SuperGP report reveals mismanagement

[Muzza]

Gee didn't see this coming

From GC.com

THE Williams report into last year's Gold Coast SuperGP has uncovered a sorry tale of gross mismanagement and lack of oversight which nearly sank the event.

Mr David Williams, who was commissioned by the Bligh government to review the event after the A1GP cars failed to turn up for the 2009 event, said its investigation into whatever 'due diligence' may have been carried out into A1GP by promoters International Management Group had been seriously hampered because IMG kept few written records of its 'investigations'.

The sole exception was a Dun and Bradstreet report which gave A1GP Australia -- which signed the race contract -- a 'recommended credit limit' of between $750 and $3000.

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Despite knowing this, the ultimately state-controlled Gold Coast Motor Events Company paid the organisation $1.8 million on July 10, 2009 -- the day after GCMEC was advised that the A1GP parent company in Britain had been placed in liquidation.

Mr Williams, a former government director-general and a member of the board of the original Gold Coast Indy Car Grand Prix, said the decision to hand over the money to a company 'of very few assets or resources' had made subsequent recovery of the $1.8 million more difficult.

The report chronicles media and financial reports it says should have alerted organisers to 'high level of risk and uncertainty' of A1GP, as well as a series of unsuccessful A1GP races in Sydney between 2005-08.

It concluded 'it is surprising that the GCMEC partnership committee continued to show ongoing confidence in A1GP in the face of mounting evidence that the A1GP vehicles had been impounded ... and a liquidator appointed'.

GCMEC says then-sports minister Judy Spence ordered it to finalise negotiations with A1GP when talks with IRL Indy cars broke down in late 2008, but Ms Spence denied this.

Only after it became clear A1GP could not fulfil its contract was it discovered the contract drawn up by GCMEC had no termination clauses.

The report lays much of the blame for the gross mismanagement of the event squarely at the feet of GCMEC chairman Terry Mackenroth and largely exonerates Sports Minister Phil Reeves -- but identifies a lack of written communications between the two as the climate in which confusion and ultimately mismanagement flourished.


"It has not been possible to make a judgment regarding the advice or information to the minister from GCEC or GCMEC to the minister as very little was in writing" the report found.

On October 16, 2009 Mr Mackenroth resigned as chairman of GCMEC, saying he believed he had been undermined by Mr Reeves.

Turning to the history of contacts between A1GP and GCMEC, the report says Mr Mackenroth first met A1GP's Paul Cherry at the Lexmark Indy in October 2007.

In January 2008, Mr Mackenroth travelled to Lake Taupo in New Zealand to meet A1GP executives, with the report noting this meeting took place before the first meeting between GCMEC and IRL to negotiate a possible extension to the Indy contract.
Further meetings took place in Sydney and in Britain, but the report says it was 'not possible to determine the extent of GCMEC's due diligence at those meetings in assessing the viability of the A1GP series' because no written notes were made.

So he was trying to cut a deal before they lost the IRL we mite have still had them here if it wasn't for this......

[formulagpguys]

Unlikely we would have them, they clearly wanted a March date which was a no go.  In fact it may well have been wise with the contract concluding to explore what other options were on the table.

The rest is a joke however, given a minor bit of due diligence would have revealed issues around A1GP.

Given we now have no international event for the GP a sad state of affairs in the end.

[Muzza]

I could never understand what the big problem was with IRL and having an OCT race here, its been that way for a fair few years, since the change due to the AGP date clash

I know 1 of the problems  a couple of years ago was that Chicagoland was contracted to be the last round on the calendar (hence the no points race in 08) but that all changed last year with Homestead being the last round (Bathurst w/end) and this year the first w/end of Oct.
So they still had the chance to come here for the same time they use too…..

I cant help thinking that the one of the main reasons we lost the event was due to the incompetence of the GCEMC trying to cut the cost by going with a cheaper event (or so they thought) A1GP.

I’m not saying that the IRL didn’t play a part, I just think that making $$$$ was the major part of why it’s gone….

And if they think the new format will work they mite have to think again…. I know for a fact that one of the major sponsors, one that has been there since its inception will not be involved any more due to the way it has been treated by V8SC last year.

[Oldtony]

I think Muzza you will find that IRL, while Tony George was in charge anyway, always has this fixation that the IRL was an American championship and thus the final, possibly deciding event, should always be in the US. About the only area of the US they could get raceable weather in November would be Florida, and they traditionally open the season there.
As you say though GCMEC were totaly incompetent in setting up the deal with A1GP, and in doing due dilligence. They also made a lot of people unhappy in ignoring advice, ignoring local information fed to them, and in the end when the crap had hit the fan in handing the "rescue" of the event entirely over to Tony Cochrane. Instead of, or as well as, the museum parade they could have had a very strong field of sports and GT cars but just brushed them off.
By the way you would think after Tony George and Tony Tiexiera the Govt  would be a little reluctant to deal with another Tony.
Wondering what sort of con I can come up with for next year?

[Muzza]

Instead of, or as well as, the museum parade they could have had a very strong field of sports and GT cars but just brushed them off.

I was more then a bit peved when i found out that none of them were included in the event....

By the way you would think after Tony George and Tony Tiexiera the Govt  would be a little reluctant to deal with another Tony.
Wondering what sort of con I can come up with for next year?

2 down 1 to go....