IMPROVED PRODUCTION RACING ASSOCIATION VICTORIA NEWSLETTER - MAY 2014 IPRA Issue May 2014
Hi there race goers, Well three races down Winton, Phillip Island and Sandown and all is well. With really good starting numbers and even better racing, it s looking to be a great year for our club. We are receiving more and more enquires both before and after each race meeting than I've ever had before. Presidents Report Having said that, if Driver B leaves a hole big enough for Driver A to outbrake him, then he needs to be aware of this and keep an eagle eye on his mirrors and be ready for this possibility to happen. If it does, give Driver A some room! No one wants to repair cars between race meetings, that sucks! Rubbing is not always racing. We all hope common-sense will prevail. Other categories are looking at IP Victoria and asking: what have they got that we don't? My answer to that is : great people all round from our competitors to our committee and then the added bonus of a great social crowd enjoying the BBQ S at race meetings and the camaraderie of our members. All round we are a great category so keep up the good work and be proud to be a part of it. A couple points I need to make, and although I don't want to sound like a broken record (for those old enough to know what a record is), STICKERS STICKERS STICKERS it is the responsibility of the entrant/driver for ensuring all sponsor stickers and their correct locations are sorted at a race meeting. If you are not sure, then check out the Website for a template to show you the way. The committee has spent way too much time in the past checking and reminding members of their obligations this is about to stop! The bottom line is NO STICKERS - NO POINTS and there will be no more warnings. Please understand that we have a commitment to our sponsors and we want to honour that to the best of our ability. Without our sponsors we will have no BBQ s, no Trophies and a much less professional image so please just do the right thing. The other issue I would like to touch on is driver conduct. In the big picture we have very clean racing but there seems to be a trend sneaking in that I would like nipped in the bud! When Driver A with good brakes goes into a corner trying to outbrake Driver B with not as good brakes, Driver A must be confident that he can make it stick without using Driver B to stop him falling off the track. Another item to bring to your attention is a problem we are encountering due to the large numbers of entries at recent race meetings. Due to the large fields, we are seeing a problem getting competitors to stay tight together and keep up a brisk pace on the warm up lap. With 40 plus cars to line up it can take some time. We need to be very conscious of this because if we drag our feet the organisers will reduce laps from our races. The general meeting at DCI Performance Products was a big hit with those that attended, learning something about the product and information about noise and heat control. A big thank must go out to Wayne and team for opening their premises for us to look at, showing us around and being generous with their time to answer the many questions our members had. The next general meeting will be held at MOTEC on the 4th of June. The reputation of this company is well renowned and we are sure it will be a great night. Numbers will be limited so first in best dressed. Keep an eye on your e-mails and the web site for further information closer to the date. Don't forget boys and girls you can now enter race events electrically over the internet. The process takes a little time to set up at first but then it becomes very easy to enter any race you want. You can find the link on the cams Web site or through Vic State Racer and we will put in on the IPRA Vic Web site soon as well. Finally, please be aware that HANS devices will be mandatory next year. Many of our drivers are already using these devices, which is great to see, but be warned, your helmet may be compliant this year but the standards change next year. Check it out it may be time to put a new helmet on the Christmas wish list CHEERS PISTONS RULE IPRA Issue May 2014 2
