31/08/2014
This was the August Race meeting, the second in the month and once again we had a great turn out of members together with a handful of Fvee and Saloon Car drivers as well as 2 new members trying out, thank you to all of you!!
The Formula Fords started the racing and Leanne Tander was dominant in the first race when Peter Major ended up down the field (he came back to 4th at the flag) and Tony Martin was right behind her. In races 2 and 3 it was a battle between Tony and Peter with Leanne in 3rd. Fantastic close racing with plenty of position swapping throughout the field. Formula Ford racing is never boring.
The HQ’s came out next and all day they managed to behave and as usual the field was closely bunched and the reverse grid saw some of the faster drivers managing to get thru the slower cars. Good racing!!
The Super Gt’s first race was Ferrari versus Camaro versus Porsches and V8’s with positions changing all the time. The second race immediately after lunch became an exercise in how not to race when 2 Porsches came together in T6 and had the Safety Car out for a number of laps, Steve Wyatt in his Ferrari had dropped back (reason unknown) but set about getting back to near the front. Race 3 was fast and furious, close racing with few problems. Great to see John Roderick back out in the Lotus Exige after the fire in the garage a couple of races ago and a miss last time out.
The Formula 1000’s started with an entry list of 7, started qualifying with 6, race 1 with 5, race 2 with 4 and 5 again for race 3!!! It was a pleasure to watch Leanne Tander as she drew away from the rest of the pack followed by Adam Proctor, until gear selection problems in race 2 saw them swap positions but she was back out in front for race 3. The rest of the field had a number of reliability problems but hopefully the future will be good for them.
The Saloons came next and with Grant Johnson competing up in Sepang it was left to Rick Gill to try to stick to Garry Hills…close but not close enough. The Saloons always give us an exciting series of races and didn’t disappoint. Chris Kneafsey was a jubilant Championship winner and Justin Chaffey pushed him hard all day. 2 classes of saloons, split grid and a few offs gave the spectators something to watch.
The Street Cars gave an enthusiastic performance with the occasional car disappearing into the pits to come back for the next race. Adam Williams in the Ford Ute managed to finish the 3rd race in the top 3 after a disappointing first couple of races. Andy Stevens didn’t have everything his own way but still managed to win the day. A pity Greg Brocklehurst’s big XC Ford was off the pace as it could be an awesome machine.
It was a good days racing with a bit of a chill early until the sun came thru and as a result of TV News coverage the night before there was a considerable crowd who were treated to an eventful day’s racing and all should have enjoyed everything on show including a lunchtime demo by the Go Karts.