Just doing a quick poll for all our Mini motor racing competitors out there.

AASA (Australian Auto Sport Alliance) are making big inroads into the previously CAMS-only (Confederation of Australian Motorsport) areas.

AASA now have control of some of Australia's best tracks, like my beloved Lakeside, now back open after 10 years, and is also looking at affiliating itself with the 68% of Car Clubs out there that aren't affiliated with CAMS.

So, the question is, have you, or would you get a AASA license over a CAMS license if you compete, or would you prefer to align yourself with CAMS. The same question goes for CAMS sanctioned events as opposed to AASA events.

Websitesfor those who are interested are here:
http://australianautosportalliance.com/aasa/

http://www.cams.com.au/

I myself have just applied for my AASA license (Lakeside is 15mins from me)

Cheers,
Tricky

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"Not Speeding Officer..........Qualifying"

Out of curiosity, how is AASA different to CAMS?

Are they easier to deal with? Less cash involved?

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Not voting yet!

I support the idea of AASA, and competition in this form for CAMS is a very good idea, in terms of trying to reign in the rising costs.

However;
Two governing bodies? Well, in terms of a lot of competitors, this would mean two licence costs, two sets of vehicle documents (Log book / passport) so the overall costs may well rise.

The events I want to participate in are CAMS sanctioned, so my 'allegience' as such is to CAMS. Interesting situation though, I'll have to keep an eye on that one, & it sounds good from a club affiliation point of view too!

Cheers

Matt

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68 Deluxe.... it's shiny..... I like shiny!!

fence sitting - as the two tracks I use - Wakefield and Eastern Creek are one of each.

As long as the technical specs for vehicles between the two remain the same - I dont care

Fees seem cheaper, At first glance they seem less 'bureaucratic'. Claim to have some solutions for problems car clubs have had with CAMS affiliation, so quite possibly a positive step!

It will be on a track & event basis though, which looks like it may mean some venues you are a member of one, other venues / events, you need the other membership.

Not sure who wins?

M

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68 Deluxe.... it's shiny..... I like shiny!!

hmm, prices do need to be reigned in..

the higher the prices the less people competing and the more prices need to rise.

CAMS is a money making business, pure & simple.

The AASA has come from the AMSAG rally series, they are set up by the motorsport people for the motorsport people, they pulled off a huge thing by getting Targa Tasmania to run under their wing, i belive but won't be qoute that the AASA licence for Targa cost $50 & the entry fee was lower than previous years.

I hope more levels of motorsport embrace them & get away from CAMS.

Doogie

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I won Hay once, here's the pic to prove it..


Hay, it's not about the car, it's not about the venue, it's about the people that come here. Peter Dwyer, Mayor of Hay NSW.

CAMS is pure evil. They are absolute scum. There is not enough words to describe how evil these people are.

There is no actual requirement for a sanctioning body under NSW law.

Yes, it is a contentious issue....

AASA arose out of the need to reign in the spiralling costs and beauracratic red tape associated with Motorosport in this country, all instigated by CAMS.

AASA are a group of track owners who got together to form an alliance - it is not a club. Basically, they did away with a lot of the red tape and shite that you had to go through with being allowed to race under CAMS, and with that went a lot of the cost.

I have heard that in 2007, CAMS cost to run the Targa Tasmania was $750,000. AASA controlled the event this year, and the cost came down to $30,000 (dont quote me on the figures!). To this end, entry fees, insurance and other associated costs with entering and competing in the Targa were substantially reduced.

I can only see good things coming from AASA - their motto is simple - "make motorsport in this country as accessable and as cost-effective as possible". And in doing this, they have not cut corners on things like safety, traning programmes and entry level racing. In fact, these things have been enhanced because their is less beauracratic layers around them.

Licensing is more simple and less costly, the racing formats are simpler, insurance is cheaper. There are more driver training programmes available that are into training not money making. The only thing that needs to happen now, is for more clubs to get onboard, and for more track owners to join the Alliance.

My $0.02.

