Images thanks to Brett Stevens
Saturday the 25th of June saw the club off to Pheasant Wood Circuit in Marulan for round three of the 2022 CSCA supersprint series, kindly hosted by MG Car Club Newcastle.
Of the fifty-strong entry, twelve were from Club Lotus Australia, who tackled the twisty and narrow circuit in lovely winter conditions. Incredibly, around six of those went on to set personal bests, with Richard Wodhams, Len Goodwin, Colin Rudd, Graham Allen, Chris Pearse and Tino Cho all going faster than ever before. Mark Meletopoulo entered and arrived on the day, but unfortunately due to suspected fuel pump issues wasn’t able to make it onto the track as a starter.
William Pearson was the quickest driver on the day, running the Williams sports race car and steering it to a 0:55.968 with a comfortable lead ahead of Richard Wodhams, the first CLA driver home and first in P2 on a 0:58.15 in his Elise. Third fastest went to MG Car Club Newcastle driver Jim Hull, who piloted a Toyota Yaris GR to fastest R2 on a 0:59.03.
The remainder of the top ten were crammed into about a second of track time, starting with Colin Rudd who put in 38 laps on his way to fifth overall and first M2 in the Elise 220 Sport. Len Goodwin was the first CD1 driver home in the Elan 26R, seventh overall, while Chris Pearse completed the top ten in his Exige 420, running a 1:00.17 to go fastest in M3.
Elise pilot Graham Allen was a few tenths behind on a 1:00.81, while Garth Selig, driving under HSRCA, wrangled the GSM Dart around the circuit 42 times, presumably learning the truth of life, the universe and everything on the way to a 1:01.54. Commodore driver Peter Deller was hot on his heels, finishing the day on a 1:01.65, with brother John a second or so behind on a 1:02:94. A hair quicker than John was Melanie Valdes in the Exige S, running a 1:02.77.
Lachlan Klumper ran with us for the first time at this round in 2021, and improved this year by nearly a second with a 1:05.90 in his Mazda MX-5. Tina Cho was not far behind and went close to two seconds faster than her 2021 time in her Subaru WRX, putting in a 1:07.56, while Grant Paisley continued to improve in skills and confidence on the way to a 1:12.17 in his second outing with the club.
We’d like to send a special thanks to Brett Stevens, who had to withdraw his entry due to car problems, but still came out to support the series and kindly volunteered his time as photographer for the day. Enjoy his images, and make sure to find him at www.brettstevensphotography.com, or @brettstevensphotography on Instagram.
Round four is just a few weeks away on Saturday the 16th of July, and will find us back at Wakefield Park, where the Triumph Sports Owners Association will host. Entry is available now at this link.
