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

The mid week run in April was a very interesting and informative visit to the Paris Creek BioDynamic Farm.   Considering the wet and windy weather on the day, 24 people attended and were treated to tastings of the bio dynamically produced yoghurt and flavoured milk along with a selection of soft and hard cheeses.   This was followed by a very good value for money lunch at Auchendorroch House in Mt Barker.   Thanks to Peggy and Brian Argent for their efforts in organising this run.

The breakfast run on Sunday 20th April was well attended considering the early start.  The weather was perfect for a run down to the Southern Vales ending up in Willunga for a BYO breakfast.   Thanks to Lyle and Sue Taylor for putting this run together.

Don’t forget the run to Links Lady Bay on 18th May.   If you are intending to come along please register with Geoff & Barb Cugley as the hotel requires numbers for lunch.  Registration form is in the magazine.

There are still a few cabins available for the Riverland weekender on June 21st/22nd.   Please let Margie or Bill know if you are going to join us for, what I am sure will be, a fun weekend.   The package is very good value for money with all meals, accommodation, visit to the Loxton Historical Village and a River Cruise out of Renmark on the Sunday morning.  Cost is $200/couple.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Sunday 18th May – Links Lady Bay Normanville for lunch – meet 9.00am Coles Carpark Blackwood

Tuesday 20th May – General Meeting Sporting Car Club 8.00pm

Wednesday 4th June – Mid week breakfast run – meet 9.45am Rooftop Carpark Newton Shopping Ctr

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

Tuesday 17th June – General Meeting Sporting Car Club 8.00pm

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

Neil Martin (TR7) and Peter Nelson (TR8 dhc) both participated in the Austin 7 Club Modern Regularity event at Mallala on 6th April with Neil starting strongly but suffering from carbie issues later in the day. Peter on the other hand, went from strength to strength posting a personal best lap time of 1:27.86 in the last session of the day.

The following Sunday 13th April was TSOA’s allocated day for provision of flag marshals for the Super Sprint – my thanks to all of those who took the effort to meet TSOA’s obligations to the MSCA and also those of us who participate in club level motorsport. Our members who served duty during the day included Colin Gaetjens, Lyall Taylor, Rory Gibson, Arrand Ellery, Richard Sutherland, John Tuohy, Geoff Cugley, Bill Berlemon and Peter Williamson. My apologies to anyone who may have turned up but not received a mention here.

Neil Martin (with carbies back to normal) produced a best time for the day of 1:39.19 in his TR7 Sprint and Roger’s GT6 finally got some track time to see how the new rear suspension and other mods performed. Best time for the day was 1:22.75 but keeping in mind that there were some wheel spin problems as well running on old tyres, rusty driver and any other excuse I can find, much better performances are expected in the future. The new suspension felt good, if not a little soft – uprated springs are on order. Once sorted, I believe that the upgrades to the car will produce the goods.

Our next outing will be the 6-hour Regularity Relay event to be held at Mallala on Sunday 1st June. The good news this year is that we will be fielding a TSOA team, with Neil Martin (TR7), Peter Nelson (TR8 dhc) Roger in the GT6, Trevor Lindsay (GT6) Colin Gaetjens (Mitsubishi Evo TR) and all the way from Victoria, Andy Ansell with his TR7.

The TSOA team receives monetary support from the club to offset costs such as garage hire, catering, promotion and incidentals and this support is very much appreciated. However, we also need some people support to fulfill team roles such as time keepers, pit wall notice board attendants, form-up and sash changeover personnel and just general assistance around the garages and cars. So if you want a great day out at the track, and inclusion in the TSOA team at the 6-Hour event, contact Roger Lange to register your interest.

