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Event Wrap: 2015 CAMS Supersprint Round 5

Round 5 of the CAMS Supersprint  run on August 9th at Sydney Motorsport Park was a very cold affair. Even when the temps started to climb, a chilly breeze kept the jackets and beanies on and engines and tyres took longer to attain optimum driving temperatures.

One hundred and twenty-one competitors took to the track and were rewarded with five sessions on track and it was great to see some new cars come along and enjoy the fun.

But wait! Do my eyes deceive me? Is that Robert Kolimackovski? Yes…after a two year hiatus our former back to back State Champion has returned bringing his mothballed Walkinshaw Commodore back to join us in Supersprint. Family commitments have kept him away and when asked how he felt about being back he said: “I am so excited. My whole family is coming out this morning to see me.“

Recuperating from heart surgery last year, Kerry Redfern (President of Manly-Warringah Car Club) has now had final word from his doctor that he will unfortunately not be allowed to return to competitive motorsport. This has come as a real blow to him, as he had spent 16 months with longtime “sprinter” Bob Muir in building their joint project, a pristine red Honda Civic, and he has never had an opportunity to drive it in a competitive environment. Kerry said “…I’ll still be part of supersprint and our car club, and I guess I’ll have to be content with the convivial and spirited friendly torment that my car club mates heap upon me.”

Carl Seaver’s Datsun 240Z transformed from its “desert dueller” outback dust buster mode and took on a more streamlined look for black top racing. Carl is an avid supporter of the Royal Flying Doctor Outback Car Trek, a trek that covers 6000kms over 12 days and raises over $1.4mil for charity. Today his car was stripped of its bull bar and full undercar stone tray and dirt tyres as these were replaced by officially sanctioned track equipment. Once Carl renewed his fire extinguisher he was given the thumbs up by our great group of official scrutineers to proceed on track.

Alan Nolan brought his Nola Chev 5Ltr out for a run around. Not a usual supersprinter, Alan has recently brought the big Formula 5000 out of retirement after 13 years, and is using every opportunity to prepare it for the Spring HSRCA meeting at Wakefield in September.

In racing, Andrie Tan was the fastest car of the day when he turned the tables on his arch rival Marek Tomaszewski and took back his Type 5 record with an amazing time of 1.25.628 in his Radical Supersport. Not to be outdone completely, Marek also put in a Class 5C record beating run of 1.25.705 in his Stohr, just under 8 hundredths of a second behind Andrie. Jason Wright was the fastest closed wheeler of the day in his green WRX Time Attack car, which he calls The Hulk, with a time of 1.32.141.

There were only two other records broken yesterday. Preston Peiris took back the Class 1C Record in his Mazda MPS3 from Michael Miller, which was only set at the last round, with a fabulous Type 1 time of 1.52.557 while Craig Donnell broke his own Class 2D Record in his supercharged Holden Clubsport with a time of 1.44.519.

The MX5 Club took out the Club Championship honours yesterday scoring 546 points, which brings their overall tally up to 2,937 points putting them well ahead of ARDC who are running second with 2,007 points. The HSV/HDT Owners Club are firmly holding 3rd place down with 1,236 points.

Text and photographs by Rob Annesley
www.shotbyrob.com.au

Thanks to Bob Welsh for his contribution of statistics.

 

CAMS SUPERSPRINT RD 3 JUNE 14, 2015

Supersprinters are a tough bunch, as was evident on Sunday June 14th, when 110 hardy souls braved the winter 5 degree early foggy chill to pull on race suits and strap on helmets with the idea of bettering their previous personal best times around the Sydney Motorsport Park North (Druitt) circuit. Great to see a bunch of new faces/cars that came out to experience the fun that supersprinting provides. This round was sponsored by the NSW Road Race Club.

There must have been something in the clear crisp winter air that both drivers and cars enjoyed, because when the final results for the day were tallied, records tumbled with PB’s exceeded in almost all categories. Some records were absolutely smashed by both new individuals, as well as incumbent record holders. Of note, Andrie Tan just gets smoother and smoother as he becomes one with his car, taking a further second off his already superb sub one minute Class 4D time to record a 0:57.584 lap, making him the fastest person on the track on the day. Richard Perini also took more than half a second off his own Class 4C record in his beautifully presented Porsche RSR with a 0:63.946.

