The Australian Racing Drivers Club

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Ian Hansen

Event Wrap: Shannons Nationals Finals

The final round for the year of “The Nationals”, the nine round Shannons series that criss-crosses the country annually climaxed at Sydney Motorsport Park under extreme weather conditions to say the least.

Saturday’s very hot and windy conditions culminated in high powered winds through the latter part of the afternoon and had competitors guessing, especially as they exited pit lane into turn one at three-quarter speed, as they faced the swirling 50 knot nor-westerly winds. Thunder and a barrage of lightning gave spectators an incredible front row seat to an awesome light show, and had teams on high alert as the track alternatively went from hot and dry, followed by wet and cold, returning to hot and dry only a matter of 10 minutes after the storm abated.

This sequence occurred twice more as the wave of storm cells crossed the Eastern Creek precinct throughout the afternoon. Nathan Gotch, of AGI Motorsports, commented “…it was really tough to get the setup correct yesterday. Starting with a stiff setup to match the new tyres , we were constantly adjusting and softening the setup as they wore and as the temps dropped throughout the afternoon. We battled the viscous cross winds, too but I guess we should be thankful our races missed the full brunt of the rain squalls. It was very busy in our team garage as we discussed all the variables we were facing…the rain, wind, tyre wear and dropping temps.”

Other teams were busy for different reasons. BRM Rundle Motorsport were forced to rebuild the front end of Chris Anthony’s Dallara after a front-on collision at turn 6 on Saturday after he ran wide and mounted the concrete.
Sunday brought forth a cool and sedate breeze, and all the hulabaloo of the previous day settled into a serious day for competitiors as four champions were crowned during the course of the day.

Justin Ruggier, Simon Hodge, Tim Berryman and Tony Ricciardello were all crowned national champions on the final day of racing While Hodge and Ricciardello clinched their respective Formula 3 and Kerrick Sports Sedan titles in race two, the Kumho V8 Touring Cars and Radical Australia Cup went down to the wire in their final races of the year.

Simon Hodge won the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship title, Justin Ruggier the Kumho V8 Touring Cars and Tony Ricciardello sealed a record eighth Kerrick Sports Sedan title. Tim Berryman won the Radical Australia Cup. Tim Berryman grabbed the Radical Australia Cup series win, with all four champions crowned this weekend also winning their final races of the year, respectively.

Simon Hodge won the CAMS Gold Star award after a breathless Formula 3 race on Sunday morning, carving his way through the field to win the championship with a race victory. Hodge then won the feature race of the season to close out his title in style.

Tim Berryman won the Radical Australia Cup, rebounding from a high-speed crash in Friday practice to end his season on top. The New South Wales driver charged to the front in the final 50-minute endurance race that completed the season, winning the race and edging season-long rival Michael Shaw out for the overall championship in the process. Berryman’s ten-point victory gets him a UK trip and a works Radical Cup drive in Europe for a selected major event next year. Shaw sealed the SR3 class championship and second overall thanks to a consistent weekend performance, with Kim Burke completing the top three.

Justin Ruggier sealed the Kumho V8 Touring Cars series win after he and Ryan Simpson took their year-long battle down to the final race of the season. Simpson kept his title hopes alive heading into the final race after taking a last-gasp victory in race two, slicing up the inside of Ruggier on the final lap of the race to grab the win. Ruggier had it easier in the finale’, however, holding out Simpson to win by less than a second to seal his maiden national title

Today’s Kumho V8 title win was the second V8 title for Eggleston Motorsport, having wrapped up the V8 Supercar Development Series title with Paul Dumbrell in early October. Ruggier’s win also creates history for his car – the ex-HSV Dealer Team Commodore won the V8 Supercars title with Rick Kelly before winning the Development Series at the hands of Tony D’Alberto. Matt Palmer finished third in the round and completed the series podium in his STR Truck Bodies Ford.

Tony Ricciardello wrapped up his eighth Kerrick National Sports Sedan Series today by winning two of the three races contested in the series’ final round of the year. Ricciardello won races two and three after Hossack had earlier won the opener after another sensational battle between the longstanding rivals. The pair signed off the season by staging another sensational duel in the final race before Ricciardello was able to drive away and win to close out his title in style.