Cheers,
Tricky

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"Not Speeding Officer..........Qualifying"

One problem is a lot of clubs are stuck in the "must have CAMS" mentality. The committee members of a lot of clubs get power crazy and do not like anything to reduce their power. The clubs have a CAMS delegate which is usully the same person year in and year out. That person will not usually attend the CAMS meetings but will never let anyone else stand for the position. If they do attend the CAMS meetings they will never voice any concerns about motorsport. CAMS trys hard to remove any free speaking people from the position of delegate.

So, how many Ausmini people are giving CAMS money so that they can run in the khana at Hay? Why? There is no legal requirement for CAMS or AASA to get any money but the clubs will still push the CAMS barrow.

For me, the AASA has a human side and is run by people who have a passion for Motorsport, whereas CAMS seems to be a bureaucracy who don’t give a damm about grassroots motorsport.

Events run by the AASA allow competitors with CAMS licences and fuel logs books to compete, but not visa versa.

For me its all economics. I don’t have sponsorship, rich parents or a high paid job. Every cent that I spend comes from my own pocket, that’s why I’m the spay painter, body builder, engine builder, mechanic, driver and pit crew. If I didn’t I wouldn’t race, simple as that.

A solution to having two governing bodies would be for CAMS would hand over all lower levels of Motorsport to the AASA, and let CAMS look after the major categories.


I really miss not being able to run at Calder and Winton because of this, but they seem to turn a blind eye when the V8 supercars run at Winton which is a CAMS category, and until recently you got your CAMS licence at Calder Park which is owned by Bob Jane, vice president of the AASA. Go figure.

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Member VMCI #19

I will not give any more money to CAMS.

I was supposed to race a Commodore at Bathurst in 1993 (or was it 94?) and did all the necessary things to get the right grade of licence for the event (international licence + a higher grade medical + FISA visa) Everything was in order until a fortnight before the event CAMS introduced a "Superlicence" The only requirement for a Superlicence was the International licence and an extra $500 (soon upgraded to $1000)
So every driver had to shell out $500 to CAMS for no apparent reason. So 55 drivers (it may have been more like 65) times by $500 = $27500. A nice earner for CAMS.
Then I found out that some drivers that only had "P" plates were given an upgrade to an International (bypassing a National licence) by paying the $500 Superlicence fee and an extra administration fee (or bribe!).

I refused to pay the $500 on principal and withdrew from the team.

Yes Doogie - but more a case of AASA came to the AMSAG series. I Directed the Bathurst AMSAG Rally 1999-2001 and have just got back from helping out at Bathurst May 23rd when it was the first event for the AASA and AMSAG. Still don't know alot about the AASA but enough to say that it is a great opportunity to give the classic cars a run.

I was originally drawn to AMSAG having run a 2 litre Escort that really didn't fit in with the CAMS regs. In Bathurst this year there were 53 cars that was a terrific turnout and larger in size than an equivalent clubman or state round (possibly even an ARC round that struggles to get 30 cars). I have also had a CAMS National Rally license and an International FIA Rally license and the AASA/AMSAG rounds are well organised, safe and social. Puts the good feeling back into motorsport again!

regards

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Dave K.
1979 Moke Californian + 1981 'Coke' Moke

Couldn't agree more Dave, and I hope more people get onboard!

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"Not Speeding Officer..........Qualifying"

Tracks are NOT CAMS or AASA or beholden to any other organiser....they are commercial concerns that take any reasonable proposal backed up with cash and enough insurance to run with.

Wakefield hosts just about anything AFAIK...EC probably tends towards CAMS run events.

As for "As long as the technical specs for vehicles between the two remain the same - I dont care" well that opens a can of worms...say you have a "governing body" that manages a bunch of categories....and lays down the rules for those categories...twud be nice if everyone followed those rules..Yes??? but they don't

In an ideal world, there would be one set of rules and everyone would be happy...however, at the moment you have several groups making rules for their own purposes and agendas...and thats OK...cept you can't compare apples with oranges when it comes to the specifications of cars allowed on the track..lap times...championships...how would the Olympics be with several sets of rools depending on where you came from

.....oh well

The problem with all the alternatives to the "evil" CAMS that I've seen thus far is that generally speaking they have nothing up their sleeves but their arms when it comes to rools, policy and instructions on how to run race meetings.

I don't know what the answer is...but it probably aint as simple as lets just destroy CAMS and let total anarchy reign.

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"Show me the Mini!"