[TSM Motorsport]

This scholarship appears to be a bit of a farce. The scholarship brief said that any experience was welcome and all had a chance to win. This would appear not to be true. The winner an past competitor in 205 Challenge with local press contacts which got him PR (something that the newcomer to the sport could not have.) in local papers and radio. He also brought sponsors along to the scholarship team to throw money into the project, Tell me how can ANYONE when this scholarship when you can buy your ride as such???? Also I have been very reliably inform an IRISH competitor in this scholarship would not win as Innovation can not get the PR from them as the main stream English don't want to hear about the Irish drivers KICKIN their ASS

So tell me how can anyone win this when they have to have:
- Their own PR contacts
- Sponsors to help fund the project
- From main land England?

It would appear Natural driving ability doesn’t, even though success brings its own PR, it just matters just what can you bring to them.

Something I thought you should all know before signing up to next years scholarship

 

[turbomax]

Did you not read original posts on this topic when this 'scholarship' was launched? This topic was discussed on the forum before with similar sentiment being expressed, unfortunately the moderators saw fit to delete the posts as it did not suit them for what ever reason.
Wonder will Chris reply to this post?

 

[CiaraC]

Why and when were the posts deleted turbomax ?? Refresh my memory as I can't remember.

I am sure Chris will reply if he sees this but I've emailed him the link just to be sure as he does not come on here very much.

TSM, I am sure your 'reliable' source is just like every other reliable source in Irish rallying and I cannot believe that you think people were selected on the grounds of nationality.

[Edited on 2-11-2005 by CiaraC]

 

[turbomax]

Why : Cannot answer that one

When : Well they are not there now!

 

[CiaraC]

J deleted a load of posts by mistake the other day. He was only supposed to delete posts in the For Sale section but deleted posts that had not been replied to in a while in all forums.

So there is your answer. It was done by mistake and not because of some hidden agenda.

 

[Go-Rallying.com]

Hi. This is Chris using a different log in name as I don't have my details to hand.

Simon. Im really sorry you feel this way.
Our rules quite clearly stated that ANYONE could enter the scholarship, as your first sentence quite clearly states. There is no way we can guarentee that a complete newcomer is going to win. Surely that would be unfair on the people who have previous experience?

Quite simply, the best people deserve to win! It happens that in this case the driver has a very small amount of previous driving experience, however has never contested the Peugeot challenge as you stated, and the co driver and 2 mechanics had never sat in a rally car or taken part in an event before joining the scholarship!

As for the other points you raise, what a complete load of rubbish, and it saddens me that YOU would suggest such a thing! Our winner worked his socks off between recieving notification of reaching the final and the big day. Something that 90% of other finalists failed to do!

We told you right from the start we were looking for a good driver, however MORE IMPORTANTLY we were looking for very promotable, PR concious and enthusiastic people. We made this VERY clear. Our winner went the extra mile to generate publicity for both himself and the scholarship, something all the finalists were encouraged to do, you included!

As for... "Also I have been very reliably inform an IRISH competitor in this scholarship would not win as Innovation can not get the PR from them as the main stream English don't want to hear about the Irish drivers KICKIN their pineapple"
Where on earth did that come from?!!! Reliably informed??... what a load of rubbish!!... The Irish market forms around 50% of our business at RallySchool Norway. Why else would we have spent many many thousands of pounds advertising in Irish Newspapers and magazines???

Id also like you to tell me who these sponsors are that are going to "throw money at the project" ??? Again, you have completely made this up! The winner had aggreed to help us find the extra money required to try and upgrade the prize to the 206 Super Cup- Something that each and every one of the finalists (yourself included) agreed to do!!

No doubt you will be amazed to know that we are talking to one of the other Irish finalists about running him in a second car, as we were greatly impressed by his efforts and above all his ATTITUDE!

You were a very good driver Simon, one of the best. However turning up over half an hour late on each of your days was never going to help you too much was it? sour grapes are something that we had to expect after announcing the result. Sometimes people find taking defeat quite hard. Thats OK, but to make up lies and distort the truth completely is just not acceptable!!

Im sorry if I sound a bit harsh, but lies like this just don't do anyone any good!

 

[rallyfanireland]

That does sound a little bit harsh to be fair. You can't blame people for being a bit sceptical about their chances against an all British crew. It only makes sense that as a promoter of the scholarship you would want a crew that is marketable to the British press/media etc. The same impetuous would not be there for British media to promote an Irish crew/driver/mechanic to a British readership; that is only stating the obvious. Case in point would have to be Rory Galligan in this years British Championship, great drive but very little exposure from the British media.

 

[Go-Rallying.com]

I see what you mean rallyfanireland but I cannot help the fact that in this case the winning team were from England and Scotland.

Nationality had ABSOLUTELY nothing what so ever to do with it. I can't believe you actually think that way???

We had 55 people enter the scholarship, and only 4 of them were from Ireland. We couldn't just pick one of those to keep you guys happy now could we?!

 

[rallyfanireland]

You could have picked all 4 and that would have made us very happy !!!!!

 

[rallypaddy]

Sabrina,
I suppose was there a smell of drink off this Irish driver as well.
Paddy

 

[Go-Rallying.com]

Paddy, the reason he was late was linked to his flights, which we can't particularly hold against him.

However, we did look after him after the final was over, giving him a lift back to the hotel and then spent a lot of time that evening having a drink and a natter!

The following day he came back to the RallySchool where we looked after him until his flight home.

