LCC Club Torque – November 2019

Presidents Report

Hello All. Are you still out there? We are grinding towards the end of another year at least it feels that way on some days. This report is my last as President of the Club a position I accepted in December 2017. 

I thank the members and in particular the Committee for entrusting this role to me. I have valued my time with them and appreciate the discussions and debate that we have held around the table and the efficiency in which the club has operated. On special acknowledgement is Paul Dean the Treasurer of over 10 years. A job well done his commitment to the role for such a long time has been appreciated. 

Thinking back I have had a long history (not as long as some) as a member and actively involved in the club since the mid 80s well over 30 years. I have seen some change in the demographic of the club from a large diverse membership base with many families, young singles and married couples whom were active and engaged in a variety of motor sport events and who formed a large competitor base. There was also a significant emphasis on community and social events. It seemed to be that we knew who was in our club and what they wanted. 

My belief is that the membership (of which there are approximately 100) determines the direction and emphasis of the club. Whilst we have an overarching constitution there are no specific guiding statements that confirm the priorities or direction of the club. In this regard it falls on the Committee to determine what our priorities are what events to run and where our limited resources are to be spent. 

I do not intend to reflect on the time I have spent in the club but rather confine my comments to the last two years and suggest that we specifically reflect on the response and participation of members to some of our events. 

Firstly we have found new venues from which to run the Khanacross events. These venues have been well received the feedback from participants being very positive. Whilst most enjoyable they have not resulted in a significant increase in numbers. It is however hoped to continue to find new venues close to Perth which has been a consideration when running events. 

As part of another strategy we held a joint Khanacross with BORSMA at Beverley last month to determine if there was any interest from our members. It was a great day, plenty of good roads and lots of dust. I competed and really enjoyed the event however and sadly there was not a significant turn out from the LCC members. I am not sure why this did not attract more numbers. 

An ongoing discussion over the last few years amongst the committee was that there were a number of members who had rally cars sitting in their sheds but because of the costs and complexities of rallying at a State level, increased costs and the need to upgrade equipment for these events they were just not participating.. 

The concept of an affordable simple S2 Rally Sprint was created in the Jarrahdale/Beracking area on roads that were ideal for this sort of event. Two such events were run. A date at the beginning of the year was set which also accommodated those who wanted a shakedown event for their cars entering the State Championship, and another at the completion of the season in November. The same roads and location were used for both events and feedback from participants was generally very positive yet only 12 and 14 competitors respectively entered each event. The majority of these competitors were not LCC members. 

The Committee have ensured that the LCC remain committed to the State Rally Championship and have run the Safari Rally in Boddington and Darling 200 in Jarrahdale. Both events have been well advertised/marketed and well managed and run. Yet there have been a reduction in numbers entering our events and again most participants are not members of the LCC. 

It appears that the drop in participation of our events is reflected in the participation of the State Championship this year. 

Average number of entries has dropped from 34 to 31 in 2019. The Darling 200 had the least participants with 24. The total number of cars competing in the Championship remained the same at 68 cars however they are entering events less often. 

Of the 47 drivers that entered the WARC this year only 6 entered each event. 

None of the Masters entries entered all rounds and only 1 Clubman participant entered each round. 

So what can we make of this. 

The motor sport calendar is full of events on most weekends. There are private/commercial events such as those run at Kwinana Motorplex, Targa Events, events run by the WACC, the Speed Series Events run at Jacks Hill, Collie, Barbagello Race Track and Busselton, the Autocross series at the Speedway Track at Kwinana (WACC), the Autocross and Khanacross events at BORMSA at Beverley, and now Khanacross and Rally Sprint events at Dowerin run by Rally Action. 

Finally we have a number of State Rally Championship events overseen by the WA Rally Advisory Panel and run by the WACC, LCC and Ascot Car Club. A Rally Sprint this year has been added to an already busy calendar. 

As a club we are confronted with growing demands from the Governing bodies that administer these events (CAMS) dwindling competitor and participation base and a lack of resources at the administrator and volunteer level. It appears that we are at the cross roads of either some radical change or witnessing some serious decline in the membership and status of the club. 

As President for the last two years I have felt some constraints in this role to adequately argue for review of the club and change to how and what we go about doing on behalf of our members. 

Whilst I intend to go back to more competing next year I look forward to remaining on the committee and challenge our committee members on future directions for next year. 

I am more than happy to further discuss these or any matters I have raised in my Presidents Reports over the last few years. Please contact me. 

Kind Regards

Geoff Leatt-Hayter 

President LCC

Social Report

Scalextric Car Challenge. Too late – you missed a great day.
Hope a good time was had by all, I know I enjoyed the day, thanks to everyone who came.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner (actually it was lunch) was Peter Moore, who won every one of his races. A very close second was the rascally Oakley Percival and third was Andrew with his Formula E

Each Round consisted of 10 laps of the track – no bumping or pushing or jump starts were
MOST people kept to the rules, apart from a couple who had to be penalised and told to behave. Won’t mention who they were !!!! (hee hee).

There was a little bit of sledging between competitors, all good-hearted fun, which made the day enjoyable. Charlie brought his dad along, and sorry did not get dad’s name, but we hope to see them both again at one of our Khanacross events.

Geoff & Aarin both had to leave early (hence the W/D) due to other family commitments. So perhaps the scores do not really reflect their capabilities. Hmm…maybe next time we will know.

Kirsty did most of the scoring, Barry was the Starter and Judge of Fact. Everyone assisted each other with marshalling (putting cars back on track) Everyone helped set-up and clean up – Thank you all.

Family support and service crew: Sarah Percival – Millie Hahn – Joan Percival – Rebecca Percival and Charlie’s dad. (Charlie goes to school with Oakley).

Thank you all, as said hope you enjoyed the day – hope to see you at the Lunch/AGM/Presentation Sunday 1st December 2019.

Cheers Ann

2019 AGM & Club Presentation

The 2019 LCC AGM and Presentation will be held on Sunday 1st of December.

Nominations received are:

  • President – Andrew Percival
  • Vice President – Wendy Walker
  • Secretary – No nominations received
  • Treasurer – Ann Percival
  • Committee – Alan Bird, Paul Dean, Geoff Leatt-Hayter, Paul Helm, Neal Johnson, Andrew Percival, Ann Percival, Wendy Walker, Paul Walker

Voting will be in person on the day or you have the opportunity to lodge postal votes. These need to be lodged and received into our PO Box 453, Bayswater, WA 6933 by the delivery of Friday 29th November.  

CAMS INTRODUCTION

Hi All 
I just wanted to introduce myself as the new CAMS Sport and Club Development Officer for WA. 
I commenced in the position on Tuesday 5 November, taking over from Lauren Cornes, and will be working 3 days a week; namely Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursday
Whilst not from a motorsport background I have had lots of experience working within the sport industry, with clubs, the community and particularly with volunteers.  The last 5 years have been spent in the Community Transport sector. 
I look forward to meeting everyone and getting to know you, your clubs and what you do and will do my best to get around to everyone as soon as I can.  If you have a club meeting scheduled I would be more than happy to attend to say hello – just let me know.
As a first course of business I would like to give you a gentle reminder to get your club affiliations in by 31 December 2109 and if you need any assistance with this please just let me know.
In the meantime please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries or need any assistance.
Thanks

Brad Lukosius | Sport & Club Development OfficerP: +61 8 9208 8501|  www.cams.com.au
Suite 7, 21 Wanneroo Road, Joondanna, WA 6060, Australia