Winton Raceway Round 5, 28-29th November 2010

Lap Record for Lee Ulhorn

New Champion for 2010 Anthony Koch

What a weekend of weather, Hot Friday, Poured Saturday, Hot and Humid Sunday, the dilemma of what tyres to fit dry - wet - R spec ??? and chassis set ups etc ???.

The Championship was to be decided between Anthony Koch, Steve Howard and Alex Del Solar all had a chance to win the Club 2010 Championship.

Qualifying: was marred by Mark sticking his Mazda into the wall, but with help from everyone had it running successfully for Race 2, a great effort from the club guys, and typified the type of club this is.

Quickest by 2 seconds was Lee Ulhorn in the mighty RX7 it looked and ran beautifully all weekend, followed by Anthony Koch who's car looked a treat and went like a train, then Steve Howard, Mark Defanis, Alex and Colin Laging, Joe Redwan also came to play with us which was good to see.

Blair Strik's weekend was cut short when his WRX jammed the new gearbox in 5th gear and was not fixable for the races, really bad luck for Blair.

Race 1 Was highlighted by Lee clipping .16 off the long standing Lap record previously held by Ken Hasting snr. It now stands at 1:31:312 a great effort Lee

The track was dry and the weather quite warm.

Lee Ulhorn led from the start closely followed by Anthony Koch , SteveHoward, Alex Del Solar, and Colin Laging, and that is the order they finished in, Joe Redwan in his Datsun sunny experienced a long brake pedal and retired.
Results 1. Lee Ulhorn 2. Anthony Koch 3. Steve Howard

Race 2 Again Lee led off the line but Kochy clearly while driving well didn’t have the power of the RX7 and had to settle for 2nd place, Marks MX5 was performing beautifully and he scored 3rd place after battling hard with Steve Howard who then locked the rear brakes and spun at turn 10 causing Alex to spin to avoid him, while Steve got back on to the track unfortunately Alex was bogged in the soft mud and needed to be pulled out, he rejoined the race but was excluded from the results for not completing enough laps, Steve then set out to get back the time lost but broke a diff spool in the process and was a DNF.
Results 1. Lee Ulhorn 2. Anthony Koch 3. Mark Defanis

Race 3 Was similar to race 2 with the exception that Alex drove his Melbourne East Auto Smart Nissan to a fine 3rd place and Joe Redwan making 4th place behind Lee and Anthony Koch, this time Steve who started from the rear of the grid drove well to get to third before being meatballed for gear box oil leaking onto the exhaust courtesy of a torn housing seal, he wasn't having the best of weekends.The bigest highlight of this race was that Lee lowered the lap record even more to 1:30.992, fantastic effort well done!!
Results 1. Lee Ulhorn 2. Anthony Koch 3. Alex Del Solar

Race 4 This time Lee 1st Kochy 2nd Alex again secured a fine 3rd place and Steve 4th started last and missed the start badly but drove well to finish with a dragging exhaust. Over all was a frustrating weekend for the Lighting Locksmith - Inspired Race Developments Team.
Results 1. Lee Ulhorn 2. Anthony Koch 3. Alex Del Solar

We were very fortunate with the weather which was changing all the time from down pours to blazing sun but all the 2 Litre races were run on a fairly dry track.

This was the last race Meeting for our Club Championship for 2010 and while numbers were down the races were good and most of the guys had a great time.

Final top 5 result for the meeting

1 Lee Ulhorn
2 Anthony Koch
3 Alex Del Solar
4 Colin Laging
5 Steve Howard

VMRC Championship Final top 3

1 Anthony Koch
2 Lee Ulhorn
3 Colin Laging

Congratulations to the winners for a great effort

To all the club members who raced this year, those who competed and those who assisted and all the wives and girlfriends who supported their men in this great sport, well done, a great effort.

Well done to Kochy who has to travel quite a distance to come to our meeting and his victory was well deserved, I also want to give a big thumbs up to Colin Laging who races on a very tight budget and has consistently proven you don't have to win to have a lot of fun but has secured some good results overall.

Thankyou to Shane Ryding Inspired Race Developments for financing our BBQ breakfasts and Lunches for the weekend and also Irene who gave me a hand with the preparation and cooking.

Our Openner Race Meeting for 2011 should be in March sometime, details will be posted when they are finalised, Seasons Greetings

Mike

Round 5 Snippets, - More can be found on the gallery page which is now on line with round 5 of 2010.

Wakefield Park Round 4, 28-29th August 2010

Anthony Koch does it again

Attendance by the Victorians was down due to Simon’s car not yet ready, Colin Laging was a last minute cancellation with engine problems at home, and Andrew Clarkes car in pieces.

