Newsflash 31/5/2019

Written by afja-admin on 31 May 2019. Posted in News

Greetings,

Apologies for the lull in communications, it seems like ages since I last sent an update on AFJA happenings and an eternity since I last sat in the Rennmax.  I have now missed 3 events in the AFJA championship for this year.  However, I have been extremely busy in the shed, if nothing else. 

For those of you who may not know, Peter Barclay and I had a coming together at Phillip Island in March.  Peter was in his BT21 and spun going through Siberia during the first race on the Saturday.  I had nowhere to go and we collided head-on.  Both of our cars sustained very similar damage and looked sad and sorry for themselves.  Fortunately, we were both OK, although Peter suffered some soft tissue damage to an ankle.

The damage to the Rennmax looked serious enough at the time, but naturally I found more once I stripped it for repairs.  The radiator/oil cooler was a write off and the oil tank was damaged but repairable.  I had to cut the frame away to remove it.  One tie rod was bent and the top left had wishbone was also bent.  This led to crack testing the whole left hand corner which resulted in a new upright.  I removed the RHS wishbone to use as a template, only to discover that it was also bent, most likely from and earlier shunt.  So, two new wishbones.  During the inspection process I noticed that all of the rose joints on the LHS were well worn, so I checked them all and found that 10 needed replacing.  At $70 a pop the repair bill is becoming exponential.  The chassis repairs were easy enough and the new radiator is fitted and the chassis repainted at the front.  The new body has been made and is in final primer for painting this weekend, weather permitting, although rain is forecast.  I plan to run it at Eastern Creek the following weekend for the HSRCA June long weekend meeting, if only to give it a shake down in preparation for Morgan Park in July.  I am certainly missing the action.

So, at Wakefield at the end of March, we saw the welcome return of Murray Bryden in his Lotus 22.  He had some initial fuel problems but eventually had some fun.  Kim didn’t make it as his engine was still being rebuilt after NZ.  Rob Buckley ran well initially but then found some serious cracks in the chassis around the engine department which put his car back on the trailer and trusty Bill Hemming was reliable as usual in the Elfin.  The runaway winner for the weekend was Max Pegram in the Gemini.  Well done Max. 

The next event was at Mallala in April and both Kim and Max shared the overall honours for the weekend.  Richard Nitschke joined Bill Hemming with a similar Elfin and they were close all weekend.  The local boy, Wayne Hocking, was the other player in his TAD.  Kims’s report on the meeting is included beow for those of you who may have missed the previous update.

Mallala, what a great little track and an even better weekend away for those who travelled.

Six Juniors were there including Bill Hemming, along with several of his Elfins to celebrate the Marque’s 60th at Tailem Bend after the meeting. Max Pegram had in his delightful and rapid Gemini. The South Australian TAD, well driven by Wayne Hocking ran in every race as did Richard Nitschke in another Elfin. Sadly, Murray Bryden suffered terminal engine problems on Friday and had to withdraw. I took my Lotus 18, fitted with a refreshed engine so it w was flying. 

A couple of interesting Cooper 500’s were also running with us and boy  are they quick when they get going….love the methanol! We were mixed with groups J, K and L among other group M & O racers, the quickest and overall winner was the Brabham driven by Colin Haste who cleaned up in his 1600 twin cam….. well done

Colin.

The 500’s suffered multiple minor problems, but the other Juniors ran well throughout the weekend. Max kept Bill honest and I was under pressure A few times by the other Elfin driven quickly by Richard. The TAD was on 5 year old tyres so didn’t  figure as close to the front as usual.

All in all, a terrific time was had by everyone thus making the drive well worth while.

Currently we’re preparing for the big meeting next week at Winton where, as is often the case, more than 400 historic cars have entered.

Hope to see some of you there.

Cheers, Kim Shearn 

PRESIDENT

AFJA

The most recent meeting was the short circuit at Winton where again Max gained maximum points.  Two new players for the year, both in Lotus 18s, were Grant Walker and Robert Butcher.  Richard Nitschke also came over from SA and it looks like they all had some fun with Bill Hemming.  I am certainly jealous of the great racing they have had in my absence. 

The points score is detailed below and hats off to Max Pegram for his consistency so far this year.  I hope to see all of you on the track soon.

Regards,

Noel

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