Weather was a bit iffy, but Donny had done great job prepping the track, and it looked pretty good.

Without going too deep, A Class got a few water trucks, so weren’t as high OR as sometimes, but Kevin Parkes (N14 Pulsar) had it over Nathan Suchting (Lanos), but Nathan did improve and closed the gap from Run 1 by half a second, so was on the up.

B Class was where the fastest 2WD time looked like it was coming from, and Allan Coles in the Pug 307 managed a quick 46.53 to be best 2WD, and class winner (7^th OR), just ahead of Ric Ganderton (Excel big block), 46.87 and Barry Clark in the Bimmer with a 47.34. John Coles and William Harris were also in the 47s but just off the podium.

C Class had three, but at the top was Robert Clark in the lovely Orange YB Cosworth 2.3 MK1 Escort. Is a great car, and Robert drives it quite well, and is funny to comment on an Escort with R. Clark driving….Bruce dan in his BMW, and Graeme Haynes in the Beetle (making a return after an absence) actually did identical times to the 100^th (50.78), but Bruce did his time first, so took second over Graeme.

D Class had the biggest field, with past Club Champion Danny Iken in the (now ) turbo’d EA Falcon, Ken Luxton in the VE 5.7 Ute, Lloyd Robertson in the 135 BMW, el Presidente Greg Woodbridge in the fixed VR V8 (coil issue last mtg) and Chris and Kristy Wedding in the Brock VH Commodore along with a couple of others. Ring in, Bondy, sat in the VE Ute and was firing from run 1, but Ken, Lloyd, Danny and Robert McLaurin were all close.  The Weddings were looking good early, but a couple of thrown fan belts meant some slightly more cautious driving, to finish the event. To the final run and 007 managed to crack a 47.69 and cemented the top spot and 10^th OR. Next was Danny and then the evergreen Lloyd.  For those that are not on the same planet, do some searches on Lloyd Robertson.  He has been in the game a long time and done some amazing things.  It is great to see him still having a crack and giving it his all.  And he is still bloody quick?.

Juniors had only one, Ashley McKenzie, but she put on a great show in her mid-mounted CRX Honda.  From a first run best of 52.71, she layed down a run 5 time of 48.56, and did not do run 6.  So a great improvement, and when in the tower watching, I didn’t really notice her, which means that she was smooth and not flicking up dust, so great job Ashley?

Next is Ladies class, which had 4 very competitive femmes. After the 4yh run there were three in the 47’s, Tracy Bavinton (EVO IX), Nikki Duclos (WRX) and Emma Crase (Forester GT).  So getting to the last few runs, after Run 5Nikki had a 0.02 sec lead over Tracy…close, yes?.  But the final run saw Tracy fire a great shot with a 45.5, and Nikki a 46.37, which did not improve her run 5 time.  So great work by Tracy to take Ladies plus 3^rd outright, with Nikki 6^th OR and Emma 3^rd with Stephanie just off the podium with 4^th.  Two of these cars also feature in outright/ E Class. Special mention to Emma for doing a picture-perfect spin in the sweeper, and grabbing first and taking off almost before the wheels were stopped – I know we hate stuff ups (as drivers), but it was pretty to watch her just grab first and crack on?)

So the fast E class cars put on a great show with Ant Bonnicci and Alan Weinert being very close in the first three runs, and the Crases ( all of them ?) not far off the top pace.  Ultimately Ant had the Yaris GR wound up on the last run to lay down a FTD of 43.75, to Alan’s 44.98 and Michael Crase’s 45.84. Knocking on the door was Tim Crase in the Forester (rally car – not) doing some great Colin McRae impersonations with a 46.0, and Robert (Crase) 46.6 then Tim Baxter and Paul Schmolke in the Liberty BT-B and Jukka Ylinen rounding out E class in the 600cc buggy.

Was great day with 6 runs of 4 laps, which is 24 laps of the longer track, so great mileage for a sprint event.  Thanks to all flaggies, track prep, scrutineers, event secretary and every other position that needs a person to do the work.  The club needs people like you (yes, you reading this) to do some work, the usual crew (like Donny and Coggo for example) are not young and we need replacements to take over the running of the club soon.  And don’t forget that we have 4 crucial positions currently held by one family – the Woodbridge’s. This is great for all of us, but only Greg actually competes…..

Anyway, just remember that any club needs people to operate, and this club will need some new blood to run it into the future.

With the passing of John Connell (Jan 2019), it seems prudent to load the office bearers that have graced the club since its' inception in 1954.

For those that have been around the club a long time (Donny Power for example), there are many names/memories since that time.

It is worth noting that John was the longest serving President of the club, holding office between 2002 and 2017, and in that same period Jan Connell was Treasurer.  In the time since Ron Nielsen, Nev Thompson and David McDonald held the Pres, Sec and Treas positions, the club has been fortunate to have a no of people serve multiple terms, although none as long as John and Jan:

Errol Bognuda held one of the key positions for 8 years,

Graham Burrows also 8 (and went on to serve many years with the Ipswich Kart Club)

Agnes Byrne contributed 10 years,

Tom Gillespie and Allan Ransome gave 5,

Robyn Slattery 9,

and current Treasurer Peter has done a couple of stints over the years.

Note that the above does not take into account other position/work carried out for the club and just an example of some peoples efforts for the club.

I started in the club in 2002 (maybe late 2001) and John and Jan welcomed myself and the family into the club with open arms (as did all the club), and some of my memories include Jan, Betty Wedding and (my wife) Sue sitting in the tower with stop watches for the timing:). Competing at many eveents around SE QLD, John was always promoting the club, was keen to mix with other IWMAC members at the meetings and would always offer advice if asked (and sometimes if not), and has always been keen on assisting the younger members.  He and Jan also started motorsort in the days when you could rally a Monaro, when people like Peter Brock and Colin Bond were youngsters.  He had some very intersting stories to tell.

Below is the current version of a presentation from the 50th Anniversary showing the key positions over the years. Of course it does leave some long term workers off, like Donny and Kevin Parkes (VP for I don't remember how long), so please take these comments as just the tip of the iceberg in the clubs history.

Paul Bond

Come and Try Day 

... on January 28, and a great turnout of about 70 entries were received.

President Dave Cullen, in particular, had been on the publicity trail and had River 94.9 doing an interview, as well as the QT, and post event, as reported in separate news, the Feb CAMS Speed Read.

There were about 6 or 7 new Juniors having a try and about anothe 10 or so Seniors, plus a large contingent of keen enthusiasts getting an early practice in.

It did take a bit of time to get through the field, and we were trying to ensure that the Juniors got a good run.  There were a few, like Lenny Griffiths and Chaia Kuss, giving some passenger rides and providing a bit of advice, and the Club Cars were in use for those that did not have a vehicle.

The large no of compeitors did provide a challenge, but everyone appeared to have a good time, certainly from comments after the rain came.  We attempted to dry the track after the first dumping, only to have a second lot of rain arrive and we were forced to cal it a day.  While packing up it started to look like it would have been OK to wait, but then a third lot of rain came to ensure that there was no possibility of continuing the event, so we felt that the decision was good, if a bit disappointing.

We also trialled a new track version, using the first part of the long track, and then cuting back to the autocross with a tight right/left about 1/2 down the back straight.  Same place as we used to go from short to long previously, but quite a bit tighter.

We plan to use that track again during the year at our Special Events.  There is also a strong probability of running Khanacross events, as these will allow Juniors from 12years of age to compete.  The requirements for Khanacross a very similar to our normal events, but there are a few restrictions to keep speeds lower, which allows the lower age group.

Looking foward to the first meeting on the 11 Feb:)