On The Redline Magazine - Issue 1 - December 2013

2013 SEASON REVIEW

ISSUE 1 - December 2013www.ontheredline.com.au

www.facebook.com/OTRedline@on_the_redline

V8 Supercars Shannons Nationals World Time AttackWRC Rennsport Festival Muscle Car MastersFormula One Bathurst 12 Hour HistoricsSpeedway Bathurst Motor Festival State Level Series

CONTENTS

3www.ontheredline.com.au

IT gives us great pleasure to welcome you all to the first edition of On The Redline Magazine!

Motorsport is a passion that runs in our family - a passion that has turned into an obsession. On The Redline was formed in 2011 by myself and my father Graham. Always keen on motorsport, we decided to start our business capturing the essence of racing, the blur of speed and the excitement of the overtake through our camera lenses.

2014 will start a new chapter in the life of On The Redline. This debut issue is a summary of our work throughout 2013, a season highlights package if you will. From Issue #2 onwards, each month our magazine will bring you action from the motorsport world all the way from grass roots Production Car racing to the glamour of Formula One. From fire breathing Sports Sedans to the drama of NASCAR.

We live to stay On The Redline - bounce off the limiter with us!

Editor - Stephen Mison Assistant Editor - Graham Mison Contributors - Stephen Mison, Graham Mison Contacts - [email protected], [email protected] www.ontheredline.com.au www.facebook.com/OTRedline @on_the_redline

4 Bathurst 12 Hour

10 V8 Supercars

58 Formula One

66 Shannons Nationals - Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Cars

72 Shannons Nationals - Kerrick Sports Sedans

78 World Rally Championship

106 Rennsport Festival

114 Bathurst Motor Festival

120 Muscle Car Masters

128 Late Model Sedans


Erebus taste success at the mountain...


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EREBUS cracked their first major international endurance victory at Bathurst in February.

The #36 Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 entry of Bernd Schneider, Thomas Jaeger and Alex Rollof won a scintillating race through pure determination. Despite not being the quickest car over the weekend they paced themselves brilliantly to finish ahead of more fancied international entries.

Schneider won his second consecutive major international endurance event of the year after tasting success at the Dubai 24 Hour just a month earlier.

Finishing the race in second and a lap down was the #33 Clearwater Racing entry; a Ferrari 458 GT3 driven by Craig Baird, Matt Griffin and team owner Mok Weng Sung. Early contact with a backmarker resulted in a spin, a drive through penalty, and a gap they could not make back through the race.

Completing the podium was the #5 VIP Petfoods Porsche 911 GT3 R of Klark Quinn, Shane Van Gisbergen and Matt Kingsley.

The weather varied greatly over the 12 hour period, from brilliant sunshine to a heavy downpour just 2.5 hours from the finish causing some frayed nerves in pitlane and on the track - Van Gisbergen in particular unlapping himself at a ridicoulously slow 45 km/h over the top of the mountain, coming so close to aquaplaning on slicks.

The weather cleared up to allow a victory by the Erebus crew at one of the best circuits in the world, in what is one of the most exciting international events on the Australian motorsport calendar. This event looks to be even better in the years to come with keen interest from international GT teams.




Whincup makes it five!

Whincup makes it five!

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CAR Of The Future - V8 Supercars’ bold plan to attract new manufacturers to the sport - had it’s impact in 2013. Nissan joined the sport through Kelly Racing, and Erebus used it’s customer connection with Mercedes-Benz AMG to produce a four manufacturer series. 13 different race winners in 2013 across Holden, Ford and Nissan is proof of how close this year was across the field.

Throughout the year we saw wins from Lowndes, Van Gisbergen, Coulthard, McLaughlin, Bright, Whincup, Davison, Winterbottom, Tander, Mostert, Moffat, Courtney and Reynolds. No other national series on the planet provides such competitive and close racing as V8 Supercars does.

