With only 227 entries received for this years National Titles... the people have voted with their feet. Karting in Australia officially sucks. Good job AKA Inc. Be sure to shut the door on your way out Mr Denton.
**This has been locked by Fongy - purely on the basis that this is tech week and we don't want to take away from that. Pete I'll be having words with you today**
Comments12
i think ur wrong pete,theres a couple of things against this years nationals,u have pro tour which has its own show and a very good show ,u hav cik then u have the location ,i think next year at newcastle the numbers will be a lot higher,the sport is getting splintered and not everybody can afford to race more than one class,
Boring! This all sounds familiar to me. Whinge whinge Denton whinge.
Pete just like global warming there are i'm sure many factors at play, which you always seem to neglect. Rather than respond however and have you show complete ignorance for what I have to say, I will leave you with this... perhaps you should rename this thread.... TECH WEEK: How to fight injustice like Peter Edgar . But I think most people have already figured this out anyway... You could put up some photos of yourself at work, might peak a little bit of interest. Bored now... thanks Pete. Tired of being a... what am I again... oh yeah a troll? Oops.
Its ok Pete, the other clowns in the rodeo should jump out and defend you shortly.
nnett on March 19, 2013 at 22:50
inb4 delete
Maybe you two should read Cols Tech Week thread.
Now, as part of tech week we will also be taking one full week off from political drama. We are going to have one week with no shit-slinging, no accusations, no fighting, nothing of the sort. I will have the delete button set to a hair trigger and anything even vaguely resembling drama is going to get blasted into the ether in record time. As a result, you might want to make sure you've said your piece on the religion and "pete and col" threads prior to Monday, because they're almost certainly going to get locked!
Dear Peter, whilst the GFC might be over, there are plenty of families across this nation who're doing it harder than they were a few years ago. Others have already covered the alternative explanations for the reduction in numbers.
Meanwhile, you're absent from tech week!
PLEASE do a tech article Pete, for the good of the kart book community.
Here it is, the freshly unlocked Nationals entry thread.
Yes, the entries for the nationals are disappointingly low.
No, I won't be reading any commentary on the subject from the one selfish jerk who thought he was bigger than Tech Week.
Knock yourself out, Pete.
Yes they are disappointing, but I will offer an opinion and before I do I will make it CLEAR its NOT a shot at the club involved, in fact I feel sorry for the club somewhat as all their hard work they have done wont be rewarded as it culd have been.
GFC has been mentioned and its still effecting Australia, despite what many say its over, its not quite. Peolle have been given a wake up call that DEBT is bad and is WORSE if you loose your job. So many have pulled their horns in and have focussed on the more vital stuff, luxuries and sport are usually the first to go. How has the GFC effected karting? What I have noticed, but have known about for many years as being relevant, is that drivers get to a stage where their budget dictates whaat/where they race, and what criteria meeting offer that will determine where they spend their hard earned. I think karters are not racing less but are more strategic in where they race. do I race with the same half dozen at a club day or do I chase bigger meetings [ ie drop club level]?
The Nationals now face direct competition, from CIK and Protour, both events offer National plates and attract the SAME type of driver, BUT these type of drivers CAN'T do it all. so I travel once to the otherside of the country and race once, or do I do the series [ cik,Protour] and race the same quality drivers that would usually be at the nationals, race at varying venues, LESS classes to takeup track time [ heaps of racing ] promoted well, and have a green plate anyway on offer?
Its not a question of SA being too far away, Darwin was well attened and given its extreme distance, distance cannot be a real factor, as SA is close to Viv and NSW two of the biggest states.
AKA failing to see the writing on the wall and adjusting strategies to accomodate the possibility of numbers dropping. Failing to keep costs down, for club and karters has seen the wallet fianlly influence numbers. There is a risk that soe future clubs may NOT want a National Title do to the no nett profit to be gained, its very very expensive to run a title these days. Plenty of hosting clubs who have borrowed money to improove facilities and track hoping to recoup the loan back in the title event are left still with a big debt, to pay. and we all know once the meeting is over the numbers disappear quickly back to regular. What can the AKA do? maybe look at their permit fees, the travelling circus that seems to hang onto the event? assist the club financially with promotion etc. Maybe look at why they didn't come? is it because of too many classes not enough tracktime to justify the expense or time? do they split nationals in two to address lack of track time as they appear to not take the hard decison of removing classes? do they look at their fees and charges and see if there is any room for movement with the aim of attracting karters not pumping up their bank account?
Maybe top level karting is ust gettig TOO expensive????
But who do you ask why they didn't go??? as they are the ones with the answers, my bet is costs, then value for money [ AKA problem they refuse to address], too much time off work/school next.
anyone done a study of where competitors have come from ie how many local, how many SA and other states answer maybe there as well?
whoever is holding 2014 better start listening and working and hope this is a blip?
Maybe Pete, people stop buy for the road accident value and not the written content ?
Let me say that I and many other went to the nationals last year ONLY because there was a state title the week before.
Racing Costs and people are tightening their belts.
Personally, nothing the AKA admin do affects my racing.
RegardsDave
at the risk of digressing Dave but I find your last sentence amazing??? you really think that??? they set the fees for a start, and as you say costs are a factor, make the costs cheaper and more [you] will race, and the AKA can control SOME of the costs.
And the GFC hit 5 years ago the nats in those 5 years haven't showed a big drop, club level stuff did aand still does suffer from it, maybe its a very delayed reaction???David Price said:
Maybe Pete, people stop buy for the road accident value and not the written content ?
Let me say that I and many other went to the nationals last year ONLY because there was a state title the week before.
Racing Costs and people are tightening their belts.
Personally, nothing the AKA admin do affects my racing.
RegardsDave