Where can I find up to date news about OTA 2020

[Gwoody27]

I have checked the forum, web page and CASC-ON website but can't find out what is happening re the open house or season situation. Help Please.

[kmorris]

Hey Gary,

I have had the same experience. Apparently if you "like" the series on Facebook, some news will be posted occasionally.

It's located at https://www.facebook.com/OntarioTimeAttack/

The feed is all pictures, but occasionally one of the pictures is actually information in a red frame. You might have to scroll for a long time to find out anything.

Clearly this forum is not really the central communication point for the series anymore. I presume that it's now the time-attack.ca site but there's nothing on there yet about the Open House situation or the startup delay. It does have the latest schedule though. It seems to get updated fairly often.

Nobody really knows what's going to happen yet with the season of course.

We can all sit in our cars and make engine noises at least.

Kevin

[Gwoody27]

I am against using Facebook and Instagram based on privacy concerns and have asked what other method can be reliably used to keep informed.

[jimmo-san]

I am against using Facebook and Instagram based on privacy concerns and have asked what other method can be reliably used to keep informed.

Agreed. Let's make the OTA Forum the primary source of information for news on OTA. Posting things on Facebook and Instagram is fine for trying to advertise OTA to the outside world and gain members, but it should NOT be used as the primary means to communicate OTA information. The OTA Forum/CASC-OR should be the single point of contact. If you use multiple means of communicating (hey! Let's use Tik-Tok too!) you risk communicating conflicting messages; e.g. Facebook says one thing, the last Instagram post said another and there was something else entirely on the Forum..

[jimmo-san]

I have checked the forum, web page and CASC-ON website but can't find out what is happening re the open house or season situation. Help Please.

Also agreed. Gary, see what I thought were very sensible suggestions about planning for Covid-19 if social distancing continues into May/June. I would like to think organizers are also planning ahead. Should I work on my car to be ready for May 30/31? Buy new tires? People are making decisions now. We need guidance.

[Mhussain]

I just received this message:
Open House (originally scheduled April 4th) postponed until further notice.

[jimmo-san]

Ontario Government considering banning groups of more than 5 people. If this replaces the current limit of 50, and continues through the summer, then obviously this will mean the cancellation of the 2020 OTA season.

http://globalnews.ca/news/6746181/on...an-gatherings/

[Rob]

The OTA Registrar sent out the following email yesterday via Motorsportreg's email distribution list - there may be a few people who are not on that list so I am reposting here:

Dear OTA Family,

After careful consideration of the health and safety of all of our participants, spectators and volunteers, we will be postponing the Open House (originally scheduled April 4th) until further notice.

This decision was made in line with measures taken by local governments, health and educational institutions. We appreciate all the support from our competitors and fans in understanding and working with this request.

We are continuing to monitor this fast-evolving crisis and will provide any necessary updates as they become relevant - please follow up on Instagram/Facebook @OntarioTimeAttack and stay tuned.

Sincerely,
Ontario Time Attack Organizers

[T-car Integra]

I agree. It would be nice to know and plan for Event #1, at least

[LemonJus]

I agree. It would be nice to know and plan for Event #1, at least

Yes, we are trying to figure out where our activities lie with respect to potential government lifts on events ban. Currently Ontario still has a state of Emergency extended to May 12 which is VERY close to hitting our first event and school. This has and is being discussed at the organizer level. We have several things to consider:

1- Will the lift even allow us to have an event? A sell out event would have 60 drivers which is above the original 50 limit.
2- Will it allow us to have a school? Two people in a car together?
3- Will CTMP even be open? They have postponed their big event in June.
4- Will we even have enough competitors to viably run the first event as planned? I know of at least 3 people whom this pandemic has drastically affected economically.

Lots to consider and unfortunately, no concrete time frame yet.

My best NON-expert advice is to build your car if you can at home to assume event #1 will happen and go from there.

[jimmo-san]

1- Will the lift even allow us to have an event? A sell out event would have 60 drivers which is above the original 50 limit.

The current State of Emergency in Ontario (which limits gatherings to 5 or less) expires on May 12. IF (a big if) current restrictions are returned back to the pre-SOE restrictions, and only 50 people are allowed in a single gathering, then it would be prudent to restrict registrations for the May/June events such that the total number of people present (including non-competing organizers, marshals, scrutineers, etc.) is 50 or less.This would mean banning spectators, family, friends etc. from attending.

I received this in an e-mail from one of the organizers of track days and time attack events in Québec:

"many major public racing events have been cancelled or postponed. However, most lapping and smaller racing series events fall under private events category, and currently, different sanctioning bodies, race track operators, racing organizations and clubs are in discussion with government ministries on how to safely resume smaller scale events this summer.

We believe that with some modified protocols, procedures and good 'ol common sense these types of outdoor events (with limited number of participants/spectators) will be able to go ahead without putting the public in danger."

IF (another big if) CASC-OR can convince authorities that OTA events are not "public" events (because you have to be a member of a car club to participate, and are therefore "private" events) then this might help ease restrictions. One would hope CASC-OR is working on this possibility too.

[LemonJus]

The current State of Emergency in Ontario (which limits gatherings to 5 or less) expires on May 12. IF (a big if) current restrictions are returned back to the pre-SOE restrictions, and only 50 people are allowed in a single gathering, then it would be prudent to restrict registrations for the May/June events such that the total number of people present (including non-competing organizers, marshals, scrutineers, etc.) is 50 or less.This would mean banning spectators, family, friends etc. from attending.

I received this in an e-mail from one of the organizers of track days and time attack events in Québec:

"many major public racing events have been cancelled or postponed. However, most lapping and smaller racing series events fall under private events category, and currently, different sanctioning bodies, race track operators, racing organizations and clubs are in discussion with government ministries on how to safely resume smaller scale events this summer.

We believe that with some modified protocols, procedures and good 'ol common sense these types of outdoor events (with limited number of participants/spectators) will be able to go ahead without putting the public in danger."

IF (another big if) CASC-OR can convince authorities that OTA events are not "public" events (because you have to be a member of a car club to participate, and are therefore "private" events) then this might help ease restrictions. One would hope CASC-OR is working on this possibility too.

That is a valid point and really depends on what direction Ontario wants to take. Once a lift is in place and CTMP opens, we can assess where we can slide into and how many competitors we can have to commit to events. As this point there is a lot of financial fragility so it's particularly important for OTA to run an event that people can and will attend and at the same time, work financially for OTA.

[CarVolvo]

Full list of businesses that can reopen in Ontario (official site https://files.ontario.ca/mof-detaile...260.1589491663 )


https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/full-list...ario-1.4921154



Individual sports competitions without spectators

Professional and amateur sport activity for individual/single competitors, including training and competition conducted by a recognized Provincial Sport Organization, National Sport Organization, or recognized national Provincial training centres (e.g., Canadian Sport Institute Ontario) with return to play protocols in place and no spectators, except for an accompanying guardian for a person under the age of 18 years.

This includes indoor and outdoor non-team sport competitions that can be played under physical distancing measures. This includes:

• Water sports on lakes and outdoor bodies of water
• Racquet sports, such as tennis, ping pong, badminton
• Animal-related sports, such as dog racing, agility, horse racing
• Other sports such as: track and field, car and motorcycle racing, figure skating, fencing, rock climbing, gymnastics, etc.

Swimming pools will remain closed. As a result, water-based sports competitions are excluded if not conducted on lakes or outdoor bodies of water.

High-contact sports are not allowed even if they are non-team. These include sports where physical distancing cannot be practiced such as:

• Racquetball, squash, boxing, wrestling sports, martial arts, etc.