Supersprint Champion Club FOUR-PETE

19 October 2017 / Words by Ed Cory, Photos by Rob Wilkins

Job done: NSW Supersprints Champion Club 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017!

The MX-5 Club of NSW has won the Club Championship in the CAMS NSW Supersprints for 2017, and with it the fourth title in succession, the first Club to do so. After the technical regulations were revamped for 2017 some thought our run had come to a halt with a hat-trick. But after a strong performance from 35 Club competitors over the seven rounds we have prevailed again! Congratulations to all 63 Club registrants who have contributed to our success; the four-peat was only possible because of our success in 2014, 2015, and 2016.

The MX-5 Club of NSW has now won the Club Championship in 12 of the 19 years that we have competed in this State Championship. It is a tremendous achievement by any standard, and a credit to the enduring strength of the Club over this period, especially the leadership, mentoring and encouragement of our Competition Secretaries and more experienced competitors.

Luke Kovacic has been our "top gun" over the four years, the only one to top 600 points! Congratulations Luke! A further five members got into the 500s – Scott McGarry (597), Bryan Shedden (560), Russ Maxwell (557), Ed Cory (553) and Ralph Thompson (500).

Top scorers by year were David Lawler (2014, 169 points), Phil Donnelly (2015, 158), Chris White (2016, 175) and David Johnson (2017, 175) - well done to each of you. It should be noted that Chris White and David Johnson each scored the maximum – seven class wins in seven rounds! Sixteen members competed in all four years, and seventeen competed in only one year – a nice balance of old hands and newcomers. A full list of the members who competed is attached.

Thanks to EVERY pointscorer - you all contributed to our results in a meaningful way. The strength of our Club is the depth of our competitors, and whether you did only one round, or have been there for every round every year, you are part of our success, and the reason for our success!

Round 7 - Sydney Motorsport Park Gardner Circuit

The last round of the 2017 Championship was held at Sydney Motorsport Park on the Gardner Circuit (GP) on 15th October. Not only did the Club hold the lead we took into this round, we eked it out another 9 points to 261, finishing with 3247 points to ARDC's 2986!

Congratulations to our six round 7 Class winners – Michael Demaio (1B), Tony Williams (2A), Scott McGarry (4A), David Johnson (4B), Ralph Thompson (6A), and Matt Tarrant (7A). They were ably supported by second places from Jason Russell (2A), Jamie Martin (4A) and Jon Fox (4B).

IMG_7659

A big thanks for those who made a special effort to compete at this round in the knowledge that some of our most seasoned supersprinters were competing in another event on the same weekend - the Alfa 12 hour Regularity Relay at Winton Raceway in Victoria.

IMG_7675

Our top scorer this year was David Johnson in 4B with a maximum of 175 points, mirroring Chris White’s similar feat last year in the very different 2016 4B. Other 2017 Class winners for the 2017 Supersprint Championship were Bryan Shedden (1B), Jason Russell (2A), Gus Elias (2B), Scott McGarry (4A), Phil Ashton (6A) and Matt Tarrant (7A).

A total of 35 Club registrants scored points this year, each and every one of you making a contribution to the Club's record-breaking success.

Click here for Rob Wilkin's photo album from Round 7