Event Wrap: NSW Motor Race Championships Round 4
Round 4 of the NSW Motor Race Championships returned to Sydney Motorsport Park with a mixed bag of conditions. Staring out dry on Saturday, a freakish storm cell with strong winds rolled through mid afternoon scattering tents and creating 15 minutes of havoc both on and off track. This left the afternoon sessions with a wet track with which to contend, though Sunday started cold and bleak, but the sun shone and thawed us all out for a great day of racing.
This round saw the Improved Production category take a mid-year break, and instead the round featured a one hour enduro by the Production Sports Racing Cars Association; a real treat to see many of these cars in their annual sojourn to SMSP.
Enduros are tough on both drivers and cars, and this race was no different with nearly a quarter of the field failing to go the distance. A marvellous effort by the Mawer/Lazaris (Lotus Exige GT3) team, starting from 12th on the grid and holding on to a half race lead in the closing stages to take the win. Not so lucky was Anthony Soole, who’s birthday was spoiled by a late in the race gearbox failure which saw him drift to a stop out of turn one and hand the Class B race win to Nick Cancion (Mazda MX5). Class C went to Rob Hay in another MX5, managing to hold off the McGann/Stannard (Porsche 944) pair who were only seconds behind during most of the race.
Formula Ford was a see-saw affair all weekend, with Hamish Hardeman (Mygale ST13) and Nick Rowe (Mygale SJ10A), swapping the honours in all three races. Hardeman took the race wins in race one and three and Rowe took home a first, second and third across the weekend, leaving Jacob Parsons (Spectrum 014) to be content with a second and two thirds.
Thundering Sports Sedans racing saw a determined Steve Lacey, who has suffered race ending steering problems over recent months, come out in a determined bid to get his championship aspirations back on track. He finished with two third place finishes in race one and two. Starting from fourth on the grid in race three, he took a very aggressive race line early in the race to first edge out Chris Jackson (Holden Calibra) and then a couple laps later he pushed Anthony Macready very wide to slip by and eventually hold on for second spot in his best finish in quite a while. Birol Cetin (Camaro) took two race wins and his consistency is holding him at the top of his class. Grant Doulman enjoyed a rare race win and a second place, before exiting early in race three.
The HQ racing was a family affair with the Heinrich brothers squaring off against each other. Grabbing four podiums between them they hogged the front end of the field for most of their events. Both Joel and Bruce had race wins and a third place each. They are a competitive pair, giving no quarter as they swapped a bit of paint with each other in race two at turn two.
Aaron Seton blitzed the field with three straight race wins in the Production Touring category in his EVO 10, and absolutely hammered it in race two to record a lap record pass of 1:42.72. Congratulations Aaron!
– Words and pictures by Rob Annesley
look@shotbyrob.com.au
Event Wrap: CAMS Supersprint Round 4
2014 Muscle Car Masters – Special On-site Member Parking!
In addition to Members and Member Guests receiving complimentary general admission entry to this fabulous event, the ARDC is also pleased to confirm that a special area within the P3 car park (just before the North Paddock vehicular tunnel) has been set aside for free on-site Member parking. Spaces are limited, so it’s absolutely First In = Best Dressed!
To take advantage of this Member benefit and ensure speedy access to the venue on the day, please read the following conditions and instructions carefully:
ID Required
Please bring your current ARDC Membership Card with you. No ID = No Free Entry.
P3 Member Parking is limited
At big events like the Muscle Car Masters, space is always at a premium, and in the instance of wet weather (which can affect ground surface quality), the parking capacity of the P3 hill may be even further reduced. Therefore, once capacity has been reached, Members will be redirected to the nearest available spaces. Thank you in advance for your understanding.
Access to P3 Parking
Access is via the Main Entrance, Gate A off Ferrers Rd. Please have your ARDC Membership Card handy to show to the designated Parking Assist personnel upon arrival at Gate A.
Every person in the car MUST have a valid entry pass to the event.
These include:-
• A Valid ARDC Membership Card or ARDC Members Guest Card(s).
• Pre-purchased MCM event ticket(s).
• Other approved MCM event accreditation.
• A Valid Proof of Age or Concession Card (for Children 12 years and under, or companion card holders).
If you or any person in your vehicle does not have any of the above you will be directed to a priority parking area on Sydney Dragway to park and easily purchase your additional tickets at the ticket box offices at Gate A.
Avoid delays on the day. Please ensure all travellers are ticketed before the event by clicking HERE and ordering now!
2014 MCM Timetable
Parking open: 6.30 a.m.
Gates and Ticket Box Office open: 6.30am
Circuit Activity: 9am – 5:30pm, circuit closed at 6:00pm
A timetable and full travel information will be released on MuscleCarMasters.com.au and SydneyMotorsportPark.com.au closer to the event.
