Mallala Motor Sport Park will reverberate to the sound of V8 Touring Cars this weekend during round two of the Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships.
A strong field of Kumho Tyres supported V8 Touring Cars will be led by local driver, and the series’ inaugural champion, Chris Smerdon in his ex-James Courtney Stone Brothers Racing BA Falcon. Smerdon is no stranger to Mallala, but the pole-sitter from the 2010 round will have his hands full this weekend balancing learning a new car, with combating the onslaught from one of the strongest fields in the series history.
"I've certainly done a lot of miles around Mallala," Smerdon admitted, "and I know where I can make up for lost time. It may be a relatively short circuit, but it's tricky and deceiving, and I think you may see some of the lesser experienced drivers lose a lot of time trying to come to grips with the idiosyncracies of the circuit.
"It will be nice to be back on home soil, and nice to see 17 cars on the circuit," he admitted. "The field has taken a huge leap forward this year, so replicating my pole position from last year [in his older model AU Falcon] will be a lot harder. There's any number of a half dozen cars that will be there fighting for outright honours, perhaps more, so I'm going to have to be on my game, although I seem to have perfected having a 'wide' car, so that may come into use," he laughed.
Whilst Chris will be the focus of local attention, so too will be one of the more famous cars in the field, the ex-Mark Skaife Bathurst 2006 car.
For V8 Supercar fans, this car holds it’s place in history, not so much for setting pole position for the Supercheap Autos Bathurst 1000 that year, but for playing its part in the huge opening lap accident with Jack Daniel’s Racing’s Jack Perkins on the opening lap.
Skaife had fried the clutch of the Holden Racing Team’s (HRT) lead entry and crawled his way up Mountain Straight after falling back through the field. Jack Perkins was starting towards the rear of field and as he crested the first rise on the way up Mountain Straight, the field parted to reveal the rear of Skaife’s Commodore, the pair making solid contact, ultimately forcing the end of the race for both teams.
The car was repaired to its former glory by HRT and sold on to a New Zealand based Fujitsu Series team where it continued to be successful in Australia before it was purchased by new owner Matt Hansen (WA) in late 2010.
Hansen contested the opening round of the Kumho Tyres Touring Car Series at Wakefield Park in early April before sending the car to Adelaide where it was transformed back into its original livery.
“We were missing some critical suspension parts at Wakefield, but that’s been rectified now,” Hansen confirmed. “Although the car was modified to VZ Commodore spec, we’ve returned it to it’s original VY specification [as per the Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car regulations, VZ’s are not permitted until 2012] and included the original HRT team livery. It looks fantastic, and I can’t wait to get it out on track.”
With 17 cars – the strongest field of V8 Touring Cars ever assembled at Mallala - entered for the second round of the championship, the result will be by no means predictable.
New South Welshman Scott Loadsman (VY Commodore) won the opening round six weeks ago, from Smerdon and 2010 series runner-up (and the winner of the Mallala round in 2010) Terry Wyhoon (BA Falcon). Whilst these three will figure strongly in the overall result, so too will rising stars Justin and Nathan Garioch (both in BA Falcons), and former Production Car competitor Jim Pollicina (ex-Greg Murphy Racing VY Commodore).
The Nationals arrival at Mallala also signals the return of the annual Clem Smith Trophy, a highlight of the Kerrick Sports Sedan calendar.
Whilst recent years has seen some intense battles, season 2011 will see the reigning national champion James Sera (SAAB/Chev) and the 2010 Clem Smith trophy recipient Darren Hossack (Audi/Chev) taking a sabbatical, which will pave the way for two-time Clem Smith champion Tony Ricciardello to go after another title.
“It’s disappointing that the other guys are sitting the season out,” the West Australian and multiple Australian Sports Sedan champion admitted after he himself returns from a season away from the category campaigning V8 Supercars.
“I’ve had some epic battles at Mallala, not the least being the 2009 event where Darren [Hossack] and I did some serious wheel banging. We were both at the absolute limit, and we ended up coming together in fairly dramatic fashion – it’s water under the bridge now, but it was pretty firey back then,” he reflected.
