Story & pics by Andrew Rowe.
After a wet and dreary week, we awoke to a crisp, clear Sunday morning for the March DTC.
The enthusiasm of Pauline Graham and Stephen Foss saw the water swept from the skid pan, ready for a spirited day of competition.
A small field of only 32 runners meant a quick turnaround between runs. With 10 runs to be had, even the smoothest of drivers were seen to let ambition overrule talent and do a little lawn mowing. I may have led the way in this regard, producing some of the silliest slides of the day. Three spins in a row at turn 2 had Lindsay jogging off to see what was wrong. Only revealing the track was just fine.
Stephen Foss knocked Geoff Noble down a rung after setting a new track record of 45.098 in his Westfield XTR2. Well done Stephen, the new master of the DTC course. There are always plenty of smaller rivalries amongst the results. Ken Graham beating his wife Pauline in the Datsun 1600 whilst achieving 2nd outright. Sam Murphy in his Exige finally cleaning up his dad in the 7. Jon Young looking very chuffed with himself after getting into the 47s, and showing the clubbie crowd a clean set of heels. Lindsay Close the quickest Lotus in 3rd, followed closely by Michael Blessas’s Elise.
Some hard starts produced a rare couple of broken cars. David Christy’s Westfield leaving pieces of uni joint up the start straight after dropping a drive shaft. Mal Kelson coasted back to the pits after failing to find second gear after a furious start. The bag of mangled clutch plate he produced at the next club meeting explaining the issue.
A great day had by all, with smiles all round. And a very big thank you to Gail Hart for her tireless efforts in timekeeping and keeping a constant flow of cars throughout the day.
