Pitstop magazine jan feb 2014 final

O ff ici a l Pu blication of t h e B e n a l l a A u t o C l u b I n c .

pitstop January / February 2014

2014 PREVIEW BAC MEMBERS DAY BRINGS OUT THE FAMILIES

AUTHORISED PRINT POST NUMBER 326705/00006

JANUARY 2014

Contents | Editors Column................................................................. 4

PITSTOP The Official publication of the Benalla Auto Club Inc. January/February 2014 Edition #594

| Members at Play............................................................... 8

Benalla Auto Club Inc 41 Fox Street Winton, 3673 Phone (03) 57664235 Fax (03) 57664249 race@wintonraceway.com.au

| HQ 4 Hour........................................................................... 10

LOCATIONS

| 2014 Events........................................................................ 6 | BAC Members Day........................................................... 7

| MRA Round 1 Report....................................................... 12 | Fun Day .............................................................................. 16 | Nija 300 Cup....................................................................... 18 | Swann Superbikes Series............................................... 19 | Vale Doug Sunderland.................................................... 20 | Andrew Freer.................................................................... 21 | Bendigo Pedders retier on top..................................... 23 | Cruise N Shine Charity Donation................................ 24 | Helmet Ratings................................................................. 26 | David Dixon....................................................................... 27 | Mary Stafford behind the scences.............................. 28 | Official Focus - Rob Wall................................................ 29 | Members in the Wakefield 300..................................... 30

Winton Motor Raceway 41 Fox Street Winton, 3673 Phone (03) 57664235 Fax (03) 57664249 race@wintonraceway.com.au www.wintonraceway.com.au WAKEFIELD PARK RACEWAY 4770 Braidwood Road Goulburn, NSW 2580 Phone (02) 48222811 Fax (02) 48222812 info@wakefieldpark.com.au www.Wakefieldpark.com.au COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT Presidnet: Richard Weston Vice President: Warren Sheehan Secretary: Heather Wallace Treasurer: Matthew Ronke Bruce Robertson, Frank Wellman, Adam Ronke, Dianne Stolz, Gary Bennett, Stephen Harrison, EDITOR Matthew Ronke

Wakefield Winton March March dates dates

Winton April dates

*1/2 Wakefield 300 *7 Porsche Club *8 FX Club Champs *15/16 Superbikes *22 Circuit Club *23 Interclub *29/30 NSW Champsionships

*4-6 V8 SUPERCARS *12 Tampered MS *12 Crawing the Hume *18-21 Eastercar Mania *26/27 Vic Time Attack

*1/2 V8 Race *8/9 VMRC Rd 1 *10 Tampered MS *15 Circuit Club *16 MSCA *22/23 AROCA *30 Motoride Day

PITSTOP SUB-COMMITTEE Matthew Ronke, Heather Wallace, Brian Nighingale, Judi McDonald, Dianne Stolz CONTRIBUTORS Brian Nightingale, Matthew Ronke, Dianne Stolz, Judi McDonald PHOTOGRAPHS Judi McDonald, John Smith, Rensmart Photography,

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pitstop MATTHEW RONKE

Advert for Winton first Touring Car Championship event

Editor

EDITORS COLUMN

W

elcome to 2014 from the Benalla Auto Club. We have a few new things on the radar for the new year. One exciting piece of news is Lachlan Mansell will return to employment this time based out of the Wakefield Park Office. Lachlan will be doing a similar role to his previous employment with a little more focus on event promotions. Lachlan has spent the last 18 months working for Veracity Media doing the PR for Supercheap Auto Racing and Holden Motorsport looking after Russell Ingall and put together the Ingall’s last stand promotion for the Winton V8’slast year that was widely acclaimed as one of the better event promotions. Lachlan will also have a major part in future Pitstop magazines.

Another exciting thing to happen in 2014 is Wakefield Park turns 20 years old. The Benalla Auto Club would have owned the facility for 8 of those years making it the longest owner of the three that have held the title to the facility. The Facility has grown spectacularly under the Benalla Auto Club and is in use nearly everyday of the year. It has increased its profile with events with the Wakefield 300 being one of the most popular events in NSW. The Members day was a huge Success. Over 30 new members signed up in December with the majority coming from the Members Family fun day. Most new members were family or friends of current members who came along and had such a great time the decided to join the club. Since April last year we have lifted the clubs membership by nearly 60%. We still have along way to go of getting to our highest levels of the 90’s but membership renewals out now are already seeing good signs that most members will renew. so if you haven’t done so yet jump on the phone and call Serah on (03) 57664235.

The Motorkahna facility is being finalised off in the next month ready for use. It will be a great addition for the facility. Once completed there will be the opportunity for some Club Motorkahna events if there is enough interest. A number of clubs have already started asking about using the facility to double up their weekend at Winton. It will also create a nice area for the V8 Merchandise alley especially if inclement weather is about.

It sad to see one of our club members Dean Fiore drop out of the V8 Supercars series in 2014. A tough sponsorship market has seen the V8 Supercar field reduced to 25 entries. 25 cars will still put a quality race but I can remember about 13 years ago we had just finished 40 Pit lane garages and we couldn’t fit all of the V8 Supercars in them and after Qualifying a couple of drivers had to pack up and move out as the weren’t fast enough for the 40 car grid. Whilst we may not see that situation again it was great to see at the Winton 300 55 Cars take the start and with the leaders taking the green light at the start line the rear gunners not even on the main straight. The popularity competitor wise for the 300 events keeps on increasing each year and this years Wakefield 300 had over 95 cars enter the event. It a shame not all cars will make the start but it shows how making it easy to compete and put on such a fun and well promoted event attracts competitors.

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Harry’s World Rankings

New Motorkahna Complex

JANUARY 2014

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2014 EVENTS

T

he Winton Calendar continues to grow in Events each year. Our Flagship event is of course the 2014 Round 3 of the V8 Supercar Championship on April 4-6. Then we have two big Historic Events for the year the Historic Winton on the last weekend in May and the annual VHRR Festival of Speed in August. Our big street Machine event Performance Car Mania returns in September and will be joined by a new event Easter Car Mania. Performance Car Mania 2013 was labeled in Street Machine Magazine as Australia’s Best Car event and 2014 is shaping up to be even better.

The Champion of Winton returns with a three round series . Its been nearly 10 years since the Champion of Winton was last run. The COW series will be a series of 1 day events and will be the day after the BP Midland / Pedders “No Bull” Sprint series. Our club racing is well supported with three Victorian Motor Racing Championship events one

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combined with the 2014 Valvoline Winton 300 and one with the Super Trucks. Truck Racing will return twice with the second event on the first weekend in October.

The motorcycle calendar is a little quieter in 2014 but the 2014 Swann Insurance Australiasian Superbike Championship will be a big one for our 2 heeled fans.

The BP Midland / Pedders “No Bull” Winton Sprints, one of Australia’s favourite sprint series, returns with a five round series.

Vic Drift have a mixture of practice and state championship events plus the Summer Matsuri and Winter Matsuri for 2014

Wakefield park

The 2014 Wakefield Park Racing Season is set to be the Biggest ever.

The feature event for the year will be the 2014 Valvoline Wakefield 300 on March 1st & 2nd. It will be the first round of the 2014 Endurance Championship and showcase Club motorsport on the national scence

through its livestream and SBS telecast. The 300 is growing and growing in stature and 2014 will be no less than the biggest 300 to-date.

