The Australian Racing Drivers Club

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Ian Hansen

Event Wrap: PCRA Round Three May 31

Round Three of the Post Classic Racing Association (PCRA) Championships were run under dark threatening skies on May 19th at Sydney Motorsport Park. Despite some lengthy medical delays and fading light, the full programme was completed. Late in the day Clerk of Course Terry Whalan deemed the light good enough to race, and the twilight enhanced the excitement as the flames shooting from the exhaust pipes on the down changes looked spectacular. Rider John Mckenzie commented that “…it looked great, maybe we should do more twilight racing.”
Group 4 including the P4/P5 Unlimited class bikes qualifying round caused the first lengthy medical delay as Martin Kraaymaat highsided his Katana on turn ten and was airlifted to hospital. As the qualifying resumed McKenzie took pole and completed a full front row of Suzuki GSX-R750’s with Steve Anderson, Simon Hills and Stuart Lomax. Race one was scheduled as six laps but declared as four Laps. Instead of the chequered flag the race was red flagged as Peter Macmillan came off his TZ750 at turn two, and despite getting a helicopter ride Peter was later given the OK and released. Steve Anderson on his GSX-R750RK dominated at the front with several P6 bikes giving chase. The race was declared with the positions at lap four giving Steve Anderson the win (1:12.10), with John Mckenzie in second and Stuart Lomax in third. Race two, four laps, Steve Anderson again took control (1:12.3) with some dicing for the minor places giving John Mckenzie second and Dean Scott third. Race three was also four laps and with the sun low on the horizon the race got underway, Steve Anderson again made a break at the front and made a clear getaway (1:12.3) leaving Dean Scott in second place with John Mckenzie in third edging out Troy Galvin on the ZXR750 by 0.009 seconds. It was a bumper day for Steve Anderson with a clean sweep of all three races, keeping his chances alive in the championship.
Group 7, Pre Modern F1/F2 and P6 Unlimited. had twenty-nine bikes entered including six P6 Unlimited, 14 Post-Modern F1 machines and 9 Post-Modern F2 bikes. Pole position was claimed by Drew Sheepway on a F2 Honda 400 (1:10.9, making up the front row was Ryan Young F1 Honda, Wade Lewis F2 Honda and Stuart Lomax F1 Yamaha.
Race one duration was six laps. John McKenzie commented”… on an otherwise dry day light drizzle started on the warm up lap but other than playing with the (riders) mind it was not enough to affect grip.” Drew Sheepway took the race win (1:11.4), second to Ryan Young and third to Bob Marriner. In race two Wade Lewis (1:10.8) edged out Ryan Young and Drew Sheepway for second and third respectively. It wasn’t certain that we were going to run this race, the final event on the program but after some consultation with a few of the riders the Clerk of Course Terry Wahlan made a good call and despite the fading light it was deemed good enough to race with the start taking place 5 minutes after sunset in the dusky light. The results in race three were a mirror of race two, with Wade Lewis taking the win (1:11.0) and Ryan Young and Drew Sheepway claiming the minor placings.
Another great day of racing thanks to the PCRA, race officials, the timing team, the medics and the army of volunteers. Despite some lengthy medical delays we still made it through the full program albeit with shortened races. Looking forward to the next round at Eastern Creek GP Circuit on the 19th of July.
Rob Annesley
look@shotbyrob.com.au
Thanks to John McKenzie for his contribution to this article

 

 

Event Wrap: FoSC Queen’s Birthday Weekend

The Amaroo Circuit (South) hosted the second Festival of Sporting Cars ( FoSC) event for 2014 on the June Queens Birthday weekend. Known as the Queens Birthday Invitational the event was held under grey overcast conditions however the threatened storms held off until the final chequered flag fell. The event ran over the 1.9km circuit, utilising the new challenging 800m winding track layout.

David Nichols, President of FoSC, said:” We are thrilled to have a bumper field attend this event at Sydney Motorsport Park, we weren’t sure how many would come, but this roll up is terrific. We are also excited to welcome our feature events for the day, rounds of the Excel Championship and the Historic Touring Cars Association Championship, both events being run inside our FoSC programme.”

Also on the programme were races for Historic and Invited Racing Cars plus Historic and Invited Sports and Touring Cars. The Regularity category was underlined by two good-sized fields – with a diverse mix of vehicles, including some beautifully restored classics.

