The Australian Racing Drivers Club

For members and guests

championship

Australasian/FX Superbike Championship

The exciting series final of the 2014 SWANN Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship Series ( ASC ) and the YMF Loan Australian FX-Superbike Championship series ( AFX-SBK ) was held in sweltering conditions on November 22 – 23 at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Terry O’Neill, event director, stated that “..this year’s Championship series has been huge with some of the most exciting racing ever seen in this country. Every Championship category is up for grabs this weekend, and it will be hard fought, that’s for sure. We’ll see very close racing this weekend.”

Both the weather and the racing was fierce and hot. Ambient air temperatures on Friday qualifying and Sunday racing hit the 40 degree mark, and racers had to contend with track temps nudging 70 degrees. It was a true test of man and machine in these extreme conditions. Many teams had blow up kiddies pools in and around their garages, in order to keep their racers cool between races. Others used the showers for a cool respite.

Qld based Mark Carlsson, team boss for Jordan Carlsson Racing commented “…on Friday the track temp was 69.4 degrees. We had to deal with trying to set the bikes telemetry to allow for this. At these temperatures the bikes handling feels like riding on marshmallows. We’ve got plenty of straight line power, but the handling into corners is where you pick up places or lose them.”

In the Ninja 300 class, Brandon Demmery and Kyle Buckley have been the hottest riders all year. Coming into this weekend, Buckley only had a two point lead on Demmery. The round and overall championship was eventually won by Demmery who was just too strong for Buckley and showed incredible consistency with a race win and two second places to win the Championship and a brand new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R.

Sophie Lovett won the womens class in the FX 300 Ninja Cup with a clean sweep of the series and won the Championship by 58 points. She was so strong all year that she came fourth outright in the Championship.

In the Pro Twin/Naked class KTM’s two-wheeled testosterone machine, the 1290 Super Duke R, now has an Australian Road Race Championship title under its belt.%u2028In the hands of master blaster Angus Reekie, the Super Duke R came from behind to claim the Australasian Superbike Championships Naked Bike category, while Reekie was also awarded the winner’s trophy for Pro Twins combined classification.%u2028

For Reekie, who crashed out during practice for the penultimate round in September, it was a resumption of regular service as he and his V-twin streetfighter performed yet another clean sweep of three wins for the weekend – in the process achieving the very enviable record of having won every naked bike race he has started in 2014.%u2028

The title is the ninth national championship for Reekie, whose cabinet already holds six Australian Supermoto, one Supermono, and one FX Pro Thunder trophies. Adrian Pierpoint and Darren Wilbow claimed second and third respectively.

Congratulations to Richard Draper’s Sugar Plum Racing team. This small but close knit privateer team from western NSW contested the Naked Bike F2 class and this year also had an entry in the Ninja 300 class.

Raschelle Sherwood’s first year in competition and she finished with third place in the womens category in the Kawasaki Ninja 300’s. Richard fought mechanical issues all year ranging from brakes to fuel to overheating but his gritty tenacity and with Lisa and Linda pit crewing for him they overcame these obstacles and Richard honoured their incredible commitment with trophies in both series over the weekend as well as the taking out the Naked Bike F2 class championship.

FX Pro Twins was a hotly contested class. In all three races, it appeared to be the Craig McMartin and Kevin Curtain show. McMartin shot off the line in both race one and two, but Curtain reeled him in on both occasions, partly due to some fuel issues suffered in race one by McMartin and in the second race the veteran Curtain relentlessly took back seconds on each lap to eventully overhaul McMartin closing out the first two races by over 8 seconds in front of McMartin on both occasions. Race three again McMartin shot of the line and grabbed the early lead, this time he feverishly held on like a man possessed and refused to relinquish the lead eventually holding Curtain at bay to take the race win by only five-tenths. The championship series was won by Simon Galloway, who had already wrapped up the series after Round Five at Wakefield.

