We're not grinning, but we sure are smiling!
The Six Hour Relay Race
Winton Motor Raceway
Sunday, August 29, 1999

It is often said that 'winners are grinners'. Well Team FANGIO of the Maserati Club of Australia, Inc. may not have been grinning, but they sure had a big smile on their faces when the flag dropped at the finish of the 1999 MSCA Six Hour this year. The FANGIO team capably lead by Greg Aimers as Team Manager and comprising Tony Moodie (BMW M635CSi), Guy Edmonds (Nissan 200SX), Stephen Greenfield (Mazda RX7 Turbo II) and Steve Phillips (Nissan 200SX) with 200 laps completed after handicap and penalties finished one lap short of the Victorian Mini Club team, who won the event, and a lap clear of a team from the Austin Healy Sprite Drivers Club who finished third.

Motorsport would have to be the most maddening, frustrating, yet exhilarating of sports. Certainly this year's 1999 MSCA Six Hour proved to be all of this and more for those who took part - whether as Driver or Official - in what proved to be a very close run event, with a record field and a few thousand spectators thrown in for good measure. Let me tell you about it.

By early May of this year it appeared the club had a surfeit of riches, as far as potential entries for the Six Hour were concerned. Indeed with 26 or more drivers vying for 20 places in five teams it appeared certain that we may have to disappoint a few drivers and say 'sorry'. Based on our experience with the event in the two prior years, we had decided that teams comprising four drivers were the best combination to run in this event. A four driver team meant that each driver would get two sessions of 45 minutes on the circuit, enough to test both the driver and the car. In 1997 we had experience running a three driver team - that combination required two 60 minute sessions on the track, but the marginal 15 minutes proved to be risky for the endurance of both car and driver. The happy optimum appeared to be the four driver team, so that was what we planned for.

Given a starting point of 26 drivers our plan was to support five teams. The assumption was that we would either have to say 'sorry' to some, or more likely, the natural law of attrition which seems to be associated with events of this type would come into force and magically ensure we had sufficient last minute withdrawals to bring the number of Drivers back to 20, without the need to disappoint anyone. My association with this event suggested that the odds were pretty much on the side of 'last minute withdrawals' and the Law of Attrition, so we boldly paid our money for the entry of five teams.

With a couple of weeks to go, the Law of Attrition appeared to have been working overtime. Our total of 26 drivers had thinned considerably - we were now looking at a final group of 13 drivers. The five team entry had to be thrown out the window! Even my basic arithmetic suggested that four doesn't divide evenly into 13, so in the interests of the event I elected to be a spectator and give the car a rest. After all with Lactos, Targa and the Winter Classic Rally and the odd outing at Phillip Island it had been busy enough!   So it was settled, with two weeks to go, we would run three teams.

In the meantime it was a matter of ensuring that we got the underlying team organisation under control and each team properly set up. The Six Hour really is a team event - a team manager and five or more additional officials supporting each team is essential for success in this event. A three car team meant a total club effort of 12 drivers and up to 20 officials to support them. Whilst driver has a responsibility to keep the car on the track and close to its particular nominated time, it is the team of officials who determine when a driver's sessions should start and end, determine the laps completed and provide the driver advice on lap times and progress in each session via the pit board. This can be a very demanding process and certainly requires discipline and teamwork by both drivers and officials.

As a club with relatively limited funds we decided that this year we would spend the funds we had budgeted in a fairly practical manner and hopefully enlist the support of a sponsor to fund the team 'uniforms'.

The key priorities for the club were to obtain an additional pit board and upgrade our existing boards (we had two) to meet the requirement of the event, hire the necessary two way radios, contribute toward the garage space costs, provide fuel for the drivers during the course of the event and importantly provide a catering service for both drivers and officials in our somewhat remote location in the new pit area at Winton.

Carol and Peter O'Brien who provide the catering service at the club track days, offered to bring their pots and pans and barbeque to Winton and provide a catering service to the drivers and officials. They were happy to meet their own transport and accommodation costs and provide their usually high standard catering at modest cost. Our sincere thanks for their efforts and the splendid luncheon and afternoon barbeque they provided on both Saturday and Sunday for club drivers and officials.

