3rd/4th August 2012
Victorian 6 Hour Regularity Relay at Phillip IslandPreparations started way back in January when I received an email from Stewart Temesvary asking for expressions of interest in forming a team or two for the
Victorian 6 Hour Regularity Relay at Phillip Island. It would be the seventh running of the event, and Stewart had been part of a team that competed last year. By March, it was apparent that we would have enough interest to form
three teams from NSW! After a few changes, we ended up with the following:
#18 - TEAMX5 NA18A Kevin Addison (NA8), 18B Bryan Shedden (NA6), 18C Ian Caldwell (NA8), 18D Bob Gage (NA6), Jean Cook (Team Manager), Di West & Letitia Caldwell (Support Crew)
#19 - TEAMX5 NB19A Mike Hicks (NB8A), 19B Stewart Temesvary (NB8A), 19C Tony King (NBSE), 19D Steve Green (NB8A), Cobie Hicks (Overall Teams Manager), Steve’s mate Brad & Tony’s Dad Hugh (Support Crew)
#20 - TEAMX520A Glenn Thomas (NB8B), 20B Ray Estreich (NBSE), 20C Leroy Day (Elfin MS8), 20D Bob West (NC from Victoria), Pam Estreich (Team Manager), Brendan Thomas (Support Crew)
One week before we left for Phillip Island, Ian gave the rebuilt engine in his modified NA8 a run out at an Eastern Creek Supersprint. Disastrously, the engine decided to drop a valve, which lunched a piston. Daniel Deckers was charged with the repairs but the parts didn’t arrive in time, so I offered to share my car with Ian. He nervously accepted. It wasn’t all that long ago that he ran his NA8 in the standard class at club track days, so it wouldn’t be too unfamiliar for him. It also meant he could fly down with Letitia from their home at Port Macquarie, and save them a very long drive.
On Friday 2nd August, I left home at 6:15am to meet Glenn at Sally’s Corner Shell servo. We drove down the Hume in convoy with stops at Holbrook for a pie, then turned south at Benalla, stopping for a late lunch at Healesville, and arrived at Cowes at 5:15pm. Stewart, Steve, Brad, Glenn, Brendan and I stayed in a 3-bedroom townhouse which also served as a meeting room for our three teams.
IMG_4657 by
Guran5, on Flickr
We headed out to the track to unpack, set up our gear, and have our paperwork checked. There were specially-made door numbers & alphas to apply, plus sponsor stickers. We also had to remove or cover up all timekeeping devices ... including the clock! Only hand-timing from the pits and signalling with pit boards was permitted. After setting up, we went back into Cowes for dinner at the RSL.
IMG_4663 by
Guran5, on Flickr
IMG_4664 by
Guran5, on Flickr
Saturday - PracticeWindy, cold, wet and miserable is the best way to describe how Saturday started. Thankfully in the late morning, the clouds blew away, the sun broke through, and the track eventually dried.
IMG_4673 by
Guran5, on Flickr
The day was broken up into 40 or 45 minutes runs, which we split in half so that we could practice the driver changes with 20-odd minutes each on track. I started Session 1 for our team and had a wet track but no rain. The first lap of each practice run was full-course yellow flag, which was a bit of a waste of time. I got stuck behind a Falcon for the first couple laps, until I got past on the inside at Honda – that became a regular spot to get past all the “fast-in-straights-slow-in-the-corners” cars. Released with a bit of clear track, I started to revel in the slippery conditions – I love driving in the wet! It’s not fast but is a huge amount of fun! There were some heart-stopping moments getting loose over Lukey Heights but I managed to avoid any spins for the entire weekend.
Into the pits, I handed the “baton” to Kevin and then swapped over the Dorian and alphas for Ian’s first run with more rain starting to fall. Since Ian had never dríven at Phillip Island before, let alone dríven my car, I went out in the passenger seat while he had his first run. He seemed to enjoy himself despite being used to a much more capable car.
First-timer session with Ian by
Guran5, on Flickr
For my second run, I had two laps under yellow flag and a perfectly dry track. Once under way, I had lots of traffic to negotiate and did not get a clear lap in. My best lap was 2:13.05, which included having to overtake one car into Honda, and then getting held up at Lukey Heights, MG and turn 12. To make matters worse, Jean waved me in two laps sooner than planned.
For my third run, I was the changeover car after Kevin with a dry track to savour. However, I got a red flag before I could begin my first flying lap. Back to pit lane, waited 10 minutes while the track was cleared, then back out again. I had lots of traffic, both faster and slower for the first few laps and got held up by a MINI JCW for a while before finally getting past under brakes at Honda. My last two laps were both compromised by traffic at Southern Loop and Siberia, and so I finished with a best time of 2:09.35 on the fifth and last lap. I wasn’t particularly happy about getting only 15 flying laps all day, not one of them unobstructed, and on the whole, I found the practice day to be a frustrating experience.
What target time should I nominate for the regularity? Even with the “benefit” of running on R888s, my best lap on the practice day was a second slower than my PB of 2:08.28 which was set on RE001 Adrenalins! That left me with a quandary. Considering that I didn’t get a clear lap in, and my PB was set at a supersprint with plenty of clear track, a bit of a gamble was required. In the end, I locked in 2:08 assuming that if I fluked a clear lap, I’d be driving a little more cautiously than at a sprint, so any benefit of the R888s over the RE001s would be cancelled out and I’d get close to my PB time. Our other nominated times were 2:07 for Kevin, 2:10 for Ian and 2:25 for Bob.
That evening, we had dinner at Pinos Trattoria, washed down with some good red wine. Afterwards, we watched some video from each other’s cars and discussed strategies for the next day.
