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ARDC News
NSW MRC – WET BUT FUN!
Sydney Motorsport Park hosted Round two of the NSW Motor Racing Championships on May 1-3rd during some of the worst weather conditions NSW has seen in recent months. Qualifying was conducted under grey and wet conditions, however Saturday’s racing was wet and windy. The black top never completely dried out and standing water was the enemy of all who ventured out. The ground was moist and in some cases downright sodden on exposed corners so anyone running wide onto the grass verge was at the total mercy of momentum as understeer and wheelspin were the order of the day. Tony Virag ( HSV GTS) experienced this firsthand with a lose at turn 3.7 as he careered drivers right onto the grassy verge just over the hill and left a 100m deep gouge in the soggy turf ending up broadsiding into the wall in a shower of grass and mud resulting in two broken rims.
Although conditions were not ideal for lap records, driver skills were on show and made for a nonetheless exciting spectacle. Rain and vapourised water spouting off rear tyres mixed with steam and smoke from engines and exhausts added to the visual excitement of the weekend’s racing.
The Supersports category copped the worst of it with all three races conducted on Saturday. In a cagey move, Neal Muston went out slow in qualifying getting a really good look at the track conditions. Last on the grid for race one, he blitzed the field making up all sixteen places to take the chequered flag in race one and completed the trifecta with wins in all three races for the day. John Corbett and Rob Baird collected second and third place trophies in each of the three races. It was interesting to note that as the weather deteriorated during the afternoon the lap times increased dramatically with a full 20 sec being added to the Supersport final race times.
Dylan Thomas was a busy chap over the weekend competing in both the Production Touring and Formula Vee categories. Getting an early feel for the speed of the track Dylan took pole position in Prod Touring with a good qualifying result and proceeded to podium finish in all three races with his best being a win in race one. Luke Searle handled the very disrupting conditions with a win and two seconds and Daniel Oosthuizen rounded out the champagne spraying list with a first, second and third across the weekend.
A very large field of Formula Vee hardy stalwarts weathered the awful conditions in open wheelers with nowhere to hide from the downpour on Saturday. With rooster tails of water spray coming off all four wheels of this large field it was a massive effort just to be able to see one car length in front of you. Dylan Thomas managed to get passed Ryan Reynolds with a 2 sec faster lap time to clinch race one. Michael Kinsella edged out Reynolds by half a second to take race two with a fine hole shot off the line from fifth spot on the grid. Reynolds fought tooth and nail with Kinsella in race three with a gritty effort over the 10 laps but ended up 1/100th of a second short as they crossed the line in an almost photo finish. James Horne qualified strongly in third spot but found himself coming off second best to the conditions with strong contact into a wall forcing him out of any further racing.
Improved Production started with a smaller field than usual with only eleven cars competing. However this category is always fiercely fought out and the trio of Miller, Watts and Posa were in the thick of the action. Qualifying in that order race one went to plan for the successful qualifying triumverate. However the script got torn up as Watts took advantage of Millers engine trouble to grab the race two win and Mick Hazelton pounced from a handy mid field position to scoop second place honours. Millers problems forced him out of race three and four so Watts and Hazelton made the most of his absence. Watts added 3 race wins to his championship tally and Paul White rounded out the second spot on the podium with a clean run in his Mazda RX-7 in races three and four.
Commenting on Saturdays qualifying result in Sports Sedans Steve Lacey said”….I had a spin at turn two and got in with the wrong crowd which left me with a lot of work to do off the grid.” Further commenting on the conditions, Steve said “…Saturdays conditions were not conducive to dive bombing in order to make up places as everyone’s visibility was obscured by so much wheel spray. It was like thick fog out there.” A spirited and gutsy run saw Steve make up three places to finish third in race one. Spouting crowd pleasing flames from his VZ Commodore, Warren Millett grabbed first spot in race one followed by Steven Shiels big blue 6 Litre Camaro. One Sunday, Grant Doulman lamented “…one of the problems for us during rain delays is that we were stuck sitting in the pouring rain on the dummy grid for 50 minutes on Saturday. Our car has no windows and so water just flooded down into our car and caused an electrical gremlin. We had to completely relocate and replace our MSD”. This obviously didn’t adversely affect the SINOCO team performance as Grant went on to win races two and three, closely followed by Birol Cetin with two second places. Darren Steeden chose to sit out race two as the conditions were to so wet and he didn’t have any wet rubber. Fred Axisa exited the weekend during qualifying with a straight through slide out of turn six into the concrete wall destroying his suspension and suffering a cracked gearbox to boot.
