Post by TheFanVan.co.nz on Jan 26, 2012 17:38:37 GMT 12
Jan 16, 2012 12:11:16 GMT 12 @basil said:
I think the directors meeting is this week, so I guess we'll hear the actual story after that. Still a lot of hearsay around.
Ok well it seems that SNZ has officially commented
There has been a lot of interest in the high profile exclusion of Douglas Stanaway from the finals of the New Zealand Stockcar Champs at Rotorua on December 28. Speedway NZ is now in the position to make public comment on the issue, and provide some clarity to all members of the speedway community.
Douglas was selected for a random technical inspection on the qualifying night of the New Zealand Stockcar Champs. The next morning his car failed a compression check, undertaken with a Katech Whistler machine that was purchased earlier this season. As per the regulations, he was immediately suspended for 22 days and referred to the Board for possible further punishment. The relevant engine components were sealed by the SNZ Technical Steward, and an impoundment notice was issued.
Once an engine has been declared non-compliant it must be re-inspected and declared compliant by a Technical Steward before the vehicle can race again. Furthermore, any tampering with the impoundment seals is also against the regulations.
On January 3, the engine was stripped with the goal of physically measuring the componentry to determine the engine compression ratio. Present at the strip down were the competitor, his father, the engine builder and SNZ Director Mel Hills. No Technical Steward was present, and the impounding seals were broken during this procedure.
On January 13, SNZ received written notification from the engine builder that the measured engine compression ratio on January 3 was 9.98:1, just under the limit of 10:1.
In light of this information, the SNZ Board felt compelled to give the competitor the benefit of the doubt, and granted dispensation for him to race until they could conduct their scheduled hearing into the matter at the Board meeting on January 18. However, there were some queries about the supplied data, specifically the bore and stroke, which weren’t measured to 2 decimal places.
At the Board meeting on January 18, engine builder Ron Chatfield was present. He revealed that both the engine certificate (in use all season) and the fax of January 13 had the incorrect stroke entered. At no stage (either pre-season or on January 3) was the engine stroke physically measured, and the supplied stroke came out of the wrong page in the manufacturers spec book. A total of six measurements including the stroke are required to calculate a compression ratio, and this omission meant the supplied compression ratio figures could not possibly be verified as accurate.
It was therefore now not possible for Stanaway to prove his engine was compliant on January 3, and nor was it possible to refute the readout of the Katech Whistler on December 28.
However, Speedway NZ has elected not to take any further action against Douglas Stanaway, because he was led to believe that Mel Hills was acting as a Tech Steward, when that was not the case. This error meant that a number of rules were inadvertently broken, and also meant that the engine could not be measured to the standard required in the rulebook.
Going forward, the engine is to be re-measured in the presence of a Technical Steward so that it can compete in future with an accurate engine certificate. It will also be whistled at the same time so that SNZ and its stakeholders can have confidence in the accuracy of the equipment that is used to verify compliance with the rules.
Douglas was selected for a random technical inspection on the qualifying night of the New Zealand Stockcar Champs. The next morning his car failed a compression check, undertaken with a Katech Whistler machine that was purchased earlier this season. As per the regulations, he was immediately suspended for 22 days and referred to the Board for possible further punishment. The relevant engine components were sealed by the SNZ Technical Steward, and an impoundment notice was issued.
Once an engine has been declared non-compliant it must be re-inspected and declared compliant by a Technical Steward before the vehicle can race again. Furthermore, any tampering with the impoundment seals is also against the regulations.
On January 3, the engine was stripped with the goal of physically measuring the componentry to determine the engine compression ratio. Present at the strip down were the competitor, his father, the engine builder and SNZ Director Mel Hills. No Technical Steward was present, and the impounding seals were broken during this procedure.
On January 13, SNZ received written notification from the engine builder that the measured engine compression ratio on January 3 was 9.98:1, just under the limit of 10:1.
In light of this information, the SNZ Board felt compelled to give the competitor the benefit of the doubt, and granted dispensation for him to race until they could conduct their scheduled hearing into the matter at the Board meeting on January 18. However, there were some queries about the supplied data, specifically the bore and stroke, which weren’t measured to 2 decimal places.
At the Board meeting on January 18, engine builder Ron Chatfield was present. He revealed that both the engine certificate (in use all season) and the fax of January 13 had the incorrect stroke entered. At no stage (either pre-season or on January 3) was the engine stroke physically measured, and the supplied stroke came out of the wrong page in the manufacturers spec book. A total of six measurements including the stroke are required to calculate a compression ratio, and this omission meant the supplied compression ratio figures could not possibly be verified as accurate.
It was therefore now not possible for Stanaway to prove his engine was compliant on January 3, and nor was it possible to refute the readout of the Katech Whistler on December 28.
However, Speedway NZ has elected not to take any further action against Douglas Stanaway, because he was led to believe that Mel Hills was acting as a Tech Steward, when that was not the case. This error meant that a number of rules were inadvertently broken, and also meant that the engine could not be measured to the standard required in the rulebook.
Going forward, the engine is to be re-measured in the presence of a Technical Steward so that it can compete in future with an accurate engine certificate. It will also be whistled at the same time so that SNZ and its stakeholders can have confidence in the accuracy of the equipment that is used to verify compliance with the rules.
To get a full picture of what happened i suggest you check out
www.rotoruaspeedway.co.nz/
