What an absolute honour it is to be writing to you all this month in my new capacity as President and Chair of the Board of The Australian Racing Drivers Club, having been elected to the role at the club’s Annual General Meeting in May. And what big racing shoes to fill after Andrew Leithhead’s outstanding 14-year leadership at the helm. I’m pleased to advise that although Andrew has chosen to step down as President, he has agreed to remain on the board and has taken on the role as Deputy Vice President. Andrew’s tenure as President has overseen so many significant developments at our home at Sydney Motorsport Park, including the Brabham expansion of the track, installation of circuit wide LED lighting, the creation of the Australian Motorsport Innovation Precinct, and presiding over a continuance of multiple events and programs. Our ARDC membership base has quadrupled over this time too. I am sure you’ll all agree he’s done an incredible job, and we thank him for all his hard work, dedication, and leadership. Congratulations to Jamie McDonald who was elected at the AGM as our new Vice President! I’m very much looking forward to working alongside Jamie as Vice President, Andrew as Deputy Vice President, my fellow ARDC Directors, Glenn Matthews our CEO and his amazing team, our officials, volunteers, partners and Members. I hope that as a motorsport enthusiast and competitor on both two- and four-wheels, combined with my six years on the ARDC Board, and my long long-standing business and board career, that I can continue to shape the Club’s future. Fuelled of course by the ideas, enthusiasm, passion and assistance of our Members! Together I believe we can continue the Club’s 70 years history of best-in-class Australian Motorsport stewardship, circuit management and presentation, hosting exhilarating events and experiences, and passionate ARDC Member representation. Each month I hope to be able to continue to bring you exciting news and updates of this important and exciting journey. As for the AGM itself, it was terrific to receive the yearly report from Glenn Matthews (ARDC CEO). Glenn provided a terrific outline of the ARDC’s current financial position (particularly coming out of COVID); the continued growth and stability of the ARDC Membership; the exciting racing calendar ahead at SMSP; the important work we are doing around sustainability, and the continued progress of the Stage One building of the Australian Motorsport Innovation Precinct (AMIP). As its opening is now only weeks away, I’m excited to be able to share more news in next month’s newsletter about our AMIP’s grand opening, our foundation tenants, and future plans. We hope you will join us at the track through June for the HSRCA Sydney Classic 2023, the Shannons Trophy Series, or perhaps the St. George Motorcycle Club’s 2023 Endurance Series. I look forward to seeing and meeting many of you at some of our other key events coming up this year including Word Time Attack, the TCR Championship, Masterblast ’23 and the Beaurepaires Sydney Supernight 28-30 July! The ARDC marketing team will be updating everyone about Member access and arrangements to the Supercars event in the coming weeks. In the meantime, don’t forget to put the ARDC’s MasterBlast ’23 event featuring the Muscle Car Masters in your diaries for September!Happy Racing, Natalie. president@ardc.com.au Pictured from left: Andrew Leithhead, Jamie McDonald, Natalie Turmine and Glenn Matthews at the recent 71st ARDC Annual General Meeting, May 2023. ___________________________________________________________________ Farewell, and thanks. This month’s President’s Message has a new author… and this month’s newsletter contains my last annual report as ARDC President! At the Annual General Meeting on 24th May I advised that I would not be re-nominating for the position of ARDC President. I have been incredibly privileged to lead our Club for 14 years and together with our Board, CEO, staff team, volunteers and Members, we have achieved some big things since 2009. However, it is time for me to step down and make way for new blood and new thinking. Renewal is very important in all organisations, and I am glad that the Board has elected Natalie Turmine as our new President and Jamie McDonald as Vice President. While I will remain on the Board and have accepted the role of Deputy Vice President, Nat and Jamie are now driving! The ARDC of 2023 is the result of the cumulative effort of many people over more than 70 years. I am very conscious that whatever has been achieved during my tenure as President has been built on the foundations provided by my predecessors. I also want to recognise that it has only been possible for me to serve as President with the ongoing support, encouragement and honest feedback of the ARDC Members. I’m excited to see how the Club progresses under new leadership and I’m looking forward to having some extra time to spend on the track! As I said earlier, it has been a great privilege. Thanks, Andrew. 