25th Anniversary of Motorsport Celebrations
01 November 2022 / Words by Joe Kovacic & Bryan Shedden, Photos by Rob Wilko, Fiona Shedden, Reece Lyndon
25th Anniversary of Motorsport Celebrations &
2022 Club Trackdays Motorsport Wrap Up
Motorsport has always been an integral part to the success of the MX-5 Club of NSW. Our first Club trackday was held on 20th January 1997 at Wakefield Park near Goullburn. Ed Chivers was the man who got us started with Club trackdays back in 1997 and we all thank him for that.
With only 2 months of planning we have managed to pull off a very successful 25th Anniversary of Motorsport Celebration at Pheasant Wood Circuit, Marulan on Sunday 23rd October 2022.
Firstly 32 keen MX-5 Club members gathered for a delightful dinner on the Saturday night at the Goulburn Soldiers Club to catch up with old mates and discuss motorsport tactics for the next day.
After 6 successful Club trackdays this year and (and cancellation of 2 events at Wakefield Park) we arrived bright and early for our final Round 7 at Pheasant Wood Circuit, Marulan for a damp drizzly 25th Anniversary of Motorsport Celebration. Everyone was super keen with all carports filled by 7am!
We were joined by invited guests David & Simone Raddatz from MX5 Mania, our newest Major Sponsor. Most members would not be aware that David was our Competition Secretary in 1999-2001, and Simone was Club Captain in 1999-2000. It was wonderful to have them back at this keynote Club event, where they got to see their son Zac set the fastest time of the day!
A fully subscribed field of 60 competitors and 65 very excited spectators and officials were present for our Grand Final of all Motorsport events. Nothing could dampen the enthusiasm of our members who enjoyed a complimentary barista coffee and chocolate muffin from the Tipsie Turtle Coffee Van.
The spectators enjoyed watching the motorsport competitors sliding on track for the first two sessions before a splendid complimentary lunch was served. We all imagined we’d be having a Bunnings-style sausage on a slice of white bread with a paper towel. However, Scott and his Pheasant Wood team turned it on with a delicious variety of salads and crusty bread rolls to dress up our snags and washed it down with a soft drink. Crikey, we even had plates and cutlery! Nobody left hungry.
Straight after lunch we did the Careflight Charity Hot Laps Raffle for 6 very excited winners. This was followed by our Parade Laps for about 60 MX-5s and 120 very excited drivers and passengers. The parade of MX-5s was lined up on the main straight for our resident photographer Rob Wilko to take the money shot. After the Parade Laps it was back to business of running the last motorsport session for our drivers.
With the trackday concluded, everyone filed into the canteen to enjoy complimentary drinks that were generously donated by a Club member. The day's trackday results were hurriedly compiled in record time by our Membership Secretary Bryan Shedden under the close scrutiny of Eligibility Officer John Karayannis. This allowed us to finalise the season pointscore and proceed with the annual Trophy Presentation. Congratulations to our first-place getters on the day in their respective classes. Alex Shedden (Standard), Michael DeMaio (Clubman), Gerardo Martin (Super Clubman), Luke Kovacic (Modified), Zac Raddatz (Open) and Andrew Digney (Non MX-5). The full results are here.
The 2022 trackdays were run under a new simplified Class system comprising of five classes including, Standard, Clubman, Super Clubman, Modified and Open Class. Benchmark times are used to award points for places in your class. This system is a lot fairer for all competitors, such that any model MX-5 from NA through to ND can win their class. Congratulations to all our Motorsport Competitors and trophy recipients on the results listed below. Trophies for the Motorkhana Champions were also presented.
The big surprise was the crowning of our overall Motorsport Champion with the Mike Hicks Perpetual Shield. The award was named after Mike in recognition of his enormous contribution to the success of our motorsport activities during (and since) his 13 years as Competition Secretary (2001-2013). The Motorsport Champion is calculated by ranking the highest percentage scores for all MX-5 classes at each round, and summing them across the whole season. Congratulations to Gerardo Martin in his NB8A with a score of 133 points. The Shield was proudly presented by Mike himself.
Track Day Champions 2022
| Class | Place | Driver | Points | Rounds |
| Motorsport Champion | 1 | Gerardo Martin (Super Clubman NB8A) |
133 | 6 |
| 2 | Bryan Shedden (Standard NC) |
121 | 7* | |
| 3 | Luke Kovacic (Modified NC) |
99 | 7* | |
| 1 – Standard | 1 | Bryan Shedden (NC) | 147 | 7* |
| 2 | Jake Murphy (NB8B) | 125 | 6 | |
| 3 | Graeme Tierney (NC) | 114 | 6 | |
| 2 – Clubman | 1 | Sean Byers (NC) | 136 | 6 |
| 2 | Michael DeMaio (NB8B) | 125 | 6 | |
| 3 | Phillip Reid (NB8B) | 98 | 7* | |
| 3 – Super Clubman | 1 | Gerardo Martin (NB8A) | 150 | 6 |
| 2 | John Karayannis (NB8B) | 135 | 6 | |
| 3 | Sean Brennan (NB8A) | 100 | 5 | |
| 4 – Modified | 1 | Luke Kovacic (NC) | 150 | 7* |
| 2 | Joe Kovacic (NC) | 108 | 7* | |
| 3 | Mal Smith (NA6) | 94 | 5 | |
| 5 – Open | 1 | Ralph Thompson (NC turbo) | 133 | 7* |
| 2 | Jamie Martin (NA6) | 120 | 6 | |
| 3 | Russ Maxwell (NC s/c) | 108 | 7* | |
| 6 – Non-MX-5 | 1 | Jason Atkins (i20N) | 138 | 6 |
| 2 | Stewart Grigg (Golf R) | 101 | 5 | |
| 3 | Gerald Drechsler (86) | 96 | 6 | |
| Ladies MX-5 | 1 | Keiran Taylor | 47 | 2 |
| 2 | Tammie Hotz | 25 | 1 |
For those drivers who completed all seven rounds, their worst result is dropped from the point score (*).
Motorkhana Champions 2022
| Class | Place | Driver | Points |
| Open | 1 | John Karayannis | 45 |
| Ladies | 1 | Heather Koorey | 30 |
| Junior | 1 | Charlie Karayannis | 30 |
Following the presentation all our competitors, spectators and officials were proudly presented their special 25th Anniversary of Motorsport caps and keyrings as a memento of the event. Thank you to all our competitors and volunteer officials for another successful year of motorsport.
Lots more of Rob's & Reece's photos and parade lap video on Facebook
