you should all be very excited about this upcoming season, hopefully you all enjoy the series.
Below is a list of competitors who have so far registered, now I’m not going to put out anything that’s not down in writing but I’m very confident that this season we are going to see some awesome battles, especially in the 2wd section. Some are very committed this season to this category.
Another very encouraging part of the sport is the number of females who are taking part in the series, mainly in the Suspension Tech co-drivers’ championship. At the 2017 awards night we had 5 females collecting trophies, hopefully this season they will all return, and I’m pretty confident we will also have a few female drivers…..We do have a ladies trophy…..more on this topic at round one!
Also at round 1, at the documentation table we will have the Regs & Entry for round 2 of the series, Arcadia road, run by the Hibiscus Coast Motorsport Club, they are also up at present on the website www.nrss.co.nz
The ABC stickers will also be available at the documentation table.
A huge thankyou to Chris & Yvonne of Suspension Tech for supporting the co-drivers series once again and to Neil Allport Motorsport for providing notes for all events in the series. Both very much appreciated and great to have positive feedback for the up & coming co-drivers from last season’s series.
Registrations so far……
DRIVER CO-DRIVER CLASS
Ethan O’Hagen Shane O’Hagen C
Grant Liston C
Ray Chubb Mike Catty C
Phil MaCquarie Allen Murphy E
Charlie Evans D
Rob Connell Chris Davidson H
John-Paul Van Der Meys Kristi Van Der Meys B
Christopher Clark + CO-Driver A
Russell Jenkins B
Michelle Brunt + Co-Driver B
David Thexton + Co-Driver E
John Whooley Carol Liston C
Gary Wainwright H
See you all on Sunday,
Cheers.
Steve & Tracy.
LATEST UPDATE.....FRIDAY 8th DECEMBER 2017
Hi Everyone,
Well, with prize giving now over for another year it's full steam ahead for the 2018 season. We did originally have Sunday 10th December 2017 set down as round 1, this as you all know had to be postponed due to a council mix up with paperwork, so Sunday 21st January will see the Northland Car Club host round 1 of the series.
And what a cracker to start with!....Ruarangi Road. For many this is a highlight of the series, it has a daunting reputation, its fast and full of blind crests along ridge tops, the road has some tricky cambers which are very deceiving but its also very exhilarating, and im sure anyone doing this for the first time will be buzzing, even after the reccee. The nearest description is simply the "Roller coaster"
To get some idea for those first timers just stay on this page and scroll down to June 2017 update to view some images. Regulations will be out very soon so please call back, i will post on face book as soon as they are up.
In the next few days im hoping to have the series registrations also up on the site, so again please keep an eye on both this site & Facebook. To get to the facebook page simply hit the logo above.
Im also hoping to re-do this website, it's been the same for ages and although it does serve it's purpose i think a good old re vamp is in order, it's been like this now for 10 years so i think it's about time for an upgrade. You will notice a few pages have now disappeared, they will be back soon, but the important ones will remain so you can get all the up to date info as the 21st January will soon be here.
There have been a few changes to the 2018 series, but rather than me write all about it again im leaving the previous upgrades on the site so you can all scroll down and have a read over the Christmas break.....in between working in the shed getting your car ready!!!
Just getting back to our last event, the prize giving, as usual it was a great evening, well attended, so thank you everyone for turning out. Very pleased with everyone's reaction to the trophies and also extremely pleased to see so many females picking up awards, thanks mainly to Chris Alexander and Suspension tech for sponsoring the co drivers series. I think off hand we had five ladies picking up trophy's in this series and Amy keighly picking one up as a driver...absolutely brilliant.
Along side the co drivers series and complementing it very nicely in 2017 was the introduction of pacenotes for every round, this was of course very kindly provided by Neil Allport Motorsport and at this stage it will be the same again for 2018. A big thank you to Grant Liston for also being a big part of this operation.
Another huge thank you to Andrew Hawkeswood for presenting all the drivers with their trophies at prize giving. There's not many people around that received their trophies from the 2017 New Zealand national rally Champion, not only a champion driver but a champion Bloke. Incidentally he's never won the rallysprint series, he did make a comment that perhaps he should give it a good go in 2018....watch out Feathers!