2023 ARDC AGM Report ___________________________________________________________________ MEMBER ACCESS AT SUPERCARS We know you’ve been waiting for this one! In a few more days the ARDC should have our offering for Members finalised; we are confident of General Admission (GA) tickets for Members and Guests, as per the last few years and with thanks to Supercars… but are investigating options for Members to upgrade to Grandstand or Park’N’View (or both). Stay tuned! _________________________________________________________________________ LAST CHANCE TO GRAB YOUR FREE TICKETS! Australian Motor Heritage Foundation Presents: Bondy ‘Mr Versatile’ Fireside Chat Our friends over at the AMHF are starting their fireside chats with a bang, hosting Mr Versatile himself on the 23rd of June at 10am at SMSP in the Hinxman Room! Call us or check your Member News in your inbox to claim your free ticket! ___________________________________________________________________ VIVID DRONE SHOW OPERATORS FEATURING AT MASTERBLAST ’23 Did you see the drone show at Vivid this year? It was SPECTACULAR! (watch it HERE). Well, Skyworx Drone Shows will be back at this year’s Masterblast, taking to the SMSP sky with 500 drones on the Saturday night! You won’t want to miss it! Along with our Car- and Bike-themed Drone Show at around 7pm, we also have Tuned International on the SMSP main straight, the brand new Sydney Hillclimb takes on the Amaroo South Circuit, and Drifting with Driving Sports on the Figure 8. Why not grab a Park’N’View spot to watch it all from the comfort of your car, or camp overnight and see the show from your home-away-from-home? Both are FREE FOR ARDC MEMBERS! TICKETS LAUNCHING SOON. Save the weekend of September 9-10, 2023 for all the metal and muscle, displays and drone shows; a great two-days for any car enthusiast! SYDNEYMASTERBLAST.COM Sponsorship opportunities in a variety of forms and activations are now available! For enquiries, please contact Peter Larum at peter@ardc.com.au or 0419 732 029. __________________________________________________________________________ The Great Race: ARDC Born and Bred – Exclusive Premier Suite Have you booked your place yet? We have! And a good thing too, as these places are SOLD OUT on the Supercars site! The ARDC has booked a Premier Pit Suite at the 2023 Repco Bathurst 1000 and is offering Members an exclusive opportunity to join us. The ARDC’s suite is positioned at pit exit with a balcony and views of the main straight and turn one. The experience includes access to the event, an air-conditioned suite with TV’s so you won’t miss a second of the action, full catering for all three days, beverage package, a goodies bag on arrival, and much more to come! All for $2000pp inc GST. We are so excited to share this limited Anniversary experience with our Members: Packages are available to book NOW by emailing the ARDC.See you trackside at The Great Race! Nightshift for Cars will be back in May, with a combined Beginner/Intermediate group joining Race Cars. Grab a mate, give us a call for your discount code and come enjoy SMSP under lights! Don’t forget, you can use one or both of your 50% Discounts on Nightshift events! When: Wednesday 28th June Groups: Beginner/IntermediateRace Cars NIGHTSHIFT FOR CARS TICKETS Remember, ARDC Members are always entitled to a full refund. So book now and if we need to postpone, we can rebook or refund you! To get your 50% Members discount, email reception@ardc.com.au, or give us a call at 9672 1000. Follow the link above to our ticket page and book now! |
KEY EVENTS IN JUNE Fri 2nd – Sunday 4th Fastrack and Supercar Drive Members receive a 10% discount! Fastrack Website. Sat 10th – Sun 11th HSCRA Summer Classic Free entry for ARDC Members and Guests. Show your card at the gate. Wed 14th Open Pit Lane Track Day Places available – Click Here. Fri 16th – Sun 18th Shannons Nationals Trophy Series Free entry for ARDC Members and Guests. Show your card at the gate. Fri 30th ARDC Private Practice – Test & Tune Enter here. ___________________________________________________________________ NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERSMOTOSCHOOL IS GO! We are excited to announce a new bike track school provider, Motoschool! Their first event at SMSP is this month, Friday Night Lights, is an evening event on the Amaroo South Circuit and starts at $249. Entry includes: MOTOSCHOOL Team T-Shirt Full rider safety briefing, professional course control & track marshalling Four track riding sessions under lights (approx 20 minutes per session) Graded coaching groups – based on skill & ability, catering to all Riders, all bikes, all levels Four classroom rider coaching sessions covering a multitude of motorcycle skills & fundamentals 4k Rider Video shadowing & review using the latest technology Check out motoschool.com.au or go straight to the event info/ticketing link page HERE. |
ARDC Fanbelt – May 2023
In this month’s FanBelt:
• Presidents Report
• ARDC 2023 AGM Notice
• ARDC Member Exclusive Bathurst 1000 Suite Ticket
• ARDC Members Invitation: AMHF Presents – Bondy ‘Mr Versatile’ Fireside Chat
• ARDC Presents: Masterblast 23′
o Plus Sponsorship Opportunities
• Nightshift Dates
• May Events
• News from our Partners, and more…
MAY 2023
Last month I hinted that an announcement was imminent for another feature event in the 2023 motorsport calendar at SMSP, and we were delighted to announce on 13th April that the first-ever TCR World Tour event to be held in Australia will be under lights at SMSP on November 3-5. This will be the week prior to the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International and will also be the penultimate round of the 2023 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series. ARDC is excited to be co-promoting this key race meeting with Australian Racing Group (ARG) and we are looking forward to seeing our Australian TCR drivers matched against the world’s best, right in the heart of Western Sydney.