For all upcoming events, refer to the Competition Calendar found elsewhere on this website. Specifically, there is a Hillclimb at Collingrove on May 25th, the 6-Hour on June 1st, and then a number of events on June 29th, these being Modern Regularity at Mallala put on by the Austin 7 Club, the Adelaide Hills Tarmac Sprint in and around the southern hills areas hosted by the SDCC, and the All British Race Day at Wakefield Park, near Goulburn NSW, with Trevor Lindsay (GT6), Roger (GT6) and Rod Carey (AMI Spitfire) are all hoping to compete in the latter.

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

Roger

TSOA will be fielding a team in this year’s MSCA 6-Hour Regularity Relay at Mallala MotorSport Park on 1st June and we need some help. As the name of the event implies, this is a 6 hour team event where drivers do their best to complete a predetermined number of laps as close as possible to a nominated lap time (without breaking that time) with success rewarded to the team that completes the 6 hours with the best overall team result.

TSOA (SA) will field a team of 6 car / driver combinations, but because the drivers will be focussed on their participation, we need some help with other team activities. We have a need for team time keepers, pit wall board attendants, changeover sash mashals, plus a general volunteer assistant to the MSCA for the day.

Those of you who have been part of our previous teams will know that this is a fun day that requires attention to detail and the ability to move quickly with changed conditions.

If you want to be a part of the TSOA assault on this annual event, contact Roger Lange on 8132 1841 or email to rogncher@internode.on.net. – we need your help!

Thanks to everyone for their best wishes over the past couple of months with all our family issues.  Special thanks to Sue Gibson for holding the fort for me in regards to this article and also the supper rosters.

As I write this article today, it is raining – something we haven’t seen for such a long time – the gardens will all be thankful for their natural water supply, but we must spare a thought for the rural areas and trust that the rain falls there as needed.

I spoke to a teacher today from Meningie who said that school enrolments are down by a third this year, as families are moving out of the district due to no rain, and no water in the lake – hence no work for the farmers so people need to move to work and survive – it really is a concern in the Coorong as to how the families are going to survive without water – lets pray that the river Murray is flooded soon and the lakes survive for a little longer.

The Weekender is in the process of being organised, so I look forward to seeing you all along for another great weekend.

Margie Berlemon

2008 is off to a flying start competition wise, with some excellent events already held, and much more to come.

Feb 10th saw the commencement of the Austin 7 Club’s Regularity series at Mallala – unfortunately clashing with the MSCA picnic presentation day at Tanunda. Peter Nelson (TR8) was TSOA’s only representative, posting very consistent times around 1:29 during the day finishing second in the last session.

Tom Hutchinson (TR8) competed in Round 1 of the Victorian Motor Racing Series held at Sandown on Sunday March 2nd placing consistently in the top section of the field, with a best result of 5th in the final race. Tom enjoyed a stellar season in 2007, placing 2nd in the championship, and with consistency during 2008, should place well again. Good luck Tom!

The 2nd March also saw Round 1 of the MSCA Sprint Series get under way at Mallala, but sadly, only one Triumph on the track, that being Neil Martin in his TR7 Sprint. Neil has been busy over the summer break installing a new 16 valve head sprint motor in his wedge, the pay back being his first venture under 1:40 with a best time for the day of 1:39.03. Well done Neil.

The traditional Easter weekend historic race and hill climb events have also concluded, with several TSOA members competing. The race meeting at Mallala saw Keith Williamson in his Farrell clubman compete in his historic racing class, Laurie Cousin in his TR2 having a go in Regularity, and two TR’s from Victoria competing in both the Group S historic Sports races and the Regularity event. Keith and son Alistair Ondarchie ran Keith’s TR4, (Keith in the Group S races, and Alistair in the Regularity) and Barry Pritchett and Ursula Weidenmuller shared Barry’s TR6 in a similar fashion.

