The Australian Racing Drivers Club

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Ian Hansen

Tekno Autosports take Bathurst 12 Hour victory

Last weekend’s Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour finished in typically thrilling and nailbiting style, with the Tekno Autosports McLaren of Shane van Gisbergen, Jonathan Webb and Portugese driver Alvaro Parente emerging victorious after a record 1845km of racing.

Tekno Autosports, who are proud partners of Sydney Motorsport Park and the ARDC as our official Safety Car supplier, has danced around a Bathurst race victory for several years; the infamous circuit forcing more bad luck than good on the team during their V8 Supercars racing in years past.

This year, the luck was on their side for the debut of the team’s new McLaren 650S GT3; despite 13 pit lane stops, a drive-through penalty during the final stint, and a scary mechanical hiccup that forced Parente to stop and re-set the car on the main straight before resuming the race.

The team beat home the 2015 defending champions Katsumasa Chiyo, Rick Kelly and Florian Strauss in their Nissan GT-R, with Bentley Team M-Sport’s Matt Bell, Steven Kane and Guy Smith came home third.

Only 20 contenders from 37 finished the mammoth race, which saw a record 297 laps completed after the flag fall at 12 hours, with 29 lead changes – another record.

Van Gisbergen also recorded a new outright lap record of the Bathurst circuit with a 2m01.567s, and the team also took pole position and claimed the fastest race lap.

The ARDC congratulates the drivers and team of Tekno Autosports – well done to all!

Australasian Superbike/FX Superbike Rd 7 Finale 2015

Finishing the year at Sydney Motorsport Park is a huge highlight for the whole Australian SuperBike racing fraternity. With most of the category championships still up for grabs, and some very finely balanced with as little as one point separating riders, this final round is closely watched by team statisticians.

It is an especially nervous time for family, too. In fact, I stood beside Brayden Elliots’ aunt while Brayden rode for his tilt at the Swann ASBK Supersport championship on Saturday in which he was tied after six laps with arch rival Callum Spriggs, and my ears are still ringing from the enthusiastic yelling and screaming.

In a move away from the usual Saturday/Sunday race meetings, ASBK organisers elected to make it a Friday/Saturday schedule with racing starting later on each day in order to run the timetabling through into a “twilight” meet in an attempt to offer “after work” racing for spectators on Friday night. It’s a creative attempt by organisers to bring more spectators to the event and cater for our ever changing social habits.

Friday saw the completion of the FX Extreme 2015 racing calendar. Whilst most were racing to end the season strongly Sugar Plum Racings’ Richard Draper was just pleased to be back in leathers following an absence since May due to shoulder surgery. Also in Pro Twin Craig Masters had spent the morning sorting out serious brake issues only to have to push the bike all the way back from turn 18 due to an oversight when someone forgot to fill the fuel tank. As he said”…with a thousand other things going on someone forgot to fill me up”.

Race one of Pro Twin/Naked Bikes early on Friday was a terrible way for championship frontrunner Kris Keen to start his campaign to win his championship. Both his bike and Chris Perini’s both failed to start off the grid and had to be pushed aside. Ben O’Connor jumped the start earning him a 5 second penalty. Craig McMartin was having a stellar race until Beau Beaton, who’d been shadowing him closely, jumped him on the second last lap taking the lead. Not happy McMartin waited his chance and slipstreamed Beaton all the way from turn 18 crossing the line two thousandths/second ahead of Beaton. Visually there was no appreciable difference between the bikes at the finish line. They actually looked like they crossed the line in a dead heat. Race Two saw neither Beau Beaton or Craig McMartin start. This left the field wide open for series leaders Kris Keen and Adrian Pierpont to further stamp their ownership on the title race. Unfortunately Darren Jones had other ideas with an 8 second runaway win from Pierpont as he and Keen crossed like Siamese twins side by side with only five thousands/second separating them. It’s incredible that the timing equipment can record such miniscule time differences.

