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The End of CIK In OZ ?

The re-introduction of CIK in 2008 lacks the necessary support to get off the ground and it’s only cost karters $160,000 to find out. Ironically, that’s about the same amount of money the AKA wasted on noise measuring, ironically again, after failing to listen to some sound advice. (pun intended)

In August 2007, the National Karting Council directed that a minimum 25 karts had to be on the grid to justify the AKA buying the engines.  There was, but it waned and the advice given to the NKC on the 16th January by the experts was the series was no longer viable and an alternative suggestion was made.

This was covered up, then completely ignored by the NKC and the Secretariat when it was uncovered, and has now come  full circle . The karters who wear the cost of this are now simply saying, why didn’t they just listen to the experts they appointed for that very purpose ? Instead, they handed over to their “front men’ who were going to ‘fix it all’ and who have completely destroyed what should have been a great thing . So they can pay for it.!

Its typical of this organisation - someone comes up with a good plan, gets good experienced people to join a team who then draft in the people with the skills to run the show and create, market and sell it as a product. It’s called best management practice but  then there’s the odd self styled genius or popularity covet outside of this expert group who jumps to the industry tune and wants to make demands and control the experts who,  of course, just walk away to help some other body who understand major events need major planners.

Or some other champion of the industry complains that someone who was trying to undermine the show got caught out lying badly.  Um, you’re upset because in the proposed control CIK, you won’t make money from the karters on engine sales, engine maintenance and tyres, so don’t want to play ?  OK, but go away and leave us who want to play get on with it.  But no, the industry tail wags the karting dog, so call on the big men at the front to push the barrow that ‘everyone’ is being treated badly. No worry that you profit from the sport so you must be right, never mind that without the sport, you wouldn’t exist.

It’s gotta stop.  If you appoint a team with the skills to cover all aspects of a project and they do it professionally, when they say stop – regroup -  move to plan B, don’t you need a really good reason not to take the advice ?   Like a $160,000 reason ? 

But it gets worse – ignoring the advice and going ahead without authority to make a $160K purchase to ensure CIK must happen because product has been purchased just puts more pressure on an already weak decision making body, (and after their January effort, you can’t argue they aren’t weak) and this was exploited when they were steamrolled again on 18th February, instead of going back to their own expert’s advice and pulling the pin. After the president proceeded to remove the hold placed on the engines in early December, without NKC consent, he exceeded his authority, but the NKC did nothing except to say we’ll get the ‘front men’ on it, and then dilute the required threshold  to  11 teams.  Why didn’t they cancel the order then ?  They should have shelved it until after 30^th April when numbers were known.           

As the old saying goes, the captain goes down with the ship but in this case, the bosun,  coxswain and the rest of bridge must go with him.   Each delegate to the NKC from each state and all of the Secretariat must resign or be removed for this $160,000 disaster caused simply by ignoring a pretty credentialed committee, purpose built to give the NKC specialist advice and who advised the NKC the series wasn’t viable in 2008 back in January when the AKA weren’t liable to pay for the engines.  President Erdmann withheld that advice from the NKC and blustered through the January NKC meeting ducking the IKC truth here and weaving around the IKC advice there.  He had the NKC direct the IKC to meet the teams but the IKC already had the answer because from early on, the IKC had a member directly appointed as teams liasion. The IKC met on 28 December and accepted his advice and his reasoning, but to be sure, then  polled the teams. Same result. Not good enough for some though who started telling the IKC what to do.  The President and his offsiders met the teams, including RV Engines/Birel. He made it sound as if it was going to be alright if they just carried on. But they still couldn’t get 12 over the line yet they sold that to the NKC contrary to advice from experts.

But the fact is, with all the rope the NKC have given, he and his offsiders have come up with what I believe is 5 at best and the show is over.   He and his mates took over from a dedicated IKC and they right royally stuffed up as they bumbled along without a plan.  They changed dates and places, they ignored completely the 23rd June 2007 NKC direction to follow the plan the previous IKC team  put up to use the series as a marketing tool, and promote the sport where you’re most likely to get new customers: non metro clubs. The president and his ‘front men’ dismantled entirely the necessity to get races styled as community events etc. so the media and community interest was never even begun, hence the comments of a number of formerly interested teams that the contracts were all one sided. They even told others they had 10 signed contracts.  It was all Nonsense.

Where did the link to international karting go ?  Where had pitching this class as the ultimate domestic class gone ?  It was supposed to drag other classes up to it and then they went to bury it in a state title meeting or two which was the very opposite.   Where were the BAM releases,? the team updates,?  the system to roll out the marketing and promotion plan and get the teams and their drivers into community faces ?

Removing front brakes did it’s own damage;  some people want it proper CIK rules or why bother, it was clearly explained that CIK rules were to be in place , again their industry mates wanted something else and they cow tailed to them,  but having done so, they proved the resistance to front brakes was bullshit , because no one else clambered back on board - matter of fact more left as a result.

The matter of purchasing 160K of equipment without authority requires action being taken , but if the NKC can be conned into believing something else then they wont have the courage to do anything about this either . And that means all of them must go too. They ignored their own experts, they ignored their own directions, they allowed the bar to be dropped and they failed to halt the engine order on 18 Feb until the minimum numbers criteria had been satisfied. No one on the NKC has any idea of what the top level is about and they don’t understand why after 100 competitors were prepared to shell out at least $30,000 a year in 2000, then  nosedived to a handful in just 5 years because the status, promotion and links to international kartng and other motorsport were removed.  Our leaders have stuffed CIK further, karting with it, and prejudiced enormously the chances of anyone resurrecting CIK in the near future and proved beyond doubt their inability to direct the AKA.

Once they’re gone, lets get moving again.  We have 40 CIK engines. We know there’s not enough seniors who want to attempt the step up so let’s see how many aspiring Courtney’s, Whincup’s, Winterbottoms etc.  who all cut their teeth in junior CIK, are out there just champing at the bit for the opportunity to become an international karter and motor racer.