Welcome to our new website, www.sydneymotorsportpark.com.au! The new site brings together the ARDC and SMSP pages to deliver all you need to know about the Park and how to make the most of the facilities and experiences. There’s also a new Members portal, allowing easier sign up for new Memberships, information and to renew. Enjoy!
Mostert’s Winning Start
A freshly re-painted and re-surfaced Sydney Motorsport Park greeted the V8 Supercar teams on February 7-8, for the sydney.com Test Day. While the circuit itself drew lots of attention, all eyes were on young gun, Pepsi Max Crew’s Chaz Mostert as he took out the ARMOR ALL SuperShootout at day’s end.
Last year’s Bathurst winner was debuting the FG X Falcon at SMSP, adding to an excellent first test hit-out with the win against his more experienced rivals – and this from a driver who has never taken a V8 Supercars Pole Position. That looks set to change for 2015.
“It’s fantastic … everyone’s on the same brand new tyre, one lap to do the job and it’s good to be well inside the top 10 – further in front than we thought we would be,” Mostert said.
“The guys have worked so hard in the off-season… we’ve got a bit of homework to do, I wasn’t quite happy with the balance so a bit more speed to get out of her.”
The next round of the V8 Supercars at Sydney Motorsport Park is the SuperSprint, August 21-23. (Photos: Mark Horsburgh.)
2014 ARDC Club Championships
The Australian Racing Drivers’ Club is happy to announce the addition of two new names to the Championship honour board: Dylan Thomas, our 2014 ARDC Club Champion, and Warwick Morris, our 2014 ARDC Supersprint Champion.
Previous names to have graced the wood include Ian (Pete) Geoghegan (1957), Colin Bond (1974), Bob Morris (1979), Tony Longhurst (1991) and Mark Skaife (2001/02).
ARDC Competitor Members score points in the ARDC Club Championship competition every time they run in an ARDC-organised race at Sydney Motorsport Park, with one point awarded to Members for every competitor they finish ahead of. This number is then multiplied by the number of laps scored in each race.
In 2013, the Board added an ARDC Club Supersprint Champion gong, given the number of Members racing in the CAMS series, and the support given to the series by the ARDC itself.
Congratulations to Dylan and Warwick, and good luck for the upcoming ARDC season!
2014 ARDC Club Champion –
Dylan Thomas, Member 1063
This year’s ARDC Club Champion, Dylan Thomas, has had a cracker year in Production Touring as well as Formula Vee, winning the Championship in the latter and also nabbing the new CAMS Kevin Bartlett Award which recognises the success of a NSW or ACT circuit driver during the current calendar year.
“I am surprised and shocked to win this Championship – we have done well this year in Formula Vee and Production Touring, and it’s a credit to the team, not just me as a driver – I’m not driving any better, but my cars are better prepared,” said Thomas.
“It is far easier to get the job done when you have the right equipment, and the guys can be looking after up to seven cars at any one event, so it’s a credit to my boys at (the) CXC Global Workshop. We are looking forward to another busy year in 2015.”
Thomas wished to thank sponsors CXC Global main sponsor, CXC Global Racing workshop, and Barrenjoey Smash Repairs
2014 ARDC Club Championship – final points after 5 rounds:
Dylan Thomas – Formula Vee & Production Touring – 2741
John Baxter – HQ Holdens – 2266
Steve Hodges – Production Touring – 1985
Aaron Seton – Production Touring – 1981
Duane Cambridge – HQ Holdens – 1976
Christopher Molle – HQ Holdens – 1929
Lee Vella – Superkarts – 1704
Paul Campbell – Superkarts – 1641
Birol Cetin – Sports Sedans – 1590
Simon Pace – Formula Vee – 1525
Simon Thomsen – Formula Vee – 1478
Anthony Camilleri – HQ Holdens – 1471
Zach Loscialpo – Production Touring – 1451
Darren Williams – Formula Vee – 1451
Grant Doulman – Sports Sedans – 1426
Daniel Stein – Formula Vee – 1392
Steven Lacey – Sports Sedans – 1333
Ian McLean – HQ Holdens – 1282
Geoff Bennett – Formula Vee – 1261
Tim Brook – Formula Vee – 1241
2014 ARDC Supersprint Champion
Warwick Morris, Member 3827
ARDC Members scored a point for every person they beat in their class, which was then multiplied by the number of laps completed on the day of competition. The driver with the most points over the three meetings is declared the ARDC Supersprint Champion, and this year’s winner was Warwick Morris in a 1999 996 Porsche GT3.
