This week, a report in The Age claimed Benalla Auto Club vice president Ross Wood had not read an Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) document before signing it.
The change to company details document, dated April 7, removed shares from the club.
According to the report, Wood said he thought that he was authorising a three-year lease agreement to Les Smith and not a sale of the governing body.
Wood and two other club committee members, Barry Stilo (president) and Garry Quigley (treasurer), were removed as directors.
As it stands, AASA is owned by former Benalla Auto Club CEO Stephen Whyte, former club secretary Michael Fitzgerald, Peter Washington and Smith.
Wood said he did not know that Whyte was part of the investor group nor that the paperwork would surrender the ownership.
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The Benalla Auto Club has disputed the sale and said the committee never saw the aforementioned document.
“The Benalla Auto Club committee never had any discussions or negotiations with anyone about the sale of shares in AASA to any party,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“The Benalla Auto Club committee had no idea that there was any purported sale of shares in AASA, or who they were transferred to, and only discovered this in late June 2026.”
In June, Whyte announced the sale.
“This is a fantastic development for motorsport in general in Australia,” said Whyte in a statement.
“Today, we’re able to announce that an investment group has entered into an agreement with the Benalla Auto Club committee to purchase the Australian Auto-Sport Alliance (AASA).
“It means that the motorsport world is going to have plenty of opportunity to deal with the AASA as we will be moving away from Winton. We’ll be relocating to a more central position in Melbourne.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to grow the Australian Auto-Sport Alliance, obviously due to the hard work and the foresight of the Benalla Auto Club committee.”
The Benalla Auto Club told its members after the announcement that it “rejects any suggestion that the Benalla Auto Club Committee approved, supported, or endorsed such a transaction.”
The club was prepared to take legal action over the matter.
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