The TCR World Tour weekend will follow on from World Time Attack and Sydney MasterBlast in early September, Supercars in late July and the Shannon’s Trophy series in mid June. There is plenty of high quality motorsport coming for ARDC members in 2023!
At a more grass-roots level, Round 2 of the NSW Motor Racing Championships was extremely well supported on 15/16 April. There were approaching 300 competitors across ten different categories competing on the weekend, which made for a very busy paddock area! I know there were some delays getting access to the circuit on Saturday morning, and we are working on expediting the gate entry process for the next round. To assist, I encourage all competitors to remember to download their entry tickets before arriving at the circuit. Despite those irritations it was a great weekend of motorsport and despite a threatening weather forecast early in the week I think a light drizzle was the worst of the rainfall.
As I mentioned last month, on 19th April, the Hon. Chris Bowen, Federal Minister for Climate Change, addressed a lunch co-hosted by ARDC and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry at SMSP to launch of the Federal Government’s National Electric Vehicle strategy. Over 100 motor industry representatives attended, and while there are doubtless many competing interests in this space the government’s desire to implement a minimum emissions standard for vehicles sold in Australia was well received. I was surprised to learn that among developed nations only Australia and Russia do not currently have a minimum emissions standard, which clearly does not incentivise vehicle manufacturers to prioritise Australia for sales of their most environmentally friendly products!
Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 24th May, commencing at 7:30pm in the Champions’ Room at SMSP. As usual we will present the annual reports to members, followed by a Q&A session for members. No election for Directors was required this year as the only Nominations received were from those current directors whose two-year term had expired. Therefore, congratulations to Jamie McDonald, Peter Preller, Rachelle Stirling and Terry Thompson, who are each re-elected for another two-year term.
The process by which (under the Constitution) the Board might appoint a further two Directors has been on hold for the last month or so. A number of high quality candidates have expressed interest in being considered for these positions and the Board will progress these appointments after the completion of the AGM.
Enough from me this month! As usual the June newsletter will include a copy of my annual report, presented at the AGM.
Cheers,
Andrew
president@ardc.com.au
If you plan on attending the 2023 ARDC AGM, get in touch and let us know so we can ensure everyone is catered for!
To RSVP, just send an email to Ian.Hansen@ardc.com.au or call 9672 1000.
The Great Race: ARDC Born and Bred – Exclusive Premier Suite
The Australian Racing Drivers’ Club’s history is intrinsically linked to Mount Panorama, and it’s about time the Club went back to reminisce and celebrate.
This year is set to be a huge year for the Repco Supercars Championship with the introduction of the new Gen3 Mustang and Camaro, which make their night-time racing debut at SMSP in July at the Beaurepaires Sydney Supernight.
And 2023 marks 60 years since the ARDC first ran the Armstrong 500 at Mount Panorama, later to evolve into ‘The Great Race’. Plus, it’s also the 50th anniversary of first Hardie-Ferodo 1000, where the ARDC introduced the now famous 1000km format. We feel it’s only appropriate to celebrate this rich history with our Members in style: at the spiritual home of Australian motorsport. For this reason, the ARDC has booked a Premier Pit Suite at the 2023 Repco Bathurst 1000 and is offering Members an exclusive opportunity to join us. But you’d better be quick to book, as numbers will be limited and well-priced packages will be made available on a first in best-dressed basis.
The ARDC’s suite is positioned at pit exit with a balcony and views of the main straight and turn one. The experience includes access to the event, an air-conditioned suite with TV’s so you won’t miss a second of the action, full catering for all three days, beverage package, a goodies bag on arrival, and much more to come! All this for just $2000pp inc GST.
We are so excited to share this limited Anniversary experience with our Members: Packages will be available to book NOW by emailing the ARDC’s Membership manager at Ian.Hansen@ardc.com.au
See you trackside at The Great Race!
The Australian Motor Heritage Foundation Presents: Bondy ‘Mr Versatile’ Fireside Chat
Our friends over at the AMHF are starting their fireside chats with a bang, hosting Mr Versatile himself on the 23rd of June at 10am at SMSP in the Hinxman Room!