Formula Oz, sometimes known as the “race what you brung” event, saw double duty for McMartin, Perini and Beaton. Beaton was pushed off the start grid with engine trouble and Perini failed to finish. McMartin however was mixing it up the front with category champion Paul Byrne, leading for most of the race until a last lap charge from Byrne took the lollies away from McMartin . Third place Ben Henry stayed comparatively close to the leaders and had left the main pack well behind. Race two was also a close affair as Beau Beaton got his troubled bike going again and put on a spectacular race with Paul Byrne that had the crowd running back and forth across the pit rooftop not wanting to miss any of the action. Once again Ben Henry had a nine second lead on the main pack but was unable to find the extra second he needed to get past Byrne to challenge Beaton. Side by side across the line and Beaton just edged out Byrne for the win.

Fridays Superbikes set up a tension filled expectation that something awesome was about to unfold. The last race on the FX Xtreme calendar did not disappoint. As the lead group of Troy Herfoss, Wayne Maxwell , Glenn Allerton and Cru Halliday ripped up the track it was very obvious that the championship was going to be earned the hard way today. And so it came to pass that Herfoss finally got his championship when pushing so hard Maxwell took a tumble at turn nine leaving Herfoss the 2015 FX Xtreme champ. Unhurt but disappointed Maxwell could only look forward to Saturdays three-race ASBK program to avenge his loss.

Saturday the Swann Australian Superbike program was unleashed and the day started with the eFXC electric bikes. Making a medium-high pitched whirring sound rather than a throaty roar it was quite strange to see these bikes hurtling down the main straight at 239 kph semi-quietly. The Voltron Evo piloted by Danny Pottage is clearly the faster bike and competently ridden giving him the 5 race wins during the weekend.

The Ninja FX-300 battle deluxe was really about who was going to take the second and third place trophies. Paul Young has a significant point lead and his two race wins today solidified his championship position. Only 21 points separated the next four riders which included Tony Jones and Jack Dawes who split the best results for the minor placings with Jones recording a 1-4-4 race record and Dawes a 3-2-2 all podium day.

Supersports was earmarked on the program as a definite “do not miss”! In particular all year there has been a fierce competitive chemistry between Callum Spriggs and Brayden Elliot. Coming into todays racing only nine points separated the pair. Add to the mix Michael Blair who wasn’t out of contention either only 24 points back of Elliot. So when Blair took race one with Elliot in second, Spriggs lead was dwindling. They were coming after him. Race two and Elliot reversed the win-second relationship with Blair and Spriggs was relegated to fourth. The tension on the pit lane balcony was palpable. As I mentioned previously Elliots’ aunt was a nervous wreck. So race three, the absolute final race of the year and Spriggs and Elliot are separated by only one point. A real cliffhanger. Eight laps from glory. They line up, the starter sends them on their way and Elliot gets the better start. Spriggs hasn’t started particularly well all day and ends up hitting the first turn in sixth. Troy Guenther decides to throw it all down and squeezes Elliot wide in turn two to take the lead. Elliot seems to settle in to a “stay close to Guenther” mindset all the while keeping a watch in his rears hoping like crazy that Spriggs gets caught in traffic. Calculating on the fly it appears that all Elliot needs is for there to be one rider between him and Spriggs come the chequered flag.

By lap five Spriggs has jumped up two places sitting in fourth. Elliot turns on the power and is now trying everything he can to edge past Guenther. He does on two occasions through turn two only to be thwarted by Guenther holding him at bay both times. Its mid lap seven and Spriggs eventually gets past Blair into third spot and is hammering towards turn nine looking to try and put a final move on Elliot. Spriggs brakes super late into nine and finds himself so wide on the exit that he’s in the dirt. Lost opportunity and Elliot squirts away. Elliot now knows that he must get past Guenther if he is a chance to win the championship. Elliot jumps on the juice even before he’s out of turn eighteen trying to slipstream Guenther down the straight. He’s so so close… even riding the fastest lap of the race at 1:30.06 with a top speed of 256kph. He’s within two one thousands /second of Guenther across the line. First-Guenther…Second -Elliot…Third – Spriggs. BUT…its not over yet. The drama continues. Now both Elliot and Spriggs finish equal on 373 points. TIE!!! The rules say that a countback on quantity of podium finishes are the mechanism by which a stalemate is to be broken. With eleven podiums Spriggs is awarded the victory in this most enthralling series.

