I would firstly like to say a big thank you to everyone who has assisted me during the past year.   It certainly makes the job of Social Secretary a lot easier when you have willing helpers.  If you feel you would like a term in the position please nominate as the position becomes vacant as at the AGM on 17th August.

The mid week run on 7th July apparently saw a good number of people attend despite a very secretive destination.  I understand about 30 people headed off to Meadows for coffee and cake, but a number of those did not make it to the lunch venue which was at Echunga.    Thanks to Steve for organising.

The run on Sunday 18th July saw about 30 people turn out in what could only be described as appalling conditions, rain, very low cloud and cold.   There were not too many Triumphs present but everyone who attended enjoyed the lunch at Giovannis at Mt Barker where the order of the day was pasta and/or pizza.  Thanks to Peggy and Brian for organising.

Upcoming runs are all advertised in TRak.

Note for the diary:   This year’s Christmas dinner will again be at the Royal Adelaide Golf Club on Saturday 4th December.   The committee decided to return once more due to the good reports received regarding the venue and a great value 3 course meal.  The price for the dinner has been kept the same for members ($40ph) and non members will be $55ph.   Trophies for the Day of Triumph will be handed out at the dinner, so if you were a place getter please come along and collect your prize.

Sue

Geoff Bills and Neil Martin admire Geoff’s lhd TR3A at the 2010 Day of Triumph – what a character! (the car of course!)

Greetings from Medford, OREGON USA where Cherri and I are staying with our friends Rob and Anne Duncan. Rob and Anne lived in Adelaide way back in the 70’s and we have enjoyed their friendship ever since.

Rob has been a successful business owner since returning to the States, and being a man of many interests has turned his hand to all sorts of things over his lifetime, including gaining his pilot’s licence and then becoming an instructor, studying to become a Master Brewer and setting up a micro brewery, bee keeping, wine and spirit making, home renovator, electronics wizard, senior school science and math teacher and many other achievements and activities.

Following a serious flying incident, Rob retired from his aircraft interests and then pondered what future challenges he may pursue. Rob had been one to admire my car interests during the many visits down under over the years, so he bought a Porsche 911. Then he found a better one – a Carrera S4 Twin Turbo that had been suitably enhanced – I have driven this thing and take my word for it, it GOES!  But Rob needed something to do other than drive.

Much to my surprise, I received an email from Rob a couple of years ago, advising that on a recent trip to New Mexico he had found a car in a barn for restoration. Of course I expected maybe a Corvette or similar, but lo and behold, the photos attached showed a white Triumph Stag. Of all the projects Rob could have picked, he chose a Stag!
Rob’s restoration experience is detailed within the Photo Gallery of the website so if you are interested, have a look. Needless to say, during our current visit with Rob and Anne, we have enjoyed many outings in the Stag – it is a real head turner in these parts, and Rob gets lots of admiring looks and comments from the locals.  Another project that Rob has recently completed (he needed another challenge after the Stag was done!) is the conversion of a VW combi to accept a Subaru 2.5 litre boxer engine. This thing is a hoot and as you could imagine, goes pretty well.

Rob, myself, Rob’s son Matty and friend Jim (Jim has a very nice Corvette) have spent many hours in Rob’s man cave working on small projects or just emptying the fridge – blokey stuff, and a great way to spend time with an old friend.

We have enjoyed shopping at the hardware store where I found several really neat tools that I couldn’t resist, particularly at the prices, plus shopping at the Sportsman’s store where you can buy anything from the usual sports equipment to guns, ammo, crossbows and fishing / camping stuff. We went fishing on the Rogue river and I caught a 30lb salmon that took around 20 minutes to land . . . . what a Triumph! but that is another story.

We will see you soon . . . . Roger and Cherri

PAST

All British Race Meeting Wakefield Park 26 – 27 June

There were 23 entries in this years All Triumph Race. Just about every model of Triumph was represented. There were 3 past winners competing with Roy Davis (Qld.) in the ex-Rutledge GT6 (1978, 1981,1982) and Rod Carey (S.A.) in the ex Byrne/Pierce GT6 (1980) together with Mark Morsillo’s 2005 winning tubocharged Dolomite.

The sidescreens were back in numbers and what a magnificent sight they would have made with all 5 apparently looking pristine for cars that are now 50+ years old. Mark Morsillo and Bill Birney (Vic. TR8) were the fastest qualifiers, but after a spin in the preliminary, Bill started the main race (10 laps this year) from position 5. A storming start saw him lead the field into turn one, but Mark took him at the end of the back straight to go on and win the race. Big improver this year was Geoff Byrne who finished 3rd outright in the Group S TR6.

