Karting Australia has issued an advisory bulletin to its clubs concerning the national fuel supply.
CEO Kelvin O’Reilly outlined two steps that clubs should now be taking:
- Recommendation that rules around control fuel should not be applied to race meetings – organisers should not require fuel to be purchased from a single service station or a single bowser. “In the prevailing conditions, the optics of several hundred karters descending on a single service station (probably in a rural area) and in some instances, a single bowser to fill a fuel container with petrol would not be a great image nor would it be endearing to the local community” O’Reilly wrote.
- Urging event organisers to adopt a realistic and sensible approach to the refund of entry fees paid by people who have entered an event some distance away, but due to these circumstances outside their control, have elected to not participate. “There is a growing concern in the broader community… that while they may be able to get to an event, there is no certainty they will be able to obtain enough fuel to get home” O’Reilly added. Particularly for people driving diesel powered vehicles, these “would seem to be increasingly reasonable concerns.”
Karting Australia plans to issue regular updates of critical matters that could impact karting competitions before any formal steps are taken to reduce disruption.
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“Currently there are NO RESTRICTIONS imposed by any Australian government (Federal or State) that
are in place” the KA bulletin continued.
“The major issues now, relate to price and in some areas – availability of fuel. The practical risks for karting are clear:
- higher travel costs for competitors, crews and officials
- patchy fuel availability, particularly in regional areas
- delays in fuel replenishment at some service stations
- increased air travel costs and possible disruption to some flights
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