Graeme Palmer honoured at Motorsport Australia National Awards

A full house was on hand at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre to witness a busy night of celebrations as the Motorsport Australia (MA) National Awards were presented.

In addition to the champions of 2022, a number of individuals were recognised for their contributions on and off the track throughout the night, including those who were awarded Life Membership.

Those honoured for their services to the sport with Life Memberships included well known SAE-A member Graeme Palmer who has been working at the FSAE-A event since it began. Mr Palmer has been involved with MA, previously CAMS, for 47 years.

He held the position of CEO of SAE-A from 2009-2012 after holding board positions for a number of years.

During his career, Mr Chanter participated in many industry initiatives.

He started his working life at Spalding’s before moving on to Woods panel shop. He then started Lemax Body Repairs and created the Independent Body Repairers group to discuss what was happening in the industry with other panel shop business owners.

After closing Lemax Body Repairs, Mr Chanter went to work for the SAE-A and then on to the Collision Repair magazine. He passed away 20 January 2023.

On behalf of the SAE-A Board of Directors, CEO, staff and members our deepest condolences go out to Mr Chanter’s family.

“After I became a scrutineer, I was unhappy with the ‘old scrutineers’ method of presenting the scrutineer’s course, which for me was three Friday nights in the Shell city building auditorium listening to ‘the old scrutineers’ reading from the CAMS Manual of Motorsport,” explained Mr Palmer.

“So, I assisted the training presentation with the introduction of my own slides of the different categories of racing vehicles and a guest speaker (Russell Stuckey) this time held in the BP House auditorium over a weekend, and I continued presenting the Victorian Scrutineering Course in various venues including the country for the next 30 years.

“Then, I somehow (I couldn’t say no) became the first Victorian State Training Co-Ordinator for quite a few years travelling the State presenting the Level 3 Officials’ generic course to the Victorian car clubs.

HVAC seminars for automotive

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“I also served on the Victorian Rally Panel for many years and then the Victorian Scrutiny Panel becoming a committee member, which I still am. Then serving roles on the Victorian Rally Scrutineers’ Panel as chairman, secretary and to this day I am currently in the secretary role again.”

To add to his busy schedule Mr Palmer fulfils the role of a Vehicle Log Book inspector and Rally Permit Inspector on the Mornington Peninsula, which involves rally pre-event scrutineering and circuit competitor car audits if required.

For Mr Palmer Life Membership is a tangible reminder of the pleasure and memories that motorsport has given him over the years and continues to do.