Thomas Randle scored his first Australian Formula Ford series round victory in style at Sydney Motorsport Park, scoring both Sunday races to seal the round victory and take the title fight to the final round this November. Randle jumped to a clear second in the standings behind leader James Golding and will be just 21 points behind when the series stages its final round at Phillip Island. Jordan Lloyd finished second for the round, despite being turned around in turn two in the opening lap of race two on Sunday morning. Despite dropping to the back of the field, Lloyd recovered to fifth place in that race and climbed to second in the finale’ before climbing to second in the finale’ after a race-long battle with Nick Rowe. Rowe finished third overall for the round with Golding not scoring a podium finish. It was also great to see Synergy Motorsports fostering young up and coming talent in the ‘Nationals. Caitlin Wood, a former karting champion, acquitted herself well up the field in the Formula Ford series in only her first year of national racing experience.

Stuart Shirvington won the one-off PRB Clubman series round ahead of Stefan Versluis and Chris Barry, while Barry sealed the PRB Motorsport series title ahead of Shirvington.

Words and pics by Rob Annesley
look@shotbyrob.com.au

Event Wrap: NSW MRC Finals

The final round for 2014 of the NSW Motor Racing Championships, held at Sydney Motorsport Park on the weekend of Oct 25/26th, was a true testament to the fun and friendly rivalry that competitors in this race series enjoy – evident by the amount of names on the entrant list at this late stage in the year.Whilst many race series find it hard to get enthusiastic numbers to fill the available places come race day at this end of the year, when many of their race category championship results are a fait accompli, Round Seven of the NSWMRC was filled with racers enjoying an end-of-year carnival like feeling in the pits. For some there was a glimmer of hope for a championship podium finish, for others it was a time to work on a few new ideas and mechanical setups in the hope of jumping out of the blocks and stealing a march on unsuspecting rivals in 2015.

Steve Lacey in Sports Sedans was holding onto second place in the championships even after the dreadfully unlucky year he’s had with multiple rounds suffering steering failures. His poor luck continued over the weekend with an engine failure in Fridays practice. With no time to evaluate the problem, and new engine was thrown into the car on Friday night, and with three gentle laps in Saturday’s qualifying to bed it in, it was “off to the races” with it for a last throw of the dice to seal his championship spot.

Birol Cetin, who was leading the championships in the same category and only needed one race finish over the whole weekend to secure his championship, also suffered misfortune on Friday with an in-car fire. Come early on Saturday morning there was serious doubt about his ability to start as the problem was identified as a faulty cam shaft sensor causing unburnt fuel to buildup in the exhaust pipe and a misfire set it alight. Cetin showed the champion form he’s displayed all year not letting a back of grid start hamper his plans and took the championship lollies with a superb drive in race one coming from last to place second. Congratulations to Steve Lacey on a gritty performance throughout the year to hold onto second in the championships.

Another exciting category was Improv Prod U2L featuring a return to the championship of Bob Jowett. Bob smashed his Civic mid year, and missed two complete rounds of the championship. Sporting a bright new livery on his new Civic, he showed dynamic form to take the win in all three races on the day.

With too many points out front in the championship, Dave Crighton thought he only need to complete one race to ensure his number one spot in the championship. However, he was informed he needed to complete two races. He took it out hard and was having a beaut run when on the last lap rounding turn eighteen he suffered a fuel pump malfunction and lost the lead as he limped down main straight and coasted across the finish line . Heart in mouth he snatched his championship victory back from the jaws of defeat.

Finishing a stellar year in style Steven Devjak took three wins from three starts on the weekend and wrapped up his year in wonderful style clean sweeping his way to his championship victory in Improv Prod O2L. Joe Lenthall in his first full year of racing in this category happily embraced second place.

With the weekends lead swapping between the championship leader and his closest rival, John Baxter grabbed enough points to secure his championship win against his determined year long nemesis Brett Osborn. Finishing with third in the championship was Chris Molle.

Superkarts are synonymous with excitement and Sunday was no exception. Anton Stevens showed his blistering form with a clean sweep of all four races. His awesome form had his closest competitor in race one crossing the line 30 seconds behind him. It was great to see Anton’s skill for only the second time this year. Congratulations to Aaron Cogger for a pair of seconds, John Pellicano with a second and third, and Paul Campbell (pictured) taking a brace of thirds.

