The Tasmanian Targa specialsts are coming across to the mainland for an event which is believed to be the death knell of Classic Adelaide. To held in and around Wangaratta Vic 10 days or so before Classic Adelaide one can see the Vics not supporting Classic any longer. 230km closed stages = $1990.00 $8.62 per km Classic Adelaide 200 km closed stages = $6850.00 $34.25 per km Front Bum Racing have entered High Country, three rallies for the year will be Adel Hills Tarmac, Targa tas and High Country. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Interesting.. I was always of the impression the Vic Road/Govt sooo opposed to rally concepts is why we never see events there much.. must have been a breakthrough somewhere? Certainly timing is interesting too so close to an established "major" or similar(?) ilk?
yes it was a major event, its now a nothing event where the almighty dollar prevails to make as much as possible and blame it on insurance costs which have not by all accounts increased 1000% as witnessed with Targa Tas. the adel event was a good event, its a shadow of its past.
I know "my driver" didn't enter us in last year with such price hikes after doing 3 year in a row together CA with me as nav for him. Similar thing now defunct "East Coast Targa" where I co-drove (we swapped driver/nav alternate stages).. they just hiked the rates up hugely one year (its last as it turned out!) and interest just evaporated and they disappeared promptly after that one.. (they had some other issues and this just capped it for most) Be good to see healthy mix of strong events in Aussie calendar.. at least with their financial reserves and reputation should hopefully establish and stay there if right location & formula.
That's a real shame... poor old Adelaide seems to get shafted every time. The GP was way better in Adelaide and CA was a great event for spectators IMHO...
Website coming soon - no wonder CA have been on the phone this week selling early birds. Any more details yet on THC other than date and that it is 3 day event? Pity about the date - Australia needs more of these events. Going up against CA isn't the smartest move in the world.
Perhaps being in country Victoria its subsidised by the governement to promote the area. You guys would know better coming from SA, but is it expensive closing roads for the CA due to location, ie. local government fees or is it all dependent on the organiser/promoter?
correct, they rang me and i just said that we were going to wait it out, and you are right we do need more of these events but the manner with which the Adel event is run is a bit like the SA Govt!!! And the 09 event was a fizzer. no, the event in SA needs major evemt status, currently the event is subject to local councils and they can at the last minute just shut down a stage, if they had event status the Govt would have the final say (aka Clipsal 500, tour down chunder) and the councils would do what they meant to do......pick up rubbish bins. Thus when one is at the mercy of the councils then how can someone program an event if say at the 11th hour a council CEO can ring and say its a no go.......the organisers are then stuffed. The competitors complain but the council doesnt care cos the competitors dont live in the area and have no vote so to speak.. Last year we saw stages downgraded and pulled cos of this and even to the extent of commencing road works on the day of a stage (thursday just before peter lehman lunch) and what workers were on duty...none, it was over 38 degrees. I feel for the organizers but the Govt hasnt helped them cos they dont see the event as a money spinner and they always distance themselvesfrom motor sport when a fatality occurs (clipsal and ashley cooper).....like they want the accolades and kudos when the event brings in revenue but throw the whole lot in CAMS's lap when the **** hits the fan. Furthermore, the council of Georgetwon in tas where the Targa Tas prolgue is run pay 30k to the organisers to have the event in the town for the day cos its a money spinner and the Tas govt do the unthinkable and that is if a stage is run they will resurface the road for the council or contribute to the costs thus the locals get new roads for the next "x" number of years...........in the same light the SA Gov resurface the roads that the tour down chunder use like Willunga Hill which was a lousy road at best, brings some lycra wearing bald bikes in and bingo...new road. I pointed out to the organizers of CA to use stages that the tour bikes use cos its the best bitumen around.........like derrr
Hi, If the targa people are shafting anyone, they are shafting mountain motorsports (Mt Buller Sprint etc) rather than CA. The targa high country is based in the Mt Buller village and includes a run up Mt Buller at the end of each day. Mt Buller sprint was pretty competitive in terms of kms and $$$ but would now be dead in the water. This year was supposed to be the last running of the Buller sprint, but after the announcement of the tarmac series it was headed for a renaissance, but that is now dead. Out of interest, Mt Buller sprint used to run on the same Nov weekend as proposed for Targa High country, ie week before CA. Back in the heyday of the economic boom Mt buller had 120 (capacity) followed by a full field at CA a week later. Running two events so close together actually makes sense to Queenslanders and people from NSW in terms of transportation of cars / service vehicles etc. Anyway, enough said. I hope CA dies a painful death. They ripped me off one year and never refused to redund me fees I was owed when I pulled out. Thats why I have never done the event. Nasty, nasty people. Hopefully karma will get them! Cheers Robbo
Sorry to hear. I've only had good dealings with the CA folk. I just a bit tired of the same roads, but no problems with the event or the people.
