Annual General Meeting of SAHRA held on 18 February 2013

The attendance register was sent around and the following members were present at the meeting:

• J du Plessis (Chairman)
• B Coetzer
• L Mackenzie
• G Aucamp
• K Delport
• T Illman
• S Coetzer

Apologies by members:

• K Clark – proxy held by J du Plessis
• T Ball
• H Joubert
• A MacKenzie
• S van Heerden

1. The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting.  According to the constitution due notice was given for the Annual General Meeting.  The chair confirms that at least 25% of paid up members must attend the meeting to establish a quorum.  It was confirmed that the meeting may proceed with the number of members present.
2. An appeal was made to the members to inform other older members and new members of the SAHRA club, to join and be part.  All suggestions with contact details must be forwarded to the club secretary, Barbara Coetzer.
3. Proposals were made for new committee members for SAHRA for 2013.  The following members were elected:Jeremy du Plessis                      Chairman and Treasurer
   Keith Delport                           Vice Chairman
   Barbara Coetzer                       Secretary
   Sarel Coetzer                           Liaison Officer
   Schalk van Heerden                  Public Relations Officer
   John Ogden                              Clerk of the Course(Non-executive Committee Member)
   Terry Illman                              Assistant Public Relations Officer
   Gerhard Aucamp                      Committee Member
   Les Mackenzie             Committee Member
4. A request for more regular meetings of the club was discussed.  Rallyesport would like to incorporate with SAHRA.  A need for better communication and liaisons with other clubs and forums was also put to the table.  SAHRA needs to source sponsorship for the SAHRA Rally in June.  SAHRA must also reach out to new and young drivers to join the club and become active members.
5. The Chairman presented the financial statement for the 2012 financial year and a loss of R6 423.35 was realized.  Problems regarding the bank account and the signatories of the account were also discussed.  Existing committee members will try to resolve the problem by obtaining the necessary resignations of previous committee members and register the new signatories for the account as soon as possible.The members approved the financial statements.  Acceptance was proposed by Les Mackenzie and seconded by Gerhard Aucamp.
6. The calendar for the Northern Regions stays the same.  To summarize again please see point 8.
7. Calendar proposal for 201316 March 2013 – Compulsory All

6 April 2013 – SCC Eastrand
4 May 2013 – Rallyesport
29 June 2013 – SAHRA
3 August 2013 – HMC
7 September 2013 – SAM
2 November 2013 – SCC PTA

The PMC Rally Sprint on 16 March will count towards NR and SAHRA Championships.  All rally principles will be followed.  No super specials will be included.

1. Northern Regions had a proposal from the National Rally Commission for taking over control of the NR Club Championship.  This notion is not feasible and all the clubs declined the request.
2. A request to get Bidvest as a sponsor was put to the meeting.  Committee to do a proposal as soon as possible to obtain sponsorship for SAHRA rally.
3. Prize giving ceremony for 2012 winners will take place at the SAHRA Rally in June 2013.

South African Historic Rallying Association is alive and well!

The main features discussed during  the SAHRA meeting held on 17 January 2013 at the Swiss Country Club, Midrand.

1. 16 SAHRA members attended the meeting and confirmed their membership for 2013.
2. On 16 March 2013 a compulsory registration day for all Northern Region rally cars will be held at Rallystar.  The reason for this is to sort out classes with full scrutineering to uphold the MSA Safety Standards.  This day will also help sort out the classes to ensure that the cars are entered in the right class.  A list of faults will be given to the competitor to enable him/her to correct them before the next event.  This event will form part of the championship as the PMC regional.
3. Leon Botha will do all Pace Notes for this year, which will cost R550 per set.  A DVD will also be available at R150.  With this cost increase in mind, NR has reduced the maximum entry fee from R800 to R650 per event.
4. There will be slight changes in the regulations.  SAHRA has created an Open Class for S6 vehicles as Class S6 will no longer score points in the NR Championship.  Four-wheel drive vehicles, which comply, will now be able to compete in the Open Class.  The competitor must be a member of SAHRA to comply.

   Concerns have been raised about the entrant numbers.  Clubs must at least have on average 10 entries per event to qualify for NR Championship status.  At this stage an average of 8 entries for SAHRA classes has been received over the past 2 years.

5. Proposed Calendar for 2013
   16 March 2013 – Compulsory registration/PMC regional
   6 April 2013 – SCC East Rand
   4 May 2013 – Rally sport
   29 June 2013 – SAHRA
   3 August 2013 – HMC
   7 September 2013 – SAM
   2 November 2013 – SCC PTA

   No All Tar will be held; instead there will be a rally with gravel stages.

   A new points system has been proposed for this year for the NR Championship.  For each entrant that has paid the entrance fee, physically starts and does not finish due to failure in stages, 3 points will be allocated towards championship points.  This compensates for zero points allocated to the entrant when a no finish result is obtained.

6. An urgent call is made to members to get sponsors for the club.  Members can also present ideas to obtain sponsors.  The cost to organise a regional rally events was approximately R50 000 in 2012. This unfortunately escalates each year and a shortfall of the sponsorship that was raised was carried by the various people that were the chairpersons at the time. This is however a situation that can no longer be supported and  members are urged to assist the committee in finding sponsors or present ideas that will  generate the necessary funding to run the regional event.

For our own regional event a new format to the SAHRA Rally will be used.  Instead of an all night rally, a day/night combination will be used.  A recce run will again be a feature of the SAHRA regional event.