Issue 13

News from The Festival of Sporting Cars Inc
Issue13, August/september 2014
Track Times
BIG ROLL UP FOR AUGUST INVITATION – SUNDAY 3RD AT SMP “AMAROO” CIRCUIT
Those hardy souls camping overnight in freezing temperatures would have welcomed the
sunny day that dawned. And everyone welcomed the great day’s competition that followed.
Despite some delays in early events, our experienced team soon caught up time and even
managed to include the now familiar Partners Parade at lunchtime.
The large entry list of over 130 competitors included some new and interesting cars, such
as Ian Johnson’s ’64 Corvair, Bruce Grant’s ’70 Volvo 142 and Trevor Parrott’s ’98 Brooke.
At our usual Happy Hour for drivers and officials, after the last race, the winners of the
Officials’ Raffle took home prizes generously donated by Meguiars, Next Media and the FoSC
Committee. Check out the report of this meeting in the ARDC Newsletter too.
Everyone is looking forward to the next FoSC meeting back here on Sunday 16th November,
when we will also announce the calendar for our 10th anniversary year in 2015.
Thank you for your support, the FoSC Committee.
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COMPETITION RESULTS SUMMARY
With FoSC hosting Championship rounds for the Excels, Historic Touring Cars and PRBs, close, fast
racing was the order of the day and as the day progressed, drivers were posting good times.
Filling out the programme were two Regularity fields and a combined grid of Historic and Invited
Racing, Sports and Touring Cars – which naturally developed into races within races, with their own
close dicing. We also welcomed some more novices to our Come & Try programme; several graduates
of which have moved into Regularity competition, and two of them – Kees van der Horst and Michael
Corran – actually finished in the top three in their first Regularity events of the day!
Come & Try (Practice event). 1st 711 Peter Cassidy (’12 BMW M5), 2nd 1 Aaron Lee (’01 Evo VII),
3rd 33 Col Robinson (’72 Torana GTR).
Excels. 1st 77 Nick Filipetto, 2nd 66 Nathan Gotch, 3rd 75D Daniel Smith; 1st 66 Nathan Gotch, 2nd 77
Nick Filipetto, 3rd 75D Daniel Smith; 1st 66 Nathan Gotch, 2nd 77 Nick Filipetto, 3rd 44 Terry
Nightingale.
Historic & Invited Racing, Sports & Touring Cars. 1st 9 Bob Saunders (’82 Wren FF), 2nd 77
Don Collyer (’02 Caterham 7), 3rd 76 David Stone (’95 MX5); 1st 9 Bob Saunders, 2nd 77 Don Collyer,
3rd 95 Matilda Mravicic (’02 MX5 SP); 1st 77 Don Collyer, 2nd 95 Matilda Mravicic, 3rd 76 David Stone.
Regularity A. 1st 904 Sean Ryan (’95 Lancer GSR), 2nd 17 Neil Tribe (’99 MX5), 3rd 48 Dave King (’12
Suthol VII); 1st 7 Josh Rowe (’05 WRX), 2nd 48 Dave King, 3rd 904 Sean Ryan; 1st 48 Dave King, 2nd 17
Neil Tribe, 3rd 16 Kees van der Horst (’97 Westfield).
PRBs. 1st 1 Stuart Shirvington( ’04 Birkin S3), 2nd 92 Michael McCosker (’95 S2), 3rd 48 James Dick
(’08 Widebody); 1st 1 Stuart Shirvington, 2nd 4 Josh Versluis (’03 Birkin S3), 3rd 92 Michael McCosker;
1st 4 Josh Versluis, 2nd 1 Stuart Shirvington, 3rd 6 Chris Barry (’05 Composite).
Historic Touring Cars. 1st 70 Wayne Rogerson (’70 RX2), 2nd 85 John Wright (’72 LJ XU-1), 3rd 113
Alan Mayne (’72 RX2); 1st 70 Wayne Rogerson, 2nd 85 John Wright, 3rd 113 Alan Mayne; 1st 70 Wayne
Rogerson, 2nd 109 Matt Windsor (’64 Cortina Mk1), 3rd 85 John Wright.
