Editor’s Note
G’day all.
September was apparently huge. I personally can’t remember much of it; seems like just a haze of dodgy backyard engineering, leaking auto trans fluid, cable ties and coffee. But yes, in groundbreaking news the Gift Horse did indeed make it to the track… more on this later!
Of course September meant VCAS Rd 9, our second VCAS event of the year and third two-day event. With the newly reconfigured startline having already proven a hit at last months’ multiclub, this was the round where it came into its’ own, with around 40 entries both days. Heaps more seat time for everyone who wanted it and no empty start lanes all day made for happy drivers AND spectators. Even our First Aid ladies loved the entertainment factor in that there was always something going on anywhere you looked. I’d say it kicked serious butt! And if the feedback we received afterwards means anything, we may have to get used to bigger fields in future. Bring it on!
From the Oval Office
Swan Hill Sporting Car Club members should be proud. We staged an awesome event over the weekend of 19th and 20th of September and our efforts showed, the track works held up to the punishment very well. We put thru a large number of cars each day and there have been so many positive comments come back regarding how well we ran the event, the dust was the greatest problem and even that only meant that we were starting 2 cars every 60 seconds. Food was fantastic, we had great variety and the drinks where cold which you needed after a couple of laps. Our media efforts are starting to show, we are growing at a good healthy rate.
We did not use our new spectator area up behind the bridge this time as access was not considered safe enough, but we will keep working on it. The big problem was the access is too close to the track and would have needed more officials to run it.
Speaking of officials! We need help in this department with running more cars as we are using two people at the staging area, one to radio who is in what lane and another for traffic control, as to wave a car across the track requires knowing the relative positions of other cars already on course. You need the extra pair of eyes when there’s either four or six cars on the track all at once!
The same in the timing area, it is much easier to have help there too as one can operate the radio and the other can operate the computer. Likewise you need to know where the last starters are before launching the next.On Sunday even the computer was struggling. We will fix that.
We need help and do not get me wrong, there are more people stepping up which is fantastic, but we need to share the load. While marshalling out on the track does see some of the best action everyone would like a break to go to the toilet, get a drink and a feed and just unwind for a while and some would also like to have a run.
Now I would like to make it very clear if you have anything to say about the running of the day during an event please take your enquiries to the Club Chief or secondly myself. Or, if it is an urgent safety matter, a track marshal. DO NOT BREAK THE CONCENTRATION OF RACE OPERATIONAL MEMBERS, i.e. the people on the radios. This can compromise safety if they lose touch with what is happening and I am sure that is not the intention of anybody.
But how good was Saturday night, lots of campers, plenty of people to visit. Loved it!!
We have also had a very generous donation of a wheel rim from a Formula Brabham. This is going to be known as The Peter Hollinger Perpetual Trophy and will be kept by the club with the winners’ names engraved each year. The how and where will need to be worked out but this is a real piece of history and we should be proud to have it. I know I am.
Good work all.
Chris Gibson
President Swan Hill Sporting Car Club
Race Report September 19th and 20th
Round 9 VCAS, Saturday 19th September we had a good showing of VCAS competitors which was nice to see with some 46 starters and 4 of those wereJuniors. With the 11am scrutineering and 1pm start it took the urgency out of getting set up which was nice, although it did seem to take forever to get to 1 pm. But get there it did.
There were 13 entries in Class W, 9 in Class P, 2 in Class L, 4 in Class J, 1 in Class C, 3 in Class D and 9 in Class E.
We did not try to arrange staging this time, with the new starting line and staging moved to the front of the club house we just let the line fill and this worked a treat. There were no empty lines, plenty of runs and the track was fantastic with the general consensus being that this is the best they have ever seen it. Hey, that is not just an accident. Rodney works very hard on the track and while we help out he does spend lots of time and effort on it. Well done Rodney for all your work.
But have a bit of a look at the Overall numbers, there were some close battles there. Darren Windus and Tristan Penhall less than 2 seconds apart, then have a look down to 7th 8th 9th and 10th with less than a second covering them all. I was very pleased to be the 7th one there and while I did kill the thing late in the day by hitting the tyres and bursting the oil filter it was still a good day.
Likewise the North Magna did the trans and there were other tales of woe around the pits. And going on down the list there was some tight racing there.
Swan Hill had 14 members run in the round and one of them was Blair Clue. This was his first time out as he only turned 14 during the week and he did very well. There were no big dramas during the weekend, all cars stayed on their wheels which is good but has not always been the case.
Saturday Results
Sunday saw another good sized field of 39 entries with some 8 juniors. There were at least 4 first timers, they all did very well and seemed to enjoy their day. Hope to see you all again soon.
We did have some timing problems Sunday due to some settings defaulting but in the big picture no Biggy.