Maxima Yamaha rider Aaron Morris claimed the coveted Supersport championship by the narrowest of margins. Morris went into the final race of the day in Sydney holding a three-point lead over closest rival Aiden Wagner (Yamaha), with a brand new R1 up for grabs to the championship winner. In the final race, Wagner claimed victory making it three race wins from three on the day, however Morris’ second place had the championship tied on points overall. Third overall for the round was Callum Spriggs (Yamaha). On a countback, Morris took the outright championship honours with his season tally of 11 race wins compared to Wagner’s seven, enough to clinch the title.

New champion Matthew Harding swept the Formula Oz ranks in a Kawasaki trifecta, winning all three races to take the overall from Brayden Carr and Phil Lovett. There was only a 3-point gap in the championship between Harding and Lovett leading into the final round and Hardings clean sweep saw him finishing with a well deserved 20–point lead. British Superbike regular David Johnson also made his way on track riding a ZX-10R, finishing sixth overall.

Four riders competed in the e-FXC category. The title races in the eFXC class was a battle between two; Danny Pottage (O’Hanlon Electric Motorsports) and Daniel Ripperton ( Ripperton Racing) . Pottage finished more than ten seconds ahead of Ripperton in both races. So dominant was Pottage that he also posted a new lap record for the category of 1:46.568. He clinched the championship victory with a race to spare.

Team Honda Racing pilot Wayne Maxwell has comfortably taken out the 2014 YMF Loan Yamaha Australian FX Superbike Championship at Eastern Creek. Maxwell wrapped up the title after two of the scheduled three races for the day – his sixth and fourth place finishes enough to secure the title heading into the final race. Teammate Troy Herfoss would have been disappointed with his day on the track, and despite some issues throughout the day (he claimed fifth, 10th and fourth from his three races) managed to finish the championship in second. An inspired day of racing from Mike Jones (Crazy Dog Kawasaki) handed him third place in the overall championship. Robert Bugden (YRT) and Glenn Scott (Insure My Ride) rounded out the top-five in the overall standings.

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

Event Wrap: NSW MRC Finals

The final round for 2014 of the NSW Motor Racing Championships, held at Sydney Motorsport Park on the weekend of Oct 25/26th, was a true testament to the fun and friendly rivalry that competitors in this race series enjoy – evident by the amount of names on the entrant list at this late stage in the year.Whilst many race series find it hard to get enthusiastic numbers to fill the available places come race day at this end of the year, when many of their race category championship results are a fait accompli, Round Seven of the NSWMRC was filled with racers enjoying an end-of-year carnival like feeling in the pits. For some there was a glimmer of hope for a championship podium finish, for others it was a time to work on a few new ideas and mechanical setups in the hope of jumping out of the blocks and stealing a march on unsuspecting rivals in 2015.

Steve Lacey in Sports Sedans was holding onto second place in the championships even after the dreadfully unlucky year he’s had with multiple rounds suffering steering failures. His poor luck continued over the weekend with an engine failure in Fridays practice. With no time to evaluate the problem, and new engine was thrown into the car on Friday night, and with three gentle laps in Saturday’s qualifying to bed it in, it was “off to the races” with it for a last throw of the dice to seal his championship spot.

Birol Cetin, who was leading the championships in the same category and only needed one race finish over the whole weekend to secure his championship, also suffered misfortune on Friday with an in-car fire. Come early on Saturday morning there was serious doubt about his ability to start as the problem was identified as a faulty cam shaft sensor causing unburnt fuel to buildup in the exhaust pipe and a misfire set it alight. Cetin showed the champion form he’s displayed all year not letting a back of grid start hamper his plans and took the championship lollies with a superb drive in race one coming from last to place second. Congratulations to Steve Lacey on a gritty performance throughout the year to hold onto second in the championships.

Another exciting category was Improv Prod U2L featuring a return to the championship of Bob Jowett. Bob smashed his Civic mid year, and missed two complete rounds of the championship. Sporting a bright new livery on his new Civic, he showed dynamic form to take the win in all three races on the day.