Winton Round 1 8-9 March 2014 I couldn't recommend this round more highly. Winton has a relaxed atmosphere that is not found at most other circuits. The weather for the three days was fantastic with blue skies and the temperature in the late twenties to early thirties. For whatever reason this round doesn't attract as many locals as other rounds throughout the year. If you haven't raced at Winton for a couple of years there has been improvements to the track surfacing to get rid of the bumps and the A050 has proven a big advantage for heavier vehicles that in the past may not have been as suited to the track as other cars. Over 2 litre qually results: 1. Hislop 1:32.2 2. Dan Vereker 1:33.4 3. Michael Cruse 1:33.5 4. Damian Milano 1:34.2 5. Adam Allan 1:34.6 It was fantastic to have South Australian and former national champion Adam Allan enter the event in his rapid turbo powered Nissan Bluebird. Other interstate competitors included Andrew Cherni, Andrew McMaster and Peter Foote from NSW. The Friday practice provided plenty of opportunity for competitors who chose to enter with six 20 minute sessions. It was great to see new competitors up there such as 18 year old Nick Mckimmie practicing in a white RX7. Nick and his old man are usually found helping out John Perkins and the boys from Kyneton. Although not entered for the weekend Nick drove really competitively on the Friday and it will be great to see him competing in IPRA in the not too distant future. I suspect he may fill the mirrors of some existing competitors! The track conditions were tricky over the weekend with several competitors reporting difficulty in setting the correct tyre pressures. With a bumper grid of 36 getting clean track in qualifying was always going to prove difficult. HQ Holdens were the category immediately before IPRA and unfortunately one of the old 6 cylinder bangers had dropped oil from turn 1 to the exit of turn 2. The track marshalls attempted to clean the track of the oil however on the second flying lap Brydan Darbyshire in his black RX7, fresh from his Bathurst campaign, come unstuck on the oil and collected the wall. Fortunately Brydan was able to repair the damage and finish three races for the weekend. The incident brought out the red flag. Following the red flag clean track was difficult to find. The newly created under 2 litre class started promisingly with two of the quickest cars in the country, Andrew Cherni's Datsun Silvia and Simon Phillips in his turbo powered Datsun 1200 coupe, both entering. Qually results: 1. Andrew Cherni 1:35.2 2. Simon Phillips 1:36.2 3. Rob Wilson 1:43.8 4. Doug Greenslade 1:45.7 5. Jason Bockmann 1:49.0 Race 1 saw three time national champion Ray Hislop in the mighty Falcon lead from start to finish. It was an ominous sign of things to come with Hislop winning all four races. Ray intends to run the remainder of the over 2 litre championship and will undoubtedly be the one to beat. Milano jumped Vereker and Cruse off the start and Cruse slipped passed Vereker into turn 1 who was pulling a tall first gear. Cherni's Datsun expired with a broken harmonic balancer early in the race. Phillips dropped to last after the car over heated and the computer flicked the car into limp home mode for the first lap. NB: 'Limp home mode' has no place on a race car! Phillips staged an epic recovery to finish 12th outright and the first under 2 litre car. IPRA Issue May 2014 3
Winton Round 1 8-9 March 2014 cont Milano finished second, however his weekend would be plagued by oil problems later identified as having a damaged piston. Damian is hoping to be back for Phillip Island. Cruse and Vereker fought out third with Vereker passing Cruse into tank with two laps to go. It was fantastic to see Mark Bradely back in his RX2 with a new bright orange colour scheme. In my opinion one of the best presented and best looking cars in the field. Although out of the seat for a couple of years Mark finished just outside the top 10 in the last race and brought the car back in one piece ready for Phillip Island. Although the BMW E30's had their own race for the weekend several were cross entered and Alan Saint was the highest finisher. Saint and Sean Bell were the two to beat all weekend in the E30 stand alone races. Race 2 saw Cruse leave the grid with a suspected fire. This caused the start to be aborted and the field do another warm up lap. The fire proved to be a false alarm and Cruse started the race from 32nd, eventually finishing 9th. Adam Allan was able to pass Vereker at the start of the race and that is how they would finish. Milano was black flagged with the oil leak problems that would prove terminal for his weekend. Cherni was not able to get his car running for the second race which left the fast improving Phillips to take the win. Rob Wilson was second and Doug Greenslade was third. Cheers Michael Cruse Sunday opened to a sunny and warm morning for IP. Brydan was wearing his battle scars and had some decent bruising starting to show up. It was great to see him still sporting a smile. Ray was beaming about the falcons pace, and was looking forward to seeing how it would go in the longer races. His new lap record from Saturday was on lap 4, so was an ominous warning that the big Falcon was looking after its tyres.. The Cruise boys were plotting their next development and how much faster they could get the little turbo esky to go. They would be starting a little further back than normal so it was going to be on. Rob Braune was starting to show the development progress in the BMW so it would be interesting to see how it worked and looked