Other major televised events on the calendar include The Shannons Nationals that in 2014 will feature the Kumho V8 series, two rounds of the Australisian Superbike Championship and NSW Time Attack.

Our MRA Series returns with four rounds starting on Australia Day weekend, then moving to Anzac Day weekend and the traditional All British in June and finishing the year the Final on August 24th.

It is hoped that in 2014 Benalla Auto Club can field a team in the 6 Hour Relay. In 2013 a few late drop outs meant we couldn’t get a team across the line. If you are interested you should contact Adam Ronke on (03) 57664235 for the 6 hour Relaywe provide free accommodation to BAC members in our on course cabins.

JANUARY 2014

BAC MEMBERS DAY

Members Day, 21st. December 2013.

Even an extremely hot day was not going to stop members taking all sorts of cars out onto the race track. After a safety check there were 3 sessions, 1 session for the family, following the safety car, and 2 sessions of 15 minutes for the other Members.

The sessions continued until lunch time where a lunch was provided for the members in the Restaurant (standing room

only) with Richard Weston, Club President, introducing the Committee Members, and telling us the latest about Winton and the V8’s.Then he also went

onto drawing the lucky door prize with Diane.

Three lucky

members went home with a goody bag which included The Peter Brock Book.

After lunch the sessions were started again, and most of the time there was not a spare seat!

Neville Kettle in his Marlboro Commodore had asked Grant McDonald if he would like to have a couple of laps in his car, Grant surprised him by wearing his Marlboro Team Jumper, part of his

collection from his Pit Crew days in the early ‘80’s.

Everyone had a great Members Day that I got to talk too, including the kids cooling off under the water running of the kiosk roof.

Please keep on giving me your member profiles so they can be put into Pitstop in 2014, or let me know if you have something special to share.

Judi (The Pink Lady)

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MEMBERS

AT PLAY DECEMBER

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n December 7/8, the annual Ken Leigh HQ 4 Hour Endurance Classic was conducted at Winton Motor Raceway.

As it was their home track, Benalla Auto Club members were competing in big numbers, and there were five alone in the Ken Leigh HQ enduro, and another seven in the Super TT/Mazda MX5 events over the weekend.

The popular old HQ’s were seen in two races, one each on Saturday and Sunday each over a two hour duration.

It was a great start by the BAC members for qualifying saw Stephen Whyte set the pole time in the #27 Mark McDonald Racing Development HQ, while the next best was the pole-sitters brother Richard Whyte in 15th in the #77 Aussie Nascar Tours HQ. Following the second leg of the 4 hour race on Sunday, Richard Whyte was the highest placed club member in third, while Stephen Whyte dropped to fifth.

In 15th after a particularly good run through the field after starting 48th was Wayne Bradshaw in the #60 HQ he was sharing with his son Vic Bradshaw. One spot further back in 16th was the #16 Mansfield Motors entry for Callum Ross and Peter McNeill.

The second Mansfield Motors entry the #56 HQ had another BAC family team onboard, with Robert Taylor and his son Jacob Taylor, but unfortunately they failed to finish.

The Super TT/Mazda MX5 races were almost a Benalla Auto Club benefit, with Bruce Henly taking pole position in one of his Stawell Cartage Mazda RX7’s, ahead of Warren Sheehan in his Tampered Motorsport entered 4 litre Ford Falcon EB after a 12 month sabbatical, Corey Gooch in his 6 litre LJ Holden Torana in fourth, Adam Ronke doing a great job in the Mazda MX5 6th, Steve (Harro)

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Harrison 7th driving his Lucas Oils/ Trans Gears & Diff 4 litre EA Ford Falcon, Steve Murray driving his Auto 8 Holden Commodore in 8th while 11th was David Dixon driving Bendigo Hire Holden Gemini.

There were four races on the program for the Super TT/Mazda MX5’s, the first of which was a six lapper on Saturday afternoon. It saw Henley jump to the lead when the lights went green, while Sheehan was slow off the line in the EB, but there was a mechanical issue with the RX& which saw it drop down the order.

Sheehan eventually hit the front and stayed there to greet the chequered flag, while Gooch was fourth, Henley finished 5th, Ronke sixth, Harrison seventh, Murray eighth and Dixon ninth.

Race two, and Sheehan showed his break from racing was well spent, for the EB was performing better than ever, and at the end of the 8 lap screamer he finished 18 seconds ahead of the second car while Henley recovered for 3rd, ahead of Gooch (4th), Ronke 5th, the spectacular Harro 6th, Murray 7th and Dixon 10th.

Race 3 another over 6 laps, and there was more of the same at the front with Sheehan again taking the win from Henley who had recovered well to come home second, leaving for a highly anticipated 4th and final race with the two fastest competitors back on the front row of the grid.

One of the sport’s most colourful competitors Harrison did a great job to finish 5th, while Gooch was 6th, Murray 7th, Ronke 8th and

Michael Neilsen at work

Dixon 11th.

Henley had made a good recovery to get back as high as he did, but it was Sheehan who was superior in the 10 lap final, driving at his best in a car that was strong fast and reliable underneath him, and he went to the line a full nine

JANUARY 2014

Bruce Hanley in his ex Patrick Dempsey tripple rotor Grand AM Car

seconds ahead of Henley, Gooch (3rd), Harrison (4th) and Murray 5th, while both Ronke and Dixon failed to start.

08/12/2013 The traditional final V8 Supercar Championship event of the season, the Sydney NRMA Motoring & Services 500-V8 was run on 8 December 2013, and saw four members participating across the board on the Olympic Park Street Circuit.

In the V8 Supercar Championship events, Dean Fiore had his final weekend driving for Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport in the #88 Dodo Insurance Racing Holden Commodore VF, and put in a commendable effort.

After qualifying he started the 74 lap Race 35 of the championship 26th, and got by several cars to finish 17th, then in the second 74 lapper, the 36th race of the championship he qualified 26th and greeted the chequered flag 21st.

The meeting also saw the final round of the 2013 Dunlop Development Series, and Benalla Auto Club’s Taz Douglas had a great meeting in his Image Racing/Arvo Ford Falcon FG, after he qualified 5th, and then improved to 4th in Race 1 and a fine 2nd in the second and final race of the weekend.

Douglas’ efforts in the two events saw him finish second outright for the round and sixth for the series.

Hayley Swanson returned to Aussie

Racing Cars for their final round of the year driving the #8 Griffith Corp/Iveco/Vawdrey Holden Commodore with mixed results, and saw her qualify 38th, and finish 27th.

She then failed to start Race 2, then reappeared for Race 3 and after starting rear of grid finished 33rd, but she then retired on the first lap of the fourth and final race.

Finishing off 2013 for BAC members was the annual Island Magic on the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit on the 1st December, and it saw Bruce Henley compete in both Sports Sedans and Improved Production in the #67 Stawell Cartage Mazda RX7.

In the sports sedans he qualified 19th, and in the three races finished 17th, 16th and 11th, proving how important it is to be consistent.

In his spare time he turned to the Improved Production races and qualified 12th, while his races saw him finish 19th, 18th and 12th. ends

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HQ 4 Hour

A number of Benalla Auto Club members lined up in the Annual Ken Leigh HQ 4 Hour. Stephen Whyte was one of those members and managed to score a pole position with an excellent qualifying lap fastest of all drivers when times between the two drivers were combined. Another good performance from the South Australian and Bruce Heinrich and Neil Corey previous winners of the event showed the South Australian contingent were going to take it up to the locals.

