November/December 2012 Auckland Car Club s Monthly Magazine Race, Rally, Clubsport& MORE Photo courtesy of: Tasman Revival
P O Box 27063, Mt Roskill, Auckland, New Zealand 1440 Phone: (09) 620-9797 Facsimile: (09) 620-5247 www.aucklandcarclub.org.nz President Bob White 833-8335 027-490-0548 president@aucklandcarclub.org.nz Vice Presidents Mark Sheehan 579-6611 021-112-9175 vicepresident2@aucklandcarclub.org.nz Secretary/Treasurer Craig Holmes 486-1970 021-889-488 secretary@aucklandcarclub.org.nz Membership Secretary John Lawton membership@aucklandcarclub.org.nz Clubsport Race clubsport@aucklandcarclub.org.nz race@aucklandcarclub.org.nz Club Captain Ross Henderson 815-5089 021-487-205 rawjam@vodafone.co.nz Chief Scrutineer Mark Sheehan 579-6611 021-112-9175 scrutineer@aucklandcarclub.org.nz Club Rooms Hire Steve Morris 835-9515 021-278-9373 clubrooms@aucklandcarclub.org.nz Club News Jason Holmes clubnews@aucklandcarclub.org.nz Committee Members Motorsport New Zealand Licence Examiners Mike Dias 416-6765 027-483-5550 mandm@xtra.co.nz William Yu 537-1308 021-585-218 db3pa121@hotmail.com Aaron Clarke 835-3568 021-485-272 ajcrace@gmail.com Gavin Boyne 413-8389 021-475-447 g.boyne@aspec.co.nz Steve Melhuish 477-2156 021-635-439 melhuish.steve@briggsandstratton.co.nz Brett Davy 834-9300 021-250-1505 bathroomsytems@ihug.co.nz Gary Raiti 027-474-8893 markson.direct@xtra.co.nz Alana McIsaac 027-515-7157 gurlracer@gmail.com Bob White 833-8335 027-490-0548 Peter Borman 837-0488 021-442-700 Note: All calls to the above numbers are to be BEFORE 9:00pm The Club thanks the following for their support. Club News Advertising Rates Single 12 Issues 12 Issues Issue Paid Monthly Paid in Advance Quarter Page $50.00 $37.50 $371.25 Half Page $100.00 $75.00 $742.50 Full Page $200.00 $150.00 $1,485.00 Rates include display on the club s website. Contact clubnews@aucklandcarclub.org.nz for further details.
Date Event Club Location 10-18 November Silver Fern Rally Marathon Rally Car Club TBA 11 November Summer Series Round 3 ACC Hampton Downs 15-17 November Thunder In The Park Motorsport Auckland Pukekohe 24 November Hillclimb Pukekohe Car Club Bright Road 25 November Hillclimb Pukekohe Car Club Murray Road, Round 4 1-2 December Vintage and Historic Taupo Picnic HRSCC Taupo 1 December Auckland Car Club Race ACC CANCELLED Thunder In The Park NZIGP/IRC Pukekohe 9 December Outsource IT Xmas at the Downs TACCOC Hampton Downs 12-13 January Tasman Revival Taupo Historic Racing Club Taupo 3 March Summer Series Round 4 ACC Hampton Downs 7 April Summer Series Round 5 ACC Pukekohe 5 May Summer series Round 6 ACC Pukekohe Clubrooms 44 Stoddard Road, Mt Roskill, Auckland Licensed Bar, Lounge, Large Screen TV Regular Club Night The club rooms are open every Thursday night from 7:30pm until 10:30pm. License examiners are usually available to assist new Members with license exams. Several members of the Executive Committee are usually available to discuss any issues or provide assistance. Club Rooms Hire Rates The Members Lounge and the larger hall upstairs are available for hire for special events such as birthday or anniversary parties, meetings, bingo/housie, quiz nights, training courses, etc. The Members Lounge has a fully equipped bar and the upstairs hall has a complete kitchen available for both venues. Special hire rates are available for Club Members. Commercial organisations and community groups receive discounts for multiple events or long-term commitments. Please direct enquiries to Steve Morris
RACE ORGANISING CLUBS N.Z. INTERNATIONAL GRAND PRIX (AUCK) INC. NORTHERN SPORTS CAR CLUB INC. AUCKLAND CAR CLUB INC. 2013 RACE MEETINGS Day Date Venue Meeting Type MAJOR NATIONAL MEETINGS NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL GRAND PRIX & MOTORSPORT AUCKLAND Friday 01 February 2013 Hampton Downs Testing Saturday 02 February 2013 Hampton Downs Qualifying & Races Sunday 03 February 2013 Hampton Downs NZ Motor Cup & IRC Rounds Friday 15 February 2013 Hampton Downs Testing Saturday 16 February 2013 Hampton Downs V8 SuperTourers - Qualifying & Races Sunday 17 February 2013 Hampton Downs V8 SuperTourers - Races Sat/Sun 13-14 April Pukekohe Park New Zealand Round - V8 Supercars A tribute to Les Rankin. Les passed away December 1st 2012 I have had the pleasure of being a friend to Les all my car club life, to me he was the best Clerk of the Course the club has had, and it was a real pleasure to work with him at race meetings and in later years with the Grand Prix. Les was the man organising our race meetings and was a force to be reckoned with, he was a straight shooter and did not pull his punches when running things, as Joint Race Committee chairman, I think, from its conception, he managed to put this together with others, to combine NSCC, ACC and the GP into a working group for the betterment of the sport in the region. His no nonsense approach was respected by all of those who worked with him and to a degree feared by those who had to appear before him. I am not a very religious person but I do believe that you never die, you do live for ever whilst not in the physical sense, but in the memories of those who knew you and worked with you. Les, you are part of the history of Motorsport in the Auckland region, especially the history of the Auckland Car Club you will never be forgotten but you will certainly be missed. Bob White, President
