Documentation of an event is usually the most overlooked area of Motorsport organisation. In general many do not worry about this when an event runs smoothly, however when issues arise the importance of proper process comes to light.
Effective 1st May 2018, all events shall be need to applied for in the following process
Applying and approval of the Event
The MMF member clubs need to complete an event application form that can be found here.
The application is self explanatory, yet below are some notes;
1. The club just needs to nominate the Chairman of the Organiser, who is essentially that SINGLE person within the club who shall liase and coordinate with the Officials and the MMF.
2. The Club should choose a licensed Clerk or the Course, yet the MMF can also assist in this process.
3. The Clerk of the Course may opt , as per FIA App H to appoint a deputy, also known as the Safety Officer, even though the Safety Officer can also be yet another role.
4. A licensed scrutineer shall be appointed and ideally a backup scrutineer also.
5. The scrutineering date set should allow at least 2 working days (before the event) for any corrections to be made.
6. It is important that all named officials of the event have their MMF License number noted on the application form.
7. A timekeeper/s (if required for the discipline) is also appointed by the organiser.
8. Once completed and signed by the Chairman of the Organiser. the application should be sent to vicepresident@maltamotorsport.org and som@maltamotorsport.org as soon as the calendar of event is issued or at least 30 days before the date of the actual event, whichever is the earliest.
9. The officials conversant with the discipline in question are to be invoked in some kind of rotation by the organisers, so as to assist in the experience growth of the officials as this also effects license retention.
The MMF shall issue a written authorisation for the event, which may be on email and including a stamped and signed copy of the original application form.
If the event has no conflict with other events, and / or there is no other option but to have a date with multiple events, the event will be approved and added to the MMF Calendar found here. It is strongly recommended that event on days like Xmas, Easter, Mothers Day, Fathers Day and similar are avoided, since events involve volonteers that dedicate time to the sport away from their families, so we should let them enjoy such family days. The MMF shall also advise and submit the event information to SportMalta for publication.
The MMF shall also advise the insurer of the event if they have not already been notified on publication of the club calendar.
In the case of a cancellation / postponement of the event, the relative notification needs to be sent to the MMF to update its records, the SM records and relative calendars as well as update the insurer. The appropriate form can be found here.
The MMF shall assign a Steward (minimum 1, maximum 3) and at least 1 Secretary of the Meeting for the event.
Once the SoM and event officials are assigned, the event initial documentation is issued together with the event program. This documentation will include but is not limited to;
1. Event Program
2. Event information – and entry requirements
3. Rules and Regulations applicable to the event
4. MMF Permit
The SoM team shall also make the call out for Marshals and other Officials. Permits, track facilities, barriers etc are for the club / organiser to sort out.
In the case of a short notice event, the MMF needs to have at least a 5 working day notice to event event clearance from the insurer. No event shall be authorised without this 5 day notice period.
Before the actual event
The Chairman of the Organiser and the race Officials should meet no less than 2 weeks before the event / or the week following the previous event, to review the game plan and ensure all documentation is ready and in the making. Following this meeting the first version of the ASR, safety plan, track layout and program should be available to the competitors and public. Subsequent meetings, ideally 1 week before the event is to be held. A final meeting is to be held the day before the event.
The scope of such meetings is to ensure that each member of the Organisers Team, the Officials and crews are well aware of their deliverable. A checklist of tasks and its stakeholder should also be drawn up. This checklist is to be built up per discipline (as it may vary) and reused and extended over time. The organiser is responsible to ensure the checklist is addressed till the time of the event.
All information relative to the event is to reach the SoM as soon as it is / becomes available. Therefore starting from the application form, the meeting notes, permit applications, any documentation and related.
The day before the actual event (no less than 48 hours), the SoM team is to receive the enrollment list, the scrutineered approved list, and the starters list. While last minute corrections to the starts list are understandable, additions should be avoided within the last 24 hours.
All safety measures, facilities, services are to be in place at the venue from the start of the official programme. Training held on the day is to be considered as an integral part of the event.
Scrutineering
All drivers / competitors that need to have their cars scrutineered, need to have the following with them on the day;
1. Technical Passport of the vehicles (if the vehicle has one)
2. MMF Driving license
3. Have paid their entry for the event
4. Self declaration of safety devices
The scrutineers shall have the Scrutineering checklist with them which is to be signed by the driver / competitor.
An entry shall be made to the technical passport.
Starting and during the event
The event is run by the Clerk of the Course and not by the organiser, with roles and responsibilities outlines as per FIA App V. The supreme authority of the event is at the steward as per FIA App H.
From the start of the event the SoM shall be taking notes of the process of the events, based on what the stewards, clerk of the course advise, together with key items based on radio comms.
At the end of each round the Clerk of the Course shall sign the officials results which are passed to the SoM for documentation
Any protests received by the stewards, summons made, decisions taken shall also be filed with the SoM.
Final results are signed by the Steward and filed with the SoM
After the event
The SoM shall upload the final results to the MMF website, and advise the PR team to issue the press release.
All documentation is to be filed at the MMF within 24 hours of the end of the event.
It is strongly recommended that a post mortem meeting is held after the event to highlight and shortcoming found / improvements needed. If this cannot be held on the day it should be held within a week of the event closure.