Our AGM Prizegiving for the 2020 season was a wonderful social time with rally friends and family. It was great to support our wonderful major sponsor of our Lone Star Canterbury Rally. Thank you to all those who attended.

Congratulations to all those who received awards on the night. Well done to Matt Summerfield for winning the club championship overall.

Go to our club points page to see all the winners and club championship points results. https://autosport.org.nz/club-points/

Checkout other photos from our 2019 Season AGM Prizegiving in our Gallery https://autosport.org.nz/gallery/

Congratulations for all who were awarded trophies for their efforts in the 2019 Autosport Club Championship season.

Well done to Sean Haggarty who won the overall 2019 Autosport Club Championship in his Subaru WRX.

Checkout the Club Points page to see Autosport Club Champions from previous years. https://autosport.org.nz/club-points/

Minutes of the Autosport Club (INC) 37^th Annual General Meeting

Tuesday 26^th February 2013, 7.30pm

No 4 Bar and Restaurant, Mansfield Ave, Merivale, Christchurch

Meeting opened: 

Present: Graham Wilson, Wayne Barnard, Andrea Summerfield, Les Summerfield, Hamish Anderson, Leanne Jolly, Chris Herdman, Jeff Judd, Leigh Marsden, Richard Towse, Ross Teesdale, Wendy Gow, Paul Cox, Matt Summerfield, Richard Baddock, Kevin Knowles, Emma Lamont, Merv Hatcher, Barry Deuart, Sarah Brennan, Tony Witheridge, John Weir

 Apologies:  Carl Balani, Karl Celeste, Matt McGlinchey, Dave Neill, Nicole Summerfield,

 Moved by: Wayne Barnard

 Seconded by: Andrea Summerfield

 1. Notification of Items for General Business

Ross Teesdale:  Are there any issues with getting roads, permits for sprints?  We only seem to have 3-4 sprints per year and the car sits in the garage for a while?  Can we not organise more?  Some of the roads like Mt Alexander have not been used in a while so why is this? Pipers Valley Road was not a great road – there are better roads to use – why not?

Answer:  We organise 5 sprints a year.  More sprint used to be organised and there wasn’t the patronage to the events for the money being spent so we would loose money.  Now that less are organised we break even each time and people are returning to compete again.  We do not organise events on the same weekends as other clubs as we are just fighting for people to attend which helps no clubs.  On the calendar there is generally 1 event per month and there are plenty around that people can attend.

   Mt Alexander is not used each year because of some issues after events so the road owners only want us to use roads every few years.  This is the case with some roads but we also try to use a variety of roads in different places to try and suit a variety of drivers.  As Piper Valley Road was part of the NZ Hill Climb series we had restrictions on us to use a road near the RATEC road etc so Piper Valley Road was used as it was the best under the conditions we were given from above.  After asking around most at the meeting really liked Piper Valley Road as after a few runs is was decided to be technically different from many roads around here and could provide for a different type of road – especially in comparison to the Tucker Beach Rd gravel sprint used in Queenstown!!

 Kevin Knowles: Are people happy with the length of sprints/ value for money?

Answer:  The length of sprints is sometimes determined by what is available and it is good to have a variety of roads.  The longer a sprint the more competitors will have to pay because of the road needing grading and marshalling etc. 

   Ashley Forest is one of the shorter events, well participated and more expensive but people enjoy the road so keep coming back.  Others do enjoy the longer roads but not always available.  Variety is the spice of life!!

 Moved by: Leigh Marsden

 Seconded by: John Weir

2. President’s Report

Attached and read by Graham Wilson

Moved by: Graham Wilson

Seconded by: Ross Teesdale

3. Minutes of Previous Annual General Meeting

Read and discussion made about the $5 levy charged to Autosport members so if the have a crash and have to claim from Motorsport NZ they only have to pay the $500 excess and the Autosport Club will pay the rest of the $3000 excess to Motorsport NZ ($2500 paid by club)

Moved by: Graham Wilson

Seconded by: Leigh Marsden

4. Consideration and adoption of the Balance Sheet for the year ending 2012 and the statement of Accounts

Read out by Andrea Summerfield.  If you require a copy please email secretary, Leanne ([email protected])

Moved by: Richard Towse

Seconded by: Leigh Marsden

5. Election of Office Bearers for 2013 – President, Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President

President                Graham Wilson

Moved by: Leigh Marsden

Seconded by: Wayne Barnard

Secretary                Leanne Jolly

Moved by: Wayne Barnard

Seconded by: John Weir

Treasurer                Andrea Summerfield

Moved by: Graham Wilson

Seconded by: Ross Teesdale

Vice President        Hamish Anderson

Moved by: Graham Wilson

Seconded by: Merv Hatcher

6. Election of Committee members for 2013

Wayne Barnard (Club Captain)

Tony Witheridge

Chris Herdman

John Weir

Barry Deuart

Josh Mitchell

 Moved by: Merv Hatcher

Seconded by: Richard Towse

 The following people were voted on:

Karl Celeste

Ross Teesdale

Peter Yerby

Dave Carr

 After a show of hands it was chosen that Ross Teesdale and Karl Celeste were voted onto the committee.