Event Wrap – NSW Motor Race Championships Round 3
A good field of 195 competitors enjoyed the first day of Round Three of the NSW Motor Race Championships under warm clear blue skies on Saturday June 21st. Early morning racing on Sunday however was thrown a curve ball with showers and a wet and slippery track with which to contend.
With both practice and qualifying sessions conducted on Friday and Saturday in fine conditions, and cars and drivers seemingly sorted and ready for more of the same for Sunday, it was unsettling for many to rethink the slicks and some didn’t have a backup plan.
First to face the slippery conditions were the Superkarts. With their amazing power to weight ratio on some parts of the track it became like a “ballet on ice”. Fortunately apart from some spins, no-one saw gravel time. Results were dominated by Anton Stevens (ART-PVP) with two race wins and a second, followed by Mark Robin ( Stockman MR125) with one race win and three thirds.
Improved Production O2L saw Graeme Watts continue his dominance of this category with three straight race wins. Looking extremely confident on track, Graeme clocked the fastest lap time in the class with a 1:41.71. Steve Devjak (Commodore) was consistently less than a second behind and scooped three second placings. Joe Lenthall (Mazda RX7) had a good campaign gaining valuable points with two third place finishes. Joes new red and white graphic designed livery goes really well with the spectacular metre and a half of flame he had shooting out of his exhaust late on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately this weekend John McKenzies’ regular podium finishes in this class came to a temporary end with a smokey exit from race two. John said: ”The smoke looked like it was being caused by oil leaking into a valve stem. “ He commented that it was time for an engine overhaul anyway.
Formula Vee featured a big field of 35 racers who were also racing for positional points in the Clemenger International Freight Australian Series. This categories results was on a knifes edge, as the lead was swapped regularly and the final race placings were evenly distributed across Michael Kinsella ( Jacer F2K10) with a first and second, Dylan Thomas with a first and a third, and Tim Brook (Jacer F2K4) with a first, second and a third.
While David Crighton enjoyed two race victories in Improved Production U2L , Graeme Cox settled for second and third placings. Bob Jowett was only a half second behind Crighton in race one, however Bob’s luck ran out in race two as he over cooked it into turn one and impacted heavily into a tire wall. That same tyre wall was responsible for the front end damage to Danny Castro’s Silvia S13, and it was last seen sitting sadly crumpled next to Bob Jowetts Honda Civic in the recovery yard.
With one and a half seconds out front of the field in race one and two Birol Cetins’ Yellow Camaro purred along consistently. However today, only two race wins for Birol, as he was forced to exit early in race three after what appeared to be an unfortunate accident with Steve Lacey. Steve has been having the worst luck lately with his (also) Yellow Camaro, as he has suffered steering failure in his last three outings. I spoke to Steve prior to race three and he was upbeat in his belief that he had solved the steering issue.
Unfortunately in race three Steve got only as far as turn two before his left front tyre, listing at an awkward angle under the wheel arch, uncooperatively dragged his big machine into the grassy verge on driver’s left in a pall of scraping tyre smoke.
– Words and pictures by Rob Annesley
look@shotbyrob.com.au.
Event Wrap: CAMS Supersprint Championship Round 3
records. He previously held both those records in his VK Commodore Sports Sedan. Unfortunately, Steve suffered steering problems on his third pass, and was forced to retire. Paige Butchers had a scare when her bonnet flew up on turn one and scratched her windscreen pretty badly.
Other Class records broken were:
Class 1C – Preston Peiris took a second and a half off the Class 1C record with a time of 1.17.587 in his Mazda MPS3. Preston has broken the Class 1C record at every Round this year.
Class 4A – Chris Muir set a new Class 4A record in his new Honda CRX with a time of 1.16.401. Chris only unveiled his newly finished CRX today, was extremely happy with its performance.
Class 4B – Ed Cory broke the Class 4B record in his Mazda MX5 with a time of 1.16.250 Class 4C – Richard Perini broke the Class 4C record in his Porsche RSR with a time of 1.04.564. While they didn’t make the record books, it is worth noting that Bruce Hibbard (Porsche GT3), Adam Laura (BMW M3) and Matt Cole (Mazda RX7) also broke the Class 4C record yesterday.
Class 5B – Chris Kostakis broke the Class 5B records by about 3 seconds in his MNR Vortex with a time of 1.056.973. It should be noted that Chris has broken the Class 5B record at every Round this year.
The Mazda MX5 Club is leading the Club Championship by the barest of margins on 1226 points just ahead of ARDC who are just four points behind on 1222 points. Manly Warringah are in third place on 597 points.
-Words and pictures by Rob Annesley
Special thanks to Bob Welsh for specific race details