I take it, past the date when entry is forfeit. Happened a couple of times here with Tugga, I don't blame the organisers however.......suppliers on the other hand. Problem with CA, more than doubled in price in less than a decade whereas others have had modest increases, short stages, low competition km and has that tweed cap and pipe air. One good point, coverage for other than the first 5 in late modern elsewhere.
Hi, You are wrong in your assumption. I paid a deposit for the Suncoast rally. The progress payment came up, to take the total payment to $3500. I was unsure as to whether I would be able to make it, so I rang and confirmed that if I pulled out before the forfeit date I would get a refund. It was confirmed that I would get a refund, but lose $500 deposit, which sounded fine. The supp regs on the website also confirmed this. I paid the money, but several weeks later (well before the forfeit date) I realised I would not be able to compete, and asked for a refund. Silverstone events flatly refused to refund me any money. After a while they stopped responding to my correspondence and stopped taking my phone calls. I sent them a letter threatening legal action, but no reponse. They then actually retrospectively changed the supp regs on the website so the forfeit date was much earlier, before I had withdrawn! Fortunately I had printed out the original supp regs. Eventually I had to decide if it was worth pursuing legal action for $3k, and decided to write it off and put it down to experience. I wrote them a letter telling them I realised they were never going to refund me, giving them one last chance, and telling them I would do everything I could to pass on my experiences within the rally community. I vowed to never do an event run by silverstone, and tell everybody who ever asks me about classic adelaide or silverstone events the whole story. I subsequently found out that there were several other people similarily affected. I think they were losing a lot of money on the suncoast rally, and somehow this justified in their minds that there would be no refunds. They probably surmised correctly that people would not be bothered to go through the whole deal of taking them to court etc over relatively small amounts of money. Strange thing is that I am still on their email mailing list, and every year get emailed early bird offers etc! So if CA goes into decline, maybe it is karma. Cheers Robbo
that's BS on their behalf Robbo, was their contact address on the Gold Coast with the rest of the sharks ??!!
well said, I went thru the same pain with the suncoast saga, i did get my money back after some tooing and froing. ......the event was never going to work and the cost was too expensive for an average punter, much like CA is......overpriced, same roads year in year out........ and no Robbo, you have told us and we in turn will tell others..........its karma alright
Fair Trading - or the equivalent in Qld, you'd think, would dispatch this in your favour with the documentation.....open and shut, without getting into the court system - cost a day or two on your part perhaps, still a pita. Probably explains the longevity of the Suncoast rally at least, small bit of satisfaction to be gained there. Once on the mailing list, you'll never get off. Surprised there's no phone calls too, had 9 or 10 years of that.
Unfortunately Karma tends not to work!! I remember years ago, when I was in my early 20's I got robbed of a significant amount of stuff. I remember commenting to the police officer at the time that karma might come into play! Big mistake! This officer was in his late 50's and was battle weary. He said something to me that went along these lines "Sonny, karma is F****d, you are f****d, the b******d's allways win" Robbo
ahhh the 360ch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAMn3BJvtcI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksHwHnPMJh0&feature=related