29/11/2010
NEWS STORY
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Mat Coch writes:
The future of the Australian Grand Prix has taken another turn as the Australian Grand Prix Corporation looks to secure the event for 2011.
Over the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend it became apparent that the promoters, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC), and the organisers, the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS), were at loggerheads over unpaid fees.
Meetings between Ron Walker, head of the AGPC, and Bernie Ecclestone in Abu Dhabi seemed to produce no movement on the matter, and nothing has been heard since the initial announcements. Speaking with Pitpass Ecclestone believed the AGPC and CAMS would resolve their differences, refusing to be drawn on what would happen if they can't.
The AGPC has entrusted the running of the Grand Prix itself to CAMS ever since it was first held in Adelaide in 1985, and has been an ever present since it moved to Albert Park in 1996. CAMS is an FIA affiliated not-for-profit club and is responsible for the majority of motor racing events in Australia, from grass roots through to the Formula One event.
Australian motor sport primarily has two organising bodies with CAMS in competition with the Australian Auto Sport Alliance (AASA). Several circuits across Australia operate under an AASA license, while others operate under CAMS. The split causes many grass roots categories to split their state championships while other events, the Targa Tasmania for example, are run exclusively under AASA which is not FIA affiliated.
A bitter feud between the organisations has been ongoing for several years, though with the Grand Prix at stake it seems CAMS is trying to close the gate before the horse bolts and thereby prevent the AGPC signing a deal with its rival organisation.
CAMS recently released a bulletin to all members stating that should they officiate in a non-CAMS sanctioned event they can expect to be ineligible to officiate in a CAMS event for 24 months.
The bulletin read: "CAMS operates in a competitive environment, and is acutely aware of other organisations taking advantage of CAMS members' intellectual property without making any contribution to the continuing development of the sport. While this may enable these other organisations to charge lower fees than CAMS in the short term, in the longer term without continued investment in Australian motor sport, the sustainability of the sport is put at huge risk".
It would appear that the announcement is aimed at consolidating CAMS own power base, while also looking at wounding AASA. While AASA is not in a position to overthrow the CAMS regime a slow but gradual tide has seen the organisation gain momentum in recent years.
Instead what the amendment seems likely do is inhibit the smooth running of the very grass roots motor sport the organisation claims to be protecting. Essentially it will restrict officials to CAMS events at the cost of, predominantly, grass roots racing. Without CAMS accredited marshals many circuits in Australia could not function as they currently do, despite operating with a AASA license.
Meanwhile Victorians went to the polls over the weekend for a state election. While healthcare, employment and education were key issues the fact the Grand Prix has continually cost the tax payers more and more money is unlikely to have gone unnoticed. With the Grand Prix a hot political topic, how a new government chooses to approach the subject will be telling for the event's future.