after its tyres in the longer races. It is certainly making some power and sounding fantastic. Simon Phillips was showing Andrew Cherni how fast a well driven flyweight turbo under two litre car can go, so Sunday was going to be an interesting battle. Race 3 7 laps weather: sunny and warm The Hislop freight train roared off and Adam Allen slotted in behind. Hislop would stamp his authority on the race early and never be headed. Just so everyone knew how fast he could go, he lowered his new lap record even further great job. Braune darted off leaving Dan Vereker, Crowie and Andrew McMasters fast starting E30 to battle into to the esses. Verekers knowledge of Winton and the superb handling RX7 saw him sneak under Braune as they headed into Penrite Corner. Michael Cruise started to make his way forward and by the back straight he was inside McMaster. By the front straight he was hard up behind Crowie and showing pace. If he was going to catch the front runners, he needed to be onto it. A big dive into Penrite and the little rockets drive of the turn saw him through on the Commodore. Simon Phillips was starting his own charge and powered past McMasters BMW. This thing is quick!! IPRA Issue May 2014 4
Winton Round 1 8-9 March 2014 cont By lap 5 Cruise had made his way past Rob Braune and Milano would have stretched his legs enough to pull past the McMasters BMW (it was suffering from fuel supply problems). Milano would finish 8 th, a nice recovery from his back of field start! Adam Allen was being rewarded for the trek from SA with a fine second and a quality drive. Dan Vereker couldn't quick get over the Bluebird, finishing close behind. Cruise would pick up fourth and put himself in a good spot for the final. The battle a little further back was just as entertaining with Peter Foote finishing hot in 7th, almost catching McMaster, and Bruce Henley followed 0.7 seconds behind. Mr Hollywood Cocks was the first of the gaggle of the older V8 Commodores, with Cherni splitting them evenly. Simon Phillips had finished 6 th and the first of the unders, so there was some work to be done to catch him. Alan Saint once again was the star of the E30 group, and had followed in Blair Coull who was finally having a good run. Was great to see Rob Wilson back out in the Suzuki and it was showing a clean pair of heels to all of the audis nice job for the raging 1300cc!! Race 4 Ten Laps Sunny and warm. The warm up proved to be a little bit too hot for Peter Foote doing his best to BBQ his RX7 on the warm up lap. What is it with that car and fire. Sorry to see it and hopefully not too much damage the NSW boys are welcome visitors!! If anyone was going to be able to stop the Hislop juggernaut, then they better be in front by lap one, or it is going to be hard who do you call to give it a try one of those Green Machines with Dan at the wheel!! Both Hislop and Adam Allen had good starts but Dan had other ideas. A demon through the esses saw him up the inside of Adam Allen into Honda and off after the Falcon. By Penrite he was up behind Hislop and on the way out he pounced. Demonstrating his driving skill and the balance of the RX7 he hustled around the outside of the Falcon to take the lead. Alas it was short lived, as Hislop stretched his legs and blew past the more nimble but less powerful rotor. So how fast was Ray his slowest running lap was faster than the rests fastest and his last lap was only 0.2 seconds from his first flying lap.. great car driven superbly. Adam Allen couldn't match the pace of Dan and neither could the Cruise mobile, both settling into 3 rd and 4 th respectively, where they would finish. From the getaway Milano had powered past Braunes BMW, as had the flying Phillips turbo 1200. The little Datsun continued to show its cheek through the essess but Milano powered away on the run up to Honda. Unfortunately for Damian by lap 2 the commodore was starting to drop some fluid and it appeared to be onto its tyres as it started to become a handful. Simon Phillips was tagging the Milano and into Penrite he had a dive. It cost him momentum and Rob snuck the BMW up the inside and past the 1200. A blue haze appeared behind the commodore and it wasn't to last and by lap 3 he was in the pits. Braune went out after the Cruise missile, but would have to settle where he was. Andrew Rhodes Anderson was the pick of the Commodores this time and made his way forward to 7 th and in front of Cherni. Unfortunately the distance proved a problem and by lap 7 his race was over and Crowie would be the fastest of the generals old boys. A mid race mover was Wayne Twist, with the brilliant brakes on the BMW getting a work out and I am sure startling a few as he dove down the inside on a couple of cars. Spita wasn't having any of it and would take his spot back after a spirited duel. Ooo, forgot to mention, Dave Cocks needs to find a new drycleaner after having an off at the sweeper on lap 2 pity as his lap times were on par with Crowie, so it would have been a good dual. IPRA Issue May 2014 5