Formula Ford action was again wet and sloshy for these open wheelers ( and open cockpits). Visibility was difficult as the spray from 15 closely grouped cars with no mudguards had drivers squinting to see and everyone trying to get a clear space in front of them to acquire some vision. Hence contact was inevitable and at one point Rod Baker and Andrew Crawshaw touched and spun leaving Baker stopped in the middle of the track awaiting assistance. Duratec racing was a three man show, with Luis Leeds taking maximum points with a third and two firsts, Tom Maxwell grabbed a first and two seconds and Andrew Kahl settled for a second and two thirds. Andrew ran all weekend with a faulty alternator. Not surprising as water and electrics don’t play well together.
Formula Ford 1600 series was completely controlled by Will Powers with three straight wins. Jason Liddell gave Powers an excellent run for his money and an exciting finish with only half a second between them after ten laps. Liddell finished with a second and third and Simon Hodge likewise.
2014 rookie Caitlin Wood was impressive over the weekend bettering her times and position with each subsequent race finally ending the day only two seconds away from a podium finish.
The Superkarts came out with a mighty onslaught on Sunday. Having all their races on the one day the very large field of 40 karts swamped the track and was a great spectacle. On lap one of race one an interesting set of circumstances came to pass. Firstly, Mark Robin tagged the rear tyre of Matthew Wark just short of turn two causing Wark to get sideways and as Robin went passed him, Wark’s loss of control repaid the compliment to Robin, sending him and Aaron Cogger to the sidelines for a DNF. Secondly, at the same time, only 20 metres further on at the entry to turn two, too many karts were trying to fit into the corner at the same time and this caused Chris McKeon, John Dunn and Paul Degan to have a coming together with only Degan escaping the altercation. Watching it live was a vision of total chaos but it eventually cleared itself and Aaron Steven went on to win with Matt Bass and Russell Jamieson taking the minors. Starting near the front of the grid in race two was too much advantage to give Jamieson, the 2013 Australian Champion, who went on to win with a comfortable six second margin. The race was hotly contested however with the reigning Aussie Champion Gary Pegaroro starting in grid position six, but had too much length to catch up and finished in a credible third. This was what Pegoraro had wanted, to be within striking distance of Jamieson. Race three was a thrilling eight laps, however the flying Jamieson was never headed and went on to claim his second victory of the day with a twelve second win from Pegoraro and Bass. Bass had a trifecta of podiums for the day with two seconds and a third.
Improved Production U2L was a mixed affair with last year’s champion, Dave Crighton, not represented this weekend. This years championship leader Justin McClintock had a slow start but gained momentum with a fourth and third result before his campaign ended on the back of a flat bed truck in race four on Sunday afternoon. With no championship points recorded before this weekend, Jordan Cox made up for that with podiums in all four races over the weekend with two wins and two seconds on the back of pole position qualifying. Daniel Burton similiarly hadn’t worried the scorer before this weekend however amassed a great tally of points also with four placings over the weekend with one race win, two seconds and a third. Peter Pauling took the other race win.
Words and pics by Rob Annesley
www.shotbyrob.com.au
ON LINE!
Welcome to our new website, www.sydneymotorsportpark.com.au! The new site brings together the ARDC and SMSP pages to deliver all you need to know about the Park and how to make the most of the facilities and experiences. There’s also a new Members portal, allowing easier sign up for new Memberships, information and to renew. Enjoy!
2014 ARDC Club Championships
The Australian Racing Drivers’ Club is happy to announce the addition of two new names to the Championship honour board: Dylan Thomas, our 2014 ARDC Club Champion, and Warwick Morris, our 2014 ARDC Supersprint Champion.
Previous names to have graced the wood include Ian (Pete) Geoghegan (1957), Colin Bond (1974), Bob Morris (1979), Tony Longhurst (1991) and Mark Skaife (2001/02).
ARDC Competitor Members score points in the ARDC Club Championship competition every time they run in an ARDC-organised race at Sydney Motorsport Park, with one point awarded to Members for every competitor they finish ahead of. This number is then multiplied by the number of laps scored in each race.
In 2013, the Board added an ARDC Club Supersprint Champion gong, given the number of Members racing in the CAMS series, and the support given to the series by the ARDC itself.