Moved by: Graham Wilson

Seconded by: Wayne Barnard

 With extra people we could form an events committee?

7. General Business

Graham – Sub committee for the Hanmer rally.  There won’t be too much work, especially if the roads don’t change as the route books etc are completed already.  Ross Teesdale, Jeff Judd, Graham Wilson and Paul Bradshaw will be happy to help with both rallies.

Kevin Knowles will be able to help with the Hanmer Rally.

Leigh Would prefer to help with rallies.

The Canterbury Rally will require lots of helpers – emails will be sent after first meeting so PLEASE respond to help where you can.

Canterbury will be a National Championship event this year so will be similar to last events but a few changes to roads.  The forest is organised

Andrea and Barney only want to run the Hanmer rally on the day as Canterbury will be a big effort so a committee is wanted to organise the event beforehand.

Ross Teesdale: discussed about Trevor Crowe won the 2WD Hill Climb series in NZ.  Well Done Trevor!!

Trevor commented in his speech that he loved the event and was one of the best events so he’ll be back again next time.

 Richard Towse makes the stakes so an order of 50 before Hanmer Rally and 50 before the Canterbury Rally was made – please.

Need to replace 2/3 of stock for hand held radios so will be $3000- $4000 will be spent on this.  Barry Deuart to help with this and also the start beam.

 Flowers are being sent to Lynne for a brilliant job as Secretary!  Thanks so much Lynne – get well soon!!

 Moved by: Graham Wilson

Seconded by: Matt Summerfield, Hamish Anderson 

Meeting Closed: 9.03pm

­MINUTES OF AUTOSPORT CLUB (INC) AGM MEETING HELD AT THE PEG, BELFAST HOTEL  ON WEDNEDAY 8^TH FEBRUARY 2012

PRESENT

Graham Wilson, Wayne Barnard, Chris Herdman, Barry Deuart, Tony Witheridge, Andrea Summerfield, David Carr, Les Summerfield, Paul Bradshaw, Richard Towse, John Weir, Matthew McGlenchey, Paul Jansen, Matt Jansen, Dave Anderson, Hamish Anderson & guest , Matt Summerfield  & guest, Chris Herdman & guest, Josh Mitchell, Dave Neill and Peter Yerby

­APOLOGIES

Steve Carr, Lynne McKenzie, Jeff Judd, Kevin Knowles

Moved – Wayne Barnard

Seconded – Les Summerfield

NOTIFICATION OF ITEMS FOR GENERAL BUSINESS

None tabled.

PRESIDENTS REPORT

Read and confirmed.

MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES

Graham confirmed that Wayne Barnard and Andrea Summerfield had been made life members and that Dave McCahon resigned as a life member.

Moved by – Graham

Seconded by – Dave Carr

CONSIDERATION AND ADOPTION OF THE BALANCE SHEET FOR THE YEAR ENDING 2011 AND THE STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT

Andrea Summerfield asked for any questions, there where none.  One item that Andrea did go over was the decision by the committee, was to not have Natural Diaster insurance on the club van and gear.  The premium was going to go from $34 to $2000.

Moved by –Barny

Seconded by – Richard Towse

ELECTION OF OFFICE BEARERS FOR 2012

President – Graham Wilson

Secretary – Lynne McKenzie

Treasurer – Andrea Summerfield

Les Summerfield Nominated  Hamish Anderson for VP

Hamish Anderson accepted.

Moved by – Richard Towse

Seconded by – Paul Bradshaw

ELECTION OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS FOR 2012

Re-elected

Wayne Barnard

Tony Witheridge

Chris Herdman

John Weir

Peter Yerby

Barry Deuart

Dave Carr

New Member – Josh Mitchell

Moved by John Weir

Seconded by Paul Bradshaw

GENERAL BUSINESS

INSURANCE – Graham advice members of the situation with the insurance excess in place at present, being $3500 per claim.   Graham proposed that a levy of $5.00 per entry fee be added to build up a fund, so in effect the club would self-insure the excess.   Competitors would be liable to pay the first $500.  Discussion around would the levy be charged forever, but was decided that a figure of $6000 (2 claims) would then see the levy not charged.   It was asked that the President check with MSNZ as to the insurance policy for autocross to sprint to rallies and see if the excesses are different. 

Motion – To include $5 levy on every event, excluding autocrosses until amount of 2 claims is reached and competitors will pay first $500

Moved – Wayne Barnard

Seconded by – Les Summerfield

All in favor say I   no against

HANMER DATE

The President had received a enquiry regarding changing the Hanmer Date, a short discussion, then it was suggested that the committee look at the date at the next committee meeting.

FACEBOOK

Matt Jansen volunteered to start a facebook page for Autosport Club.  Everyone thought it would be a great ideal, hopefully to get more people to enter events etc.   Matt Jansen said he would get it underway within a week also.    A general discussion about entries lead to Barny suggesting , when competitors becomes member there should be and box to tick if they want mail sent to them opposed to emails.

TIMING GEAR

Peter Yerby started a discussion with regards to the timing gear, the problems the committee has been having getting the old programme adapted to windows (from DOS) and the problems with the last event.  The members were advised of Tag Heuer system, price and how it works.