New member Blair Strik was there with his newly completed WRX and looked good from the start of the weekend.

Locals told me that if we could get into 1:10 or 11’s we would be doing OK.

Friday Practise: Was eventful for Steve Howard as he suffered a vibration through the car so bad it was knocking his mirror out of adjustment, back in the garage it was discovered the output shaft of the gear box was bent caused by a tail shaft breakage on the dyno 3 days before, after a gear box change he went out a again only to find the vibration still there, A diff change had no affect on the problem so attention then focussed on the new Tail-shaft so that went into Goulburn to get checked.

Blair was out in his first ever race any where although he has had experience in Bikes and Sidecars, looked like he was on the money very quickly but soured his day when he flat spotted one of his slicks and had to swap to a treaded tyres for the weekend.

Qualifying: Anthony Koch went out with no practice and soon had a 1:07.7 under his belt 2 secs quicker than the local U 2 Litre guys, David Filipetto the only NSW U 2 Litre to race did a 1:09.0, Blair Strik Qualified with a 1:09.0 Steve Howard (still with his vibration) 1:10.4 and Alex Del Solar didn’t qualify as he had broken his gearbox and was waiting for parts to arrive from Melbourne

Race 1 Anthony and Alex (with his new repaired Gearbox) had great starts running with, and actually outperforming some of the local V8 cars, Unfortunately Steve weekend finished very quickly as the tail shaft broke going up the hill destroying his diff, the fuel pump and the floor of the car. Anthony ran with and had a great battle with David Filipetto in his Fiat and finished in front after an exciting race, Alex also had an enthusiastic dice with the 5 Litre V8 Torana driven by Robin O'Hare and coming out on top
Results 1. Anthony Koch 2. Blair Strik 3. Alex Del Salor

Race 2 Was the under 2 litre/ floor pan challenge with some great to watch racing, Anthony again got a good start and was running 2nd having a ding dong battle with the open class Glenn Pro Escort turbo flame thrower which (looked good), and took the place at the finish line.

He also took away the 3rd place Trophy at the meet and greet night at the Goulburn Workers club. An amazing and exciting race to watch, Blair had a good start and a solid race and gave a wake up call to Kochy, though Blair had an off under brakes in the fish hook mid race, probably due to tyres and drove well to come in ahead of Alex , Alex also had a great battle with the V8 Torana A9x of Robin O'Hare for last place until the flag where he again came out on top it was an eventful race even with some gearbox issues throughout the weekend.
Results 1. Anthony Koch 2. Blair Strik 3. Alex Del Salor

Race 3 A fairly full field of over and Under 2 Litre Cars fronted the starter, and again the big V8’s headed to the front with the 2 Litre cars pushing very hard, with the commentator screaming “how do 2 Litre cars go so well” and they did, Anthony again had a great dice with the Fiat but this time it was driven by Nathan Gotch but by race end the Fiat end up in front of Anthony, Blair also mixed it with the Fiat and Anthony for the whole race and finished just behind , Alex had his usual dice to death with the Torana and he had some new tyres to play with but suffered a lack of grip with a turn 2 mishap, struggled with more gearbox issues, no 3rd gear, but again came out in front. Blair got past Kochy and looked strong but those r speck tyres don't grip like slicks, Kochy gained the position back but Blair didn't lose sight of him, Anthony felt he was a little held up by the Falcon but none the less, a good solid race race to watch.
Results 1. Anthony Koch 2. Blair Strik 3. Alex Del Salor

Race 4 Alex was tagged by Kerry Millar’s yellow Ford V8 sedan while being lapped out of turn 3, no real panel damage and soldiered on to have a battle royal with a commodore ute right down to the line with overtaking on last 2 laps great to watch, the ute only got past with a horsepower advantage at the finish line, a 3rd place finish for the round with a buggered gearbox, and no voice/cold/illness a great result!

Blair’s r spec tyres being a downfall again mid race, but stayed in sight with the back of Kochy’s car, a solid race and a 2nd place for the round an amazing result for his first race meeting! Well done mate!

Kochy had a good start and battled with the XD again, the Fiat and Escort turbo both DNF that took nothing away from the pace that Anthony had for the weekend, walking away with 1st place for the 2ltr round, a championship winning result perhaps?, time will tell.

A great shame Steve Howard had the tail-shaft dramas that cut his racing short. He took the disappointment well and I am sure he will come back stronger than before, so stay tuned...
Results 1. Anthony Koch 2. Blair Strik 3. Alex Del Salor

Saturday Night The NSW Sports Sedan Club invited us to the Goulburn Workers Club on Saturday for an evening of Drinks and meals followed by a trophy Presentation by Andrew McKellar President ASSA NSW to the fastest Floor pan cars results of race 2 and Anthony received a very handsome Trophy for his efforts.

