Event Wrap: NSW MRC Finals

The final round for 2014 of the NSW Motor Racing Championships, held at Sydney Motorsport Park on the weekend of Oct 25/26th, was a true testament to the fun and friendly rivalry that competitors in this race series enjoy – evident by the amount of names on the entrant list at this late stage in the year.Whilst many race series find it hard to get enthusiastic numbers to fill the available places come race day at this end of the year, when many of their race category championship results are a fait accompli, Round Seven of the NSWMRC was filled with racers enjoying an end-of-year carnival like feeling in the pits. For some there was a glimmer of hope for a championship podium finish, for others it was a time to work on a few new ideas and mechanical setups in the hope of jumping out of the blocks and stealing a march on unsuspecting rivals in 2015.

Steve Lacey in Sports Sedans was holding onto second place in the championships even after the dreadfully unlucky year he’s had with multiple rounds suffering steering failures. His poor luck continued over the weekend with an engine failure in Fridays practice. With no time to evaluate the problem, and new engine was thrown into the car on Friday night, and with three gentle laps in Saturday’s qualifying to bed it in, it was “off to the races” with it for a last throw of the dice to seal his championship spot.

Birol Cetin, who was leading the championships in the same category and only needed one race finish over the whole weekend to secure his championship, also suffered misfortune on Friday with an in-car fire. Come early on Saturday morning there was serious doubt about his ability to start as the problem was identified as a faulty cam shaft sensor causing unburnt fuel to buildup in the exhaust pipe and a misfire set it alight. Cetin showed the champion form he’s displayed all year not letting a back of grid start hamper his plans and took the championship lollies with a superb drive in race one coming from last to place second. Congratulations to Steve Lacey on a gritty performance throughout the year to hold onto second in the championships.

Another exciting category was Improv Prod U2L featuring a return to the championship of Bob Jowett. Bob smashed his Civic mid year, and missed two complete rounds of the championship. Sporting a bright new livery on his new Civic, he showed dynamic form to take the win in all three races on the day.

With too many points out front in the championship, Dave Crighton thought he only need to complete one race to ensure his number one spot in the championship. However, he was informed he needed to complete two races. He took it out hard and was having a beaut run when on the last lap rounding turn eighteen he suffered a fuel pump malfunction and lost the lead as he limped down main straight and coasted across the finish line . Heart in mouth he snatched his championship victory back from the jaws of defeat.

Finishing a stellar year in style Steven Devjak took three wins from three starts on the weekend and wrapped up his year in wonderful style clean sweeping his way to his championship victory in Improv Prod O2L. Joe Lenthall in his first full year of racing in this category happily embraced second place.

With the weekends lead swapping between the championship leader and his closest rival, John Baxter grabbed enough points to secure his championship win against his determined year long nemesis Brett Osborn. Finishing with third in the championship was Chris Molle.

Superkarts are synonymous with excitement and Sunday was no exception. Anton Stevens showed his blistering form with a clean sweep of all four races. His awesome form had his closest competitor in race one crossing the line 30 seconds behind him. It was great to see Anton’s skill for only the second time this year. Congratulations to Aaron Cogger for a pair of seconds, John Pellicano with a second and third, and Paul Campbell (pictured) taking a brace of thirds.

The Production Touring Car Championships ended their year with a one hour enduro featuring driver A and B. Leading from start to finish, Aaron Seton drove a faultless stint and at the final bell was 38 seconds ahead to claim the victory. Dylan Thomas and Leigh Burges took second and third respectively.