Moves from within its membership to turn MotorSport New Zealand into an entity which has administrative and regulatory functions but no commercial interests in the sport face a difficult birth, judging by MSNZ's latest move.
An announcement on Thursday revealed the formation of a new motor racing body, called MotorSport Promotions Ltd, tasked with promoting premier race meetings this year.
Its advent comes as car club members of MSNZ are tabling a remit at next month's annual general meeting calling on MSNZ to shed its commercial interests, run through companies in which it has majority shareholding - The MotorSport Company (TMC) and Rally of New Zealand Ltd (RNZ).
The new body will take over the sport's promotional duties. MSNZ is effectively owned by its members - the scores of car clubs around the country who pay about $1m a year in fees - and sources within the sport detailed to the Herald on Sunday last week that there was growing discontent at the way MSNZ and TMC manage the sport. Complaints were made about a lack of transparency and suspicions about salaries being paid to key people as well as travel, entertainment and general expenses.
The move to shift the parent body away from commercial interests in the sport includes the reasoning that, as MSNZ Inc is a non-profit organisation, it is unable to obtain any financial benefits from the promotion companies.