Driving your street car on a race track just got easy

A Brand new event for Winton Motor Raceway for street cars and track day cars has been launched for 2013.  The next date will be Sunday March 17th with more dates to be added through the year.  If you ever wanted to drive your car fast then Winton Raceway is the place to go.  Its simple and fun and you make your self a better driver each and every time you come.

Winton Raceway  now offers its Speed off the Street Days, where road-registered street cars can run on

the circuit for a small fee. Drivers can learn how their vehicle can really perform, in order to better understand how to control their vehicle on the road.

Just bring yourself and your street car and for just $150 per day, you can experience what it’s like to Drive around a race track. Drivers need to wear appropriate attire:

• Approved road use helmet
• Neck-to-wrist-to-ankle clothing protection (could be long sleeve shirt and long pants)
• Closed in shoes (cover ankle to toe)

SPEED OFF THE STREET DAYS

o   Drive your own street car  $150.00 per day

o   Australian Autosport Alliance licence $50.00 (annually)

PASSENGERS FOR DRIVER TRAINING PURPOSES ONLY (must have appropriate Race Licences, Call Winton Office for details)

FUEL  available now from the bowser.

*prices subject to change without notice.

Check out  our calendar for the next Speed off the street day.

n Motor Raceway to come up with a unique opportunity for auto-lovers to show off their prized possessions and rare machines.

The Benalla Cruise and Shine trumpets the tag-line “See it, Feel it, Hear it” and that is exactly what you will be able to do.

Entrants will be able to tell a story about their vehicles in a public arena as well as taking it for a leisurely cruise around the iconic Victorian circuit, surrounded by their peers and spectators who can appreciate the machine for what it is.

Whilst on display to be enjoyed and appreciated there will be trophy’s awarded for the best presented cars as well as a committee appreciation award.

Committee Secretary Brenda Letson says “Winton is a great location because the facility can accommodate a lot of vehicles along with various other displays, such as Tractors, Trucks, and Trade Stalls. We are very excited about the event because it is different to a static show and shine in that owners can actually take their vehicle for a slow cruise on the track. We will also have a dyno machine for those that really want to test the raw power of their engine”.

All in the name of charity, the committee members are volunteers and each year a registered charity will be nominated for event proceeds to be donated to. This year the Salvation Army Benalla has been chosen and it is hoped the event will raise some much needed funds for this well respected organisation.

Some of the vehicles on display include: 1974 XB GT, 1955-1964 Chevrolet Belairs, 1988 Sierra Sapphire Cosworth, 1971 & 1974 Chevrolet Nova, 1934 Ford Coupe, 1960 Porsche Cabriolet, 1956 Vauxhall Velox plus many more.

There will be coach rides for the family to ride around the historic Winton Circuit as well as food and refreshments available for purchase.

On Saturday October 27th there is also a street parade where some of these fantastic vehicles will parade along Bridge St in Benalla from 10.30am to join the Benalla Lakeside Craft and Farmers Market to park on the Lakeside Foreshore by 11am.

For more information call 1800 WINTON or visit www.wintonraceway.com.au

plenty of smoke and blowing away an appreciative crowd with a spectacular display of ‘cab-to-cab’ racing. There was also plenty to see off the track, with several superbly presented vehicles on display around the spectator areas.

A field of six Super Trucks and two Light Trucks hit the original Winton short track for six races of six laps each, including two co-driver-only sessions. The short sessions delivered a very close competition and some fierce rivalry within and between the two classes, with no surety of the podium until the very last corner of the weekend.

Consistency for Beau Hewat in the #1 Team Skitzo Kenworth paid dividends with two wins and two second place finishes handing him the round win, ten points ahead of the rest of the field.

The minor placings were a tightly contested battle, with just one point denying series leader Steven Zammit of second place, who had to settle for third behind Paul Reyntjes.

Series President Rob Waters had been on track for second place until a wild first corner of the final, Superprix race on Sunday afternoon saw him retire to pit lane and take fourth for the weekend.

‘We can’t wait to race at Winton again, hopefully with some of our truck racing mates from across the Tasman. The rivalry over the weekend was good, but it’s nothing compared to the Boxing Kangaroo versus the Silver Fern!’ exclaimed Waters. ‘Next time we will have an even bigger display area as well, with plenty of the vintage and new trucks on the way.’

The feature support category was the Production Touring Car Series, which made its first appearance at Winton. Bob Pearson was too good for the rest of the field, taking comprehensive wins in both 50-minute enduros.

Other round winners over the weekend were Alan Saint (BMW E30 Series), Robert Free (Miniature Race Cars), Spencer Rice (Alfa Romeo East Coast Challenge) and Corey Gooch (Super TT).

The Super Trucks return to Winton Motor Raceway November 10-11, as a part of the action packed Winton 300 weekend. Check out www.wintonraceway.com.au for more information.

raced against them during his karting days, which included a national karting title in 1995.

Like so many other young drivers, Krusza ran out of funding a long time before he ran out of driving ability, and his racing career was put on hold while he focused on his business activities. Now he has the financial backing behind him, he has rediscovered his love of motor racing, and after competing in some sprints and BMW club days, he returned to competitive racing in the Wakefield 300 earlier this year, alongside fellow Sydneysider Daniel Kapetanovic.

The two drivers put in one of the standout performances of the weekend, qualifying and finishing in the top-10 outright and third in their division.

The tin-top experience these drivers have gained in events since the Wakefield 300, such as club sprints and the Wakefield 6 Hour regularity relay, should stand them in good stead for the Winton 300. Krusza, in particular, clocked some very fast lap times in the BMW Car Club Sprints in June, indicating that this car is a definite top six chance and even a dark horse for the podium if race strategy works to Krusza and Kapetanovic’s advantage.

Format

You may not know who David Krusza is. But Marcos Ambrose, James Courtney and Mark Winterbottom certainly do, because Krusza raced against them during his karting days, which included a national karting title in 1995.
Like so many other young drivers, Krusza ran out of funding a long time before he ran out of driving ability, and his racing career was put on hold while he focused on his business activities. Now he has the financial backing behind him, he has rediscovered his love of motor racing, and after competing in some sprints and BMW club days, he returned to competitive racing in the Wakefield 300 earlier this year, alongside fellow Sydneysider Daniel Kapetanovic.
The two drivers put in one of the standout performances of the weekend, qualifying and finishing in the top-10 outright and third in their division.
The tin-top experience these drivers have gained in events since the Wakefield 300, such as club sprints and the Wakefield 6 Hour regularity relay, should stand them in good stead for the Winton 300. Krusza, in particular, clocked some very fast lap times in the BMW Car Club Sprints in June, indicating that this car is a definite top six chance and even a dark horse for the podium if race strategy works to Krusza and Kapetanovic’s advantage.

Path:

ain day being Sunday. Spectators will get to witness 15 races each day with the on track action starting at 9:00 am and racing from approximately 10:40 am and finishing at approximately 4:30pm.

Where, When and How Much?

Tickets for the fifth round of the 2012 Australian FX-Superbike Championship (AFX-SBK) Championship Series are available at the Winton main gate Saturday 6^th and Sunday 7^th October from 8:00 am each day. Tickets can also be pre-purchased through our office (02) 48235711 or email admin@formula-xtreme.com.au

Saturday or Sunday Adult $30

Two Day Pass Adult $40

Saturday / Sunday Children (1-15) Free

Official Program $5

Who & What Classes Are Competing

Six times King of Xtreme and twice runner up in the World Supersport Championship Kev Curtain on the factory Yamaha bike will stake his pride against the extremely fast Aprilia RSV4 being piloted by one of the country’s best riders, Russell Holland, who was the runner up at the previous round in Queensland. Another two riders to watch will be south Coast locals, the Cullen Brothers, on their very fast Yamaha R1’s who have won rounds previously at Wakefield Park and who are keen to show a clean pair of heels to the very fast BMW’s and Kawasaki’s as well as the factory Yamahas. With over 20 quality entries in the FX-Superbike class there will be plenty of challengers wanting to win the fourth round of the championship at Wakefield Park Raceway, so pick either Saturday or Sunday and come and see for yourself the most exciting and close motorcycle racing there is in the country today.