Sunday - Regularity RelayKevin started for our team with a grid start on the main straight. Quite a big deal was made of the event, with bagpipes and a Chaplain blessing the cars. Then promptly at 10:00, the 6hr Relay commenced with sunny skies. Our running order was Kevin, me, Bob then Ian. In Kevin’s opening stint of 30 minutes, he did 12 laps (including the out-lap and in-lap) and collected 9 bonus laps. Great start!
IMG_4678 by
Guran5, on Flickr
IMG_4688 by
Guran5, on Flickr
IMG_4692 by
Guran5, on Flickr
Kevin finished the last couple laps of his 30 minute stint behind the safety car, which came in at the end of my out-lap. In my 30 minute stint, I managed 12 laps although four of them were behind the safety car. There was plenty of traffic along the way and I didn’t have a clear lap. I had a 2:09.90 and 2:09.72 to claim 6 bonus laps for the team. A highlight was overtaking an old Porsche 911 not once but
twice!
Bob was next out and did 11 laps and scored an excellent 14 bonus laps, including one that was only 0.53s off his target time. Ian was next and did 13 laps in his 30 minutes (no safety car!), and did very well to claim 8 bonus laps. At the end of our first two hour cycle, we had 48 laps, 37 bonus laps, no penalties and a score of 1824 which put us up near the top of the running order. TEAMX5 did the same number of laps, but scored 56 bonus laps to give a score of 2736 which placed them even higher (third, I think).
DSC00060 by
Guran5, on Flickr
Kevin’s next stint was cut short by a safety car so we brought him in a little early. His 10 laps included one score of 5 bonus laps. My out-lap and first lap were behind the safety car, then I had four laps in the 2:10s while managing traffic (including being held up by and eventually overtaking a Lotus Exige). Without fully realising it, I managed to get one lap completely free of traffic and did a 2:07.93 ...
0.07s too fast and incurring one penalty lap for our team. Might not sound like much but with the complicated scoring formula, that one penalty lap meant our team score was slashed in half! Dammit! 0.07s the
other side of 2:08 and it would have been 10 bonus laps. My next few laps were 2:09.43, 2:08.98 and 2:09.50 which scored 15 bonus laps. Rain started to fall on my third last lap and I was called in after a 13 lap stint.
Bob was next out and he didn’t think much of the rain. He was well off his target time and even “lost” two laps for going slower than 3:00. He was saved further embarrassment by a safety car period and completed 9 laps in his soggy half hour, and obviously no bonus laps. During Bob’s run, Ian ummed and ahhed about going out next as he didn’t want to risk driving my car on a wet track. Thankfully, a gap in the weather appeared so he took his turn in the end. After a couple laps behind the safety car and with the track drying again, he completed 11 laps and scored 10 bonus laps. At the end of our second driver cycle and roughly four hours, we had 91 laps, 68 bonus laps, 1 penalty lap and a score of 3140, which put us in about 8th place – would have been a far bit higher if not for my penalty lap. TEAMX5 were now in the lead at this point, thanks to Glenn, Bob & Leroy claiming an amazing 119 bonus laps in their second cycle.
Ian driving Little Reddy by
Guran5, on Flickr
The break in the weather held out for Kevin’s third stint, but was almost entirely behind the safety car as drivers kept skidding off and requiring recovery. He did 11 laps in his 30 minutes without making any bonus laps. I was due next but was delayed by the long queue to buy fuel from the depot. So with a bit more rain arriving, Bob went out instead. He lasted 5 laps before being forced to run onto the grass on the inside of turn 12, in order to avoid a car that spun in front of him. His car was bogged and needed a tow out, so the officials gave me a new “baton” and out I went. Another safety car was sent out before I finished my out-lap, and that’s how it went for almost the entire stint, on and off, with heavy rain blasting in horizontally – it was horrible. An S2000 had a nasty hit into the left wall between Siberia and Hayshed, causing one of the safety cars. Still, I added another 11 laps to our tally.
Bob had enough after his excursion and Ian wasn’t game to risk the wet track in my car, so it was now up to Kevin and I to finish off the last 30-odd minutes. Kevin bravely added another 9 laps and the sun poked through towards the end. Right on the 15 minute siren, I started the anchor leg and completed another 7 laps with no rain but on a wet and drying track. I didn’t make any more bonus laps of course – the track was far too slippery to get near my target. But it was still huge fun to drive, and hilarious overtaking all sorts of “faster” cars. Glenn Thomas overtook me at Honda on the last lap to set up a “1-2” finish at the chequered flag.
The presentation followed soon afterwards and it was hugely rewarding to see TEAMX5 receive their trophies for SECOND PLACE. They scored a total of 13299 points, with 143 actual laps, 185 bonus laps and one imposed penalty lap for overtaking under yellow flag (a controversial decision which cost them the win). Our TEAMX5 NA scored 4588 points and finished 7th, with 135 actual laps, 68 bonus laps, 2 lost laps and 1 penalty lap. If my one penalty lap had been fractionally slower, we would have finished 5th. TEAMX5 NB finished 15th with 1974 points, 141 actual laps, 13 bonus laps and no penalties – they were actually very consistent but a bit too conservative with their nominated times. All three MX-5 Club of NSW teams finishing in the top 15 out of 50 was a fantastic result!
Link to Final ResultsLink to Natsoft Times
TEAMX5 accepting their trophies for 2nd place by
Guran5, on Flickr
That night we met up at the Isle of Wight Hotel for dinner and drinks. Tales tall and true were shared and the winning team were shouted a bottle of bubbly to celebrate. It had been a fantastic weekend and many friendships were created and strengthened. All that was left to do was the long boring drive home, which I completed solo on the Monday.
... videos coming in the next post.
Was good seeing you down there!
. Peter the grid marshall must have been distracted by his enthusiastic singing over the loudspeakers. 
! The eligibility officer will be speaking with him soon. 
