Round 4 of Season 28 in the 1967 F2 Series brought us to Brands Hatch, where surprisingly the weather was fine with the sun shining, considering it is England. Qualifying saw Craig Leech to pole position for the 3^rd time in a row with a blistering time of 1.32.4, with Mike Holland 1.3 seconds behind making brides Maid on the grid. From there it was close with 6 drivers within 1 second of each other.

AT the Drop of the green flag, All cars left the grid in an orderly fashion, with Goran bogging down off the start allowing Jon and Dan slip by before T1 until he could get up to speed.  Rolf and Peter also had a coming together at the back of the grid whilst trying to get past Shawn just after the start line,

By Turn 3 on the first lap, the field had already formed the expected snake with some very cautious and considerate driving whilst the waiting for the tires to warm up. At the start of Lap 2, Dan sniffed is nose on the insode of Ron at T1 before backing out, but this action disrupted Ron’s usual clear thinking causing him to miss the turn in point, spinning wildly into the barriers, and then bouncing back out onto the track to collect Matt. Whilst Ron was still trying to stop his eyes from rolling around in his head, Leon was exiting from T1 to find Ron there, with no where to go, and slamming in to him. Leon retired from this accident as his BRM had been shortened too much from shunting.

The race settled down from then, with Craig Leech, Mike and Dan running in the top pack. At Lap 8, Craig Leech had an impressive 4 second lead, when suddenly he disappeared from the track. Spectators were heard to be saying a disk type object hovered over the car and sucked the car from the track and then flew off. I hope they return him “unprobed” before the next weekend.

This strange event left Mike and Dan to head the rest of the race with Mike having a wild slide on Lap 15 allowing Dan to take the lead and keep Mike at bay until the wave of the chequered flag. Third Place with his first Podium finish with Ausgpl.com was John LeMasurier.

Next week the group are off the Watkins Glen in the US where more close racing is expected.

Season 27 Tasman Series Report - Round 2 Wigram NZ

Following the abandonment of the event at Surfers Paradise the previous week, Round 2 of season 27 was held on the South Island of New Zealand at the Wigram Aerodrome, the circuit consisting of the runway and access roads around the hangars. At the end of the qualifying session John LeMasurier in only his 2nd AusGPL start claimed pole aboard his Climax powered BT11 with a 1:20.738, just a tenth behind was Craig Larkin in the Lotus Climax, lining up in P3 was Dan Judson very happy with the performance of his BRM P261, and the only other driver to dip below the 1:20 mark. Leon following his dominance of the first round lined up in P4 in his Ferrari 246, David French slotted his Brabham BT11 into P5, with Göran rounding out the top 6 in his BRM powered BT11, at total of 13 drivers qualified for the race.

The race was to be plagued with technical issues however, but in the early laps there were some great battles for position. Dan made an absolute gun start from P3 and went in deep under brakes at Hangar Bend, John had suffered from too much initial wheelspin allowing Craig L past also. Dan and Craig headed to Tower Bend side by side but Craig lost control of the Lotus and spun dropping to the tail of the field. Dan was pursued by Leon in the Ferrari, with John in third with Mike hot on his tail. Göran was cautious on the first lap dropping to 12th but this was to prove to his benefit. On lap 2 David moved past Mike into 4th, on lap 3 Roberto had a spin at the loop and lost touch with the field, Göran also outbraked himself at the hairpin this lap to fall behind the battling group in front of him.

Lap 5 saw Craig B, David, John, Craig L, Simon, and Mike all retire due to technical issues. Dan J retired his BRM at Tower Bend to leave Leon in the lead by a handy margin. Pete and Matt were enjoying fighting over 2nd and 3rd when they joined the earlier group and retired on lap 8, Leon also retired his Ferrari on this lap. The decimation of the field then at this point left only 3 runners remaining. Shawn was in the lead by a handy margin from Göran with Roberto running in 3rd. Göran set about chasing down Shawn and it took until lap 18 for him to reel him in and make the pass between Tower Bend and The Loop. Once into the lead Göran gapped Shawn and ran to the chequered flag to take the win by a handy 10 second margin, Roberto brought his Ferrari home to claim the final podium postion 45 seconds behind Shawn.

This surprise result shakes up the points in the championship chase with Göran moving into the lead with 43 point, Leon drops a spot to 2nd with 41 points, Shawn moves up 6 spots to 3rd with 31 points, and Matt and Craig L sit tied for 4th on 29 points with Pete in 6th with 26 points. Round 3 sees the teams headed back to the Australian mainland and Lakeside a short and technical circuit that offers few overtaking options, it promises to be a great race, see you all there.