ARDC Members have the privilege of first access to tickets for this one off event! Just click here to claim your free ticket!
Sydney Masterblast 23′ featuring Muscle Car Masters and Sydney Hillclimb
New date; same great event!
Save the weekend of September 9-10, 2023 for all the metal and muscle, displays and drone shows; a great two-days for any car enthusiast!
Sydney Masterblast this year will feature our beloved Australian Muscle Car Masters™ categories, along with modern metal and great door-to-door racing and parade laps of historic cars both days during the break.*
At night on Saturday, Tuned International is bringing back its best cars for a huge Monster Meet on the SMSP main straight, while the brand new Sydney Hillclimb takes on the Amaroo South Circuit hills, under lights.
And at 7pm Saturday**, the whole Park will stop for our feature Drone Show in the sky above. Five hundred drones will create 3D imagery in the air to music; as seen at Sydney’s VIVID light show and last year’s Super 70 event. It’s a night not to be missed!
Stay the night at our nearby hotels, or camp out at SMSP’s final turn for the best view in the house.
Park-N-View also returns this year: this ticket allows you to pull up anywhere along the north-east of the precinct, and gas BBQs and cookers are allowed. It’s a great day out!
ARDC Members will get into the event for free, PLUS access to free camping, and Park-N-View tickets!
Sponsorship opportunities in a variety of forms and activations are now available! For enquiries, please contact Peter Larum at peter@ardc.com.au or 0419 732 029.
Nightshift for Cars will be back in May, with a combined Intermediate/Advanced group joining Race Cars. Grab a mate, give us a call for your discount code and come enjoy one of Australia’s premiere motorsport facilities under lights!
When: Wednesday 24th May
Groups:
• Intermediate/Advanced
• Race Cars
Remember, ARDC Members are always entitled to a full refund. So book now and if we need to postpone, we can rebook or refund you!
To get your 50% Members discount, email reception@ardc.com.au, or give us a call at 9672 1000.
Follow the link below to our ticket page and book now!
Membership in 2023
Just a reminder, as of the 1st of January, the ARDC returned to an annual Membership with a common expiry date of 31st December each year. Most Members currently have an expiry date at some point in 2023 already, but don’t worry, we’ll pro-rata your Membership fees till the end of the year so everyone lines up!
Plus, you can always upgrade to a Three-year Memberships early! Just give us a call and we’ll pro-rata the fees to carry you to December 31st, 2025.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out!
Cheers,
Ian
ian.hansen@ardc.com.au
MAY 2023
Friday 5th
Driving Sports GP Circuit Drift
FREE FOR MEMBERS & GUEST PASS HOLDERS
Saturday 6th
Beat the Blue 2023 Main Event
FREE FOR MEMBERS & GUEST PASS HOLDERS
Saturday 13th Day
Australian Drift Club – Wetpan Warriors
FREE FOR MEMBERS & GUEST PASS HOLDERS
Saturday 13th Night
Roll Racing #79 + Terminal Speed Challenge
FREE FOR MEMBERS & GUEST PASS HOLDERS
Sunday 14th
Rotary Revival Sydney
FREE FOR MEMBERS & GUEST PASS HOLDERS
Saturday 20th
Post Classic Racing Association – Club Championships
FREE FOR MEMBERS & GUEST PASS HOLDERS
Sunday 21st
Roll Racing – All Jap Day
FREE FOR MEMBERS & GUEST PASS HOLDERS
Thursday 25th
Street Outlaws Australia
FREE FOR MEMBERS & GUEST PASS HOLDERS
Friday 26th
Australian Drift Club – Figure-8 Drift Series
FREE FOR MEMBERS & GUEST PASS HOLDERS
Saturday 27th – Sunday 28th
NSW Motor Race Championship R3
FREE FOR MEMBERS & GUEST PASS HOLDERS
Sunday 28th Night
Australian Drift Club – Figure-8 Drift Nights
FREE FOR MEMBERS & GUEST PASS HOLDERS
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Celebrate the end of financial year with a Fastrack V8 Race experience
Every Supercar fan or performance driving enthusiast would love a race experience in powerful V8 Holdens and Fords.
The ADRC has a special offer for a Fastrack V8 Race experience for you to enjoy, or as a special gift for a friend.
Book any experience on May 5, 6 and 7 or June 2, 3 and 4 and receive a 15% discount.
More info: https://fastrackexperiences.com.au/
To book, call Fastrack Experiences on 1800 887223 and say you’re an ‘ARDC Member’ to receive this EOFY Deal!