The Superbikes came to battle with an already tied series. Wayne Maxwell (Yamaha) and Troy Herfoss (Honda) are locked at 316 points. Allerton (Yamaha) is not out of it either only 34 points adrift. Three races away from deciding the “king of the mountain” Australian SuperBike Championship. And race one was exhausting to watch. It was by far one of the best races of the series. Herfoss held pole. Crappy start and all of a sudden in the blink of an eye he’s in fifth place by turn two. Jamie Stauffer (Honda) grabs lead but with superior straight line speed Mike Jones (Kawasaki) takes it away from Stauffer. Stauffer puts on an underarm move on Jones at turn two but runs his line wide and Jones takes it back with a “thank you very much” move. Stauffer using his craftiness takes and holds the lead while Herfoss took no prisoners moving back up to third and attacking Jones. Running wide on the last lap Herfoss’ chances went out the window and Stauffer held on for a magnificent win. Maxwell finished fourth. Advantage Herfoss! Race two and Mike Jones just went nuts. Herfoss hung on and Maxwell too. They both knew that there could be no other rider between them if they were going to keep the points differential to a minimum. Maybe there is something in the saying…” keep your friends close but your enemies closer”. Race two finished Jones to Herfoss to Maxwell. Just out of the podiums Glenn Allerton was only five onethousands/second away. Race three and for the first time all day Herfoss saw what the back of Maxwells bike looked like. Jones once again took off like a scalded cat and Stauffer, who didn’t feature in race two, suddenly unleashed the beast he had brought to race one. He and Jones ended up only one- onethousandths/second apart at the line and Maxwell so close they could have all been triplets. Herfoss was within two seconds of the lead group but one suspects that he already knew what the outcome of this race meant for him. If the fact that he came in the back gate standing on his pegs with arms outstretched to the heavens and one finger on each hand pointing skyward said anything then we all knew that we were looking at the new 2015 ASBK Superbike Champion.

Words and pics by Rob Annesley

www.shotbyrob.com.au

 

New era begins for Muscle Car Masters

The Australian Muscle Car Masters has a new slot on the motor racing calendar for 2016: the last weekend in October.

The nation’s most successful retro motorsport event had been run at Sydney Motorsport Park (Eastern Creek) on the Father’s Day weekend in September for the past 10 years. In an announcement today from the joint-venture partners, the Australian Racing Drivers’ Club Ltd and nextmedia Pty Ltd (publishers of Australian Muscle Car magazine), the 2016 event will be run on the weekend of October 29-30.

By popular demand, this date change will successfully separate the Australian Muscle Car Masters from the venue’s round of the 2016 V8 Supercars championship. Both meetings have been run in close proximity for the last three years, including twice on consecutive weekends.

The move to late October will be welcomed by competitors, officials and motorsport enthusiasts and is expected to boost crowd attendance at both events.

The date change will be especially popular with those previously unable to attend ‘the Masters’ due to Father’s Day family commitments.

The full line-up of race categories and new on-and-off-track activities will be announced early in 2016.

The ultra-popular Pit Straight Car Club Corral and Featured Muscle Marques display and parade will have twin focuses in 2016. Ford’s contribution to Australia’s performance heritage will be celebrated in the month the company winds up manufacturing in this country. Meanwhile, Brock Commodore owners will be encouraged to attend to mark the 10th anniversary of Peter Brock’s passing and 30 years since the launch of the VL Group A.

 

MRC Final Round Wrap!

