Tom Hutchinson (TR8) continues his attack on the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships with consistent placings in Round 3 conducted at Sandown on 26 / 27th July. Tom qualified 4th fastest and then placed 8th, 4th and 6th in the three races for this round. If you are interested, have a look at the Natsoft website and see what Tom’s opposition is – great to see a Triumph amongst this sort of quality field.

We had four TSOA members compete in Round 3 of the MSCA Sprint series held at Mallala on Sunday 17th August. Amongst all of the gloomy weather we have had lately, it was great to have a mostly sunny day to enjoy the track, with a near capacity field of 107 cars taking part.  My GT6 is back to its best with a 1:20.4 recorded. Peter Nelson left his TR8 home in preference to a MX5 – sadly, the Mazda is quicker, with a best for Peter of 1:26.04 recorded on the day. Peter, the Mazda may be quicker, but the Triumph sounds and looks much better! Robin George is still trying to sort out the electrical gremlins that reside within his Westfield Clubman and could only manage 1:31.3 but Neil Martin produced a personal best of 1:38.06 in his TR7.

Upcoming events include :-

Sep 13 (Sat)          Super Sprint (Twilight)                        Mallala                   MSCA

Sep 14                   Modern Regularity (+Superkarts)       Mallala                   A7C

Sep 20    (Sat)       Hillclimb – “Come & Try Day”              Collingrove            SCCSA

Sep 21                   Hillclimb – Multi Club                           Collingrove            SCCSA

Oct 4-5                   Hillclimb – Vintage                              Collingrove            SCCSA

Oct 11-12              Historic Demonstration                        Lobethal

Oct 18-19              SA Hillclimb Championships                 Collingrove            SCCSA

If you are interested in any of the Austin 7 Club or Sporting Car Club events, go to their respective websites for more information and entry forms.

I mentioned the MSCA Twilight Sprint last month, and reiterate that this year, the MSCA has agreed to try something different during the tea break. This period of approx two hours has traditionally seen a fun competition of a four car, one lap relay event between clubs, but support for this has waned over recent years. So this year, the tea break period will provide an opportunity for non-sprinters to have a go – a “come and try” event.

The idea is for small groups of just 4 cars or less to complete laps of the circuit with an experienced sprinter as a coach / guide at no more than 80% speed to provide people who may be interested in seeing what sprinting is all about, but haven’t summoned the courage to enter an event. No special preparation is needed – just a helmet if you have one, or borrow one if not. Full neck to knee clothing of a non flammable type is required, and proper shoes.

If you are interested (places will be limited to the first 20 applicants) contact the MSCA’s Sue Stephenson on 8357 5362 to register your interest. A special Cams licence will be required at a cost of $25 which Sue will arrange.

It’s off to the Queensland Nationals for competition events at Morgan Park and Mt Cotton – full report next month.

That’s enough from me . . . . see you trackside!

Roger

Girls, the time for getting organised for warmer weather is getting closer…well for some of us earlier than others, with the Queensland Nationals fast approaching.  I for one am looking forward to some sun…not saying we don’t need the rain, but some sun would be nice….I guess we are never satisified..it is either too hot, or cold, it is just so hard to please us!

The weekend run to Kapunda was great – wow what a collection of things in one house!! Can’t imagine how long it would take to dust the place….not for me…think it would be cleaning overload! Thanks Peggy for organising the run – you always find the most interesting places for us to visit!

Looking forward to going to the Nationals – will keep you informed of the events after we return.

Margie Berlemon.

Entries are now open for this year’s “Legends of the Lakes” hill climb event to be held at Mount Gambier over the weekend of 8th / 9th November. Organisers expect a full field, so if you are interested, best to get your entry in pronto!

For information, Supp Regs and download of entry forms, go to www.seacsa.com

Roger

Well girls July has certainly been an interesting month full of challenges for some of our members.

Firstly our sympathies go to Maureen and Alan Gold on the sudden death of Maureen’s brother – it is only four months since Maureen’s sister in law also passed away – a double family tragedy – our thoughts are with you at this time.

Secondly to Sue Gibson – who has broken her ankle badly in a fall at Warrawong – I do hope Rory is managing the extra care of our fabulous social secretary – it is not easy being either the patient, or the carer at times like these!

Thirdly to Natalie Farrell, who is caring for Bob after his hip replacement – I do hope Bob is resting, and not fixing carports as he is inclined to do!

Just a reminder that the Christmas Dinner is advertised in this month’s Trak – write the date in your diaries now, and we have a great turn out on the night.

Try to keep warm.

Margie Berlemon.

It was All British time at Wakefield Park near Goulburn NSW over the weekend of 28th – 29th June with a Super Sprint hosted by the Austin Healey Owners club of NSW held on the Saturday, and an All British race meeting held on the Sunday.