There were also two non-racing but still very successful events. The first was a Come and Try event which is a soft introduction to would-be hopeful racers giving them a chance to drive on the black top circuit with the assistance of an in-car mentor. The entrants here were given two opportunities to practice their skills over the course of the day. The “newbies” gained valuable experience with the expert advice of the likes of Master Drivers’ Mal Brewster and Ray Gulson. These gutsy first-timers rolled up in a Jag, Volvo, Renault, Austin Healey and even a Datsun Sunny. “Its not about the car, its about the fun,” said one entrant. Another happy newcomer commented …” FoSC must be the best-kept secret in motor sport.”

The second non-racing event was the “Partners Parade” in which a spouse, friend, child or significant other gets a chance to come out in the car on track with you, either as a passenger (in the case of the 10 y.o I saw) or if they have a licence they can have a drive themselves. This was a particularly enjoyable part of the day for those family “pit crews” who do all the backup work race after race. It was a great inclusive event to make it a fun day for all.

As you can imagine, with nearly 130 entrants across six racing categories plus Regularity and the non-racing events, the pits, paddock and grid were abuzz with frenetic activity. One thing to appreciate with the FoSC is the amazingly wide variety of sporting cars that grace this event. Several entrants that caught this reporters eye were Dave Lawrences’ beautifully restored Red 1955 Austin Healey 100, which is still his daily driver, and Alan Morrins’ Ford 1984 GT40.

Excel Series racing was a hotly contested affair, with close bumper to bumper action between all three of the Team AGI cars of Nathan Gotch (#66), Nick Filipetto ( #77) and Glenn Smith ( #44) . Nathan took the major honours of the day with two wins and a second place, whilst Nick got one of each, a first, second and a third. In the Historic Touring Championships Wayne Rogerson (Mazda RX2) was too hard to beat, laying down three straight wins, followed by John Wright ( LJ Torana XU1) with two second places.

The FoSC has enjoyed nearly ten years of offering affordable racing events, with its mantra of “helping racing enthusiasts to get into and enjoy motorsport with a minimum of money and red tape.” FoSC pride themselves on being able to offer a fuss-free way to go racing. President Dave Nichols wished to thank all the regulars and new comers alike for making this event at Sydney Motorsport Park a huge success.

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

Event Wrap – NSW Motor Racing Championships Round 2

Round two of the NSW Motor Racing Championships was held over the weekend of May 17-18th utilising the full 4.5km Brabham circuit, which includes the new 800m “S” bend and “paperclip” windy-bendy sections up the top side of the track. 180 competitors fought out the eight classes, and in the usual action packed, bumper to bumper excitement there were many a fine duel and even a little fender bending between mates in the close proximity racing.
In race three, Graeme Watts (Nissan Silvia) touched up both Steve Devjak (Commodore)and John McKenzie (Commodore), the latter having his rear bumper eventually fall off due to the encounter. McKenzie was dragging the bumper for a couple laps and apparently didn’t see the black flag board for two laps which earned him a trip to the headmasters office for a chat. Watts had the best result over the weekend with a first and two second placings.
In the same race, Gavin Stevens (Mitsubishi Lancer) got himself all out of sorts and very crossed resulting in a spin at turn eight which saw him broadside the curb on drivers left, ending up with him flipping the car. I wish everyone could have heard the commentary over the two-way. Race control was flummoxed by the report from the sector marshall at turn eight. It went something like this:
Sector Marshall: “Car 37 has spun drivers left, and oh….he’s, he’s hit the curb and oh dear….he’s rolled over.” Pause… “Car 37 has continued on!”
Race Control (incredulity in voice): “Did I just hear you say “continued on? “
Sector Marshall:” Yes, Race Control. He rolled all the way over and drove on.”
The unbelievable upshot of this is that Car 37 ended up finishing the race in fourteenth place out of eighteen finishers. Solid effort Gavin!
Steve Lacey had high hopes for his beautiful new graphic designed livery on the Z28 Chevy Camaro he is racing this year. Its quite the looker! Unfortunately the script went to hell in a handbasket as he firstly suffered electrical problems throughout qualifying and in Race three drove the length of pit straight with a broken steering box, eventually ending up in the kitty litter on turn one. Steve acknowledged with a wry grin that it wasn’t how he had envisaged his weekends campaign finishing however with his usual even tempered nature he took the two DNF’s and third place in his stride.
Notably this weekend Sydney Motorsport Park was the venue for the launch of the worlds first electric race car. It was the first time ever that an electric race car has run in an official circuit race any where in the world. This caused a huge hubbub and as a result a large amount of international motorsport officials and media descended on the track to see for themselves the eco-race car of the future. In the body manifestation of a Radical vehicle, the ELMOFO electric racer can produce 300kw of power and achieve speeds of 265kph. Unfortunately, the manufacturers had a problem with the chemistry in their batteries, and the car only saw a limited amount of track time.
The very large Formula Vee field of thirty cars saw Dylan Thomas (Stinger 015) take two firsts and a second place. In the last race Simon Pace (Mako MkIII) pulled of a daring manoeuvre to win by 1/100th of a sec, and take away a clean series sweep for Thomas.