The 2013 race also had a number of father son teams with a new breed of HQ racers coming through including Chris Amor, Josh Stoopman, Jacob

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Taylor and Steven Ling.

The HQ 4 hour is not one long race but a two part race Saturday is the first 2 hour of the race and then a half time is called with the following 2 hours completed on the Sunday with race times added together to make the final results.

Whyte got away well and lead Neil Corey early with fellow South Australian Wayne King in third. Richard Whyte made a lot of ground up early making up a couple of positions making his way ahead of Carl McHenry. Whyte made his pitstop early on lap 16 handing the lead over to King. The top runners all made their pitstop over the next couple of laps with Richard Whyte handing over to Mick Fitzgerald and former Bathurst winner David Parsons making good use of

Photos by Judi McDonald

the stop to come out in third. The last to stop was King handing over to Gavin Porteous and with a slick pitstop they managed to hold on to the lead after all of the stops had been made.

Former national champion Garry Bonwick moved into third place ahead of Macdonald who had taken over the wheel from Stephen Whyte. Places maintained until the second lot of pit stops which juggled the

order again. Cory was the first to make his move pitting at lap 32 followed by with McHenry and Bonwick. Fitzgerald grabbed the lead for 3 laps being the last to stop and handed it back to King on lap 44. King/ Porteous held on for the first 2 hour stint ahead of Corey and Heinrick with Bonwick/Wise in third.

The Sunday race had Bonwick and Wise take the lead ahead of Corey.

McLeod also made good gains of the start moving up to fifth place. The first round of pitstop were the first juggle with Corey pitting first on lap 72. Stephen Whyte put together a great pitstop and managed to jump both Corey and Heinrich and Bonwick and

Wise in the Pits. He held the lead until King made a move on lap 91 and pushed him back to second. King lead the way through the last pit stops with Corey and Stephen Whyte both making their way onto the Podium. A late race tussle developed between the South Australian’s with Corey taking the lead on lap 99 King made his move taking it back 15 laps later to hold on for the Victory when Corey car developed a mechanical problem.

The race was a tough affair with only 18 finishing both stints.

The Highest place Victorian was the Stehen Whyte and Mike Fitzgerlad previous multiple winners of the event.

The HQ attention will turn to March for teh opening VMRC at Winton Motor Raceway with another good fied expected.

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WAKEFIEL Rd 1 MRA 2014 Report

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f the opening round of the 2014 MRA series was anything to go off, the series will be hotly contested this year as there was some very close and exciting race at Wakefield Park on Sunday.

The round could be called ‘Ladies Day’ as two of the main categories were dominated by two female driver’s, arguable the best two in the country, Matilda Mravicic and Linda Devlin.

Modern Sports Cars round 1 story - Matilda Mravicic has taken outright honours with a superlative drive at the sprint round of Modern Sports Cars. The RSW Photos Turbo MX5 qualified on pole and lead all three races from start to finish. Mravicic also took C class honours unchallenged.

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The Mod Sports field played host to some very close racing in classes A, B & E with Brian Anderson, Rob Hay and Chris Gough winning each respectively.

Anthony Bonanno was lucky to walk away from a massive shunt after spinning on his own oil during the Trophy Race. Hay was lucky to take part in the restart after unwittingly being involved in Bonanno’s spin.

Daniel Byron in his MX5 soldiered-on despite handling issues and drove flawlessly to edge-out 86 driver Zane Al-Said. Richard Amadio enjoyed a Trophy Race resurgence in his BMW M Coupe after a number of minor mechanical issues that precluded him from finishing races 1 & 2. Amadio finished 5th outright in the final

which is a remarkable result for his debut event!

TargaRacing’s David Viner secured a personal best and enjoyed a trouble free weekend at his first solo event. Viner is normally partnered with son Rob, their last event being the Winton 300 where they won their class on debut. Viner battled with Bill Kinnane in his strikingly red MX5 and enjoyed some very brave moments at the start of each race with each driver taking advantage of every gap.

Matthias Herberstein secured a class A podium aboard his MH Autocare BMW M Coupe. Herberstein managed to finish 4th outright and battled in what was arguably one of the most competitive classes. The M Coupe looked and sounded menacing as it diced

JANUARY 2014

LD with the likes of Hay, Bonanno and Anderson.

Ben Silvestro debuted in the Sportique MX5 and drove admirably in the largest class of the field. Silvestro piloted one of the best presented cars in the grid and is expected to challenge for class podiums in future events.

Chris White & Chris Gough where inseparable in their MX5’s for the entire event with White crossing the line ahead of Gough in the final by inches.

David Stone qualified 5th outright and finished Race 1 in 6th (second in class B) but withdrew from the event before the remaining races.

A great start to season 2014 with some fantastic on-track action and fantastic support from Wakefield Park, Peak Race Tyres and Kumho Australia.

The next sprint event is scheduled for 16 February at Winton Motor Raceway whilst the first endurance event is slated for late April.

MRA was founded initially to cover Mini Racing (Mini Racing Australia), but later when they decided to diversify with other categories, it changed to Motor Racing Australia, though the ‘flying bricks’ are still one of their headline acts.

Ten cars fronted, with John Walker taking pole in his Allan’s Classic Minis entry with 1:08.0624, and shared the front row with Devlin (1:09.1113) in the JWC

Cooper S, while Charlie Borg was third recording 1:09.2978 in his Mulgoa Custom Truck Body Cooper S. The first race an 8 lapper saw Borg a late withdrawal, and Devlin jump straight into the lead with Walker second.

While Devlin raced away at the front, Walker and Chris Adlam (Tilleys Racing Equipment Leyland Mini) were disputing second and exchanging spots, but in the end Devlin crossed the line 10 seconds ahead of Walker who was in turn only 0.77sec ahead of Adlam.

Race two another 8 lapper saw Walker get the jump from Devlin, while Lithgow’s Lee Evans in the Kam Crane Trucks And Transport Mini after starting fifth retired at turn 2 on the second lap with fuel pump problems.

The following lap saw Devlin move to the lead getting by Walker on the straight, and then disappear into the distance again, coming home more than eight seconds ahead of Walker.

Meanwhile Adlam held on to take third from a fast finishing Borg, Alex Donofrio, Robert Byrnes and Robert Myors.

The Mini’s saved their ‘best til last,’ with the ten lap Trophy race being one of the most entertaining on the program.

Devlin started from pole, but was relegated to third by Turn 1 behind Walker and Borg, then on lap 2 Walker pulled off and retired at the Fish-hook allowing Borg to

jump to a relatively comfortable lead over Devlin who seemed destined to finish runners up.

However as they reached the half way mark the young lady from Arthurs Creek in Victoria had dropped her lap times immensely and caught the tearaway leader, and then applied the blow torch, but despite her best attempts could not get around, as she tried almost every lap to get by on the run up to turn 10, and they continually notched up fresh laps side by side.

Came the final laps and Devlin got a better run out of T9 than on previous occasions, and as they reached the final turn she had her nose ahead, which was enough to see her get the better run onto the straight and greet the chequered flag a second ahead of an unlucky Borg.

