Plans for a motorcycle street race in Waimate next month have had to be postponed.
The Waimate Motorcycle Street Race, to coincide with but be run independently of the March Hare Motorcycle Rally which attracts thousands to Waimate each year, was to have been held on March 5 and 6.
It was all ready to go when organiser John Wilson, of Redline Race Promotions, discovered he had made a mistake in his application to have the event sanctioned by Motorcycling New Zealand (MNZ).
"I'm a wee bit disappointed and highly embarrassed about that," he said yesterday.
Mr Wilson received approval from the Waimate District Council "around Christmas" for street closures to stage the racing.
He had read a chapter in the MNZ rule book about seeking sanction for a motor racing event.
He got that, went ahead with planning and announced the event last month.
Then he found out another chapter had a section which said an application had to be made three months before the event.
He had missed the deadline.
"If the event had gone ahead and something had happened, I could have been left liable because I did not meet the requirements," he said.
He has now applied to run the event on March 3 and 4 next year, coinciding with the March Hare rally.
"We will be applying for the 2012 road closure next week. Then we will apply to the MNZ in plenty of time, " he said.
He has suggested to MNZ that it amend its rule book, and move the three-month rule to the same chapter as that for sanctioning events.