So, there we have it, 2018 is under way and 21st January is going to come around very quickly. Thank you all for supporting the 2017 series, hopefully you will all be back in 2018 along with a load of first timers. We are looking forward to catching up with you all at round 1.
Enjoy your Christmas and all the very best for 2018.
Cheers,
Steve Tracy.
LATEST UPDATE......MONDAY 23rd OCTOBER 2017
Hi Everyone,
Firstly, congratulations to all our champions for the 2017 series, Prize giving is on its way.
Saturday 2nd December at the South Auckland Car Club rooms, Takanini, starting from 7.00pm with the awards getting under way from 7.30pm. As usual there will be a free dinner, a few videos and as always a few laughs….and of course the bar!
The trophies are on their way but I’m still chasing a few up from last year’s champions, so expect a phone call soon, not urgent as we have a little time, but just giving everyone the heads up.
To say the 2017 series was a disaster is probably a little harsh, sure it was a bit of an anti-climax and certainly ruined the series for a couple of competitors as it was building up to a very competitive series with several guys starting to put pressure on other competitors, both within the classes and the overalls. As always with championships it’s consistency and performing regular that yields the best results but unfortunately due to the weather gods this opportunity was denied with three of the six rounds being cancelled. A big, big thank you to the South Auckland car Club for allowing us to piggy back on the James Allan Memorial Rallysprint to give us at least one more round to allow competitors to have one last go. Once again it was a very, very wet affair but it did finalise the series for 2017.
So, on with the next event, the prize giving, this will be followed a week later with round 1 of the 2018 series…..Yes, you read it right. The 10th December 2017 is round 1 of the 2018 series. I’ll not go on too much regarding the reasoning behind this decision but, if you can’t control the weather, then move the timing of your events so it suits better weather…..fingers crossed!
Below on the previous newsletter/update is a little more info into our reasoning.
So, start spreading the word regarding prize giving, and of course the new 2018 calendar. I’ll put up more info over the coming weeks and look forward to catching up with you all soon.
Cheers,
Steve & Tracy.
,
LATEST UPDATE......TUESDAY 15th August 2017
Hi everyone,
Well, do we have news for you!
After what you may call a dismall 2017 rallysprint season the 2018 season is going to be totally different. The reason for such a dismal season was simply the weather, which caused the cancellation of a couple of rounds and really upset the apple cart for many competitors. So, before we go onto whats happening in the next rallysprint series we better let you all know how we are going to conclude the 2017 series.
We have had two convenors meetings over the last month, both were attended by several representatives from clubs who host the rounds, this is simply to have fair disscussions and so that the reps can take information back to their car clubs. The two main topics were finishing this season, and trying to improve the next one.
So, step up the South Auckland Car Club, and a big thankyou to them for doing so. The JAMES ALLAN MEMORIAL RALLYSPRINT, to be run on the 8th October in the Maramarua Forest will be the last round of the 2017 series. For those not in the know about this event it is a dual stage event, which means its double the mileage, infact it’s pretty much the same mileage as a clubmans rally. We have had several disscussions on how to best to adopt it’s style to suit the registered rallysprint competitors, as being dual stages there were several options avaliable but without going on too much the sensible option would to be simply to “keep in line” with the traditonal way it’s normally run. So despite a few ideas floating around its going to be round 4, the final round of the series, both dual stages will be run as per normal James Allan rallysprint.
So this means no dropped scores as the rallysprint rules say 5, or more rounds and we drop a score, having only 4 means all scores for the 2017 series count, so it’s all going to be Flat out on the James Allan. This certainly wont suit or please everyone, but what else can we do? It is what it is.
Following the James Allan we will be having our main Prize giving, no date has been finalised at this stage, as once again we have to check the calenders to try and avoid any clashing. But, it will be a Saturday evening, at our usual venue, the SACC rooms at Takanini. It’s normally a great evening with a free dinner provided, we hope you can all make an effort to attend.
Now, to that news for the 2018 series.
2017 was simply a “wash out” but that’s not the the whole reason for such as dismal season, another huge problem that organisers face is finding spare weekends to run their events without clashing with other events. So once an event is cancelled it’s near impossible to re –schedule, therefore we need to re-think our series events to avoid this!