A very strong 26 car field entered the opening round of the Super TT, and the top two from the 2013 championship Adam Burgess and John Street not competing, and one of the favourites for this weekend Steve Anslow not turning up, it means the championship will have different pace setters.

In Qualifying it was Doug Moss who absolutely dominated the opposition in his turbocharged 2 litre Datsun 120Y, clocking a 1:05.1339.

Second was the Fast Car Beds BMW M30 driven by Endree Saade, 01.3208 secs behind with 1:06.4547secs and third Daniel

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pitstop Deckers driving his Deckspeed Racing Mazda Mx5 (1:06.6890.

On the outside of the second row after recording 1:07.8301, was Dan Ridley in the Riddos Run, Classic Speed Shop Holden VK Commodore.

Giving his recently built BMW M3 Lite (left) its first run was Peak Race Tyres David Atkin, clocking 1:07.9142sec, a most impressive time considering the car was revving out 2000 rpm less than it should.

Wakefield Park regular Rob Hay took the sixth position on the grid in his Colder Refrigeration Mazda MX5.

After a 12 month sabbatical when he built another car, a Ford Falcon BA with mechanicals from his older EL complete with turbocharged 6 cylinder powerplants, Greg Knight entered his new charge and entrusted the beautifully prepared car to Garth Walden for the new cars debut.

He recorded the 14th quickest time, 1:10.7807.

Another driver returning after a 12 month layoff Parry Anastakis, had completely rebuilt his www.

Aussiefrogs.com Peugeot 205Gti in between several overseas business trips, and he posted just the 15th fastest time, 1:10.9862 after his exhaust system fell off.

The race for the lead was over

by T1, and saw the polesitter win the start and run away with it.

As the jubilant Moss greeted the chequered

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flag by an equally exited flaggie, there was more than nine seconds to wait for the second car, the Deckers MX5.

While the top two runners had a lonely run, the battle for third was a beauty, with Ridley finally winning out, In fourth was Saade, 1.2 seconds ahead of Hay who in turn was 1.3 seconds ahead of Geoff Stockley, doing a good job in the MRA/ Minai Mufflers VH Commodore which is owned by his son in law and MRA principal Terry Denovan.

Behind, Walden and Anastakis made their way through the field well together, and finished 7th and 8th respectively.

There were four non-finishers, Rocco Rosatano in the Hogs Breath Cafe Holden Commodore going out on lap 5, Atkin having a reoccurrence of his qualifying woes, Dennis Walker in the magnificent EH Holden and Orange driver Glenn Simmons in his Craig Harvey Mechanical Holden Commodore.

Race 2, and once again it was all Moss, this time finishing 8 seconds ahead of Decker, while Saade after having a great scrap with Stockley eventually got by, and then picked up another spot when he got past Ridley and finished third.

Fourth was Ridley ahead of Stockley and Hay, while Anastakis after being pushed off on T2 by Steve Jagger

in the very fast Toyota Corolla and loosing several spots made a great recovery carving his way through the field to finish seventh ahead of Jagger.

Graeme Heath in the GH Plumbing & Gas Nissan Pulsar was next best ahead of Mark Morsillo 10th driving his 4 litre One Way Racing Triumph Dolomite.

Anastakis’ constant companion in Race 1 Walden, made a great start but then spun at the Fish-hook on Lap 4, and retired on the spot.

Daniel Byron finished 11th in the Natsoft Mazda Mx5 while one spot further back after a good run from the rear of the grid was Simmons.

Atkins Peak Race Tyres M3 had the computer shut the engine down on L1 and into retirement for the rest of the day, but despite the drama’s it was still a very impressive race debut and it looks sure to have a big future ahead of it.

The 10 lap Super TT Trophy race saw Moss win three from three, this time with Saade finishing off a most successful meeting by improving even more to finish second, while Deckers dropped to third, and Stockley continued his good run by getting up to fourth.

In fifth was Ridley, after a very scary moment on Lap 5 when he went off at Turn 1 at speed, spun through the infield and rejoined the track at T2, making that part of the circuit look more like an outback track.

There were cars

JANUARY 2014 everywhere, and Jagger spun sideways in the middle of T2, and was lucky not to be collected, as it was almost impossible to see him in the heavy dust. First car on the spot was Walden, who did a great job to miss him, and then one by one car just got by before the 2 litre Corolla was able to rejoin.

Anastakis was forced to brake extremely hard to avoid the spinning Ridley Commodore, but as he did the wishbone in the front end broke and forced him out.

This was a reoccurrence of what happened to him at his last Wakefield Park start, when they were subsequently strengthened.

He now has a headache as he tries to find the cause of the breakages ahead of the Valvoline Wakefield 300.

Sixth was Simmons after another impressive run ahead of Morsillo, Heath, Rosatano and round out the top 10 Hay. Miniature Race Cars were also on the program, and they really turned it on during the course of their three races.

After qualifying the two Aussie Racing Cars in the field took the front row, with Jase Collins on pole with The Creative Collection Newcastle Aussie Racing Car, and Bruce Duckworth in his Formaz Parts Plus RDA Brakes Ford Falcon Sprint beside him.

Best of the Future Racers in third was Josh Guetaya from Canberra in the Capital Precast entry, and beside him Steve Dascarolis, while Chad Cotton who was forced to pit in the middle of the session was fifth in the Su-

preme Dry Cleaning Future Racer.

The first race was a battle between Collins and Duckworth who was thrilling those at T2 with his speedway style cornering, but he spun on the last lap, and while Collins stayed at the front to take the win, Duckworth recovered to finish fourth behind Cotton in second and Dascarolis third.

Race two and Collins and Cotton who drive together in endurance racing held the front row together as they took the green flag in the rolling start, and Collins jumped to the lead, but Duckworth made his way up to second, and then got

by Collins and hit the lead, with Collins refusing to give it up easy, as they turned it on, with the RDA car winning by 7/100ths of a second.

Third was Dascarolis from Guetaya and another from the ACT, Scott Molloy in the Barton Molloy Property Future Racer.

After starting second Cotton was forced to retire on the fifth of 8 laps.

Collins failed to start the 10 lap Miniature Race Cars Trophy Race while Duckworth won again, but it was far from easy as it was Cotton this time putting the pressure on him, and at the finish the margin was only 0.11secs, while Dascarolis was third.

In the categories fourth race, this time over 6 laps, it was Duckworth who again took the win while he also wrapped up the round, but as in the Trophy Race it was far from easy as Cotton again pressured him all the way and came up just 0.011 seconds short.

Collins started from the rear of the grid and after a great start made his way up to third, and was only 8/10th behind at the finish.

Unfortunately there was a small field in the 5.0 litre V8 Touring Cars, but those that were there had their in their

expensive well presented machines raced hard.

In qualifying it was reigning champion Stuart Inwood who took pole in the Rise Again Smash Repairs Ford Falcon AU from Andy Cantrell driving his Custom Garages Ford, Darrin Renouf driving his Enviropress Holden Commodore, and his second Enviropress entry, another Commodore in the hands of former V8 Supercar owner/driver Brian Walden.

Race 1 and jumped to the lead despite the best efforts of Inwood to prevent it, and he moved away to a handy lead, but Inwood soon got it all together and came home strong, but it was the older Falcon that held on to post the win. Renouf who seems to be getting better every time he gets in the ex Larry Perkins Commodore in Castrol livery was third and Walden lurking in fourth.

