6 May 2012
The brilliant autumn weather continued for all competitors in the final race for the year. This meeting was a joint round with the Production Muscle Cars and ensured a good grid of twenty one cars. While the leaders of Class A and Class B had a fair gap on the minor placings for this final round, in Class A there were Ross Golding, Andrew Turner and Colin Meadows fiercely competing for second and third places. In Class B, Veen Smith, Paul Burnet, Graham Cargill and Steve Swann were all in with a chance for either second or third.
Race 1 - The first race in the muscle car programme is always the scratch race and this saw current NMC Class A champion Colin Meadows line up on the front row of the grid with local legend Dave O’Leary. Colin’s Corvette got away well but Dave took advantage in the early part of the race to slip the Torana into the lead at the hairpin on the first lap.
These two drivers kept us entertained with great skill and a fine example of high speed driving. Colin who had the faster straight line speed and Dave who had the better cornering speed diced all race. Dave managed to hang on with the cars crossing the finish line together with just 16/100ths of a second separating them.
Tony Galbraith who was showing more speed with each outing in his immaculate Charger stayed handy for the first part of the race, finishing a solid third. The next four finishers were a group of Holdens led by the great looking pair of period Marlboro Commodores of Andrew turner and Ross Golding. Ron Findlay couldn’t get to the start as he was plagued by electrical problems.
Race 2 - The reverse grid delayed start provides some of the best racing as the cars are seeded but also positioned close enough to allow passing manoeuvres during the whole race.
The field was split into two groups with a ten second split. Veen Smith led the field on laps one and two followed by Cam Crawford, Graham Cargill and Paul Burnet. Andrew Turner moved to the front on lap three, closely followed by Tony Galbraith. Colin Meadows was on the hunt and drove through the field to take the lead on the main straight at the end of lap four. He took the win comfortably in the end by six seconds, with Andrew Turner hanging on for second from a fast finishing Dave O’Leary just 0.3 seconds back.
Race 3- This was the handicap event with the full field combined with the fastest three starting in pit lane nearly one lap in arrears. Russel Thomas in the very nice 1965 Mustang led the field away but was passed early by a car which is very rarely seen on the race track, Jon Jamieson’s Jensen CV8. Cam Crawford in the 1972 Falcon was handy for the first half of the race.
Meanwhile the faster cars were struggling to move through the field at the required rate so others were able to shine. John Sampson in the RS Capri took the lead on lap four and held this position for an easy win. A big bunch was fighting hard for the minors and Tony Galbraith's improving form was paying rewards for a good second, closely followed by Ross Golding. The next 14 cars finished with just under 10 seconds separating them.
A great day with excellent racing in all three events. All competitors drove well with many setting PB’s. Best times obtained by each competitor during racing are noted below.
1-Colin Meadows- 1:11.2
2-Dave O’Leary - 1:11.3
3-Tony Galbraith - 1:12.5
4-Ross Golding - 1:13.9
5-Andrew Turner- 1:14.6
6-Steve Swann -1:15.4
7-Paul Burnet - 1:17.5
8-Graham Cargill- 1:17.9
9-Veen Smith- 1:17.9
10-Ron Findlay -1:17.9
11-Cam Crawford- 1:18.2
The overall results for the year are:
Class A
First: Tony Galbraith
Second: Colin Meadows
Third: Andrew Turner
Class B
First: Cam Crawford
Second: Veen Smith
Third: Paul Burnet
Craig Pearson