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

Vale: Jack Brabham

The ARDC is saddened to hear of the passing of three-time F1 world champion Sir Jack Brabham overnight. Member #4 of the ARDC, Sir Jack was 88 years old. He is honoured at Sydney Motorsport Park with the extended circuit and the main straight bearing his name. The ARDC sends their condolences to his family at this sad time..

Event Wrap: 2014 CAMS Supersprint Championship Round 2

Round Two of the NSW CAMS Supersprint Championship on May 10th was run at Sydney Motorsport Park. The day started out foggy, and with a westerly breeze bringing in smokey conditions from the Blue Mountains hazard reduction burn.
This year CAMS NSW Supersprint organisers have found themselves with an enviable dilemma. The sport has grown in popularity to the extent that recent events have been fully subscribed. As well, this year it is only a seven event championship, not the usual eight rounds, due to track scheduling constraints. This has meant that they have had to institute a wait list for potential competitors wishing to gain entry to each event. Of course, not wishing to turn anyone away from enjoying the sport, organisers are however bound by track safety regulations.
Dennis Pietrobon, who was lucky enough to move from wait list to competition status, is a newcomer to the sport and is thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to test his skills in his Nissan Skyline.
It was great to see Kerry Redfern, president of the Manly-Warringah Sporting Car Club back at the track with his sense of humour. Following recent double bypass surgery, he is some time away from competition but was lending support to Robert Muir with the unveiling of their new “baby”, a Honda Type R which has been under construction for over a year. Apparently there is a another “under construction” vehicle coming out of the stables of the MWSCC, which will be seen in upcoming rounds. Stay tuned!
Garry Williams (1969 MGB) had a head shaking moment after his second pass of the day. Looking at his stats he found that his first “easy” run clocked him two seconds faster than his previous personal best yet he felt that his second run was quicker. Young Kyle Jackson pushed his personal limits and was having a day to forget as he spun twice in one session, and ended up in the kitty litter in another. Race control felt it necessary to have a chat.
Roger Heard’s usually smooth confident racing line received a nervous disruption late in the day as he dropped a 150m line of a slippery substance which caused him to do a couple 360 degree spins on turn four. In a spectacular cloud of smoke, Roger was almost completely obscured from view, which helped to cover his embarrassment. Later in the day, Roger commented that“…that was enough excitement for one day.”
One not so lucky to make it through the day was Jonathon McKinnon (Nissan 200SX) who sheered 6 head studs in the first session and headed to the showers early. Nice to see Supersprint veteran Luke Petrou (Datsun 260Z) with a new flashy livery this year. A large Gold foil checkerboard square pattern adorning both rear quarter panel sections. Looks great… is this Luke’s new strategy? Blind the competition?
Lap records were the biggest casualty of the day. Four out of seven Type records were broken, and a total of eleven class records fell.
In fear of repeating ourselves, Andrie Tan continues to grow his talent as he broke Type 5 and Class 5D records as well as being the only one to record a sub 1:30 sec time. Kim Tai was the fastest tin top of the day, shattering the Class 6D record by an amazing 10 seconds. Go Kim!
A cadre of Porsches who usually compete in their own competition came to up the ante in the Type 2/Class 2C category. Warwick Morris broke both the records with a time of 1:42.66 in his GT3. Warwick broke the record in this category at Wakefield in the first round. He is one to watch!
It should be mentioned that two other Porsches in the same category also broke the record. Here come the Porsches, boys!
Allan Marin broke Robert Kolimackovski’s record in Type 3 Class 3D. This might entice Robert back sooner than planned, as he is having a self-professed “gap year” this year. Jason O’Meara had a sweet victory today as he broke the 6-year mark of Benny Tran in class 3A with a 1:50.57 in his Honda 1600. Preston Peiris continues to break records with a 1:55 in class 1C. Adam Laura broke the Class 4C record in his beautifully prepared BMW M3 with a 1.39.82. Adam broke Tom Ainsworth’s old record by almost a second but Tom was nipping at Adam’s heels yesterday and was just over
1/10th of a second behind him. This was unfortunate as Tom also ran a sub 1.40 time also but it was just not good enough on the day.
Marek Tomaszewski lost one of his old records yesterday but came up with a new one in Class 5C by shaving over 10 seconds of the old
record. Again both Duncan Forrest and Al Palmer also shattered the old record with times of 1.30.900 and 1.35.712 respectively. Unfortunately only
Marek’s time will go into the Record Book. Chris Kostakis broke his own Class 5B record in his MNR Votrx with a great time of 1.37.90 and Blake Jones set a new Class 6A record in his Mitsubishi R-Colt with a time of 1.50.30.
ARDC still leads the Club Championship on 829 points just ahead of MX5 who are on 814 points. However, MX5 outscored ARDC on ARDC’s home turf by scoring 477 points to ARDC’s 437 on the day. Early days yet but it looks like third place will come from either Manly Warringah, HSV or the Clubman Drivers Club. Manly Warringah hold down a slim margin for 3rd place at the moment. At the conclusion of the days competition, the annual NSW CAMS Supersprint Championship presentation of the 2013 year trophies was held in The Garage.
President Mike Hicks conducted the official award presentations and a very healthy representation of the award recipients and supporters were on hand to receive their well earned trophies. Andrie Tan was presented with his NSW and Australian Supersprint Championship Trophies with his state and national special achievements from last year gaining special mention. Also singled out for notable mentioning was Kerry Butcher for his hard work and dedication.
– Words and pictures by Rob Annesley