The members discussed perhaps seriously looking into purchasing the system as they agreed the present one will not go forever.

GEAR

Graham went through the radio’s the club has at present.

21 x  working handheld radios

2 x going out for repairs

10 x car sets

1 x repeater

Les Summerfield ask for the members to put their hands together for the committee and all their hard work through the year, putting the events together.

Meeting closed at 8.45 p.m. PRIZE GIVING STARTED AT 9PM

PRESIDENTS REPORT FOR YEAR 2009 

Welcome to the Autosport Club’s Annual General Meeting for the year ended 2009. 

This has been my second year as President and I am pleased with the progress the  Club has made during the past year.  Leigh it is still good to have you as my immediate Past President

 A couple of office bearers leaving us this year are Brent Tiney and Fred Merkin. 

Fred and Brent  – thank you for your contributions – Fred this year and Brent for the past two years.

I have had a very good working Committee this year in the form of Lynne as Secretary; Andrea, Treasurer; Barney, Club Captain along with Chris Herdman, John Weir, Tony Witheridge, Brent Tiney and Fred Merkin. You have made my job a lot easier and I thank you for your support and the time you have given to the Club.

 We have had some great events again this year with sprints, Autocross’s and the Canterbury Rally.

Many thanks to the Canterbury Rally Committee and of course, Dave McCahon whose wisdom and knowledge keeps us on the right track.

 My thanks must also go to the other unnamed helpers like the Rangiora Rotary Club, St Johns, recovery, timing people and set up people.  Without these people it is difficult to run club events successfully. 

 This year we are again paying marshalling people as we found that it is getting harder to obtain enough Rotary volunteers.  This year we will be paying people to be Marshalls so if you want to register as a helper then please see me.

With our great set of communication radios and repeater etc. we have had other Clubs asking us for help with their events and we have been hiring out our equipment to make better use of the equipment and also give us some extra money in the system to help with any repairs needed making the communication gear self funding.

With regards to the New Transit van – there have been many comments on our better profile out in the Community with its good looks.

Over the Xmas period we had some rust cut out of the van and a new windscreen fitted. Most of the cost of the repairs were donated to us by Straight and Paint so it is a very noble gesture and we thank Shane very much for his support of our Club.

 Last year the Committee agreed to have the web site upgraded and a new format done. I am pleased to say that this is finally up and running and we hope you will look at it and we look forward to your comments. We can change the system ourselves and hopefully this will help with quicker more efficient results with events.

Special thanks must go to Tony Witheridge for operating the computer at our events.  We need one or two people to learn this trade to allow Tony to compete in some events.  We have a couple of people helping in this area and hopefully they will become good at it like Tony is.

     Of special mention is Paul Bradshaw. He has taken over looking after the Bulletin and I think he has done a wonderful job. I always look forward with interest to a new issue coming out. Especially with those questions he puts in them – I bet not many get them all right. Thanks Paul for a commendable effort.

 In finishing I wish that everyone enjoys this coming season of events.  Be sure to give us any feedback so that we can run events smoothly.

 Once again thank you to everyone who has made my year an enjoyable one and look forward to seeing as many as possible at the first event . – the Autocross on march 14^th and the first sprint at Coalgate on march 28^th. We follow with the AGM elections and I hope we have a few new additions to the Committee to enable us to provide the same array of events as last year.

 Graham Wilson

President

February 24^th, 2010.

written by Josh Marston

The Nelson Rally saw the final round of the 2009 New Zealand Rally Championship for the RDL Performance Rally Team. Following the same format as the other rallies this year, it involved two days of rallying over 300km. Plenty was up for grabs and our team were aiming to claim second in the rookie and junior titles as we sat in 4th and 5th respectively going into the rally. I personally was looking to step up the pace which had been shown over the year and put together a good result.

Next year the restrictions for Group N are being changed slightly so for this rally the car had these modifications undertaken. This now meant that we were running in the open class for Nelson as the changes to the restrictions do not officially take effect until 1st January 2010.

Pacenotes are something which is very new to me with this being only my 5th rally on notes. It is a very steep learning curve but I am gradually building my own style of notes. Recce was a bit of a challenge with quite bad dust but apart from that everything went smoothly.

Things stopped being smooth the moment we returned back to the motel. Instead of finding an always calm and relaxed team manager, I saw Dave slightly nervous/worried for the first time this year. What followed was a statement which I have also not heard him say, “We have a bit of a problem….”. The dog box had decided it was scared of the dark and smashed a hole in the gearbox case. We were lucky to source a standard gearbox and the change was made that night.

I have been working very hard on my speed in the morning stages and as the rally started this was one of my personal goals to put the hammer down in the morning. The first two stages went very well and we returned to the first service of the morning in 4th overall only 12 seconds off the lead. It became apparent right from the first service that tyre wear was going to be quite a big issue with tyres only lasting one loop of stages!

Stage three carried on where from the first two and was going very well until around 5km from the end when we smacked the rear of the car into a bank on the outside of a tightening right hander. This did a reasonable amount of damage with the wheel alignment of the car suffering from the impact. The rest of the day was spent rebuilding confidence and working with a car that was not quite at its best.