Hi every one, it is getting close to Christmas and we are having a bit of a break now so we can get into the swing of things so to speak and look back over the last three meetings held this year, I must say that the first two, our September meet at H/D whilst the racing was good the coffers were run dry so to speak, the second at PPRW was a really good meeting even mother nature going her best to turn the track into a lake, still we came through that with a small smile but did not do a lot to fill up the money jar, now our last meeting at H/D was a ripper with a good entry from Honda Cup, and SS200 both strong classes, so to quote EGM it put some tin in the pot for us so it looks as if we might just about break even so far. However, the news is not all good for we are going to have a really hard look at costs, we must make a profit on these event albeit a small one, the research and results over these meetings has shown that we must look at the entry fees, I know this is a sore point to the competitors, but as it stands, the club in effect is paying the entrants to go racing. At the moment to make PPRW just break even we need 56 entries, to break even at H/D we need 71, so we have to look at possibly having one fee for PPRW and another for H/D, or the club goes broke. Added into the equation now is the cost to the club for the Motorsport club to provide marshals to our events, not that have refused to attend, but it goes towards their expenses just like our entry fees go towards our club, it is based on the number of entries to the event. Earlier years, for instance St Johns was a donation to them, the recovery people a dozen beer, and the flags were happy with a BBQ at the end of the day, we have always supplied lunches to them, so what do we do, well there are three answers to this problem, maybe four, now please remember I am not knocking the people who are giving the club a service come race day 1 Firstly up the entry fees, these have not risen for the last couple of years but the costs have, by considerable amounts, 2 Second option with low entries we drop H/D, this we do not want to do as it gives us use of two different tracks that are interesting for the drivers, 3 Reduce the number of events, we that is a no brainer for a start. 4 Increase the number of entries to each event, this will, if it can be worked out, benefit every one for the more entries we get, and then the cost per entry goes down, so in some respect it is over to you guys, the more we get then we can look at the entry fees again later in the year before the next season. 5 Finally Sponsorship for the meetings, if we can acquire this then the situation would change, it could for a round, a couple of rounds or the whole series, any thing would be of great help. Just as a matter of interest it makes no difference that who is running the meetings, the costs are the same to run a race meeting. Finally I wish all of you a Happy Christmas and New Year and hope that the only thing you have to blow into is balloons and thank you for your support over the year. Bob
School Students Racing To International Historic Motor Sport Event 16 November 2012 The Tasman Revival A perennial challenge for the classic car movement is engaging young people said Stephen Knox, chair of the organising committee for the Tasman Revival meeting to be held at Sydney Motorsport Park (Eastern Creek) on 23 25 November 2012. Historic racing is no exception. The Historic Sports and Racing Car Association is very excited about students from a number of western Sydney high schools coming to the international Tasman Revival meeting on official school excursions. Rooty Hill High School, Erskine Park High School and Colyton High School are all involved. Students groups studying engineering, sport administration and photography will be soaking up the 1960s atmosphere at Sydney Motorsport Park. The pit area will be transformed with big marquees and a huge display of period racing cars and memorabilia. After a tailored program of activities to suit the interests of each group, the students