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A letter from Andrew Papadopoulos - 9 April
To all Motorsport Australia members and our broader motorsport community,
I thought I would take the opportunity to write to you all again to provide you with a further update on Motorsport Australia’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. You will have seen a number of communication pieces from us - we simply want to make sure that you are being provided with the latest information as it comes to hand.
As you may have already seen, this pandemic has forced a major change to our day-to-day operations, with every member of staff, including our CEO and senior management, accepting significant pay reductions to ensure the long term financial sustainability of the organisation. Since our staff were told of these changes, their response has been remarkable, highlighting their passion for the service our organisation provides as the peak body for motorsport in this country. All staff have accepted these changes and are going above and beyond to ensure they remain at your disposal for any queries you may have.
These are unprecedented times, but we know that we will get through this and come out the other side in a strong position, ready to tackle what will be a busy end to 2020.
Today, I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to every single one of our frontline healthcare workers for their dedication and service on behalf of everyone at Motorsport Australia and our members and licence holders.
I’m sure it is no surprise to many of you that a large number of those healthcare professionals are heavily involved in motorsport both on and off the track, and play a vital role in our own safety when racing, such as those from Team Medical Australia, as well as many other officials and competitors who are working so very hard in their medical duties.
Right now, these members of the motorsport family are literally saving lives and for that we are eternally grateful.
In the coming days and weeks, we will publish the first of many stories we hope to share about those members of our motorsport family who are helping those who are sick and suffering from the horrible effects of this virus. Once motorsport returns, we will make sure we use the various events across all disciplines to recognise all healthcare workers for their efforts during this pandemic.
Of course, we’ve also seen the amazing work of others in motorsport, such as Supercars’ own Erebus Motorsport and Triple Eight Race Engineering who used their skills and creative engineering to provide medical equipment to help support our community and hospitals during this pandemic with much-needed, life-saving equipment.
In closing, I’d like to remind everyone to follow the advice of your respective governments around the country and ensure that you are staying home wherever possible. The motorsport community has certainly made the most of online racing through various Esports events, and this will no doubt encourage more people to get a taste for motorsport, which will have a positive impact once we can get back on track.
If you do happen to be on the roads, please ensure you stay safe and follow the FIA’s Golden Rules for road safety. The last thing anybody needs during this time is to be dealing with unnecessary road related trauma.
Together we will get through this.
Look after one another and stay safe.
Regards,
Andrew Papadopoulos
Motorsport Australia President