The 2015 NSW Motor Race Championships came to a close amongst hot temperatures on and off the track. Close to 160 competitors, some with very real hopes of clinching their category titles waxed, polished and tinkered with their cars right up until their call to the dummy grid came over the loudspeakers.
This event featured the SuperSports category replacing Formula Vee who finished their season at the last round in September with their 2015 championship going to Michael Kinsella ( 1st). Only 5 points behind him was Ryan Reynolds (2nd) and Dylan Thomas (3rd). In a regularly huge field of 30-plus cars rookie Aaron Pace finished the year in 10th place.
The Production Sports category had their hour-long enduro which mandated a Driver A & B mid-race change. For those entrants not electing to use a “driver B” then a 45 second mandatory “sit in car” rule applied. During race one Andrew MacPherson (Porsche GT3) spun at turn 15 and softly collided with the wall and didn’t finish the Driver A race. Undaunted, he went on to win the Driver B race and ultimately the 60 minute enduro single-handledly. The Straight Eight Racing pairing of Iain Pretty/Scott Fleming placed second and fourth in the Driver A&B races, and after an hour long race ended up taking second place only 45 sec behind MacPherson at the chequered flag. Neale Muston (solo drive) rounded out the podium.
Championship victories are full of stories of how adversity has been overcome. Dylan Thomas’s victory in Production Touring is one such tale. Leading his category going into the weekend all he needed was a clean weekend and the championship was his. Taking pole in qualifying everything seemed to be going to plan until he came to stop in an almighty billow of black smoke at turn 3 during race one. Oh-oh!! Plan derailed? Not a quitter, Team CXC got Dylan back out there and in the following two races a first and second placings assured that his fairytale was going to become a reality. One small note Id like to mention in this category. As spectators we often don’t see the sportsmanship that goes on between drivers on the track. One such occurance saw Michael Caine relinquish a podium place to allow Dylan Thomas some passing room and ultimately a small amount of breathing space towards his quest for the championship. Nice one Michael.


The mighty HQ duel that we saw at last month’s round six championship event between John Baxter and Brett Osborn continued as if a month hadn’t passed. They picked up exactly where they left off. Side by side…nose to tail. Again, only nano seconds split them during qualifying. That is until Osborn’s nemesis took hold. Two poor starts in races one and two made his workload untenable. A fifth place in race one saw him with a mountain of work to do on Sunday. Pushing so hard to catch up places in race two had him locking up brakes and some uncharacteristic off line driving including dirt bashing at turn 2. To his credit he clawed back twelve places through the field to finish in sixth to go with his fifth in race one, but a win and a second to Baxter in the first two races handed him the 2015 championship. Baxter didn’t get it done easily though as the triumvirate of Molle, Buckley and Cambridge crowded him in and at times seemed to form an impenetrable barrier. Baxter only had to finish race three to take the crown and we don’t know how much Baxter knew of his fuel situation but he conked out just after crossing the finish line in race three and had to be pushed home nose to tail by good samaritan Tony Camillieri. It could have been an altogether different result. High tension in the house of HQ.
Sports Sedans have delighted us all year with their huge sculptured bodies and loud exhausts. I reported on Birol Seton’s unfortunate mishap last month, and he unfortunately didn’t get his repairs done in time to join the racing again this year. We look forward to seeing him next year as he is one of our most spirited racers. In all my reports throughout the year Steve Lacey (Camaro) has featured as coming second or third in the majority of his races. He is as persistant and determined a racer as you could ever hope to meet and should be held as an example to all young aspiring hopefuls that crossing the finish line first isn’t necessarily the only way to win. Being there every race meeting, competing hard and fair, and just having a strong dogged determination and love of the sport is an admirable attitude to bring with you every race day. The saying “nice guys finish last” is definitely not true about Steve! To illustrate Steve’s talent and hardened resolve in the face of adversity he suffered bouts of brake problems throughout the year and this weekend drove race two without fourth and fifth gear and all of race three without a clutch grabbing what ever gear he could to get the job done. Steve took the championship this year from hearty competitors Simon Copping and Grant Doulman.