The crew worked wonders overnight to get the car repaired as best they could so that we could start the second day. While it was not quite perfect the car was better and I was looking forward to the next day.

Another lovely day dawned for the last day of the rally and the championship for 2009. Our rally had already had so much drama but it continued in the first stage of the morning a spin on a downhill section followed by a short detour up the wrong road when I mis-heard a pacenote. Despite this our time was quite reasonable. By this stage we had completely run out of new Dunlop tyres and were forced to use some old MRF’s which were hard and unused. These didn’t handle the conditions and our times in the middle block of stages suffered. For the afternoon loop we went back to old (buggered) Dunlops which were a great improvement even given their condition.

The retirements at this stage of the rally were unbelievable with the rough roads taking their toll. We were positioned 2nd in our class and 7th overall heading into the afternoon stages but through others misfortunes at the end of the rally 6th overall and 1st in class. This was a great result for the team who worked so hard on a weekend which was full of problems. In the rookie and junior titles we climbed our way back up to second in both which is remarkable given the problems experienced through the year.

Personally, I am very happy with the pace we are getting out of the car and the next step is improving on the consistency which is something that will only get better with time! Even as this is the end of the championship for this year I am already looking forward to putting a package together to enter next year.

A huge thanks goes to everyone that has supported me and the team this year, Harcourts Vision, Rubber Developments, RDL Performance, Pro Speed Developments, Project Mu brakes, Rush Auto Body, Garry Cliff, Roger @ The Car Bazaar, Tony @ Stadium Cars and Evoparts. Without you all this year would not have been possible.

Happy New Year To You All

Now we have all the overindulgence over let’s think about the coming year Autosport wise.  By Xmas I was thinking “is Autosport never going to end?”  Now after only four weeks can’t wait to get into it again.

We had the End of Year Prizegiving which was very disappointing – in fact if the Marston and Summerfield families weren’t there you could count the attendance on your hands and toes.  It seems a shame when so much time and effort goes into organising these events.

2008 Prizegiving Results

Palmside NZ Sprint Series –  Special thanks to Dean and the team at Palmside – sponsoring the trophies

Class 1 – 0-1300cc
1st Barry Deuart 188 points
2nd= Graham Wilson 148
2nd= Alistair Manson 148

Class 2 – 1301-1600cc
1st Scott Reid 145
2nd Stephen Petersen 130
3rd Dean Pester 108

Class 3 – 1601+ – 2wd
1st John Weir 156
2nd Nick Marston 97
3rd Rex Ford 94

Class 4 – 4wd
1st Les Summerfield 134
2nd Josh Marston 122
3rd Brad Harris 105

Overall
1st Les Summerfield 130
2nd Josh Marston 108
3rd Brad Harris 105

Autocross Series – Overall
1st Matt Summerfield 90
2nd Chris Herdman 44
3rd Robert Doig 40

Club Championship Classes

Class 1 – 0-1300cc
1st Barry Deuart 188
2nd Graham Wilson 149
3rd Alistair Manson 148

Class 2 – 1301-1600cc
1st Stephen Petersen 145
2nd Dean Pester 138
3rd Scott Reid 130

Class 3 – 1600 plus 2wd
1st John Weir 183
2nd Nick Marston 145
3rd Rex Ford 94

Class 4 – 4wd
1st Matt Summerfield 190
2nd Les Summerfield
3rd Josh Marston

Other Trophies

Palmside Ladies Trophy
Not allocated no ladies raced this year

Broken Diff Award
John Silcock – Rallysprint off at finish

Raycroft Auto Spares
Corey Shaw

Graham Brown Trophy
Matt Summerfield

International Rally Trophy (Silver Fern)
Andrew Grundy

Autosport Club Rally Trophy
John Silcock

Canary Furniture Trophy
John Weir

Cyclone Cycles Trophy
Matt Summerfield

Magnum Motors Trophy
Dean Buist

Overall Club Championship

1st – Matt Summerfield
2nd – Les Summerfield
3rd – Josh Marston

Memberships

It is time to renew your membership again.  Same rates as last year.  PLEASE PRINT YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESSES CLEARLY SO I CAN READ THEM.  Here is a schedule for 2009 (not confirmed).

17/2/09 Annual General Meeting
15/3/09 Rakaia Sprint
29/3/09 Hamner Rally
12/4/09 Coalgate Sprint
3/5/09 Autocross
31/5/09 Canterbury Rally
14/6/09 Sprint
12/7/09 Autocross
30/8/09 Sprint
6/9/09 Autocross
1/11/09 Sprint
22/11/09 Autocross

The Annual General Meeting is on 17 February 2009, 7.30 Carlton Hotel – Cellar. Your attendance would be appreciated. With so few on the Committee the same ones are doing all the work.  “Many hands make light work”.

Get your heads under your bonnets and polish up the mean machines.  If I don’t see you at the Annual General Meeting, see you at Rakaia rearing to go.