The second race started the same with Cantrell leading, but this time Inwood applied the blow torch earlier and was pushing hard, but on Lap 5 got very sideways at T2 and lost possibly 6 car lengths, but he chased well and the next lap caught the Ford Credit liveried Falcon and got by into the lead the next lap.

While Inwood continued to lead to the flag, Cantrell had a big off on L7, and dropped to fourth where he finished behind the two Enviropress cars, Renouf second and Walden third.

For the Trophy Race that finished their day, it was another win for Inwood from Cantrell who got back up to second, Renouf third and Walden fourth.

It ended up being a successful day for the Inwood family, for apart from Stuart winning the 5 Litre Touring Cars round, his wife Karen Inwood won the Regularity overall in her Nissan GTR.

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Fun Day January 19th 400+ attend 16

Winton Motor Raceway pioneered a concpt some 15 years ago called Fun days in a effort to give regular people access to a motor racing circuit. The days now regularly attract over 400 participants and people can drive or be a passanger all for the low sum of $35.

The Fun Days have been a great way

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spend a lot of money.

The January fun day had a number of new entuiasts and some old hats that love getting out on the circuit.

One Man that started at Winton in the fun days was our very own committee man Stephen Harrision. Stephen did a few Fun days then

Photo by Judi McDonald

people a start in the sport of motor racing.

The next Funday is in July and if you know some one that you think should be on a racing circuit why not tell them about the Fun Days.

Alternatively if you know someone that wants to be involved in racing but not driving then the fun day are also a great way to start officiating. A number of positions are avaliable to learn including scruitineering and at the fun days it can be a great way to meet new people and talk about their cars and enjoy a day at the circuit.

progressed to Tampered days then sprints and now races in Super TT. When the fun days started that was the orginal theory to get

for people to become involved in motorsport and fits nicely in the charter of the Benalla Auto Club to provide a venue for motor racing to as many people as possible.

There is no need for any competiton licences so it is such a great way to get on board and try out a race track before having to

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New Exciting Entry Level Road Racing Class For 2014 WithThe FX 300 Ninja

I

t’s long overdue by over a decade but it’s now official Australian road racers will once again have a very affordable level playing field mainstream entry level ADR complied class of road racing in 2014 with the introduction of the single make FX 300 Ninja Cup. Not since the days of the Suzuki RGV250 and Aprilia RS250 has there been a truly suitable small capacity sports orientated motorcycle that is capable of ticking all the required boxes to make a successful mainstream as well as entry level class of racing. The Kawasaki 300 Ninja is the bike that ticks all the boxes and then some.

The machine specific class rules play to the strengths of the Kawasaki Ninja 300 and allow sensible upgrades to make the most of the bikes performance and handling on track to give competitors an exciting machine to race on for a very affordable budget.

Add in the fact that there not only will be a outright Cup championship but a separately point scored Ladies Cup championship and a U21 Cup championship to cater for everyone.

Mr. Robert Walker the National Sales and Marketing manager commented; “Kawasaki is very excited about the inclusion of the Kawasaki Insurances FX 300 Ninja Cup in the

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2014 Australasian Superbike Championship. To have a dedicated racing class for Australia’s most popular and highest selling motorcycle is welcomed by us and we anticipate that it will be well received by Australian motorsports fans too. This class will allow racers to compete in what will be a hotly contested class on a budget that will make racing very accessible to all. The Kawasaki Insurances FX 300 Ninja Cup will allow young (& older) riders to gain valuable racing experience and have massive fun at the same time.

I look forward to watching some edge of the seat racing in the 2014 Australasian Superbike Championships Kawasaki Insurances FX 300 Ninja Cup in 2014 and beyond.”

Terry O’Neill the managing director of the Australasian Superbike Championship said; “This new class will be attractive to plenty of existing racers and also doubles as a excellent entry level class. It will not only reinvigorate but redefine road racing in Australia which is long overdue. Road racing used to be much stronger and the talent pool much deeper when the original 2-stroke 250 Proddy class was going strong, when that died so did a big part of how the sport attracted young riders because there was no true entry level class. The Kawasaki Insurances FX 300 Ninja Cup class

is what is needed to get the sport up and moving again and hats off to Kawasaki for recognizing what was required and supporting this going forward.”

All bikes in the FX 300 Ninja Cup will need to be factory ADR complied with Australian VIN numbers, however either new or second hand machines are eligible to be used providing they have a factory fitted ADR compliance plate.

Kawasaki Motors, Dunlop, Bell Helmets and ARTRP have teamed up to provide a very impressive prize pool for competitors competing in the inaugural 2014 Kawasaki FX 300 Ninja Cup. It starts off with an outright series winner’s prize, an Under 21 and a Ladies prize pack. The grand prize for the outright winner of the series will win a brand new (non ABS) Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R with a recommended retail price of $14,999 +ORC. But it doesn’t stop there; the Under 21 series winner will take home a brand new Kawasaki Ninja 300 with a recommended retail price of $6,199 + ORC. The outright Ladies series winner will receive a 2015 ASC entry fee pack worth $3000 plus a Dunlop contingency prize pool of $1,500 rrp in race tyres for the FX 300 class and Bell Helmets will provide a RS1 helmet with a value of $469.00 rrp.

JANUARY 2014

Swann New Superbikes Sponosr

H

The 2014 Kawasaki FX 300 Ninja Cup prize pool as arranged so far: OUTRIGHT SERIES WINNER: 1st ......

Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R.................................................................... $14,999.00

2nd .....

2015 ASC Entry Fee Prize Pack........................................................ $ 2,000.00

3 .....

2015 ASC Entry Fee Prize Pack ....................................................... $ 1,000.00

rd

LADIES SERIES WINNER: 1st ......

2015 ASC Entry Fee Prize Pack & Dunlop /Bell Contingency Prize ...... $ 4,969.00

2 .....

2015 ASC Entry Fee Prize Pack.................................................................. $ 2,000.00

3rd .....

2015 ASC Entry Fee Prize Pack........................... .......................................$ 1,000.00

nd

LADIES SERIES WINNER: 1st ......

2015 ASC Entry Fee Prize Pack & Dunlop /Bell Contingency Prize ....... 4,969.00

2nd .....

2015 ASC Entry Fee Prize Pack................................................................... 2,000.00

3rd .....

2015 ASC Entry Fee Prize Pack................................................................ $ 1,000.00

The total prize pool so far for the Kawasaki FX 300 Ninja Cup is over $35,000. The outright Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R motorcycle prize is open to all competitors in all three categories so the Ladies or Under 21 winner is eligible to potentially win two major prizes if they are the outright winner of the series. The 2015 ASC Entry Fee Prize Packs are not transferable to another rider and are only for the 2015 season.

Anyone looking at entering the Kawasaki FX 300 Ninja Cup needs to contact Terry O’Neill after the 6th January to apply for a registered race number for the FX 300 Ninja Cup class so as to be eligible to win the various prizes. This great small capacity ADR production based class is aimed at providing a level

playing field competition that is very affordable for true privateer riders.

All in all the inaugural Kawasaki FX 300 Ninja Cup is shaping up to be a very exciting year for all involved, on top of the great prize pool racing from every round of the Ninja cup will be televised on both free to air SBS television and Fox SPEED TV. Plus all the races will be shown on the ‘Live to View’ webcasting.

