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