Season 2013 also saw the introduction of new race formats. 60/60 Super Sprint races consisted of a ‘half time’ seperating two races, however points are only awarded to the winner of the second half. The second half also consisted of a rolling start, with the entire field bunched together. Also new in 2013, The Pirtek Enduro Cup consisted of the Sandown 500, Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 600. The inaugural winners were Craig Lowndes and Warren Luff.

But, even with the field being so close, the cream still rose to the top. Whincup, Lowndes, Davison and Winterbottom (the same top four as in 2012) ended up contenders for the title. The championship went down to the final round in Sydney - just a 20 point gap between Whincup and Lowndes coming into the round, with four drivers in contention for the crown.

Rewinding to the start of the year, Shane Van Gisbergen shocked all with his move to Tekno Autosports after citing ‘burnout’ and personal issues as his reason for leaving Stone Brothers Racing at the end of 2012 (later to become Erebus). Van Gisbergen eventually stated that his reasons for leaving were not in line with what was made public at the time. Nevertheless, he started 2013 strongly with a win in the Clipsal 500. Awkwardly, the after race interview was held in the Erebus pit garage!

Symmons Plains was next on the calendar, and the first 60/60 Super Sprint of the year. Surprisingly, the field made it relatively unscathed through one of the tightest first turns on the calendar. Scott Pye wasn’t so lucky later in the race, suf-fering a massive head on crash into the tires at turn one after brake failure. Fabian Coulthard broke through for the first championship round win of his career.




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arsNext stop - Pukekohe in New Zealand. Rookie sensation

Scott McLaughlin delighted his home crowd with a win on Saturday. Often compared to Craig Lowndes in his early years, this kid looks to have a very bright future. Speaking of Bright, Jason won on Sunday to claim the inaugural Jason Richards Memorial Trophy - something very close to his heart. His podium celebration will be remembered as much for knocking out the light cover above the podium as it will for being presented the trophy by the late Jason Richards’ wife Charlotte and daughter Sienna. A truly emotional moment in the sport.

Whincup began to show shades of his previous dominance when the circus showed up at Barbagello in Perth. Chaz Mo-stert scored a top ten result on debut for DJR, replacing Jonny Reid. Scott Pye scored some futher airtime after a tangle on the back straight with Garth Tander and Rick Kelly.

Next was another historic moment for V8 Supercars. Texas. Never before had the series visited the USA, but the meeting attracted plenty of attention from ex-pats and local fans alike. Whincup was the victor, with Lowndes close behind in both races. The ‘states will be skipped in 2014, but are sure to be put back on the calendar in the years to come - especially with the possibility that the locally produced Falcon and Commodore will be replaced with North American sourced models once manufacturing ceases in Australia.

Darwin played host to round 6 of the championship. Reynolds started the weekend well; taking the lead from Whincup and controlling the first half of the 60/60 Super Sprint race. Second half saw Whincup jump away, with Winterbottom dive down the inside of Reynolds into the hairpin, rear brakes locked - and spin his teammate out of second. Sunday saw Courtney and Winterbottom fighting for the lead, with Courtney falling back into the clutches of Lowndes, who he would hold off a last lap challenge from to finish second. The real drama of the weekend happened in race three, with a massive pile up involving half the field, Fiore suffering the worst of the damage and almost rolling after hitting the tire lined embankment between turns one and two. Lowndes won the final race of the weekend with Winterbottom right on his heels.

Sunny Townsville provided longer races that highlighted strategy. Red Bull Racing Australia struggled on the hard tires, with Whincup running around at the back of the field but managing to get up to 7th before race end. FPR enjoyed a rare 1-2 finish with Davison leading home Winterbottom. Sunday saw another 1-2 finish, this time for HRT. Tander led home Courtney for a result the team has been waiting a long time for.


Chaz Mostert broke through for his first win at Ipswich. After Whincup won the 60/60 Super Sprint race on Saturday, and McLaughlin won race 2 on Sunday, Mostert lined up in second behind Davison, and jumped the FPR driver off the line to lead into turn one. Slade enjoyed running in second before a mistake saw him spear off the road and throwaway what would have been a tremendous result for Erebus. A big talking point for the weekend was the amount of puntures experienced by multiple runners, with debris and kerbs being blamed. Mostert lead home an all-Ford podium in race 3, winning for the first time in controlled fashion.