“It’s never a sure thing that you’ll take the win, but I’m keen to make amends for a tough 2010, so we’ll be doing everything we can to take the Clem Smith Cup and start our season off on the front foot.”
As Clem Smith, the man after whom the annual event is named will tell you, Sports Sedans are the fastest and most exciting ‘tin’top’ racecars in the country, and to watch them get their power to the ground and accelerate is one of the most awesome sights in world motorsport, they are sheer brute force!
Whilst V8 Touring Cars and the Kerrick Sports Sedans provide plenty of pleasure to the fans of home-grown motorsport, the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge will deliver plenty of action for the sportscar enthusiasts, with a full field of Type 997 and 996 GT3 specification Porsches.
There will be plenty of competition throughout the field, however it will be reigning champion Roger Lago (Queensland) and 2009 champion Matt Kingsley (Gold Coast) that will provide much of the action at the front of the field. Throw in local star John Goodacre, and Victorians Jon Trende and Jeff Bobik and you will find yourself literally on the edge of your seat as you watch the doorhandle-to-doorhandle action on track.
Mallala will also see the debut of the one-make Australian Swift Racing Series, a category which is based on a successful model employed on the other side of the Tasman, and it’s not just the format that’s been adopted, Mallala will also see a number of the New Zealand series’ top drivers entered for the opening round.
The basis of the series is to develop an introductory ‘tin-top’ category where the emphasis is on the driver and not on the size of their wallet. All cars have been built by the same team, and all will be run to strict rules which allow very little modification (some minor suspension ‘tweaks’ are all that teams can modify).
The beauty of this category is that it allows young drivers to hone their skills and show potential future team bosses that it is their ability behind the wheel and not the speed of their equipment that gives them the edge. Entrants will come from across the country and New Zealand, with names that may not be recognisable now, but may well become household names in the years to come.
On top of the Shannons Nationals regulars, there will also be strong local support program from Formula Vee and HQ Holdens where local star and multiple national Saloon Car champion Bruce Heinrich will be hoping to continue his winning ways.
Rnd#2 2011 Shannons Nationals, Mallala Motor Sport Park
Event schedule
Saturday, May 14, 2011
9:00 P1 Australian Swift Sport Series (20 mins)
9:25 P1 Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car Series (20 mins)
9:50 P1 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge (20 mins)
10:15 Q1 Kerrick Sports Sedan National Series (25 mins)
10:45 Q1 HQ Holden (20 mins)
11:15 Q1 Formula Vee (15 mins)
11:35 Q1 Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car Series (20 mins)
12:00 Q1 Australian Swift Sport Series (20 mins)
12:25 Q1 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge (20 mins)
13:10 Q2 Kerrick Sports Sedan National Series (25 mins)
13:45 TA Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car Series (20 mins)
14:15 R1 Formula Vee (8 laps)
14:40 R1 HQ Holden (6 laps)
15:05 R1 Australian Swift Sport Series (12 laps)
15:35 R1 Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car Series (14 laps)
16:05 R1 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge (40 laps)
Sunday, May 15, 2011
9:00 R2 HQ Holden (6 laps)
9:25 R2 Formula Vee (8 laps)
9:50 R1 Kerrick Sports Sedan National Series (10 laps)
10:20 R2 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge (14 laps)
10:50 R2 Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car Series (14 laps)
11:20 R2 Australian Swift Sport Series (12 laps)
11:50 R2 Clem Smith Cup (15 laps - Kerrick Sports Sedan National Series)
12:50 R3 HQ Holden (8 laps)
13:20 R3 Formula Vee (8 laps)
13:50 R3 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge (14 laps)
14:20 R3 Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car Series (14 laps)
14:50 R3 Australian Swift Sport Series (12 laps)
15:20 R3 Kerrick Sports Sedan National Series (10 laps)
15:50 R4 HQ Holden (10 laps)
16:20 R4 Formula Vee (8 laps)
Gates open 8:30am (Saturday and Sunday).Tickets; $25 (Saturday), $35 (Sunday) – weekend pass $50, Kids under-14 FREE (free access to pits/paddock).
