On Saturday the 26th of May the motorsport crew got together at Sydney Motorsport Park for the second of 2018’s Combined Sports Car Association sprints, kindly hosted by the Jaguar Driver’s Club of Australia.
It was a beautiful autumn day, making it very easy to forget that we’re just a few days away from winter and presenting near-perfect conditions for motorsport. All seemed happy to be back on the track after a somewhat extended break after the first round of the year all the way back in March, and there was plenty of great banter in the pits and paddock as everyone caught up and talked life, Lotus and everything.
Read on for a report on the day thanks to our magnificent Motorsport Committee and then enjoy a few photos thanks to Seth.
The Competition Report: CSCA Round 2 hosted by the Jaguar Club
A magnificent autumnal day greeted us at the Jaguar Round of the CSCA competition, held at Sydney Motorsport Park (Nth / Druitt) on Saturday the 26th May.
24 Lotii Members (out of a total of 107 runners) and 15 Lotus vehicles passed scrutineering, and the day started with the usual banter regarding excuses for slow times, theories about how much horsepower Leigh’s beast is putting out, how much will Liam beat his Dad by today and will the Kawasaki Green Cup 430 Exige make a guest appearance. (Yes it did!)
The CLA members were dominant in the top four groups, especially Group 1, which initially had 14 cars, 12 of which were Lotus.
The cars rolled out onto the circuit right at 9am and immediately it appeared that the usual steadfast reliability of our cars would be put to the test… well it was the Jag round.
Over the course of the day the terms ‘failed to proceed’ and ‘mechanical issues’ plus expletives were heard describing seven cars – a number unheard of in recent memory. Hopefully they are all relatively minor hiccups and all will soon be seen back at the track soon.
So, onto the results.
Fastest marque car of the day was CLA’s Duncan Andrews, with a 1.09.6692 – an awesome time! Duncan was closely followed by Leigh Fuller (1.09.8784) and Tim Mackie (1.09.9027).
Tim Mackie and Dave Mackie (1.12.1) took the top two spots in R1 with Terrance Waugh (1.18.9) in the Europa taking out third place. Garrath Johnson (1.22.5) completed our representation in R1 in the Porsche 924.
Class DM2 was a Lotus affair, with Rex Hodder (The Maestro: 1.14.9), James Kinghorn (1.15.7), Kyle ‘Doc’ Lange (1.16.5) and Dennis Brady (1.19.9). There were lots of big smiles in this group, with perhaps one punter with a frown at the end of the last run of the day.
Class DM4 was another entirely Lotus affair, with Duncan leading the charge followed by a great time by Peter Taylor (1.13.4), Brendan James (1.14.4), Len Goodwin (1.14.5), Liam Sheppard (The Apprentice: 1.14.8), Craig Sheppard (1.17.5), Richard Woodhams (1.18.2), Craig Underwood (1.20.6) and Stephen Alcorn (1.28.9). Obviously a number of participants were affected with issues – but we leave it to the keen reader to work out who!
(It was noted that Rex was heard asking Liam for consulting fees later in the day)
Leigh was in a class of his own in DM5, beating the next participant by over 15 seconds!
In NM2, Keith Edwards was close to the fastest in the Audi RS3 with 1.17 flat and NMM3 (Non Marque Modern 3!) was represented by Campbell Smyth in the ‘pumped up’ Clio with a time of 1:11:5, Peter Deller (1.14.6), John Deller (1.14.8) and Greg Baker (1.15.8) in the Pulsar.
Across all CLA drivers, a number of PBs were achieved and there were no driving incidents – the norm for CLA drivers, of course.
Later in the day Duncan and Leigh decided it was time to give the other Group 1 runners a head start and they went out further down the order. For those of us viewing it was indeed a sight to see them power past the rest in a ‘controlled’ manner.
Overall, the CLA members put on a great showing for the viewing audience – whether winning, losing or breaking down – it was all entertaining!
Now, on to the next round which will be held on the 16th of June and hosted by the AHOC at Wakefield Park.
Yours in speed,
The CLA Motorsport Committee.
