TOURING CAR MASTERS
Homebush Bay 3-5 December, 2010
The curtain for the season
would come down at
Homebush, New South
Wales.
A unique venue
amongst the pavilions of
the show grounds and
arenas that
once hosted the Olympic Games.
Andrew with daughter Ruby trackside
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Certainly a challenging weekend of racing laid
ahead on what is an
extremely tight circuit, this
combined with the inclement weather would
keep
the team on its toes.
But first an overview of what work was done since the Sandown round.
For the 85 car of Bobby’s work was totally under
the bonnet and despite
best efforts would not
make the journey to Sydney. The blown engine
was
removed and dismantled to determine if
anything at all was salvageable;
design work got
underway for the installation of a dry sump system
in
preparation for the new engine; the existing
fuel cell was removed to fit a smaller one to allow
an oil
reservoir to be installed in the boot space;
fitment of car plumbing throughout car for oil.
Due to extra machine work required on the
new engine block it became apparent that the
time frame
was impossible so it was decided
not to take the car to Sydney so that the engine
installation could
be done properly over the
break. This would also allow for work on
suspension updates and new rear
axle assembly
to continue.
Bob Mark and Andrew
(pic Rob Lang)
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Andrew’s 1969 camaro required a build and fit
of a new diff centre to
suit Homebush; build of
an alternate diff centre in preparation for ratio
change if necessary; body repairs to right front
guard and nose panel;
routine maintenance
on brakes, replaced one rear rotor, front shock
valving altered, repair slight damage to exhaust
system.
Once done the gear was loaded up and Bob
headed off to Sydney
Tuesday morning.
Once at the track on Wednesday Bobby started
the job of unloading,
but then needed to get to
the airport to fly to Melbourne for a Mercedes
Benz launch of the new
Colorado Truck then flew
back to Sydney on Thursday morning to finish the
job of unloading.
Meanwhile, Mark flew up from
Adelaide.
Wet, wet wet, (pic Rob Lang)
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On Thursday morning Andrew organized
through
Simon Cairnduff of Mercedes Benz
a brand new
E Class for the crew to be shuttled
from airports,
to motels to the track – this was
most appreciated
and saw the team travel in
supreme luxury around
Sydney
– thanks heaps Simon !!
Friday in humid conditions, there would be
a practice and a qualifying session. Andrew
completed 9 laps for the session and was
certainly
on the pace, in third spot behind Bowe and
Richards. For the qualifying session, they would fit
2 x new tyres and use two of the used ones from
Tasmania. This was more a tactical manoeuvre
given
that the three cars in front of us were running
with all news, this would mean in the second
session on
the Saturday we would have all news,
however, this would prove to be in vein, because
the session on
Saturday was marred by rain.
Andrew would complete only 3 x laps, with his quickest on lap 2 with a 1.407 just tenths of a second
separating the first four, Richards, Bowe, Bullas and then Andrew. Given there was another session on the
Saturday limited the laps to 3 choosing to use the Saturday session with the 4 new tyres to improve,
but this would backfire with the session, as I said plagued with rain.
The crew decided that the front brake rotors, given the tight circuit and hard braking would need some work,
so they were taken to Ron Missen’s workshop where they were machined and the pads modified to fit
the calipers. This work was obviously hard enough to make them hungry and thirsty, so solved this with
pizza and a few coldies !!
From left to right: • Bob and Greg compare notes with Stewart, • Andrew set to go, whilst Bobby downsized for the weekend, •
Team Whiteline Racing on pit lane at qualifying.
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Friday night I flew in from Adelaide where Timmy and JB from Yass picked me up from the airport.
With a 5 am start on Saturday, a quick drink in the bar of Hunts and it was off to bed.
Saturday morning was qualifying 2, however, the rain would make for wet and slippery conditions.
Andrew only completed one lap and it was obvious that the times achieved in the first qualifying session
in the conditions would not be improved upon. Other teams came to the same conclusion with Bowe,
Richards and Bullas all sitting out the session relying on their times set Saturday.
Race one was scheduled for fivish, so the waiting game was on, but also,
what would the weather do. Plenty of time to do a lot, but no one really
sure just what and yep, you guessed it just before their race down opened the
rain clouds. This sent all teams scrambling for their ‘wets’ and suddenly the
quiet day had reverted to mayhem !!
The Homebush circuit has some pretty tight sections so with the added
hazard of rain not a good mix !!!
Race one was 10 x laps with Andrew starting out of 4th.
With the green
given the field got away with Andrew getting away well from the grid. In fact,
the whole field managed to set off without damage and contact. Early in lap
one Richards led followed by Bullas, Bowe and Miedecke, however, Bullas would
make an early successful move to take the lead, so too Andrew on Bowe,
so by the end of the first lap the order was Bullas, Richards, Miedecke and Bowe.
This would remain the order until the 4th, when Bowe would move on Miedecke with
the order Bullas, Richards, Bowe and Miedecke. This is how the field would remain
until the 6th when Richards made a brilliant move on Bullas to snaffle the lead.