Morris joined the ARDC at around the same time he began racing the Porsche, and has spent the past two years racing in the CAMS series and Porsche Club events. He was crowned Type 2 Champion in the CAMS Supersprint series this year; broke the Type 2 and Class 2C records for all of the circuits used in the 2014 Championship, and can now add the ARDC Club Championship to his trophy cabinet.
“What a wonderful surprise – you have made my day!” exclaimed Morris.
“I really enjoy the CAMS Supersprint series, and the ARDC hosts many of the events – I find them exceptionally well run and a great day of competition. I am already registered for 2015 and keen to defend this title.”
2014 ARDC Supersprint Championship – final points after 3 rounds
Warwick Morris – 2C – 665
Con Zeritis – 3C – 456
Matthew Richardson – 2D and SVD – 233
Cooper Calman – 3C and 4C – 223
Terry Waugh – SVD – 182
Allan Marin – 3D – 153
Matt Cole – SVC – 148
Carl Kosutar – 3C – 142
Peter Hogan – 3C – 139
Rebecca Grasso – 2C – 100
David Beneke – SVD – 96
Dejan Benuta – SVD – 88
Marek Tomasewski – 5C – 82
Lachlan Mc Brian – 2C – 80
Vince Muriti – SVC – 78
David Wylie – 2B – 74
Drew Hall – 4D – 73
Andrew Allan – 2C – 63
Geoff Owens – 3C – 60
Gerard Manion – 2D – 56
Event wrap: 2014 Tasman Trophy
The final event on the 2014 racing calendar, The Tasman Trophy, was run by the HSRCA (Historic Sports and Racing Car Assoc) on Nov 29th – 30th. Like the inaugural Tasman Cup and Tasman Revival meetings, the Tasman Trophy is a celebration of the original 1960’s Tasman Series which saw sports cars of that era travel from all over the world to race in Australia. Similarly, this weekend saw competitors from the UK, USA and New Zealand come together to reprise those heady days of open wheeled sports cars and production sports and touring cars.
David Kent, Acting President of HSRCA said “… many of the cars that are here for this event are the actual cars that raced here in the beginning. Today these cars, whilst cherished by their owners, are nevertheless driven in a spirited and competitive fashion. We expect to see some very good racing this weekend.”
Patrick Quinn, publicity manager for HSRCA said “…over 250 cars converged this weekend on SMSP to recapture the iconic days of these wonderful period vehicles. Back when names like Clark, Stewart, Rindt and Hill came with marques like Lotus, Cooper, BRM and Ferrari’s to fight it out for the Tasman supremacy. Competitors this weekend will take part in 36 races ( four per group) of between fourteen and eighteen minutes duration. There will also be one enduro of fifty minutes for Group S. With a two driver option, well known celebrity driver John Bowe was seen suiting up in Andrew Purvis’ garage.
The conditions for this race meeting were the same as we have been experiencing in Sydney over the past month. Unsettled with strong cloud bands, strong gusty winds bringing storms bearing rain squalls and lightning.
Saturday was fine and quite warm, but Sunday was clear and fine UNTIL around 2:30pm. Then an almighty weather event brought torrential rain, lightning and strong winds. Group N had just gone out for their warmup lap, when the storm hit.. A rolling start and as the first six cars came out of turn one, the first three cars of Wheatley (Cooper S), Tierney ( XU-1 Torana), and Robertson (Charger)aquaplaned and slid straight off the track across the grass and into the gravel trap.
In just a few short minutes the water had pooled and there was absolutely no adhesion. In trying to avoid the ballet of misadventure being performed by the previous three cars, Alan Mayne (Mazda Rx2) and Danny Berry (Cooper S) found themselves swamped on drivers left at turn one. The race was called off as the conditions were just atrocious. The resources of tow trucks and rescue vehicles was stretched, and one of the rescue vehicles very nearly joined the bogged and stranded cars.