will have some free time to watch the exciting wheel to wheel racing on the circuit itself. Apart from being a valuable learning experience, we want to show these young people that involvement in historic motor sport can be at many levels, from flag marshals to pit crew, commentators to stewards. Local school students will also feature on the final day of the Tasman Revival meeting when talented singers from Jamison High School at Penrith will sing the national anthems of Australia and New Zealand on the main straight just before the feature Tasman Cup race. We want to involve local young people wherever we can said Mr Knox. Jason Mobbs- Green has a towering voice which he used to great effect singing the Australian national anthem at the previous Tasman Revival meeting two years ago. We are very pleased to have Jason back and have added the New Zealand anthem to be sung by Indra McKie. This is in recognition both of the numerous Kiwi competitors at the Tasman Revival and the joint involvement of the two countries in the original Tasman Series of the 1960s. More information can be found at: Website: Facebook: Twitter: www.tasmanrevival.com www.facebook.com/hsrca www.twitter.com/hsrca
The Tasman Revival meeting - The best race yet - Huge grid set for the race 22 November 2012 A grid of over 40 1960s racing cars is set to contest the Tasman Revival race at Sydney Motor Sport Park on the Sunday of the three day meeting. Stephen Knox OAM, chairman of the HSRCA s Tasman Revival committee said this year s Tasman Revival race over 15 laps will be the most fiercely contested race for single seat racing cars seen in this part of the world for more than 30 years. Looking at the grid makeup, there is any one of around 15 car and driver combinations capable of winning the event. With over 40 cars to make up the grid, not since the heady days of the 1960s and 70s were so many purpose built racing cars competing in the one race, it will make an incredible spectacle. Mr. Knox went on to say that Australian champion Frank Matich who is the Patron of the Meeting will be watching closely as many of the cars he competed against will be in the race. Unfortunately, twice winner of the event John Smith is unable to attend and as a result the Lotus 49 will not be competing. John is slowly recovering from serious spinal injuries, the result of a recent motorbike accident in the US. Amongst the estimated 15 cars capable of top rung on the podium, is the Brabham BT31 of Peter Strauss. This very quick car was (Sir) Jack Brabham s for the Tasman Series in 1969, powered by a Repco Brabham 2.5 litre V8, a close relative to the engine that carried Jack in 1966 and Denny Hulme in 1967 to F1 World Championships. From NZ comes Murray Sinclair with a Brabham BT29 powered by a Cosworth FVC, a larger variant of the FVA which is a 4- valve engine producing over 235bhp from 1600cc. At least one FVA engined car is expected to be on the podium and with such a diversity of marques including Brabham, McLaren, Chevron, and Elfin it will be very difficult to pick a winner. Amongst the drivers competing will be Bob Cracknell, the Chairman of the CAMS Historic Commission, in an Elfin 600. Chris Farrell will be hard to beat, his Brabham BT30 is a very quick as is Chris himself. Debutant Tasman Revival competitor, Damon Hancock in the family s Brabham BT23 has shown tremendous form in recent times and will definitely be close to the front. Ray Stubber from WA drives a variety of cars, and has shown he is a real force to be reckoned with in the Brabham BT29. Dark horse for the event is Richard Carter who was the 1976 TAA Formula Ford Driver to Europe winner, and has never been quicker in his Elfin Mono twin-cam. Concurrently with these very quick cars will be the pre-1965 category of around a dozen cars. Again the winner here could come from any one of 6 cars. Ed Holly s Brabham BT6 has dominated this category in recent times, but Peter Studer in his Lotus 32 all the way from Switzerland, Adam Berryman with Bruce McLaren s Cooper T70, Scotty Taylor s Cooper T53 and Don Thallon s Cooper T53 will all make for a spirited early category race within the main event, especially as the last three cars are powered by 2.5 Coventry Climax engines. The Tasman Revival race is an incredible spectacle. These cars all lap the Sydney Motor Sport Park complex in about the same time as a V8 supercar. They do this with no aero aids, relying on mechanical grip from the tyres and suspension set-up alone. They accelerate to 100mph in around 7 seconds from a standing start and will attain speeds of around 165 miles per hour (265 kph) down the main straight. They invariably weigh under 450 Kg and the more powerful have around 300bhp on tap.
