Confidence is key, but uncertainty prevails as we head into a busy month of domestic motorsport. How September unfolds may very much determine how the rest of our summer of motorsport will take place.
The current ‘second wave’ of Covid-19 affecting the Auckland region has created uncertainty across the nation and the end of August brought with it four cancellations of motorsport events between September and February. Three other events are programmed for September which must leave organisers and participants very nervous about whether they will go ahead, while others will be observing how the situation unfolds. This could well determine whether all stakeholders are confident to plan for a summer of racing.
Put your best foot forward, they used to say at school and home, and go with confidence into new situations and experiences that childhood brought with it. Have a bad experience, fall off your bike or out of favour and uncertainty always dented your confidence. Your footing and determination were never quite as sure, but life experiences taught that confidence can and will come back.
Speed Works had no choice but to cancel their Hampton Downs September meeting due to Government Covid-19 2.5 Alert Level restrictions limiting Auckland groups that travel outside of the region to a maximum of 10 people. Both the Best Bars Toyota 86 and the RYCO 24•7 V8 Utes Championships’ finales were to take place next weekend.
The iconic Ashley Forest Rallysprint (19 September) has been cancelled as organisers realise the difficulties in travelling for North Island competitors plus the uncertainty of a large gathering of people at the hillclimb in North Canterbury.
Recently we have seen the postponement of Targa NZ that would have taken place over the election weekend that had been moved from its previous September date to 17 October. Targa organisers have been pragmatic realising that the closure of public roads on election day was unlikely to take place.
Now we have the annual Leadfoot Festival that takes place in February, cancelled by organisers.
Both the South and North Island Endurance Series have their opening rounds in September. Teretonga Park, Invercargill, will host the first of three South Island rounds on Saturday 12 September. A week later Hampton Downs in the north Waikato hosts the first of two North Island enduros’. The very popular South Canterbury Rally is set to take place 26 September.
With the country starting to head to lower Alert Levels, it appears that these three events will go ahead, albeit with restrictions on bubbles, movements, wearing of masks and so on. However, we only need another small dose of uncertainty for any of them to be cancelled.
Organisers of other events that are usually planned for the rest of the summer will undoubtedly be very nervous. Top of the list will be the Castrol Toyota Racing Series. Toyota GAZOO Racing New Zealand released a 2021 racing calendar before the current spike in the community transmission of the coronavirus. We now await a decision on whether they can confidently proceed with the series and importantly being able to bring into the country international drivers. Their decision may be a determining factor in how the rest of the summer may unfold.
Do you commit manpower (much of which is voluntary) resources and finances while uncertainty is in the air? Is it better to be cautious, play save and, as they say, kick for touch and not take too much of a risk?
Whether we are confident or uncertain, we await and see how September unfolds.
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