The Production Touring Car Championships ended their year with a one hour enduro featuring driver A and B. Leading from start to finish, Aaron Seton drove a faultless stint and at the final bell was 38 seconds ahead to claim the victory. Dylan Thomas and Leigh Burges took second and third respectively.

Words and pics by Rob Annesley

 

 

CAMS Supersprint Champshionship, Round Seven, Oct 5 2014

As the motorsport season draws to a close for 2014 this, our final Supersprint event for the year, saw a healthy field of 87 competitors bring their hopes and aspirations for glory, and a few more championship points, out to Sydney Motorsport Park South Circuit on what turned out to be a fabulous day for motorsport.
The morning Spring temperatures were a little fresh, however the jumpers were well and truly peeled off by mid morning. Blue skies and sunshine made for excellent rubber -to -bitumen connection, and the days program got off to a brisk and on time start.

No better way to get the spectators lining the fences than to have the two quickest lads in the house take it out early. Marek Tomaszewski and Andre Tan have duelled all year, and this being Marek’s favourite track layout, he let Andre know from the get-go that he intended to “bring it on”. Marek, who is a bit of a specialist on the South Circuit, was the fastest car on the day in his beautifully prepared and driven Stohr with a time of 53.329 ,while Richard Perini was the fastest Tin Top in his Porsche RSR with a Type 4 record breaking time of 56.946. Chris Kostakis brought his recently acquired beautiful White Radical out for a spin. He was throwing down clean, fast lines and ended the day only two seconds behind Tomaszewski and Tan.

It was great to see one of our next generation of Supersprint stars doing well this weekend. Cooper Calman, a 16yo who is completing grade 10 this year, broke the Class 4C record in his Mazda RX7 FD. This well spoken rising star also holds the NSW Hillclimb Championship in his category. Speaking about his enjoyment of Supersprint, Cooper said”…I really like coming to Supersprints, cause I get so much more drive time in the car than in some other events in which I compete.” Cooper and his family supporters drive long distances to come to these meetings, and their commitment is reaping rewards in Coopers increasing talent.

TYPE RECORDS
Warwick Morris broke the Type 2 and Class 2C records in his Porsche GT3 with a time of 1.00.984. Warwick has broken the Type 2 and Class 2C records for all of the circuits used in the Championship this year. A great year, and congratulations Warwick.
Allan Marin continues on his winning way as he broke the Type 3 and Class
3D records in his Commodore with a time of 1.01.109. I should mention that
Allan has broken the Type 3 and Class 3D records at the last three Rounds.
Records at SMSP Brabham and SMSP North are the only Type 3 records that he hasn’t broken this year.
Richard Perini broke the Type 4 and Class 4C records in his Porsche GSR with a great time of 56.946.
Chris Sutton broken the Type 6 and Class 6D records in his Subaru STi with a
time of 58.861 This is a first time in the record books for Chris this year
but I think we’ll being seeing him there a fair bit next year.

CLASS RECORDS – Craig Donnell broke the Class 2D record in his Walkinshaw Commodore with a time of 1.03.858. He was having a really good run, but unfortunately for late in the day he touched the wall.
Karl Kosutar broke the Class 3C record in his Mazda MX5 with a time of
1.02.706. First time in the record books for Karl who was only there
for a couple of runs before being chauffered off to a private box at the Grand Final. Were unsure who he was barracking for, but he’s sure to have had a great day all round.
Chis Muir broke the Class 4A record in his Honda CRX with a time of
1.04.100. This is the third time in the record books for Chris this year.
Chris now holds the Class 4A records for all of the SMSP circuits with the
record at Wakefield Park the only one eluding him. Next year maybe, Chris?
Ed Cory broke the Class 4B record in his Mazda MX5 with a time of 1.04.409.
This is the second time in the record books for Ed this year.
Tony King broke the Class 6A record in his Mazda MX5 with a time of
1.06.074. Again, this is the second time in the record books for Tony this year.