Winton Round 1 8-9 March 2014 cont Blair Coull was having a great run only to be slowed with fuel issues, whilst Rob Wilson showed consistency to be the key as he finished a solid weekend in 17 th. Adrian Taranto was the pick of the Audis once again, but didnt seem to have his normal pace, so hopefully it is restored by the next meet. Alan Saint will also be disappointed with the final a first lap incident meaning a pile of work to drag himself back to 21 st. Was good to see Jordan Greenslade out pounding out the laps and I am sure with some experience he will be giving Doug a run for his money. Michael Hopp continued his consistent run in the Echo, and it will be interesting to see what he can produce in the new Starlet at PI! There was certainly a few broken and damaged cars after Winton, so hopefully nothing too major and IP can showcase at PI once again. Many thanks to Adam Allen and his crew for coming over from SA and Andrew Cherni, Peter Foote and Andrew McMaster from up north. Hopefully we will see you again soon. Cheers Scott Willing IPRA Issue May 2014 6
Bathurst Pics 2014! What a huge effort from the Victorians at Bathurst this year with three Victorians coming in the top ten. The overall results were Wayne Alway 6 th, Bryden Darbyshire 8 th and Wayne Twist 9 th. There were several other Victorians there who sadly had a few car problems but everyone had lots of fun anyway. IPRA Issue May 2014 7
Bathurst Pics 2014 Cont IPRA Issue May 2014 8
Hi all, Hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas and holiday period, it seems like a distant memory now with all the goings on in the first part of the year. As per usual memberships have been flooding in. As well as the normal yearly renewals, during the first quarter of the year we have already had 15 new members join. Mark Baldwin RX7 Scott Anthony Schlink VH Commodore Andrew Butcher - BMW M3 Jordan Greenslade Ford Fiesta Patrick Hewson VX Commodore Chris Jordan Mini Cooper David Mackrell Craig Manuel RX3 Carey McCormack VZ Commodore Darren and Gary McKimmie RX7 Stuart Steyn RX7 Simon Waterhouse Mitsubishi Evo 4 Jim West BMW E30 Cameron Wilson Commodore As you can see by the above list, a good spread of makes and models, old and new. We welcome you all to the club and look forward to catching up with you all at future meetings. Membership Report Improved Production continues to go from strength to strength and as a result we are looking at another record year. I was lucky enough to get myself organized for Bathurst in February and to say it was experience is a massive understatement. I know you ve heard it all before, people saying how good it is and you must get up there and do it. Let me say, it s an international event held on a world class circuit. Apart from the 12 hour race on Sunday, IP is the main event. I m sure if you talk to anyone that s raced there, you will see their face light up as they start to relive their weekend on the mountain. I can t explain how much fun this meeting is. The trip up there, the camping at the track, the beers all good. On a personal note thanks Scott and Spitta (sorry you guys had minor dramas up there) but you didn t stop smiling. And a massive thanks to Lee Cafiso for all the hours he put in building my engine. I think Bathurst would have to be the biggest test and my car performed perfect finishing every single lap of every session. Lee you re the man. Finally thanks to John Perkins who also spent many hours on the tune etc. After such a good weekend away, it was a shame to have dramas at Winton last month but hey that s racing. See you all soon, cheers Brydan IPRA Issue May 2014 10
Wow what an entry list! Phillip Island Round 2 12-13 April 2014 When the final entry list was released improved production had 48 entries with the next largest category being sports sedans with 25. What was also pleasing was the appearance of some new competitors such as Tony Groves in a silver RX7 and Andrew Butcher in a gun metal grey E36 BMW M3. Competitors who stayed out through the rain were rewarded with most fastest laps coming on the final lap of the session. Kane Vereker went fastest with a 1.45 flat in tricky conditions, a sign of things to come for the weekend. Dan Vereker was second with a 1.46.5 but never really got a clean lap and the weekend would prove the two brothers were closer than qualifying showed. Braune was the only other man to break 1.50 in third with a 1.48.3. Scott Wilson was 4th and fastest Commodore after qualifying. New comer Tony Groves was a remarkable 5th, quite the effort in a new car. Sean Bell was the fastest BMW E30. Jason Bockmann and Doug Greenslade were second and third in the under 2 litre championship. The entry list featured the return of Kane Vereker