There was action all through the field and everyone came home satisfied and without any major incidents. Many thanks to sponsors, Glen Coutinho of Mobil Lagoon and Noel Anderson from Sportscar Spares. The class winners were as follows:- 1st 8 Cylinder    $250  Bill Birney (Vic.) TR7V8; 2nd 8 cylinder   $175   Glen Coutinho  TR7V8; 3rd 8 cylinder    $125   Geoff St. John-Cox (Vic.)  TR7V8; 1st 6 cylinder     $250   Mark Morsillo, Dolomite turbo; 2nd 6 cylinder    $175   Geoff Byrne TR6; 3rd 6 cylinder     $125   Ian Watt (Vic.) Mk 2 2.5PI; 4th 6 cylinder     $100   Roy Davis (Qld.) GT6; 1st 4 cylinder     $250   Mark Larmour, Dolomite; 2nd 4 cylinder    $175   Jon Newell, TR7; 3rd 4 cylinder    $125   Andrew Gibson, TR3A; 4th 4 cylinder    $100   Rod Chivas, TR7; 5th 4 cylinder    $75    Gordon Bunyan, Dolomite.

2011 will be the 19th running of the race. Rod Carey, Roger Lange and myself plan to be part of it. Rod may have some performance enhancements by then to elevate him from the middle of the pack. Neil’s car was not eligible for outright racing but he joined the Lotus’s (or is it Loti) for their regularity events with some very good placings – 3rd, 1st, 7th & 3rd. Both Rod and Neil also competed on the preceeding day in the Sprint. For full details, see – http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?27/06/2010.WAKE
MSCA Sprint Rd2 Mallala 4 July
My thanks again to Arrand Ellery, Peter Davidge and Lyle Taylor for joining myself for a day in the bunkers representing the TSOA. The weather was great and we had the best vantage points for viewing all the action. Rod Carey  (GT6) and Neil Martin (TR7V8) were once again our only TSOASA members on track. Rod had a spin where Lyle and myself were stationed and damaged his front spoiler. I reckon the car looks better without it Rod. I believe Neil equalled his best ever time. See results at –

http://www.mscasa.com/results/2010/results_round2.html
FUTURE

MSCA Skills Enhancement Day 8 August

$70 for all participants.  A $25 come and try licence fee for all entrants other than sprinters will be paid by the MSCA.. See our President’s separate article on the website.

SA Circuit Racing Championship Rd3 Mallala 21 – 22 August

There are likely to be Triumphs racing at this event in the MG & Invited British Sports Cars. Roger Lange (GT6) has expressed interest and Tom Hutchinson is rumoured to make a return to Mallala after a difference of opinion some years ago. Unfortunately I will be overseas so will miss this one.
MSCA Sprint Rd3 Mallala 19 September

MSCA Sprint Rd4 Mallala 24 October

SA Circuit Racing Championship Rd4 30 – 31 October
OTHER

A TR3A is about to be modified to initially take on the salt lake competition. Michael Clark (nephew of former member Brenton Clark) is pursuing a dream both he and Brenton had to race on salt. Michael is based at Oakbank not far from my home so I will monitor and report on progress. A TR4 chassis has already been acquired to provide more room between the front suspension uprights for the V8 that will rest there.

It is heartening to know that people actually read my articles. I have often wondered from the lack of comment and contribution. This will be encouraging for the incoming 2010/2011 Competition Secretary. Some have taken comments I made in June’s TRAK as criticism. Those more open minded have seen it as a healthy means of raising awareness of issues faced by our club and many other car clubs today. If nothing else, it has generated discussion. It’s up to all of us to do something, or take the easy way out – nothing. Unfortunately/fortunately, I am still young enough that I work, live beyond the Adelaide Hills and have a myriad of ongoing projects. It is therefore difficult to find the time to write this, let alone become more involved in the TSOA. I am not an orphan in this regard but it will take a lot of time and energy to change things, both of which I am lacking.

Food for thought (pun intended) –  15 Triumphs recently competed in a Sprint in WA. Qld, NSW and Victoria also boast big turnouts. We struggle to get 2 in SA. What has happened?

And another thing – whatever happened to shed runs and Technical evenings? I am sure tea and scones could be incorporated.for those needy amongst us. I enjoy variety, and quite frankly, I don’t see it. I will be overseas for a couple of months so I will see some of you when I return in the warmer weather. ‘Good’ I can visualise some saying.