RECORDS BROKEN THAT DON”T GO INTO THE RECORD BOOKS
Spare a thought for those guys who broke records on the day but whose times will not go into the record books as they were not the fastest in their particular Class on the day.
They include:- Grant Bush – Class 2C, David Lawler – Class 4B, Anthony Crott – Class 4B, Adam Laura – Class 4C , Cooper Calman – Class 4C

Well, the Championship has now finished for the year and we now have seven new Type Champions. Please congratulate our 2014 CAMS Supersprint Champions:

TYPE 1 – STUART TEMESVARY – MAZDA MX5
TYPE 2 – WARWICK MORRIS – PORSHE GT3
TYPE 3 – ALLAN MARIN – COMMODORE
TYPE 4 – RICHARD PERINI – PORSCHE RSR
TYPE 5 – ANDRIE TAN – RADICAL
TYPE 6 – CHRIS SUTTON – SUBARU STi
TYPE SV – ROGER HEARD – PRB WIDEBODY

The Club Championship was won by the MX5 Club with ARDC coming in second and Manly Warringah Sporting Car Club taking out third.

Thank you to all those people that worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make each and every event enjoyable and safe for the competitors. We look forward to seeing you all back at the CAMS Supersprint Championships in 2015.

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

Thanks to Bob Welsh for his in-depth statistics.

The 10th Muscle Car Masters

The 10th running of the Australian Muscle Car Masters was held on its usual Fathers Day weekend in weather reminiscent of the first MCM back in 2005. Saturday saw sporadic showers over the course of the day, and Sunday had longer breaks of dry weather but the showers were more intense.

The crowds were consistent with past years as many families, some even with strollers, came out to enjoy the wonderful spectacle of the “big banger” muscle cars of both Australian and American origins. Mustangs, Camaros, Pontiacs and Chevys matched it with Monaros and Commodores. Notably this year, John Bowe suited up and was seen driving the old Bob Jane Monaro of yesteryear fame.

There were plenty of great old restored cars on display including original Minis (not the current day re-incarnation) , a superb range of restored Mustangs, Pontiac GTO’s and V8 Commodores as well as a bustling trade show section under the grandstand. Trade displays included the massive semi-trailers with their branded logo wearables, offering all your favourite drivers look-alike gear.
Touring Car Masters had their custom t-shirts van, and Custom Karts had a wonderful display of very cool looking SuperKarts, They did a great job of giving advice to anyone who was interested in finding out how to get a grass roots start in motorsport, or just wanted to have a really fun time and enjoy the karting experience. The Telcalemet V8 race car simulator was a major attraction, and provided an exciting, and dry, simulation of the power and feel of a true V8 supercar experience. One customer was heard to say it wasn’t for the faint-hearted.
Over on the Figure 8 were the Historic Rally car demonstrations, in the capable hands of veteran rally drivers Neal Bates, Cody Crocker, Dave Thompson and Stewart Reid. Spending the day with these experienced chaps was Molly Taylor, the number one lady rally driver in the world. She was great to watch as she threw a big XY GTHO around the tight figure eight shaped track with consummate ease.

During the middle of the day, a one hour legends lunchtime autograph signing took place up in the Hinxman Room. With a line that was out the door it was a popular event and it was a great opportunity for fans to meet their racing hero’s of the past. It was a very special time for both kids and their dads as well. Names like Alan Grice, John Bowe, Jim Richards and and John Harvey were there in person giving of their time and offering friendly banter with both fans and their fellow driver alike. It was a wonderful session and the fans loved it.

Words by Rob Annesley
look@shotbyrob.com.au

 

