SS2000 CLUB NEWSLETTER

Transcription

1 SS2000 CLUB NEWSLETTER 2 Litre Racing at it s Best!! Series Sponsor: Season: Dec Issue #: 83 SS2000 Club Contacts: President: Brent Thompson Ph: Or: Duffin Clean Sweeps at Manfeild! It may have been a smaller than normal field at Manfeild, but Andy Duffin made a clean sweep of round 4 of the Hitech Motorsport-SS2000 saloon car championship series. Secretary: Sam Elliott Ph: Or: Treasurer: Andy Duffin Ph: PR & Sponsorship: Committee Members Series Co-ordinators: Scott Smith Ph: 02 Sam Elliot Ph: Series Scrutineer: Nathan Strachan Ph: Committee: Nicky Watt Ph: Ant Te Rito Ph: ** Plus all the executive members above. Newsletter Editor: Bob Louie Ph: Or: bob.louie@xtra.co.nz Website: Brent Thompson Ph: Qualifying on pole and winning all 3 races is something that has not been achieved for quite some time. Whilst the invitational appearance of former series competitor, David Geraghty s Lancer EVO, did provide an early challenge in qualifying and Race 1, Duffin s RX7 proved to be more superior in the end. It showed how much things had progressed since the Lancer driver had last competed in the series. Even the wet handicap race occurring on day 2 favoured Duffin, especially after the off track excursions by other competitors caused the safety This season the Hitech Motorsport- SS2000 saloon car series is certainly not lacking in the variety of cars that are competing. It certainly provides a colourful spectacle and keeps the racing interesting. The list is comprehensive including RX7s, Integras, Civics, Datsun Coupes, Nissan Sylvias & Sentras, Corollas, Levins & Starlets, with an Altezza, a Mini, a Capri and a Volvo thrown into the mix. From all this some interesting hybrids have emerged like Brian Hamilton s Capri which is powered by a Nissan SR20 turbo and likewise Sam Elliot s similar powered old Sentra. Tim Dorset has a Honda S2000 car to be deployed and effectively nullified the handicap field. However, Duffin is quick to not take anything for granted. With 3 more rounds to go and if previous years are anything to go by, it is never over until the last race has been run. It is also likely that there will be From Variety comes Hybrids!! motor in his Datsun Coupe as does Ant Te Rito s Civic. Murray Bell s RX7 Batmobile and Tony Goldsmith s Sylvia both run turbo versions of this motor as well. Gary Maddock s new Starlet is powered by a modified Honda B series motor from his old Intergra whereas Brent Thompson, Grant Shirley and Scott Smith have all ditched their B-series Honda motors in favour of the newer K- series Honda motors. These hybrid combinations and a number of others are what s keeping our class interesting and it is highly likely we some stiffer competition ready to challenge him again, coming up. Despite this, the round 4 results will go a long way towards Duffin consolidating his lead in the series championship and I ve no doubt he has his fingers crossed for the remaining rounds. will see more of these in the future.

2 Page 2 President s Prattle Wow, it s early December already and we have had four of our seven rounds. Don t the rounds fly! With the championship now over half way through, I suspect the cream is starting to rise to the top. In saying that there is still a fair bit of motor racing yet to be had and the fat lady definitely has not sung. Certainly I don t want to jinx anyone!! With four rounds over nine weeks, it s been a busy first half of the season and if some of the rumours I hear come true, we are bound to see larger fields for the latter half of the season. To date our season has gone very well. Driving standards have been very high, racing has been tight and the handicaps have been damn good. The weather too has kept us on our toes causing a couple of last minute tyre choice changes. Best of all, there has been lots of big wide smiles and grins after the racing. Seeing the looks and enjoyment on people s faces as they come off the circuits, is one of the main things that keeps me doing what I do, at both the racing and administration levels. In car cameras are starting to get a bit of a following and a number of people are regularly asking when footage is going to be uploaded. I encourage anyone who has footage to upload it to YouTube and share it via our forum along with our Facebook area. It s a great way for people to see what they re missing! If you don t have a camera, then one of our very own club members and support sponsor, can supply a competitive hardware package (refer CamOne advert on page 3). Most cameras come with editing software plus there is free editing software available online. There are guys in the club that can/will help with this if you are not so computer savvy. Well its time for a few weeks break between meetings. I would imagine some mid season maintenance will be getting done, in conjunction with family time over the festive season and the school holiday break. Anyway that s it from me for now. Have a safe and merry festive season and see you all next year! Brent Motul Products available through these authorized Dealers: Auckland Engineering Supplies: 154 Beaumont Street, Westhaven, Auckland Ph: E & H Motors: 179 Manukau Road, Pukekohe, Auckland - Ph: Exedy NZ Ltd: 151 Wairau Road, Glenfield, Auckland Ph: J Tune Automotive: 46 Carr Road, Mt Roskill, Auckland Ph: Trade Zone East Tamaki: 179 Harris Road, East Tamaki, Auckland Ph: Speed Source: 1/6-14 Glenmore Drive, Warkworth Ph: Xtreme RPM Ltd: 6 Karewa Place, Hamilton Ph: SpeedFactor: 3 St John Street, Tauranga Ph WRC Developments: 36 Leyland Street, Onekawa, Napier Ph: R Works (NZ): 95 Ridgway Street, Wanganui Ph: Geartech Automotive Ltd: 334 Tremaine Avenue, Palmerston North Ph: MacLennan Performance Centre 2006: 303 Willis Street, Wellington Ph: Speedtech Motorsport Ltd: 7/115 Gracefield Road, Seaview, Lower Hutt Ph: Please ensure you identify yourself as an SS2000 Club member. Imported by Makay Imports Ltd

