The Australian Racing Drivers Club

For members and guests

Ian Hansen

Porsche Rennsport Australia Festival a huge success

Porsche Cars Australia – Great Racing, Great Cars, Great Porsche Spirit
Porsche fans in Australia have given the country’s inaugural Rennsport Festival a resounding vote of approval.
Porsches old and new, from road and track, local and abroad together with famous faces and enthusiasts of the German marque filled Sydney Motorsport Park on the May 25-26 weekend in a celebration of all things Porsche.
The superb on-track action from twin one-hour Porsche Carrera Cup Australia enduros and triple header Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge presented by Pirelli races was complemented with a showcase of stunning and priceless Porsches both on display and on track.
In all, more than 240 Porsches took to the circuit in the weekend’s 37 track events with another 120 immaculately presented in the Porschestrasse display, Concours d’Elegance and Show’n’Shine. Together with privately owned vehicles driven to Rennsport the total number of Porsches at Sydney Motorsport Park was estimated at more than 500, with a crowd of approximately 4,000 over the two days.
In Carrera Cup action it was Elite Class driver Max Twigg and V8 enduro specialist Luke Youlden that took round three honours while up-and-comer Richard Muscat took a clean sweep of victories in the GT3 Cup Challenge presented by Pirelli.

 

Historic race cars drawing special attention on and off the circuit were the 1981 Le Mans-winning Porsche 936, 2005/6 American Le Mans Series LMP2 Porsche RS Spyder, the ex-Vern Schuppan Porsche 956C from the Japanese Sportscar Championship of the mid ‘80s, the Le Mans class-winning 996 RSR from 2002 and the ex-Alan Hamilton 1968 911 TR – the car that, as Alan Hamilton relayed on the weekend, “came within 10 yards” of winning the 1969 Australian Touring Car Championship.
A Porsche new car showroom display, Porsche Kids Driving School, Porsche Panamera NSW Police Car and skidpan and 4WD off-road activities with the Porsche Sports Driving School ensured there was never a dull moment for Porsche aficionados.
“The feedback from Porsche competitors, Porsche car club members and the general public to the inaugural Rennsport Ferstival in Australia has been overwhelmingly positive,” says Porsche Cars Australian Managing Director, Michael Winkler.
“You measure the success of special events such as this not only by what happens on track but by the number of smiles and feeling of camaraderie in the garages.”
The milestone event was celebrated on the Saturday evening with a gala dinner for 220 special guests, acknowledging past and present Porsche legends in Australia including: Porsche distributor Alan Hamilton, tarmac racing Porsche king Jim Richards, the most successful Carrera Cup racer in the world Craig Baird, and director of Porsche’s Historic Racing Department Klaus Bischof.
“People are already asking me when the next Rennsport will be,” says Winkler. “The honest answer is ‘I don’t know right now’ but we are certain to have another, even bigger and better judging by the success of our first attempt.”
Porsche Rennsport Australia Motor Racing Festival results:
Porsche Carrera Cup, round three:
1st Max Twigg / Luke Youlden (2011 GT3 Cup Type 997)
Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge presented by Pirelli, round two:
1st Richard Muscat (2006 GT3 Cup Type 997)
Porsche Sports Cars
1st Russell Kempnich (Porsche 956)
Group S & Group N under 2500cc
1st Wayne Seabrook (911 T)
Group S & Group N over 2500cc
1st Bryan Taylor (1974 Carrera)
Regularity 1
1st Greame Evans (911 T)
Regularity 2
1st Nathan Johnston (911 SC)
Regularity 3
1st Phil Treloar (996)
Rennsport Show ‘n’ Shine Trophy
1st John Pisani (356A 1959)
Rennsport Australian Porsche Clubs Trophy
1st Stephen Richardson (911 Carrera RS 1973)
Rennsport Peoples’ Choice Award
1st Antony Martin (911 SC 3.0 1980
Rennsport Concours D’Elegance Trophy
1st Ron Goodman (356 Cabriolet 1953)
Rennsport Concourse D’Elegance Masterclass Trophy
1st Paul Muras (928 S4 1989)

 

Muscle Car Masters announces Bathurst Grid Spectacular

The glory days of the Bathurst 1000’s colourful pre-race build-up will be recreated at the 2013 Australian Muscle Car Masters at Sydney Motorsport Park, Eastern Creek this Father’s Day, September 1.
The ‘Bathurst Grid Spectacular’ is a new addition to this year’s Masters; the annual celebration of Australia’s unique muscle car and motorsport heritage. The showpiece event is set to be the centrepiece of the biggest ever gathering of former Great Race machines in period livery.
Each car will be given its due as it forms up on the Brabham Straight grid, and the famous machinery will be joined by some of the legends who drove them. The massive grid will then set off on a series of demonstration laps.
“Many long-time race fans have fond memories of the traditional Bathurst pre-race spectacle of the 1970s and ‘80s,” said Glenn Matthews, CEO of the Australian Racing Drivers’ Club at Sydney Motorsport Park.
“This was a time of pipe bands, baton-twirlers, corny mascots, best-presented car awards and grand marshals commanding drivers to ‘start their engines’. So we’re bringing this spectacle back to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Great Race at Bathurst, the 1963 Armstrong 500, and the 75th anniversary of the Mount Panorama circuit’s opening.”
The hour-long grid spectacular will effectively be the half-time entertainment between morning and afternoon sessions of racing on Father’s Day.
The midday activity is open to all cars that competed in the Bathurst 500 or 1000 between 1963 and 2012. Owners of genuine cars – covering the Series Production, Group C, Group A, Super Touring and V8 Supercar eras – in period livery are encouraged to participate. There will be a dedicated static display area to show off these historically-significant vehicles before the Spectacular commences.
To be a part of the action, you can download the Application Form HERE (via Dropbox).
More information on the 2013 Australian Muscle Car Masters, including the full line-up of race categories and road car anniversaries, can be found at musclecarmasters.com.au.