We would like to thank Andrew and the NSW Club for the invite and the very pleasant evening we spent at the Club at Wakefield even the weather improved for Saturday and Sunday after looking really cold and wet on Thursday and Friday.

Our Members drove well, and I hope next year we can do it all again.

Mike and Colin

Final result for the meeting

1 Anthony Koch
2 Blair Strik
3 Alex Del Solar
4 Steve Howard
5

Next Meeting is Winton Motor Raceway November 13/14

Round 4 Snippets, - More can be found on the gallery page which is now on line with round 4 of 2010.

Sandown Raceway Round 3, 22-23rd May 2010

Steve, Kochy, Steve, Steve, That’s the story this weekend

It was a thrilling weekend of racing, marred only by the frequent appearance of the Safety Car.

Steve Kochy and Alex had many many great battles but in the end Steve was the Victor overall for the meeting.

Clive again with his new mentor Shane Ryding was making great leaps forward in reducing lap times as was Clarky with help again from Shane Ryding.

Alex had a day of fast laps with the occasional spin the last one causing him to lose his wing, when he tangled with the Kelly Torana, then Anthony Koch ran over the wing that by this time was skating across the track.

Marcus Gordon made a welcome return to 2 Litre racing and put in some very solid performances the whole weekend.

Colin Laging also had a solid weekend of racing in his Stanza, but was taken off in the last race, which was shame considering his good performances.

Damian Croston had a weekend from hell Friday and Saturday dropped oil halfway round the track twice, courtesy of broken oil line fittings followed by Battery, wiring and more dramas, certainly a race meeting he won’t forget in a hurry.

The interesting thing to note was the improvement in times nearly all our members have made since the beginning of the year

Race 1
Results 1.Steve Howard 2. Anthony Koch 3. Marcus Gordon

Race 2
Results 1.Anthony Koch 2. Clive Ablitt 3. Marcus Gordon

Race 3
Results 1.Steve Howard 2. Anthony Koch 3. Alex Del Salor

Race 4
Results 1.Steve Howard 2. Anthony Koch 3. Clive Ablitt

Again a big thankyou to Clive and Autosmart for sposoring the club BBQ, the cooking was done by Peter Lane and Rhonda while I assist Ian Rice for the weekend.

Final result for the meeting

1 Steve Howard
2 Anthony Koch
3 Marcus Gordon
4 Alex Del Solar
5 Clive Ablitt
6 Andrew Clark
7 Colin Laging
8 Damien Croston

Next Meeting is Wakefield Park August 28/29 so you have a fair bit of time to get ready for this one.

I am on holiday for the next 2 Months, so enjoy it for me

Mike

Round 3 Snippets, - More can be found on the gallery page which is now on line with round 3 of 2010.

Phillip Island Round 2, 17-18th April 2010

Perfect Weather all weekend for Racing

Saturday was the start of a brilliant weekend; the weather was magnificent for the whole race meeting.

We welcomed our newest member down from Queensland, Damien Croston, he has bought his SR20 powered Gemini down to compete with us and is hoping to compete the full Championship, subject to finances.

Qualifying showed Damien to be fastest at a 1.49.3 followed by Anthony Koch, Steve Howard, Clive Ablitt, Andrew Clarke and Colin Laging, Alex had some issues which prevented him posting a time..

Race 1 Damien pushed Bob Gill in his new Ford Falcon V8 for most of the race, Anthony had a fairly lonely run for second place, followed by Steve Howard, Alex had a great start and kept the pressure on to claim 4th for the race, Colin Laging lapped consistently to complete a competent race, Clive was starting to lay down some good times while still sorting his new rear suspension and Andrew Clarke completed the field.
Results 1.Damien Croston 2.Anthony Koch 3.Steve Howard

Race 2 While Damien repeated his previous win Anthony Koch and Steve Howard had a race long duel to the flag with less the a mitre between them the closest they have been for years and Steve in front this time Colin beating Alex to the flag this which was a great effort for him, next was Clive shaving a sec and a half a lap from his earlier race, Andrew again rounding of the race with again better times than he has done before.
Results 1.Damien Croston 2.Steve Howard 3.Anthony Koch

Race 3 Was marred by Bob Gill crashing his Falcon in the pit wall on lap , causing a safety car, then Kochy ran over some of the debris causing a flat tyre that ended his race. Damien won this race also which was shorten to 8 laps that finished under safety car, followed by Steve Howard and Alex Del Solar, Clive, Colin and Andrew Clarke. Results 1.Damien Croston 2.Steve Howard 3.Alex Del Solar

Several of the club members are saying how much they are enjoying the club spirit of fun and friendliness at the races, together with the personal development of themselves and their cars with most of the guys experiencing improved times and personal gains

Colin Laging particularly enjoyed his race long dicing with Clive “Dorothy” Ablitt (Clive bought some new Red drivers boots so he was immediately christened DOROTHY) (Why are people so unkind)

Steve and Clive were very happy with their respective reduction of lap times, as was Alex who is showing improvement with every outing, It is good to see Steve smiling again; he ended the weekend a very happy man.

