The VRROOOM REPORT (a.k.a. Competition Report)

Rev Trev returns from touring Europe at the end of September, and I am sure that he and Steph will have plenty of news regarding Triumphs and motor sport to share with us all in due course. In the meantime, there has been some activity locally, but not enough to engage our members.

The MSCA sprint on 19th Sept clashed with the NSW Nationals, so Neil Martin and I were otherwise engaged. Trev’s away, Rod Carey needs a new engine . . . . anyone else??

The Nationals on the other hand were a hoot. The programme included two track days, Wakefield Park on the Monday, and Marulen Driver Training Centre on the Wednesday. The events held at Wakefield Park included a Super Sprint in the morning, and a hillclimb in the afternoon.

I had intended to take my GT6 to the Nationals, as it is so much fun to drive at Wakefield Park. Unfortunately, my last outing at Mallala resulted in a drivetrain vibration and problems engaging 2nd and 3rd gears – I suspect the gearbox needs repair again. So Cherri and I drove the TR8 across to NSW. As the TR8 does not have roll over protection, it did not qualify for the competition events, but I took my helmet just in case . . . .

Neil Martin entered all events in his TR7V8 and came home with a number of awards and a huge grin on his face. Needless to say, the competition events were excellent fun. On hearing that my GT6 had been left home, the NSW Nationals competition events organiser Ken Peters insisted that I drive his TR7 – who was I to refuse such a generous offer?

Ken’s TR7 has been modestly improved with some suspension tweaks, better brakes, a torquey cam and track tyres. But it remains an 8 valve TR7 on standard 13” wheels. What a surprising little package this car proved to be. It was such a nicely balanced package that went well, turned in, stopped and was quite forgiving. I had so much fun thanks to Ken’s generosity.

It wasn’t until we got to Gary Wilmington’s Marulen Park facility that the true spirit of TSOA Nationals started to emerge though. This day was to be a fun day, low key, and untimed. The track was reasonably short but testing nevertheless, and as the day wore on, the more fun the participants would have. Drivers swapped cars, took passengers, got other drivers to take the owners around in their own cars, compared notes, tried to learn better lines and techniques etc.

Neil offered me a drive in his TR7V8 which I was happy to accept, The sound of that V8 is just lovely. Ken’s TR7 got a run as well, and Greg Grist from WA threw me the keys to his silver Mk II GT6 to see what I thought of it. Most excellent fun! Even the Stig turned up to entertain us!

Congratulations must go the NSW Nationals committee for running such a great rally and especially Ken Peters and Co for the fun everyone had at the competition events.

Coming up locally, we have :

Australian Hillclimb Championships at Collingrove on Oct. 16-17th
Round 4 and the final MSCA sprint for the year at Mallala on Oct 24th
Round 4 of the SA State Circuit Racing Championships at Mallala on Oct 30-31
Modern Regularity at Mallala on 7th Nov

And a final mention, the Legends of the Lakes hillclimb at Mt Gambier being held over the weekend of Nov 6-7th. The entry list for the main event was filled a long time ago, however, there is an opportunity to enter the Historic (and Invited Cars) being run for the first time on the Friday preceding the main event Nov 5th. If you are interested, the South East Auto Club are currently accepting entries for pre 1975 cars of suitable heritage. If interested, go to the website www.seacsa.com and follow the links.

That’s all for now – I hope to see you soon

Roger