Lynne McKenzie
Secretary

Palmside NZ Sprint Series –  Special thanks to Dean and the team at Palmside – sponsoring the trophies

Class 1 – 0-1300cc
1st Barry Deuart 188 points
2nd= Graham Wilson 148
2nd= Alistair Manson 148

Class 2 – 1301-1600cc
1st Scott Reid 145
2nd Stephen Petersen 130
3rd Dean Pester 108

Class 3 – 1601+ – 2wd
1st John Weir 156
2nd Nick Marston 97
3rd Rex Ford 94

Class 4 – 4wd
1st Les Summerfield 134
2nd Josh Marston 122
3rd Brad Harris 105

Overall
1st Les Summerfield 130
2nd Josh Marston 108
3rd Brad Harris 105

Autocross Series – Overall
1st Matt Summerfield 90
2nd Chris Herdman 44
3rd Robert Doig 40

Club Championship Classes

Class 1 – 0-1300cc
1st Barry Deuart 188
2nd Graham Wilson 149
3rd Alistair Manson 148

Class 2 – 1301-1600cc
1st Stephen Petersen 145
2nd Dean Pester 138
3rd Scott Reid 130

Class 3 – 1600 plus 2wd
1st John Weir 183
2nd Nick Marston 145
3rd Rex Ford 94

Class 4 – 4wd
1st Matt Summerfield 190
2nd Les Summerfield
3rd Josh Marston

Other Trophies

Palmside Ladies Trophy
Not allocated no ladies raced this year

Broken Diff Award
John Silcock – Rallysprint off at finish

Raycroft Auto Spares
Corey Shaw

Graham Brown Trophy
Matt Summerfield

International Rally Trophy (Silver Fern)
Andrew Grundy

Autosport Club Rally Trophy
John Silcock

Canary Furniture Trophy
John Weir

Cyclone Cycles Trophy
Matt Summerfield

Magnum Motors Trophy
Dean Buist

Overall Club Championship

1st – Matt Summerfield
2nd – Les Summerfield
3rd – Josh Marston

The Clubs representatives have met and the 2008 calendar has been set:

Welcome to the Autosport Club’s Annual General Meeting for the year ended 2007. With the end of one year brings the start of another and this one is of particular significance for me personally. After 5 years I have decided to stand down as President of the Club to allow some fresh blood and new ideas to come through. It’s never an easy decision to make to step down from an executive position, or the committee in general for that matter, but you know in yourself when that time is right. Naturally, I will be staying on as Immediate Past President to help guide the Club through the transition where necessary, but I hope to ease away from direct involvement in the months to come. I have been a member of Autosport for some 25 years now, and a committee and executive member on two separate occasions during that time. However, despite this current change, I will continue to be a dedicated member of the Club for the foreseeable future, but now on the other side of the start line!

During my time on the committee and especially as President I have been fortunate to have had tremendous back up and support from numerous people both on and off the committee. To name any one person in particular would be unfair to all those who have worked with me over the years. Consequently, an enormous thanks to everyone who has made this Club the success it is today especially during my term as President.

So as for the year just ended, I would say once again the committee has succeeded in organising a great variety of events. From the autocross series through to our premier event, the Canterbury Rally, competitor numbers have generally been strong and it is reassuring to see an increase in new competitors whether young or “older”. At last year’s prize giving it was notable the number of younger competitors giving the old guard a bit of a hurry up! To me this indicates the Club is achieving one of its primary objectives which is to foster and develop new competitors. Starting with Clubsport Basic and moving through Clubsport Advanced, to then be able to compete at the top level in the various regional and national rally series, shows that the sport is strong and heading in the right direction. There will always be fine tuning to meet this objective, which is done under the umbrella of Motorsport New Zealand, but it is at the Club level that new talent is found and nurtured. And this is where our focus must remain, but with the added proviso that competitors are having fun doing so.

Thank you to last year’s committee particularly those standing down. Andrew, your years of service have not gone un-noticed, and yes I know we conned you back on last year but you’ve earned your retirement now! Drew, you’ve contributed significantly in many areas over the last couple of years, thank you for that. Richard, it’s hard to get off the committee I know, and your efforts organizing events and looking after the Club’s gear has been a big job so thanks for all your input. Lastly but my no means least, Stacey. Over the last two years as Club Secretary, you have had a huge work load looking after memberships, event documentation and secretarial duties. At all times these tasks have been done impeccably. In particular, taking over event documentation from David Fletcher was never going to be easy, but I would have to say you have taken this aspect to and even higher level, such that your successor has a very well documented set of procedures to follow. I know as an organizer, you took a lot of the pressure off by ensuring all the paper work was done well in advance and always presented in the event folder on the day. Many thanks.

2008 will see some personnel changes on the committee, but I have utmost faith in the ability of the Autosport Club members to step forward and continue the high standard set by previous committees. I know there are a number of events already well advanced in the planning stages. Consequently, this year will see a mix of the traditional events in both the forest and on public roads and I know there is a strong possibility of an 8 km sprint on public roads that have not been used for a few years. The main rally is well into the planning stages, however this year it’s not a round of the Rally Xtreme Series, but that’s not to say there aren’t prospects for bigger and better things in the years to come. My main request is that competitors come out to support the events since one of the most satisfying things for an organizer is to see a good turn out.

