The state of play

From Motorsport Ireland.

http://www.motorsportireland.com/news/20-05-06/A_MESSAGE_FROM_THE_CEO_PRESIDENT_OF_MOTORSPORT_IRELAND-3136838252.aspx

Can't and don't wish to argue ! ; Stay safe, everyone !

Tim

Banner on the top of the Home page needs to be updated to reflect this message from Motorsport Ireland.

Wonder what area of the our sport will get the sanction to start back ?

A Message from Motorsport Ireland CEO Leo Hassett and President John Naylor
Wednesday, 27th May 2020

Dear Motorsport Community

As we are half way through Phase 1 of the Government Roadmap for Reopening Society & Business we thought it was time to give you all an update on where things are within Motorsport and what the remainder of the year might look like. We are still on track to reopen some disciplines once we have reached Phase 4 on the 20th July 2020 and with everything going according to plan rallying can potentially recommence once we reach Phase 5 on the 10th August 2020. However, both dates rely on the country achieving the goals set out by the Government and should there be any changes to the dates in either direction then we will react accordingly.

We set up an expert group to create guidelines describing what a return to sport will look like for each discipline and what changes we will have to adopt in order to comply with Government guidelines at that particular time and as we all know this whole situation is very fluid. If there is an increase in people with Covid-19 no doubt Government guidelines will harden but if all goes well then perhaps those same guidelines may change or soften. The brief of the expert group, under the direction of the Chair of the Safety Commission is to “Find a practical approach for the return of motorsport while at all times keeping safe our volunteers, competitors and the wider community” It contains experienced people from a variety of disciplines and of course has medical representation.

The report from this group will be completed in the next few weeks and once we have that it will be shared will all our clubs, probably around the 25th June when we will almost have completed Phase 2. At this point, all of us will have been allowed to travel up to 20km from home and more retail outlets etc will be open so there will be an increased element of normality.

As we said previously, the calendar for the remainder of 2020 will stay intact, however at this point any club that feels they cannot run an event in their locality should withdraw that event from the calendar and their deposit will be refunded. Once we have a clear picture of what the remainder of the year looks like we will be circulating a calendar early July for the remainder of the year to all clubs so that any club that is in a position to run later in the year will know what dates are available.

Once we reach Phase 4 on the 20th July we will be able to travel outside of the 20km limit so there will be a meeting of all clubs on Saturday 25th July 2020, location to be decided as we do not know what the criteria will be for such a meeting at that time. We will start the meeting in the morning and the intention is to have a calendar for the remainder of 2020 before we leave, so we will need decisions made on the day by the clubs attending.

Certainly the first phase of return will be events held at fixed venues where access to the site can be controlled and we know that Mondello Park have significant work done in this area but the criteria will be outlined in the document which will be circulated around the 25th June 2020.

Government guidelines will always dictate what and when it happens, but the Government has laid out a road to return and we while adhering fully to those guidelines intend to have motorsport back as soon as possible. We continue to keep in close communication with Sport Ireland and the Minister for Sport and Tourism and to seek clarification on the anomalies that affect motorsport.

We hope that this proves helpful and remember together we can recover from this. We are a voluntary organisation so, to be very clear, no club or person will be forced to participate, the choice will always remain with the individual and it is always a case of “Health First”.

As always, our thoughts are with the families of the people that this horrible virus has affected.

Leo Hassett John Naylor
CEO, Motorsport Ireland President, Motorsport Ireland

Are there any signs of an earlier restart than July 20? Their last comms was half way through phase 1, before the roadmap was fast tracked - the whole country is open on 29th June and sporting activities can resume behind closed doors with social distancing....

Even Mondello have races starting on 11/12 July, before the MI date.

From talking to a few people, it seems there’s understandable difficulties / concerns with organisers, marshalling and landowners that raises a lot of doubt over the rest of the MVAT season?

Are PCT’s or beginners Autotests likely to go ahead?

Meanwhile Mondello march ahead with the year, I was at a trackday there on Saturday and it ran perfectly and safely with temperature checks on entry, limited numbers, outdoors only.

So the thought occurred to me, if we’re looking like having a very limited remainder of the season, would TDC consider another MVAT in Mondello, only marshalled and set up by Mondello (supervised by TDC)? I’m sure competitors would pay a bit more if it costs extra.

Another similar idea to do something would be a TDC MVAT / Trackday hybrid, using the rallycross track and foam bale chicanes On the straights. Non competitive, ran by Mondello, organised by TDC. Shouldn’t require MI involvement? If Mondello are nervous of the rallycross track being used without rollcages, then even the National track with foam bales should could be a lot of fun.

Thoughts / comments?

I think Mondello are very much doing commercially based activities; I don't see that we add much to the picture for them.

Also €€€'s issues would be very much in play.

There are other factors/ off agenda issues at play.

As mentioned elsewhere; marshal's age & health profiles vs HSE risk categorisations makes me think Ian / TDC / I would struggle with head count.

Be assured; we are looking at how we will be back. At what ; ???. But the itchy-feeted and the cautious are working to put us back out there.

"I SHALL RETURN !" General Douglas McArthur; 20 March 1942 (not Arnie !!! by the way)

Tim

By definition an Autotest needs reversing so chicanes wouldn't cut it.

Also all other mondello events require helmets so if cars are going flat through corners I doubt they would want to take that risk.

Surely some weekday evening events with social distancing could be possible though... If the price was right.

Race meetings will be going ahead soon, it's far easier to socially distance an Autotest than them...