Saturday the 8th of May saw us forgo the usual weekend evening festivities to suit up, get some tyres melty and catch up with our friends in the CSCA at round three of 2021’s supersprint series, held under lights on Sydney Motorsport Park’s Amaroo circuit.

This marked the first occasion that the series ran under lights, making use of the circuit’s new lighting set-up, which became fully operational earlier this year. For many competitors it was their first night sprint, and an opportunity for some to check that their classics or track specials had working lights of their own.

Conditions were near perfect, and everyone seemed to enjoy the atmosphere as we spent the evening chatting and working on the cars in between runs. We even enjoyed a bite to eat, with thanks to Ashton who later discovered that while the bite was fine, the preparation was not so much. Next year we’ll order in!

65 sprinters started, with twenty of those doing so under the Club Lotus Australia banner. Stephen Hooker continued his clean sweep of the 2021 series, setting a 1:02.12 in the Jedi Mk. 4 for fastest lap of the day.

Following Simon MacPhearson from the Newcastle MG Car Club, our quickest Club Lotus Australia driver was last year’s champion Richard Wodhams. He navigated the short, twisty and undulating layout in 1:03.02 for third fastest and first in P2. Sadly some issues prevented him getting the full set of available laps in, but he made good use of those he did!

Mark Meletopoulo and Colin Rudd followed Richard home, claiming first R2 and first M2 on a 1:03.24 and 1:03.31 respectively. With the CSCA sprint only getting under way from 6:30pm, Colin chose to make a day of it by running at a BMW supersprint during the day and then shifting across to our night sprint. With the event offering four sessions and running until just after 10pm, this was a huge effort by him!

Christopher Daniel set a 1:04.09 for seventh overall in his 2014 Lotus Elise S, while Graham Allen completed the top ten on a 1:05.71 in the 2018 Elise. Christopher Pearse was a photo finish behind, lapping the circuit in 1:05.74 in his Exige S for first P3.

Mel Valdes had her best ever placing on the night, running a 1:06.03 in the 2007 Exige S she shares with Gino Valdes. This also marks the first time Gino followed her on the time sheets, setting a 1:06.15 in the same car.

Sadly, we didn’t get to see the best out of either driver after they had a drive shaft failure during Gino’s second run, which cut their evening short. Both drivers expressed their thanks to the Lotus crew who helped them push the car out into the car park and onto the trailer.

Len Goodwin managed to sneak the gorgeous Elan 26R in between the Valdes team’s times, setting a 1:06.11 for second in CD1.

Hubert Chau is another driver moving steadily up the tables. In his first event on the layout, he steered his 2002 Subaru WRX to a 1:06.52. Peter Deller did a magnificent job muscling the Commodore around the challenging layout just a fraction slower on a 1:06.59. He had the run on brother John, who managed a 1:07.47 despite only getting half the laps in.

Illicit barbecuist Ashton Roskill also faced mechanical maladies during the evening and wasn’t able to complete all available laps, but still managed a quick 1:06.85 in the Elite while occasionally using all four wheels to do so.

Rex Mellor put in a 1:07.38 in his Toyota GT86 for second M1, while Lachlan Klumper (Mazda MX5) and Derrick Cho (Honda Civic) enjoyed their first outing on the Amaroo circuit and were closely matched, setting a 1:11.42 and 1:11.66 respectively.

Anthony Schinckel set a 1:13.32 in his 2013 BMW M135i. Two new CSCA competitors followed, putting in a great effort to tackle their first sprint on a challenging layout under lights. Philip Vorn steered his 2011 WRX STi to a 1:14.60 and Sean Yap set a 1:14.78 in a Renault Megane GT.

Tina Cho was also new to the South circuit, learning under lights, and piloted her 2016 WRX to a 1:18.56.

Thanks to the Sprite Car Club of Australia organising and hosting a smooth and very enjoyable evening! Thanks as well to all of the drivers, friends and family who took part. It’s awesome to see so many new people coming out to enjoy their cars and the wonderful CSCA community.

After a packed two months of motor sport, we have a little break until round four of the series, which will be hosted at Pheasant Wood Circuit by the MG Car Club Newcastle on Saturday, the 17th of July. See you there!