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Last Sunday the
first round of the SEAC Autocross series was run and won at the club
track. The event had 17 starters with 15 managing to complete the
day. The day was assisted by some magnificent weather, with a light
breeze and sunny conditions. Although SEAC Park is currently quite
dry, the dust from the track didn’t seem to cause too many problems.
The tough luck story
of the day would have to be poor Hayden Lynch who turned up in his
usual off road rocket, complete with a very fresh and tidy paint
job. I’m hopeful that young Hayden is becoming quite competent with
a spray gun, as he now has a whole lot more painting to do. After
clipping a bank at the wrong time, the big Falcon came to rest on
its side after completing a bit of an upside down manoeuvre.
Fortunately Hayden was unhurt, with just his pride, hip-pocket and a
few panels dented.
Kudos to the amazing
combination of Terry Masters and Craig Boult who continue to drive
that old blue valiant to within an inch of its life. I sometimes
wonder how they manage to sit in the car with testicles that big! It
was also great to see Marky Mark, Lala and Dee come out in what can
only be described as an abomination of a vehicle. The old white
falcon suffered over heating problems all day, but still looked
spectacular as it was pushed to the limit; though it didn’t sound
quite as good…
Other competitive
drivers included Paul Heenan in the Honda Civic (with street tyres
mind you!), and Peter Rogers in the immaculate 1600. Unfortunately
Little Johnny Whitehead wasn’t able to complete the day due to a
dead engine. He was setting rather competitive times up to this
point. Bob Brown had transmission troubles in the Skyline, so he
simply took it home and came back with his Falcon Rally car. Jason
Argent also had transmission issues, coming to a complete stop, with
a possible dead diff.
It was great to see
a new face having a bit of a go on the twisty SEAC Park track.
Thomas Latchford had a great day in his trusty old Commodore,
although it wasn’t sounding too well at the end of the day. Matty
Pritchard continued to get faster in his neatly presented Pulsar and
Darren Harris, Tim Argent and Wayne Heenan all seemed to be enjoying
themselves.
Congratulations for
the day however, must go to Jason Sims in his 180B rally car. Jason
set the fastest time from the start and was never beaten. His fast
yet consistent driving placed him first for the day, followed by
Peter Rogers in his 1600 for second, with Matty Pritchard third.
Competitors ended up
having a total of 8 runs throughout the day. The day was a success,
with all entrants seemingly enjoying themselves. From a Director’s
point of view, the event seemed to run smoothly. Thanks to Rodney
and Pat for Stewarding, Metho and Pat for managing recovery, Wendy
for doing the bookwork, Kevin Raedel for Scrutineering, Bob, Phil,
Damien and Eric for timing, Spike for starting and Monica, Bev and
Amy for their work in the catering van. Huge thanks also to Julianne
from St Johns who provided the medical expertise for the day. My
apologies to anyone I may have forgotten. Without all of these
helpers, these events simply are not able to run.
Adam Branford. |