3 Page 3 Race Calendar: Hitech Motorsport SS2000 Race Calendar Rd 1 October 6th Manfeild (one day event) Rd 2 October 20th/21st Taupo (Labour weekend) Rd 3 November 11th Hampton Downs (one day event) Rd 4 December 1st/2nd Manfeild (replacement for cancelled Pukekohe round) Rd 5 January 26th/27th Taupo (Toyota Racing series) Rd 6 February 23rd/24th Manfeild Rd 7 March 30th/31st Taupo (Easter weekend) Track Chatter: Having entered Manfeild Round 4, Todd Taylor s Altezza turbo suffered an engine failure while it was being tuned and had to withdraw from the weekend. It s a real shame as the Altezza would have been a welcome addition to our field. The CamOne Infinity is an ultra-compact still/video camera that is designed to go where the action is. Controls are very simple to use making set-up a piece of cake. Just press a button to start filming or take a single shot. A 1.5" built-in LCD screen allows you to see what you're filming in front of you. The CamOne has two recording speeds, 30 FPS (frames per second) in HD 1080p or 60 FPS filmed in 720p for dynamic slow motion shots. Other features include auto white balance and a built-in interval timer. These two features and more (Tech Specs available) make the CamOne the ideal video camera to take along to sports events. EXCLUSIVE OFFER TO SS2000 MEMBERS: SS2000 members can buy this amazing little action-cam, direct from the importer, on an EXCLUSIVE deal to members: CAMONE INFINITY CAMERA $ Includes: Camera, divebox with tripod mount, bike helmet & flat mounting, USB cable, AV cable, Tentoten access adaptor & manual. MEMORY CARD NOT INCLUDED USES MICRO SD CLASS 4 & ABOVE. (has 2 x micro SD slots). PLUS $100 WORTH OF ACCESSORIES FREE including: SanDisk 16GB micro SDHC Class 4 memory card; SanDisk mobile mate micro SDHC data to PC transfer card reader; Soul 4 port USB 12v adaptor in-car charger. To order contact Lacklands direct on: or sales@lacklands.co.nz Newcomer Murray Bell, in the ex James Parker RX7 batty, was the recipient of the free entry to Round 5 at Taupo. Up until that point Murray was unsure if he would run at the next round and the free entry was very fortuitous. Brett Killip looks likely to return in the New Year, although this will depend if he gets his gearbox sorted after another breakage occurred during recent testing at Hampton Downs. Gary Maddock s newly built Starlet had a relatively trouble free run at Manfeild. The Starlet had only just had a wheel alignment on the morning of Friday practice but the reward was finishing all 3 races and a very happy driver. Kane Walmsley s engine problem that he suffered at Hampton Downs, is proving more difficult to pin point than originally thought. Here s hoping he gets it sorted as we need the Corolla to keep a certain RX7 honest. Ex SS2000 racer David Geraghty was granted an invitation to run in our races at Manfeild along with his NZGT duties. With a limited amount of fuel available to him over the weekend, Geraghty was seen to be calculating his fuel usage for every lap of the circuit. Unfortunately a broken gearbox gave him the fuel savings he wasn t necessarily looking for. Part of our Club s added incentive for running at Manfeild was a discounted entry fee to the next Taupo round. Not quite as good as the free series entry that MSNZ is offering the first 15 NZV8 competitors though. However, congratulations to the 16 competitors that made the trip.