In Formula Ford, Barry-Cotter (PRS82F) had a Sunday morning to forget. Not content with spinning at turn two and coming into contact with Lynn Cowan, (both resumed, however Cowan car succumbed to its injuries and retired early) but Barry-Cotter had a second go at perfecting the pirouette on turn six, and this time hit the wall ending up in a dangerous position. Up at the business end of the racing Garry Watson ( Mawer) gradually got faster as the weekend wore on, and as a result in each race led by a larger margin eventually recording four wins from four starts. Dave Holland (Reynard) took all four second places and Ed King (Reynard) grabbed a trio of thirds.
Ian Bailey (1962 Lynx) got a fright when one of his wheels passed him at turn 15. Michael Anderson (XY GT) led from start to finish in Group N and took all four wins for the weekend. The fierce battles were for second and third between Andrew Whiteside (Mustang) and Wayne Rogerson (Maxda RX2) with Marty Macri pushing those two with his late under brakes dives. In race three it worked, as Macri took a third out from underneath Rogerson. It was an eventful race as Mark Broadhead hit a large strip of oil and spun ending up sidelined while Michael Collins (Cortina) got crossed up trying to avoid hitting Mark and nearly coming to grief himself. The oil stretched from turn 14 down to turn 15 causing a delay in proceedings as it was cleaned up.
Formula 5000 cars are always a crowd favourite. These massive open wheeled gargantuans bellow their 5Litre V8 power as they scream around the track. Tom Tweedie reigned over the weekend with two wins from both his starts, showing his dominance from start to finish with a twelve second clear victory in race two. Clark Proctor took race one over Steve Ross, but as soon as Tweedie entered the contest, both the others were relegated to the minor placings.
Paul Zazryn held two thirds places to round out the weekend. Russell Greer retired early in race two and Greg Thornton only made it for one race as his campaign was cut short with a dropped rod and a massive bellow of smoke. So much smoke in fact that the fire Marshall stopped by Gregs’ garage to make sure a fire didn’t erupt. Another early exit was Warren de Guara’s 1965 Mustang. Suffering the same fate as Thornton, a massive belch of smoke whilst cruising past pit lane had Warren ending up sidelined around turn one with a blown engine.
The Trophy winners for this meeting were:
The Bernie Haehnle Trophy: Daniel Bando
The Bib Stillwell Trophy: Rob Tweedie
The Bill Brown Shield: Geoff Morgan
The Brian Foley Trophy: Darryl Hanson
The Frank Matich Trophy: No Competitors
The Ian Forsyth Shield: Graham Henshaw
The Ian Geoghegan Trophy: Graham Russell
The Jack Brabham Trophy: Ed Holly
The Jack Myers Trophy: Phil Anseline
The John Leffler Shield: Tom Tweedie
The Kevin Bartlett Trophy: No Competitors
The Leo Geoghegan Trophy: Damon Hancock
The Peter Finlay Trophy: Matthew Price
The RACA, Sa Trophy: Peter Jackson
The RACA, Sb Trophy: Wayne Seabrook
The Ron Tauranac Trophy: David Kent
The Spencer Martin Trophy: Richard Knox
Special mention must be made in regards to Wes Dayton’s marvellous induction as an Honorary Life Member of the HSRCA, for his exceptional and sustained contributions to the HSRCA and motorsport in general.
– Words and pics by Rob Annesley
look@shotbyrob.com
Australasian/FX Superbike Championship
The exciting series final of the 2014 SWANN Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship Series ( ASC ) and the YMF Loan Australian FX-Superbike Championship series ( AFX-SBK ) was held in sweltering conditions on November 22 – 23 at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Terry O’Neill, event director, stated that “..this year’s Championship series has been huge with some of the most exciting racing ever seen in this country. Every Championship category is up for grabs this weekend, and it will be hard fought, that’s for sure. We’ll see very close racing this weekend.”
Both the weather and the racing was fierce and hot. Ambient air temperatures on Friday qualifying and Sunday racing hit the 40 degree mark, and racers had to contend with track temps nudging 70 degrees. It was a true test of man and machine in these extreme conditions. Many teams had blow up kiddies pools in and around their garages, in order to keep their racers cool between races. Others used the showers for a cool respite.
