ANDRA would like to confirm that the Spring Nationals scheduled at AIR will not proceed in 2015.
The previous promotor Racing Onn Promotions has made a number of unreasonable demands and has continued to change conditions that we had previously all agreed to. The calendar of racing events is taken very seriously by ANDRA as members plan a long time in advance for travel, transport and leave for crew members. The situation had been going on for too long and had to be brought to an end for the sake of the sport’s stability in SA. Consequently, after months of negotiations we have been unable to reach a satisfactory resolution with Rino D’Alfonsio, of Racing Onn Promotions and will regrettably be cancelling this year’s Spring Nationals.
“The delays have been extremely frustrating, we have made the difficult decision to replace the current promoter to ensure the future stability of Drag Racing in South Australia,” stated Michael Fotheringham, ANDRA Chairman. “ANDRA has provided a number of concessions and time lines which unfortunately did not provide a satisfactory result for the racers or any other party”.
“With a number of regional tracks operating and the future development of the Tailem Bend site, drag racing in SA has certainly got a healthy outlook,” he said.
“It’s of the utmost importance to ANDRA that the long-term security of all tracks in SA and other states is secured.”
Further discussions revolved around leasing the existing equipment, however, those discussions were also unsuccessful. As a result of this decision, AIR will be taking a short break from Drag Racing and will use the time to complete remedial works which will ultimately improve the venue.
ANDRA acknowledges the inconvenience caused by this decision however we feel it’s important that we get this right even if it means a short disruption. As far as the future goes, AIR will produce a calendar with many more events, a local championship and regular off street events. This will be in addition to the National event calendar and we thank AIR for their continued support of Drag Racing.
Finally ANDRA would like to thank Rino, Kirsty and Racing Onn for all their support in the past and we wish them well for the future.
