A Day at the Clipsal 500

It had been several years since I last went to the Clipsal 500. I've kept up with the series since then, but I'd forgot how different it was to see professional Motorsport at the track. Being able to feel the roar and see your favourite drivers whiz pass, battling for track position right in front of you is bloody fantastic. I probably saw less than 2% of the actual racing that was going on, but it was quality. Sure, on the TV you can see a whole lot more racing and get constant updates on almost everything, but it doesn't compare to being there. You observe the racing on the TV, but you experience it at the track.

This was also the first chance I got to see the new entries to the sport. Since the start of the 2013 season, three new manufacturers have joined the category; those being Nissan, Mercedes and Volvo. Even though they joined the sport a year earlier, the Nissan and Mercedes teams have had limited success. This is in comparison to the single Volvo team, run by Garry Rogers Motorsport, who have been a regular front runner from the start.

The sound of the Volvo S60 Polestar pictured above sounds unlike any other car in the category. It has a kind of deep and smooth sound compared to the aggressive rumble of the other V8's. Compare them for yourself in the video below.

While there has been plenty of support for these new-comers in the sport, it seems there are still some people who miss the days where it was just Holden Vs Ford. During a safety car period, a tow truck  drove towards us, and as it went past it revealed a banged up Mercedes on the back. "Haha! It's a Mercedes!" one beer-bellied bogan exclaimed, while nudging his mate. "Oooh yeah, one them new Mercedes crashed! HAHA!"

A was super keen to catch a glimpse of the aptly named support series, 'Stadium Super Trucks'. And that's exactly what I saw; a glimpse.The fence line was completely full of spectators, all keen to get a look at these wild machines. And they really are wild, like a big toy. In fact, that's exactly what they are. These identically built, 600 horsepower trucks are made to represent their scaled-down radio-controlled counterparts by Traxxas. 


Watching these trucks is unlike any other Motorsport I have seen. When they fly off the man-made jumps, they look like rabbits bouncing up and down in a field. In the corners, the front inside wheel lifts up as if it's waving to the spectators, almost tipping on their side in the process. It's absolutely ludicrous. 

However, I do think these are a bit of a novelty. Don't get me wrong, they are very impressive machines, and I've also heard the sport is a way of allowing people to experience the excitement of watching off-road racing without having to travel quite so far, which makes sense. But I can't see myself following the sport. It all just seems a little bit over the top. However, once a year is fine with me, so if they come back next year I'm sure I'll be as keen as a bean to get my fix of exaggerated, unnecessary, over-the-top American racing. 

Gymkhana at Tailem Bend Motorsport Park

Gymkhana seems to be just like circuit sprinting, but with donuts. Cars fly around corners, pull handbrake turns around sharp bends, and light up their tyres as they lay down rubber, dizzyingly spinning around a cone. It's addicting to watch and that's exactly what I spent my time doing at round 5 of the OZGymkhana series at Tailem Bend Motorsport Park.

Subaru WRX's featured heavily in the lineup of cars. That's understandable, with their AWD and rally pedigree, one would think this sort of stuff would suit them perfectly. And it did. They dashed off the line and tore through the first series of bends, making that distinct and very familiar exhaust burble. Driven properly, these cars were easily the fastest out there. So long as it was provoked enough to oversteer and not get drowned in dreaded understeer, drivers could get all four wheels spinning harmoniously and carry out gracious slides, much to the spectators delight. 

Japanese F1 Grand Prix

Mercedes SLS AMG Safety Car leads the way for the first part of the race. Image Source: The Telegraph

Yesterdays Japanese Grand Prix was a wild one, there's no doubt about that. Parts of the Suzuka Circuit were pretty much flooded before the race and a typhoon was spooling in the distance. The race had to start under a safety car, but even that didn't last long as a red flag came out on lap two. This forced the cars to wait in a line at the pit exit before following the safety car around the track again. Fernando Alonsos car stopped working shortly after they went back on the track, the likely cause being water somehow finding its way into the electrics while sitting in the pits. The safety car didn't come back in until about lap eight and the cars could finally go racing on the soaked Suzuka Circuit.

Australian Off-road Racing Championships - Waikerie, Rnd 3

Waikerie is a country town of South Australia situated along the Murray River and is only a bit over 100km from the Victorian border. Australia’s best buggies and trophy trucks converged there last weekend as the small town played host for round 3 of the Australian Off-road Racing Championships. 



The cars got underway at about midday on the Saturday and I was surprised to see this thing take off from the start line. The Datsun 1200 had nowhere near as much ground clearance as any of the other cars, but that didn't stop it from roaring away from the start line with the same amount of enthusiasm as the bigger and burlier buggies.

2015 Formula One Regulations

Image Source: autoevolution

2014 saw some revolutionary changes take place in Formula One. The most prominent of these changes had to be the new 1.6L V6 turbo power units which replaced the screaming, naturally-aspirated V8's of yesteryear. In 2015, there will be some more changes.

Image Source: justcarnews

The most controversial change has to do with safety car re-starts. Every time a safety car is deployed, there will be a standing re-start from the grid, as opposed to a rolling re-start. However, this will not be carried out if there is less than five laps to go, or within two laps of the start of the race.

The number of engines allowed for each driver will decrease to four per season as opposed to five. However, the number of engines per season will go back to five if the season has more than 20 races.

Comparing the nose of the 2013 and 2014 Ferrari F1 Car. Images Source: f1fanatic 

In 2014 the maximum nose height of the cars dropped significantly from a maximum of 550mm to a maximum of just 185mm for safety reasons. This resulted in some unusual designs. 2015 will see more changes to the nose of the car to further improve safety and to make them more visually attractive.

The number of in-season tests will be reduced to two, (down from four) of two days. Two of the four sessions must be reserved for young drivers. Pre-season testing will be restricted to Europe, with three pre-season tests of four days. In 2016, this will be reduced to just two tests of four days.

There was also a proposed ban on tyre blankets for the 2015 season, but this has been withdrawn. I found this proposal very interesting, and it will be re-discussed in the future if the wheel and tyre diameter is to increase.

There are a number of other minor regulation changes, but I’m still waiting for the day where they take the rule book, tear out the pages that apply to the safety and efficiency aspects, throw the rest of the book away, and just keep these pages. That would make things very interesting.

Access the info source here

Robertstown Rally called off due to torrential rain.

Today I was going to post about the first car event for this blog. I drove 140km up North for the Robertstown Rally to then find out it had been cancelled due to the weather...damn. Because of the massive rain the night before, some of the stages were flooded and none of the competing teams had thought to bring along floaties for the event. I was quite looking forward to practicing my photography skills by taking pictures of some awesome rally cars, but it was not to be. However, next weekend, the Australian Off-Road Racing Championships head to Waikerie, SA for the Riverland Enduro, so I look forward to that!