Jason O’Meara (Honda Civic) in Class 3C broke the previous record of Rob Neal set last year by a further 0:16 seconds. Jason is the current record holder in three different classes, 2A, 3A and now 3C. He is one of only two drivers to currently hold more than one class record at SMSP Druitt and the only one to hold three records at one time. For those who are wondering what is Jasons’ competitive edge, it may have to do with his new paint job.
Anecdotally, Chris Muir, fellow Manly-Warringah club teammate, joked with Jason prior to racing on Sunday suggesting that Jason would likely be careful to keep away from other cars so as to not get his paint work scratched. You were correct Chris, he did… by driving quickly and staying right out the front of the pack. Chris also had a spectacular drive in Class 4B shattering the Ed Corey-held record by a massive three and a half seconds with a very impressive time of 1:12.737. Chris is the other multiple record-holder with both the 4A and 4B records. Ed Corey was also driving well, breaking his own record, but was unable to match it with Chris on the day.

Anthony Crott finally unveiled his new turbo MX-5 with updated livery. Featuring a silver grey base with orange and lime green striping, it is quite spectacular out on track. Willem Fercher had mixed fortunes with a fastest lap in category before a loud bang and huge puff of smoke saw his weekend end on the back of a flat top.

RECORDS
Class Records were broken in every Type with the exception of Type SV where all class records remained intact. All in all, 9 class records were broken.

Class 1C – Preston Peiris broke his own record set last year by just over a quarter of a second with a time of 1.17.307 in his Mazda MPS3.

Class 2D – Craig Donnell also broke his own record by just over a half a second in his supercharged Holden Clubsport with a time of 1.10.966.

Class 5C – Marek Tomaszewski. who also gets faster and faster, knocked a massive 2.848 seconds off his own record in his Stohr WFI with a sub one minute time of 58.854. Apart from Andrie in the Radical, Marek was the only other sub one minute performer on the day.

Class 5D – Andrie Tan broke his own Class 5D Record in his Radical Supersport with a time of 57.584.

Class 6A – Tony King shaved just under a quarter of a second of Samuel Hollier’s two year old Class 6A record in his Mazda MX5 with a time of 1.16.269

Class 6C – Troy Fraser reduced Jonathon McKinnon’s 2103 record by 1.598 seconds in his Nissan 200SX with a time of 1.07.269

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
The Mazda MX5 Club is surging away in the Club Championship scoring a massive 508 points on the day. They have now amassed a total of 1,859 Club Championship points and they are 765 points in front of the current second place ADRC, who have now a total of 1,084 points. The HSV/HDT Club is a further 338 points back with a total of 746 points. MX5 club have a handy lead, however with five rounds to go, the other clubs with an enormous effort, could still get their hands on the club trophy.

Thanks to Bruce Welsh for his in-depth statistics.

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

Event Wrap: CAMS Supersprint Championship Round 3

Round 3 of the CAMS Supersprint Championship was held at SMSP North last weekend, and while rain threatened, apart from some fine misting, it didn’t really eventuate. Another plentiful roster of 117 eager competitors lined up in the eleven groups. No sooner had competition started when a lengthy delay occurred due to a full circuit oil spill from Paul Martens Clubman ( #63), had track maintenance staff dusting and blowing the track from the entrance to turn one all the way around to the entrance to the pits on the main straight – practically the entire track.
A long 40-minute wait had competitors on the dummy grid quite antsy. A funny side to it was when race control called to scrutineering to have a chat about the oil spill. The scrutineer apparently misheard the call and asked for a repeat of the car number involved. Race control replied”…go find car #63… it’ll be the clubman with no oil in it.”This is a good time to doff our caps to the maintenance and safety staff who do such a good job in preparing and maintaining the track, making it safe for us all to enjoy the sport. They worked tirelessly to get the track back in driveable order, and to clean up an oil spill stretching 2.8 km. I noticed that we have a new industrial broom, a forklift with a massive broom attached to the front. Very cool…and sweeps very fast.The delay resulted in the session being shortened by two runs, however the day was successful; records were broken in two Types and seven Classes as well.Again Andrie Tan was the fastest on the day in his Radical with the only sub one minute time of the day of 59.302. Steve Lacey brought his Chev Camaro to the Championship for the first
time. Steve has been a Championship competitor for many years. First in his white Torana, followed by his blue VK Commodore, but this Camaro is something else. Steve was the fastest tin top on the day with a time of 1.03.415, which broke the Type 4 and Class 4D
records. He previously held both those records in his VK Commodore Sports Sedan. Unfortunately, Steve suffered steering problems on his third pass, and was forced to retire. Paige Butchers had a scare when her bonnet flew up on turn one and scratched her windscreen pretty badly.
Warwick Morris was the other Type record breaker in his Porsche GT3. He recorded a time of 1.08.593, which broke the Type 2 and Class 2C records. Warwick has broken the Class 2C record at every track he has run this year and it is the second time he has broken the Type 2 record.
Other Class records broken were:
Class 1C – Preston Peiris took a second and a half off the Class 1C record with a time of 1.17.587 in his Mazda MPS3. Preston has broken the Class 1C record at every Round this year.
Class 4A – Chris Muir set a new Class 4A record in his new Honda CRX with a time of 1.16.401. Chris only unveiled his newly finished CRX today, was extremely happy with its performance.
Class 4B – Ed Cory broke the Class 4B record in his Mazda MX5 with a time of 1.16.250 Class 4C – Richard Perini broke the Class 4C record in his Porsche RSR with a time of 1.04.564. While they didn’t make the record books, it is worth noting that Bruce Hibbard (Porsche GT3), Adam Laura (BMW M3) and Matt Cole (Mazda RX7) also broke the Class 4C record yesterday.
Class 5B – Chris Kostakis broke the Class 5B records by about 3 seconds in his MNR Vortex with a time of 1.056.973. It should be noted that Chris has broken the Class 5B record at every Round this year.
The Mazda MX5 Club is leading the Club Championship by the barest of margins on 1226 points just ahead of ARDC who are just four points behind on 1222 points. Manly Warringah are in third place on 597 points.
-Words and pictures by Rob Annesley
Special thanks to Bob Welsh for specific race details