The FX 300 Ninja Cup will compete at all six rounds of the 2014 Australasian Superbike Championship in its own stand alone nationally televised races. The format for the rounds will be the same as in 2013 with six races over the two days of each meeting.

istory has a habit of repeating itself and in 2014 it will happen again when the company that lent its name to the most successful race series in Australian road racing history once again lends its name to a series that is growing and showcasing the country’s best racers.

Australian Road & Track Rider Promotions are very pleased to announce that the major naming rights sponsor for the 2014 Australasian Superbike Championship will be Swann Insurance, a company with a long pedigree in backing winners.

Terry O’Neill the managing director of ARTRP commented “In the 80’s Australia had a motorcycle race series that any country would have been proud to have as its own, it was affectionately called the Swann Series. I watched Swann Series races on TV with the likes of Gardner, Magee, Dowson and many other great Aussie legends all going head to head.

Step forward to today and once again Australian motorcycle road racing is blessed with an over abundance of great racing talent that provides exciting and close racing like the Swann Series of old .”

O’Neill added ‘Not since the 80’s has Swann Insurance lent its name to a road race series and we know the importance of this history, so we will be endeavouring to run the biggest and best race series this country has seen since, so once again people will talk affectionately about the Swann Series.”

Paul Ayton, General Manager, Swann Insurance said; “Swann Insurance is pleased to become the major naming rights sponsor for the 2014 Australasian Superbike Championship. This initiative will further strengthen our commitment and involvement to the broader motorcycling community, and we look forward with anticipation to an exciting 2014 racing calendar” The 2014 Swann Series will compete in four States and have six rounds. The first round of Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship kicks off at Wakefield Park Raceway in country NSW on Sunday the 16th March and we invite everyone in New South Wales to come along and once again witness great Australian Superbike road racing action.

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VALE Doug Sunderland I

t with Great Sadness that the Club learned of a former member and long time support Dou Su

-nderland passed away. Doug was a Wangaratta Local that had the sport of motorcycle racing deep and passionate in this blood. He was a life member of Motorcycling Victoria , Hartwell Motorcycle Clubs and a regular steward for most Motorcycle meetings in Victoria. He had a special interest in Winton and officiated at both Car and Bike meetings at Winton.

Some of his most amazing adventures were his motorcycle travelling adventures where he travelled solo across most of the world on an Indian motorcycle.

Doug was featured on Australian Story recently where he said “One of the things that really get me wild and mad and damned upset is the people that say, you’re riding the motorbike at your age? I say, why what’s age got to do with it?

People seem to think when you get to a certain age you switch a time switch off in your head and you don’t do anything. That’s not the way to live.

When I was about 75 I decided that if I ever got to 85 I would do 52,000k in 52 weeks, averaging 1,000 per week for a year. So I did Australia clockwise, flew to New Zealand and did both islands. and then Australia Anti Clockwise” I said I’ll keep riding ‘cause I feel better, physically and mentally. It’s the greatest cure.

I was 12 months living in no

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man’s land and my Doctor Phillips our family doctor said Doug, the way your health is, you get on that bike and go riding. And I didn’t fancy the idea, I just had no ambition to go, but he put the pressure on me.

I first met my wife Nelly in 1944.

Nelly said to me, I’m off to the pictures, what about coming. I said no, I can’t afford to go. She said, why?

I’m saving up to buy me motorbike.

She offered to pay for me to go to the pictures. I thought this is a bit good. So I knew then that I’d probably spend the rest of my life with this young lass.

One of Doug’s most famous adventures was when he used facebook to organise a round Australia Ride.

“The first time I switched on Facebook I see a photo of me and I thought how in the hell did that get on it but then the next thing I’m getting all these young fillies on the Facebook inviting me to stay with them and that become a little difficult to handle.”

“I left Wangaratta and I’m trying to stick to around about 550k a day.

I’m lucky I’ve got cruise control on the bike. Just lay back and have a sleep and the bike will look after itself. I’ve been riding for 71 years.

I’ve ridden through 19 countries.”

“In McKay I rode into McDonalds and its some young girl in a brand new red Holden beeped the horn at me. Next thing she pulls up, come over and said, are you Doug Sunderland and I said, yeah.

She’s about 28 or 29 and she said, oh you’re staying with me for the

night. Well, I thought that sounds odd.

So she took me to the house and I was as scared as hell. And she put me up for the night and took me to a BBQ that she’d arranged with a couple of friends and that was an enjoyable part of the Facebook.

The first day of my life that I know about was I was age four and a half.

And I can remember with one arm wrapped around a little tree, trying to hang onto my mother and bawling my eyes out, cause I got put in the old Melbourne orphanage.

During the Depression years, my mother had myself and my brother too and it become very difficult for her. We spent six and a half years locked up in that home. I copped the cane on a daily basis. When I was 14 I got a job at the motorbike shop and that was the best thing that ever happened ‘cause I learnt to ride motorbikes. The bike’s just had its first service since leaving Melbourne. Well I’m in Darwin at the moment. The bike decided that it was going to play up every day so from Queensland right through to Darwin I had considerable trouble with the bike, and hopefully it’s all fixed. Hopefully.”

Doug been well documented as saying, as long as the motorcycle keeps going, I’ll keep going.

And one of them will stop first but it’s probably not going to be Doug.

Unfortunately this time it was Doug that stopped and at the very next meeting you will hear all of the race officials at the lunch break say “where is my Chocky bar” Doug’s favorite line during the lunch break in his honor.

What I have been doing at

JANUARY 2014

Winton Raceway!

Name: Andrew Freer Lives at: Griffith NSW 2680 Occupation: Industrial Consultant Hobbies: Motorcycles, road track and dirt track, my Ford G6E Turbo, gardening, skiing and fitness Type of Vehicle: Yamaha 2006 R1 Events, Group/Series: Test and Tune days, Motoride Days I started doing the old practise days more than 10 years ago and now do a combination of the Test and Tune days along with the Motoride Days. I bought a written off 2006 R1 and over the past 5 years have slowly developed it in to the bike that I have today. Now that it is finished, it is just a matter of tyres, maintenance and riding it as often as practical. Modifications include Ohlins suspension, Marchesini wheels and Dunlop slicks, Brembo brakes and engine work to achieve a dyno tuned 178hp. I cannot promise there wont be a little more engine work though...

It has been good to see the advent of dedicated ride days at Winton that are less heavily regulated than other events elsewhere. The official timing, proper medical support and approachable staff will keep me coming back. The odd Saturday slot would be good too as I always feel a bit secondhand at work on Monday after Sunday on the track lol. Not as young as I once was...

Comments: I noted on the membership renewal confirmation that all of the events that BAC members are invited to attend are car events and no other types of events are mentioned. I would like to see the BAC include all types of track users and spectators in their scope for membership.

Photo by Judi McDonald

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Pedders

PCM

Bendigo - retier on top Pedders Racing announce retirement while on world-first championship high Having developed a local volunteer racing team into a respected and successful professional outfit, Pedders Racing went from humble beginnings to back to back class championship victories in their Proton Satria GTi before taking on a world-first national production car racing project, and going on to see further success with numerous world-firsts for the Toyota 86 on the national circuit racing scene.

With less than two months until the start of the 2014 racing season, the team has faced its greatest challenge, celebrating a third consecutive class championship honour, while decision making and commiserating as budget constraints pushed the team to the difficult and disappointing decision to retire from the Australian national motor sport arena.