Catering of course comes at a cost and despite the preparedness of Carol and Peter to provide their service over the two key days of the event at the most modest of costs - feeding 30 or more people for the two days was not inexpensive. When coupled with an unexpected increase in the cost of the garage space, which although met largely by the drivers, the club was still looking at total expenditure of around $2,000 before we even started to consider team polo shirts and caps.

The club would particularly like to thank Alan Michael and his company MICHAELS CAMERA VIDEO & DIGITAL whose generous financial contribution to the club met most of the costs of the catering provided on both Saturday and Sunday and substantially reduced the club's financial exposure to the event. Not only did Alan generously provide the club with financial assistance he also, accompanied by Esther, made the trip to Winton on the Sunday to provide assistance as an official for the day. We extend our sincere thanks to both Alan and Esther for their contribution to this event.

As for the club polo shirts and caps, well they were an unfortunate casualty this year. Initially we had planned to ensure that the club achieved a real presence at the event, as we had done in 1998, by commissioning some special polo shirts and caps for Drivers and Officials bearing the club name and logo, the event name of course and the name of a potential team sponsor who had offered the club some 'in principle' support. With three teams similarly attired, we thought we could make a substantial impression and capitalise on an excellent promotional opportunity. At the very least we would be contenders for the 'best dressed' team award. Well it wasn't to be. Unfortunately, the sponsor we were relying on was unable to commit to funding these items for this year's event, so a promotion opportunity was missed and the 'best dressed team award' went to the Bendigo Club, who obviously impressed the crowd and the judges. Next year we will be a contender!

We were now into the week leading up to the event. And what a week and what an event it would prove to be!

The week however got off to a less than desirable start when one of the team members was forced to withdraw due to a conflicting overseas business commitment. Unfortunately, the commitment had arisen unexpectedly and at the last moment, forcing him to reluctantly to withdraw. One team was now reduced to three drivers. Unfortunately (for me) the notice had come just a day or so too late not enabling me to substitute myself in the event ... one of life's great ironies I thought!

Friday, August 27, 1999

Friday, was scheduled as a free practice day at Winton. We had planned it to be a day on which each driver could spend some time on the track and become fully familiar with the conditions. The weather changed all that. Waking early on Friday morning it was bucketing down in Melbourne. A quick call to Andrew Ogg who was in Benalla confirmed that the conditions in that area were not much better. Whilst track conditions did improve in the afternoon the track remained wet and greasy for most of the day. Representation from all clubs on the Friday practice was much lighter than in previous years ... obviously, the weather was a major disincentive.

Jack Klaver wasn't worried by the weather however as he put in a number of solid sessions until things went awry. Having battled through Targa and a number of other events, the yellow Ferrari 308GTB lightweight had decided to take a break. The fuel pump gave up. Now Benalla is not the easiest place in the world to get a Ferrari fuel pump off the shelf, particularly one that has been around for 25 years. A few phone calls and some outstanding service by Graeme Vincent in Richmond, necessitating a quick trip by him to the circuit to eventually rectify the problem, later that evening.

As if the weather wasn't a major disincentive, for Stephen Greenfield it just added to the problems he had encountered the previous evening. Stephen had been making his way quietly to Benalla with the car following obediently behind on the trailer when he was suddenly intercepted by a driver who had lost control of himself (funny what alcohol does to you!) and his vehicle and managed to run into the trailer damaging the Mazda in the process. By mid-afternoon on the Friday, Stephen had managed to get the car to the safety of a local tow truck operator's premises in Benalla and then himself (sans car) out to the track. With the assistance of fellow team member Steve Phillips, John McNiece and Steve's trailer, the damaged Mazda finally made it to the track. A quick inspection revealed that the car was minus a front spoiler, the electrical system had somehow been damaged in the process of its removal, but worst of all the car had a fatally damaged left front wheel requiring a replacement rim. By now it was almost dark and Benalla was just about closed up, so it was decided that with a bit of luck we could solve the electrical problems in the morning and find a spare rim so that Stephen could get through scrutineering and put the car on the circuit by 2.30 pm which would give him 30 minutes to qualify.

