Only a small contingent of Group N competitors attended the FOSC/MRA one-day race meeting held at Sydney Motorsport Park on Sunday the 21st of July.

Entrants were Stephen Taite in the Chevrolet Nova, Mathew Sullivan in the XU1 Holden Torana, Ian Johnson running the Chevrolet Corvair Monza and David Stone piloting the Ford Mustang.

It was the typical winter weather forecast of a cool morning followed by a mild and sunny day. This outing was being used more or less as a test and tune session, which was just as well as almost all participants experienced major mechanical issues.

The only member to have a successful outing was David Stone in the Mustang, who recorded some good competition in amongst the much lighter Mazda MX5 sports cars.

The brakes in Stephen Taite’s Chev Nova faded due to a brake booster that was undersized and in need of an overhaul. Sometimes it is easy to overlook components and utilize them way beyond the use by dates. Apparently a new larger booster has been installed and the car is race ready for the next outing - good news!

Mathew Sullivan’s driving experience in the black XU1 Torana was short lived with an expired engine after placing number one conrod external to the block. Diagnosis following the event revealed a broken conrod bolt. Mat has already placed that negative experience behind him, fitting another engine ready for Muscle Car Masters.

Ian Johnson in the Chevrolet Corvair continued to be plagued with reliability issues. Overheating of the engine prevented the car from reaching its full potential. Disappointing as Ian has thrown just about everything at the problem in an effort to find a solution, but to no avail. I admire his persistence and resilience and I can see why he continues to persist in sorting out this beautiful race car.

Thanks to all of the pit crew and supporters for being there for all the competitors involved. Larry Lloyd, Tom Sullivan, Andrew Taite and of course the ever-reliable Elizabeth Wilks - they say there is a certain type of magnet that attracts Liz, and it is called a Torana (especially in black).

Stephen Pitman

Images thanks to Elizabeth Wilks