Velocity News understands that MSNZ has asked Super Sprint Motorsport New Zealand Championship promoter Brendon White of NZ XMS Limited to prove that his company is solvent following a string of unpaid bills arising from the 2023/24 Summer season being brought to its attention.
In a recent email to a creditor that Velocity News has seen, White wrote in impassioned detail explaining the situation to the creditor concerned.
It reads:
“The NZ economic situation is grim. Many of our invoices have gone from 20 to 60 or 90 days, and this is felt across all industries, which is why I understand your frustration.
“It doesn’t make it right or wrong, but our stance is everyone needs to get paid and trading out of this rut is our only option.
“To date, we have not had any debt collection on our company; however, we do have many who are frustrated with payment terms not being met and comms.
“Personally, I’ve learned some strong lessons about the volatility of running so many back-to-back events with 7–14-day terms across so many tight weekends. As mentioned, many businesses are struggling to meet 90 days currently.”
White went on to say, “Any suppliers or creditors of Super Sprint who have out-standings will be emailed a payment plan this coming week.”
Velocity News has also learnt that White has written to last season’s Super Sprint categories, requesting that they pay a 20 per cent deposit on their 2024/25 season fees.
Following Geoff Shorts’ tenure as NZMS promoter of its Summer Series championship events, which ended, by all accounts, in acrimony, MSNZ called for tenders for the promotional rights to its motor racing Championship Series in 2022.
The successful tenderer, White, set about changing the way the live TV coverage was produced by taking on that onerous role with his own company, a risky and costly move as it has transpired.
An extract from the MSNZ President and CEO’s board report shows bad debts of $71,000 oweing from promoters for the commercial rights and levies, less a $16,000 payment since received. See extract below:
Velocity News sought comment from White and MSNZ; however, neither was forthcoming before the time of publishing.
Header Image: The 68th Running of the NZ Grand Prix at the Super Sprint MotorSport New Zealand Championship. Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing NZ