Seemed like a really nice lad to be honest, and for someone who has a BIG involvement in rallying in Ireland his coments quite simply AMAZE me!!

 

[Jon Tucker]

I'm astounded by your comments Simon, I know Chris has already answered but I'll re-iterate what he has said.

We had absolutly no agenda during the scholarship other than finding the best people for the team. If the best person to fill the drivers role had been a Romanian goat herder with NO rallying experience then that is who would have won.

The question is what do we mean by 'the best people for the team'. Well what we dont mean is people with buckets of money!

The winner was picked for ;
a) his driving ability and many of the other competitors were just as good. b) his enthusiasm and willingness to learn.
c) his attitude and work ethic.

Put simply he worked the hardest to impress us in areas other than his driving, which any one of the other competitors could have done but for whatever reason, didnt.

Very sorry you feel this way Simon, but please get your facts straight before making sweeping statements like these. I wouldn't rely on your reliable informant for information in the future, he or she is not even remotely right.

 

[TSM Motorsport]

I would like to strongly point out I have NOT forgotten how well I was treated and honestly I was really WELL treated and looked after. I enjoyed my time there, just since I've come back i was told there is a lot of politics as such, that I and most other didn't know about which I have all said before, Which did come from respected people high up in the sport in Ireland and U.K. and as you can imagine hearing this has me very down heart about the scholarship and the english media and press.

As to this statement
"You were a very good driver Simon, one of the best. However turning up over half an hour late on each of your days was never going to help you too much was it? I had express I was late for the first the day and if my memory serves me correct I was a FULL day early for the final"

I would also like to point out that chris and his team are complete dedicated rally people and are 100% guys and girl. There Rally school is at one of the best venues I've ever seen. Its not them as people I disagree with its just some of the aspects of the scholarship and the way it ran.

To prove there is no sour grapes as people put, it I said to the guys before I left, "if they were ever coming over to do an event in Ireland to give me a shout and I'll do whatever I can for them to help!"I am a man of my word and hope they feel they can accept this offer. As Chris said I am heavily involved in Irish Motorsport and hope that the team is successful and progresses through the ranks and we get another U.K or Irish WR champion in future.

I hope you haven't seen this as a personal dig and apologise if it came across that way. It is your fianances and your choices about who is in the team. I know yous all have a lot riding on it. I did enjoy my time with yous I have expressed my points and you have expressed yours hope we can put it all behind us.

In a way this has helped me as one says "when one door closes another opens" Problem is does anyone know how to rise 60k???

Good Luck

TSM Motorsport

[Edited on 3-11-2005 by TSM Motorsport]

[Edited on 3-11-2005 by TSM Motorsport]

[Edited on 3-11-2005 by TSM Motorsport]

 

[Jon Tucker]

I've no idea who has told you any of this Simon but I can assure you its absolute rubbish. Everyone was told exactly what the scholarship was about and that was nothing but the truth, no 'politics' whatsoever! What more can I (we) say........

 

[CiaraC]

Simon,

Just on the nationality comment...

For the past few years there have been a number of Irish winners of one-make championships across the UK. These drivers have gone on to represent their team to the highest standards both competitively and from a PR angle. Irish competitors are highly respected over in the UK as a whole and there is no reason whatsoever that an Irish driver or co-driver would be singled out simply because of his or her nationality. (despite what some people on this forum may think)

I did not have anything to do with the scholarship. I simply passed on information about it, but from speaking to Chris about it before the selection process began, I knew he was after a team that would

1) have the right attitude
2) be enthusiastic and put their heart and soul into it,
3) who would listen and take on board any advice or constructive critisism,
4) who would do their best to promote the scholarship in a positive manner.

I don't think this is too much to ask if Chris is going to put his name to the team next year. His companies reputation is riding on it and I think it was a very brave move by Chris, Jon and the rest of the scholarship team.

[Edited on 3-11-2005 by CiaraC]

 

[TSM Motorsport]

Fair enough I expressed my points and you have answered them and I am now happy to leave it with yous. I always said I have no back doors and will say what I think, it is a sign of honesty (appartently). As I said before anything I can do please say as I had nothing directly against the the team but the scholarship, but now that has all been sorted, I hope we can move forward and maybe help each other in future.

 

[Go-Rallying.com]

Hi Simon. Im pleased thats all sorted out now, and don't worry, theres no hard feelings. Im just interested to know who this person is who you talk about when you say... " I enjoyed my time there, just since I've come back i was told there is a lot of politics as such, that I and most other didn't know about which I have all said before, Which did come from respected people high up in the sport in Ireland and U.K. and as you can imagine hearing this has me very down heart about the scholarship and the english media and press"

If you don't want everyone else to see then please either PM, Email or call me. I cant blame you for getting upset if someone has told you it was all a fix. However that couldn't be further from the truth, hence Im quite keen to find out who has been saying this and why?

Thanks. Chris.

 

[TSM Motorsport]

Chris I can't honestly say these guys are for helping me with another project and would be shooting myself in the foot. As you can imagine I am needing all the help I can get to move my rallying career forward, bull shitters and all.

 

[Pro-motion]

Hi simon this is John who was over at the scholarship with you. To be fair Dan did his homework on the subject, I hold nothing against him. I am looking forward to helping IM motorsports in the future and I feel this will help me to get to where I want to go.

 

[TSM Motorsport]

Good Luck to you jon thought it was you who was going for the second car as was talking darragh earlier on. you going for 1400 challenge or super cup??