Repco Rally Australia 2009 – Planning and Officiating - Brindabella Motor Sport Club

Factor · 14-10-2008, 10:36 AM

I went to a meeting of interested people for officiating at the Repco Rally Australia (RRA), last night in Brisbane. It was interesting and informative. Garry Connelly chaired the meeting and explained a fair bit of the structure and layout etc. He indicated that there are about 400 registered volunteers so far and about 100 of those attended last night.

RRA is owned by a company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of CAMS. Its run by a Board and an organising committee and then two streams – the Sporting stream which is headed by the Clerk of Course (Michelle Gatton) two deputy clerks of course (Errol Bailey and Peter MacNeal) supported by a number of Assistant Clerks of Course and the Event Team with a General Manager an operations Manager and a few other paid employees. Under that there are the official teams eg there will be a scrutineering team with a lead scrutineer who will be on the sporting committee and similar. There are a number of key experienced people coming from New Zealand and Perth which should add some experience to the local team.

We also had a sneak preview of some of the possible stages and a discussion on the format of the event, which will be based at Kingscliff on the beach in northern New South Wales. The stages are just to the west of Kingscliff and then around the Kyogle area. It looks quite good, and the roads are fast and smooth, according to the teams that have already had a look.

There are 2000 jobs available, so there should be something for everyone. If you are interested in Rallying my view is you would not want to miss being a part of this event. Go to http://rallyaustralia.com/officials/expression-of-interest-form/ to lodge your interest in being an official. A key component of the officialing process is training systems so if you want to do a job but are unsure - no problem - the rally will train you, and the RRA training will be accepted as qualification for a CAMS officiating licence.

I must say I was impressed with the professionalism and organisation already in place. Love him or not, Garry certainly knows how to plan and conduct an event of this magnitude.

Personally I am really looking forward to this event – wouldn’t miss it for quids.

MarkH · 14-10-2008, 11:31 AM

I note with interest that the form does not seem to care about us possessing the CAMS Officials Licences we must have to be able to officiate at a club level event

Linda Walker · 14-10-2008, 12:51 PM

CAMS licences are now only required for senior officials. But if they don't ask for the information, give it to them anyway.

Matt Sosi · 14-10-2008, 01:44 PM

I put my name down already to assist in the running of the event. Did get an email from someone who works with Gaz, and they are planning to have one of these sessions for interested people in Sydney. I dunno about Canberra at this stage.

Regards
Matt

Livewireshock · 16-10-2008, 03:46 AM

A question was asked on the night of how many of expressions of interest were received from people in southern NSW. The answer was quite minimal at that time.

Majority of interest was coming from Western Australia. This will technically be the 20th Rally Australia, so many long time helpers are seeking to mark the occaision.

South-east Queensland was the next area showing great interest from existing clubs etc. Groups of people used to working together on rallies, ie scrutineers & stage commanders were asked to gather up their usual crowd, but they were also asked to be flexible and allow various WA officials to fit in where they can, so they can continue to play the roles they carried out over past Rally Australia's.

The border area of NSW was then next, local people in the rally region with no motorsport background mainly.

As more information becomes known, I am sure this will balance up with more people expressing interest from down south.

I also know quite a few Kiwis are interested in making the trip across with no Rally NZ for 2009. Plus an extended holiday close to the Gold Coast is very tempting for them.

Also announced on the night was the intention to have a mentoring/understudy program in place for many positions. The ages of many officials, particularly in senior roles, are not getting any younger. There is a large age gap with few young people becoming involved. So this will aim to give many people a leg up and hopefully to take over in the years to come.

Rally Queensland will be used for some training but it is too early in the year for everyone involved. A single day test event was announced at the meeting that will be held 5 to 6 weeks prior to the rally in the Kyogle/Tweed region. This will be the main focus in getting everyone ready and trained up before the WRC arrives.

imortl · 16-10-2008, 11:01 AM

A few people I know (including myself) to the bulliten that went out requesting proffessional volunteers (IT, Telco etc) but none of us ever heard back. Any Idea what the go is there?

smee · 16-10-2008, 01:10 PM

I did similar in putting up expression the day event site announced.

Got a weird email reply saying expression had been received on one line, but nothing else.

No links worked in the reply. Not sure if the setup they had was working correctly at the time.

Livewireshock · 16-10-2008, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smee

I did similar in putting up expression the day event site announced.

Got a weird email reply saying expression had been received on one line, but nothing else.

No links worked in the reply. Not sure if the setup they had was working correctly at the time.

It was mentioned that the website was brought about in a rush, due to the announcement being made by the NSW Government coming earlier than expected (only to have Iemma resign on the day he was meant to have made that speech).

So that would explain the bugs and broken links that existed and I dare say are being fixed. Even at the meeting, we were advised that the email address , given on the night, could soon change for the reasons above.