Atlantic Region Motor Sports Inc
Rally Discipline Workshop
November 8th, 2014
Minutes taken by Sherrie Hennigar, Transcribed by Gordon Sleigh
• Meeting was called to order at 1:05pm
• Gordon welcomed all to the ARMS Rally Workshop
• Agenda Items were read through
• 2013 Minutes were read by Gordon
• No changes or corrections for the minutes were taken
• Pidge motioned to accept the minutes as read, carried
Business arising from the minutes:
• Pidge reported that notices to the RCMP are the same for all (1) events this year and were sent to the same RCMP detachment as well.
• Clarke asked if there was a standardized letter for this, there is.
• It was suggested that this letter be added to a standardized organizer checklist
• Clarke indicated that he did not make it to the 2013 CARS AGM due to weather issues and that the 2014 CARS AGM would not take place in Halifax as originally planned due to cost reasons.
Review of the 2014 Competition Year:
TSD 2014 Season Review
• Not the best year with only one regional event in Navigational rally.
• Because only one regional event was held no regional awards would be handed out.
• 2015 is looking better with Ian and Jim of ASCC planning to put on a regional rally currently scheduled for January 11th, 2015
• Need to get word out early and this January event has had good attendance in the past.
• A discussion was had about crews moving from novice to experienced
• Cindy and Clarke have been working on roads for a regional event for approximately March 7th.
• Pidge had scheduled the BAC Bluenose event for June 7th which conflicts with the Montreal F1 race, possibly impacting entries and volunteers. It was decided to move the event to June 14th if possible.
RallyCross 2014 Season Review
• Good overall season, but challenging
• 9 events scheduled with 3 cancelled due to weather and lot conditions
• Warm weather and rain caused lots of problems with soft surfaces
• Work parties were held throughout the winter to attempt to recover the lots. Need to be more careful with events in 2014-2015
• The lot at Scotia Speed World is currently in use as a storage area by Adessa. We will proabably have to use the small lot for the first events of the season.
• Pidge asked if RallyCross events can be held on closed roads. They can with full line of sight visibility but additional rules around immovable objects can be challenging
• 47 unique competitors overall for the season
• Overall Top 3 are Blue Valndaalen, Ian Pearce and Jonathan Conrad.
• There were many Organizer issues in RallyCross. There was lots of promotion to get interest but Ian and Gordon did most of the organizing.
• Next season looks better for organizing with Wayne Pitts taking the first event and oters expressing interest. A discussion took place about how organizers were provided information about their roles.
• Ron indicated he is working with Conrad Bros to possibly host a RallyCross event late in the season outside of the regular points schedule.
Performance Rally 2014 Season Review
•Another good year with 3 events
• Several incidents took place this season which were handled well
• The Lookoff Rally went well
o Multiple stage roads were used this year with less repetition
o The Conrad Brothers Quarry and exhibition rallycross event greatly added to the show
o There are always more areas for growth
o Significant improvements in stage crews. Everything worked really well this year.
o October single road event also went very well, roads were great!
o The question was asked whether there was a possibility of doing car sharing on these roads. The answer was yes but that a survey this year indicated there wasn’t interest.
Navigational Rally Discussion
• No changes to the regulations for 2015
• A discussion took place regarding organizer points and the challenges they represent to scoring, no changes were made
• Cindy will be jumping on board to do some navigational rally organizing this year with assistance from Clarke
• We did not have the organizer school planned for 2014 due to scheduling conflicts
• It was indicated that Tim Dine also has a set of roads planned for an event but needs assistance to organize
• Jim Theriault is stepping in to organize with Ian Pearce assisting
• It was decided to schedule an Organizers school in March on a decided date and not attempt to accommodate everyones schedule at once. Clarke’s Boardroom will be made available. It was suggested that this could also include some RallyCross organizers content.
Performance Rally Discussion
• A focus continues on the recruitment of teams
• Changes to the event to increase sponsorship involvement
• The 2015 event may change to a Friday/Saturday format rather than a Saturday/Sunday. Questions were asked about whether this would put recce on Thursday, it was indicated that recce would likely be Friday morning but in a much more regimented format.
• Cindy Spencer has been stepping up to take on a much greater organizer role alongside Ron
• Ron indicated desire to produce a video promotion for the event that could be shown at the AGM and other promotional events
• Changes from CARS are coming for RallyCross and RallySprint to lower the barriers to entry and create a better progression to full stage rally. These rules will be made public very soon and ratified at the CARS AGM in January
RallyCross Discussion
• We would still like to see a RallyCross regional series
• Gordon (or Cindy) to talk to Ming to see about Moncton participation
• Regional dates will be picked at the Calendar meeting. It was discussed that we should pick several events from the BAC calendar to call regional events and MMSC can add a regional event if they choose.
Proposed 2015 Rally Schedule
Performance Rally
July 19 2015
August 14-16 , 2015, Ledwidge Lookoff Rally (Regional
October 18 , 2015, Trout Lake Rally
Navigational Rally (Regional/Saturdays)
January 11, 2015, ASCC (Ian Pearce/Jim Theriault)
March 7, 2014 BAC (Cindy Spender/Clarke Paynter)
March 28, 2014 Rally Organizers School (Clarke Paynter/Cindy Spencer)
June 7, 2015 BAC Bluenose (James Partridge)
RallyCross (Club/Sundays)
November 23, 2014 – Scotia Speed World, NS
December 07, 2014 – Scotia Speed World, NS
January 04, 2015 – Scotia Speed World, NS
January 18, 2015 – Atlantic Motorsport Park, NS
February 15, 2015 – Scotia Speed World, NS
March 01, 2015 – Atlantic Motorsport Park, NS
March 15, 2015 – Scotia Speed World, NS
March 29, 2015 – Atlantic Motorsport Park, NS
No other business was put forth for discussion.
ARMS Rally Discipline Director Elections
• A discussion took place regarding the ARMS bylaw amendments to formally recognize two rally director positions. This will take place at the AGM on Sunday
• Clarke motioned to nominate Cindy Spencer as Navigational director. All in favor. Congratulations Cindy!
• A discussion took place with Clarke indicating what the new federal non-profit regulations mean to CARS and its regional representatives.
• Clarke re-offered as Performance Rally Director and was appointed by acclimation.
• Ron formally thanked Gordon for his years of representation as navigation rally director
Ron motioned to adjourn, seconded by Cathy.