Formula Cars Darren Choon came out in qualifying with a massive purpose. To unseat his arch rival Nic Filipetto. Ready on the grid side by side for race one the tension could be felt by the rooftop spectators. For some reason the stance of open wheelers look like they’ve come ready for battle. Choon and Filipetto……Filipetto and Choon. The race callers had to keep reaching for their binoculars to be sure who had the lead. Choon took first blood in race one but I suspect that Filipetto’s brake lockup puffs of smoke had a bit to do with that result. Sure enough, speaking with Filipetto later confirmed that a 6% overrotating on the brake cylinder valve had too much brake being applied and also some overinflation of the tyres. Set to go for race two and Nic threw down a smoother lap flow and slightly quicker times giving him the race and championship win.
Thanks to all our hard working race officials, track marshalls and all the unsung heroes who without their hard work and dedication by turning up every race day we couldn’t bring you these fantastic and enjoyable race meetings.

Words and pictures by Rob Annesley
www.shotbyrob.com.au
look@shotbyrob.com.au

MotorWorld coming to SMSP in November 2016

OFFICIAL RELEASE 20/10/15: The New South Wales Government has thrown its full support behind MotorWorld to develop one of the highlights on Sydney’s growing events calendar. Stuart Ayres, NSW Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events and Minister for Sport announced today that the NSW Government, through its major events agency Destination NSW, will proudly support MotorWorld Sydney for the next three years.

With the financial and marketing support of Destination NSW, MotorWorld Sydney will become a major annual festival with national and international reach, attracting tens of thousands of car and motorbike enthusiasts over five days, with plenty of entertainment for the whole family.

Sydney Motorsport Park at Eastern Creek offers the perfect venue with the recently renovated facilities of international standard. 100 pit spaces and two circuits provide excellent test drive opportunities for punters on track, together with a challenging 4WD arena and easy access to suburban roads. Ideal facilities for the Track Drive, Dirt Drive and Street Drive formats which will allow thousands of potential buyers to get behind the wheel and test their dream car.

A launch event to the automotive industry and motoring media to be held at Motorsport Park on Tuesday, 9 February 2016, will enable the organisers of MotorWorld Sydney to showcase how this new event concept will provide the participants with more benefits and greater returns than conventional motor shows or single brand activations.

Kris Willand, Managing Director of MotorWorld Sydney, says, “Many international markets are looking to re-invent the traditional motor show which has lost its appeal in many places. So we have developed a unique event format that will change the way the public experiences the automotive industry.”

Kris adds that “Young and old are looking to engage with the car brands beyond the impersonal online shopping experience or the daunting  showroom visit, they are looking to be entertained and educated on their retail journey. MotorWorld Sydney will become synonymous with great all round entertainment delivered by the automotive industry of Australia.”

Event Wrap – NSW Motor Race Championships Round 6

 

With spring in the air, an excited field of over 180 cars came out for Round 6 of the CAMS NSW Motor Race Championships. Despite NSW being in the grip of one of the longest wet spells in a while, the track dried out nicely in time for both Saturday and Sunday racing. For this event it was the Formula Ford’s turn to have a break from racing, whilst the Production Sports category took its turn to have their annual one-hour enduro.

Formula Vee’s started their program with a good field of 34 cars and the action was push and shove right from the start. Early in race one Craig Sparke expired billowing plumes of smoke from his exhaust at turn two, while Dylan Thomas spluttered to a crawl allowing Simon Pace to continue his determined climb through the field from 10th on the grid to a second place podium finish. Heath Collinson’s front wheel tried to climb aboard Ash Quiddingtons’ rear causing them both to spin losing places to the field. Race three was equally feisty with three safety car stints. Darren Willliams was enjoying his up the front of grid status due to his races one and two third-place podiums, but a spin early in race three put him smack dab in the path of Allan Harrison who t-boned him as Allan had nowhere to go but straight ahead. More disaster was to come Ash Quiddingtons’ way with a lost wheel at turn 1 whilst William Pym expired gracefully at turn two. Ash’s brother Mitch Quiddington suffered a “hands in the air” ignominious end to race three as Dan Stein clobbered him from behind pushing him through the dirt and right out on track again at turn two. This was the final straw and with these two cars requiring “all up lifts” the race petered out as the laps ran down.