The order was now Richards, Bullas, Bowe and Andrew although Andrew had
dropped back a little and post race would explain that the back tyres had gone
off and was making handling interesting. This is how they would finish, albeit got extremely interesting with two
laps to go when the leaders came up on lapped traffic and whilst this was negotiated cleanly, in the wet still made
for some anxious moments. Bernie Stack’s 36 car was wired with cameras and provided some great footage of
the race and in fact coverage of a little event of his own when making a move on Cameron Tilly who was a little
wobbly in the wet, Bernie sustained some nasty damage to his left front guard.
Bobby sidelined for the weekend helping Andrew get sorted pre race (pic rob Lang)
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With no further racing for the Saturday, Bob, Andrew and myself headed up to the
WesTrac facility to see Jim, Justin, Scott and the promotions and publicity team who,
as is usual, put on a great show for their guests. Everyone was having a great time
and were all decked out in the WesTrac Racing gear – they looked the part.
In the evening the team joined the Keene/Sparks racing stable for dinner at Hunts
and a lot of
laughs were had !!! We were up and about at 5.00 am again for
another early start.
Race one for Sunday was at 8.30 a.m. and over 10 laps and despite being overcast
was a dry track!! Hooray!! This was a reverse grid of the top 8, so saw Andrew off the
third line in 5th. Bogging down a little at the start, Andrew managed to get away before losing too many positions
and by the 2nd lap had managed to get into 4th, moving into 3rd in the 3rd lap, as the front runner Mark King
had been given a drive through penalty.
The order of Bullas, Bowe, Miedecke and Richards would remain the status quo
when in the 8th lap Bill Pye triggered a safety car when his entry got taily, causing
him to spin into a tyre wall, pushing tyres onto the circuit. With 1.5 laps to go, on
the finish of the 9th the race was declared due to time restrictions.
Race 2 for the day (3rd for the weekend) was again over 10 laps. Whilst overcast
managed to get this race in without another downpour. Whilst an improved start for
Andrew, there is still room for improvement as he still lost a spot, but by the end of the
2nd lap was in 4th behind Richards, Bullas and Bowe, then on an inside move on
the 3rd managed to get around Bowe to move into third.
This would remain throughout
the race with the first 4 developing quite a lead on the rest of
the field. Andrew’s brakes
were starting to fade in
the 7th, but he was able to keep on keeping on to
bring her home
for 3rd behind Richards and Bullas
1 and 2 – Bowe would finish in 4th.
From left to right: • Ron on pit lane, • Andrew, Ruby and friend James, •In what resembled a Back to the Future time machine
creator Brad Denning with his creature comforts at the
track, full t.v. stereo.
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Tight racing, Bowe, Miedecke and Richards up close and
personal (pic Rob Lang)
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Jim Richards set a lap record in this race on the
2nd lap with a 1.40.17,
Andrew’s quickest was on
the 4th with a 1.40.74 – not much in it at all.
The 2 x 3rds and a fourth would see us 4th for the
round and 4th for the
series. Andrew had media commitments to attend, the
team packed up
the roadshow, then headed up
to mingle with the WesTrac staff and
guests. That evening there was a presentation dinner held
at Rydges
at Parramatta for the series awards.
As I mentioned, Andrew finished 4th and also
won Rookie of the Year
for his first season in this
category. Andrew’s speech was most entertaining
and he looked pretty
relaxed behind the podium !!
Left: J.B. or “POP” as we call him a ‘willing participant’ for Santa
dress ups !
Right: Lili Sparks Keene enjoys a
buggy ride with Andrew
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We also won the Best Presented Team award
for the year.
Fellow South Aussie Bernie Stack won the Group
2 award for the weekend and the year which was
well deserved.
Bump out from the Sydney Olympic Venue
was not until Monday morning – Sydney early
morning
traffic is definitely a challenge. So too,
the added worry of which way we would be able
to get home
due to the floods. Bob and I went
through Temora, Griffith then back on track via
Hay and Nerrandera.
Needless to say, this added
some time to the journey, but did manage to get
through.
That’s a wrap for events for this year – next year has
a big program lined up with a much greater and
improved television regime.
For the 1969 WesTrac Camaro the off season will
see a concentration on further engine and braking
development. Andrew will test enhancements
being made to produce a better performance off
the start line.
I will be in contact further with the calendar for the
2011 year and the team direction. In the meantime,
we thank all of our sponsors and supporters for their
incredible support throughout 2010 and may you all
have a wonderful Xmas and New Year.
Kind regards,
Shaz
Media Release -
6 December 2010
The art of
winning:
Richards into
fifth decade of
success with
TCM
Motor racing legend Jim Richards added
yet another series title to his incredible list
of achievements as he wrapped up the 2010
Touring Car Masters presented by Autobarn
Championship in style with a fitting race win in the
season’s final 10-lap contest at Sydney Olympic
Park, Homebush (NSW), this weekend.
In a thrilling season-long title fight that went
right down to the wire, Richards was still under
threat from two-time and reigning champion
Gavin Bullas heading into the very last race of the
season.