“First in best dressed” and “The early bird catches the worm” are a couple of phrases that come to mind to sum up what we,ve got to do.
The reasons for so many cancellations is the weather, and the fact that we run through the winter months, as do all the major rallies, which is our main competition for free weekends. So, the only way to try and avoid this is to simply move our season, which is what we are doing for 2018. The downside is that once you try and change something it inevitably causes another problem elsewhere. If we change our season to suit better weather it does shorten the time period of months that we can run and therefore puts huge pressure on competitors to compete, mainly due to budgets, running events every couple of weekends simply does not work.
So, at the last convenors meeting we have come up with a 2018 season which we think could work out better for everyone. We reckon a round a month apart is the best option, this allows time to repair cars, does not stretch the budget too much and hopefully allows us to get in 6 rounds in relativley decent weather. We are not saying it’s perfect, but it is a sensible option that’s worth trying, So, here we go.
Round 1 10th Dec 2017 Trigg Road South Auckland Car Club
Round 2 21st Jan 2018 Ruarangi Road Northland Car Club Round 3 18th Feb 2018 Arcadia Road Hibiscus Coast M’Sport Club
Round 4 25thMar 2018 Bothwell Loop Road Pukekhoe Car Club
Round 5 22nd Apr 2018 Paiokuni Road Thames Valley Car Club
Round 6 T.B.A. Pirongia West Road Hamilton Car Club
The dates are not 100% confirmed, apart from round 1, so although it’s still a while off and we have still not completed 2017 you have plenty of notice to prepare yourselves.
More information will be put out once confirmed, so see you all at the last round of 2017, The James Allan Memorial Rallysprint on the 8th October.
LATEST UPDATE......TUESDAY 15th August 2017
Hi everyone,
Well, do we have news for you!
After what you may call a dismall 2017 rallysprint season the 2018 season is going to be totally different. The reason for such a dismal season was simply the weather, which caused the cancellation of a couple of rounds and really upset the apple cart for many competitors. So, before we go onto whats happening in the next rallysprint series we better let you all know how we are going to conclude the 2017 series.
We have had two convenors meetings over the last month, both were attended by several representatives from clubs who host the rounds, this is simply to have fair disscussions and so that the reps can take information back to their car clubs. The two main topics were finishing this season, and trying to improve the next one.
So, step up the South Auckland Car Club, and a big thankyou to them for doing so. The JAMES ALLAN MEMORIAL RALLYSPRINT, to be run on the 8th October in the Maramarua Forest will be the last round of the 2017 series. For those not in the know about this event it is a dual stage event, which means its double the mileage, infact it’s pretty much the same mileage as a clubmans rally. We have had several disscussions on how to best to adopt it’s style to suit the registered rallysprint competitors, as being dual stages there were several options avaliable but without going on too much the sensible option would to be simply to “keep in line” with the traditonal way it’s normally run. So despite a few ideas floating around its going to be round 4, the final round of the series, both dual stages will be run as per normal James Allan rallysprint.
So this means no dropped scores as the rallysprint rules say 5, or more rounds and we drop a score, having only 4 means all scores for the 2017 series count, so it’s all going to be Flat out on the James Allan. This certainly wont suit or please everyone, but what else can we do? It is what it is.
Following the James Allan we will be having our main Prize giving, no date has been finalised at this stage, as once again we have to check the calenders to try and avoid any clashing. But, it will be a Saturday evening, at our usual venue, the SACC rooms at Takanini. It’s normally a great evening with a free dinner provided, we hope you can all make an effort to attend.
Now, to that news for the 2018 series.
2017 was simply a “wash out” but that’s not the the whole reason for such as dismal season, another huge problem that organisers face is finding spare weekends to run their events without clashing with other events. So once an event is cancelled it’s near impossible to re –schedule, therefore we need to re-think our series events to avoid this!
“First in best dressed” and “The early bird catches the worm” are a couple of phrases that come to mind to sum up what we,ve got to do.
The reasons for so many cancellations is the weather, and the fact that we run through the winter months, as do all the major rallies, which is our main competition for free weekends. So, the only way to try and avoid this is to simply move our season, which is what we are doing for 2018. The downside is that once you try and change something it inevitably causes another problem elsewhere. If we change our season to suit better weather it does shorten the time period of months that we can run and therefore puts huge pressure on competitors to compete, mainly due to budgets, running events every couple of weekends simply does not work.