Ryan Reynolds carried the day with two wins and a third, with Simon Pace having his best day all year with two seconds. Dylan Thomas bounced back from his earlier car troubles to salvage a spot of satisfaction with second place in race three. Our 2015 debutante Aaron Pace ( Jacer #86) had some valuable experience in the wet conditions on Friday. Trying to avoid Michael Kinsella, who spun and ended up facing the wrong direction at turn five, Aaron dodged when he should have weaved and lost his own backend smacking the stationery Kinsella and causing himself gear box damage and consequently gear change issues all weekend.

Out the front of Sports Sedans Grant Doulman was doing his usual quick flawless driving keeping a handy 4-5 seconds gap on the field. This regularity gave him all three race wins. Nice to see Birol Cetin back after missing last round. Cetin had an uncharacteristic moment at turn two spearing a direct course towards the ARDC sign through the field thankfully missing everyone.

In race three Cetin was the unfortunate recipient of a direction change from David Atkin (BMW3) as he was executing a passing manoeuvre at turn 3. After contact Birol lost his road grip in the big Camaro and veered sideways across the track eventually contacting the wall on drivers right halfway down the hill towards turn 4. With fiberglass bits strewn everywhere, a bonnet that resembled a wobble board and major structural carnage to the front end suspension, we hope that the car can be rebuilt in time for the years final racing championships at SMSP in late October. Prior to this mishap, Cetin had racked up two second places for the day. Steve Lacey drove his regular race and brought home three podiums including a second in race three.

Chris Jackson will be busy over the next couple weeks as huge smoke plumes from a lunched motor rose in the air at turn one as his burning Calibra looked more like a bonfire for a weeny roast.

While the HQ’s may not be everyone’s cup of tea and they may not go as fast or elegantly as some of the later model high tech race cars, they more than make up for this in their wobbling and rockin’and rollin’ racing demeanour. The speeds that they do with the uncouth manners that these cars display (not the drivers) is a real credit to the pilots who navigate these classic machines around the track.

Talented tacticians, it was a real privilege to watch the dog fight between John Baxter and Brett Osborn, as they worked hard not only to “outpsyche” each other playing a wonderful cat and mouse game, but the driving skill as they drove nose to tail and side by side using every ounce of skillful nouse they possessed, working the slip stream and blind spots to gain the upper hand. Races two and three were both the “Osborn and Baxter Show” (up front). They swapped the lead numerous times throughout the course of each race as they came through both turn 15 and turn 2, manhandling these cantankerous beasts and tryng to hold them strongly to a racing line.

As the brakes heated and lost efficacy this allowed both drivers to take momentary advantages in lapses of concentration or moments of vehicle mechanical uncertainty, allowing one or other to steal a small piece of real estate, reluctantly given up as each battle raged in the 21 minutes of war each race provided. Osborn won race two by three one-hundredths of a second. That’s 30 Milliseconds!!! That’s not even the time distance from the front bumper bar to the front wheel.

Not only that…. Baxter was leading coming halfway down main straight before Osborn wacked out a passing manoeuvre Ayton Senna would have been proud of!! Cojones the size of Mango’s. Race three wasn’t much different. Same two guys : same ferocious battle. Similar antics and lead changes. This time the separation at the chequered flag was 90 milliseconds. Nine one-hundredths of a second. Distance from bumper to back door. Thanks John and Brett for a fabulous stoush which was worth the price of admission right there.

Words and pics by Rob Annesley
www.shotbyrob.com.au