Amaroo Kicks Off 2026 Sprint Series
21 February 2026 / Story by Bryan Shedden, Photos by Rob Wilko, Greg Unger
The opening round of the MX-5 Club of NSW Sprint Championship — doubling as Round 1 of the 2026 CSCA Supersprint Series — was hosted by the Sprite Car Club of Australia at Sydney Motorsport Park’s Amaroo Circuit on Sunday, 15 February 2026.
A strong contingent of 34 MX-5 Club members formed part of a healthy 73-driver field. The Sprite organisers were delighted with our turnout, which helped ensure the day was not only competitive but financially viable — a great example of clubs supporting clubs.
The weather kept everyone guessing. Scattered showers rolled through at intervals, only to clear and leave a rapidly drying track capable of producing very handy lap times. By around 2pm, most competitors had decided they’d extracted their best and packed up early. That left the circuit largely to the hardy MX-5 faithful, who gladly seized the extra track time. Debutant Paul Dierking certainly did — racking up an impressive 64 laps to claim best value-for-money honours and claiming second place in Modified Class for his efforts.
As always, the CSCA field featured an eclectic mix of machinery. There were 33 Mazdas — every one an MX-5 bar a solitary FD RX-7 flying the rotary flag. Ralph Thompson’s finally seen the light and rocked up in a Standard Class ND — must've got sick of towing his race cars home more than he was driving them! The Lotus contingent was out in force, fielding six Exiges and three Elises, while six Triumphs — including a particularly lovely Spitfire — added a classic touch. A Maserati Gransport provided a cultured V8 soundtrack. Ironically, despite the host club’s name, there wasn’t a single Sprite in attendance — although one MG Midget did represent the “Spridget” family.
Fastest time of the day went to Colin Rudd from Club Lotus Australia, who came tantalisingly close to breaking the minute barrier with a 1:00.936 in his Lotus Exige. Leading the MX-5 charge was Craig Barney in his Open Class NC, posting a rapid 1:04.199 — he also claimed first place in Open Class. Close behind was Jason Russell in his turbocharged Open Class NA (1:04.931), though his gearbox didn’t share the enthusiasm and expired shortly thereafter. Luke Kovacic was just centimetres behind, stopping the clocks at 1:04.993.
Craig Barney - Fastest MX-5 and 1st Open class
Jason Russell
Luke Kovacic
In the MX-5 Club Sprint Championship, Chris Andry emerged as the day’s top scorer, achieving 101.27%. Bryan Shedden followed closely on 100.92%, with Alex Shedden 100.35%. The top three were all in Standard class. He shared his dad’s ND after discovering — somewhat inconveniently — that he’d forgotten to refit the fire extinguisher in his NB. We’re all keen to see what he can do with Greg Unger’s former NB — especially Greg, who spent the day trackside capturing the action through his lens. Glenn Thomas on 100.13% was the only other driver to eclipse his benchmark, taking first in Clubman Class. Reece Lyndon pipped Paul Dierking to first place in Modified class. In the non-MX-5 category, Andrew McLaughlin recorded the quickest time with a 1:04.576 in his Sylva J15 kit car.
Chris Andry - 1st Standard class
Glenn Thomas - 1st Clubman class
Reece Lyndon - 1st Modified class
Andrew McLaughlin - 1st non-MX-5 class
Round 2 of the 2026 CSCA Championship heads to One Raceway on 29 March, hosted by the ever-enthusiastic MG Car Club of Newcastle. We’ll be tackling the Shelley Circuit in reverse direction — same piece of tarmac, entirely different challenge. Charging into the Fishhook the "wrong" way is guaranteed to test both commitment and spatial awareness. Entries are now open, with practice available on 26 March. The President’s already locked in — who’s keen to join him?
