As part of the Trials community of Australia's commitment to the competitors and the FIM to provide a professional and controlled event on the 26th and 27th of May, Keith Jobson in his capacity as Clerk of the Course and Colin Scott as event coordinator recently attended two seminars conducted by the FIM in Geneva.
These seminars were presented to both Clerks of the Course and Organisers of championships events for 2012 by the President of CTR, David Willoughby, assisted by CTR Secretariat Alex Goldenberg and translators.
The first of these was the Organisers meeting where all the organisers of Trials World Championship events for 2012 met to discuss all aspects of running an event and their commitment to providing all the tools required by the Clerk of Course to run the event without having to deal with logistical issues.
The revised organisers work book for 2012 was discussed in detail highlighting:
- - Section setting
- - Rider’s conduct
- - Homologation reports
- - Environmental requirements
- - Documentation
- - Role and powers of the observer
- - Officials
- - Press / Media
- - New rules 2012
- - Operation of the FIM Jury
The seminar on Sunday the 19th Feb was specifically focused on the Clerk of Course and dealt in more detail aspects of the role and powers which can be exercised during the event. It also covered aspects of the Organisers workbook as this position requires the C of C to ensure that every aspect has been covered prior to the event. The most valuable part of this seminar was the open discussions of possible scenarios that may arise and with the wealth of knowledge shared by the delegates; a number of lively discussions were had.
At first it seemed that attending a couple of meetings in Switzerland to discuss operational matters was an extravagance, however there was much value to our event in meeting key people, from within both the FIM and other nations, all of whom have one goal, that is to improve trials and increase its exposure to the world.
It was encouraging to be greeted into the World Championship trials scene by all delegates who are collectively very excited that Australia is now in the loop, particularly Thierry Michaud from the French Federation, Josep Punti Tigel from Andorra, Giulio Mauri from the Italian Federation, Geraldo Coelho from Brazil and Mick Wren from the UK.
We met with Vito Ippolito the President of the FIM and Ignacio Verneda the Executive Director of Sport both of whom were extremely pleased that Australia has applied to host a world round and quite enthusiastically indicated that the FIM is looking forward to future World Championships in Australia.
The geographical location of Australia presents challenges for the competitors and initially caused some concerns for the teams, however, with the next two rounds being held in Japan the weekend after Australia’s rounds, the logistical challenges become far more favourable. The FIM rightly defend their stance that as this is a world championship it should include events promoted by countries outside Europe.
Without the outstanding support of our Australian trials motorcycle importers this event would be difficult to stage as it is incumbent on them to provide full support for all the international competitors and in many cases bikes for competitors and minders. This commitment by them is largely unrecognised by the general spectator public and our ongoing support for their efforts will encourage them to continue their involvement in future events.
Also the support of the manufacturers to the events outside Europe is paramount to the ongoing success of the world championships and equally important to the support of their importers around the world. As organisers we consider this event, from a marketing point of view, will provide enormous exposure to potential new purchasers of trials motorcycles in this country and we are committed as event organisers to provide support to them wherever possible.
This event marks the beginning of a new era in our sport in Australia and together with our event partners, sponsors, the FIM and MA we look forward to a successful championship and witness a huge injection of interest in Australia to Moto Trials.
Col Scott, Coordinator.
Keith Jobson, Clerk of Course.