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Event Wrap: NSW Motor Race Championships Rnd 3

Returning to Sydney Motorsport Park for Rd3 of the NSW Motor Race Championships, competitors were forced to pull out their winter woollies and umbrellas for day one of racing. Rain, wind and cool temperatures spoke to the fact that we are entering the winter racing season, after pleasant but unseasonally warm weather lasted through to the end of autumn.

This dramatic weather change tested race craft thinking and teams preparedness was being challenged. As well, qualifying and first races were run before the track dried out, which gave incentive to competitors to get clear of leading cars as water spray was an inhibitor to good lap times and poor visibility was a very real concern to reaction times. Several cars didn’t make it through this period. Peter Boylan (car #28) suffered a weekend ending heavy impact, so hard in fact that the door popped off on his Porsche 911. Lucky Peter always carries a spare (Porsche, that is!).

The early qualifying categories were affected the worst, especially the lightweight Formula Vee’s with Pearce, Porter and Pace all skating and losing the racing line in this session. Formula Vee Championship leader Ryan Reynolds had a start to the weekend he’d rather forget. After throwing an oil filter in qualifying and being relegated to the back of the grid, his engine blew up in race one. Working from well behind the eight-ball, frenetic activity in his garage and help from a bunch of people, Ryan recovered in magnificent style with a win and a second in races two and three.

Without the pressure of Reynolds in the first race, Dylan Thomas was able to take an aggressive race line and led from start to finish to keep his c’ship points ticking over. Not so easy pickings for him once Reynolds returned, and Thomas had to settle for a second and a third.

After winning rookie-of-the-year Aaron Pace had a splendid weekend. The young man got a “new” car over the summer, (ex- Darren Williams Jacer) and it seems to be paying off. Seasoned veteran and top-field competitor (and Dad) Simon Pace, said: “…its a bittersweet day for me. I’m so proud of Aaron, he’s driving so well, but he’s just beaten me for the very first time.” In fact, by the end of the weekend, Aaron had beaten his Dad in all four outings. Simon beamed with pride as he introduced his youngest son, and soon to be Formula Vee racing rookie, Daniel. Watch that name, as it seems that the Pace family is creating a formidable Formula Vee racing dynasty. In other Vee racing, Jason Thorne was clipped in race two and completely lost his nose cone, causing all sorts of aerodynamic issues for him to contend with.

Following a heady call-up to be the “Am” in the Pro-Am Carrera Cup two driver format, partnering with Nick McBride ( 2nd place on Championship ladder) several weeks ago, a busy Dylan Thomas also competed in Production Touring. This wasn’t quite as happy an excursion for him. Being used to being up the front of a field, Dylan had to be content with an 8th place start on the grid. Race one was forgettable as a valve stem let go and that ended up DNF. Following a couple of mid field finishes in races one and two, he finally exerted enough competitive pressure on the weekend dominant trio of Oosthuizen, Skinner and Symes (who between them owned eight of the nine available podium places) to take the final weekend top podium spot.

Superkarts had a four race meeting and got their first race done in a down pour. Open karts give you no respite from the onslaught of weather hurled at you, and with several recent Australian Kart champions vying to relive their past glory, it made for an exciting spectacle. These pocket rockets, elevated off the bitumen only by 4 inch diameter tyres scarily scream down main straight at over 225 kph. So you can imagine that losing one of your tyres would be a rather hair-raising experience.

This is exactly what happened to race one leader Ilya (Illy) Harpas. Coming into turn 16 on the very last lap, John Dunn moved across Harpas’ race line causing him to execute a fast “tank slapper”. Colloquially named, (Definition: Wobble, shimmy, tank-slapper, speed wobble are all words and phrases used to describe a quick oscillation of primarily just the steerable wheel(s) of a vehicle) for the action required to “get the hell out of the way” of a possible coming together of vehicles. Unfortunately his avoidance manouevre caused him to make contact with a curb throwing his tiny lightweight kart up and coming down hard resulted in it throwing a shoe. Now this would be fair cause for an “all-up” lift and return to the pits on the back of Rescue One, but no, these fella’s don’t give up so easily. As Harpas hit the deck he was still pointing forward. With incredible presence of mind, Illy jammed on the throttle and with two good steering wheels in the front he drove that sloppy jalopy all the way to the chequered flag with only three wheels for a second place finish. True professional or simply crazy? You be the judge…

Reigning Kart champ Russell Jamieson showed why he is the incumbent No. 1. With classy runs netting two wins and a second, he kept Pecoraro and McIveen in his mirrors all weekend. Harpas made a strong claim as he pushed Jamieson back down the podium with two strong wins and his amazing second place. It should be said that if the wheel incident hadn’t happened only 700m from the finish line he would have had a third victory and been the debutante of the ball with even more reason to celebrate. Stay watching this young Illy Harpas.

