Well it didn’t get much warmer and during the drivers briefing those predicted showers made their presence felt. Competition got under way on a damp track with a cold wind blowing and times were very slow.

2. Viva Auto Repairs:
Multiclub Collingrove
Cup Round 1

3. Round 1 of the 2016 Collingrove Cup
was run on Sunday the 5th June, and
as we gathered for the pre-event
paperwork the common talk in the
pits was about how cold it was and
the hope that the rain would stay
away.

4. Well it didn’t get much warmer and
during the drivers briefing those
predicted showers made their
presence felt. Competition got under
way on a damp track with a cold
wind blowing and times were very
slow.

6. It was well into the second run of the
day before anyone set a time under
40 seconds and by lunch time, only 3
cars had broken this barrier. All of
these were all wheel drive
turbocharged cars, with Mark
Wisbey leading the way in his
ULX110 Oils sponsored Nissan
Pulsar GTIR.

7. This event was the first time Mark
has run the Pulsar this year, as it has
been in pieces waiting for a new
racing gearbox. It was only during
the week that Mark decided to put a
standard gearbox back into the car,
which had to be assembled from
parts of several boxes. With this
fitted the car was given a drive into
the hills.

8. This was a good idea as 4th gear
syncro shattered and jammed the
shifter. A rush repair saw the car
ready to race by Sunday morning
albeit with no 4th gear.

9. The surprise packet of the morning
was Robin Bostock, in his
standard Mazda MX5 running in the
road registered under 2 litre class.
Not only was he leading his class in
the wet conditions, after 3 runs, but
he was the fastest 2wd car in the
field.

10. The hero driver of the day though
would have to be Matthew
Woodland in the Richard open wheel
hillclimb special, after he decided to
run the 2 wettest runs of the day on
slick tyres, setting a best time of
47.06 seconds.

11. It was a true testament to the
professionalism of all the drivers,
that in extremely difficult and
slippery conditions less than a
handful of recoveries were required
and the only damage done was to
egos.

12. During the lunch break the rain
finally eased and as the track started
to dry, times began to tumble, with
the AWD cars getting down to 34 &
35 second runs regularly. We
finished with 6 runs for the day and
by the last run the field of about 90
cars had

13. whittled down to just under 70. I am
sure that those drivers that left at
lunch time because of the conditions,
are rueing their decision as they saw
the skies clear throughout the
afternoon.

14. Nathan Green was the first to go
under 35 seconds with a 34.87 on the
5th run. This fired the top runners up
with Gavin Farley coming out to equal
that in the last run in his Mitsubishi
Evo7.

16. Nathan then bettered his time by .50
of a second, and John Davies
followed that with a 34.70. Mark
Wisbey went for it on his last run but
over cooked the first turn, went wide
and was relegated to 4th outright
with a best of 35.36 just ahead of the
35.40 set by the consistent wet
weather runner, Alex Wilson in his
Audi A4 Quattro.

17. Roger Patterson came home in his
Porsche 911RS with a 35.75 to end
up as the quickest 2WD car in 6th
outright. With the inclement
weather, many people suffered what
must have been an uncomfortable
day and although I felt sorry for all
the

18. drivers in open top cars, the real
appreciation has to go to the
wonderful officials that endured a
cold wet morning in particular, just to
give the competitors a chance to
enjoy another great day of
motorsport.
Next event is round 2 to be held on
the 3rd of July, and I think we are all
hoping for better conditions.

19. For more details
Visit us @
http://vivaautorepairs.com.au/