Mt panorama easter festival

[Mr Ruggles]

In an unusual twist, rally cars will line up for an assualt on the mountain this easter. For the first time the New South Wales Classic Rally Car Association has been accepted to run 3 vehicles in a team effort to be the best in the regularity festival event on Easter Sunday Monday and Tuesday 6th.

Over the 3 days amongst 400 classic sports cars scores of car clubs will compete at speed on the famous circuit.

Rally entries from Matt and Ben Ruggles in the Triumph TR8 along with Gerry Dyvestyn and Ian Buddery driving the awsome Lancia 037 will provide some rally flavour to the event wich is sure to be a spectacle for those that appreciate classic cars. Rounding out the team will be Andrew Wilson in his newly aquired Ferrari 328 GTS.

The team looks forward to a fun event and an event report will follow, maybe we can get some more rally clubs to have acrack in 2011.

Cheers

Matt

[Swill]

Take lots of photo's !

[imortl]

that would be great to watch.

Do you have a linky for the event??

[Ian Bigg]

linky

[Dave Kelly]

Originally Posted by Festival of Sporting Cars Website on the Bathurst event

... Here's what the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) had to say:

"Dear Charles,

I take this opportunity on behalf of CAMS to congratulate you on what was from all reports a fantastic and well organised event. It is pleasing to be associated with events that establish a solid foundation and vision for the future.
I trust we can continue to foster a close partnership and contribute to the ongoing success of the FoSC event."

Graham Fountain
Chief Executive Officer

...

High praise indeed!

Although given the huge exodus of events from CAMS in recent years, I suspect that the sentence that reads "It is pleasing to be associated with events that establish a solid foundation and vision for the future" is possibly code for "thank god someone has chosen CAMS to run a new big event, and I wonder how many different permits I can issue for this event next time so that we can make this one event look like its actually many more?"

Cheers

David

PS. Actually, all jokes aside, it sounds like a really interesting event and I wish I was able to head to Bathurst for Easter just for a look-see!

PPS. All those tweed coats and elbow patches that'll be there is something of a contrast to Mt Panorama at Easter from 30 or so years ago when the bloodbath bike races used to be on!

PPPS. Have fun Matt & Ben.

[mikey_m]

I have been a trackside official waving all kinds of coloured flags at this event for the last two years, it has always been a fantastic event and experience and they treat their officials soooooo well.

I always reccomend this event for both competitor and official, the team at FoSC do go to amazing lengths to run a good event.

Hmmm Tweed............. it's back you know!

[rowdytoot]

Dave- the interesting thing about that is - all the dude sI know who have competed in previous year are kicking up at the reduced track time for racing, rolling starts, higher costs, and other stuff imposed this year. The organisers are claiming this is a result of CAMS requirements.

[Dave Kelly]

Originally Posted by rowdytoot

Dave- the interesting thing about that is - all the dude sI know who have competed in previous year are kicking up at the reduced track time for racing, rolling starts, higher costs, and other stuff imposed this year. The organisers are claiming this is a result of CAMS requirements.

If CAMS continue to make life hard as you say, then all the love letters in the world from Graham Fountain won't stop the event organisers presumably sooner or later doing what an ever increasing number of other event organisers are already doing!

Hopefully (he says with a hint of desperation ) at CAMS though, there soon will be a stop to the kind of unhelpful approach some in senior positions appear to have adopted when it comes to appearing to completely ignore the whys and wherefores of the exodus of competitors and events from CAMS...

... What is so desperately needed is for CAMS (including IMPORTANTLY the Board) actually PROPERLY and MEANINGFULLY engaging with their Members/Event Organisers/Venue Operators/Licence Holders etc so as to work together to try and come to an understanding of joint needs, rather than the all too familar story of late of pronouncements from on high of ever increasing hurdles for event organisers, venue operators, clubs, competitors and all involved.

I'm no mathematician, however the equation;

(Higher Costs) x (increased Complexity) x (Decrease in Staff with Experience and Knowledge) x (Decrease in Service) appears to me to = (Increasing Issues and Concerns for CAMS.. and particularly financial ones!)

Therefore, its not "rocket science": to try and stem the flow... it will take a hell of a lot of soul searching, a significantly higher standard of leadership, a belief that CAMS IS the sum of all its parts (rather than some dynastic fiefdom which in some parts it appears) and a willingness to actually realistically understand and address the very real issues!

These are exactly the sorts of things that I hope many here will think about in preparing and putting in submissions within the next week and a bit (submissions close 31 March 2010) to the CAMS Task Force!

It is vital that as many different voices as possible are heard... and putting your views in are as simple in a way as posting on here, as it can just be an email to the relevant email address (with copy to the Chair of the Vic S&CDC.. or indeed your own States S&CDC Chair) with your comments, feedback, queries, suggestions etc.

I'll post separately on this later in the appropriate thread with a quick template people might want to use as well

Cheers

Dave

[mikey_m]

This year looks very good, all CAMS issues aside. There are more competitors and over 5 days instead of 3, hopefully there will be lots of track time for everyone.

[moxo]

I didn't stay for the Regularity festival (and didn't realise the Lancia was running, otherwise I might have stayed a bit longer).

What a great weekend. It was like the Bathurst of days gone - camping in the pits with the cars. Friendly atmosphere, club-level competitors selling everything they own just to race at Bathurst.

So really great cars there, as well as some marvellously dull ones. But they were there - at Bathurst.

There's no soul any more at the October meeting - it's all terribly professional - which is a good thing for that level of the sport. But there's no passion, no desperation. This year one of the Group C touring car teams was battling a drama, so you had the ex-Allan Grice Commodore doing laps of the paddock camping area while they tried to trace a missfire.

A V8 Supercar team would just drop in a new engine. In the old days, you'd see cars being run-in on the road (a Bathurst touring car with trade plates. Really!)

Lots of fun.

You can run a rally car in regularity events, so you get to go as hard as you want (as long as you don't drive like an idiot) at one of the great racetracks. You can run a road car! There were Ford GT 40s with XR8s, TR8s, hotted-up sports cars and even a Ford Focus. There are experts on hand to give you tips as well. Guys like Bruce Stewart, Mal Brewster, Warren Weldon and Gold Star Champions Spencer Martin and John Leffler.



Moxo

[Mr Ruggles]

what a great event, 3 days on the mountain driving what can only be described as the most alluring track . Unfortunately the 037 didn't quite make due to new motor not yet finished.

Both Ben and I had plenty of laps with rally suspension in the TR made for some committment particularly through the chase. We finished up within .4 sec of each other. Like Moxo says over 400 cars in the festival event and literally all types. Race cars, rally cars, club cars, some road cars , clubmans and many many porsches. Some real exotic gear .

I would recommend it to anyone wanting a go at the mountain its a real challenge I can say after 3 days I still havn't got any corner exactly right,... oh well just have to go back next year and try again

Cheers

Matt

[brm]

Just to reiterate a great weekend.


All sorts of cars. One brave soul in a Lada Niki and another in a Mini panel van!

Gravel suspension and tarmac tyres made for a wild ride.

Top speed of around 220Kph running out of revs with the tailshaft threatening to climb into the cabin down conrod was fun. Hold your breath and aim throught the chase.

I would also recommend the evnt to anyone who has ever thought about driving the mountain.


30 laps and still not close to getting it right. Next year!!!!!!!!!!!

Ben