Six Hour Regularity Relay at SMP GP
20 March 2017 / Stewart Temesvary
NSWRRC is holding a 6 hour regularity relay over the Easter weekend in April on the Grand Prix Circuit at Eastern Creek.
Our club has already entered 4 teams with a total of 17 drivers, but it is not too late for anyone else to enter. The event is run over 2 days with Saturday 15 April being devoted to practice and the event run on the Sunday 16 April. Teams comprise between 3 and 6 drivers (each in their own car), nominating their own time, with only one car from each team allowed on the track at a time. A CAMS L2S licence is sufficient to compete. Entries close 3 April 2017.
The MX-5 Club of NSW has been entering teams in regularity relays at Phillip Island since 2011 and Winton since 2015. Almost 12 months ago on the Easter weekend our club entered 3 teams in the inaugural 6 Hour Regularity Relay at Eastern Creek North Circuit, hosted by the NSW Road Racing Club. 15/16 April 2017 sees the second running of the event, this year on the Gardner / GP circuit at Eastern Creek.
Regularity Relays are events where teams of between 3 and 6 drivers and cars per team compete to see who is the most consistent. The events are designed so that the slowest cars have an equal chance of winning. Most of the competitors in these events consider these events a step up from club track days and super sprints, as they involved various makes of cars, team tactics and pit crew to run the team and signal the driver.
Club Torque published an article by Matilda Mravicic last year on the 2016 event - for full details see page 38 of the Autumn 2016 Club Torque, available HERE.
For 2017 the Grand Prix circuit is approved for up to 40 cars on the track at the one time, but at the time of going to press with this article there were only 19 teams enter. On a track that is almost twice the length of Wakefield Park the cars should be well spread out.
If you have ever wanted to drive the Grand Prix circuit at Eastern Creek (arguably the best circuit at Eastern Creek) then here is your chance. The fastest time allowed is 1 min 52 seconds, which is only 3 seconds faster than a standard NC can achieve, so don’t be put off. The event is designed for fairly standard car and is not a race. It is a Regularity competition.
The entry fee per driver is approximately $495 per driver on a 4 car team over the two days, which is not cheap, however it does represent very good value for money, because each driver will get at least 60 minutes of practice on the Saturday and 90 minutes of track time during the event on the Sunday.
For more details do not hesitate to contact me. If you are interested but cannot form a team then don’t despair. We already have at least 1 driver looking to form a team and you could join him. If you have limited track experience then don’t let this put you off. Just contact me, Stewart Temesvary at regularity_relay@mx5.com.au as soon as possible and I can help you.