after and 18 month lay off. Unfortunately Ray Hislop who had entered was forced to withdraw following damage from a rear tyre blow out occurring a Symmons Plains whilst competing in support races for the Tasmanian V8 Supercar round. Ominously Ray will be back for round 3 at Sandown. Qualifying Saturday morning greeted the competitors with over cast conditions and light rain. This made setup selection difficult as the wind would dry the track very quickly. The start of the session was dry with competitors getting one dry flying lap before the rain fell. Both Vereker brothers were one two prior to the rain falling with Rob Braune, in his sweet BMW E30, just behind. Simon Phillips in the turbo powered Datsun 1200 only managed three laps before a head gasket blew managing a 1.52.8 and a few seconds off his normal rapid pace but on pole for the under 2 litre championship. IPRA stalwart Neil Crowe had a dropped to seven cylinders and couldn't break two minutes leaving him in 34th. Fortunately it was only a loose spark plug lead and Crowie would make up for it in Race 1. Race 1 Wayne Alway had to abort the start from grid 12 with a gearbox issue but was able to get off the grid without affecting the start of the race. Simon Phillips changed head gaskets between qualifying and race 1 and had pace on the cars ahead of him. Phillips and David Cox in his VK Commodore battled out fourth place before Phillips spun at the bottom of MG and dropped back to 8th. Wilson was in sixth before dropping out of the race. Cox went on to finish fourth and first Commodore home. IPRA Issue May 2014 11
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Phillip Island Round 2 12-13 April 2014 cont Crowe drove a remarkable first lap passing 22 cars! Watching the Commodores of Crowe, Andrew Rhodes-Anderson, Jason Fankhauser and Chris Spiteri have a race long battle which was never separated by more than a couple of seconds was the highlight of the race. Crowe eventually led that pack home in 5th with Fankhauser passing Rhodes-Anderson on the line for 6th and 7th and Phillips and Spiteri 8th and 9th. Groves was a credible 10th in his first IPRA race. Alan Saint did what he does so often and won the BMW E30 race. The under 2 litre championship saw Phillips take the win ahead of Doug Greenslade and Bockmann. Class D was proving to be great racing as well with second generation racer Jordan Greenslade piping Michael Hopp in his brand new Toyota Starlet. Hopp would Christian the Starlet in race 3 - read on! Out front the Vereker brothers were untouchable with Kane leading home Dan. Both cars lapped competitors back to position 27 such was their speed. Braune was third in what would have been quite a lonely race ten seconds clear of Cox in 4th. Cheers Michael Cruse Daniel Vereker led the cars away in Race 2 and held the lead until lap 3 when Kane then took the lead after Daniel ran wide at Siberia. Milano and Alway from the rear of the grid managed to get to 13th and 14th position by lap 2. Simon Phillips was flying the under 2 litre datto and finished 7th outright just ahead of Tony Grooves new RX7 having a great 1st race meeting. Fankhauser 3rd had too much grunt for Crowe who had a great battle with Coxy and Milano who ended up in 6th position. Alan Saint led the BMW E30s home just ahead of Anthony D Anna and Tarantos Audi. Chris Jordan whilst making good progress through the field got tangled up in the wayward BMW of Andrew Butcher which put both out for the weekend. Jordan Greenslade had a ding dong battle with the Michael Hopp still upright Starlet! Blair vented another engine but managed to keep the oil off the track. The two green Vereker RX7 s took off again with Kane lowering the class lap record and winning the race just in front of Daniel. Meanwhile Milano had moved up to 3rd position just ahead of Fankhauser s commodore. From the rear of the grid the giant killing BMW of Robert Braune moved into 5th spot just in front of the Always RX7. Wayne Twist in 9th position was following the dicing V8 s of Coxy and Spiteri racing each other for sheep stations. David Bone dropped down from a solid 12th position in Race 2 with mechanical issues whilst Crowey suffered a similar fate. Simon Phillips still headed the under 2 litre class whilst limping home with a sick engine with Doug Greenslades Fiesta next best home in the U2 litre class. Sean Bell moved up a few places leaving his dad further back in the field with Bourke, Bowles, Levy and Phil Kirkham just ahead of M Stillwell and the Pearce BMW. Michael Hopp lost the Starlet over Lukey Heights with a resulting minor roll which brought out the safety car for 4 laps leaving a two lap dash to the chequered flag. Cheers Wayno IPRA Issue May 2014 13
Thank You : Narra Photography, Michelle Bullas & Wayne Alway For some amazing photos IPRA Issue May 2014 14
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