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

 

Event Wrap: CAMS NSW Supersprint Championships Rnd 8

Round 8 of the CAMS NSW Supersprint Championships was sponsored by the Mini Car Club NSW. It was run at Sydney Motorsport Park on Oct 26th, utilising the South Circuit ,including the newly built 800m track extension. For many of the full field of 90 competitors, it was a wonderful opportunity to drive the new track layout.

The overall fastest lap time was taken by Marek Tomaszewski (Stohr DSR) with a 0:530, closely followed by Duncan Forrest (Stohr WF1) with a 0:538, and Allan Bugh (PRB Clubman) rounded out the top three with a 0:59.

Fastest tin top was Allan Marin (VK Commodore) posting a time of 1:01 sec.

Early in the day Roger Beard wondered why his Clubman was a bit sluggish and upon returning to the pits found his inlet manifold dust cover stocking firmly ensconced inside an inlet tube. Once that was removed the car returned to its expected performance, bringing Roger a fourth place and a quick time of 0:59 sec.

As this was the final round of the 2013 Supersprint Championships, club championship honours went to ARDC with 1097 points, ever so slightly ahead of MX5 on 1090 points, with NSWRRC on 478 points and Manly Warringah on 471 points.

– words and pics by Rob Annesley
look@shotbyrob.com.au

 

Event wrap- 2013 Round 7 CAMS Supersprint Championships

On Sunday Sept 8, Sydney Motorsport Park hosted Round 7 of the CAMS Supersprint Championships using the North Circuit track layout. A solid field of 97 competitors in eight different classes had a fabulous day racing the clock.
Andre Tan ( Radical) bettered his previous outings result on this circuit by nearly two seconds recording a 0:58.77 fastest lap of the day. Alexander Kenny (Juno LMP3) and Marek Tomaszewski (Stohr WF1) battled for second place honours, with Kenny just pipping Tomaszewski by the narrowest of margins: 0.005 seconds. Tomaszewski lowered his April meetings quickest time by 2.5 seconds, but had to settle with third-fastest for the day.
Ben Porter was the fastest of the tin tops, with a 1:03.79. This was 4.22 seconds faster than the previous best time this year on the SMSP circuit , recorded in June by Alan Bugh in his Clubman. Bugh also lowered his Round 3 time by 1.5 seconds.
Supersprint always features its fair share of exotic street and custom vehicles, and today’s event was no different. Andrew McLaughlin brought his magnificent little flyer, the 5.7L ELFIN MS8 Clubman and Rudy Franz’s 1973 VW L-Bug boasting 330kW “at the wheels” flew down pit straight at 240kph. “Not enough horses”, said Rudy, who after today’s event has plans to replace the current engine with a WRX unit, with 450kW the anticipated result.
Mike Pritchett (Clubman) retired early with an electrical gremlin, Mike Hicks (MX5) was having fun with his new 6-speed gearbox, and unlike fine wine, Mike Loomes (Clubman) complained he wasn’t getting any better with age.
Evan Jones, Supersprint event controller, commented: “Supersprint timed racing is the best value for laps racing available. It is the most economical way to get time on a race track if you want to gain experience, or if you are seeking to upgrade your racing licence in order to compete in other styles of competitive racing.”
– Rob Annesley