So, at the last convenors meeting we have come up with a 2018 season which we think could work out better for everyone. We reckon a round a month apart is the best option, this allows time to repair cars, does not stretch the budget too much and hopefully allows us to get in 6 rounds in relativley decent weather. We are not saying it’s perfect, but it is a sensible option that’s worth trying, So, here we go.
Round 1 10th Dec 2017 Trigg Road South Auckland Car Club
Round 2 21st Jan 2018 Ruarangi Road Northland Car Club Round 3 18th Feb 2018 Arcadia Road Hibiscus Coast M’Sport Club
Round 4 25thMar 2018 Bothwell Loop Road Pukekhoe Car Club
Round 5 22nd Apr 2018 Paiokuni Road Thames Valley Car Club
Round 6 T.B.A. Pirongia West Road Hamilton Car Club
The dates are not 100% confirmed, apart from round 1, so although it’s still a while off and we have still not completed 2017 you have plenty of notice to prepare yourselves.
More information will be put out once confirmed, so see you all at the last round of 2017, The James Allan Memorial Rallysprint on the 8th October.
Previous update
Hi Guys,
Well, what can i say, another round called off due to the weather, but you really do have to feel for the organisers, the Northland Car Club. This event had 52 crews down to enter, Ruarangi road is an awesome venue and so by adding these two together this event would have truly been a very special event.
However, it wasn't to be, but it does beg the question, What next? Well at this stage the James Allan Memorial Rallysprint on the 8th October is going to be our next and last round of the 2017 series. It is a little way off at this stage and there is a little decision making to be done prior to the event, especially as it's now our last round (see last update options below). Do we run it as two rounds, the first run being round 4, with the second run being round 5? OR, both together being round 4. One things for certain, it's going to be an interesting meeting. The meetings on the 8th of August so ASAP after that i'll have the outcome up on this site.
Hi Guys,
Well, what can i say, another round called off due to the weather, but you really do have to feel for the organisers, the Northland Car Club. This event had 52 crews down to enter, Ruarangi road is an awesome venue and so by adding these two together this event would have truly been a very special event.
However, it wasn't to be, but it does beg the question, What next? Well at this stage the James Allan Memorial Rallysprint on the 8th October is going to be our next and last round of the 2017 series. It is a little way off at this stage and there is a little decision making to be done prior to the event, especially as it's now our last round (see last update options below). Do we run it as two rounds, the first run being round 4, with the second run being round 5? OR, both together being round 4. One things for certain, it's going to be an interesting meeting. The meetings on the 8th of August so ASAP after that i'll have the outcome up on this site.
LATEST UPDATE......Saturday 8th July 2017
Hi Guys,
Just an update on the ABC Pipefitters rallysprint series. A conveyors meeting was held last week at the ABC premises, it was great to see all clubs represented, apart from the Hamilton club but they did apologise and did put in a letter regarding their round next season.
We really appreciate all the efforts, especially the Northland Car Club representatives, Paul and Neil Rodgers. Travelling down from Whangarei on a Tuesday evening for a meeting shows great commitment. Also present at the meeting were Gary Wainwright, Paddy Casey & Warwick Redfern for the SACC. Jeremy Dawson, Micheal Sanderson & Wayne Sims for the PCC. Gary & Kelly Trayes for the HCMC. Don Brunt & Graham Featherstone for the TVCC. Our secretary Nikki Sim and yours truly.
Several issues were raised, but undoubtedly the most talked about topic was the 2018 Rallysprint calendar, and the inclusion of the 2017 James Allan Memorial.
The big problem we have is fitting our series in the calendar and avoiding clashing with other events, mainly rallies. One of the obvious answers is to have the series rounds early in the year, prior to the rallies starting, but having 6 rounds it’s very difficult to do so, and off course everyone one wants to be at the front of the que to take advantage of the good weather. But this causes more headaces for competitors as clubmen cannot afford to do too much rallying in a short time period due to costs and car upkeep.
Another option would be to have three rounds early, and three late, but this could possibly lead to people losing a little interest due to a big gap in the middle of the season. Another option is to have the series run from say October to March, therefore running over the summer months, as an example October 2017 to March 2018. Any way, it’s being discussed, and with another meeting in early August we’ll hopefully have more news on this topic and possibly some answers.
