Images thanks to Mel & Gino Valdes
Sunday the 15th of October saw the 2017 CSCA Sprint Season wrap up with Round 7 at Wakefield Park. The newly-formed Club Lotus Australia Motorsport Committee have kindly shared a report on the round and a wrap-up of the 2017 results, and you can enjoy that below!
CSCA Round 7 Report & Results
With thanks to the Club Lotus Australia Motorsport Committee
Images thanks to Mel & Gino Valdes
On Sunday, 15th October the Club Lotus Australia (CLA) motorsport team and the rest of the Combined Sports Car Association (CSCA) competitors gathered at Wakefield park for the 7th and final round of the 2017 CSCA sprint season. The day started at 11 degrees – a whole 20 degrees warmer than it was when the CSCA visited Wakefield in June!
Of the 71 participants, 18 were CLA members who duly occupied a substantial portion of the top half of the field from the off.
Duncan Andrews set the early pace, with Tim and Dave Mackie hot on his heels. The usual ‘V6’ protagonists Martin Duursma and Leigh Fuller battled it out with occasionally less than a car length between them. (Although it was witnessed on more than one occasion the Yellow V6 facing in the opposite direction!) The top ten was rounded out by the amazing Len Goodwin in the 1964 Lotus Elan.
While the track peaked at around 11am, fastest times were not set again until the track conditions cooled off around 3pm.
There were a number of personal bests set during the day. Tim Mackie achieved some 1:04s, Liam Sheppard improved by 1.5 seconds and got into the 1:08s, Peter Taylor nailed a 1:09:1 and Gino Valdes a 1:10:2. Craig Sheppard almost got into the 10s with a 1:11:1 and finally got within 3 seconds of Liam!
So how did the CSCA team end up at the end of the day:
The fastest marque car of the day was Duncan Andrews with a 1:04.25 and was on it throughout the day. Duncan also set another CSCA record – 57 laps in one CSCA event, the most by any driver on record.
And now for the stats:
Class C2 was taken out by Len Goodwin with a 1:08:3. A great and consistent day by Len.
Class DM2 was hotly contested with Leigh Mellor running a 1:08:9, narrowly edging out the ever quick Rex Hodder who set a 1:09:1. It was great to see John Culvenor back on track as he a set at 1:17 for third in this class.
Class DM4 appears to be almost exclusively for Lotus these days and the largest contested group. The CSCA ‘endurance record holder’ Duncan Andrews topped the time sheets with a 1:04:25, followed by Richard Wodhams on a 1:07:7. Richard is continuing to get quicker in his new stead. Liam Sheppard takes the final podium position in this class with a 1:08:9, finishing with a great result for his first year in the CSCA in the Cup 240.
The other runners were Peter Taylor (1:09:1), Steve Madden (1:09:09); Gino Valdes (1:10:2) and Craig Sheppard (1:11:1).
Class DM5 was the Martin and Leigh show. This usually has a number of highlights during the day as the two protagonists slug it out – and today didn’t disappoint! Besides Leigh having the better of Martin for a fair chunk of the day (including some Quaife Induced Lateral Movements – known as a QILM, for those in the know), Martin – the sly dog – held his best until last and beat home his combatant by 0.26 of a sec with a 1:06:2959 to Leigh’s 1:06:5569. Seriously great driving and a great spectacle.
Class R1, otherwise known as the ’Tim and Dave’ show. While there were 4 in the group, the brothers Mackie showed the opposition a clean pair of heels to push each other towards the low 1:05s all day. Dave had the wood on Tim for the majority of the day and then in the last session for Tim, with Dave’s car on the trailer, the mighty Honda-powered 20 year Elise slotted in a time of 1:04:8576. Dave’s joy (and a hint of jealousy), was a sight to behold as he congratulated his sibling at beating his 1:05:2294.
Class 2BM Rex Mellor came home in first place in the BMW M3 posting a 1:10:4, pipping Keith Edwards who in 2nd place posted a 1:11:4 in the Audi RS3.
A fantastic day was had by all, great cars, great times and great camaraderie. Topping it all off CLA claimed the day. A mighty effort by the entire team and all CLA participants.
2017 CSCA Final Results:
2017 Club CSCA Champion is Club Lotus Australia!!
Len Goodwin is our champion driver for 2017. This year was a three-way tie at 84 points with Grant Crawling and John Whittaker from Triumph Sports Owner Association (TSOA).
2017 CSCA CLA Trophy Winners by class:
- Class A1 – Ashton Roskill : Lotus Eleven
- Class C2 – Len Goodmin : Lotus Elan
- Class DM2 – Rex Hodder : Lotus Exige S2
- Class DM4 – Duncan Andrews : Lotus Exige S2
- Class DM5 – Martin Duursma : Lotus Exige V6
- Class 2BM – Keith Edwards : Audi RS3
- Class 3BM – Stephen Wan : Honda Civic
- Class R1 – David Mackie : Lotus Exige S1
- Class R2 – Graham Burton : Hawke FF
Congratulations to all the trophy winners and thank you to all that participated in the CSCA 2017 season.
A special thank you to Mike Basquil who tirelessly supports every event and club member and keeps everyone in line! It is a joy to see his smiling face in the pits and on the side of the track.
We look forward to seeing you all on the track again in 2018.
CLA Motorsport Committee