Nissan won their first race since 1992 at Winton. Michael Caruso led at half time in the 60/60 Super Sprint, but James Moffat slipped down the outside of turn one and led the second half to claim the first win of his career. Controversy surrounded the win however, with a special E70 blend being trialled by Nissan and Erebus at the venue leading a few to believe Nissan enjoyed an unfair advantage at the circuit. The official line was that the E70 blend only affected economy, not power. Following the Winton round V8 Supercars decided against allowing Nissan and Erebus to run the E70 blend during the endurance rounds.

Enduro season- and the introduction of the Pirtek Enduro Cup. First up was Sandown which saw another new format introduced - qualifying races on the Saturday. Essentially an all out sprint race to decide starting positions for the 500km main race on Sunday, they produced exciting racing through-out the field. Co-drivers were in the cars for the first qualifying race which was won by Paul Dumbrell, co-driver for Jamie Whincup. A few spins littered the field, then the bonnet on Ash Walsh’s #17 DJR Falcon flew off causing quite a scare. The second was won by Will Davison with the field filled by the regular season pilots. This left him on pole for the main 500km race. Ash Walsh was in the wars again, hitting the tires very hard and taking himself and main driver Tim Blanchard out of the race. Winterbottom had pitstop issues, and Davison suffered from having to stack in the pits when running third. He would eventually fight back onto the podium, however any chance at the win was lost. Lowndes and Whincup had another excellent battle, with Whincup passing Lowndes for the win in the final laps. Holdsworth would finish an excellent fourth for Erebus.

Bathurst was a cracker. Winterbottom got swamped off the line, losing track position early. Greg Murphy slammed into the wall on the climb up the mountain, ending his and Courtney’s chance of challenging for the win and triggering the first safety car period. Whincup/Dumbrell led for most of the race, however Winterbottom/Richards got the jump at the last pit stop, setting up an enticing battle at the end. Winterbottom held off a late charging Whincup for his first success at the Mountain after 10 failed attempts. It felt like the entire nation held their breath as Whincup lunged down the outside on Winterbottom into turn two on the last lap. For a second he was past, but the inside line and better grip helped Winterbottom stay ahead. Frosty crossed the line to write his name in the history books as the first Ford driver to conquer the mountain since 2008.

The final enduro was at the unforgiving Gold Coast. Murphy ended in the wall again, however this time it was not his error - Dumbrell collecting him from behind in the back chicane. Damage to the championship leader’s Commodore meant race over and no points on Saturday. Lowndes/Luff took advantage the best way possible, scoring the win. Sunday saw the second half of the 600km fought out between Murphy/Courtney and Reynolds/Canto. The punishing kerbs claimed another victim with Murphy/Courtney retiring due to steering failure. Reynolds went through for his first career win.

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Phillip Island would prove crucial to the championship battle. Davison was the first to lose ground, after being spun by Van Gisbergen in the first half of Saturday’s 60/60 Super Sprint. A massive incident involving Premat and Courtney at the Honda hairpin saw both cars completely destroyed. Winterbottom muscled his way past Lowndes on the last cor-ner of the last lap, pushing Lowndes onto the grass and down the order. Tander started the second half from pole and would lead all the way. Whincup made a last lap pass on Winterbottom into the hairpin to assert his dominance over the championship battle. Sunday saw a four wide battle into turn one, with Whincup sweeping around the outside into the lead. Lowndes fought through the field passing car after car, and after a safety car period, had the pace to pass Whincup for the lead. The championship would go down to the last race.