By 7.00 pm that evening the adverse weather conditions of the day were largely forgotten and both Jack and Stephen's problems appeared to be under control as the team got together for dinner at the Tatong Hotel some 25 km East of Benalla. The Tatong pub is a great venue, with good food and is separated from Benalla by a great stretch of road. It was a quiet night in front of a blazing fire and by the end of a very pleasant evening our thoughts had turned to the day ahead and the Qualifying Session to follow.

Saturday, August 28, 1999

The day dawned with bright sunshine and clear skies. The violent downpour of Friday seemed to be just a memory. The tell-tale signs of the heavy rain were however clearly evident just by looking at the track infield. The big risk for the day appeared getting bogged if you were unfortunate enough to leave the track.

Saturday got off to an early start. Jack Klaver's problems had been solved and Stephen Greenfield had set about solving his problems prior to the 2.30 pm deadline.

Shortly after the commencement of Qualifying, Ojars Balodis returned to the garages somewhat crestfallen at a scrutineering decision. The scrutineers in their wisdom had decided that the windscreen of Ojars car would have to be replaced, before they would let him on to the track for qualifying. A few hurried phone calls later, Ojars sourced a windscreen for the 944 Turbo Porsche and arranged to have it fitted that evening. The problem was getting the car qualified. Following some creative discussion with the scrutineers it was agreed that Ojars could qualify in the car providing he wore a full-face helmet with the visor down during the session. He did just that and got the car qualified. The windscreen problem was an overnight fix.

Unfortunately for Stephen Greenfield 2.30 pm on Saturday came and went. Stephen had no spare wheel for the Mazda and we unable to source a new set of rims that would fit the car in the time frame allowed. Stephen reluctantly had to withdraw. That meant that we now had two three driver teams for the event and only one with the original complement of four drivers.

Following the close of Qualifying at 3.00 pm a 'top ten' shootout was held amongst the quickest of the qualifying drivers. Ojars Balodis got into the Porsche (with the visor on the helmet down) and managed a 1:34.2436 which put him in third position behind Robert Smith (Commodore VS) 1:34.2648 in second place and the winner, Chris Barry in a PRB Clubman who recorded a 1:32.7912 as the winning time.

By 5.00 pm following a team meeting we had managed to confirm the final team compositions and the nominated times for each driver. In the MSCA Six Hour each driver has to nominate a lap time that he may exceed, but may not go under. The handicaps are based on a computer assisted decision that calculates the number of laps each team would complete if each of the drivers, (who are assumed to spend an equal amount of time on the circuit) drives to his nominated lap time. The team with the greatest number of laps receives a handicap of ZERO and each of the remaining teams receives a handicap equivalent to the number of laps they would finish behind the leading team. This would mean that if everyone drove precisely to their nominated lap time, there would be a dead heat. Now as everyone does not drive precisely to their nominated time, due to traffic and other considerations, not least of which is the time taken for one vehicle in a team to change over with another vehicle, the event does not end as a dead-heat. Instead it is a highly competitive event in which small deviations from the nominated time can prove costly. If you are slower than your nominated time then you lose track position relative to other teams and worst of all, if you are quicker than your nominated time by 0.0001 second or more then you lose an entire lap to your competitors. So the trick is to be consistent and close to (but slower than) your nominated time.

At 7.00 pm we convened the TEAM MASERATI dinner at the Kim Wah Restaurant. By this time the team of Officials had swelled and there were more than 30 for dinner. Winston Kim's expertise was missed but the restaurant proprietors did themselves proud with a banquet meal that complimented a memorable day and evening.

Sunday, August 29, 1999 - Race Day

The day of the race proved to be another brilliant sunny day. The bad weather of Friday, was now just a distant memory as we were greeted by clear skies and sunshine at the track. It was warm, without being hot. An excellent beginning to what was to be an exciting and eventful day.