Qld based Mark Carlsson, team boss for Jordan Carlsson Racing commented “…on Friday the track temp was 69.4 degrees. We had to deal with trying to set the bikes telemetry to allow for this. At these temperatures the bikes handling feels like riding on marshmallows. We’ve got plenty of straight line power, but the handling into corners is where you pick up places or lose them.”
In the Ninja 300 class, Brandon Demmery and Kyle Buckley have been the hottest riders all year. Coming into this weekend, Buckley only had a two point lead on Demmery. The round and overall championship was eventually won by Demmery who was just too strong for Buckley and showed incredible consistency with a race win and two second places to win the Championship and a brand new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R.
Sophie Lovett won the womens class in the FX 300 Ninja Cup with a clean sweep of the series and won the Championship by 58 points. She was so strong all year that she came fourth outright in the Championship.
In the Pro Twin/Naked class KTM’s two-wheeled testosterone machine, the 1290 Super Duke R, now has an Australian Road Race Championship title under its belt.%u2028In the hands of master blaster Angus Reekie, the Super Duke R came from behind to claim the Australasian Superbike Championships Naked Bike category, while Reekie was also awarded the winner’s trophy for Pro Twins combined classification.%u2028
For Reekie, who crashed out during practice for the penultimate round in September, it was a resumption of regular service as he and his V-twin streetfighter performed yet another clean sweep of three wins for the weekend – in the process achieving the very enviable record of having won every naked bike race he has started in 2014.%u2028
The title is the ninth national championship for Reekie, whose cabinet already holds six Australian Supermoto, one Supermono, and one FX Pro Thunder trophies. Adrian Pierpoint and Darren Wilbow claimed second and third respectively.
Congratulations to Richard Draper’s Sugar Plum Racing team. This small but close knit privateer team from western NSW contested the Naked Bike F2 class and this year also had an entry in the Ninja 300 class.
Raschelle Sherwood’s first year in competition and she finished with third place in the womens category in the Kawasaki Ninja 300’s. Richard fought mechanical issues all year ranging from brakes to fuel to overheating but his gritty tenacity and with Lisa and Linda pit crewing for him they overcame these obstacles and Richard honoured their incredible commitment with trophies in both series over the weekend as well as the taking out the Naked Bike F2 class championship.
FX Pro Twins was a hotly contested class. In all three races, it appeared to be the Craig McMartin and Kevin Curtain show. McMartin shot off the line in both race one and two, but Curtain reeled him in on both occasions, partly due to some fuel issues suffered in race one by McMartin and in the second race the veteran Curtain relentlessly took back seconds on each lap to eventully overhaul McMartin closing out the first two races by over 8 seconds in front of McMartin on both occasions. Race three again McMartin shot of the line and grabbed the early lead, this time he feverishly held on like a man possessed and refused to relinquish the lead eventually holding Curtain at bay to take the race win by only five-tenths. The championship series was won by Simon Galloway, who had already wrapped up the series after Round Five at Wakefield.
Maxima Yamaha rider Aaron Morris claimed the coveted Supersport championship by the narrowest of margins. Morris went into the final race of the day in Sydney holding a three-point lead over closest rival Aiden Wagner (Yamaha), with a brand new R1 up for grabs to the championship winner. In the final race, Wagner claimed victory making it three race wins from three on the day, however Morris’ second place had the championship tied on points overall. Third overall for the round was Callum Spriggs (Yamaha). On a countback, Morris took the outright championship honours with his season tally of 11 race wins compared to Wagner’s seven, enough to clinch the title.
New champion Matthew Harding swept the Formula Oz ranks in a Kawasaki trifecta, winning all three races to take the overall from Brayden Carr and Phil Lovett. There was only a 3-point gap in the championship between Harding and Lovett leading into the final round and Hardings clean sweep saw him finishing with a well deserved 20–point lead. British Superbike regular David Johnson also made his way on track riding a ZX-10R, finishing sixth overall.