Only 20 points seperated Lowndes and Whincup coming into the final round. Winterbottom and Davison were mathematical outsiders, however needed both Whincup and Lowndes to have a poor Saturday to have any chance. Winterbottom and Whincup started on the front row, but Whincup won the battle into turn one. Winterbottom dropped back in the pack and got caught up with Lowndes, pushing him into the tires before being literally run over by Reynolds. No penalty would result due to no gain for Winterbottom, but his race would be over not long after with D’Alberto clipping the wall and then turning Winterbottom into the fence. A frantic final few laps saw Van Gisbergen push Coulthard into the fence at turn 8, a move which had fans up in arms. The championship deciding race saw Jamie Whincup prevail, winning an amazing fifth championship - a feat that only Skaife, Johnson and the late Geoghegan have achieved. He didn’t drive defensively either; battles with Winterbottom, Van Gisbergen, Reynolds and Bright in the final race of the year showed he wasn’t sitting on cruise control even with the championship under threat if he made a mistake.

2013 was an action packed year full of new manufacturers, championship drama with highs and lows for all protagonists. The Car Of The Future blueprint seems to have worked with the field as close as it’s ever been. Next year will see Volvo join as the fifth manufacturer through Garry Rogers Motorsport. Erebus will have benefited from a year of development. Nissan will be spurred on by their success at Winton. As for Ford and Holden, that battle rages with just as much intensity as ever.

Bring on 2014!

Unstoppable Vettel!

Unstoppable Vettel!

MELBOURNE produced a weekend typical of the city when the Formula 1 circus rolled into town. High 30®C weather gave way to driving rain on Saturday as Practice 4 commenced. This would hang around until qualifying which had to be postponed due to loss of light caused by the storm clouds, and the late start time to fit in with European TV schedules. Qualifying was eventually completed on Sunday morning, with Q2 completed in still damp conditions. The top ten shootout in Q3 saw drivers split on strategy, with some choosing intermediate tires and others choosing slicks. The latter proved the quickest way around the circuit with Vettel and Webber sharing the front row followed by Hamilton and Massa.

As the lights went out Vettel immediately took a two second lead, however within a few laps Massa and Alonso were on his tail with Raikkonen close behind. First pit stops were as early as lap 7 with the lead drivers discarding their super soft rubber for the more durable medium compound tires. Sutil however, having started from 12th on medium tires, stayed out and inherited the lead after the drivers ahead made their stops. He would stay out until lap 20. Alonso would pit just before in a bed to jump those in front of him and it worked – he gained positions on Vettel, Sutil and Massa. Raikkonen however, stayed out until there were only 24 laps remaining, when he would make only his second stop compared to three stops for the others. Hamilton attempted to do the same but couldn’t make his tires last as long as the Lotus driver, this coupled with a lock up when under pressure from Alonso resulted in the need for a three stopper.

Sutil’s bid to run the super softs at the end of the race fared no better than if he ran them at the start, causing him to drop large chunks of time when graining set in. Alonso was hunting down Raikkonen, but once they reached 5 laps from the end the outcome was without doubt, with Raikkonen setting his fastest lap and stretched his lead to 12 seconds, winning his 20th Grand Prix.

Throughout 2013 the competitiveness of the Lotus and Ferrari would decline, with the Red Bull in the hands of Vettel proving the fastest package. Winning his fifth World Championship, Vettel looked unstoppable towards the end of the season, winning the last nine races of the year and setting a new record for consecutive wins. 2013 also saw the retirement of Mark Webber who will be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo. Only time will tell if he can get on par with Vettel, something Webber never quite managed to achieve.

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Shae on top in the Shannons Nationals..

Shae on top in the Shannons Nationals..

SHAE Davies clinched his first national touring car title in 2013, bringing home the Davbridge Constructions Falcon in what looks to be the early days of a promising career.

The appeal of the cars in this series is multi levelled. They’re all ex-main game and many ex-development series so many have significant history. Some are raced in their most memorable liveries whilst others wear a mix of original colours with new signage or completely new colours and sponsorship.

Races are around 15 to 20 minutes so there’s plenty of passing action and, as in their former glory days, these cars have to be driven aggressively attacking curbs and always on the limit of adhesion to get the best lap time. New for 2013 is the introduction of sequential gearboxes with the field split into two classes, H pattern and Sequential.