Jamie Augustine debut his new car in the Improved Production race and while it suffered severe overheating, its speed was very impressive see this in car video for an idea of its potential, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=127757217069&ref=mf# considering the car was pile of parts the Sunday before the race it was an amazing effort by Jamie, Karl and friends to get it to the track, well done guys.

Again we owe Clive Ablitt and his AUTO SMART business a big thank you for financing the BBQ for lunch and breakfast for the meeting.

Final result for the meeting

1 Damien Croston
2 Steve Howard
3 Alex Del Solar
4 Clive Ablitt
5 Colin Laging
6 Andrew Clark
7 Anthony Koch
8 Simon Oaten

Round 2 Snippets, - More can be found on the gallery page which is now on line with round 2 of 2010.

Winton Round 1, 6-7th March 2010

Wet Dry Wet Dry Wet-this meeting had it all

Qualifying resulted in Lee in his SR20 powered Mazda RX7 gaining 3rd Outright and 1st in Class time of 1:33, Anthony Koch was next in class with a 1:35.5 then came Simon Oaten, Steve Howard, Alex Del Solar, Clive Ablitt and Colin Laging with potential new club member Keith Linnell last in class.

We unfortunately were grouped in with the TT cars for some of our racing this weekend, which resulted in a 40 car grid but some really exciting racing.

Race 1 Saw Lee Ulhorn back racing with us again and was great to see him go straight to the front of the 2 Litre guys, Anthony Koch also returned after a serious break getting his business up and running again in Mildura, and was immediately on the pace, he was chased by Simon Oaten and after serious dicing came out on top, Steve Howard had some excellent racing against some much more power full cars overtaking a V8 VK into turn 2 in a great bit of driving, Alex, s car was going great guns until he had a major lose on pit straight but recovered to finish well, Lee lost a water pump belt on the last lap which allowed Anthony Koch through to the lead at the flag
Results 1. Anthony Koch 2. Simon Oaten 3.Steve Howard

Race 2 Wet Wet Wet Race, due to his DNF in Race 1 Lee started from the back of the grid, but with some skilful driving and a beautifully handling car passed some 16 cars in the 1st Lap he then worked his way towards the pointy end of the race and in the process had an exciting dice with Anthony to the flag which resulted in Anthony holding him off and again claiming a win, 3rd in this race was Alex driving a steady race in difficult circumstances , followed home by Steve Howard and Simon Oaten who was suffering a very twitchy car on old rain tyres.
Results 1.Anthony Koch 2.Lee Ulhorn 3.Alex Del Solar

Race 3 Another exciting race this time in bright sunshine, this time Lee Chased Anthony to the flag and this time taking the win, Clive Ablett spent the weekend dialling in his new rear suspension and found the car handled well in the wet and the dry, Steve Howard had a brilliant run in the race and was really going well until he was caught up in a dice for a corner with a falcon no damage but it set him back, in his run to the flag, Simon had his car back on slicks for this race had a powerful run dicing with nearly every- one to finish 3rd for the race an, excellent drive.
Results 1. Lee Ulhorn 2. Anthony Koch 3. Simon Oaten

Race 4 Wet Again, a drizzle kept the track wet on the old track dry on the new straights until a major downpour unleashed major amounts of water onto the track, but this time we raced as the Under 2 Litres Sports Sedans by ourselves allowing the guys to really have a go, Lee led the race until a spin pushed him down to 3rd Alex was really pushing his car came a well earnt 2 nd place, if the race gone any longer he may well have won the race, final flag had Anthony again getting the major points.
Results 1. Anthony Koch 2. Alex Del Solar 3. Lee Ulhorn

Final result for the meeting

1 Anthony Koch
2 Alex Del Solar
3 Steve Howard
4 Colin Laging
5 Clive Ablitt
6 Lee Ulhorn
7 Simon Oaten

Although a small field the 2 Litre Sports Sedans presented well and provided very exciting racing all weekend handling the conditions both good and bad really well with no serious car damage and excellent effort considering the wet conditions

Round 1 Snippets, - More can be found on the gallery page which is now on line with round 1 of 2010.