Sports Sedans is like a motorised version of the Big Bash League. Big American cars, big engines, big speed and big sound! Following his season ending major accident late last year, Birol Cetin brought Billy’s Camaro v2.0 out and gave it a big kick in the guts. The weekend leader board bolted Cetins name up there in first place and left it there. That’s the way it ended. How it all unfolded was another story altogether. Laceys run of bad luck continued from 2015. Looking good and his Camaro ostensibly running well with good power and handling, Lacey fought Cetin throughout the whole race, the twin yellow Camaro’s side by side. Twice with passing opportunities thwarted due to parked cars on the side of his favourite overtaking spot, just out of turn 14 under the corporate hill bridge. Third time lucky and Lacey took Cetin and was enjoying the last lap lead up through turn 17. The ground commentator over the loudspeakers nearly barfed a lung he shouted so loud trying to egg Laceys slowing car down as it became apparent that there was a serious problem with the #1 car. Cetin sailed on by to reclaim his lead and the glory while McCready ran down the 16 second gap to the front runners as Lacey glided slowly with only momentum down the agonizing distance from turn 18 to cross the finish line, only to unceremoniously pull up alongside the pit lane track marshall’s cage suffering a broken axle. His inspired drive had gotten him enough of a buffer on the rest of the field for him to still claim third as a consolation prize, a far cry from the result he must have seen in his minds eye as he rounded that last bend before the sickening sound and no go under him.

Production Sports had their first Enduro of the season, with a Driver A and B race late on Sunday. A ding dong stoush between Matt Turnbulls Lamborghini and a gang of ten Porsches. Eventually the Porsches just outlasted the Lamborghini as it retired with gearbox issues, and Neale Mustons’ relentless pounding out the laps as he fended off fierce racing stalwart Geoff Morgans’ new 991 Cup car. After an hour race only 27 seconds split the single driver pair with the Cook/Meyer team one minute back. Young Andy Harris from Mittagong experienced massive disappointment as his newly purchased Mazda MX3 dropped a metre wide pool of oil from a blown engine under his stationary car. He’d been rotating in the top third of the field doing a good job in his first enduro.

HQ’s again featured the Baxter-Osborn show As reported before, these two guys are so evenly matched that again this weekends race finish times were as little as three-one hundredths of a second apart. With these two having locked up the two top spots, Molle shared third with King. Newcomer to HQ, but a regular around the local racing fraternity, Scott Walker acquitted himself admirably with a 4th place start off the grid, and a 4th place finish in race one.

In these difficult financial times for the racing industry, it was wonderful news to hear that Joe Lenthall (Improved Production O2L ) had secured sponsorship from MOTHERS care care products, who’s logos were emblazoned in huge white letters all over his red RX7 this weekend.

Last year John McKenzie Improved Prod O2L was in a quandry as to how to lighten his cars weight. His Commodore had plenty of straightline power, but was carrying to much weight to be nimble enough to dance through the turns and maximise his power advantage. It seems this year John has found, if not all, surely a part of the answer, as his front grid qualifying and two seconds and a third place have given his championship aspirations an excellent boost. Hounded by the fire breathing twin RX7’s of the Ingram brothers sandwiching McKenzie at almost every turn, it was like a “red rose between two thorns”. Graeme Watts didn’t have it all his own way, but did get a pair of convincing wins.

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

 

CLASSICS GET A BETTER RUN WITH CONDITIONAL REGISTRATION TRIAL

Thursday, 3 September 2015 – Minister for Roads Duncan Gay today announced club vehicles would be on the road again and more often under a new conditional registration scheme trial.

“I encourage you to register with a club for the trial if you have a little beauty tucked away in your garage, so you can bring her out into the sunshine and feel the freedom of the road more often,” Mr Gay said.

Original and non-original classic vehicles are currently restricted to club events and maintenance.

Under the two year log-book based trial, owners of over 30 year old vehicles that meet the safety requirements of full registration or the current Historical Vehicle Scheme will be able to opt-in via participating clubs for 60 days of general use each registration year.

“The current Historic Conditional Registration scheme remains unchanged as an option for enthusiasts but, this Government recognised that owners of conditionally registered vehicles had limited use – which was just restricting these mechanical pieces of art,” Mr Gay said.

“We’ve incorporated safe, sensible additions in consultation with the community and stakeholders so owners and the wider community can revel in these vehicles’ unique beauty more often.”

This NSW Liberals & Nationals initiative will bring NSW into line with several other states while boosting opportunities in the automotive aftermarket industry which contributes $11 billion to the Australian economy and employs 30,000.