While Bullas was back on song enjoying his best performance of the year and more than capable
of taking the final race win he would need to hold
on to his crown, Richards was in the box seat with
a DNF on the concrete-lined streets the only thing
able to rob him of the 2010 series title.
Needing simply to finish the last race, Richards
could have been excused for running a
conservative race to ensure he got his hands
on the silverware. But instead, he launched the
Shannons Falcon Sprint off the start line for race
three in a drag race with John Bowe and led the
field from the first corner.
Charging hard, Richards was soon under fire from
the Rain City Racing Mustang of Bullas. The seven-time
Bathurst 1000 winner responded with a new
lap record as he balanced the Shannons Falcon on
the very limit of track adhesion.
Crossing the finish line in first place added the
exclamation mark to a superb season for 63-yearold
Richards as he secured a phenomenal 22nd
career championship victory.
Adding the title to his incredible list of
achievements, Gentleman Jim has become the first
driver to have secured national-level series titles
every decade across five different decades (1970’s,
1980’s, 1990’s, 2000’s, 2010’s) - a rare and incredible
feat for any sportsman of any sporting discipline.
Richards was delighted to secure the series
title, particularly without putting a scratch on
his immaculate Shannons Ford Falcon Sprint all
season long.
As Fords filled four of the top five for Group 1,
Richards may have secured the title ahead of
Bullas, but the out-going champion still ended the
season on a high note as he scored his first round
win of 2010 ahead of Richards in second. The remaining series leaders finished the final
round in championship order with Bowe’s WesTrac
Cat Mustang in third, Andrew Miedecke in the
WesTrac Cat Camaro was the General’s only top five
representative and the series rookie of the
year, followed by Leanne Tander’s Wilson Security
Falcon XA Phase IV rounding out the quintet.
GROUP TWO
The Group 2 series was utterly dominated in the early stages of 2010 by the silver Gawler Bodyworks Porsche 911 RS of Bernie Stack.
Despite being reeled in by the Ford Mustangs of Chris Stillwell and Ian McAlister and the Valiant Pacer of Cameron Tilley as the season wore on, Stack was unwavering in the series lead right from the very first race in round one at Adelaide’s Clipsal 500.
However, a heart-stopping moment on the streets of Homebush looked set to cruelly end Stack’s championship bid in race one when, on a moist track, he collided with Cameron Tilley as the Pacer slowed momentarily leaving Stack nowhere to go.
Fortunately for Stack, while missing its front left quarter panel, the battle-scarred Porsche didn’t miss a beat and he made up two positions in the process to take the Group 2 race win ahead of Tilley who also recovered well from the incident.
Overnight repairs had the Gawler Bodyworks Porsche ready for action in Sunday’s races two and three to keep Stack’s championship alive but, with title rival Stillwell mathematically out of the equation after race one, a round-ending rolled bearing for McAlister gave Stack the Group 2 series crown before race two even began.
New champion, Stack went on to finish up the season strongly with second place in round eight behind Tilley who’s Pacer was well at home on the Sydney Olympic Park circuit. His third round win of the year, Tilley took a well-deserved, very sideways and entertaining season-ending win. Australia’s fastest orthopaedic surgeon, Greg Keene in the SportsMed Porsche scored his second consecutive Group 2 podium finish for a strong end to the season.
Having entered the final round in fourth place with his eye on third in the championship, dramas for the both the Ford Mustangs of Stillwell and McAlister gifted Tilley with a surprise second place for the season.
A strong result after a year out of the game, Stillwell held on for third for the season. After a trouble-filled 2009 season, McAlister bounced back in 2010 as a championship contender with the very final day of the season marring what was otherwise a superb year. The shiny black Nelson Architects Porsche of John Nelson rounded out the top five for the season.
GROUP THREE
The Group 3 battle was the fiercest title fight of all, with title contenders Tony Karanfilovski and Phillip Showers going into the final round dead even on 10 race wins a piece to their credit and just four points separating the pair (on adjusted points).
Showers expected the Homebush circuit to suit Karanfilovski’s Alfa Romeo GTAM - and he was right.
Aided by the wet in race one, Karanfilovski enjoyed his best overall result in the series to date, peaking as high as 16th outright, he was driving on the ragged edge with a number of larger-capacity Group 1 and 2 cars trailing. With Showers running back in 24th place, Karanfilovski backed off marginally to ensure he got the Alfa safely to the finish to complete the job on Sunday.
The TIFS Warehousing and Distribution Alfa Romeo again took line honours in both races two and three to end the season with a clean-sweep round win and the inaugural Group 3 Championship.
Showers’ Northern BM Escort, complete with a one-off flower power livery (courtesy of a light-hearted prank from a rival team on Saturday night), wrapped up a solid second place finish for both the round and the series.
Cameron Mason in the Steve Mason Family Cars Datsun 510 managed to nurse his $600 stock standard engine all the way from round six to the season finale to keep himself amongst the action.
Enjoying two clean races, Mason missed the final 10-lap dash when his throttle cable came off on the warm-up lap, but still took home the third place trophies for both the round and the series. |