Robert Goff (Your Glorious Newsletter Editor!) did get to bring the Gift Horse out and beingthe first time had some teething issues to get through (Gift Horse – Teething issues – love it. Ed.), but I think all in all he would have to have been a happy man with the progress. Good work Rob, looking forward to seeing it in action in October.
Well done to Blair Clue, you did do very well on the Sunday and I bet you are still rubbing it in at home.
Marty Stap dropped out for a look and found himself out on the track in a few different cars.
Taking a look over the numbers you can see there is some good consistent driving going on. Jack Hawkins is doing so well, his numbers are bunched up nice and close, as are Tyson Buckley, Neil Albert, and Daniel MacDonald. And, welcome back to the fold Stacey Paynter who also showed she has lost nothing after taking almost a year off to welcome the clubs’ youngest member Jordi, our first official 'Junior Pit Crew'!!
There was also 3 generation of Middletons out on Sunday. That was very nice to see and does show the family side of motorsport.
Aaron Windus was also very pleased to be able to take passengers on the Sunday. Sorry Aaron I did pinch your post, I thought you covered it well.
“Day 2 is finished! What an awesome weekend.....great solid 2 days of testing! Took Ella Hopes and Rhys Duncan for a few laps! Was great to finally have Edub in the nav seat.....Will make an awesome co-driver very soon ? huge thanks to Dad for the best car ever and giving me the opportunity and patients to get my head around the car! Sarge had a solid drive all weekend...showed some mind blowing pace with very limited time behind the wheel! Massive massive thanks to everyone involved at the Swan Hill Sporting Car Club! You guys are awesome, the track was hammered for 2 days straight and still felt like our first pass through! Look forward to cutting more laps in November! Big shout out to Lyn for all the photos! Never fails on getting the perfect photo! Can't wait to see the rest ?? BRING ON THE AKADEMOS RALLY!!!!!!”
As always there were lots of other stories and things worthy of a mention but time and grey hair wins in the end.
If you are wondering why so many have no result Sunday, you need to complete 2 runs in each lane to get a result and that day did have some computer glitches which were eventually sorted out.
CG
Sunday Results
Tips and Tricks
Do not be afraid to ask someone anything. We are all here to enjoy ourselves and most would be only too happy to point you straight.
Another note from the Ed…
With apologies for this thrown-together-at-the-last-minute-again newsletter, just realized I haven’t yet given credit for the pics that make this thing look good – the vast majority of which (like, 98%) came from the lens of our very own Lyn Andrew of Lyn Andrew Photography (for those who either can’t or can’t be bothered to read the watermark). Always heaps of pics and it makes my job easy to just wade through them, pick some I like and chuck them in. Cheers Lyn! (By the way, I’ll use pics taken by others too if I see them so if you’ve got some, by all means send them in or Facebook ‘em or whatever and I’ll make sure I give some credit..!) Here’s a couple more, just for the hell of it… RG
Also, while I’m here… Excuses For The Gift Horse Vol. 1…
#1.Blocked fuel filter (from me being too tight to lash out on a new one when I replaced the fuel tank)
#2.Drivers’ lack of talent and too many HPs for the multitude of spins, offs and backward facing moments during the half hour I had it on the track
#3.An as yet undisclosed gremlin turning the thing off after a big stop or after coming off the gas; leaking brake booster? Sticky IAC? Dodgy electrical? All of the above? To be continued…
This would also be a good place to drop in the chat with Baz Middleton that I haven’t had yet. Sadly I haven’t pulled my finger out fast enough this month. Stay tuned for next…
President: Chris 0422036369
Vice President: Neil 0408307073
Secretary: Lyn 0408378271
Event Secretary: Lynne
Head Scrutineer: Kiel
Newsletter Editor!: Robert Goff
NEXT GENERAL MEETING-WEDNESDAY 7OCTOBER
7:30PM
LAZY RIVER MOTOR INN.
Please forward any agenda items to Chris Gibson (President) or Lyn Andrew (Secretary).
Minutes from last month’s meeting can be found on the club website.
CLASSES
In simple terms if it just came off the rood it is class P
If you have done anything to it and the engine is below 1600 or 1.6 L it is class C
If you have done anything to it and the engine is above 1600 or 1.6 L but under 2000 or 2 l it is class D
If you have done anything to it and the engine is above 2000 or 2l it is class E
If you are aged from 14 to 18 as of Jan the current year you are in class J regardless of the car you are driving.
L Ladies also regardless of car.