The drivers are a combination of young guns looking to get some experience with the hope of moving on, and seasoned racers who just love the cars and are proud to own and race them. Last year’s series cham-pion Josh Hunter has moved on to the Dunlop Devel-opment Series so those looking for a path upwards are looking at the series as a way to show their talent that will be noticed.

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Banks gets it done in Sports Sedans..

Banks gets it done in Sports Sedans..

KERRICK Sports Sedans has a new champion in 2013. Bruce Banks used three vehicles throughout the season to clinch his first title in the series.

Banks wasn’t expecting to hold off the might of seven-time champion Tony Ricciardello, but he managed this by first leasing a Chev Camaro for the opening rounds, then reverting to his own Mazda RX-7 for the middle of the season. At the fifth and final round at Sandown, the RX-7 gave up and the Chev Corvette of Dean Camm was used to win the title.

Ricciardello and his Chev-powered Alfa Romeo gave it their all, after scoring pole position he won all three races and took a new lap record – a time that was two tenths of a second faster than the new lap record set in Formula 3 on same day. But he fell 11 points short of the ultimate prize.

Banks ended the year with 529 points to Ricciardello’s 518 - a close title race especially only being held over five rounds.

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Close...

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Close...

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SEBASTIEN Ogier came to within one point of clinching the 2013 WRC World Title at Rally Australia this year.

A puncture suffered by Mikko Hirvonen in the last stage of the rally cost him second place and elevated Thierry Neuville into runner-up. “The team told me at the finish line that I had missed the title by one point because Mikko had a problem. I tried my best”.

Ogier won 19 of the 22 stages in his Volkswagen Polo R to beat Neuville by 1:32.1, a dominant effort by the Frenchman. But in a somewhat fitting consolation, he only had to wait until the next round of the championship, his home rally in France, to clinch the title.

Third on the podium was Hirvonen, who was quite surprised by his puncture in the final Power Stage. “I have absolutely no idea what happened. I drove in the middle of the road all the time and I can’t understand how we got a puncture”.

Local sensation and wild card Nathan Quinn drove a fine rally to finish eighth in a Mini John Cooper Works and score his first WRC points. “Pretty stoked. We’ve got to thank a lot of people. It’s a victory forme to be here now – today. We hoped we could get through – so this is pretty awesome”. Quinn finished ahead of Citroen driver Khalid Al Qassimi in the WRC field and will gain enormous confidence from his performance at this rally. With limited preparation and seat time in the car, many teams will have taken notice of his talent.

New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon also shone in the WRC2 field. Driving an S2000 spec Skoda was always going to be a chal-lenge, but Paddon grabbed the opportunity with both hands to post a top 10 time on all but one stage contested, and was continously faster than numerous WRC drivers. After Rally Australia, the Qatar M-Sport team invited Paddon to drive with them at Rally de Espana. “To say I’m excited is an un-derstatement, but I am also focused on ensuring that we make the most of this opportunity. Naturally I want to be competitive and we will be giving it our utmost to set some good stage times, but it is also important to finish the rally and gain as much experience as possible”. Paddon would eventually finish eighth overall in Spain.

The Coffs Harbour coast provided an excellent stage for Rally Australia, and the event can only get better after receiving confirmation of the event returning in 2014. Sponsors and organisers will benefit greatly from the event running back to back, as opposed to every second year after sharing a spot with New Zealand. With Hyundai joining the championship in 2014, this is an event not to be missed next year.

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Twigg wins at the Rennsport Festival

Twigg wins at the Rennsport Festival


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SYDNEY Motorsport Park at Eastern Creek was the venue for the third round of the 2013 Carrera Cup. Run as the headline on-track competition under Porsche Cars Australia’s first Rennsport meeting. The pairing of Max Twigg and Luke Youlden becoming first time Elite class overall round winners.

