Hello KWRC
Our upcoming meeting is this Thursday, March 12 at 7:30PM. Location details are at http://www.kwrc.on.ca/kw_events/march-meeting/. As usual some of us meet for supper at the Firkin about 6:00PM.
I know I'm a bit late with the newsletter but I'm busy with work and rally the last few weeks and I'm playing catch-up.
Jeff & Matt have an idea for a second, more advanced rallycross series and we'll be discussing that after the formal part of the meeting. We'll keep the meeting business fairly short.
Here are the topics for the meeting
-Rallycross practice day
-Frostbite recap
-Region Rally Director and RSO AGM
-First Aid Course
-SNATR #2 on April 18, Spring Fever
-ASN Canada & insurance
|
|
|
Starting with the last topic, ASN Canada and insurance. To the best of my knowledge no new organization had been affiliated to the FIA yet, and it appears that the FIA will hold off until at least March 31. Even if there is a new organization forthcoming there is no assurance that CARS will join it, at least in the short term. For now CARS has been negotiating with Stoneridge Specialty Insurance to continue our coverage for both the club and the events. The club buys Directors and Officers Liability insurance ($395 last year) and event coverage ($525 last year) which covers 10-19 non-speed events.
There have been several rumors floating around that insurance costs will go up but I've not heard anything about that officially. Since all the insurances expire at the end of this month we'll need to get if worked out soon. I know that CARS is working on it and I expect an announcement soon.
|
|
|
On February 22 we had a ralycross practice day with three instructors along to help people improve their skills. Matt & Jeff came up with the plan and at our regular rallycross a couple of weeks earlier people indicated their interest so we went ahead. Essentially you would do three laps of the course in a row with a short transit & pause between each lap so car spacing could be maintained. You could have an instructor ride along or even drive your car to give you tips on the best cornering and braking techniques. After your three laps you joined the back of the line and went again.
We had 12 cars running and about 24 drivers, most people got between twenty and thirty laps in. The day started out dry and dusty but later in the morning it started warming up and the mud started to appear. I told people that this wasn't competition and you didn't have to drive through the mud, you could drive around it. Nobody seemed to care much and a lot of mud was carried off to other places in the province. In all it was a really worthwhile day. Thanks to the instructors - Randy, Adam & Murat, Jeff and Matt for organizing, Eric for being clerk, Matt for car recovery, Jeff for a very cold day on the start line, and Justin & Zach for flagging duties. Zach sent me a huge file of video clips from the day, let me know if you are interested in seeing them and we'll find a way to share them.
We'll probably do something like that again this year as scheduling permits.
|
|
|
February 29 was Frostbite, both an ORRC and a SNATR. I got to play as organizer but it was Roger who did much of the heavy lifting. We had 8 teams in the ORRC and eight additional teams running just the SNATR. The instructions worked fine but many in the ORRC found the instructions to be on the easy side. Results are at http://www.kwrc.on.ca/frostbite-2020-orrc-snatr-results/
Thanks for the help from the checkpoint crews. - Steve, Andrew & Teresa, Paul, Alan & Carolyn, Jeff & Doug. Thanks to Teresa for registration and scoring help.
|
|
In upcoming events we have a first aid course scheduled for Saturday March 28 at my shop. This is emergency first aid taught by St. John's ambulance, a one day course suitable for getting your rally licence or just general interest. The club is subsidizing the cost to $50 per person and we'll probably bring lunch in and have coffee and snacks available. We have a class size maximum of 18 people with 17 already indication their plan to attend. Signed up so far are:
David, Grant, Justin, Navi, Polina, Ivan, Lora, Brandon, Eric, Justin R, Scott, Andrew, Teresa, Martin, Zach, Bruce & Teresa.
If you have to cancel just let me know. I'll be contacting all the participants in the week preceding the course to make sure you are going to come along and have your names correct for the certificates.
|
|
|
Our next rally is Spring Fever on April 18 running out of Baden. I measured the route with David on Saturday and he's picked all the interesting roads he can find around the area. It's David's and Connie's first stab at organizing so it would be great to have a good turnout for the event. We'll be arm-twisting the usual suspects for checkpoints.
|
|
On March 21 the RSO AGM is coming up, it's a smaller event this year since the performance rally awards were given out at the CARS AGM and the navigational awards at the KWRC dinner. There is a co-driver course scheduled for after the AGM.
I plan on attending and you can assign your voting proxy to me or anyone else you know will be attending. I found a link to the official proxy form at https://www.rallysport.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2019-AGM-Proxy.pdf but you can just send an email to whoever you choose: (copy & paste)
RallySport Ontario Annual General Meeting PROXY
I, _________________________________________, a 2019 member in good standing
of_________________________________________________, an RSO-affiliated club,
hereby appoint and authorize ______________________________________________
to vote on my behalf at the RallySport Ontario Annual General Meeting to be held in
Bridgenorth on Saturday, March 21, 2020, and any adjournment thereof.
Signed _______________________________________________________________
(E-mail identification is acceptable)
Printed Name __________________________________________________________
Date _____________________________________________________________
|
|
Darin's term as VP Navigational is up and he's not planning on running again, I know a few KWRC members have been contacted to run for the position. Kelly as secretary is up for re-election and a trustee position is also available.
One of the more problematic elections is for Regional Rally Director (RRD) , that person would sit on the CARS board as the representative from Ontario. CARS is independent from RSO and doesn't have to follow RSO's wishes for an appointment at this time, but it's generally expected they will. Since Darryl resigned Warren added the role to his position as RSO president.
Normally RSO would put forward a candidate in November and they would be elected at the CARS AGM in January. That process will still go ahead, whoever is elected now will have to run again in November.
I've been nominated for the position and Warren intends to run as well. I'm unsure about Warren holding two voting positions on the RSO board. I don't know how he would resolve the possible conflicts with voting what's good for CARS vs what's good for Ontario. You would think that the values would align.
I suggested to Warren that he take RRD and I'll take on RSO president. The RSO president position is not up for election this year, it would have to be an appointment if a vacancy occurred. I think that RSO can have more influence on the grass roots of rally than the CARS board who are mainly interested in then national series. I'm still trying to figure out what the role of RSO is since CARS took the permitting of events back into their purview.
It'll be an interesting meeting, make sure you send someone your proxy.
I've got to get back to work, I'll see some of you on Thursday.
Martin
|
|
|
|