Cheers,

Trevor Lindsay

As I cobble together these thoughts, it is just a matter of days before we depart on our overseas jaunt. The excitement builds as we look forward to our adventure . . . visiting with our American friends, taking our first look at Europe, enjoying a wonderful scenic river cruise for a couple of weeks and then back home, all the while playing “spot the Triumph” as one does when on foreign soil.

There has been a lot of turmoil around the globe over recent times, what with the GFC, volcanoes erupting, massive human disasters, various wars underway etc., and no matter how you look at it, there is much to worry about. Mostly, there is just nothing we can do about things . . . they just happen. We sit back in front of our plasma screen and get fed all the daily news as seen by the media – not always correct, but let’s not let the facts get in the way of a good story.

We have a lot to be thankful for, us Australians. Talk about the “Lucky Country”! So we don’t have a lot to grumble about . . .  but we do – it is natural. I am a good example of this . . . but please don’t get me started . . . politics, religion, news stories . . .  we all talk to the TV don’t we? Or is it just me?

Anyway, back on track – generally, there is a lot to look back on and worry. Our trip has focused us on looking forward, and it is a very refreshing position to be in. But it is not just the trip that we look forward to. Sure, seeing parts of the world not visited before and visiting old friends will be great, but looking beyond that, just the simple things are usually something to dwell on with anticipation.

When away from home, we enjoy the experience, but we also look forward to coming home. We look forward to giving the grand kids a hug and a present from our trip, and of course dusting off the Triumph and going for a drive. There are just so many things in our lives that we take for granted – everyday things that may not be that exciting, but when you take a step back and review, usually these are the things that keep us all going. The anticipation of what lies ahead.

Personally, I will be thinking about the race meeting at Mallala on August 21st/22nd and making a nuisance of myself in with the MG’s, and then the TSOA Nationals in September, and our local club events over the later months of the year. There is much to look forward to – even the tea and scone runs! Should we formalise an annual run to celebrate this trend?

Speaking of competition events, (getting back on track again) I know that several of you have talked to me recently about having an interest in doing club competition events, but wanting a less stressful introduction to see if you like it enough to go to the next level. Well, I hope that you have taken advantage of the MSCA day at Mallala coming up on the 8th August. This will be an ideal opportunity for you to see what Mallala is like, and to experience your Triumph (or any other car you may choose) at speed. It will also be an opportunity to learn a bit about car control and improving your driving skills. So give it a go!

With those thoughts, I look forward (there it goes again!) to seeing you on our return . . . . around the time of the AGM.

Roger

Another very successful weekender was held on 5/6th June again organised by Bill and Margie who certainly put in a lot of time and effort setting the route to Normanville which criss-crossed the Fleurieu Peninsula on roads little travelled before.   The caravan park at Normanville was clean and comfortable and the camp kitchen had a roaring open fire which everyone was attracted to due to the cold, and sometimes inclement, weather outside.  A huge thanks to all those people who assisted over the course of the weekend, be it purchasing the supplies for pre-dinner nibbles, breakfast, assisting in the cooking of the breakfast and cleaning up both on Saturday night and Sunday morning.   There is a full report on the event in TRAK.   It was great to see “newer” members participating and hopefully they all enjoyed the experience.

The ladies Technical Lunch on Tuesday 8th June saw ten ladies discuss numerous technical issues over lunch at Cafe Symphony at Mitcham.   This was an excellent turn out and hopefully the numbers will continue to increase.  The next “meeting” is Tuesday 10th August at Cafe Buongiorno Mitcham.  Hope to see you there.

The mid week run on Wednesday 7th July is being organised by Stephen who will take us to Meadows Bakery where we will indulge in coffee and cake before heading off for lunch.

The run on 18th July is heading to the hills and ending up at Mt Barker for a casual lunch.

Details of these events are on the calendar.

Sue

Phyllis Rutter with the 2nd Outright and Class Winning Spitfire from Day of Triumph – great Spitty Tony!

PAST
MSCA 6hr Mallala 23 May

A wet and windy day saw 18 teams competing. TSOA was not represented this year – maybe next time if there is enough interest. All teams finished though one was disqualified after being reduced to one car and that car doing too many laps. See the MSCA web site for results.

Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships Sandown 22 – 23 May  – Tom Hutchinson competed in his TR8 at this event in two classes being ‘Sports Cars’ and ‘MG’s & Invited British Sports Cars’. Tom Qualified 6th and 1st respectively. In Sports Cars he had two 6th placings and a 3rd. In the MG class he had three 2nd placings and a 1st. Ian Wilson also raced in Sports Cars with his new TVR, which looks to be an extremely quick car. However, it is not a Triumph – so enough said. See the Natsoft web site for more details.
FUTURE

Rally of SA 25 – 27 June

All British Race Meeting Wakefield Park 26 – 27 June  -Rod Carey (GT6) and Neil Martin are participating this year flying the flag for SA. This meeting incorporates a sprint on the Saturday and All Triumph races on the Sunday.

