Return Road
As most members would be
aware construction of the return road is well underway,
however this is proceeding slower than first perceived due
to unforeseen circumstances including the weather. After a
break in the rain it will take a minimum of 3-4 days before
work can continue. We ask for you patience with this matter
as once complete the bitumen will be a welcome change. We
will keep you up to date with the progress along with some
photos to come soon.
Readout / Time Boards
What ever you would like to call
them, they have arrived. The boards have made the long trip
from USA, spent Christmas in customs, and have finally made
their way to Mackay. The Boards are currently at Coalroc
where engineers are working on the required installation
design. These boards would not have been possible if not for
the generosity of Coalroc and RDP. Further to this thanks
needs to be extended to Mark Clifford who will be supplying
the concrete bases.
CLARIFICATIONS OF
CURRENT AUSTRALIA STANDARDS WITH REFERENCE TO HELMETS
ANDRA has been contacted by a number of competitors
concerning a perceived lack of availability of helmets
meeting the current Australian / New Zealand Standard.
It also appears that many helmets currently on the
market have the older AS1698 standard decal, indicating
that the helmet may not meet the required AS/NZS
1698:2006 – AS/NZS 1698 standard.
The AS/NZS 1698:2006, which is also labelled as AS/NZS
1698, supersedes both the older AS 1698:1988 and AS
1698:1974. After further communications with Standards
Australia, confirmation has been again obtained clearly
stating that the actual accepted standard and labelling
is the newer standard; AS/NZS 1698:2006 – AS/NZS 1698.
Older standards are no longer recognised by Standards
Australia for motor sport activities and therefore are
not acceptable. ANDRA again wishes to inform all Tracks,
Track Officials, ANDRA Officials, National Control
Council Members and Division Delegates that it was
Standards Australia that took this course of action
which ANDRA needed to implement as a matter of safety.
The following was sent directly to ANDRA from Standards
Australia / SAI Global as part of a recently written
reply on this subject:
“Since the Standard was revisited in 2006 our
label has changed slightly.
We never put the year on our standards mark labels, the
way you can differentiate the new label in that it now
shows AS/NZS 1698, the previous label was only AS 1698.”
The decal / sticker that appear on all helmets meeting
the new Australian Standard is:
Other helmet standards accepted by ANDRA, directly
related to relevant performance levels found in section
4.10.8 Helmets of the 2008/2009 ANDRA Rulebook, are
SNELL SA2000, SNELL SA2005 , SNELL M2000, SNELL M2005,
SFI 31.2A, SFI 41.2A (or later) and BS 6658-1985.
On November 5 2008 the NHRA issued a media release
titled “NHRA Technical Services previews rules changes
for 2009 season”. Through this release there were
several references to the K98 helmet standard no longer
being permitted. Currently ANDRA does not permit, nor
accept the K98, as an accepted helmet standard for use
in ANDRA Championship Drag Racing.
