CAMS and PROCAR in Australian safety row

Event promoter PROCAR Australia has fallen out with the ASN, CAMS, in a row over safety in the Australian GT Performance Championship. Both face possible litigation from the teams running Holden GTS racecars, which withdrew from the seventh round of the series at the weekend at Phillip Island, VIC, due to their concerns about tyre safety

Sep 24, 2002, 8:54 AM

Having suffered a number of tyre failures during the season, the teams expressed doubts about the integrity of the existing specification on the high-speed circuit. PROCAR asked CAMS to allow the Holdens to upgrade to 18x9in wheel rims (instead of the current 18x8in). CAMS rejected the waiver, criticized PROCAR's administration of the series, and proposed a compromise which the teams found unacceptable.

PROCAR chairman Ross Palmer said the ramifications of the issue went beyond the approval of a set of wheels. He stated: "CAMS effectively said we could stand in the corner for the rest of the year with a dunce's cap on our head. That insults the intelligence of the entire PROCAR team. I'm disappointed by the processes CAMS has in place for dealing with such matters and also that PROCAR's expertise and research on this particular issue has not been given due credit. Nothing short of a serious investigation into the processes and methods of CAMS will satisfy me. The gloves are off."