4 Page 4 Race Report: Round 4: Manfeild 1st/ 2nd December Weather: Fine (day 1) Wet (day2) TOP 10 QUALIFIERS: 1st Andy Duffin (RX7) 1:14.311; 2nd David Geraghty (Mitsi EVO); 3rd Brent Thompson (Civic 2ltr); 4th Murray Bell (RX7 2ltr turbo) 5th Nathan Strachan (Civic 2ltr); 6th Grant Shirley (Integra 2ltr); 7th Ivan Knauf (Corolla 1.6ltr); 8th Gary Maddock (Starlet 2ltr); 9th Todd Prujean (Starlet); 10th Ray Brown (Civic 1.6ltr). Post qualifying, Scott Smith had CV trouble yet again, whilst Nathan Strachan s Civic died suddenly due to a faulty distributor. SCRATCH RACE: Always one for good starts, Geraghty got to lead momentarily before Duffin quickly took over. Thompson, Strachan and Shirley followed. Sam Elliot, getting used to his newly purchased Sylvia S15, locked up at Higgins with a half spin and then spun again at the hairpin on the very next lap, relegating him to near the rear of the field. Bell, Maddock, Knauf and Prujean trailed each other, occasionally dicing. Maddock closed in on Bell but after knocking his kill switch, dropped back momentarily then regained the ground he lost once he sorted himself out. Knauf touched Bell which partially loosened off his front bumper. A black flag was served to Knauf but his failure to observe this within 3 laps saw him excluded from the results. With half the race run, Scotty Smith progressed well and eventually made his way past Sklenars Levin, Edmond s Volvo and Brown s Civic. A late challenge by Maddock on Bell saw Bell stay in front of the Starlet driver. So Duffin took the win comfortably and in doing so recorded a new lap record of 1: Results Race 1 Top 10: 1st Duffin; 2nd Geraghty; 3rd Thompson; 4th Strachan; 5th Shirley; 6th Bell; 7th Maddock; 8th Prujean; 9th Smith; 10th Brown. HANDICAP RACE 2 (wet): Hamilton took off from pole but it wasn t long before Edmond took the lead from the Capri. Newcomer Michael Jane sat in 3rd until Brown shot past him. Meanwhile Duffin starting last had already got past Geraghty and Thompson. Then on lap 2 the incidents began to happen. Elliot spun three times just after the start finish line but luckily continued on undamaged. As he got going, Sklenars pulled off when the Levin s engine/ gearbox expired. Brown also went off at turn 1 when his engine failed. The safety car was then deployed which nullified the handicap. When racing resumed on lap 4, Edmond stayed up front until Prujean came through to lead. In a very short time, Duffin had moved up to 4th then 3rd and soon after, took the lead. Unfortunately Geraghty s run came to an end when he struck problems with his gearbox, forcing his retirement. Strachan had good pace and moved ahead of Prujean to lie 2nd but then he ran off at Higgins when his throttle stuck. So Duffin proceeded to take his second win of the weekend, with perhaps the safety car intervention, proving fortuitous for him. Results Race 1 Top 10: 1st Duffin; 2nd Prujean; 3rd Edmond; 4th Shirley; 5th Knauf; 6th Elliot; 7th Jane; 8th Maddock; 9th Smith; 10th Thompson. HANDICAP RACE 3: Although the clouds looked threatening, the rain just managed to stay away long enough for the final race. Hamilton led a somewhat depleted field from Jane s Levin. A decision to put wet tyres on was to prove detrimental to Prujean as he tried to make the best of the situation. By lap 5, Edmond s Volvo had assumed the lead. Thompson and Shirley had caught and passed Maddock with Duffin not far behind them. Duffin then moved to 2nd place on lap 6 and took the lead on the next lap. Elliot was having a trouble free run this time and had got up to as high as 3rd. Prujean had now been passed by the entire field and was languishing at the rear. The end result was that Duffin scored his hat trick of wins and yet again lowered the track record to a 1: Results Race 1 Top 10: 1st Duffin; 2nd Thompson; 3rd Edmond; 4th Shirley; 5th Elliot; 6th Knauf; 7th Hamilton; 8th Jane; 9th Maddock; 10th Strachan. With three wins under his belt, Duffin increases his lead in the championship. Going into the Christmas New Year break, he leads by 82 points from Thompson with Shirley now in 3rd place.