It also goes without saying that good event support helps the Club financially. From the financial report you will see that 2007 resulted in a more or less break even situation. Whilst one may argue that the Club is not here to make a profit there is the risk that is very easy to turn a break even into a significant loss. Most event expenses incurred by the Club are on the increase whilst at the same time we have maintained membership fees at current levels, for this year at least. The consequence is that the committee is looking at expenses on an event by event basis, so there may be some increases in entry fees where an event has run at a loss in the past. Rest assured this will only occur as a result of increased costs passed on to the Club.

Over more recent years the Club has invested significantly in communications equipment. This is probably the single most important aspect to the safe running of an event. The Club has taken the position that we need to be more or less self sufficient in this area. To this end during 2007 we invested in the purchase of a radio repeater which compliments the range of hand held radios bought previously. Fortunately, with the assistance of the Carlton Bar and Restaurant, a pub charity application was successful in funding most of the $10,000 required for this acquisition. Special thanks to Wayne Banard and Andrea Summerfield for coordinating this application. During 2008 further applications are to be made to further increase our radio capabilities and also to contribute to certain safety aspects of our events.

In closing I would also like to thank the rest of the committee, namely Andrea, Graham, Paul, Wayne, John and Chris, along with our marshals from the Rangiora Rotary Club and first aid services from St John and Red Cross. Also, Tony Witheridge for looking after the timing at our sprint events, Derek Simpson and Peter Quinn for start line and rescue duties, our scrutineers and all the other people who help make our events the success they are. Thank you all.

Unfortunately I won’t be at the Rakaia Sprint on the 16th of March (the Melbourne GP beckons!), but I look forward to being at an event soon and hopefully in the drivers seat. See you all then and in the meantime good luck with all your motorsport endeavours.

Thank you.

Leigh Marston
President

Well it has been a great year for the Autosport Club and Members. There has certainly been no problems or concerns as far as my job has been concerned.

The initial Mt Thomas Spring was deferred due to forestry roads being unavailable.

The Canterbury Rally went according to plan and was well supported. This was followed by the Tarn Road Sprint. Mt Thomas Sprint followed in July. Following heavy rain and wind the previous night the Hanmer Rally went ahead as scheduled in September.

The usual Autocross’s were held and the weather was kind for them too

The year concluded with the Mt Alexander Sprint. This event finished on a disappointing note with the accident. I would like to remind members to listen at all briefings with regard to safety. I also remind people not to be complacent by being on the roads etc when a race is in progress. – I think that is enough said.

I would personally like to thank everyone in the Club who has helped in the organising of our events. Our Club works well when everyone lends a hand and helps in some way.

I must thank others for doing supporting role jobs i.e. St Johns, Rotary, Marshalls, Recovery drivers and timing personnel. Without these people we would not function as a Club.

To the Canterbury and Hanmer Rally Committee’s – well done and a thank you to Dave McCahon for his support once again for these events.

We had a Club night in July at the Carlton and I think it was enjoyed by all.

This year the Club has purchased a few more radios but importantly was the purchase of a new repeater which will aid us in all events. Thanks to Barney and Andrea for organising the Grant to make the purchase possible.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind members to come along to the prize giving / Club night on December 12th at the Carlton Hotel Cellar commencing at 7.30pm. This is the last social event with Leigh in command. Please make an effort to show your appreciation for his work over the past several years.

There will also be an AGM on Wednesday 20th February 2008. The venue will be advised at a later date. Please mark your calendars now as a new Committee will be elected on that night.

Andrea and I are to organise a family day in February for the kids and the young at heart. You will be notified of a date later in January. Please come along and support the Club.

If any members are holding trophies please return them to Leigh before 12th December.

Finally a big thank you must go to Leigh Marston for his role this year as Club President. Leigh as given many hours of leadership and support and we are truly grateful for his time.

See you all on the 12th December 2007.

Graham Wilson
Club Captain

Another year of motorsport has been and gone, one which I hope met the expectations of all the Club members. Whether you are out there to win or just to participate the main thing the committee tries to ensure is that you have fun. This is not always easy with the ever changing world in which we live. Whenever you think everything is under control there is always something or someone trying to disrupt proceedings. In this regard I have to once again thank the committee for the great job they did in making 2006 another successful year.

The committee put on a good mix of events and the weather did likewise. From muddy autocrosses to dust bowls, from wet and slippery Hanmer to dry and dusty Ashley Forest, we had it all during 2006. Throughout all this events went ahead largely unaffected thanks to the dedication of the organizers and helpers. Special thanks go to the Red Cross, Rangiora Rotary Club, and individuals like Derek Simpson, Tony Witheridge, Andrew Wells and many more, who although not on the committee contributed significantly over the year.

This year sees some major changes within the committee with a number of members standing down after years of superb service. I would personally like to thank Dermot Martin, David Fletcher, Andrew Sim, Kieron Telford and John Beasley, all of whom have contributed to the success of the Autosport Club. No one can deny any of them for stepping aside when you consider the contribution they have made over the years. From the Club’s point of view though it will be hard to replace 20 odd years of knowledge and experience. That will be the challenge for the incoming committee. Fortunately, due to the effort over recent years, documentation and systems have been put in place which does make the job a lot easier. Thanks to David for that.