MSCA Sprint Rd2 Mallala 4 July – TSOA flaggies required. I have had two people contact me so far as possibilities and they are Arrand Ellery and Peter Davidge – thanks guys for showing interest. Hopefully I will hear from more of you.

SA Circuit Racing Championship Rd3 Mallala 21 – 22 August  – There are likely to be Triumphs racing at this event in the MG & Invited British Sports Cars. Roger Lange (GT6) has expressed interest and Tom Hutchinson is rumoured to make a return to Mallala after a difference of opinion some years ago. Unfortunately I will be overseas so will miss this one.
MSCA Sprint Rd3 Mallala 19 September

MSCA Sprint Rd4 Mallala 24 October

SA Circuit Racing Championship Rd4 30 – 31 October

OTHER

I joined the TSOA almost 35 years ago after acquiring my TR4A from Laurie Cousin who convinced me that there were benefits to belonging to a club of people with similar interests. There was a strong competition focus and many were competing in sprints and open meetings. I tagged along to race meetings with TSOA members here and interstate and friendships were established with these people. My interest in motor sport was intensified through this exposure, though my budget restricted my participation to Sprints until more recently.

It is a source of frustration to me that our club has been for quite some time so buried in what I refer to as the ‘tea and scone’ syndrome. The majority of our calendar caters for this. I am unsure whether this is as a result of the general aging of our membership with little new blood flowing in or not. Perhaps I am a minority. However, if I was to join the TSOA today as a 20 year old, apart from Historic Registration and the magazine, you would see as little of me today as you see now.

Motor sport is not everyone’s ‘cup of tea’. However, the future of our club and our ageing membership should be of concern to all. Perhaps a more diverse range of activities would attract younger members. I don’t profess to have the solutions, but if you have any ideas, please let me or other members of the committee know.

Cheers,
Trevor Lindsay

Our Day of Triumph was exactly that! A Triumph! Everyone in the know knew that the forecast “possible early shower” meant glorious sunshine! The display of Triumphs spanning around the Civic Park arena and the sight of TSOA members enjoying the day was fantastic. Well done to all involved.

TSOA now needs to build on this success towards “bigger and better” next year.

Looking forward, there are a couple of things that deserve attention. Our Annual General Meeting is approaching fast, and as you all know, this is your opportunity to get involved in the operations of your club. At the August AGM, all Executive Committee positions are declared vacant, and nominations are sought to fill these positions for the next year. Usually, 99.9% of the membership find excuses not to stand for office, and usually, those hard working committee people who have served your club (and you) for many years, continue on until their enthusiasm is exhausted.

New blood means new ideas, new directions, and a freshness that can reinvigorate and enthuse. It also spreads the burden as a larger number of club members get involved over a period of time. Standing for office doesn’t mean a life sentence. In fact, it would be nice to think that anyone standing for a particular position of office would only be required to do so for no longer than two years. Many clubs have this written in their constitutions and this then forces the issue. Ours does not, but I believe that it could be a goal worth adopting as an “unwritten” rule.

So, look within yourself and ask if perhaps it is time for you to give something back to your club. If you do, talk with a current committee person towards understanding what is involved – if not for this year, then perhaps in preparation for standing for office next year after learning the ropes as an understudy / assistant. This makes transition a little easier when the time comes and will give you a better understanding of how things work and maybe where you can make a difference.

The other thing to keep an eye out for is the 2011 National Rally being hosted by us. Your National Rally Committee has been working hard towards developing a rally program that offers fun times and enjoyment with your Triumph together with like minded enthusiasts from Interstate, all at a very reasonable cost for a week long event. Full details will be announced in the coming months in readiness for the official announcement and promotion at this year’s Nationals being held in NSW. The dates that have been decided upon are 15th to 21st October, 2011 so you have plenty of time to get your calendar organised.

Cherri and I are off overseas for 6 weeks from late June, but I will be back for the AGM meeting. During our absence, Vice President John Sampson will assume the helm . . . thank you John.

On a sad note, Member Bryan Young’s wife Vivienne has lost her battle with cancer, passing away on 20th May. Our thoughts are with Bryan and family as they deal with their sad loss.

Roger

Noel Schmidt’s Concours winning TR3A from the 2010 Day of Triumph . . . .What a TRIUMPH!!