5 Page 5 Manfeild Newbies and New Cars!! Two new drivers and two new cars made their appearance at Manfeild, Round 4. Michael Jane made his debut in his great looking Toyota Levin and had a relatively trouble free run. His appearance in our series stemmed from a conversation I had with him regarding SS2000 racing, about 2 years ago, at a Manfeild Winter Series meeting, so he decided to finally give it a go. It goes to show that talking to competitors at Winter or Clubman series does work. Murray Bell entered the ex James Parker RX7 batty and had his first official run at Manfeild. I believe the car was purchased after a test run at Pukekohe on the same weekend as our Hampton Downs round. The car is relatively unchanged and still sports the Lucas Oil livery. A lack of traction was his biggest issue and when it turned wet for day 2, discretion got the better of him and he withdrew. Bell was also the lucky winner of the free entry to our next round at Taupo in the New Year. Gary Maddock returned to SS2000 racing in his newly built ex- Racepro Starlet. After endless hours in his garage transferring a lot of the running gear from his damaged Integra, Maddock had pretty much an untroubled run as well. With the car having only just been completed on the Friday of practice, finishing all 3 races for the weekend was all it took to put a smile on Maddock s face. Sam Elliot fronted up at Manfeild with his best kept secret weapon, a Sylvia S15 turbo. Purchased from the Taranaki region, the former drift car underwent a slight de-tune at Hitech Motorsport. The transformation from front to rear wheel drive did take some mastering by Elliot but not before he experienced a few spins during the first 2 races of the weekend. Pit Exit Four rounds down and we are heading towards the critical part of the season where finishing every race counts and reliability is the key. Great to see many of our regular northern based drivers making it to the Manfeild round yet again. Without you guys turning up to every round, we would be somewhat left wondering so far as numbers are concerned. Despite the sudden calendar changes so far this season and the tough times being experienced out there, we are still in relatively good shape. Our racing is still as exciting and colorful as ever. Good to see two more new drivers join in the fun, namely Murray Bell and Michael Jane (see also article on newcomers opposite). Might I mention here, that it is important to make our newcomers welcome both officially and socially as this will also help us retain them as both competitors and club members. So a huge welcome to both Murray and Mike!! Once again Grady of Hitech Motorsport, overwhelmed us with his hospitality at our Day 1 after race social function. The Hell s Pizzas and beer making a welcome change to our regular sausage sizzle. There was no lack of quantity either and there was still plenty left over for the odd snack the next day Mmmm cold pizza!! Many of you that know me well enough, have asked when will I return to racing again. Like a lot of us in our series, our racing is predominantly self funded and as much as we hate to admit it, our leisure budget is never endless. However, my reasons were more about making sure that family matters took some sort of priority. As a parent that used to drag my daughters, when they were younger, to follow my passion of motor racing both as a competitor and as a spectator, it is a small ask to make a commitment to their future. Don t get me wrong they enjoyed the meetings and still do when they accompany me to this very day. However, as with all families when they grow older, they start doing their own thing, which leaves me to do mine. All I can say at this stage, is that time is getting closer! With the festive season just around the corner, it is important that we all enjoy a well earned break. This year for the first time in many years, I have a whole 3 weeks off. It may sound like a long time but if it is anything like this year, it will pass by really quickly and before you know it, we will all be into I know I will be clocking up some miles during this break and if you are doing the same, then please do it safely and responsibly. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you all at Round 5 in Taupo. Bob. Both our new drivers and the new cars are welcome additions to our series and there is no doubt that seat time will be equally as important to all drivers going forward.

6 Page 6 SS2000 Club N ewsletter SS2000 thanks its Sponsors Stick with Dunlop Dunlop Motorsport supporting SS2000 Talk to: For everyone s Engineering Supplies Richard Fraser Ph: Stores Nation wide. Visit: Suppliers of a broad range of tools and products for the engineering and trade sectors 154 Beaumont Street, Westhaven, Auckland Ph: Supporters of the SS2000 Saloon Car Championship We specialize in: Dyno tuning Race preparation & maintenance Motorsport & performance engines Motorsport fabrication Performance & classic car workshop Engine management sales & installation Carburettor sales, parts & rebuilds Performance parts & accessories. Located at: 69 Creek St Drury Auckland Ph: