MNZ survey

[ERC]

It was indeed sent to those who had not renewed licences. I hadn't renewed mine from September 2016.

What also has to be taken into account is that many those of us of early baby boomer age, are now retired. Although there are quite a few over 65 and even over 70 and 75 competing, the numbers will drop off each year and possibly faster than new ones coming into a sport that has got progessively more expensive, especially over the last few years.

The MSNZ fees have rocketed far, far faster than the rate of inflation and extra demands on tracks hasn't helped.

As per the HRC newsletter with which I agree 100%:

"If MSNZ wants to truly work for the competitor and the future of the sport, there would be no $53 levy per competitor per race meeting, licences would be $25 instead of $200, permits would be $50 instead of $500. MSNZ has bloated over the years and it needs to downsize quickly, especially with the Covid 19 crisis."

The backbone of the sport has always been at club level, with a small pinnacle at the very top, but it appears that the lower echelons who can least afford it, have been paying for an unnecessary hierarchy and possibly subsiding the upper levels, not to mention regulations written to suit the upper echelons.

The race levies 'per driver' of $53 plus at HD, a H & S levy of $25 takes a huge chunk out of the race entry fees.

Add paramedics/ambulance, towing, radio hirage, even before track hire - which has also rocketed in recent years, and the cost to put on a meeting lands on a shrinking number of competitors.

I have always campaigned for larger grids and copped a lot of flack from several quarters, including those more closely aligned to MSNZ, for drawing up a set of rules 25 years ago that encouraged participation rather than purity. My stance has never changed on that, but from the sidelines, I have seen some miserably small grids from several classes. Not cost effective, boring for spectators and track officials alike.

This may be repeating myself, yet again, but running a race meeting is a commercial undertaking, not a charity. If five drivers want the track to themselves and keep out those they don't agree with, that is fine, but if the cost of running the race meeting is $2500 per grid, (plus the levies), then those drivers should expect to pay the $500 plus levies - and that only lets the promoters break even on that grid - and not expect better supported classes to subsidise them.

MSNZ has had a monopoly and abused it to the extent that they have not stood by their own mission statement, of 'encouraging participation'.