Four riders competed in the e-FXC category. The title races in the eFXC class was a battle between two; Danny Pottage (O’Hanlon Electric Motorsports) and Daniel Ripperton ( Ripperton Racing) . Pottage finished more than ten seconds ahead of Ripperton in both races. So dominant was Pottage that he also posted a new lap record for the category of 1:46.568. He clinched the championship victory with a race to spare.
Team Honda Racing pilot Wayne Maxwell has comfortably taken out the 2014 YMF Loan Yamaha Australian FX Superbike Championship at Eastern Creek. Maxwell wrapped up the title after two of the scheduled three races for the day – his sixth and fourth place finishes enough to secure the title heading into the final race. Teammate Troy Herfoss would have been disappointed with his day on the track, and despite some issues throughout the day (he claimed fifth, 10th and fourth from his three races) managed to finish the championship in second. An inspired day of racing from Mike Jones (Crazy Dog Kawasaki) handed him third place in the overall championship. Robert Bugden (YRT) and Glenn Scott (Insure My Ride) rounded out the top-five in the overall standings.
Words and pictures by Rob Annesley
look@shotbyrob.com.au
Event Wrap: FoSC Finale
The final Festival of Sporting Cars (FoSC) event for 2014 was conducted on Sunday November 16th using the South Circuit at Sydney MotorSport Park. In excess of 90 competitiors faced conditions that taxed even the most experienced racing teams, with some of less experienced competitors finding them to be downright perplexing. In a morning that brought rain up until the starting horn was sounded, a wet track gave early entrants a slow run round. For those in open-top cars and some who had only brought slicks, the clearing weather was a relief.
Throughout the morning the wind gusts were upwards of 30 knots which made for tricky judgements out on the track at speed. Finally the sun came out and the temps hit the mid 20’s. It should be mentioned that this event was one of the best examples of the mantra that FoSC has adopted. The “no contact, no sheep stations” friendly style of competition had emergency crews having a blessedly quiet day. Some early wet practice sessions put everyone into full concentration mode and may have contributed to the overall lack of incidents.
Notable sights and sounds during the course of the day were Chris Stode’s 7 litre Ford Galaxie . Chris said ”…I went round the whole track in third gear. Its got plenty of pickup and rev range so I didn’t need to change it up or down”. Also featured were the two US Legend cars of Kerry Hughes.President of FoSC David Nichols said, “….the fact that so many different vehicle makes and models and their drivers can compete with each other in sportsmanlike fashion shows that everyone is there simply for the pleasure of getting out on the circuit and enjoying their motorsport. With that in mind we are pleased to be able to offer an even wider variety for next years competitions, with the addition of a meeting on the Druitt ( SMSP North) circuit in March, as well as three other meetings at SMSP through out the year, and our usual Wakefield weekend mid year.”
Today’s event culminated the Historic Touring Cars Championship for 2014 in both the Nb and Nc classes. In Nb, Paul Battersby took three second places during the event to accumulate enough points to secure the championship trophy. Whilst not appearing for todays event, Graham Russell took second and Bob Munday had three thirds to take the championship third spot. In a year long battle for the top position in the Nc class, Wayne Rogerson and John Wright battled hard, and in the end Rogersons two race wins today gave him the championship title. Wright hung on to second and Mark Lenstra finished third in the championships.
The 2014 Excel NSW Championship ended in an AGI Motorsport team clean sweep of the championship. In what has become an all too familiar site over the course of the year, Nathan Gotch finished with two firsts and a second place sealing his championship victory on 330 points. Filipetto’s first, second and third was a strong statement, and earned him a commendable second in the championship with 273 points. Dave Smith rounded out the podium in the Excel Championship Series on 184 points.
The Historic and Invited Sports Touring category races were a bit of a runaway affair with Don Collyer (Clubman) crossing the line ten and twelve seconds respectively ahead of Scott Tutton in races two and three. Craig Durrant was consistent with his three thirds for the day’s outing.
The beginner’s “Come and Try” segments were well supported with six newcomers getting two opportunities to drive around the circuit with mentors. Dominic Stramandinol second go-round showed great promise with a twelve-second bettering of his first attempt in his stock street Commodore.
Words and pics by Rob Annesley