I think you'd call this a 'win':

Hi Nick,

Once again apologies for not getting back to you earlier in response to your email.

I have spoken with internal staff here at SMSP with regards to some of the issues you have raised.

It has been decided that we will be marking up the starting grid with a 3 x 3 x 3 configuration – this will be actioned prior to the end of the year.

Just for your information the unfortunate death of that rider wasn’t due to the grid formation he had a medical episode.

Private practice – it was an unusually big day beyond what we had expected with not only a large number of bikes attending but also the other categories. Last private practice prior to a St George race meeting we only had about 30 riders so therefore envisaged about the same.

We understand your frustration of the time lost due to oil downs, accidents etc and have been trying to come up with alternatives on how the private practice days should be run. Whether it be timed sessions or bikes for the first 2 hours (or thereabouts) then cars etc. Any thoughts and or ideas that you have would be beneficial to making these days run more effectively.

Thankyou for your feedback and we hope to make the private practice days more enjoyable for all involved in the future.




My response:

Thank you kindly for addressing my concerns. I and my fellow bike competitors really appreciate your responsiveness to the issues raised.

Not to labour the point too much; I know the rider had a heart condition and suffered a massive heart attack, but I would make the point that the heart attack was caused by the start line accident. He was on borrowed time anyway, so nobody holds anyone responsible, but there you go. These things happen in motorsport! It’s risk minimisation, not elimination. We all appreciate you making the changes to the grid markings!!

Thanks for your thoughts on PP days. I’ll give it some thought, and poll the regulars for ideas, and get back to you. In general, we love them! Smoother-running days would benefit all, cars included.

The question about the significant price rise of track days would be good to also address. I understand there’s no competition to balance pricing against costs, but a 20% increase is just a little (actually 10 times) inflation. We want to encourage track day riders, not price access to the public resource out of reach. Please let me know the thinking behind the substantial increase.

Many thanks! It really is very much appreciated.