Season 27 Tasman Series Report - Round 1 Levin NZ

The opening race of season 27 was held on the North Island of New Zealand at the Levin under blue skies. At the end of the qualifying session Leon following his dominance of the earlier practice sessions claimed pole with a lap record 44.161 in the Ferrari 246 Dino, Craig L lined up in P2 setting a pb in the Lotus 33 Climax just a tenth behind Leon. John LeMasurier showed good speed in his first series start to slot his Brabham BRM powered BT11 into P3, Göran lined up in P4 in a sister chassis. Craig Burns in his return to competition recorded 5th fastest time in a Climax powered BT11, Matt Judson rounded out the top 6 in a BRM P261 just over a second off the pole time. A total of 12 drivers qualified for the race, with several notable no shows from those expected in the entrants list.

Leon made the most of the front row start to lead the field into Lake Bend, he and Craig L had a fine battle for the first 11 laps until Craig tapped the Ferrari under brakes for the Hairpin which saw Göran inherit the lead, it only took Leon a couple of laps to reel in Göran and make the pass for the lead by going around the outside at Lake Bend. Leon then continued to lead until lap 18 when he spun by himself at the hairpin and allowed Göran back by. Again within 4 laps he had chased the gap to Göran down and successfully completed the pass to regain the lead, which he was not to lose taking the win by 2 seconds.  Following their lap 11 clash Craig L made a couple of further mistakes on lap 13 which allowed Craig B to move into 3rd, they ran nose to tail for several laps until Craig B made a small mistake and ran wide at Beach Bend, this was all it took for Craig L to move by back into third. He then set about chasing down the gap to Leon and Göran on lap 25 Göran spun at the hairpin and allowed Craig by into second, despite wringing the neck of the Lotus he was unable to improve position, applying plenty of pressure to Leon but ultimately the one to crack and run slightly wide at Hokio Bend with a couple of laps to go. He did finish with Fast Lap honours though with a 44.308 second lap.

Göran rounded out the top 3 and the only other driver to finish on the lead lap, he put in the most consistent drive of any of his competitors and was amply rewarded at the finish. The Brabham seeming to lack the outright power of the Ferrari, however Göran showed great race craft to judge his passes well and complete the race and be the only other drive to lead laps at this tight and demanding circuit. Craig Burns finished 4th with a strong effort on his return to competition, running in third at one stage of the race, he plans to build upon this effort when the series heads to his home circuit at Surfers Paradise for Round 2.   Matt Judson rounded out the top 5 surviving the tumultous early laps to move into fifth on lap 6 and then holding this position until Rolf displaced him on lap 43 when he spun the BRM at the Hairpin, however the penultimate lap was costly for Rolf and a strong result was lost when he ran wide at Castrol Curve and beached the Ferrari on the banking losing several positions before he could safely rejoin the circuit. This allowed Matt back by, and Simon benefitted from this also claiming 6th overall. Rolf claimed 7th position, John finished 8th and was disappointed following his strong qualifying effort, a costly spin exiting Beach Bend on the first lap, and then a few incidents at the Hairpin cost a better result, he is another competitor looking to rebound next week at Surfers Paradise. Pete rounded out those that finished the race distance in the Brabham, Shawn, Roberto, and Sean all experiencing technical difficulties that resulted in them retiring from the race.

The field heads back across the Tasman for Round 2 at the Surfers Paradise circuit in Queensland, home circuit to both David French and Craig Burns. Its hoped also that Mike will make an appearance to bolster the numbers for Lotus, in a season that has a good spread of cars and a good combination of circuits that will favour each of the chassis at various times. Can Leon make it 2 from 2?? Practice as usual on Thursday night from 8pm with qualifying and race on Sunday night, hope to see you all there.

It's Official - Season 27 will start Sunday 15th 2012 - First track will be Levin. Check out the Season 27 Race regulations as some restriction have been put in place for the 66 Carset Mod.

As always, Practice will be held Thursday nights from approx 8pm (EADT +11 GMT)

Note - due to recent upgrade of the Web Server, The calendar service is currently out of order. Hope to have this fixed real soon.

The final race of the 2011 season was held as part of the grand opening of a new facility at Surfers Paradise situated to the south of Brisbane. The event attracted a smaller field than anticipated with several of the invitees unable to attend due to commitments in Europe. A small field of local drivers never the less took the opportunity to gain some time to test and tune with the upcoming Tasman series in view. There was one international driver attending with Roberto Vianna able to make the race, although he was unable to show his true potential as his Brabham suffered a variety of problems through out the event, he did enjoy the splendid sunny days on offer though. The warm up event showed plenty of promise and the locals are looking forward to the return when the stars of the Tasman series will be on track.