However, whilst track conditions were perfect in unison with the weather, the event stumbled momentarily at the beginning. In keeping with most motorsports events there was waiting to contend with. With everyone lined up ready to get on to the track, the event start was delayed. As the minutes ticked by there was a noticeable increase in the temperature in the Marshalling area as anxious drivers waited to get onto the track. Reminiscent of the club's Grand Prix Track Day, proceedings were held up as the official doctor to the event was delayed in arriving at the track. Thirteen minutes of delay saw the doctor arrive and the event get underway, much to the collective relief of the anxious officials.

The club's three teams were named after three famous drivers who had successfully driven Maserati to winning positions in grand prix racing in the pre-WWII and post-WWII period: ASCARI (Team 14), FANGIO (Team 15) and VILLORESI (Team 16). Each team had a story to tell.

Reduced to three in number, the team comprised:

Team ASCARI, despite its reduction in numbers looked to be a good chance in the event. The drivers were experienced and the vehicles had proved themselves more than capable in endurance events. Looks can be deceiving. Jack Klaver started the event for the team and some four minutes prior to the scheduled end of his 60 minute session he came in unexpectedly after having been observed 'blowing some smoke'. At the change-over point it was quickly established that Jack's Ferrari was losing oil and that the was getting 'a bit of a rattle' in the motor. He was sent off to re-fuel and report back on the problem. Andrew Ogg was now out on the track. Sixty minutes later Chris Stephen took his place in the Ford Mustang following an uneventful session by Andrew.

Quickly getting on to the pace Chris and his Mustang failed to appear on his 11^th lap. On entering the long straight in front of the new pit area, where our teams were garaged, the Mustang appeared to verge in a direct line for the pit wall as he was exiting the turn onto the straight. With some very adept manoeuvring he managed to miss the wall whilst his right front wheel separated from the car and became airborne. The Mustang came to a perfect three-point landing. Its race was finished.

Uncertain about the condition of the Ferrari, Andrew Ogg in the Ford Escort Twin Cam was quickly rushed back onto the track to replace the terminal Mustang. Andrew had barely had time to refuel in the 20 minute break since his last 60 minute session. With Andrew on the track it was quickly established that Jack's problem was terminal - the loss of oil had resulted in bearing failure terminating the life of the Ferrari. The Mustang was in equally poor condition. It was determined that the hub of the right front wheel had snapped on exiting the turn into the new pit straight, causing the loss of the wheel. No suitable hub could be found or fitted to the car in the time available.

Andrew Ogg completed his hour and was brought in. The team had no other choice but to retire, which they did following the completion of 101 laps.

The event had started badly for Team FANGIO with the retirement of Stephen Greenfield in the Mazda RX7 Turbo II the previous day. The final team comprised:

Although missing out on the event Stephen Greenfield had stayed on for the event and joined in supporting the team as a team official. Tony Moodie started the event for the team. It was determined that in the case of this team Tony would drive three 40 minute sessions rather than two 60 minute sessions, meaning that Tony would not only start but also finish the event for the team.

Adeptly managed by Greg Aimers the team managed to complete all of its planned sessions uneventfully with Tony Moodie, Guy Edmonds and Steve Phillips driving close to their nominated times and staying clear of any trouble or mayhem. Well almost uneventfully that should be. Steve Phillips on the next to last lap of his second 60 minute session started to notice the temperature gauge "go through the roof" and the oil pressure "drop out of sight", so he determined that there was no point in looking at the gauges and pressed on. Rolling up to the vehicle change-over point, having finished his second session almost precisely on time, his usually ultra-reliable Nissan 200SX expired. Having just recently rebuilt the motor it was a personal disappointment for Steve and unfortunately a triumph for the team. Talk about great timing!

By now Tony Moodie was back on the track and thanks to the efforts of his team mates in Guy Edmonds and Steve Phillips was eventually able to bring his car across the finish line to what proved to be 18^th outright, but importantly 2^nd place in the event on handicap. Congratulations it was a great effort!