The Sprint was a round of the CSCA for all participating NSW clubs, but with the All British race day following, it was an opportunity for all competitors to enjoy two days at the track. Trevor Lindsay (GT6), Rod Carey (AMI Spitfire) and Roger Lange (GT6) travelled from SA to compete with their support crew, pit garage heater and coffee machine. Richard Sutherland and his brother Don travelled in Richard’s TR4A to experience the sights and sounds of Wakefield Park as well.

Saturday was a chance to practice this beautiful and fun circuit – weather was fine (some would say warm compared to past years!) and it was great to see and hear some wonderful machinery going fast. Apart from the Triumphs, Jaguars seen included an awesome E Type race car, a brand new “C” type replica, there were lots of lovely Healeys, Mini’s, and a gaggle of other marques. Trevor posted FTD with an impressive performance that set the scene for race day on Sunday. Roger sorted out some handling issues to finish the day without a spin and looking forward to Sunday, as was Rod Carey, with the new motor in his Spitfire going well.

Qualifying for the All Triumph events saw Trevor on Pole, Roger in P4 and Rod some way further down the field amongst Triumphs of similar performance. Race 1 results were pretty much as we started, and this set the grid for the All Triumph Trophy race – an 8 lap affair. At the drop of the flag, Trevor took off like a startled rabbit and was never headed, taking a convincing win. Roger hounded the Wards TR7V8 and Morsillo Dolly Sprint Turbo for a lap or two, but just couldn’t keep up, and settled for fourth. Rod enjoyed some spirited dicing with a couple of other Triumphs, and had a good result down the order.

Vibrations in the drive train saw Roger withdraw his GT6 from further competition in the All Marque races, after qualifying in P6. Trevor took Pole in the Division 1 group, and once again showed the combined field a clean pair of heals to win both races. Rod started his first Division 2 group race down the order, but by the end of the 6 lap Trophy Race, and after passing a Jaguar XJS race car in the process, pulled off an amazing second place. You just couldn’t wipe the smile off his face!

And to top off a great weekend for Triumphs at Wakefield Park, Andy Ansell from Victopria (TR7) took the Regularity event from a combined field.

Thanks to Rod Chivas (NSW) for his enthusiasm in encouraging people to enter these events and for chasing up sponsors, and also to those sponsors for their support – Noel Anderson from Sports Car Spares in Sydney, and Pitstop Bookshop, Perth.

Look out for Richard Sutherland’s photos to be posted on this website soon.

The ladies technical session was well attended and thanks again to Margie for organising these get togethers

The mid week run organised by Bill saw about 14 people enjoy breakfast/coffee at Newton Shopping Centre before heading off into the hills and ending up at the lobethal Bakery in Woodside for lunch.   Report in TRAK

This year’s weekender was again organised by Bill & Margie and what a value for money weekend it was.  Thirty five adults and two children enjoyed the delights of the Riverland.   Thanks to Bill & Margie for the effort they put in organising the catering which was done by the Girl Guides, and what a splended job they did, to the visit to the Historic Village in Loxton where we had lunch in the Institute Hall and the River Cruise on Sunday morning, plus the free time we had to do whatever took your fancy.   It will certainly be a hard act to follow.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Tues 15th July General Meeting Sporting Car Club King William Road Unley 8.00pm

Sunday 20th July Reservoir Run – meet 9.00am Target Newton

Tuesday 12th August Ladies Technical Session Cafe Buongiorno Mitcham 12.00noon

Wednesday 13th August Mid week run meet 10.30am Crafers Hotel followed by lunch at Strathalbyn

Sunday 17th August Run to Kapunda – meet 8.30am Burnside Town Hall

Tuesday 19th August Annual General Meeting Sporting Car Club King William Road Unley 8.00pm

Team Triumph took part in the MSCA 6-Hour Regularity Relay event held at Mallala on Sunday 1st June with drivers Neil Martin (TR7) Peter Nelson (TR8 dhc) Andy Ansell from Victoria (TR7) Colin Gaetjens (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo TR6) Robin George (Westfield Clubman TR4) and Roger Lange (GT6).

Andy Ansell started the event for the Team, and after a few break out laps, settled down to produce a good session. Each driver contributed a 30 minute stint to complete the first rotation, with only Robin George experiencing some electrical gremlins with his car that saw his turn cut short. Roger was last out for the group, but could not contribute further after noticing an oily residue under the car caused by a failed oil seal in the rhs diff flange. Robin’s problems continued, but he was able to enjoy a reasonable time out on the track for the team, and put in some consistent laps whilst there.

Andy, Neil, Colin and Peter all took up the slack for the remainder of the event, all improving on their consistency to the point that after the chequered flag had fallen, were very satisfied with a job well done, and had a fun time doing it. The winners were announced after a dinner function held in the corporate facility at the track, and the team was very pleasantly surprised to have placed third overall – a great result and well done to all involved.

The support team consisted of John Touhy, Rod Carey, Frank Lewell, Stephanie George, Lindsay Coleman, Bill Berlemon, and with catering taken care of by Cherri Lange. A great team effort! Thanks to all involved.

