The Amaroo Circuit (South) of Sydney Motorsport Park hosted the second Festival of Sporting Cars (FoSC) event for 2014 on the June Queens Birthday weekend. Known as the Queen’s Birthday Invitational the event was held under grey overcast conditions however the threatened storms held off until the final chequered flag fell.
The event ran over the new 1.9km circuit, utilising the new challenging 800m winding track layout. We were down at the Circuit with Sean who was racing in the Regularities in his Mitsubishi Lancer GSR.
It was Sean’s first go at the South Circuit so he spent some of the night before on YouTube studying the racing lines. If you can remember the night before your first track day we’re sure you can relate! Sean’s GSR is a fun little track hack stripped out with a roll cage, a set of genuine Regamaster Evo’s and host of Evo 3 goodies.
Regularity is a form of Motorsport where outright speed and pure lap times have no bearing on the overall results. In regularity competition, entrants will nominate a benchmark time following practice. That competitor will then aim to get as close as possible, or maintain that nominated time in a series of runs following the practice session. Penalty points are awarded for each tenth of a second competitors are away from, or of they lap quicker than, their nominated time. Therefore the driver with the least number of points at the conclusion of an event will win and the person with the most will finish last. So, even if a competitor sets the slowest time imaginable he or she could still win the weekend by lapping consistently at their nominated benchmark – be it 56s or 1m20s.
Regularity competition is designed to open up the sport to newcomers, or competitors who might not have the budget or machinery to race in a fully-blown racing environment. The great guys and girls at FoSC have been around for 9 years and love to run these events as one of their main objectives is to provide affordable, non-contact motorsport for true enthusiasts. As such, they have a great reputation for friendly, but tightly run, meetings and a safety record that’s second to none.
While Sean went to the office to nominate his benchmark time we could smell the fresh burn of rubber so we decided to head over to the North Paddock to see what was going on.
Just as we walked out of the tunnel we were greeted by these 2 Hi-Tec Drift School Nissans initiating into the tight Figure 8 circuit and 2 passengers looking like they were having the time of their lives!
Over to the right was the Drift School conducting their wet skid pan programs.
Over at the North Circuit the guys at Fastrack Racing were running their usual days where you, yourself can have a go at the North Circuit behind the wheel of a V8 Racecar. If you’re not game enough to get behind the wheel yourself you can always go for a few hot laps.
It was nearly Sean’s time to head out on track so we started heading back to the South Circuit. Here’s someone having a blast in a V8 Racecar. This is the new link road on the North Circuit which offers a unique challenge, as racers turn left from the entry to turn four, followed by a banked right hander over a blind crest with a downhill entry into the exit of turn 14.
Sean’s nominated time was a 1m12s. In his first official run of the day, Sean ended up in 3rd place on 39 points behind 2nd place on 43 points and 1st place on 44 points. Not bad for his first time doing regularities and his first time on the South Circuit.
The Regularity category saw a diverse mix of vehicles, including some beautifully restored classics, open wheelers and even tuners.
Also on the programme were races for Historic and Invited Racing Cars plus Historic and Invited Sports and Touring Cars.
We’ve always wanted to try out the new ARDC Café “The Garage” and it didn’t disappoint. Great clubhouse food, food and views of the V8 Racecars heading into Turn 1
Sorry no pics of the food – we were too hungry! The café and bar provides a casual, relaxed place to either prepare for a day of racing or share stories of the day’s exhilaration over a wine or beer long after the chequered flag has fallen.
We also stopped by the V-Sport store on the way back to the South Circuit. So much automotive goodness. Alpinestars gloves, Arai helmets, the lot!
It was a great day out at Sydney Motorsport Park. Sean went away with:
3rd Place in Race 1
, 6th Place in Race 2
and 7th Place in Race 3.
For more information visit:
http://www.ardc.com.au
http://www.fosc.com.au
http://www.sydneymotorsportpark.com.au