Van Gisbergen Steels Himself For Bogey Round After podium finishes at the most recent round in Abu Dhabi, Kiwi V8 Supercar ace Shane van Gisbergen is steeling himself for his traditional bogey round at Winton Motor Raceway in rural Victoria this weekend. Over the years van Gisbergen has always been one of the pace-setters at the series' 'away' rounds in the Middle East. But at the rustic 3.0km Winton circuit in rural Victoria - series icon Dick Johnson once described racing there as 'like running a marathon round a clothes line' - it has been a different story. "It's the bumps and the curbs," said van Gisbergen this week. "I don't think we've ever had a good run there." A quick flick through the stats supports the SP Tools-backed Stone Brothers Racing-run Kiwi's assertion. Last year he could qualify no better than 24th for the first race. The year before that it was 15th, the year before that 27th. Typically the 23-year-old has always done better in the races, memorably working his way up to sixth place after starting from P27 in the first one in 2009. But that, he reckons, is cold comfort when he knows that at a different circuit he can be swapping fastest qualifying lap times with champion-elect Jamie Whincup and top Ford driver Mark Winterbottom. "It's just the way the car is and has always been," he says. "It's good when the track surface is really smooth but when it's bumpy or there are high curbs we struggle." This weekend's penultimate series rounds sees two races, a 47 lap/120km sprint affair on Saturday and a 67-lap/200 feature on Sunday with drivers again having the option of using both soft and hard compound Dunlop tyres. After his podium finishes at Abu Dhabi van Gisbergen remains fifth in the V8 Supercar series points standings with just this weekend's round at Winton and the series final at Homebush in Sydney in a fortnight's time to go. 2012 V8 Supercar series Series points after 26 races 1. Jamie Whincup 3360 2. Mark Winterbottom 3064 3. Craig Lowndes 2971 4. Will Davison 2779 5. Shane Van Gisbergen (SP Tools Racing) 2434 6. Tim Slade 2319 Auckland Car Club s official Facebook page: www.facebook.com/race.rally.clubsport
Self-Driving Cars Better Than You-Driving Cars Rachel Swaby asks, In a Race Between a Self-Driving Car and a Pro Race-Car Driver, Who Wins? A self-driving car and a seasoned race-car driver each speed around Northern California s three-mile Thunderhill Raceway loop. Which car will get the fastest time? Before you place your bets, a little setup: Send a pro out on a racetrack, and the driver will automatically find what is mathematically the quickest route around it. They navigate with such adept muscle memory that elite drivers can handle sudden changes in friction on the road without increasing cognitive workload. The autonomous vehicle is a creation from the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford (CARS). We tried to model [the self-driving car] after what we ve learned from the best race-car drivers, explained Chris Gerdes, the program s director, yesterday at The Atlantic s Big Science Summit in San Jose, California. So who would win in a battle between skilled human and a wheeled robot imitator? Humans, of course. But only by a few measly seconds. What the human drivers do is consistently feel out the limits of the car and push it just a little bit farther, explained Gerdes. When you look at what the car is capable of and what humans achieve, that gap is really actually small. Ninety percent of accidents occur because of human error, and even a really smart algorithm isn t going to maneuver a car out of every dangerous situation. Gerdes spoke specifically about the problem with recognizing pedestrians. You can teach a car to recognize something with two arms and two legs as something to avoid, but Go to [San Francisco's] Castro for Halloween, and the pedestrian system needs to recognize strange cases. Costumes or not, Gerdes believes that by teaching a car to operate at the level of our most skilled drivers, we re better equipping them to take care of us. Gerdes can imagine a scenario where cars would assist drivers in difficult situations. Hit a nasty ice patch? All that skidding around Thunderhill Raceway has taught the cars and their programmers how best to deal with the slippery situation. Two things are noteworthy here. First, the comparison is between the very best human drivers and a self-driving technology that could be easily replicated. That means the self-driving cars are already better than most of us. And they re only going to get better. Second, tough, this is in a very controlled environment. While racing at very high speeds is dangerous, there are fewer variables at work than would be encountered in an ordinary commute. I m not sure I d be ready to put my fate much less those of my girls in the hands of a robot car while dealing with the hazards of driving in the DC metro area. Still, that self-driving cars are already this good is impressive, indeed. It shouldn t take long for them to be safer and more efficient than human drivers even under the most complicated conditions. And, at some point, that will make it unreasonable to let human beings drive their own cars, given how hazardous that has proven to be. (Outside The Beltway, http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/self-driving-cars-better-than-you-driving-cars/)
AUCKLAND CAR CLUB INC. P O Box 27063, Mt Roskill, Auckland 1440 Phone (09) 620-9797 Fax (09) 620-5247 www.aucklandcarclub.org.nz APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP I, (First Names) (Surname) and (First Names Spouse/Partner) (Surname Spouse/Partner) of (Full Postal Address, Including Postal Code) hereby apply to become member(s) of the Auckland Car Club Inc. If elected to membership, I/we will adhere to the Rules of the Club. I consent to the Club retaining my details for membership purposes and disclosure to MotorSport New Zealand. I acknowledge my right to access and correction of this information Phone Number Residence Phone Number Mobile (Signature) Phone Number Business Email Address (Signature Spouse/Partner) Occupation Make and Model of Car Date of Birth Please indicate if you or one of your family or team is willing to help at events in one of these roles: Other car clubs of which you are a member (if any) Ordinary full membership, single, including $15.00 joining fee $100.00 Family membership (spouse/partner) (add) $10.00 Youth/Student/Teenage membership, including $15.00 joining fee $60.00 In anticipation of my application being accepted, I enclose the sum of $ Fees include 15% Goods and Services Tax. Membership valid through to 31 March 2012. GST Reg. 11-797-954 Name of Cardholder Signature * Please include Card Security Code. This is the 3 digit number appearing on the back of your credit card. Direct credits to account 01 0183 0055476 00 accepted. Please include your name in payment reference. Meeting Date Approved Membership Card Number 2010-10-15