Of particular concern in 2006 was access to Ashley Forest, however I’m pleased to say we have now established a good working relationship with Rayonier. Many thanks to Les Summerfield and Paul Stanley for achieving this. Having said that there is always something new to worry about. For those who may not be aware Rayonier own the trees and cutting rights while the land is leased from Ngai Tahu. The latter have announced their intention to sell the land claiming better returns could be achieved in other business ventures. The land is currently up for international tender with a decision due next month. There will be no obligation on the part of the new owner to continue to allow us access, so it’s a matter of wait and see. On the positive side we do have a long history of use of the forest and a good ally now in Rayonier. Fingers crossed!

During the year the Club made no significant expenditure on gear and equipment although the Club van had a new head gasket, tune up and wheel alignment so should be good for another 100,000 kms. Not bad for something with a book value of about $270. The committee decided to dispose of the Club’s photocopier which took up half of Stacey and Drew’s lounge and must have been the first one ever made. The servicing company said it was worthless and to dump it but through Stacey’s good effort it sold on Trade Me for $250.

Thanks to Stu Bufton, the timing gear is now much more reliable and with more pre-event entries this allows the event to get underway closer to designated time. One of my concerns though is at the end of an event when there is inevitably a delay getting prize giving underway. This is normally caused by a lack of manpower to pack up at the end of the event, so if you want a shorter delay you know what to do. Also, please do attend prize giving especially if it’s at a bar or hotel since invariably they are sponsoring the event.

We are already well into 2007 and the first autocross has been and gone and the next sprint is only a couple of weeks away. Just a reminder to get your membership updated before the event to avoid putting even more pressure on the organizers. All last years Club members should have received a reminder through the mail but if not download a form from the web site. And another reminder, the web site is the Club’s main form of communication and is regularly kept up to date by John Beasley. If you don’t have access to a computer contact a committee member if you need to know anything about the Club and it’s events.

Finally, thanks once again to last years committee, your hours of dedication are not taken for granted. And to all competitors, good luck for the coming season and I look forward to seeing you out doing what we are all here for.

Leigh Marston
President

Club Championship Articles: At the club’s AGM in February 2006 it was resolved that the committee should formulate a set of articles governing the club championship.

These articles have been finalised. Everyone who competes in the club championship is encouraged to read these articles.

I thought it may be worth bringing members up to date with recent happenings and explain the lack of events.

You may or may not be aware of the change in ownership of all Carter Holt Harvey forests in the Canterbury area to the international forestry group, Rayonier. Autosport has enjoyed 30 odd years of rallying in Ashley Forest under former ownership but with change comes the need for the Club to satisfy the requirements of the new owners. To this end I have spent a number of hours negotiating with Rayonier to set new guidelines to allow us to have continued access to the forest. I am pleased to say that I believe we now have a solid relationship that will stand us in good stead for the foreseeable future. To this end I would like to extend, on behalf of the Club, my thanks to the management of Rayonier locally, for going in to bat for us with their top management. Much of the credibility the Club has now is due to the professionalism and dedication of all the committee members who have been involved in organising events in Ashley, Mt Thomas and Hanmer Forests. It has been said that other users of the forests need to raise their standard to that of Autosport. With the ever increasing involvement of OSH in business and sport comes a greater responsibility for event organisers and venue owners alike. So our affiliation to Motorsport New Zealand, with its comprehensive insurance policy, strict organiser guidelines and adherence to safety plans, has allayed many of the concerns Rayonier had. There are still some matters to be finalized but I believe we can work through these in due course.

So much for the background. While all this has been going on we have missed out on two events. The first was Mt Thomas which was pulled due to logging operations, of which we had very little pre-warning. Because of the short notice we were not in a position to re-schedule another event. The second event, Tarn/Paringa Rds, as you all now know, was cancelled due to weather – the ford on the road in was over a metre deep! Because of this and the on going bad weather we have decided to run Makerikeri Rd on the 23rd July instead. This event has no access problems and the road doesn’t cut up should it rain.

While we are still running some of the familiar and popular sprint roads of the past there are moves afoot, from Rayonier and the Club, to develop 2 dedicated loop roads exclusively for Autosport use. These would be closed off areas of the forest under the Club’s control and may even be available for private testing. Early days yet but we are working with Rayonier on possible sites, both of which would need some preparation, and consequently probably not be available till next year.

The Star/Canary Furniture Rally of Canterbury 2006 is confirmed for the weekend of 2/3 September and is once again a round of Rally Xtreme and the Mainland Rally Series. It is envisaged running much to last year’s format with the same or similar roads subject to forestry activities. Further details will be released as they become available.

If you have any further queries please contact a committee member.

Leigh Marston
President

It’s hard to believe that this is my third president’s report since taking over the role in 2003. Those three years have really flown and have been a mixture of frustration, hassle and hard work, but above all else, extremely satisfying and to be honest, good fun. There have been many challenges and many changes during that time and no doubt there will be many more in the future. This sport is one of continual evolution and much of this is brought about by influences outside of the Club’s control. There are the obvious rule changes from Motorsport New Zealand, stricter requirements for safety plans, greater demands from local councils regarding traffic management, increased costs for road grading, tighter control of access to the forests to name but a few.

