W H E E L S P I N March 2010 WESTLAKES AUTOMOBILE CLUB (INC) P.O. Box 13 Toronto N.S.W. 2283 www.wac.org.au COMMITTEE 2009/2010 President: Mark Foreman Vice President: Col Pogson Treasurer: John Williamson [email protected] Secretary: Ben Semple [email protected] PH: 0423 170259 FAX: 49705223 PO Box 13, Toronto NSW 2283 Committee David Williams, Cyril Croker, Dave Anderson, Members: and Steve Meek Public Officer: Garry Wade MK/KC Co-ordinator: Darren Green Editor: Jamie Lee Meek [email protected] Merchandise: Sue Humbles Webmaster: David Anderson [email protected] Picnic Facility Admin: Rob and Renate Clarke Editors Report Hey Everyone, Welcome to a new year of Motorsport. The year started with the 2009 NAMS presentation night. Congratulations to every- one who won a Trophy on the night and to Bill Pearson for ar- ranging the awesome Trophies. The first WAC event for 2010 was a night motorkhana. It was loads of fun and everyone who was there would agree. Ben has placed a thread on our website to gauge peoples reaction to the different format, please get on there and leave some positive feedback so that we can do it again. We have made a few changes to your magazine this month, we have added a classified section so members can buy/sell parts or race cars. To advertise, email your advert and pictures to [email protected]. We have also added a News sec- tion for all Motorsport info from outside our club. Lastly a personal profile page to help you get to know some of your fellow members. Please feel free to fill in the form at the back of the magazine and give it to me or email it with a few pics of your race cars to [email protected]. See you at the next event! Jamie Lee Vice President’s Report Congratulations & thanks go to all the people involved in the first "Night" motorkhana on Saturday; I personally think it was a great event! Put together by Ben Semple, Darren Green, (it must have taken a lot of their personal time to put together). Also thanks to Sue Humbles for handling the entry forms (not easy anytime, let alone a new event). A big "Thanks" to our usual loyal workers, The Meek family, Dave Anderson, Carol Beattie, Lou Dodds, David Williams, Brent Black- well, Chris McIntosh, John Williamson and well done to Robbie & Renata in the Canteen (very hot conditions). Well done to all the spectators for cheering on the competitors & mak- ing the whole event a fun night for everyone. It was very pleasing to see a number of Lady drivers & quite a lot of Juniors competing! If I missed mentioning anyone, I apologise (we didn't leave the grounds till after 1am) I hope to see everyone at our next event (27th Feb, Double header Mkhana/ & Night Khanacross) Cheers Vice President WAC Col Pogson Bunkered!!! WAC grounds 1 - Grader nil Night Motorkhana report Our first event for the year was a NAMS anniversary Motork- hana fun night. The event was held to celebrate the 25th anni- versary of the Newcastle area Motorsport series. The WAC committee set up a vastly different format for this event. All competitors were asked to form up into teams of two competitors. Their times were recorded and the difference in times and other penalties were added up in a complicated for- mula to find the winners in each class. The great thing about this system is that any team could win the event. The event got underway at 7pm with the first runs. The tests were laid out on the bottom grounds with the same test on both sides. Two cars would line up opposite each other and on completion would swap over and do the test on the opposite grounds. Once it was dark the flags were replaced with glow sticks. Most competitors ran without lights to make the glow sticks easier to see. Unfor- tunately that made it difficult for the large crowd to see the cars in action. Eventually the flood lights were turned on to make spectating a little easier. After the first four tests the grounds were altered into two sla- lom tests side by side. Ben Semple had reprogrammed the Rally Sprint timing system to allow a two up race. The competitors times were added up and each competitors times were seeded from fastest to slowest so cars of similar speed ran against each other. The cars lined up side by side and left the line via the Rally Sprint Christmas tree. The first car back won the race. There were many very close races. The crowd on the hill were cheering and clapping. It was an awesome atmosphere! While everyone had a great night there was a few standouts, Graeme Humbles and Col Pogson ran in the XR8 Ute and throw rocks