Other news on the competition front include the sale of Ian Wilson’s awesome TR7V8 race car to a buyer in New Zealand – I am not sure if the guy knows exactly what he has purchased, but hope he has plenty of fresh underwear when he takes it out for his first experience with the car! Tom Hutchinson’s most recent round of the Victorian series ended in disappointment with a broken diff in his TR8 racer. This happened in open practice, so Tom’s event came to an early conclusion.

As far as events coming up are concerned, refer to the Competition Calendar at www.tsoasa.com

TSOA(SA) will be represented at the All British Race Meeting at Wakefield Park near Goulburn NSW by Trevor Lindsay (GT6) Rod Carey (AMI Spitfire) and Roger Lange (GT6) with pit and spectator support from Trevor’s wife Stephanie, Roger’s friend Hans, Rod’s wife Jen plus son who lives in Canberra, and our own TRak editor extraordinaire Richard Sutherland (TR4A) with his brother as passenger for the trip. Report and photos in a future issue of TRak.

That’s enough from me . . . see you trackside!

Roger

Team Triumph took part in the MSCA 6-Hour Regularity Relay event held at Mallala on Sunday 1st June with drivers Neil Martin (TR7) Peter Nelson (TR8 dhc) Andy Ansell from Victoria (TR7) Colin Gaetjens (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo TR6) Robin George (Westfield Clubman TR4) and Roger Lange (GT6).

Andy Ansell started the event for the Team, and after a few break out laps, settled down to produce a good session.Each driver contributed a 30 minute stint to complete the first rotation, with only Robin George experiencing some electrical gremlins with his car that saw his turn cut short. Roger was last out for the group, but could not contribute further after noticing an oily residue under the car caused by a failed oil seal in the rhs diff flange. Robin’s problems continued, but he was able to enjoy a reasonable time out on the track for the team, and put in some consistent laps whilst there.

Andy, Neil, Colin and Peter all took up the slack for the remainder of the event, all improving on their consistency to the point that after the chequered flag had fallen, were very satisfied with a job well done, and had a fun time doing it.

The winners were anounced after a dinner function held in the corporate facility at the track, and the team was very pleasantly surprised to have placed third overall – a great result and well done to all involved.

The support team consisted of John Touhy, Rod Carey, Frank Lewell, Stephanie George, Lindsay Coleman, Bill Berlemon, and with catering taken care of by Cherri Lange. A great team effort! Thanks to all involved.

Roger

There is not a lot to report on since the last issue of TRak, the only event involving our members being the Hill Climb at Collingrove on May 25th. Neil Martin (TR7 Sprint) held the Triumph flag high recording a best time of 44.08 seconds for the run up the hill. Good on ya Neil – it is good to see someone at least having a go!

By the time you read this, the annual MSCA 6-Hour Regularity Relay will have been run and won and we hope that the TSOA team did well. I will report on this next month. Upcoming events include :-

June 29           Modern Regularity (and Superkarts)               Mallala             A7C

June 29           Adelaide Hills Tarmac Sprint                           Adel. Hills        SDCC

June 29           All British Race Meeting, Wakefield Park        Goulburn         AHOC

July 13             Hill Climb, Winter Cup Rd 2                            Collingrove      SCCSA

July 20             Modern Regularity (and Superkarts)               Mallala             A7C

TSOA(SA) will be represented at the All British Race Meeting at Wakefield Park near Goulburn NSW by Trevor Lindsay (GT6) Rod Carey (AMI Spitfire) and Roger Lange (GT6) with pit and spectator support from Trevor’s wife Stephanie, Roger’s friend Hans, Rod’s wife Jen plus son who lives in Canberra, and our own TRak editor extraordinaire Richard Sutherland (TR4A) and his brother as passenger for the trip. Report and photos in a future issue of TRak.

That’s enough from me . . . see you trackside!

Roger

The run on Sunday 18th May to Links Lady Bay Normanville saw 22 people enjoy a run through the hills to Meadows where we stopped for morning coffee before heading off again through Ashbourne,  Mt Compass, Carrackalinga, Normanville and ending up at the hotel at Lady Bay overlooking the golf course and out to sea.  The weather was fine and sunny and the countryside looks great now we have had some very welcome rain.

A minor hiccup with the menu was overcome and I am sure everyone would agree it was an excellent value for money 3 course lunch.   Thanks to Geoff & Barb Cugley for their organisation.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Wednesday 4th June – mid week run – meet 9.45am Rooftop carpark Newton Shopping Centre

Tuesday 10th June – ladies lunch Cafe Buongiorno Mitcham 12.00noon

Tuesday 17th June – general meeting Sporting Car Club King William Road Unley 8.00pm

Sat/Sun 21/22 June – Weekender to Riverland – meet Burnside Town Hall 8.30am

Tuesday 15th July – general meeting Sporting Car Club King William Road Unley 8.00pm

Sunday 20th July – Reservoir Lunch Run – meet Target Newton 9.00am