Rennsport, in case you didn’t know, means Racesport in German. So the weekend of May 25-26 was all about, as Kevin Nicholls (Porsche’s in-country Director of Marketing and Motorsport) pointed out, celebrating what Porsche does best – making Sportscars and racing them.

Departing from the usual format the round consisted of two 1 hour enduros with a compulsory driver change. Driver pair-ings were a Pro-Am style that saw a return of some previous Cup racers as well as a number of current V8 Supercar drivers trying their hand. Qualifying saw James Koundouris/Steve Owen (#47 Superbarn Supermarkets) on pole for Sunday morning’s race 1 with Shae Davies/Adam Gowans (#21 Team Kiwi Racing) sharing the front row. Current #1 and points leader into this round Craig Baird (Jet Travel Insurance) with John Penny co-driving would start out of position 12. Davies was first into turn 1 with Warren Luff (#07 No Second Chance) on his outside followed by Tony Bates (#24 Pure Energy Racing). The first two positions remained the same till the pitstop window opened. Good pit work saw Gowans out front until almost the last minute when Nick Percat (#222 Coates Hire Racing) grabbed the lead and took victory by less than 2 seconds. For Percat’s co-driver, Rodney Jane, it was his 150th Cup start and his first win. 3rd was the pairing of Max Twigg/Luke Youlden (#08 Permagard Automotive).

Sunday afternoon’s race two saw the grid set as they finished race one. At the lights it was Gowans into the lead from Youlden and a fast starting Baird. This produced an interest-ing battle for several laps with Youlden past Gowans on lap 2 and Baird taking over the lead into turn 1 at the start of lap 5. From there Baird built up a lead into pitstop time, at the changeover Penny exited the pits in 2nd but the pair would eventually fall to 6th. Twigg was the man at the pointy end now but he surrended the lead to the Patrizi/Bayliss (#29 Ausdrill) combo with Micheal Patrizi at the wheel on lap 30 only to have the #29 car slow with gearbox issues letting the #08 Permagard car back into the lead just over 2 laps from the end. Gowans then Emery followed Twigg over the line.

180 points gave Twigg/Youlden the round victory with Davies/Gowans 2nd and Warren Luff/Geoff Emery 3rd. Baird remains the overall series leader from Luff, Percat and Richards.



The ‘other’ Bathurst event..

The ‘other’ Bathurst event..

EASTER saw the return of Mount Panorama’s other event.. The Bathurst Motor Festival.

Just under 10,000 people across the three days enjoyed racing both old and new. Sunday saw feature races from the five race and two regularity categories competing that weekend as part of the Mount Panorama 75th anniversary celebrations.

There was a thrilling last lap finish in the one-hour Production Touring Car race, race-long leader Ryan Simpson robbed of the win in the final quarter of a lap when his car faltered. A delaminated right front tyre forced Simpson to slow and limp his Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X RS to the line in the final few laps – costing him a certain victory. Simpson had led by 50 seconds with just a few laps remaining, but two slow laps saw him passed in the final few corners by Matthew Holt, who took the race victory in his HSV GTS.

Nathan Morcom conquered Mount Panorama in the most challenging of conditions to take the opening round of the Formula 3 Australian Drivers’ Championship. Morcom caught and passed early race leader James Winslow in wet conditions to take the victory in round one’s feature race, giving him an early leg up in the championship standings.

Experienced racer Ross Lilley won the Production Sports Car endurance race, his Dodge Viper GT3 completing 19 laps in the safety-car interrupted race. In a race of attrition, several key contenders were forced out of the running including defending Bathurst winner, Neale Muston. The Sydney driver crashed his Porsche GT3 Cup Car in a big way at the top of the mountain after just six laps and though he emerged unscathed, his #1 Porsche was much worse for wear.

Michael Anderson and Daryl Hansen split wins in Group N Historic Touring Cars. Daniel Reinhardt won the Formula Vee race and the second was red flagged due to an incident at turn one.

