It has been 50 years since the establishment of the MSCA for the purpose of providing an entry level motorsport  activity opportunity for members of affiliated clubs, mostly established marques such as MG, Triumph, Healey, Alfa, Jaguar, Mini, Datsun etc. There are currently 18 clubs affiliated with the MSCA here in South Australia.

To celebrate this milestone, a gathering of all the clubs involved is planned to coincide with the annual Picnic and Presentation Day on the last Sunday in February 2024. A special shout out to past competitors to attend and reminisce how things were back in the day and to share some stories about their experiences.

TSOA has been a big part of the MSCA motorsport scene for many years – it was not unusual to have up to 15 or more Triumphs competing on the track at a Mallala sprint event. Interest has waned over recent years as the drivers and cars aged, but the memories of past adventures prevail.

It would be great to have a big turn out of Triumphs and club members to support this event. Talk to Neil Martin, Duane Kaak or Roger Lange if you would like more information or encouragement.

The venue is the shady western end of the Mount Barker Oval complex. Assembly of cars in club display groups to be in place by 11.00 am

BYO everything for a picnic lunch

December 28th  (Thursday) The annual “Apres” run (between Xmas and New Year) meet at the upper car park, rear of The Feathers Hotel from 10.30 – full details in Calendar section of this site. Attendance numbers required by 15th December to Roger 0458 621 161 

January 16th   (Tuesday)  Informal Meeting – Sporting Car Club 8.00pm

January 26th      (Friday)  – Ice Cream / Picnic . . . this year we are trying something different, incorporating the mid-week lunch and the Ice Cream Run as well as Australia Day, at Kaye and Lawrie Placing’s house, 10 Woodhall Drive, Happy Valley from 12.30 pm. BYO picnic lunch, drinks and chairs etc. Kaye and Lawrie will provide Ice Creams for all to enjoy

February 20th    (Tuesday)    General Meeting, Sporting Car Club 8.00pm

February 25th     (Sunday)   MSCA 50th Anniversary Picnic / Club Display / Presentation Day – Mt Barker Oval, club display to assemble by 11.00am BYO everything – see Calendar for more info, or contact Roger, Neil or Duane

Our Day of Triumph was held at Civic Park on Sunday 15th October 2023. While the weather wasn’t especially kind we
had 20 entrants and an extra 13 cars on display.
Winners on the day were:
Overall: Trevor Hawkins (TR4A)
Second Overall: Roger Lange (TR7V8)
Third Overall: Lisa Vettese (Stag)
Michelotty Trophy (TR4,4A & 5): Trevor Hawkins
Register Trophy (TR2,3,3A,3B): Colin Baldock
Harris Mann Trophy (Tr7/8): Roger Lange
Concours
TR2/3/3A/3B: Colin Baldock (TR2)
TR4/4A/5/250: Trevor Hawkins (TR4A)
TR7/8: Roger Lange
Stag: Lisa Vettese
Dolomite: Ian Burman
Saloon: Ian Rigby
Pride of Ownership
TR4/4A/5/250: David Stephens (TR5)
TR6: David Marlow
TR7/8: Dean Bogisch
Spitfire/GT6: Nathan Parkes (Spitfire)
Stag: Chris Marshall
Saloon: Rod Hanna
Big thanks to everyone who helped on the day, especially our judges and those of you who brought your cars.
Special Thanks to Ian Rigby for all of his help and support, Marg and Dean Bogisch for their great clerical skills and
my wife Lisa, who without her secretarial skills, none of this would have happened. Also, thanks again to Dino and
Lisa Vittese who provided a subsidised breakfast or lunch for members at Café Primo – all the reports indicated
breakfast was delicious.
Dean Berlemon
2023 DOT Organiser

Hi I’m Natalie, some of you may remember me through being the membership Secretary and also Regalia before that.
After Bob Passed Away, I found that I needed to get out and do things, so I decided to take on the position of Social
Secretary.
My aim is to encourage new members and members we haven’t seen before or for a while, to come to our social
events we have on the 3rd Sunday of each month.
The TSOA club is a fabulously friendly and happy group of people with like minds, namely your cars, as well as
meeting new people and enjoying each other’s company.
Over the years Bob and I have been all over Australia in our Triumph, meeting new friends interstate, and enjoying
meeting them again each year at the National Rally’s, going to places that we would never have visited by ourselves.
So, I hope to see you at some of our events and perhaps participate in setting a run. This could be of new places or
the same ones near Adelaide. This is a chance also to have a run in your car!
My Mobile number is 0455 250 990 if you wish to participate or would like a chat about any ideas you may have
regarding social events, just give me a ring.
Natalie Farrell
Social Secretary

I have wanted a modern audio system in my TR7 V8 for some time, and finally got around to doing it.

This required opening up the centre section of the console to accommodate a Double DIN unit, and finding a head unit that was shallow enough to fit, which I did with an Alpine – not many after market Double DIN units offer the shallow casing that the Alpine has, and even then, it only just fits.

What I now have is a quality sound system complete with Apple Carplay / Android Auto that enables Waze GPS, Spotify music, hands free phone, voice activated everything, etc. Needless to say, I am very happy with the result.