PCRA Round 5

Competitors awoke to a cold and foggy morning for Round 5 of the PCRA Champs. The fog took its time clearing, and when it eventually did, an hour of racing had been lost. Race organizers decided to shorten each race to three laps, in order to allow the 112 plus riders to try and get through the days program of one qualifying session and three full race events.
With the track having not dried out completely from the early morning fog, it was a slippery affair for the first group out; the sidecars. Running around on slicks, most of the field crept around like a cat on a hot tin roof. But fortune favours the brave and the team of Chris Pym/Matt McKinnon took pole from Eddie and Bronson Poucher followed by the pairing of Richard Hirst/Brendon Justice. Unfortunately Simon Reynolds (Suzuki 1000) dropped a cylinder through an electrical problem when a plug came off the coil, and started race one at the back of the field. Working hard through race one he eventually qualified in fourth spot. Race one went to Pym/McKinnon (JB 1000) with Raynor/Cummins (Shellbourne Honda) in second and Poucher/Poucher (Windle Suzuki) claiming third. Race two wasn’t any happier for the Reynolds team. Sitting on the second row of the grid, they were desperately trying to avoid a previous teams oil and sawdust residue on their starting position, however a stern bit of guidance from a grid marshall had them sitting right on top of the oil. Getting no traction off the starting grid left them with a pile of work to do, and 4 extra places to climb and only three laps in which to do it. Unfortunately they had to be satisfied with fifth. Race two podiums went sequentially to Pym/McKinnon, Alton/Bonney (Shellbourne Honda) and Raynor/Cummins.
Totally owning the Motorlites this round was Tyler Bradford ( Honda 150). Fighting off an army of 42 other competitors from qualifying through to race three late in the day, Tyler just reeled off 1:58/59’s all day. Regular as clockwork! Hot on his heels was Anthony Marsden (Honda RS85) who had a lock on second place for the day with 1 sec off the pace laps and breathing Bradford’s exhaust all up close and personal. Third was split evenly between Jack McGauley (Honda RS85) and Andrew Bennett (Honda 80) a further couple seconds behind.
Twenty riders gridded up for group 4 qualifying. This was comprised of 10 entries in the hotly contested P6 F750, 4 entries in Forgotten Era 750’s, 3 in Post Classic 750’s, 2 in Forgotten Era Unlimited and 1entry in Post Classic Unlimited. Qualifying saw the track dry but as the fog hadn’t long lifted and the sun hadn’t yet warmed the racing surface up, so a little restraint was still the order of the day. The seasoned Period 6 racer Rob Cole made a rare appearance at this event and topped the time sheet with a very slick1:48.5 on his GSX-R750. The front row of the grid featured four Suzuki GSX-R with John Mckenzie, Steve Anderson and Stuart Lomax keeping Cole company. In race one Rob Cole was in a class of his own with a blistering 1:45.7 pass crossing seven seconds ahead of second place Rick Kwok with John McKenzie looking over Kwok’s shoulder only seven tenths behind him. At the finish only three seconds covered second through to seventh place, the racing was that close. Even Steve Wood on his old Honda 1000, who despite being the only Unlimited Post Classic bike in the race, decided to mix it with the period 6 bikes all of which were running at 1:48 or better. It was an exciting day to be watching these talented riders push each other all the way to the line.
Wayne Gow took the win in Forgotten Era Unlimited on his immaculate Moto Guzzi 1000, Bruce Ireland (Yamaha 750) won the Forgotten Era 750 class and Paul Coughlan won the Post Classic 750 on his Norton Commando.
In race two, Rob Cole took the win (1:46.7) with Steve Anderson making a determined effort to chase Rob down shaving four seconds off the differential time from the previous race and making himself a much larger threat in Coles’ rear view mirror. Kwok was relegated to third a further three seconds back. The podium standing for the older classes remained the same as race one. Due to a couple lengthy delays, by the time race three came around for this group, the sun was setting low in the west. Cole once again proved too good for the field, and took the chequered by three seconds. Steve Anderson carefully held onto both second and his championship points lead with Dean Scott held out to third by three seconds.
Group 7
A field of 30 bikes in this grouping with 17 Pre-Modern F1 machines, 6 entered for Pre-Modern F2 and 7 takers for Period 6 Unlimited. The track was in excellent shape by the time qualifying got underway and Paul Grant Mitchell set the benchmark time on his F1 ZXR750 posting a 1:44.5 .Completing the front row was Rob Cole, Daniel Birch (F1 ZXR750) and Wade Lewis (F2 CBR600). No sooner had race one gotten underway that in the dogfight for turn two Daniel Birch low sided. As he was running to recover his bike to continue the race was red flagged. It seemed that on the start line a great deal of oil had been discovered which occurred when Stephen Ward’s Ducati 888 snapped a drive chain which subsequently whipped into his engine and smashed the casing After a quick mop up the race restarted with some high stakes dicing taking place between Paul Grant Mitchell who took the win, and Wade Lewis and Ryan Young ( F1 CBR900R) having to settle for second and third.
Race two had barely gotten underway when it too was red flagged. Unfortunately this time the red flag shown on the first lap was a result of Phil Lane crashing his F1 FZR750 on the very fast left hander around corporate hill. We wish Phil, who is widely known as the nicest guy in the paddock, a very speedy recovery . This resulted in a bit of a delay in racing. During the delay Paul Grant Mitchell was called before the Clerk of Course and Race Steward for reacting to the red flag in a manner not to their liking and was excluded from the meeting. With the restart underway it was Wade Lewis who took on the late afternoon diminishing light and held on for a race win. Closely followed by Ryan Young who bettered his previous placing by one spot and Daniel Birch making amends after his race one fall to take third. Rob Cole took the P6 honors and 4th outright for the second race in a row.
As usual there was great racing throughout the all the groups with many great dices. Due to numerous delays through the day group 5, 6 and 7 missed out on their third race but such is case with racing.
Words and pics by Rob Annesley