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Muscle of the past flexes at MCM

Muscle of the past flexes at MCM

THE 9th edition of the Muscle Car Masters saw the introduction of the Bathurst Grid Spectacular. This half –time entertainment on the main straight was a way of bringing back the 1970s style Bathurst pre-race build up with marching bands, large driver name placards and team outfits. 53 cars lined up and all had taken the starters flag at Bathurst at least once. Oldest being Rick Marks’ Studebacker Lark Com-mander from the ’67 Gallaher 500 through to Gary Collins’ Commodore VE in Jack Daniels colours. Front row was given over to a couple of combatants from 1968 in a Monaro GTS 327 and a Falcon XT GT. By all reports this idea was a success and will be a bi-annual happening.

Shannon’s Touring Car MastersThe 5th round of the Shannon’s Touring Car Masters headed the racing side of things with 3 x 10 lap races across the weekend. Qualifying saw John Bowe with pole from Miedecke, Cameron Tilley, Richards and Kassulke rounding out the top 5.

Saturday afternoon’s race saw Bowe lead home Miedecke followed by Richards, Cameron Tilley and Albernica’s Falcon XB the first Australian designed car home.

Sunday mornings reverse top 10 outing saw Bill Pye, in what he revealed later was in fact his Targa car, have his Porsche 911 in the lead entering turn 2 from the start with Bowe following. So began an entertaining battle that incredibly would fall Pye’s way at the flag. Warmsley, Richards and Kassulke filled out the top 5.

The 3rd encounter went to Andrew Miedecke from Bowe and Pye, these two separated by less than 1/10th at the line. Cameron Tilley was classified 4th, Richards had crossed the line before him but was relegated to 5th for rolling at the start.

Group NThe meeting was dominated by a massive entry from Group N cars, 100+ in fact. They were split into 3 groups plus a separate Sunday race for EH Holden’s to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Nb had 54 entries, Nc –3500 35 and Nc +3500 with 22.

Nb had 2 races on Saturday with Mustang mounted Bill Trengrove victorious in both. Their 3rd was the second event on Sunday morning with T rengrove again taking the flag. Sunday’s trophy race saw Brent Trengrove (Mustang) take the top step with Allen Boughen (Mercury Comet) and Max Ullrich (Mustang) filling the minors. This was reduced to 4 racing laps due to an incident on the opening lap that saw Bill Trengrove and the Cortinas of Scott Flemming and Brian Titheradge DNF.

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Victory in Nc’s under 3500cc Saturday races was shared between Andrew Williams (Torana LJ) and Bill Attard (Mazda RX2). The early Sunday morning 5 lapper saw Williams lead home a pair of RX-2s driven by Jason Humble and Attard. This was also the finishing order for the afternoon’s 6 lap trophy race.

The big guns of +3500 were topped in Qualifying by David Wall in the ex Geoghegan Mustang with a 2:11.0105, he and Mick Donaher (Mustang) the only two into the 11s. Wall took a clean sweep of all four races with Donaher and Micheal Anderson (XY Falcon) taking the minors in the Trophy race and infact the first 6 cars home in this one were FoMoCo products.

As part of the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the EH Holden a 3 lap trophy race was run Sunday afternoon. 16 cars took the green light. Ben Wilkinson led all 3 with ‘Lucky’ Phil Taylor coming from 4th at the start of the last lap to cross the line 2nd from Phil Shepherd.

Heritage Touring CarsNewly titled Heritage Touring Cars for many were the attraction and a combined entry of 40 cars was topped in Qualifying by Jim Richards in his Nissan HR31 Skyline. Race 1 combined saw the Group A cars to the fore with Bill Pye (Greens Tuf Mustang) victorious from Rod Marklin (GIO Skyline GTR) and Terry Lawlor (Sierra RS500), Richards was a DNF and did not take to the track for the rest of the meeting.

Trophy races for the 2 groups were run on Saturday and first up was Group A. Lawlor pushed his Caltex liveried Sierra home with a close finishing Markland in front of Pye for 3rd. Group C’s 5 lapper was a success for Edward Singleton’s STP Roadways Commodore with the other 2 steps taken by Shuan Tunny (A9X Torana) and Chris Collins’ (VC Commodore).