Oh, I also installed a rear view camera that works a treat. The mini camera is mounted centre top of the number plate and is nicely concealed.

Her’s a couple of SA members having some fun in their Triumphs . . . Bryan Young in his Vitesse and Andy Ansell in his TR7, both competing in the Leyburn Sprints. If you haven’t heard of Leyburn, it is a small town in Queensland that has become somewhat noted for this event over recent years. Have a look at YouTube for footage.

Sunday 27^th August  saw 36 members enjoy the drive through the hills to Bethany for a gourmet sausage sizzle for lunch.  We had hired the Pavillion and Bill had the fire going, and although it was a beautiful day,most people sat on the lawns and enjoyed the sunshine.

Sunday 17^th September was the Observation Run  and we enjoyed a beautiful sunny day.  Dean and Lisa had set a great run through the beachside suburbs and we ended up at Osborne for a Hamburger and Sausage Sizzle lunch. 24 members participated in the day.

It is with great pleasure we announce that Natalie Farrell is taking on the role of Social Secretary for the incoming year. We wish her all the best.

Margie and Bill.

I am very pleased to become TSOA (SA) President after serving my apprenticeship as Treasurer and then Vice
President and have some big shoes to fill from outgoing President, Peter Davidge.
Peter was Treasurer for our club for a decade or so and President for 3 years. He and wife Julie have also been key
members of several Nationals organisation committees, and they have been passionate advocates for our club. Julie
has been a great support to Peter and is almost always at club meetings and regularly organises supper. Thanks,
Peter and Julie, for everything you have done for our club, and we hope your move to Victoria goes well. Luckily,
Peter and Julie have a strong connection with several TSOA members in Victoria through attending many Nationals,
so they should soon feel right at home.
I joined TSOA when I purchased my TR6 in 2008 and kept that car for some 14 years before buying my current TR5.
It has been a great journey, and my wife Sue and I have loved every minute of being in the club. We have both been
on three Nationals committees (the last as conveners) and have, like Peter and Julie, made many friends in TSOA
clubs around Australia.
Our club is strong with a membership of over 250, however we only see a reasonably small proportion of those
members at club activities. Filling committee positions remains difficult, and for the club to continue to prosper, others
will need to take on some responsibilities in running the club in the future. We do, however have quite a few very
dedicated and hard-working members, who Peter and Tony Case acknowledged at the AGM.
The President’s Award for members of the Executive committee was jointly awarded to Fastrak editor Katherine
Bradley and Treasurer Lisa Macleod. Kat and Lisa are both relatively recent members who took over their roles after
the last AGM and have done outstanding jobs, so much so, that they were both re-elected unopposed at the AGM this
year.
The Vice President’s award for non-executive members was jointly awarded to Laurie and Kaye Placing. Laurie and
Kaye have been long-serving members of TSOA NSW, however moved to Adelaide a couple of years ago. They
have run mid-week get togethers each month and invited all members to an Australia Day BBQ at their house in
January. They were also very supportive of me for the 2022 Nationals and a regular attendee at almost all club
events.
Secretary Duane, Membership/Historic Registrar Ian and Competition Secretary Neil have continued to do a great job
in their respective roles, and the club would not be able to operate in its current form without any one of these three
members. I am extremely grateful that they are all continuing for 2023/24.
Life members, Bill and Margie Berlemon are retiring from the Social Secretary role, however will still be organising the
Club Weekender, the door at club meetings, supper etc, so it is hardly a retirement. Bill and Margie are tireless
workers for TSOA, despite having many other community roles, and it is almost impossible to imagine our club without
them. Thanks to Bill and Margie for everything they have done and will continue to do for TSOA.
Whilst the Social Secretary role remains open, the Regalia role, which my wife, Sue has done for many years has
been filled. Thank Sue for doing such a great job and thanks to Dean Berlemon for taking this on for the future. Dean
(Bill’s son) is also running the Day of Triumph, our club’s premier event, and his wife Lisa is Treasurer. As I have said
previously, the work of the club is done by a small portion of the membership.
We do, however welcome Richard Sellers to the Executive Committee as Vice President.
Finally, I congratulate our newest life members, Rory and Sue Gibson, who were unanimously elected to Life
Membership at the AGM. Rory and Sue have been the epitome of dedicated and hard working TSOA members for as
long as most of us can remember, having been part of our club for over 30 years. Rory ran Day of Triumph for 8
years and both have been integral members of the last five Nationals organising committees, including putting the
Rally Guide together, arguably the biggest job on the committee. Sue was social secretary for 8 years and has
organised the club Christmas Dinner for 10 years. They have won the Clubman Award around 8 times, run many club
runs and observation runs and prepared many suppers over their 30 years with our club.
fasTRak – August 2023 3
I look forward to another successful year of TSOA. The club has been going for nearly 60 years, and we are very
fortunate to still have our joint founder, Tony Case in our club, and who remains an active (and vocal) part of Club
activities. Thanks, Tony, for all you have done, and continue to do for your brainchild all those years ago.
Regards,
Alex Smithson
TSOA SA President

Paul Newman’s early racing career started out in Triumphs before moving on to Datsuns. Interesting front air dam / spoiler .  . .