Images thanks to Syd Reinhardt
Round two of 2022’s CSCA super sprint series was held over the weekend on Sydney Motorsport Park’s south circuit, kindly hosted by the Sprite Car Club of Australia.
Despite dire predictions of rain, and its persistent presence in the days leading up to the event, Saturday dawned dry and conditions only improved through the day.
A strong entry of 60 cars set times during the sprint, with 21 of those being Club Lotus Australia drivers. We were pleased to welcome Grant Paisley for his first run with the club in a lovely Eleven replica.
Tim Mackie drove his Honda-powered ex-Kirrapak S1 Exige race car for his first run of the season and quickly put it at the top of the timesheets. Tim was the only driver to get under a minute, running a 59.78 for the fastest time of the day.
MG Car Club Newcastle driver William Pearson went second quickest in the Williams Sports Race, running a 1:01.91. He was followed closely by CLA driver Colin Rudd, fastest M2 in the Elise 220 Sport. Just a few tenths behind, Christopher Daniell put in a 1:02.77 in just his second outing on the circuit, while Hassan Aly completed the top five with a 1:03.43 in the 2000 Elise, fastest in R1.
After devoting his day at our CLA-hosted round one to ensuring the smooth running of the sprint, Gino Valdes was back on track on Saturday in the ‘07 Exige S. He went quickest in P2 on a 1:03.91. Mark Meletepoulo ran a 1:04.25 in his ‘04 Elise, followed closely by Len Goodwin in the Elan 26R, who went fastest in CD1 on a 1:04.30.
MGCCN driver Grahame Baxter broke our Club Lotus Australia streak in the top ten with a great lap in his Mitsubishi Evo 7, but Thomas Mackie was able to bring it back in his first run on the circuit. He put in an impressive 1:04.73 just ahead of Graham Allen in the 2018 Elise.
Brett Stevens was back behind the wheel of his 2021 Exige after running in Colin Rudd’s car at round one, and put in the quickest M3 time of the day – 1:05.66. Garth Selig was back on board Syd Reinhardt’s 1963 GSM Dart for the day, driving under the HSRCA and this time surviving the noise meters to complete the whole day, finishing on a 1:05.81.
Commodore driver Peter Deller and Christopher Pearse in the 2021 Exige 420 attempted to run the same lap time, finishing on 1:06.0672 and 1:06.0676 respectively. Peter’s brother John was just a few tenths slower on 1:06.39.
Melanie Valdes encountered a bit more excitement than you’d prefer on the way to her 1:06.55. She picked up a puncture on her driver’s side front that caused her to overseer at turn six. Garth in the Dart was just behind her at the time and the two had a very gentle coming together that thankfully didn’t cause any significant damage.
Mel and Gino took the car to Bob Jane on Sunnyholt Road in Blacktown, who fixed the tyre in less than ten minutes and refused to charge. We’d like to extend a special ‘Thank you!’ to Jason at Bob Jane Blacktown – he and the team went above and beyond and got the pair back on the track having missed just a single session. If you’re in need of new tyres, please give Jason a call!
Derek Mock was just a hundredth behind Mel, running a 1:06.57. Meanwhile Ashton Roskill managed a 1:07.69 in the ‘61 Elite before he used up his tyres and took an early mark.
We’re thrilled to see siblings Derrick and Tina Cho establishing themselves as regulars after first joining us last year. Derrick steered his 2002 Honda Civic to 1:09.93, while Tina ran a 1:12.73 in her 2016 WRX. Grant Paisley thoroughly enjoyed the run in his Lotus Eleven replica, running a 1:18.28, while on the other end of the spectrum John Bott was sadly only able to get two laps in piloting the Skyline GTR.
A huge ‘Thank you!’ to the Sprite Car Club of Australia for organising another very smooth and enjoyable day of super sprinting, as well as Sydney Motorsport Park for hosting.
Round three will see us off to the compact Pheasant Wood Circuit layout on Saturday the 25th of June, to be hosted by our friends in the Triumph Sports Owners Association NSW.
Images thanks to Syd Reinhardt
