A competitor lodged a complaint at Maramarua that not all riders were correctly following the one way direction signs marked on the map for the track and gravel road located approximately 0.5km north of the start triangle. The complaint noted that some competitors had an advantage by incorrectly using the gravel road to travel north which avoided a slow / very muddy clay track.
The controller (Geoff Mead), together with Kathy Liley (Australia), Peter Cusworth (Australia) and Marquita Gelderman (NZ) considered the complaint. Kathy, Peter and Marquita were the jurors nominated by the OA and NZ MTBO conveners for the consideration of any protest. Note that it was a complaint under consideration, rather than a protest which requires a jury.
The group concurred with the complaint, some competitors had not correctly followed the one way arrows as marked on the map.
The group discussed and considered:
The very challenging conditions for competitors that resulted from the thunder storms and heavy rain showers. This included clays tracks becoming extremely challenging and slow to ride, as well as difficulty in the rain of reading fine map detail.
The way one track / road section relating to the complaint was about 500m long, a minor part of the overall course lengths. No other tracks / roads on the map had one way directional arrows.
The segment of the map related to the complaint was challenging to read (even without the rain). It included a lot of detail in a small area and the directional arrows were small. The course setter and controller could have avoided the issues related to the one way directional arrows by better course setting and / or more readable map symbols.
The status of the event in terms of the Australia / NZ challenge was out of scope for the group, this topic was referred to the Australia and NZ team managers.
Even with the very challenging conditions on the day many competitors completed their courses, displaying high levels of skill and perseverance. The group thought it was important to acknowledge these competitors.
After considering the above, the group concluded that the results of the event should stand for the 6 day competition. This was discussed with the person who made the complaint, who was happy with the conclusion.
The two team managers decided to substitute Saturday’s race in the long distance ANZ challenge.
The outcome of the complaint and the status of the long distance challenge was communicated as part of the prize giving at Maramarua.
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