 

Event Wrap: Sydney Retro Speedfest

HSRCA RELEASE: Held over the weekend of the 3rd and 4th of May, 2014, the inaugural Sydney Retro Speedfest was a huge success, putting on an excellent weekend of historic racing and a brilliant event for an impressive crowd of historic motorsport fans.

Practice kicked off on Friday, with the impressive field of historic sports and racing cars gathering at Sydney Motorsport Park and entrants settling in, catching up with friends, preparing machinery and putting in a few sighting runs around the circuit.

When the event proper kicked off on Saturday morning we were greeted by cold and rain, which produced some tricky conditions for drivers. Thankfully the weather turned around for Sunday and we were rewarded with a warm and sunny day for spectators and great conditions for racing.

The quality of racing was, as usual, excellent – especially in Saturday’s tricky conditions.

Sunday saw a few racing incidents and technical malfunctions interrupt proceedings, but overall the event ran smoothly thanks to the tireless efforts of our volunteers and courteous driving from entrants, and drivers kept everyone entertained throughout the weekend with back-to-back events that had the track buzzing throughout both days.

We’d like to thank all of our entrants for your safe and responsible driving, the endless hours of work that go into preparing, maintaining and racing your cars and for getting involved!

Historic motorsport offers unrivalled access to the pits and paddock, and the cars and drivers that fill them, and Sydney Retro Speedfest was no exception to this!

This weekend saw the entirety of Sydney Motorsport Park filled with immaculately-prepared historic racing and sports cars of all kinds, much to the joy of everyone involved. The event attracted some unusual and very special machinery from the past eight decades of motorsport history, often with a friendly owner/driver nearby ready for a chat, and it’s lovely to see these cars at a racetrack, enjoy them being tinkered with, maintained, repaired and prepared, and experience them at full-tilt.

The great selection of machinery and friendly, buzzy atmosphere made the pits and paddock a pleasure to explore and chat one’s way through, and we’d like to thank everyone for making this the case!

Most importantly we, and I’m sure everyone involved, would like to send our most sincere and heartfelt thanks to the many selfless and tireless volunteers who apply their skills, energy, time and love to our events. Without you there would be no historic motorsport, and we can’t thank you enough. THANK YOU!

We would also like to send our congratulations to Randall Bezuidenhout, who won the “Win a Hot Lap at the Sydney Retro Speedfest” competition conducted on Radio 2GB’s Sportzone program. Randall collected four weekend entry tickets to the Speedfest, four Sydney Motorsport Park caps, and scored a hot lap in a Porsche 911 racecar.”