To date the Club has coped with these demands very well but the workload for the committee has certainly increased. We have been fortunate to have such an experienced committee, with a mixture of talents, who have been able to steer the Club in the right direction. There has been the occasional committee meeting where debate gets heated but what would we achieve if members could not air their views. Throughout all this we have remained friends and I for one would not have it any other way.

During the 2005 year we ran a mix of autocrosses, forest and public road sprints, a clubman’s rally and our main rally which was part of the Rally Xtreme series. This is a total of 13 events which, if you add in monthly committee meetings, an AGM and prize giving you’ll appreciate what a dedicated bunch of people we have running the Club. The format of events last year followed very much that of 2004 and our intentions for 2006 are more of the same (although some dates are likely to change). The main reasons for this are firstly, it is easier for the committee since existing safety plans and supplementary regulations are already available, and secondly, we have received no feedback from competitors as to whether they like or dislike any particular event.

You will no doubt be aware the Club committee has deemed it prudent to insist that all competing vehicles entering our sprints are equipped with a roll cage to Schedule A (some other clubs have a road car class). This has been at the committee’s own initiative and brought about by the nature of the terrain where we run our events. Although it does not affect the majority of competitors there are some from other Club’s who are affected. Consequently, our events that form part of the Interclub Series are now restricted to autocrosses, so if you intend being part of that series you’ll need to enter the appropriate autocross.

Those who were involved in our main rally last year, whether competing, organizing or spectating, would surely agree it was an excellent event. To this end it is pleasing to know that the rally has been included as a round of Rally Xtreme again this year. Even more encouraging is the fact we can confirm Canary Furniture and The Star newspaper as naming rights sponsors again in 2006. Preliminary talks have already shown a desire from both parties to make the event a bigger spectacle with The Star taking a much more active role in the promotion of the event. This is a real credit to everyone involved and although there are far too many to mention I would like to single out Les and Andrea Summerfield along with Dave McCahon for allowing the rally to take over their lives for a few months each year.

There will be some changes to the committee this year so I would personally like thank those people who are stepping down for their effort – your contribution was truly appreciated. There is one person standing down who will be very sorely missed, so it is with a touch of sadness that I have to announce the resignation of our secretary, Simone. This morning I was endeavoring to find out how long Simone has been on the committee and the best answer I got was “more than 5 but less than 10 years”. Either way Simone’s contribution has been enormous – her knowledge of motorsport and event administration has been invaluable to the Club over the years. For all my time as president Simone has been there looking after the administration of the Club and it has really made my job so much easier. Simone, you will be really missed and I’m sure the rest of the Club joins with me in wishing you all the very best for the future. You know our events as well as anyone so hopefully we’ll see you out there some time. Thanks again.

To the rest of the committee – Dermot, David, Andrew, Les, Kieron, Richard, Josh, Stewart and Chris – thanks for everything you did last year, it was a great effort. There are two others I’d like to thank. The first is John Beasley for creating and maintaining the Club’s web site which is really striking now and a huge improvement over the old one. Secondly, Andrew Wells for finding the time to publish the occasional bulletin. Andrew is a busy man and already publishes another monthly bulletin so his offer to help out when possible is much appreciated. As you will understand from my earlier comments the committee already has a big workload so if members want a more regular bulletin then someone else will have to put their hand up.

My final thanks goes to my wife, Susan, and my mates, Josh and Nick, for their patience and understanding which allows me to be involved in something as time consuming as motorsport.

To finish off I’d like to relay an event from last week. On Wednesday morning Les and I met with representatives from Rayonier, who now own most of the forests in Canterbury and others throughout New Zealand. Also present was Paul Stanley whose company is responsible for management of the forests we use. Paul summed it up when he said to the meeting that “…other users of the forest need to aspire to the standards set by the Autosport Club”. An impartial view which reflects the effort put in by last years committee – well done people! To those standing for re-election I’m sure you’ll live up to that standard also.

All the best in motorsport for 2006.

Leigh Marston
President

As decided at the AGM the committee have agreed to a set of point scales that are based on the old logarithmic scale when the points were scaled back from 40 for first place. The new points structure will award 60 points for a rally win, 40 points for a sprint win, and 30 points for an autocross win. Everyone who takes part in an event will get at least one point. The scales are as follows:

Rally: 60,54,48,44,39,35,32,29,26,23,20,18,16,15,14,13,12,11,10,9,8,7, 6,5,4,3,2,1,1,1…

Sprint: 40,36,32,29,26,23,21,19,17,15,13,12,11,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,1,1…

Autocross: 30,27,24,22,20,18,16,14,13,12,11,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,1,1…

A small turnout for the AGM discussed the finances for the year which are much clearer now that Kieron Telford has got it all sorted, there was a lively debate about the club points scheme and the committee will be looking into making it fairer for people who at present go to events but get no points, Leigh related his president’s report for the year, and three new committee members were elected, Brent Sibley, Chris Hughes, and Stewart Bufton – welcome aboard!