Good to see some TR’s out there having a go! . . . and some great results as well! Out of the five Regularity runs for the weekend (separate sections for open and closed cars), Alistair produced two 1st places and a 2nd, Laurie scored two 1st and two 3rd places, and Ursula a 1st as well. One could be forgiven for suggesting that Triumphs ruled the Regularity events for the weekend! Well done drivers!
Our Victorian friends were the only entrants in their Group Sb Historic racing section (1961-69) with Barry Pritchett winning out over Keith in all races. Barry also won the first Group S handicap race, holding off the entire field for a well deserved result and placed second in the final event. I believe that all Triumph drivers went home with smiles and satisfaction for a great weekend of friendly motor sport.

Neil Martin entered the new Regularity section of the Collingrove Historic Hill Climb event on Easter Monday, and we look forward to hearing of Neil’s experience in due course.

If you are interested in seeing what hill climbing is all about, the Sporting Car Club is once again holding a “come-and-try” day at their Collingrove facility on April 5th. If you are interested, have a look at the Sporting Car Club website for entry details (refer to the “links” section of the TSOA site).

Also held over the Easter weekend was the Festival of Sporting Cars meeting held at Mount Panorama, Bathurst. This was the first event of its kind, and attracted an enormous level of entrants resulting in large fields of cars for each race category. Our own Tom Hutchinson travelled over to experience the Bathurst circuit at speed, and from the results on the Natsoft website, it looks like he enjoyed it, placing 4th in Race 1 and 3rd in the main feature race for Marque and Production Sports Cars. Tom’s best time for the weekend looked to be 1:34.41 – not too bad for an old Trumpy!

The MSCA is looking at new ways to gain the support of flag marshals for the sprint season, and has allocated that responsibility to each affiliated club (TSOA being one of these) to man the bunkers for just one day for the year. Our allocated day is the next sprint to be held on 13th April. Several members have nominated to attend, but I need some more. If you commit to a full day on duty, your reward will include lunch, drinks, a $25 MSCA redeemable voucher, parade laps around the Mallala circuit during the lunch break, and the sincere thanks of all competitors. So if you can help out, call Roger Lange and put your name forward.

This year’s MSCA 6-Hour Regularity Relay is being held on Sunday June 1st so if you are an experienced regularity competitor or sprinter and would be keen to join a TSOA team, contact Roger and register your interest.

For all upcoming events, refer to the full Competition Calendar contained on this site.

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

Roger

The Fish ‘n Chips & Ice Cream Run, the first for 2008, saw a huge turnout with over 60 people enjoying Barnacle Bill’s fish ‘n Chips before cruising along the coast to Semaphore Park.   Being Australia Day we witnessed the fireworks which were staged at the Semaphore Jetty whilst enjoying ice creams and coffee at Noonies Kiosk.    A big thank you to Tom & Judi Long for organising this annual event which must have broken the record for attendance.

All British Day was held in perfect weather at Uraidla, and there was a good display of Triumph Cars.  There was certainly lots of vehicles to look at as well as the Uraidla market across the road.

The mid week run was very well attended and it was perfect weather for a drive through the hills.  We travelled on some roads that we have never been on before, ending up at the Lobethal Bakery for afternoon tea.   Thanks to Bill Smith for organising this event.

Once again the MSCA Presentation Day was held in scorching conditions on the lawns at Peter Lehmann Winery in Tanunda, but a good day was had by those who attended.    Unfortunately TSOA didn’t win the trophy for the best display this year.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Sun 16th Mar     Morning run – meet 9.15am Uni SA Magill Campus St Bernards Road Magill

Tues 18th Mar    General Meeting – 8.00pm Sporting Car Club King William Road Unley

Wed 2nd Apr       Mid week run – meet 9.00am Victoria Hotel Top of Taps

Tues 8th Apr       Ladies Lunch – 12.00 noon Café Buongiorno Unley Road Mitcham

Tues 15th Apr     General Meeting—8.00pm Sporting Car Club King William Rd Unley

Sun 20th Apr      Breakfast run to Willunga – meet 7.30am Burnside Townhall Carpark

Regards Sue Gibson