at the crowd all night. A certain Pulsar pilot blew a front tire on a test, then proceeded to the second test and ran with a flat tire till the windscreen fell out! The Swans Excel broke the radiator and arrived at the last test belching steam and running on three cylinders and still won its race! All in all it was a hugely successful night for competitors and spectators and can’t wait for the next one! News Flashback THERE was rain, fog and the even the ultimate unpredictability of a large fallen tree, but the BMW 335i of Gary Holt, Paul Morris and John Bowe survived every challenge Mount Panorama could produce to win the Bathurst 12 Hour at Mount Panorama at the weekend. The three drivers covered 202 laps, 1254.4 kilometres, to complete Australia’s longest motor race, staged for showroom-standard popular cars with only safety- related modifications. The winning margin was 3.3 seconds .David Walls Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 came second. Overcoming turbocharger problems in his Pro-Duct team Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10, Bathurst veteran Glen Seton finished third outright. He shared with Neil Crompton and Mark King. Nothing could prepare the field of 43 starters for the shock of a fallen tree across the track early in the seventh hour. It was one of the most extraordinary incidents in Mount Panorama history. The large tree toppled right across the track near the start of Conrod Straight, missing any competitors but bringing all to a stop on top of the mountain for 40 minutes while emergency workers cleared away the mess. Bowe opened the gap to round two minutes 40 seconds – effectively a full lap in the wet conditions. Bowe said: “It was an interesting day. I’ve been coming here for 25 years I sup- pose and I’ve never seen a tree fall down before and the chainsaws come out. The VIP Petfoods Evo 9 quit on lap 15 after a crash caused by brake problems, Bargwanna/Glenney/Pearson were out on lap 83 and Crimp/Luff/Kostera on lap 107. The most spectacular retirement came on lap 130, after eight hours, when a Su- baru driven by rally champion Dean Herridge slammed into the back of the Lancer of actor Eric Bana, Tim Leahy and Peter Hill. Neither Herridge nor Hill, who was driving the Mitsubishi, was injured. Nathan Pretty, Cameron McConville and Andrew Jones brought their Holden Commodore R8 station wagon to a highly impressive fourth outright and second in Class B. Marcus Zukanovic, Alan Simonsen and Jason Bright battled various problems throughout the day in their untested new Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, but claimed the invitational Class I with just 121 laps completed. WAC Classifieds Got something to buy or sell? Advertise here for free, just email the editor on [email protected]. Toyota 4A Carby Engine and Auto Transaxle from a 1990 Corolla.Motor Runs but smokey. Suit rebuild .Best Offer Steve 0408 596981 Gadget Repairs PTY LTD Home Ph. 49531001 Mobile Service No. 0412692778 Repair and Servicing of machinery and Welding MotorKhana/Khancross 27th of February was our first double header of the Year. A day Mo- torkhana and Night Khanacross. The Weather was good and a large field took part. The Events were limited to the bottom Motorkhana Grounds. As with the Motorkhanas this Year there was a large Number of spectators on hand to watch which has been great. Specials filled the first 2 placings with Jason's Gemini a great third. The Khancross started later to allow the Water available to have greater effect. It was short lived with the Dust becoming a problem after dark. A few were caught out. Our co-editor Tegan crashed the Hyundai into a bank requiring some hurried repairs to take place. Cyrils buggy had electrical problems and arrived at a finish control in a cloud of sparks. Sam Evans had his first well earned win in his Subaru with Jack close behind. Khanacross The 13th of March was the next Khancross for WAC. The Events were changed for this Event with longer tracks run in tandem so Each Com- petitor ran Event one and two then went back to the parking area. The surface was fantastic with Rain earlier in the week making the surfaces fast and smooth. There was a surprisingly smaller field for this Event. A few regulars were missing. There were a few interesting additions including a massive Fairlane. The Boys threw the land Barge around with total disrespect for its size and eventually beached it. Sam and Tony Evans shared the Subaru and fought it out for the win with Tony just making it home first.