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.

The final race of season 26 was contested at the Suzuka circuit in Japan after the earlier practice sessions were held under clear skies, when qualifying started cloud cover had moved in and track temperatures had fallen significantly. At the end of the qualifying session Craig had once again claimed pole this time however aboard the Mirage with a 2:19.130 second lap, Leon put in his best qualifying effort of the season to claim P2 in the Ferrari, with Mike just 8 hundredths slower in the Lola his qualifying session dominated by the Lola's unwillingness to run on all 8 cylinders, more speed was promised for the race. Göran also put in one of his best results for the season slotting the Chaparral 2D into P4 just 5 tenths off Leons time. David and Matt shared the third row of the grid with just a tenth between them, Matt posting his time on the final lap of the session, Simon, Shawn, Sean in his first race of the season, and Rolf rounded out the field.

Craig botched the start, the Mirage exploding into massive wheelspin when he dropped the clutch, this allowed Leon to range up alongside into T1, Craig then ran slightly wide allowing Mike past into Second. There was some chaos behind the front three also with Göran and Matt making some contact in First and then further contact in Second saw Göran spinning the Chaparral. Matt running 4th then ran wide on the climb up through Dunlop which then resulted in contact between he and David at Degner which dropped them both to the tail of the field. Sean also left the circuit while challenging Rolf for position, the result of all this action saw Simon now in 4th and Shawn running 5th at the end of the first lap. Lap 2 started well for Craig with both Leon and Mike outbraking themselves into First which saw them both off into the sandtrap, Mike rejoined still 2nd, with Leon rejoining down in 7th. Leon claimed 2 of these positions back early this lap with first Göran making a small mistake in the S Curve and then Rolf spun his Chaparral at the top of the Dunlop Hill to let both Leon and Göran by. However down at the Hairpin Leon and Shawn made contact as they exited with both spinning as a result, this allowed Göran to inherit 4th.

Lap 4 saw Leon pass Göran for 4th at Degner after Göran locked the rears under brakes at the previous turn and ran off circuit, Matt also moved up into 7th on this lap recovering from his first lap drama's. Lap 5 saw Matt move by Shawn at the Spoon when when he looped the Ferrari under power exiting the turn. David displaced Shawn a further position the following lap when he moved past at Degner. Mid race saw Craig with a comfortable margin over Mike, who had a comfortable gap back to Simon, Leon ran 4th but was steadily closing in on the Porsche infront of him, Göran ran 5th with Matt 6th but starting to be close enough to consider challenging for 5th, David, Shawn, and Rolf rounded out those running, Sean having retired the Porsche the previous lap. Lap 9 saw Leon use the power of the Ferrari to move past Simon into 3rd along the Back Stretch. L11 saw Göran out brake himself into First which allowed Matt to temporarily inherit 5th, however exiting Dunlop he had a momentary mechanical issue and this allowed Göran to regain the spot, a further off track excursion dropped him out of contact.

There were no further changes for position and at the end of the 15 laps Craig had taken the first win for the Mirage team. Mike came home second with a comfortable margin back to Leon in 3rd who recovered well after running wide on the second lap. Simon did all he could to wrap up 4th in the championship with a strong run to 4th, however with Göran claiming 5th he fell short, reflecting back over the season of their 4 strongest results Göran had 3 4th's and 1 5th, with Simon having 2 4th's and 2 5th's, giving him the 2 point margin he needed. Matt brought the Chaparral home in 6th, with David taking 7th, Shawn put in arguably his best drive of the season to claim 8th and last runner, Rolf having retired the Chaparral 3 laps from home with transmission problems. Craig took fast lap honours with a 2:18.281 9 tenths faster than he had qualified, Mike, Matt, David, Rolf, Simon, and Shawn all bettered their qualifying time also. As we head into the off season break, it is timely to offer thanks to Sean who provides the opportunity for us all to enjoy GPL every Sunday night. Season 27 isn't too far away and promises to be a closer battle based on early indications in practice as we battle in a 66 mod Tasman series.

Race 9 of season 26 saw the teams lined up in the dusty paddock at Willow Springs International Raceway a challenging circuit with some deceptive corners that claimed for than a few victims over the weekend. After the 40 minute qualifying session Craig had claimed his 8th pole of the season the Chaparral 2F once again showing its dominance chassis wise over the other teams with a 1:20.320. Mike was alongside in the Lola after a reduced qualifying session only able to complete 5 laps in the Lola, David put in another strong qualifying effort just 2 tenths behind Mike in the Ferrari to take P3, Leon was a further .5 of second further back in P4. Göran slotted the Chaparral 2D into P5 the last of the runners in the 1:22s with Dan alongside in the Ferrari in P6. Matt in the Chaparral, Simon Porsche, Stefan Lola, Shawn Ferrari, and Rolf Chaparral 2D rounded out the field.

At the green flag Craig made a good start to head the field into Castrol Corner, the field safely negotiated the first turn without incident and until Monroe Ridge without contact, however here on the down hill run to the Sweeper Simon and Rolf made side by side contact with Simon spinning the Porsche. The lap ended with Craig, Mike, Leon, David, Göran and Matt heading the field. After enjoying an early race stoush with Göran over 5th Matt was the first of many to come unstuck at the tricky top part of the circuit, with a spin at Turn 5 which dropped him to the near tail of the field as he waited for a clearing to rejoin. Lap 3 saw Shawn run wide at Turn 3 which cost him several positions after a strong start to the race. Dan completed a pass on Stefan for 6th after a good exit from Turn 5 completing the pass into the Sweeper. By lap 4 David had closed down the gap to Leon in third and was looking for a way past his fellow Ferrari team mate.

Lap 5 saw several incidents with Dan having caught Göran in the Chaparral running wide at the Budweiser Balcony without loss of position, Matt was to follow suit shortly after and allow Simon by into 9th. It was Göran's turn to then run wide at Turn 9 after outbraking himself, Dan was by into 5th before he could rejoin just infront of Stefan and Rolf who were enjoying a good battle over 7th. Lap 8 saw the fight for third resolved in Leon's favour as David spun the Ferrari exiting the Budweiser Balcony, the end of this lap saw Mike slow dramatically along the front straight, he was able to continue but the issue had allowed Leon to close up and be in a position to challenge for 2nd. The end of lap 10 saw a change for 4th as first Dan on entry and then David on exit ran wide in the final turn, with Dan rejoining the tarmac first and grabbing the position.

Lap 11 and Mike was starting to ease away from Leon, and then a second spin by David again at the Budweiser Balcony saw Dan unchallenged in 4th. David now had Göran not too far behind him who had a small margin over Stefan, with Simon further back but lapping faster than the two of them. Laps were not on Simons side though and he ran out of time to challenge Stefan for the position. At the end of the 18 lap event Craig had taken a comfortable win, a couple of small errors at Turn 5 adding some tension in the early laps. Mike took 2nd with a margin of 7 seconds over Leon in 3rd, Dan put in a good drive to finish 4th after starting sixth just over 20 seconds behind Leon, David rounded out the top 5 8 seconds further back. Göran finished in 6th after his normal steady drive, with Stefan, Simon, Shawn, Rolf and Matt rounding out the field. The win allows Craig to clinch the season 26 title, Mike is just 4 behind Tim, with Göran now 2 points ahead of Simon meaning that the battle for 2nd and 3rd, and 4th and 5th will go down to the wire at Suzuka.