There are in total five very diverse and entertaining classes providing all the on track action and entertainment with three races each per day, ranging from the FX-Superbikes to the other end of the spectrum with the screaming hardcore FX125GP 2-stroke Grand Prix Bikes which have been joined by the new FX-450GP bikes through to the thundering FX Pro-Twins class. Add to the on track entertainment the high revving and very fast FX 600 Supersport based machines which attracts many of the young up and coming stars of tomorrow and the ‘Run what you brung’ Formula Oz class that provides close, fast and excellent racing with a field of hotted up Superbikes, Formula 1 machines and 250GP bikes all competing to see who has the quickest and baddest race machines.

Then there is the premier class of the 2012 AFX-SBK series the FX-Superbikes which will showcase some of the best racers on the fastest bikes in the country as they go head to head to see who is the ‘King of Xtreme’ for 2012. The FX-Superbikes machines pitch 1000 cc four cylinder machines against the very popular 1200 cc booming V-Twins together.

For further information please contact Australian Road & Track Rider Promotions on 02 48 235 711 in business hours or email admin@aus-superbikes.com.au or go to the website www.aus-superbikes.com.au.

The wet-weather handling issues, long an Achilles heel of the little Future Racers, seemed to have been solved and Thompson, who had taken over the car for the final stint, was in third position and lapping just as fast, if not faster, than the two cars ahead of him.

History shows that the fairytale run came to an end when Thompson made the same mistake so many others had made over the course of the race, and spun into the gravel trap at Turn 2, losing two laps and throwing away any chance of delivering Nathan Jess his third Wakefield 300 victory.

While the result may not have gone their way, the signs are good for Jess and Thompson, who also led a large portion of last year’s Winton 300 before being forced to make a second compulsory pitstop after their qualifying time narrowly placed them in Division 1.

Compared to last year, Jess and Thompson should be even faster thanks to an upgrade to a more powerful Suzuki Hayabusa motor, meaning another Division 1 qualifying performance is likely. On this occasion though, they should be fast enough to at least have a chance of making up for the time they may lose through the additional compulsory pit stop, and the Wakefield 300 performance shows that wet weather won’t hurt this car’s chances either.

t just Bathurst where a Volvo has tasted success, because Richard Renato and his father Lou scored a division win, and seventh place outright, in last year’s Winton 300.

For this year’s race, Renato has enlisted the services of Chris Muscat, a driver well known for his exploits in a Mazda RX7 Sports Sedan. Muscat’s impressive results in Victorian Sports Sedan competition show that he certainly has the ability, and he has a history of good form at Winton as well; in last year’s national Sports Sedan round, he finished second overall behind Tony Ricciardello.

Unfortunately Renato was unable to start this year’s Wakefield 300 due to some mechanical problems. Since then, the car has since been developed and thoroughly tested by both Renato and Muscat at Winton’s Tampered Motorsport days, so look for this car to chalk up another strong result if it runs reliably.

19^th outright and second in Division 5. It was an encouraging performance from drivers who in many ways encapsulate what the Winton 300 is all about – competitors who are stepping up from sprint or club-level competition, and want an affordable taste of endurance racing.

For this year, Van Der Heyden and Murray are looking for something extra, and Van Der Heyden has expanded the motor from the standard 3.8 Litre V6 to a big-bore 4.2 Litre unit.

“We’re looking for extra grunt, which will hopefully improve our lap-times enough to put us in Division 4,” he said.

“We’ve also made a lot of improvements to the car’s handling by adjusting the camber and castor. I’ve added a lot more negative camber which has just about eliminated the understeer through Turns 7, 8 and 9.”

Van Der Heyden has also recently started using Kumho Tyres in his Sprint Series competition, and has been extremely satisfied with their performance.

“The Kumho Tyres just have so much extra grip and I’m able to carry a lot more mid-corner speed than I was previously, and that was on an old set of Kumhos!” he said.

Fuel range will be a critical factor in this year’s Winton 300, and Van Der Heyden is planning to install a larger fuel tank in the Commodore.

