Congratulations to Steve Howard on winning the 2016 MDS Performance 2 Litre Sports Sedan Championship. Stevo is only the second driver in the club’s history to win the series three years in a row. We look forward to Stevo defending his title and going for a 4^th consecutive in 2017 with much more competition. 2017 already has some exciting teams / drivers preparing for the year. Lee Partridge driving Mike Kyval’s RX20 will be one to watch, look out Stevo!

We are about to wave goodbye to 2016 and it’s time to reflect on a busy year for the club. While the number of competitors this year has been down, membership, attendance at club meetings and general interest in the club have all been growing. The committee has put in a great effort and some of that work will be more evident in 2017. There are some great cars being built / finished at the moment and we look forward to seeing on the track soon.

The club has officially changed its name from the 2 Litre Sports Sedan Series to the 2 Litre Sports Sedan Club. This change was made by vote at the AGM in July and all required documentation has been completed. The club has arranged new club polo shirts and hats to celebrate this change and each member for 2017 will receive one as part of their 2017 membership.    

A huge thank you needs to go to outgoing President Barry Megaw. Barry has spent many years as the President and as a committee member of the Club. The effort that Barry has put in over these years has been much appreciated. His role in the committee was responsible for the 2016 rules. This is a great reflection of the respect that Barry holds amongst the Sports Sedan community. He will still be around if needed and is now focused on getting the mighty Datto back out on track.

This year has seen a change in the General Meeting format away from minutes and club matters to a focus on building techniques, technical presentations and visits to businesses that service or supply to the Motorsport industry. This has been a positive change because the time spent at meetings is focused on improvements to cars, racing and the building of new cars. Simon Oaten has taken the lead in making this happen and attendance at meetings over the year has greatly increased, so well done Simon. The Club would like to thank the following people and businesses for hosting one of the visits or presentations during the year.  

• Alan Kerr - Guide to Fiberglass Presentation
• Steve Newing  - EFI Hardware Visit
• Bob Uhlhorn and Barry Megaw - Discussion on the 2016 Rules
• Robbie O’Brien - Flexicut Engineering Visit   
• Lee Uhlhorn - SR20 Camshaft set up and timing tips  
• Lee Partridge - Melbourne Performance Centre Visit  
• Simon Oaten for presentations on Fire Safety, Data Logging, Good Books and String Set Up 

We look forward to more interesting Visits, Discussions and Presentations in 2017 and as always anyone is welcome at any of these evenings.

The club will be hosting a 25^th Reunion to celebrate the history and achievements of the club and the people involved. We are looking forward to getting everybody who has been involved with the club over the years back to together to share some memories and have a laugh. We are planning a great night and hopeful to have all of the club champions present for group photo. We will be honoured to have Margaret Hall attending to represent her late husband Peter, the inaugural Club Champion. The date is 18^th of February please see the club Website or Facebook page for details. We need to finalise numbers so if you’re interested please contact Mike Kyval. Be sure to spread the word to anyone you think might be interested.  

Calendar for 2017

*Please note changes can made but are outside of the Clubs control*

Round 1 will be a 2LSS and APRA Pulsar combined race run as part of the WMRC (AASA). So this should be a great grid of 2 Litre Cars to start the 2017 Championship. We will not be racing with the ASSA this round, so if you want to come for a more relaxed meeting without 6 litre V8’s then this is the event to enter. It’s important that we support this first round so if you have a car that can run, please get started on preparation now as the time will fly by. We currently have indication that the following people are getting ready for this round, Steve Howard, Barry Megaw, Lee Partridge / Mike Kyval, Dave Runkle, Bob Hampson, Tony Claringbold and several others.    

Finally, a huge thank you has to go to Paul and the Team at MDS Performance for their support over the last 2 years. Paul has been a pleasure to deal with and we trust we have provided his business with good exposure throughout this time. MDS provide a great service and are very easy to deal with so give them go and I’m sure you’ll find, like I have, that you won’t be disappointed. Sponsorship arrangements for 2017 are in place and will be announced in the new year.

So that wraps up my first report, I hope to see you all in 2017 either at the 25^th Reunion, a general meeting, at the track or preferably all of the above.

PS. Membership are now due so if you want a flash new polo to wear to the Reunion, better get onto it soon.

I hope you have a great Christmas and New Year in 2017. And above all, stay safe!

Simon Hales,

President