The James Allan Memorial Rallysprint is now going to be round 5 of the 2017 series. But exactly how we use it is still in discussion, and the topic is up for your ideas on facebook.
Do we……
Other topics that were discussed were the points, which to those new to the series this season we had altered the overall allocations from 40 pts down, instead of 20 pts down. It makes nothing any different for those guys at the top but for those in the lower end it does. Basically you now get rewarded points for were you come in the results, were as before we got down to 1 point for 20th and down. This really did not reflect accurately who was beating who in the lower end of the field.
The Newsletter will now only be available online on the rallysprint website (www.nrss.co.nz) this in theory was a great idea, to distribute a hard copy out to everyone, including posting out to those unable to make events, but the cost of such an exercise makes it way, way too expensive.
The option, and one that was agreed upon was to re vamp the website, and include a page or two for the Top Half Rally Series ( if the organisers of the THRS agree?) and the local Interclub Hillclimb Series. Therefore having a site for our three local series, although it will still be mainly the rallysprint series site.
Regs and entry for the Ruarangi Road event are now out on the Northland Car Club site www.ncc.org.nz they will be up on this site ASAP.
Hi Guys,
Just an update on the ABC Pipefitters rallysprint series. A conveyors meeting was held last week at the ABC premises, it was great to see all clubs represented, apart from the Hamilton club but they did apologise and did put in a letter regarding their round next season.
We really appreciate all the efforts, especially the Northland Car Club representatives, Paul and Neil Rodgers. Travelling down from Whangarei on a Tuesday evening for a meeting shows great commitment. Also present at the meeting were Gary Wainwright, Paddy Casey & Warwick Redfern for the SACC. Jeremy Dawson, Micheal Sanderson & Wayne Sims for the PCC. Gary & Kelly Trayes for the HCMC. Don Brunt & Graham Featherstone for the TVCC. Our secretary Nikki Sim and yours truly.
Several issues were raised, but undoubtedly the most talked about topic was the 2018 Rallysprint calendar, and the inclusion of the 2017 James Allan Memorial.
The big problem we have is fitting our series in the calendar and avoiding clashing with other events, mainly rallies. One of the obvious answers is to have the series rounds early in the year, prior to the rallies starting, but having 6 rounds it’s very difficult to do so, and off course everyone one wants to be at the front of the que to take advantage of the good weather. But this causes more headaces for competitors as clubmen cannot afford to do too much rallying in a short time period due to costs and car upkeep.
Another option would be to have three rounds early, and three late, but this could possibly lead to people losing a little interest due to a big gap in the middle of the season. Another option is to have the series run from say October to March, therefore running over the summer months, as an example October 2017 to March 2018. Any way, it’s being discussed, and with another meeting in early August we’ll hopefully have more news on this topic and possibly some answers.
The James Allan Memorial Rallysprint is now going to be round 5 of the 2017 series. But exactly how we use it is still in discussion, and the topic is up for your ideas on facebook.
Do we……
- Use just the first pass of each run (as it’s a twin stage event) with cars returning to the pits after this run.
- Use both runs as per the normal JA competitors and have both times added together as one time.
- Have both runs count as two rounds, ie the first run of each pass count as round 5, and the second run of each pass count as round 6.
Other topics that were discussed were the points, which to those new to the series this season we had altered the overall allocations from 40 pts down, instead of 20 pts down. It makes nothing any different for those guys at the top but for those in the lower end it does. Basically you now get rewarded points for were you come in the results, were as before we got down to 1 point for 20th and down. This really did not reflect accurately who was beating who in the lower end of the field.
The Newsletter will now only be available online on the rallysprint website (www.nrss.co.nz) this in theory was a great idea, to distribute a hard copy out to everyone, including posting out to those unable to make events, but the cost of such an exercise makes it way, way too expensive.
The option, and one that was agreed upon was to re vamp the website, and include a page or two for the Top Half Rally Series ( if the organisers of the THRS agree?) and the local Interclub Hillclimb Series. Therefore having a site for our three local series, although it will still be mainly the rallysprint series site.