The 60-day Classic Vehicle Log-book trial is coming soon. To opt-in to the scheme contact one of the several hundred NSW enthusiast clubs or visit www.rms.nsw.gov.au.

Please note: the incumbent HCRS will not change.  This is an additional scheme.

NSW Motor Race Championships Round 4

The mid-winter round of the NSW Motor Race Championships for 2015 arrived back at Sydney Motorsport Park in direct contrast to the bleak, freezing conditions the state has been beset by over recent weeks. The weekend brought forth predominately sunshine-filled days and much warmer temperatures; ideal conditions for drivers comfort. Only around 160 entries came out for the weekend however, with the Production Sports category headlining the weekends event schedule with a one-hour , two driver enduro race. In fairness, some of the regular state competitors were otherwise engaged assisting in this major event.

The Production Sport enduro brought out some glamourous metal. No less than four Audi R8 LMS vehicles with their coloured headlights beaming their no-nonsense “get-out-of-my-way” message, mixing it with a large cadre of Porsche GT3 Cup smartly liveried beasts loudly purring in amongst the vast field. Rounding out the eye-candy were a Gallardo, GT40, E-type Jag, Elise/Exige’s, Monaro, MX-5 and a Commodore. The day surely went to Andrew McPherson (Porsche GT3R) who started second on the grid after qualifying. Constantly pushing Rod Salmon’s Audi Andrew’s team took race one as well as the enduro, with his co-driver Brad Shiels winning the second “driver B” race. Clean sweep! Rod Salmon and Neale Muston placed second and third respectively.

Listed as a competitor in the program, perennial “owner” of this category second places this year, Birol Cetin did not line up for racing this weekend. This allowed Steve Lacey to take a lock on one notch up the podium from his usual third spot. Grant Doulman did what he does best, and stayed out front for all three races with as much as a one minute lead during race two. Chris Jackson and Anthony Macready split the third places.

Formula Vee gave us all a bit of a nervous time. Race one had only just begun when six cars got all tangled up at turn two ( where else) leaving fibreglass debris of nose cones and torn away bits of race car on the track. This caused a 40 minute delay as CXC racing identity Matthew Bode (Stinger 010) was cut free from his car after a heavy t-boning of Gary Hook ( Jacer F2K4). Amazingly Hook’s car was driveable and went on to compete in the following races. As a precaution Bode was very gingerly extricated and fortunately whilst not taking part in any further racing, was walking around the pits the following day. Recovery was very busy with the Manitou, a tow truck and a flatbed all needed to clean up the tangled mess of non-working vehicles after the incident. Race one was ultimately abandoned. Dylan Thomas (CXC Racing) and Michael Kinsella (KE Power) shared the remaining race wins, whilst Tim Brook converted an ordinary qualifying result, starting from tenth on the grid, to finish race one and two with a couple of second place podiums. Ever-consistent Simon Pace rounded out the placings with a pair of thirds. Simon’s son Aaron is a debutante this year, under his dad’s watchful and encouraging eye. Aaron is showing excellent signs of talent after a short time in competition. Starting eighth after qualifying Aaron finished with a fifth and sixth place.

Improved Prod O2L is all in the hands of Graham Watts. From early Saturday morning through to Sunday afternoon, his smooth driving style and excellently prepared Nissan Silvia purrs out the front of this category. Consistently lapping at 1:40/41’s, Graham kept a 30sec advantage on the field. Closest to him all day was John McKenzie, but in doing so John flaunted the new rules that prohibits drivers from drifting wide on turns like #5 and #15. If all four wheels cross the yellow lines, then a time penalty is awarded for each time this occurs. This has been judged to give a driver a “slingshot” advantage over other drivers. Whilst McKenzie got within 15sec of Watts, it came at a cost of 60sec’s worth of penalties. Paul White ( Mazda RX7) finished with a second and third place, sharing that distinction with Michael Posa ( RX3) in the reverse order.

Jason Grimmond from Queensland experienced SMSP for the first time, coming to Sydney combining a family holiday with getting some mid year track time. Jason said when asked what brought him to Sydney for this event ”…there are long gaps between events in Qld mid year, and I’m working on a new suspension setup, so this event gives me a chance to put some new thoughts into action.” He also commented that “….this is a big track. The corners are huge. Just when you think you through them, they keep on going.” Sam Maio was wanting to work on his understeer problem on Saturday evening, but this was put on the backburner as he ended up spending much of the night rebuilding his gearbox after problems on Saturday. He was back in his garage very early on Sunday morning tinkering with his setup to correct the understeer.

The NSW Motor Race Championships return to SMSP on Sept 26/27th.

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

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 – 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