S Specials (Custom built cars and excessively modified sedans)
W Production Based 4WD or AWD (no tyre restrictions apply)
Below are the more detailed answers
10. CLASSES (Drivers will be graded into the following classes)
P Standard Production (2WD, Road Tyres Only, No Modifications allowed)
C 0-1600cc Modified (2WD, No Firewall Modifications, Similar Engine Only (Make & No of cyl)
D 1601-2000cc Modified (2WD, No Firewall Modifications, Similar Engine Only (Make & No of cyl)
E Over 2000cc Modified (2WD, No Firewall Modifications, Similar Engine Only (Make & No of cyl)
J Juniors – Aged 14 -18yo as of 1st January 2015
L Ladies
S Specials (Custom built cars and excessively modified sedans)
W Production Based 4WD or AWD (no tyre restrictions apply)
- Refer the VCAS 2015 Standing Regulations for full details
When a vehicle is fitted with forced induction the swept displacement shall be multiplied by a factor of 1.7 to determine its nominal capacity.
6.3 When a vehicle is fitted with a rotary [Wankel-type] engine the swept displacement shall be multiplied by a factor of 1.8 to determine its nominal capacity.
6.4 When a vehicle is fitted with a rotary [Wankel-type] engine and forced induction the swept displacement shall be multiplied by a factor of 1.8 x 1.7 = 3.06 to determine its nominal capacity.
Here are a couple of random items…
For a non-road-registered series production-based automobile any cable-operated release bonnet mechanism must be disabled and replaced with at least two fasteners which hold the bonnet closed. (Bonnet pins)
Shall display a blue triangle of sides 150mm indicating the location of the battery.
With visible towing points (capable of accepting a 40mm OD cylindrical test object) fitted forward of the front axle and rearwards of the rear axle and capable of towing the automobile on a sealed surface with its wheels locked;
Please go to and have a read if you have question great please ask CG or the scrutineers if they do not know they’ll find out for you.
Calendar of Events.
October Sunday 18th Test and Tune scrutineering 8.00am racing from 9.00am
NovemberMelbourne Cup Weekend Saturday Oct 31st Practice with Test and Tune scrutineering 12.00pm racing from 1.00pm, Social Saturday Night BBQ. Club house camping and shower available.
Sunday Nov 1st-VCAS Round 11 Scrutineering 8.30am racing from 10.30am Hosted by Cerberus Car Club at Swan Hill
December
5th Christmas Party.Details to be advised.
13th Test and tune scrutineering 8.00am racing from 9.00am
We Love Our Sponsors
Meagan from Get Reel Productions has a special offer for club members. A personal profile video where she will attend the track or another location and guarantee a minimum of 2 hours filming focused solely on the individual’s car, driving etc. The completed video is compacted into a 20-45 minute highlight reel complete with music, titles and special effect overlays. Normally priced at $250, Meagan is offering a 50% discount, available to club members for $125. Bookings are essential, please contact Meagan on0438 615 077
Lyn Andrew Photography.
Photos taken at each race event are available for purchase. $20 for copy of all the pictures taken of your car that day with at least 5 edited pics if you supply the USB.$30 for the above if I supply the USB.
Head Office – 40 McCallum Street Swan Hill Victoria 3585
Visiting – (Tiptoe Podiatry) 25 Albert Street Kerang Victoria 3579
(03) 5032 4646
/ Contact DetailsContact: / Gary Saville
Location: / Nyah, Victoria
Telephone: / 03 5030 2234
Mobile: / 0427 302 957
Email: /
Coburns Earthmoving specialises in earthmoving and excavations including dam construction, road construction, irrigation, subdivisionand general earthworks thoughout Victoria.
Country Tracks 4WD Accessories & Exhaust Centre is located in Swan Hill and is renowned for offering a comprehensive range of accessories from the most credible and respected brands in the industry. There are accessories for any 4WD vehicle and any type of 4WD user. Customers have the option of having the accessories fitted on the premises, thereby saving them valuable time and money. 14 Chapman Street, Swan Hill VIC 3585(03) 5032 1448
We only use the latest state of the art cameras. We offer a broad range of packages to suit all styles and budgets. Our work speaks for itself, please take the time to look at our sample works provided on this site.
Lazy River Motor Inn with over 2.5 acres and lots of parking. Great for race cars on trailers!!! 188 Murray Valley Hwy Swan Hill Phone Phone 5032 2123
We buy all types of scrap metal in all of Swan Hill, Kerang and the surrounds. Call us and we will come to you.
Swan Hill Scrap Metal buy all types of scrap metal, we can pick up from your business, farm or home. All metals including steel, farm machinery, engineering offcuts, data and electrical cable, aluminium, copper, lead batteries, brass or anything metal. Call us and we will do the hard work for you. We are open from Monday to Friday and are available on Saturdays by appointment only. (03)503249803
Quin Drive Swan Hill
Buy, Sell or Swap
2.0 l, FWD ’88 Celica – Unreg,un RW but mechanically good A fine Autocross weapon to take on these pesky Lancers and Hyundais! See Rob 0415 782 904 $800-ish?