At the end of the qualifying period New South Wales driver Craig Larkin had claimed pole with a quick 1:10.473 in the Lotus 33, the only driver to break the 1:10 barrier. Local driver David French had the locals hopes riding upon his shoulders after qualifying in P2 with a 1:11.073 in his Brabham Climax, while another New South Wales driver Dan Judson claimed the remaining outside row slot in the ex Jack Brabham BT19, allowed to compete despite not having an engine below 2.5 litres. He provided plenty of entertainment for the crowds as he slid the Brabham through the turns and the sound of the 3.0 Repco V8 provided music to the ears as he went by.
The second row saw Mike Holland in the Lotus 33 and Matt Judson in a BRM P261 with less then a tenth between them. Simon Brookman in a BT11 BRM, Göran in a Brabham BT11 Climax, with Roberto Vianna rounding out the grid also in a BT11 Climax.

At the drop of the national flag, both Craig and Dan were away smartly leading the field under the Dunlop bridge they negotiated this side by side and headed up to Lukey, as they approached the braking area Craig thinking he was clear started to move across to the preferred line they bumped wheels and the resulting contact saw the Lotus spinning off to the inside of the circuit. This incident allowed David to move into the lead to the excitement of the crowd, Matt after a great start slotted the BRM into second, with Mike third in the Lotus, Simon was fourth, and Göran rounded out the top 5 at the end of the first lap. Lap 2 saw Dan move past Craig on the run out of Lukey corner and move into sixth. In the early laps David had built a small margin and despite tagging the wall at Lucas bend on lap 3 had a small but comfortable margin over Matt. Dan was on a charge the extra power of the Repco V8 being put to good use along the main straight at the beginning of lap 4 to draw alongside Göran under the bridge and complete the pass for fifth on the run up to Lukey. Just up ahead Simon had spun his BT11 at turn 3, the car showing instability under braking at this corner in particular he dropped from fourth to seventh. Craig used a momentary lift by Göran as they approached the incident to use a better exit out of the corner to draw alongside and move to fifth under brakes at Lucas.

Lap 5 saw Mike get the Lotus out of shape under brakes into Lukey, he did a great job not to bury the car in the wall, and got away with a gentle bump into the barrier. This allowed Dan, Craig who was lucky not to end up in the barriers as he clipped the right front of the stationary Lotus as he went by, and Simon moving the Brabham back into the top 5. Lap 6 saw out leader make a mistake and spin after clipping one of the tyres at the edge of the circuit, Matt was able to avoid the stationary Brabham and move the BRM to the head of the field, Dan wasn't so lucky being forced to head to the grass to avoid the Brabham, he then had further issues when he rejoined in front of Göran they bumped wheels and Dan then spun as a result to add further to the time he had already lost. This shook up the running order with Matt leading followed by Craig, then David, Göran, Mike, Dan, Simon, and Roberto who had started from pitlane. Göran and Mike had been enjoying a good battle but contact at the end of lap 7 saw Göran spinning and Mike delayed also, this allowed Simon and Dan to move into fourth and fifth. After following Matt for a few laps Craig lacking the horsepower of the BRM tried a move into Lucas bend under brakes, while no contact was made but Matt spun the BRM and ended up facing the wrong way, Craig was through, and David was able to drop Matt another positon and move to second.

Lap 9 saw Göran and Mike's continuing battle change positions with Göran running wide at Lukey and Mike using a good exit to move past along the following straight, up ahead Simon had spun the Brabham again at turn 3, he rejoined with Mike and Göran on his tail. Simon held Mike at bay for the next few laps, Mike had a big lunge under brakes into Lukey on lap 11 but was unable to pull off the pass, on lap 13 they made contact into Turn 3 with both spinning off the circuilt, Göran was the beneficiary of the incident moving into 5th. Up front Craig had a comfortable margin over David in second who had a small gap back to Matt, with Dan closing down on the pair of them.  On lap 16 David ran wide on the exit of the Dunlop bridge and allowed Matt into second, however before the lap was out David was back into P2. Matt clipping the tyres on the inside of the second last turn looping the BRM, Dan was by also and Matt dropped back to fourth. The following lap David ran wide again this time in turn 3 and Dan moved into second. There were no further position changes on the run to the flag and at the end of the 24 laps Craig had taken the win with a margin of 19 seconds back to Dan who claimed fastest lap honours on the final lap with a 1:10.429. David claimed the final podium position to give the  locals something to cheer about, Matt took fourth with Göran rounding out the top 5.