It has been a story of glory, grief, heartbreak, honour, learning, luck, determination

and dedication that has brought Bendigo’s team from its roots as J&A No Bull Racing to its success as Pedders Racing; the first team in global racing to take a production specification Toyota 86 to a national circuit racing class championship.

During season 2013 alone, the team also locked away the world’s first national production racing class pole positions and class race win, all on the back of designing, building, homologating and debuting the world’s first production racing 86 model on a national motor sport scene. A championship in the debut year – a story worth telling.

In an environment where sponsorship value is paramount, Pedders Racing proudly went above and beyond to ensure both brand dollar and experience value for their strong contingent of investors and sponsors, while keeping the pride alive within the motoring community, working with clubs including the 86 Club Australia to share their circuit homes

with fellow owners of the hyped sports car and promote the country’s consistently top selling manufacturer in the unique and loyal motor sport world.

With sponsorship commitments ongoing, the toll of a title-winning season had left the #86 with panel damage and a list of mechanical repairs ahead of any attempt for another back to back story during the 2014 season.

Having run their debut titlewinning season on the red line and without spares, effort was rewarded with the loyal sponsors committing to provide an operational budget, making decisions all the more difficult, but the necessary sponsorship growth did not extend to provide the season’s spares catalogue or the panels and parts needed to return the 86 to its glory days. As such, the story ends with Pedders Racing’s regretful retirement while on a world-first championship winning high.

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Benalla Cruise and Shine Sunday October 26th 2014

Charity Reward

The Benalla Cruise and Shine Committee is pleased to announce that it has made a donation to the Salvation Army Benalla from funds raised from the Benalla Cruise and Shine car show. They have been the charity partner for the last two years since Benalla Cruise & Shine was started in 2012.

This annual event was held at Winton Motor Raceway last year on Sunday 27th of October and gained a great level of support from the community and local business in

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trying to raise money for the benefiting Charity and keep this great event growing.

The committee has been very grateful for this partnership and being a local charity felt the Salvation Army did benefit the community in a positive way and does support those in our community that needed it most.

As this event grows the committee hopes it will be able to give to more charitable organisations from around Benalla and North East

Victoria. This being one of the goals set for this year’s event which is in motion.

Next year’s event date has already been released and will be taking place on October 26th 2014. It is set to be another great event with many more incredible cars on display and attractions for the whole family.

For more information on this year’s event please visit www.cruiseandshine.com

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Helmet Crash Rating System CRASH awards a star rating from 1 to 5 for each motorcycle helmet following independent crash protection and comfort assessments by independent specialist laboratories.

T

he rating system has gone through several significant changes with the aim of improving the level and clarity of information provided to motorcyclists. The rating system In the crash protection assessments, the helmets were rated based on their individual performance aspects.

These aspects were ranked and weighted based on their importance to reduce the risk of head and brain injury in a crash and are listed as follows: ENERGY REDUCTION IN A HIGHER SPEED CRASH ON A FLAT SURFACE (30 PER CENT) ENERGY REDUCTION IN A HIGHER SPEED CRASH ON KERB SURFACE (25 per cent) ENERGY REDUCTION IN A LOWER SPEED CRASH ON FLAT SURFACE (15 PER CENT) HELMET’S ABILITY TO MINIMISE THE ROTATION OF THE HELMET IN A CRASH (10 per cent) HELMET COVERAGE (10 per cent) HELMET CHIN-STRAP’S STRENGTH (5 per cent) HELMET’S ABILITY TO MINIMISE REBOUND (5 per cent)

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now provides a five-star rating system that better reflects the comparative performance beyond that required by AS/NZS 1698. All helmets assessed to the most recent testings have been rescored using this new system.

Some star ratings may have changed from the previous results because the way the scores are awarded has been revised to better represent the performance of the helmets in simulated crashes.

For the comfort level performance, the helmets were rated using comfort features which were considered important by motorcyclists. These features were ranked based on results from a 2010 survey conducted by the European project COST 357–PROHELM (Accident Prevention Options with Motorcycle Helmets) involving 598 motorcyclists. The study found 71 per cent of the riders wore a helmet that was not of the right size and 69 per cent of the respondents reported discomfort using the helmet.

The most common complaints related to noisiness of the helmet, followed by complaints about the visor steaming up too often and to the ventilation system not working adequately. The remaining features are ranked in the following order: Aerodynamics, helmet weight, peripheral vision and visor’s ability to seal out water.

--Helmets must have adequate impact performance The helmet must be able to reduce the impact of a crash and manage the acceleration of the

head to minimise injury. To achieve this, the helmet must: Cover the frontal and temporal areas of the head Not disintegrate during the impact and, Be able to minimise injury to the head from impacts with different types of objects and different heights.

In all tests, a simulated head with many characteristics of the human head is used to facilitate the measurement of various forces in the crash test. The data gathered is then assessed using recognised protocols, and scores are determined for each specific test.

A helmet’s ability to mitigate the effect of a blow to the head is assessed by dropping it onto a hard surface representative of the roadway, and a ‘hard metal edge’ such as a kerb, roadside barrier or corner of a vehicle.

These test surfaces (anvils) are termed ‘flat’, ‘hemispherical’ or ‘kerb’. CRASH uses modified tests comprising high and low speed impacts (compared to AS/NZS 1698 requirements) using a flat surface and higher speed impact than UN/ ECE Regulation 22* using a simulated kerb surface.

In tests where the helmet is dropped onto a flat surface, the helmet mounted on a simulated head is dropped from heights of 0.8 metres and 2.5 metres (AS/NZS 1698 uses a drop height of 1.83 metres).

The helmets are evaluated in terms of their ability to reduce impact to the head, maintain the helmet structural integrity, and ensure the

JANUARY 2014 chin strap is still working properly after the test. The test matrix and impact locations are shown in the figure and table below.

Test procedure Location ENERGY REDUCTION IN HIGH SPEED IMPACT ON FLAT SURFACE – IMPACT 1 A ENERGY REDUCTION IN HIGH SPEED IMPACT ON FLAT SURFACE – IMPACT 2 C ENERGY REDUCTION IN LOW SPEED IMPACT ON FLAT SURFACE – IMPACT 1 B ENERGY REDUCTION IN LOW SPEED IMPACT ON FLAT SURFACE – IMPACT 2 D ENERGY REDUCTION IN HIGH SPEED IMPACT ON KERB SURFACE E An ideal helmet should be able to absorb maximum impact energy with as little rebound as possible, while maintaining a tolerable acceleration level. In this program the helmet’s ability to maximise impact energy reduction is assessed by calculating the ratio of speeds before and after an impact (coefficient of restitution).

The more stars, the better a helmet performed in protecting the wearer from injury in a crash - out of 5.

1 star = Meets AS/NZ Standard, 2 stars = Average, 3 stars = Above average, 4 stars = Good, 5 stars = Excellent The more stars, the more comfortable a helmet is to use - out of 5.

1 star = Poor, 2 stars = Average, 3 stars = Above average, 4 stars = Good, 5 stars = Excellent

What I have been doing at

WINTON

RACEWAY! Name: David Dixon Lives at: Bendigo Occupation: Logistics Driver Type of Vehicle: Holden Gemini Events, Group/Series: Super TT, Sprints, Tampered days, VMRC 2013 Competed in the full Super TT championship.

