AROCA Broadford Round 6 July 21
SR and EF attached
All the people who have driven on it have said it is a great little track, very technical.
Looking forward to your entry
Neil
GROUSE!
Last call for entries.
Plenty of laps to be had.
I would drive, if I had a car and not officiating!!!
I was just checking out weather for tomorrow and looked up Phillip Island as well, interesting?
They must have their weather station set up at 'siberia' corner.
Russia, to be more accurate.
I'll be packing my extra warm clothes.
While fresh in my mind, I will make the following report.
Despite the cold, wet weather and wet track pretty much all day, the event was a success with satisfaction by all. No incidents, no off's and only one minor recovery and one at the end of the day due to an out of fuel issue where a dickhead tax was imposed on the driver by the recovery crew.
The drive from Melbourne early in the morning looked promising, dry, almost clear sky, light clouds. But as you hit the 50km perimeter mark from CBD, mist and light sprinkles followed by colder weather and then persistent light rain, then a bit of fog and drizzle settled in for a continuous wet and cold day.
Following a drivers' briefing strongly stressing wet track and safety, everyone took notice and behaved and took caution. A little bit of lost of traction initially by a few trying to get a feel of the track and grip which there was none and all settled in for some wet times and careful laps. Interestingly all were very well behaved.
Those who bear the miserable cold wet weather were: David Hincks, Bruno Colautti, Evan Bottcher, Sheldon McIntosh, myself, the 3 MMT flag marshals and Helen Hodge. Those who control the event but had the wonderful comfortable warmth of the control tower were Stuart Thomson, Erik Ruben and Alan Hopla (who also did some running around in the cold). I am humbled by these dedicated club members (who were not competing) to have volunteered their time anyway despite this miserable weather to run the show, so thanks all.
The competitors certainly got some valuable experience in the wet with many doing over 30 laps and some doing 40 laps which equates to about 60 minutes of track time. Quoting Jim Richards "it's a privilege to drive in the wet". I wish I had a car to drive.
Some interesting moments and battles were observed so watch out for some youtube postings. There was a good number of 105's and Alfetta's as per the norm. The usual speed battle between Joe Falcone (Alfa 75 TS) and Dominic Carosa (Alfa 33 1.7), the crazy antics from the Aarons of Mick, Steve and Simon in an Asylum of Alfetta GTV's. The Salon of MX5's including a super quick and interestingly modified carbon fibre fastback. Along with the usual mix of Japanese machineries of EVO's, 200SX and WRX. And one French Renault Clio with a constant waved white flag (but we won't mention the war). Which makes an interesting field to watch.
Regardless, all had a great time and all survived to battle on at our next events at Winton and Sandown.
Until then, see you on the track.
Neil
Great summary Neil. I personally can't wait to see the in-car videos from the Aarons lads.
It's now more than 24 hr since the end of event, rather disappointed on no vision to view thus far.
Though there are some of the RS4 going around following/passing a couple of Nissan thingies going not quite straight.
There's this one of the kangas which ran on the track...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elqb6JkVC1Q
I wish I'd recorded the ambulance going around with it's siren going to scare the roos away!
Some video will be up by morning ;D
Steve - I'm useless with the computer, I can't get the PIP thing to work, it's bloody hard to sync up without timecode! Just load up your video, and I'll load up my vision to match the session. The second one was the most entertaining I think .
Actually don't worry I"ll just upload mine now.
Also - thankyou to Neil and all officials and volunteers, it was one of the most enjoyable sprint meets for as long as I can remember. Great fun and a genuinely happy and friendly vibe around the pits. Broadford definitely has something special about it.
Here is incar video of Brendan's awesome Fastback MX5
I must agree with Neil here.
An unbelievable contribution on the weekend from those folks who were out in the weather all day.
Even in the 'warmth' of the tower we were clad in double coats and beanies. Those on the pit wall were coming upstairs for a visit to thaw out!
A great day from all the competitors, who treated the conditions with caution.
What could have easily been a day of constant stoppages, turned out to be one of the smoothest days we have run.
Thanks be to you all.
Alan.