Regularity B. 1st 36 Dan Robinson (’80 Datsun Sunny), 2nd 9 Carl Stevenson (’63 Morris Major
Elite), 3rd 126 Lisa Gyecsek (’12 MNR Toyota Clubman); 1st 9 Carl Stevenson, 2nd 36 Dan Robinson, 3rd
191 Scott Matthews (’99 PRB S3); 1st 34 Grant Harrington (’73 Torana), 2nd 191 Scott Matthews, 3rd 69
Michael Corran (’71 240Z).
Fastest Time of the Day. Once the track, and the drivers, warmed up lap times started to tumble;
and the FDT was set by Josh Versluis, 4 PRB Birkin S3: 0:58.0070
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THIS POLICEMAN ISN’T PLODDING!
A surprise, and welcome, guest was Inspector Dean Lindley of Harbourside Local Area Command, in a
2014 Porsche Panamera, on loan (sorry Dean), to the Highway Patrol. The affable officer and his ride
were popular with kids of all ages – even your correspondent couldn’t help himself!
THANKS FOR THE FEEDBACK
Once again, we are grateful for your feedback – good or otherwise – so keep it coming. Meanwhile
here are some kind words we received in the last couple of weeks:
“Thanks for another brilliant day of fun in the sun and also a huge thanks to those around you and my
fellow competitors who helped to make it the day it was. See you in November. Regards, Dave King”
“… we/our team had a fantastic day, made even more possible by your considerations to allowing our
driver change from me to Scott Fleming, then following a blown head gasket (thanks to Geoff Pike for
loaning us a spare gasket & allow us to run again) in the first Reg B event to letting us catch up in an extra
event after lunch. Well done and much appreciated … Best regards, Kerry.”
“Good morning … ran at your meeting yesterday, had a great day. Thank you once again for a well run
meeting, many thanks to you and your crew for all your efforts. Russell Stanford Group SC “
THE DEPARTMENT OF GRATITUDE.
Special thanks to the ARDC; our Commentators, John Murn and Alan Page; and everyone who gave
their time and enthusiasm to make the day safe and successful.
REMEMBER, REMEMBER, THE 16TH OF NOVEMBER!
Our next meeting will be back at the SMP Amaroo circuit on Sunday 16th November. That’s a busy
time; so set the date aside now and watch out for the Call for Entries in your Inbox.
Remember too, that if you have a special category or association and you want a dedicated event in the
programme, let us know now and we’ll try to accommodate you.
SAFETY IN THE PADDOCK
One of our unsung heroes is Safety Officer, Steve Crawford. He has pointed out a few safety issues that
you should be aware of:
DON’T PARK IN FRONT OF THE TOWER OR ROLLER DOORS – you could block the
Ambulance Bay and Scrutineering. All tender vehicles/non-official cars should be across the road.
DO NOT SPEED TO AND FROM THE GRID – with so much noise and activity, spectators, kids
and other drivers are at risk.
ONLY ENTER THE DUMMY GRID VIA THE CENTRAL GATES – anyone attempting to use
the gate at the far end could come head-to-head with cars exiting the circuit!
Thank you for your cooperation.
PHOTOS OF FoSC MEETINGS
The photos in this newsletter are by Dave Nichols. For a look at all the professional shots, and
photographers’ contact details, just visit our website www.fosc.com.au
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NEW EXCEL DOWNFORCE SYSTEM?
In a one-make series, such as the Excel
Racing Championship, where the aim is to
have close racing between compatible cars,
drivers have to push themselves to gain an
advantage over their rivals.
David Brand obviously thought he had a
way to gain a competitive edge, with this
secretly developed super-spoiler. Cunningly
disguised as a bootlid, and having escaped
detection by the scrutineers, this device was
deployed early in the first race – to the
amazement of competitors, officials and
spectators alike.
However, since the secret spoiler lacked the
sophisticated DRS of Formula 1 cars, the result
seemed to be more drag than downforce.
It’s back to the drawing board after this experiment