Perhaps typical of the Maserati Club Team VILLORESI comprised a team of Porsches. As fate would have it, they were the only Porsches in the event.

Jeff Beaumont was the first car on the track. The event proceed smoothly with Michael Browning following Jeff then Mark Connolly following on after him. Everything was on plan. Ojars Balodis was the final team member to take to the track and to complete the first session.

Ojars managed to complete his session OK, but reported a problem with the car. He was sent off to refuel and report back as soon as he could establish the nature of the problem. In the meantime Jeff Beaumont had gone out for his second session. It was then that things started to go wrong.

Jeff Beaumont had only done 16 laps when he was forced to come in. Jeff had encountered a problem in his fuel supply, it appeared he had a blockage of some sort. Meanwhile it had been established that Ojars had problems with the bearings on a rear wheel and that further participation on the track would do nothing more than invite disaster. Selwyn Hall as Team Manager was therefore confronted with a range of problems that threatened to put the team out of the event. A bit of quick thinking however and a revised driver schedule saw the team rearrange the driving sessions. A slightly heavier driving load was placed on Michael Browning and Mark Connolly to take them up to their allowable limit to offset the loss of track time by Ojars and to minimise any penalty laps occasioned by keeping a driver on the circuit too long. Meanwhile the problem with Jeff Beaumont's car was identified and it was resolved that he would finish the event using up his time allowance. That still left the team in a situation where one driver would have to spend additional time on the track and lead inevitably to a team penalty. Selwyn Hall and his team of officials gave that task to Mark Connolly and despite having him on the track longer than expected, the penalty amounted to only three laps. It was a great piece of management.

Despite having lost its quickest driver for one complete session, Team VILLORESI managed to finish 8^th outright and 19^th on handicap. A job well done in difficult circumstances.

The Club's participation in this event would not have been possible without the contribution of the persons who gave up their time to be present at the event. Whilst it can be argued that the costs of an event like this fall heavily on the Drivers, it should not be forgotten that the Team Officials are not only giving up their time, but also have to pay their own accommodation and transport costs to be part of the team. The club is particularly grateful to the following people who acted as officials for the club in this event and helped to create an outstanding team. They were (in alphabetical order):

Last, but not least my congratulations to the Drivers and their respective Team Managers, who made the 1999 MSCA Six Hour such a memorable event.

Many members of the Maserati Club are also members of other clubs. So it came as no surprise to see a few club members representing other clubs and teams. Present on the day, were:

George Forbes (Austin Healey Sprite Drivers Club)
Tony Hawker (AROCA - Vic)
Len Cattlin (Lotus Club)
Martin Cole (Lotus Club)
Brian Canny (AROCA - Vic)

Present in an official capacity were David Floyd (Secretary of the Meeting) and Barry Jorgensen (Steward).

As I have already perhaps implied the 1999 MSCA Six Hour was a very well run and administered event by any standard. Congratulations on the day are richly deserved by Alister Grigg who as Clerk of Course and his assistant on the day Jim Picot kept the event moving all day and whose overall management skills produced not only a safe event, but one without the panel damage often associated with a competitive event at Winton. The Flagmarshalls led by Terry O'Callaghan, and Firemarshalls led by Simon Maas both made a significant contribution to the safety of the event. David Floyd as Secretary of the Meeting was not only responsible for the conduct of both a professionally run and managed event, but created an event that I am sure all participating officials working and certainly the competitors were proud to be associated with. Congratulations!

With the conduct of the 1999 event behind us, next year's event is now less than 12 months away. I understand it will be held at about the same time of year. The maximum number of entries for next year's event may well be reduced from the 38 of this year to approximately 32 in order to reduce the pressure on space in the marshalling area, carports and garages. Based on the success of this year's event, next year may well see a waiting list.

From the club's point of view, we will be keen to enter three teams. Maybe next year we will have to say 'sorry' to someone after all?