The Australian Racing Drivers Club

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Event Wrap – 2015 Muscle Car Masters

The Annual “Muscle Car Master” carnival rolled into town at Sydney Motorsport Park on Fathers Day weekend September 4 – 6. It was a wonderful weekend of celebration of all that is exceptional about Australian motorsport combining the best of both Australian and US motoring muscle. Evergreen celebrity drivers such as Bob Holden, Jim Richards, John Bowe, Glenn Seton, ( Happy Birthday, Glenn – who turned 50 this week), Charlie O’Brien, Andrew Mediecke, Leo Tobin and Rusty French got behind the wheels of  various brands of muscle cars and over the weekend reminded us all why we love these heritage marques.

Our past racing legends were oh so generous with their time and spent countless hours over the course of the weekend signing autographs, posing for photographs and chatting extensively, between racing commitments, with hundreds of fans many of whom recounted and relived exploits of these giants of Australian racing with blow-by-blow accounts of their favourite racing moments.

As well stellar examples of original and restored classic metal including 50 of the best examples of heritage vehicles (30 of which are original cars) that graced our race tracks in decades gone by. Each and every one of the shiny concourse prepared cars played a significant part in the fabric of our rich Australian racing history.  These cars carried our hopes and dreams as we watched our race suited gladiatorial heroes do battle in their brightly coloured liveries. Commonplace throughout our magnificent history these steeds had colloquial names which easily rolled off our tongues…names such as “XU-1, A9X, ‘Cuda, Charger, GTHO, ‘Stang as well as a myriad of letters meaningful to the motoring initiated such as VL, VS, VH and VK.

The headline feature category over the weekend is always the Touring Car Masters race series. This field is littered with racing masters, and 26 sensationally prepared hotted up V8 muscle cars. It was a surprise to see John Bowe in a Torana this weekend, especially as his most notable (and usual) ride was also running around in the field: Mustang Sally. This weekend she was in the capable hands on Neil Crompton. Although, one has to wonder how Bowe and Mustang Sally felt when Crompton got caught up in a mid field “nose to tail debacle which in fairness was not of his own doing. As it turned out Seton nudged Mediecke who spun 360 degrees right in the middle of the exit from turn two, and in the ensuing melee and bottleneck Compton had his front and rear crumpled. The carnage was not limited to him alone as some five cars all came back around the track sporting various assorted crumpled fenders and grills. The immediate resulting carnage at turn two looked like an untidy second hand car lot with cars pointing in all directions and those drivers trying to avoid the mess were mounting the ripple strips dodging and weaving through the infield to get some clear space to literally escape the blockage. In racing, John Bowe was sensational with three clear race wins in his personally race prepared Wilson Security Torana. This weekend brought John Bowe a double milestone. Firstly he celebrated his 200th career race win on Saturday and on Sunday competed in his 1000th career race event.  Congratulations John.

Almost equal favourite racing category over the weekend was the mighty Trans AM Sports Sedans category. Featuring more legends of Australian motorsport driving 5 Litre+ American muscle cars made popular in the 60’s and 70’s. With teeth rattling power plants, the field of Mustangs, Firebirds, Camaro’s, GTO’s and even a Plymouth Barracuda growled and fiercely fought for supremacy around the Eastern Creek GP circuit. Seventeen cars from Qld and four from New Zealand rounded out the field for this tribute series second appearance at MCM. Charlie O’Brien (Firebird) drove gangbusters all weekend and took all three race wins. Crowd pleaser Glenn Allingham got the crowd roaring with his wheel spinning “drifting” style of driving. Plenty of smoke and noise: What more could you want at MCM 2015?

The crowd was spoilt for merchandise choice as the semitrailers with TCM, Holden and other memorabilia were a part of the whole fantastic vibe. It was great to see the grandstand almost full and the rooftop above the pits was crammed with spectators cheering their heroes and enjoying all the racing that was on offer. This year there were three separate Heritage Hot Laps which meant their was ample time to see all your favourite cars of yesteryear. As well, a parade lap for the many car clubs that attended with their exquisitely prepared privateer vehicles was a marvelous sight with over a hundred cars. Featuring AC Cobras, classic Mustangs, Chargers, Corvettes, HSV Holdens, it was great to perve on some beautiful metal and chrome.

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

 

 

Event Wrap: FoSC Finale

The final Festival of Sporting Cars (FoSC) event for 2014 was conducted on Sunday November 16th using the South Circuit at Sydney MotorSport Park. In excess of 90 competitiors faced conditions that taxed even the most experienced racing teams, with some of less experienced competitors finding them to be downright perplexing. In a morning that brought rain up until the starting horn was sounded, a wet track gave early entrants a slow run round. For those in open-top cars and some who had only brought slicks, the clearing weather was a relief.
Throughout the morning the wind gusts were upwards of 30 knots which made for tricky judgements out on the track at speed. Finally the sun came out and the temps hit the mid 20’s. It should be mentioned that this event was one of the best examples of the mantra that FoSC has adopted. The “no contact, no sheep stations” friendly style of competition had emergency crews having a blessedly quiet day. Some early wet practice sessions put everyone into full concentration mode and may have contributed to the overall lack of incidents.
Notable sights and sounds during the course of the day were Chris Stode’s 7 litre Ford Galaxie . Chris said ”…I went round the whole track in third gear. Its got plenty of pickup and rev range so I didn’t need to change it up or down”. Also featured were the two US Legend cars of Kerry Hughes.President of FoSC David Nichols said, “….the fact that so many different vehicle makes and models and their drivers can compete with each other in sportsmanlike fashion shows that everyone is there simply for the pleasure of getting out on the circuit and enjoying their motorsport. With that in mind we are pleased to be able to offer an even wider variety for next years competitions, with the addition of a meeting on the Druitt ( SMSP North) circuit in March, as well as three other meetings at SMSP through out the year, and our usual Wakefield weekend mid year.”
Today’s event culminated the Historic Touring Cars Championship for 2014 in both the Nb and Nc classes. In Nb, Paul Battersby took three second places during the event to accumulate enough points to secure the championship trophy. Whilst not appearing for todays event, Graham Russell took second and Bob Munday had three thirds to take the championship third spot. In a year long battle for the top position in the Nc class, Wayne Rogerson and John Wright battled hard, and in the end Rogersons two race wins today gave him the championship title. Wright hung on to second and Mark Lenstra finished third in the championships.
The 2014 Excel NSW Championship ended in an AGI Motorsport team clean sweep of the championship. In what has become an all too familiar site over the course of the year, Nathan Gotch finished with two firsts and a second place sealing his championship victory on 330 points. Filipetto’s first, second and third was a strong statement, and earned him a commendable second in the championship with 273 points. Dave Smith rounded out the podium in the Excel Championship Series on 184 points.
The Historic and Invited Sports Touring category races were a bit of a runaway affair with Don Collyer (Clubman) crossing the line ten and twelve seconds respectively ahead of Scott Tutton in races two and three. Craig Durrant was consistent with his three thirds for the day’s outing.
The beginner’s “Come and Try” segments were well supported with six newcomers getting two opportunities to drive around the circuit with mentors. Dominic Stramandinol second go-round showed great promise with a twelve-second bettering of his first attempt in his stock street Commodore.
Words and pics by Rob Annesley

 

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

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.

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.