2013 ARDC Club Championship

Our Board of Directors has overhauled the points scoring system for the annual ARDC Club Champion award.
The previous point score was based on the top ten drivers in every race at ECIR/SMSP, scoring points if they were current ARDC Members. Because different racing categories competing at different levels did not race each other and took part in varying numbers of races, the only fair way of comparing performances was to work out an average of points scored per race.
This gave an advantage to competitors in small categories and drivers could “sit on” early good results and not compete for the rest of the year to preserve a good average.
For 2013 and beyond, ARDC Member competitors will score points in the ARDC Club Champion competition every time they run in an ARDC-organised race at Sydney Motor Sport Park. One point will be awarded to Members for every competitor they finish ahead of, including non-finishers. Then this number will be multiplied by the number of laps scored in each race. This will equalise meetings with lots of short races as compared to meetings with fewer long races.
We will also be running a separate competition for our Supersprint competitor Members. At each of the three rounds of the NSW Supersprint Championship we are running this year, ARDC Members will score a point for every person they beat in their class. This number will then be multiplied by the number of laps completed on the day. The driver with the most points over the three meetings will be declared the ARDC Supersprint Champion for 2013.
– Brian “The Guru” Goulding

 

Porsche Rennsport Australia Motor Racing Festival

Porsche Cars Australia is pleased to announce the inaugural Porsche Rennsport Australia Motor Racing Festival, held on the weekend of May 25 and 26, 2013 at Sydney Motor Sport Park.
The format of the exclusive all-Porsche event will be centred on the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia and Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia, which will both headline the weekend’s racing schedule. Other events will include several all-Porsche races, Regularities and historic demonstrations on both Saturday and Sunday.
Recent improvements to the circuit facilities will allow the entire circuit, figure 8, skid pan and four wheel drive track to facilitate various events and activities throughout the weekend.
Off-track attractions will include the Porsche Concours d’Elegance and Porsche Show ‘n’ Shine, while the Porsche Sport Driving School and Porsche Kids Driving School will provide the full spectrum of the Porsche driving experience to those big and small.
The action will start at 8:30am both days, with tickets available at the gate (online sales have now closed). Weekend Passes just $55 for adults and $5 for children 17 and under (with a paying adult). Daily passes are $30 for adults, and again, $5 per day for a child. Parking is free!
Porsche Rennsport Australia Motor Racing Festival is set to be a true ‘Festival’ of all things Porsche. We look forward to seeing you there.
Visit www.rennsportaustralia.com.au for more information.

 

What is a Supersprint?

A supersprint is a speed event where cars are sent out onto the circuit in pairs to set their fastest single lap. The pairings are sent out at 10 second intervals, with the fastest pair at the front to minimise overtaking. It is not a race – in fact, anyone found to be “racing” is sent straight to the stewards.

Cars are divided into “types”, and all types have classes within them loosely based on engine size.

The whole field (usually about 100 cars) is split into colour groups based on potential performance. This ensures that fast cars share the track with other fast cars, and slower with the same.

A run is eight minutes on the track, and each competitor will get about five or six runs. At the end of the day, each competitor’s fastest individual lap is compared with every other driver to get an outright result and with every other driver in the class to get a class result.

Sydney Motorsport Park- the fastest track in Australia!

Australian Formula One driver Mark Webber has smashed the lap record at Sydney Motorsport Park by more than five seconds at Top Gear Festival Sydney (March 9 – 10).

Webber, in his Red Bull RB7 Formula 1 car, clocked a best time of 1:13.6060 around the original GP Circuit, easily besting the previous, long-standing record of 1:19.142 set by Nico Hulkenberg during the A1GP in 2007.

Webber cut the record down to 1:15.218 on the Saturday, and promised to cull it further in his next attempt for day two of the weekend Festival with some overnight ride height and suspension changes. He did not disappoint, taking a further two seconds off in his second and final attempt.

Webber also set another record over the weekend, during the Aussie Speed Showdown race on the North Circuit track. During the race, which also featured Casey Stoner on a motorcycle and Jamie Whincup in a V8 Supercar, Webber lapped the North Circuit track in 49.277 seconds, making his average speed an astonishing 209.74 km/h.

An Australian circuit is considered fast when the average speed is over 160km/h, and no track has ever seen average speeds peaking over 200km/h. Sydney Motorsport Park and the Australian Racing Drivers’ Club are confident that Webber’s weekend lap record has made the North Circuit track the fastest racing circuit in Australia.