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Marry

Stafford-behind the scences

By Dianne Stolz A member of the Benalla Auto Club Ladies Auxillary for more than 50 years I first meet Mary back in approx.

1968 when I joined the Benalla Auto Club and hence the Ladies Auxillary. Mary became a member of the Ladies Auxillary when Winton first started as was her Father old Marty Stafford a member of the Benalla Auto Club. Their only reason for involvement was that they lived in the first house on the old Hume highway after you left Fox Street.

In those days the Winton Cricket Club used to play cricket on the cricket oval (It was crown Land ) and every Sunday except for race meetings there was a working bee.

On Race days the Ladies would set themselves up in the open air kiosk which consisted of old SEC poles at the corners with counters running along the Pit side and across the front and then along the spectator side. Similar to what it is now but not as sophisticated. Each time we used the kiosk we would have to sweep the Sheep S--- out of it and proceed to make salad rolls and sandwiches in our covered in area at the back of kiosk. Drinks were kept cold in ice no fridges in the kiosk back then.

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The circuit was only the short circuit at that stage and the land that the long circuit now sits on belonged to a neighbour (Norm Joyce) who had sheep that roamed the circuit during the week.

(They were our lawn mowers.)

Mary has consistently worked in the Kiosk and watched other workers come and go including, Jean Stilo, Colleen Stilo, Jean Nicholson, Kaye Fogg, Vi Plumridge, Joyce Cox, myself and Mary Ronke. Mary Ronke and Mary Stafford were the only two that worked and run that kiosk from the beginning, hence the naming of the restaurant “The Two Mary’s Restaurant”.

Many members would be amazed at the amount of money that kiosk made and donated back to the Benalla Auto Club. Most of the infrastructure that has been built at

the Raceway has come from the profits of the Kiosk. The Benalla Auto Club has a great debt to pay to the Ladies Auxillary from their early days and in particular to the two Marys. Mary Ronke was in her 90’s and still did all the ordering and organising plus work in the Kiosk at weekends. Even Jim Ronke could be seen in his spot cutting bread rolls every weekend.

Mary Stafford who is now in her late 80’s was always here to help at weekends, now due to her health she is unable to come out to Winton at weekends, and I know that the Kiosk staff miss her.

It is sad that sometimes we grow big and forget the stalwarts that made this Club through volunteering their time and effort.

From all the members of Benalla Auto Club a huge Thank you for all your efforts.

JANUARY 2014

OFFICIALS FOCUS Rob Wall – Clerk of Course, in that the BA auto wasn’t meant to be supercharged! So, plan C (or is it D?). In January 2008 I purchased a Mazda MX5 for the hillclimb and found it was capable of a lot more.

It has since been involved in Supersprints and Regularity events and I still have it and enjoy it. We have done a run at Bathurst as shown here as Hell Corner is successfully negotiated.

I

have always been interested in Motorsport and followed it as a spectator until 2004. At this time, my kids had become largely self sufficient and independent which gave me the time (and money!) to indulge in a bit of active motorsport. I joined the Southern District Motorsports Association (SDMA) in Canberra and took up Hillclimbing in the family car - a Ford BA XR6. It wasn’t long before I realised that I might need the family car so I bought a Nissan Exa specifically for hillclimbing. The Exa was fun but didn’t seem to want to go quick enough so I threw a supercharger on the BA and took it back to the hill.

Gearboxes became a problem

Meanwhile, I somehow ended up chairing the SDMA Annual General meeting in July 2005 (had something to do with the fact I was the only one in a suit!) and was elected as Vice-President of the Club - the President having been re-elected in absentia. I was then elected President in 2006 and again in 2007 and 2008. In 2006 I obtained my CAMS Officials licence as I had decided to put a little more back into the sport in an officiating role and joined one David Firminger as his offsider in Recovery - covering

events up to and including A1s and V8 Supercars. Since retiring from paid employment in 2008, I have expanded my officiating roles and have done communications, flagging, marshalling, scrutineering, stewarding and event control (front room and back room) as an Assistant Clerk of Course and Clerk of Course. I am currently Clerk of Course or Assistant Clerk of Course at Wakefield, Scrutineer at FoSC events, Assistant Clerk of Course for (some) HSRCA events and am attempting to expand my Stewarding. I continue in Recovery at SMSP and V8 events in Queensland and NSW as well as the Bathurst 12 Hour.

I thoroughly enjoy my participation in Motorsport and have met many wonderful and interesting people, a lot who have become good friends.

Even if you only have a couple of spare weekends a year, I would encourage you to enjoy them at a motorsport event particularly as an official.

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e h t r o f Members Wakefield getting ready 300 BAC’s Terry Denovan will return to the wheel in the Valvoline Wakefield 300 on March 1 and 2.

In the real world Denovan is an IT Specialist at Express Media Group in Sydney, and is married to his number one supporter Danielle, and for the upcoming Valvoline sponsored 300 will have his father in law Geoff Stockley as co-driver in his Motor Racing Australia Holden Commodore VH. The 32 year old from St Clair first competed in the Wakefield 300 in 2011, driving the Commodore with Mark Morsillo as co-driver, but they had engine problems and were forced to retire while in a good position, only completing 109 laps, just 22 shy of a finish.

After missing the 2012 running of the event due to lack of funds and with the car not ready anyway, he turned his attention to the Wakefield Park sister event and second leg of the Australian Endurance Series, the Valvoline Winton 300 at the Winton Motor Raceway in rural Victoria.

“I did the Winton event with my father-in-law “to-be”, Geoff Stockley,

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less than 1

month prior to the wedding. We had an issue with the diff, and had to run the car at a very slow pace, and while we were accredited with a DNF, it was in fact a 31st placed finish,” Denovan said.

Last year, Denovan and Stockley returned to Goulburn for the Wakefield 300, and after qualifying 13th, were forced to make an unscheduled pitstop on just the fifth lap with a fuel leak.

After that issue was rectified they returned to the track down in 46th position, and Stockley then drove the car up to position 15th when they pitted on lap 60 for their CPS, which saw them refuel and rejoin with fresh tyres and with Denovan behind the wheel.

“By the 5th lap in my stint, the tyres were over pressured as we started with the wrong pressure, the car was understeering, oversteering… it was a pig to drive. To gain as much track posi-

tion as possible, I had to drive the car at 110%...Silly me, I didn’t think about fuel consumption.

“Even though we had the problems and didn’t finish in the top 10 like we wanted to, we still had a fantastic weekend, and we’re really looking forward to the 2014 Wakefield 300.

The benefactor of Denovan spending more time running his MRA company and less time behind the wheel is Stockley, for he will be driving the Commodore throughout the season.

In All 13 members will tackle the 2014 Valvoline Wakefield 300. They Include, Terry Denovan, Shane baker, Adam Ronke and Warren Sheehan in an MX5.

Terry Nightingale in Targa Racing MX5, Bree Woodlands, Michael Cruse in a ford Falcon, Phil Portea in his new BMW. Caarl Gibbs makes his first attempt at the Wakefield 300 in the Car that won the 1986 Winton 300. Steve Harrison and Matt Thewlis team up in an MX5.

Ian Kegg will campaign his Hyundai Excel Cup car and will be a good chance in the B Main. Ross Wood returns in an RX7 which he has piolted to a top 10 previously. The BAC Contingent is the biggest to set upon the Wakefield 300 we wish all our members good luck.

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