Ahead of this weekend’s MRA (Motor Racing Australia) season finale, series organiser Terry Denovan has thanked the team at Wakefield Park for their support throughout a challenging year.
Despite the hurdles presented throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Denovan has persevered with his MRA race meetings, coming up with innovative solutions to ensure events could continue in a COVID-safe environment.
“To be honest, I’m stoked with how this year has panned out,” Denovan said.
“Many other series have had to cancel multiple events, but we only lost one round – to still be able to run so many race meetings has been a fantastic outcome and I’m very thankful to the crew at Wakefield Park, who have been easy to work with and offered many creative ideas to allow the MRA meetings to proceed.
“I’m an optimist and I think COVID has created some positives that will benefit the motorsport industry in years to come. We’ve been able to use technology and online systems to streamline our systems for procedures such as competitor licence checks, driver and official’s briefings and other processes.”
While this weekend’s MRA race meeting will include familiar categories such as Super TT, MX5 Cup and Superkarts, Denovan is excited about some new additions to the program.
“This weekend will be the first round of our new NSW Production Car Series – it’s a one-off, non-championship round but it will give people a taste of what to expect in 2021. We’ve attracted more than 20 entries for it, so there’s definitely growth potential there.
“Improved Production ran with us at Sydney Motorsport Park earlier in the year and are back for their second MRA meeting – this time we’ll be dividing the field into separate grids for Over and Under 2 Litre cars.
“We’re also delighted to have the NSW Sports Sedans running with us for the first time.”
The MRA lineup will also feature Superkarts, Alfa Romeos and a Cobra Supersprint, while Denovan is offering prize money in the Regularity category, where competitors are required to nominate a lap time and stick as closely to that time as possible.
“Regularity is really booming at the moment and because it’s based on consistency rather than speed, anyone can win regardless of what type of car they’re in,” Denovan said.
Wakefield Park Operations Manager Dean Chapman said the arrangement between the circuit and MRA has been especially valuable during the pandemic.
“The commercial relationship between MRA and Wakefield Park has been of vital importance for the venue, because Terry and the MRA team deliver such an outstanding product,” Chapman said.
“They’re at the forefront of technological innovations in the event space and their digital processes are industry-leading.
“It’s easy to do business with organisations like MRA that have goals in common with Wakefield Park, especially the objective of prioritising customer service and competitor experience.”
Chapman also recognised the contribution of Wakefield Park’s team of officials in ensuring events such as MRA have been able to continue.
“The support from our officials has been overwhelming and we wouldn’t be able to run events without them; a massive thank you goes out to each and every one of them for making our events such a success.”