Festival of Sporting Cars August Round

For the second time in the past two months, FoSC returned to Sydney Motorsport Park on the South “Amaroo” circuit. A bumper ( sorry, no pun intended) 130 entrants braved the very cold 1 degree morning temperature under clear blue sunny skies. The days program included mid season rounds of the PRB Championship ( Rd 4), the Excel Campionship ( Rd 5) and the Historic Touring Cars Assoc Championship ( Rd 6).
As well two divisions of Regularity (A & B), racing in Historic and Invited Racing Cars , a Come and Try section and the ever popular “partners parade” during the lunch break were held. The “Come and Try” group attracted yet more newcomers, working their way through to progressing into full fledged racing under the one-on-one tutelage of the highly experienced Master Drivers team. One recent newcomer, April Hissey (Jaguar XJ6), has now graduated to Regularity competition.
Some new talent in Invited Race Cars not seen before were Ian Johnson’s ’64 Corvair, Bruce Grant’s ’70 Volvo 142 and Trevor Parrot’s ’98 Brooke.
Despite some delays in the early races, the very experienced FoSc race control team headed by John Finch brought the event back on time and successfully concluded the days program in daylight.
In PRB racing Stuart Shirvington (PRB Birkin S3) held a 2.5 second lead and converted it to a win in race one. Michael McCosker (PRB S2) held off a determined press by both James Dick (PRB Widebody) and Chris Barry (PRB Composite), with Dick just taking third by 5 tenths/second.
Race two was even tighter, with Shirvington being pushed by Stefan Versluis ( PRB Composite) all the way to again hold on for the win with only a 1.5 second lead. McCosker hung tough for the third spot.
Versluis was determined not to let Shirvington past in race three. Sitting close on each others heels, eventually Versluis hung onto a 3 tenths lead from Shirvington, with Barry only 5 tenths back for third. Excellent racing and fun to watch.
The Excel race series was spectacular. Watching 20 of the same little car go round making a huge racket is hilarious. Jigging ad jinxing back and forth, the swaying little beasts got under way off the start grid with an almighty roar. Speaking with Nathan Gotch before the race, he explained “…that with so many of these vehicles sold, they are very cheap to acquire, even cheaper to get spare parts for, making them the ideal lightweight, easy to build and fix, economical on the budget race car, and they can be extremely nimble and quick.” But did I say LOUD!
Race one saw Nathan and Nick Filipetto dodging and weaving, sometimes up on two wheels even in a straight line, and both crawling all over each other from lap to lap. Doing everything they could to manoeuvre and gain some advantage. Filipetto eventually got the better of Gotch in race one by only two tenths. That’s how close to they were. They were almost side by side across the finish line. 5 seconds back was Daniel Smith for third. That result obviously fired up Nathan and made him determined to reverse the result in race two. Leading all the way round, Nathan took the black and white with a gap of 2.5 seconds to Filipetto who had a 4 second lead on Smith. Race three was closer, and Gotch bettered Filipetto by a smaller margin and Nightingale was a further 7 seconds back for third.
In Historic Touring Car Association racing Wayne Rogerson clean sweeped all three races while John Wright grabbed two seconds and a third. Alan Mayne secured two thirds to add valuable points to his championship campaign. Matt Windsor drove a superb race three and was rewarded with a second place to push Wright back to third.
FoSC organisers were extremely happy with the event, and are looking forward to the final FoSC meeting at Sydney Motorsport Park on November 16th, when organisers will announce the 2015 FoSC 10th Anniversary calendar of events.
Words and Photos by Rob Annesley