“We want to get 60 laps out of a tank of fuel, because that will give us some flexibility about when we make our compulsory pit-stop,” he said.

After their solid rookie performance last year, Van Der Heyden and Murray now have some experience under their belt, which will make them a podium contender for Division 4 based on recent lap-times their Commodore has achieved at Winton.

ollection of modified vehicles, because Star FM Winton Performance Car Mania 7 will be held on September 21-23.

Performance Car Mania was created back in 2005 and has become one of Winton’s most popular events for spectators and competitors, and that is because it caters for a huge assortment of performance vehicles from muscle cars to imports and rotaries.

Events you can expect to see at Performance Car Mania include:

Burnouts – competitors will be let loose on the burnout pad, and given permission to create the most spectacular display of smoke and noise they possibly can. There will be plenty of rubber and blown tyres, and judging criteria will include continuous smoke, technique and who gets the biggest cheer from the crowd.

Grudge Match Drag Racing – These events are divided into classes based on the type of car entered, and the formula is simple: fastest car from the start line to the finish line wins. Cars will compete in elimination heats with the fastest cars to face off in a win-or-lose final.

Dyno Challenge – Of course, there are those people who like bragging about how much raw horsepower their car produces, and this event is their opportunity to prove it! Competitors will strap their car to the official competition dyno (kindly provided by Dr Drift) and floor the accelerator; most horsepower wins.

Go to Whoa – This is a test of both the braking and accelerating capabilities of cars, which will accelerate from standstill and then stop in a distance of about 100 metres. There will be plenty of wheelspin and brake lockups!

In addition to these events, competitors will also be able to cruise the track, and spectators will have plenty of opportunities to look at the cars up close at the “Show ‘N’ Shine”.

Admission to Performance Car Mania is $10 for Friday, $25 for Saturday and $25 for Sunday. Children 14 years and under are free if accompanied by an adult, and the camping ground will be open for the event.

For more information, check out www.performancecarmania.com.au.

otlight are our reigning champions, David Raddatz and Shane Otten.

The reigning Winton 300 champions are back, and have upped the ante for 2012 by stepping out of their naturally aspirated Mazda MX5 into a more powerful turbocharged version.

Raddatz and Otten have been the form drivers in both the Wakefield and Winton 300 endurance races for several years now, and their record speaks for itself: They finished runner-up in the 2009 Wakefield 300 before winning the 2010 Wakefield 300. Last year they finished second in the Wakefield 300 and won the Winton 300 and then split up for the Wakefield 300 in March this year, with Raddatz finishing third (with Nick Cancian) and Otten finishing fourth after leading for most of his stint with a spectacular wet-weather drive in the Mazda RX7 he shared with Stephen Anslow.

Raddatz also has the honour of finishing the 2010 Wakefield 300 in both first and second position. How so? Well, the regulations for that race permitted a driver cross-entering vehicles, so Raddatz started the race in one car (partnering Shane Otten) and finished the race in another car (with Rob Hay), thus finishing on the two top steps of the podium!

In this year’s Winton 300, Raddatz and Otten face the largest and most competitive field they have come up against in their time driving together, but Raddatz is still confident that the MX5 will be the one to beat come November 11.

“We’re actually going to de-tune the engine, to make sure we can complete the race on just one fuel stop,” Raddatz said. “The aim will be to have a car that will do 1:35s all day, which will put us in the fastest group of Division 2 cars. Last year we won the race by doing 1:37s and 38s, but the competition has stepped up a notch which means we really have to make sure we’re one of the fastest Division 2 cars.”

“Being back in the Mazda MX5 will be like being back home,” Otten added. “Even though this car will have a bit more power than the naturally aspirated car, it will still handle, steer and brake the same so I’ll be very comfortable being back behind the wheel.

“The MX5s are lightweight and good under brakes which makes them very easy to drive through the slower traffic, which should help us with such a big field.”

Raddatz’s MX5 Mania outfit is renowned for producing well-engineered race cars, which have an exemplary track record for reliability. Hence, Raddatz and Otten will deservedly head to the Winton 300 as one of the favourites for outright victory.