SS2000 CLUB NEWSLETTER

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1 Season: SS2000 CLUB NEWSLETTER Sept/ Oct 2009 Issue #: 57 Series Sponsors: 2 Litre Racing at it s Best!! Motul SS2000 at Speedshow 09 In its third year, the annual Speedshow was again held at the ASB show grounds during September. In what is currently difficult times, the show surprisingly attracted a crowd of around 18,000, up 10% on the previous year. SS2000 Club Contacts: President: Bob Louie Secretary: Brent Thompson (acting) Treasurer: Shane Morgan or PR & Sponsorship: Committee Members Series Co-ordinator: Terry O Brien The show now fills all 3 of the exhibition halls and this year our site was situated in the main hall. On our Motul SS2000 Club display were Rick Bone s Datsun Coupe, Kevin Hyde s BMW and Martin Dunn s new Integra. All three cars were extremely well presented and drew many comments from interested parties. In the adjacent hall the Motul Honda Cup stand also displayed another coupe of our racers cars, namely Tim Pollard s Integra and Richard Gee s Civic. The show s main attractions included the world s fastest Nascar, the original Batmobile, the new Denny Hulme supercar, a Ford GT40 and a very impressively built BMW saloon car racer. Of course there were lots more to see too. Plans are already underway for the 2010 show which will be held on Sept 18th & 19th, so if you haven t been to one then check it out again next year. Series Scrutineer: Brian Hamilton Committee: Kevin Hyde Geoff Page Brent Thompson Terry O Brien Newsletter Editor: Bob Louie or Bob.louie@xtra.co.nz Website: Brent Thompson Devastating for Derin!! As most of you now know, the ex Tony Goldsmith Datsun HP510 had changed hands to new owner, Derin Greenslade. In the short time that he has owned it, Derin has proved every bit as quick in the car. Unfortunately at the recent endurance race down in Invercargill, Derin got punted off at a very fast section of the track. The injuries to Derin, whilst not life threatening, were nevertheless severe enough to hospitalize him but we understand he will make a good recovery, be it for a few pins in certain places. The car looks to be a write off but once again the roll cage did its bit in protecting & saving the life of the driver. From all of us at SS2000, we hope Derin makes a speedy re- covery and if anyone can rebuild the Fatsun, it will be him. Get well soon Derin!!

2 Page 2 Presi s Pit Box Hi Everyone, Well it s just 3 weeks before we get going again for another season. I trust all those who intend on racing are at least well into their preparation for the opening round and if not, then you had been get a move on!! Don t forget to send in your Club membership, your series entry fee and also your round 1 entry (refer reminder notice elsewhere in this issue). The Speedshow went off very well by all accounts. Thanks must go to Brent for doing most of the organising, to Martin, Rick & Kevin for loaning their cars for display and again to all of the aforementioned and Geoff Page for helping to man the stand over the weekend. Good effort guys and much appreciated for the time you all spared over that weekend. Our new Club pit shirts have now been completed and some of you will have seen them adorned by those manning the Speedshow stand. These will be available for $40.00 as set at our AGM and will be available from our pit tent site at round 1. It is preferable that all of our drivers be seen in these as a minimum to help promote a more professional image of our class. Helpers & supporters of our class are naturally welcome to purchase these as well. The more the merrier. This season we will be making a more concerted effort to keep most of us together when it comes to the pit area. As a part of this, at each round our pit tent will be central to this and it will be where Terry (our series co-ordinator) will base himself. It shouldn t be too hard to spot in blue, with appropriate banners & flags etc. You will need to make yourselves familiar with its location as this is where you will get your grid positions etc from. Terry will only hunt you down if you have not visited him for this info. In the past, with everyone scattered all over the place, it has made Terry s job more difficult to get around to all competitors, so please make it easier for him. In recognition of our competitors efforts over a race weekend, another new incentive for this season, will be awards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place getters for each round (ie: overall round winners). These will be presented at the round following at our social barbeque functions late on Saturday afternoon and are well worth placement on your mantle piece. Despite being a part of the IRC Series this season, we are also embarking on a SS2000 Racing series self promotion exercise and will have a series poster made up along with another batch of our SS2000 stickers. Ideally a sticker should be on your support vehicle as a minimum as it is good advertising. Posters will be free giveaways. So whilst it will be business as usual on the track, off the track there will a few newer ideas that will hopefully make for a more fulfilling season. Cheers Bob SS2000 Race Calendar Motul Products available directly from: Motul NZ Ltd 4/121 Elliot Street, Howick, Auckland. Ph: Tim@motul.co.nz Or: Kay@motul.co.nz Ensure you identify yourself as an SS2000 Club member Round 1 October 24th/ 25th Taupo Round 2 December 5th/ 6th Pukekohe Round 3 January 2nd/ 3rd Taupo Round 4 January 23rd/ 24th Manfield Round 5 February 20th/21st Pukekohe Round 6 March 6th/ 7th Manfeild Round 7 April 3rd/ 4th Taupo