Congratulations to Dylan and Warwick, and good luck for the upcoming ARDC season!
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible” margin_top=”20px” margin_bottom=”0px” background_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0)”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_separator style_type=”none” sep_color=”” icon=”” width=”” class=”” id=””/]
[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”double solid” sep_color=”” class=”” id=””]2014 ARDC Club Champion – Dylan Thomas, Member 1063[/fusion_title]
This year’s ARDC Club Champion, Dylan Thomas, has had a cracker year in Production Touring as well as Formula Vee, winning the Championship in the latter and also nabbing the new CAMS Kevin Bartlett Award which recognises the success of a NSW or ACT circuit driver during the current calendar year.
“I am surprised and shocked to win this Championship – we have done well this year in Formula Vee and Production Touring, and it’s a credit to the team, not just me as a driver – I’m not driving any better, but my cars are better prepared,” said Thomas.
“It is far easier to get the job done when you have the right equipment, and the guys can be looking after up to seven cars at any one event, so it’s a credit to my boys at (the) CXC Global Workshop. We are looking forward to another busy year in 2015.”
Thomas wished to thank sponsors CXC Global main sponsor, CXC Global Racing workshop, and Barrenjoey Smash Repairs
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[/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”double solid” sep_color=”” class=”” id=””]2014 ARDC Club Championship – final points after 5 rounds:[/fusion_title]
Dylan Thomas – Formula Vee & Production Touring – 2741
John Baxter – HQ Holdens – 2266
Steve Hodges – Production Touring – 1985
Aaron Seton – Production Touring – 1981
Duane Cambridge – HQ Holdens – 1976
Christopher Molle – HQ Holdens – 1929
Lee Vella – Superkarts – 1704
Paul Campbell – Superkarts – 1641
Birol Cetin – Sports Sedans – 1590
Simon Pace – Formula Vee – 1525
Simon Thomsen – Formula Vee – 1478
Anthony Camilleri – HQ Holdens – 1471
Zach Loscialpo – Production Touring – 1451
Darren Williams – Formula Vee – 1451
Grant Doulman – Sports Sedans – 1426
Daniel Stein – Formula Vee – 1392
Steven Lacey – Sports Sedans – 1333
Ian McLean – HQ Holdens – 1282
Geoff Bennett – Formula Vee – 1261
Tim Brook – Formula Vee – 1241
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[/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”double solid” sep_color=”” class=”” id=””]2014 ARDC Supersprint Champion
Warwick Morris, Member 3827[/fusion_title]
ARDC Members scored a point for every person they beat in their class, which was then multiplied by the number of laps completed on the day of competition. The driver with the most points over the three meetings is declared the ARDC Supersprint Champion, and this year’s winner was Warwick Morris in a 1999 996 Porsche GT3.
Morris joined the ARDC at around the same time he began racing the Porsche, and has spent the past two years racing in the CAMS series and Porsche Club events. He was crowned Type 2 Champion in the CAMS Supersprint series this year; broke the Type 2 and Class 2C records for all of the circuits used in the 2014 Championship, and can now add the ARDC Club Championship to his trophy cabinet.
“What a wonderful surprise – you have made my day!” exclaimed Morris.
“I really enjoy the CAMS Supersprint series, and the ARDC hosts many of the events – I find them exceptionally well run and a great day of competition. I am already registered for 2015 and keen to defend this title.”
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[/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”double solid” sep_color=”” class=”” id=””]2014 ARDC Supersprint Championship – final points after 3 rounds[/fusion_title]
Warwick Morris – 2C – 665
Con Zeritis – 3C – 456
Matthew Richardson – 2D and SVD – 233
Cooper Calman – 3C and 4C – 223
Terry Waugh – SVD – 182
Allan Marin – 3D – 153
Matt Cole – SVC – 148
Carl Kosutar – 3C – 142
Peter Hogan – 3C – 139
Rebecca Grasso – 2C – 100
David Beneke – SVD – 96
Dejan Benuta – SVD – 88
Marek Tomasewski – 5C – 82
Lachlan Mc Brian – 2C – 80
Vince Muriti – SVC – 78
David Wylie – 2B – 74
Drew Hall – 4D – 73
Andrew Allan – 2C – 63
Geoff Owens – 3C – 60
Gerard Manion – 2D – 56
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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: 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