Sunday Mornings Race 2 combined again saw the Group A cars to the front with a second win for Pye followed by Lawlor and Marklin. Main event for the weekend was Sunday afternoons Racing For Jason trophy over 6 laps. Pye led this one early from Markland but Lawlor got both of them to get to the lead on their second circuit and was never headed from there, Markland overtook Pye on the last lap for 2nd.

F-5000The mighty F-5000s returned, although in smaller numbers with an entry of 12. These were the only cars to race on the original Eastern Creek track layout with all others on the new extended layout. Numbers had dropped to 9 for Qualifying and Tom Tweedie topped the sheet with a 1:25.7285 in his Chevron B24/28. All 3 races were taken out by Tweedie with Ken Smith (Lola T332) and Bryan Sala (Matich A50) following him home in the 10 lap Trophy event.

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Production Sports CarsProduction Sports Cars, of the Group S variety, made their first appearance at the MCM. Most exotic vote would have to go to Rusty French’s black and gold De Tomaso Pantera. He won the first 3 of 4 races but came home 3rd in the trophy race following James Flett’s Datsun 260Z and Damien Myer’s MG Midget.

The overriding attraction for many spectators is the paddock area and the chance to see many genuine cars they saw race in their youth and to show them to their children or grandchildren as well as to get autographs and photos with some of their heroes. It would seem the next big thing for historic racing Down Under will be Sports Sedans and a number were on show and took to the track for demonstration laps.

Good weather again shone on the MCM ensuring another Father’s Day to remember.

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The Colonel gets down and dirty

The Colonel gets down and dirty

AMERICAN Late Model legend Steve “The Colonel” Francis again flew into Australia and took out the national title held at Quit Bunbury Speedway on January 11 and 12, 2013. Following him over the line were Craig Vorsbergen and Warren Oldfield. Francis steered the Michael Holmes OZMine USA#91 Rocket home from the pole position in the 40 lap title race.

As a lead up to defending his title Francis contested all 3 rounds of the Supatilt Wild West Tour and claimed victory in all 3 rounds – Motorplex, Manjump and Collie.

From the West Coast he then moved to NSW to finish of his summer tour with young fellow countryman Devin Moran in tow. First stop for the duo was Goulburn and the NSW title. Francis was now in the Bruce Mackenzie owned #15 and called on years of experience to get the best of the tight south-ern highlands track. After winning 2 of his 3 heats he started from pole and jumped to the lead and was never passed. Mo-ran followed him home, unable to backup his 2012 state title. WA’s Michael Holmes filled 3rd.

The wide open spaces of Sydney Speedway at Granville was the last stop on the list for the Grand National over January 26 and 27, this being the venue Francis won his 2012 Aus title. A possible win in the GN was taken away by rain on night 2 and racing being canceled. Night 1 saw Francis on top whenever he took to the track. He topped Time Trials with a 14.0780, won his Heat and took out Mini Feature 1. Dominant is a word easily used to describe the American’s results but it would be hard to find another.

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Next month in On The Redline Magazine:

We bring you the grueling Dakar Rally, one of the most dangerous races in the world.

WRC kicks off 2014 with Rallye Monte Carlo, the jewel of the crown. Can Ogier get the win or will newcomers Hyundai spring a surprise?

Dubai will play host to the 24 Hour, with a slather of Australian talent present, headlining the Aussie attack is James Moffat with Nissan.

The local speedway season is in full swing, and the Americans are heading Down Under to mix it up.

The first test for Formula One will take place - but what teams will have a car ready in time? With this year’s regulations changes, this could be the most unpredictable season in a long while. Is that what will stop Vettel and Red Bull’s dominance of the sport?

We will also run a feature on Formula E - is this the future of motorsport? how will loyal motorsport fans react? Will the series even get off the ground?

Stay tuned for our Januray issue!

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Documents

On The Redline Magazine - Issue 1 - December 2013