With too many points out front in the championship, Dave Crighton thought he only need to complete one race to ensure his number one spot in the championship. However, he was informed he needed to complete two races. He took it out hard and was having a beaut run when on the last lap rounding turn eighteen he suffered a fuel pump malfunction and lost the lead as he limped down main straight and coasted across the finish line . Heart in mouth he snatched his championship victory back from the jaws of defeat.

Finishing a stellar year in style Steven Devjak took three wins from three starts on the weekend and wrapped up his year in wonderful style clean sweeping his way to his championship victory in Improv Prod O2L. Joe Lenthall in his first full year of racing in this category happily embraced second place.

With the weekends lead swapping between the championship leader and his closest rival, John Baxter grabbed enough points to secure his championship win against his determined year long nemesis Brett Osborn. Finishing with third in the championship was Chris Molle.

Superkarts are synonymous with excitement and Sunday was no exception. Anton Stevens showed his blistering form with a clean sweep of all four races. His awesome form had his closest competitor in race one crossing the line 30 seconds behind him. It was great to see Anton’s skill for only the second time this year. Congratulations to Aaron Cogger for a pair of seconds, John Pellicano with a second and third, and Paul Campbell (pictured) taking a brace of thirds.

The Production Touring Car Championships ended their year with a one hour enduro featuring driver A and B. Leading from start to finish, Aaron Seton drove a faultless stint and at the final bell was 38 seconds ahead to claim the victory. Dylan Thomas and Leigh Burges took second and third respectively.

Words and pics by Rob Annesley

 

 

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.

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

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

 

Wrap: 2013 CAMS NSW Supersprint Championships

On Nov 29th, many of the competitors and officials involved in the CAMS NSW Supersprint competition gathered together to celebrate the conclusion of another great year of competition.

With a sturdy field of 179 Registrants throughout the year, of which 154 regularly competed in the seven categories , evenly split between Road Registered and Log Book Cars.

To win a championship, you must acquire the most points over an arduous eight rounds of competition. Indicating the popularity of Supersprint, seven of the eight rounds were fully subscribed with waiting lists. The organisers would like to thank all the competitors who supported the Championship.
The Championship rounds were hosted by clubs including the ARDC, NSWRRC, Mini Car Club and MX-5 Club. These clubs host the event rounds, and provide the officials for each event, ably assisted by Kerry Butcher, series Chief Scrutineer and Ian Bigg, series Chief Steward.

On a reflective note, we wish Brett Giles all the very best, as he steps down from his post of Supersprint panel member, and past chairman, after 20 years tireless service to the sport.

The championship, by category were awarded to:
Type 1 – Standard Road Cars – Tony Chan – Toyota Celica and Toyota 86.
Type 2 – Mildly Modified Road Cars – Alex Ball – Lotus Elise 111R
Type 3 – Improved Production Cars – Robert Kolimackovski – Holden Commodore VL.
Type 4 – Sports Sedans – Warwick Fuller – Holden Commodore.
Type 5 – Racing & Sports Racing Cars – Andrie Tan – Radical Supersports V8
Type 6 – Time Attack Cars – Jonathon McKinnon.
Type SV – Clubman, Special Vehicles and Highly Modified Road Cars – Allan Bugh – PRB Clubman.
Club Championship – the Australian Racing Drivers Club ( ARDC)
To further underscore the popularity and quality of the sport in NSW, NSW competitors represented 30% of the competitiors at the recently run Australian Supersprint Championship at Philip Island, Victoria, walking away with First, Second and Third place outright trophies. Andrie Tan, Duncan Forrest and Marek Tomaszewski did us proud. This was the first time the trophy was won by a driver outside the host state. An additional six “first place in category” trophies were awarded to our drivers as well. Congratulations to our NSW drivers.
We look forward to another safe and successful year in 2014.
– words and pics by Rob Annesley
look@shotbyrob.com.au
Thanks to Mike Hicks for his assistance.