A letter to Motorsport Australia members from President Andrew Papadopoulos
To our passionate motorsport community,
I wanted to take the opportunity to write to you in what is an unprecedented situation. Our everyday lives are changing and so too, is the way our sport is being run.
First and foremost, I hope that you, your family and your friends are all well. I encourage you to keep up to date with the latest government advice regarding COVID-19 (Coronavirus) to ensure your safety and the safety of your loved ones.
We have made it our focus to ensure you are kept up to date through various communication channels as the situation changes, as well as making sure that any motorsport that can continue, is doing so in an appropriate manner. The feedback we have received at a grassroots level has been encouraging and our staff remain at your disposal to assist however they can.
Motorsport Australia has set up an internal working group to tackle the COVID-19 situation, and this group includes members of our senior staff and also our Chief Medical Officer, Dr Brent May. They will continue to meet regularly and we expect to be able to provide you with an update shortly on how the changing restrictions will impact grassroots motorsport. I encourage you to check your emails and also to visit our website often for the latest information.
As you would be aware, this ongoing situation is having a significant impact on our daily lives, jobs and the economy. Motorsport Australia is not immune to these challenges and we know there will be tough decisions to make both in the short and medium term, but I am confident that our loyal staff and my fellow Board members will work very hard to ensure we get through this situation and the sport will come out stronger than ever.
The Board of Motorsport Australia is fully committed to looking after the health and wellbeing of our staff and our senior executive, led by CEO Eugene Arocca. Eugene and his team are working extremely hard to ensure the organisation does everything it can in the best interests of motorsport.
We do not expect that everything will return to normal for a few months and we are hopeful that in the latter part of the year, events can begin to run again, with healthy entry lists and excited crowds in attendance. When that may be, we simply cannot say, but we will do our best to make sure we are ready when restrictions are lifted in due course.
Please look after yourselves and ensure you keep up to date through both our website and by paying attention to the government’s regular COVID-19 updates.
Yours in motorsport,
Andrew Papadopoulos
© 2020 - Confederation of Australian Motor Sport, trading as Motorsport Australia
Our mailing address is:
PO Box 172, Canterbury LPO,
Canterbury, Victoria, 3126
Australia