David Dovey, the founder of the NIERDC endurance championship series has resigned his presidency at the club’s recent annual general meeting.
“It was the right time to hand over the baton that my wife Karen and I have carried for so many years,” said Dovey.
“We recently sold our principal business and want to spend some time travelling overseas next year, which would preclude us from assisting the Club next season.
“We leave the Club in good hands, in good spirit and financially healthy.”
The committee re-elected Craig Innes as the deputy president who will sit alongside the club’s new president Mark Petch, who is also the publisher of both New Zealand Autocar magazine and Velocity News.
Petch said, “the club faces new challenges in the way we have historically operated, not the least being the recent controversy surrounding the series’ 3-hour final at Hampton Downs last month, but more importantly to elevate endurance racing in New Zealand back to a level than it has not been for many years.
“Craig Innes and I are fortunate to have a very strong Committee that represent different class’s across both the 1-hour and 3-hour races which makes for robust discussion amongst the management committee.”
Petch went on to say, “we also need to review our rules and regulations and forge a close working relationship with SIERDC, as we need to work together in the current environment in the best interest of our members, who at the end of the day are the drivers and their teams, that make up the series in both Islands,”
“I firmly believe that our two organisations should have identical rules and regulations. Nobody is saying it saying it’s going to be easy, however, I love a challenge,” said Petch.