3 Page 3 Read before you Race!! With the new season looming and our eagerness to get back onto the track, we too often forget to familiarize ourselves with our Series Articles and Technical Regulations governing our SS2000 series. These are posted on our website under documentation section and if you haven t done so, you will need to read them thoroughly to ensure that your car complies and that you understand how we govern and conduct our class of racing.. This season our series coordinator Terry O Brien, in conjunction with Brian Hamilton, our series scrutineer, will be enforcing these throughout the season. If your car does not comply for one reason or another, you will have a limited opportunity to rectify this, or a penalty may be imposed. This can apply to but not restricted to, placement of our series sponsors stickers or door numbers etc, so if you are unsure please contact Terry or consult the aforementioned documents for this info. Page wins 50km Race Over the off season SS2000 racer Geoff Page has been competing in the Manfeild United Travel Winter series and has showed some great results from his Corolla No better than at the last round though when he won the 50km grand finale race. After an excellent start and some consistent laps, Page had developed a commanding lead. Such was his lead that when he came in for his compulsory pitstop, he rejoined the race with his lead intact and won after completing the required 12 laps. Other SS2000 racers that also competed included Tim Pollard (Integra) at 5th, Grant Ryan (Civic 1600) at 6th and Noel Also whilst we diligently prepare our cars to a high standard, too often we roll up to the first round with expired seat belts or helmets that don t comply. So your routine check should also extend to your safety gear. Check your Motorsport manuals to see what is required because if these are not in order, then you will not be allowed to race. Be thorough and if in doubt, contact Terry or Brian (contact details on the front page of this newsletter). Anderson (Civic 1600) at 8th. Both Trevor Strong and Michael Bate, both in near identical 2 litre Civics, suffered DNFs. After the race, Page s win was well applauded by fellow competitors, officials and marshals alike. Not bad for a 1600! Honda Cup goes to Thompson Over the winter, the Motul Honda Cup was also run at Pukekohe, Taupo & Manfeild. Organised & run by SS2000 racer, Alan Stewart, the series attracted a number of newcomers and also some of our very own Honda racers. Going into the last round at Manfeild, it was our SS2000 racers Brent Thompson (Civic 1600) and Martin Dunn (Integra) that were both poised to take the inaugural title. In qualifying Dunn just pipped Thompson and in races 1 & 2 Dunn also finished two positions ahead of Thompson, thus closing the points gap slightly. However, it was race 3 that really secured the title to Thompson whereby he finished 4th with Dunn unable to make up the deficit in 14th place. There was no doubt that consistency had paid off for Thompson and he got awarded a very unique trophy for his efforts. Plans to run the Honda Cup again next winter are already underway with the possibility of extending the number of rounds and a few more tweaks are in order. The Honda Cup winter series has already had the effect of attracting a couple of newcomers to our SS2000 series for this coming season and of course they will both be in Hondas.

4 Page 4 IRC Update Things have progressed well for this season s IRC Summer Series and we are poised to get yet another season underway. The IRC web site is now up and running at You will find our class logo and driver profiles based mostly on last year s competitors. I believe this can be updated as this season progresses so as it features our current competitors. You will also find info on all the other participating classes and rounds for the series. Other ideas being mooted for the IRC series include some televised rounds and grid girls, but these are under discussion at the moment. As with all new situations like this (ie: the IRC Series), there will be teething problems and issues to sort through, but the main thing is that all our drivers are able to race. However, despite all this our Club s Executive & Committee are more than aware of having our drivers and member s best interests at heart. We are monitoring the activities that the IRC are conducting and also the demands that they are placing on our club/ class as a participating member. REMINDER NOTICE!! A reminder to all past members to renew your SS2000 club membership if you haven t already done so. If you are intending to race this season then you also need to pay your SS2000 series entry fee. Entries for Round 1 Taupo 24/25 th October close on October 9 th, so get those entries in now!! Don t leave it until the last minute as late entry fees apply after 9 th Oct no exceptions. Membership/ Series entry & Round 1 entry forms can all be found on our website: under Documentation. (Please Note: We do not accept payment by credit card) All payments & forms should be sent to: The SS2000 Register c/- Geoff Page 451 Hutt Road Lower Hutt 5010 (Cheques should be made payable to SS2000 Register) # 26 Back on the Track We have it from a very reliable source (ie: actually Rocky himself) that car number 26 will be back on the track this season. However, it won t be Rocky Fiske at the wheel of the very quick Integra, but a new driver of much younger pedigree (no disrespect Rocky). One of the last times the Integra had its outing was at Taupo round 6 back in March of It was here that Rocky placed the car on pole and took a race 1 victory. It was a great reward for Fiske at the time, as he had had a number of gremlins to sort through during that season. At the end of the season Fiske announced his retirement and the Integra was put up for sale. Despite this the car remained unsold and now it is about to make a return to our series. I would presume that Fiske will not be too far away from the action as well. So welcome back #26 and it s good to have you back Rocky, whether you are racing or not!!

5 Page 5 Pit Exit. Editorial Well the 09 Speedshow has come & gone and the indications were that the attendance was up on last year, although that may have been contributed by the rainy weather. The highlight for me was indeed the Hulme super car, a tribute to one of NZ s greatest motor racing drivers. The only disappointing thing about this car is that they should have made it with a closed top to make it comparable to the Lambos, Ferraris and other exotic machinery. It would also make it more of a marketable icon, something that this car & its roots surely deserve. Our focus now turns to our participation in the IRC Summer Series which begins in Taupo on Labour weekend. We need a good showing so if you haven t got your entry in, you had better do it now rather than later. Whilst membership and series entries have been steady, we need to ensure that we meet our minimum grid numbers of 20 cars. Certainly we showed very good grids last season & hopefully as we wind ourselves out of what has been difficult economic times, lets hope we can maintain some of this momentum. The club will also be embarking on some self promotion this season and hopefully this will continue to help promote the class, with a view to keeping our grid numbers full. Remember, feel free to contribute articles to the newsletter. If there is no news, then there is no newsletter. Cheers. Bob Associate Sponsor s corner Stick with Dunlop Dunlop Motorsport supporting SS2000 Talk to: Alastair Corbett or Richard Fraser Ph: Suppliers of the SS Pit shirts For embroidery, screen printing, apparel, promotional items, safety gear, branding, logo design, illustration, graphic design, business cards, signage & brochures. Phone: