Well another year is done and dusted, and I thought I might get in a bit early, before the Christmas madness, and give a good old Presidents wrap up
First of all I want to thank everyone who has helped the club in any way this year. Be it the committee, club members, racers, sponsors, volunteers, Moreton Bay Regional Council, the other clubs in the James Drysdale Reserve and just anyone who has had any involvement whatsoever, no matter how big or small. Without people such as yourselves there is no club, and we wouldn’t be able to continue to provide a fantastic venue to participate in our sport So thank you again to everyone.
It has been quite a big year for the club, as well as racing in Qld generally. With a brand new ground up rebuild track, with all new clay; the inaugural South East Qld Inter-Club series; the Qld State Titles; two Christmas cup events (beginning of year and end of year) and finally achieving a grant for our new permanent drivers stand…and all of this is in between having lost about half of our scheduled race meets due to bad weather, it has certainly been an interesting and exciting year.
I for one am very proud of what we have achieved as a club this year. The new clay has been an interesting learning curve, I feel we learn something new about it every time we work with it, but it has definitely been an asset to the club. The clay especially came into its own for the Qld State Titles, holding up fantastically across the 3 day event providing us with excellent grip and a very consistent surface. The event was a major success as a result of the fantastic track and all the hard work put in by our dedicated team of volunteers. I believe this event helped to put our club back on the map as a major player in R/C racing in Australia, the fact that we are holding round 2 of the Australian National Series in 2016 attests to that.
The SE Qld Inter-Club series was a fantastic series, and we are happy to have taken part in it. We are excited for next years series, and are believing for big things for the series, be sure to keep an eye out for when it starts up again in 2016.
One of the most exciting achievements for the year has been the grant approval for our all new, permanent drivers stand. It has been a long time coming, with the current committee and many committees past working toward this eventual goal. Hopefully this project will be getting under way sometime early in the new year. Obviously we will keep everyone posted as to what is happening, and hope to see lots of helping hands to make this happen..there will be plenty of work to do in preparation for the new stand, so keep an eye out for the call to arms.
So obviously moving on into 2016 we have an even bigger year ahead of us again, the new drivers stand will be the first. We also have a grant application in for some permanent lighting, and if this goes ahead you’ll be seeing a lot more night racing, and some awesome events and weekday practices, so fingers crossed for that one
As mentioned earlier, we also have round 2 of the new AARCMCC Australian National Series, to be held in June. This is going to be a whopper, with uncapped entries and the possibility of the Worlds being held here in Australia in 2018, everybody is going to want to be a part of it. So keep your eyes open for news about that event, and be sure to get your entries in as soon as you can. As always we will be needing help from you guys to help make it all happen.
We will also be taking part in the SE Qld Inter-Club series again next year, which has a few changes from this year that should make it even more exciting, so look forward to that.
I would also like to take this opportunity to let everyone know that I will be taking a step back from the Presidential and race control positions next year. With 3 young children now, I plan to spend a bit more time with family, and a bit less time stressing about club matters. I still plan on being an active member of the club, I will definitely need my racing fix :P, and might even do a bit more inter club travelling.
Another committee member taking a step back is Dave Nicholson as treasurer, he will be concentrating on his on-road racing. Both of us will be remaining in these positions until the AGM which is likely to be held in early February. Rest assured we are still here as active committee members. This gives you guys plenty of time to think about becoming part of the committee to help grow this amazing club. As always, the club can’t be run without the volunteered time of those who join the committee. The more that is put into the club, the better it will be, so please keep it on your mind, and consider joining the team. Remember there are even minor positions that can be taken, so any help at all you can give is always welcome. Feel free to ask any of the current committee about what you can do to help. I am very happy to say that Ty Beale will be remaining on the committee for 2016, he is an absolute asset to the club and I reckon he does more for the club than I do anyway, so that is definitely good news
Anyway, as to what will be happening in the club during the next few weeks: from around the 28th/29th we will be having some working bees for a few days to get the track all cleaned up, break down the jungle of grass and weeds that have sprung up, and prepare the track for use again. There will also be practice at this time, all details will be confirmed closer to the time, so please keep watch here for more info.
A calendar for the 2016 racing season should hopefully be on the website in the near future. At the moment we are set to start back on the 10th January, although both January and February are subject to changes depending on when the council wants to start on the new drivers stand. We will be sure to keep you posted of the details as we know them.
But for now I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and (if we don’t see you sooner) a fantastically Happy New Year. I hope you all get some awesome R/C gear from your families (or for yourselves ).
If you are travelling please keep safe and enjoy the holidays. I look forward to seeing you all back next year.
Thank you to each and every one of you for a great year, bring on the next one.
Cheers
Dave England
President
Pine Hills Dirt Racing