Regs and entry for the Ruarangi Road event are now out on the Northland Car Club site www.ncc.org.nz they will be up on this site ASAP.
Latest update……Sunday 17th June 2017
Well, it’s almost that time again, Ruarangi Road, possibly the most daunting and exhilarating roller coaster ride within the series. Run by the Northland Car Club round 4 of the series will take place on Sunday 23rd July.
This road is not for the faint hearted, it has in the past caught many drivers out, and in a big way! Get it wrong and it bites like a great white, get it right and you will be buzzing for weeks to come, it really is that good.
Part of it has come back into fashion with the organisers of the Whangarei Rally, but, they don’t use the sections of road that the NCC use. It’s around 7-8 k’s long and the reason for its reputation are the many blind crests along the ridge tops of the rolling hills, It’s flat out stuff if your gunning for a podium or class placing. But as well as the ridge tops there’s a small section down through the woods that although not as hairy as the flat out ridges still has that uncanny knack of also catching out a few, it looks tame enough but strange road cambers are there to catch the un-wary. Last year’s winner of the event, Graham Featherstone posted a time of 03:49.80, just to give you some idea of the pace needed.
Regulations and entries will be out soon. It would be a good idea to get in early as at the moment there is quite a big gap in the local rally calendar and many drivers will be out looking for some mileage prior to August’s rally of Coromandel.
Now, as you all know the series has lost a couple of rounds this season due to circumstances beyond the organisers controls, we are trying to fit in another round but at such a late stage in the year its hard finding an event that suits our series. However we do have one that could fit the bill, and that’s the James Allan Memorial Rallysprint in Maramarua Forest, this event is not due to run until the 8th October. It does prolong the series, especially the end of year Prizegiving as it’s getting pretty close to all those Christmas Parties and holiday season, we have been here before and have experienced difficulties in getting numbers to the do, but if we can do the James Allan and then get the prize giving in pretty soon after the event then I think we’ll be ok.
We’ll be having a meeting within the next few weeks so once this is over I’ll update everyone to what’s happening. In the meantime start getting yourselves ready for July 23rd.
To those who have never been......Check out the Gallerys below,
Scene shots, and further down a selection of action shots from previous years....Click on photos for full view.
Well, it’s almost that time again, Ruarangi Road, possibly the most daunting and exhilarating roller coaster ride within the series. Run by the Northland Car Club round 4 of the series will take place on Sunday 23rd July.
This road is not for the faint hearted, it has in the past caught many drivers out, and in a big way! Get it wrong and it bites like a great white, get it right and you will be buzzing for weeks to come, it really is that good.
Part of it has come back into fashion with the organisers of the Whangarei Rally, but, they don’t use the sections of road that the NCC use. It’s around 7-8 k’s long and the reason for its reputation are the many blind crests along the ridge tops of the rolling hills, It’s flat out stuff if your gunning for a podium or class placing. But as well as the ridge tops there’s a small section down through the woods that although not as hairy as the flat out ridges still has that uncanny knack of also catching out a few, it looks tame enough but strange road cambers are there to catch the un-wary. Last year’s winner of the event, Graham Featherstone posted a time of 03:49.80, just to give you some idea of the pace needed.
Regulations and entries will be out soon. It would be a good idea to get in early as at the moment there is quite a big gap in the local rally calendar and many drivers will be out looking for some mileage prior to August’s rally of Coromandel.
Now, as you all know the series has lost a couple of rounds this season due to circumstances beyond the organisers controls, we are trying to fit in another round but at such a late stage in the year its hard finding an event that suits our series. However we do have one that could fit the bill, and that’s the James Allan Memorial Rallysprint in Maramarua Forest, this event is not due to run until the 8th October. It does prolong the series, especially the end of year Prizegiving as it’s getting pretty close to all those Christmas Parties and holiday season, we have been here before and have experienced difficulties in getting numbers to the do, but if we can do the James Allan and then get the prize giving in pretty soon after the event then I think we’ll be ok.
We’ll be having a meeting within the next few weeks so once this is over I’ll update everyone to what’s happening. In the meantime start getting yourselves ready for July 23rd.
To those who have never been......Check out the Gallerys below,
Scene shots, and further down a selection of action shots from previous years....Click on photos for full view.