Winton Historic Meeting Article

[hml2777]

from: Ridley Reflections with thanks

Ridley Reflections
Written by Bob Ridley
Monday, 17 October 2005


Recent involvement at the 2005 Australian Historic Motor Racing Festival at the Winton Motor Raceway near Benalla was a pleasant change to the normal circuit racing experiences.

In many respects, CAMS could learn much from the organizers of this (and similar events conducted elsewhere in Australia) race meeting, where the focus was to provide a relaxed and enjoyable couple of days of well conducted motor SPORT.

Notwithstanding the emphasis on quintessential safety issues, the meeting was conducted for the benefit of the participants without any outward and visible sign of a draconian attitude being demonstrated by the organizers or officials of the meeting.

No doubt there were aspects which needed to be addressed over the weekend but they were discreetly dealt with and every one concerned handled these aspects with friendly professionalism.

This year, someone forgot to hang a sign on the entrance gate which in the past described the event as a "CAMS free day - Motor Racing like it used to be" which I thought was a subtle and appropriate comment on the attitude of the governing body toward its backbone membership - the club level competitor.

Like a lot of circuits around the Nation, Winton is beginning to take on the appearance of being tired, especially around the pit and paddock areas. The facilities generally are in need of an update but having said that, the circuit itself was very well presented.

The organizers provided a range of activities over and above the actual racing which held the interest and involvement of those in attendance.


These ranged from amusement facilities for children to chainsaw carving demonstrations, vintage tractor load pulling competitions and wait for it... an invitation to anyone there to drive around the circuit for half an hour in their private vehicles. Can you imagine a CAMS type meeting allowing that?


It provided the opportunity for those who have perhaps never driven on a race circuit to gain some insight as to what it is like whilst remaining within the bounds of sensibility and this occasion was enjoyed and appreciated by those who participated.


From heavy prime movers to vintage cars, the procession of a wide variety of vehicles was very interesting. The bloke on the penny farthing bicycle probably completed three or four laps without incident which most thought was much to his credit and testimony to his fitness.


The many static displays of very expensive and heritage race cars together with the various trade outlets all added to the enjoyment and atmosphere of the weekend.


Racing for a plethora of categories catered well for all concerned with practice and qualifying being conducted on Saturday along with at least one race for each class.


Sunday allowed for two or three races, generally over a five to twelve lap distance, which fulfilled and satisfied the expectations of the entrants.


Whilst the emphasis was on Historic race cars, this should not be misinterpreted to mean slow old "puss buckets" which would circulate every five minutes.


Some of these cars are quicker than the current V8 super taxis notwithstanding that most are at least twenty years old.


The likes of McLaren and Matich sports cars, Ralt RT4's, Brabhams and such like were a joy to behold and were driven with significant skill and finesse as were most of the older Formula Fords, Group M and O and Formula Junior cars.


All were beautifully presented, many in their original livery of bygone teams, and were subjected to a great deal of scrutiny and interest by those who meandered amongst them during the weekend.


Perhaps the most exciting racing came from the Formula Fords along with the other open wheelers.


A great but friendly tussle between Phil Chester in his 1989 Swift and Brian Sampson in his 1975 Lola T342 was indeed a very good race with the both cars being equal in performance resulting in close racing in each event.


Lap times of 1min 34 sec. are very respectable around Winton and these were regularly achieved by the Swift, Van Diemens and Brabham BT 18.


Phil Chester's (steadily improving) driving kept "Sambo" out of it for many laps until the decades of experience (including a Bathurst win many years ago) came to the fore and Brian executed a clever manoeuvre at the end of pit straight.


This type and style of racing was typical of the entire weekend and along with the social involvement away from the circuit, enhanced the enjoyment of motor racing as it used to be.


At dinner on Sunday night in Benalla, many competitors and enthusiasts were eager to expound their praise for the organizers and the manner in which the race meeting had been conducted. The reflections of those involved again highlighted the collective wisdom of the many present who have been involved with the sport for many, many years and it would auger well for CAMS to take note of the differences between styles and outcomes.

[BFC]

and not a moneytary penalty all weekend unlike CAMS meetings AASA having fun

[marcus]

Please do not post full artciles. it is against copyright laws

[Kerri]

Originally Posted by marcus

Please do not post full artciles. it is against copyright laws

Hypothetically - What if a category e-mails an article too me & asks me to post it on a forum or forums & that article has not been posted on a website anywhere else?

[storyline]

This applies to ALL media releases - in this instance the heading implied he had permission from the author - so what are the guideline when this happens (the author of the article gives permission)?

[Matthew Ronke]

They ping you two points. I was pinged 2 points last week for breach of copy write last week. This being an open discussion forum I find it difficult that anyone can win a copy write case, its a bit like some one putting an article out of a news paper on a staff notice board. I would be interested to see if there are any case precedents about this issue.

[Uncle Cranker]

Luck you are at 2 Matt.
i've got 4 on the board for saying nasty things a couple of weeks ago. (i did deserve them, after I thought about it a bit....)

[storyline]

Not sure what the percentage is these days but it used to be 20% of an article could be quoted in any other article. However - with the permission of the copyright author ie the owner 100% can be quoted - but here's the rub - it isn't up to anyone other than the copyright owner to decide whether a copyright infringement has taken place.

Liek I said before - the implication in that post was that it was posted with the authors permission.

So - my question is this - exactly what is supposed to be provided here to indicate authors permission for posting?

(Maybe it should also be pointed out that, depending on the terms and conditions of any particular web site, even posting a link to that web site can, in fact, be a copyright violation - so how do you vet and control these issues?)

As an example - on Tuesday I received an email containig a press release from the Australian Grand Prix office - this was what was at the bottom of the message:

This e-mail message (including its attachments) is privileged and
confidential information and intended solely for the use of the addressee.
Neither the confidentiality nor any privilege in this e-mail is waived or
destroyed if transmitted other than to the addressee. This e-mail may
contain personal information and privacy should be respected at all times.
If you are not the intended recipient you must not disseminate, copy
or take any action in reliance on it and must notify us immediately by
return e-mail and delete the original message and any copies. Any views
expressed in this e-mail are the views of the individual sender, except
where specifically stated to be the views of the AGPC.

I made some legal enquiries a few months ago about this and the way the law stands if I had re-sent that post to ANYONE or posted any part of it ANYWHERE I could legally be sued under Australian Privacy laws as well as some International laws. Yet this was a media release supposedly sent out for re-distribution - but the Privacy Act here legally prevents me from telling anyone about it - so I hope you see why I am questioning this 'ruling'

[PVDA]

So how do they expect the info to be published if the press release is copyright?????????????

[Trevor]

Anyway apart from the last 7 posts, I reckon it was a great meeting too.

[storyline]

Trev- you're just jealous you didn't get involved in those 7 (they have wide implications btw...)

[marcus]

OK fair points folks , I will certainly take this up with the powers that be and have the appropriate answers for you.

I am simply here to uphold the rules of the forum and this has been what has said to us (meaning my sticky thread)

If you do have any quiries whatsoever please feel free to PM a Moderator of the appropriate forum or the admins of the site (they are away this weekend at Brands hatch Lucky sods) but they will certainly have the correct information for youon their return.

I will however close this thread as it certainly hasnt gone the way it was obviously meant too.

P.S If you feel you have been done wrong with a warning then dont sit there and stew on it , we are only a PM message away with an answer , its as simple as that really