Z's at Bathurst at Easter

[ZED660]

Not all Z's are heading to Qld for the Nationals at Easter. The entry list for the FOSC meeting at Bathurst at Easter is out and there are 16 Z's entered. 

 

There are 9 in the Regularity field 2 in Marque and Production Sports Cars and 5 in Historic Sports Cars over 2 litres (Grp S).

 

Practice and qualifying is on Friday with races Sat and Sun. Fingers crossed the weather stays fine as it should be a blast!   

 

 

[bluerat]

Is the 4wd 660Z running?

[ZED660]

It was good to see that those who attended the Nationals in Qld had a good time, but for some of us the place to be at Easter was Mt Panorama Bathurst!

 

Whilst we had some rain over the weekend most of us still managed to have some dry runs over the three days on such an awesome track that was quite daunting to start with.  Overall the Z's acquitted themselves very well against a great range of cars

 

There were a few hold ups over the weekend because of the weather and some prangs, however the FOSC team did a great job considering the enormity of the undertaking in running such a big event.

 

Can't wait 'till next year. 

[jackhelm93]

I agree the weekend was fantastic I went all 3 days i am lucky enough to live in bathurst so just about any race I go to but the FOSC has to be the best !!!!!!!

[ZED660]

Here's a link to a few laps around Mt Panorama in a Z from the Easter FOSC meeting.  Appologies for a bit of vibration.

 

 

[lightmaster240z]

love the video from Mt Panorama is that you driving?

[ZED660]

Yes, it is an awesome track.  Even though it rained over the weekend some of us were fortunate to get some dry laps.

[C.A.R.]

Either that Daytona is a pig of a thing in the corners or the pilot can't drive

 

And I was so surprised the Rotary blew up at the end!

[ZED660]

Actually it wasn't a rotary, it was an early model Lancer with a worked 2.4l (I think) Sigma motor.  It was very light and went like stink in a straight line.  He pushed a welsh plug out the side of the block and dumped all his coolant over my windscreen!

[Enzo]

I really enjoyed the video. It brought back a lot of memories of when I lived near Bathurst and raced back in the 80's. It looks as if the car handles very predictable. What suspension setup do you have. Once again,well done. I'm envious.

David.

[Toecutter]

Did a 240 T bone an orange Lotus on a wet lap at some point?

 

Sulio

[ZED660]

Sulio - Yes, I believe it was in a Marquew Sports car race and the Lotus spun some where down near Forrest Elbow and was sideways across the track when the Z arrived and had no where to go.

 

David - Thanks some of us Z guys got together last night and were still raving about how much fun it was.  Suspension wise it is fairly basic with Tokico springs and Tokico D spec shocks (adjustable ones up from the Illuminas) with some negative on the front and different sway bars.

 

Here's a couple of pics;

[S30Mike]

Awesome pics,

 

ive seen that silver Z with the orange stripe run at eastern creek before, hes got the coolest plenum on his engine

[C.A.R.]

That be Vince Harlows Zed - formally built & owned by Gavin Strongman here in Vic...

[ZED660]

and poached from the 'Mexicans' and taken north!!!  That stroker motor sure has some grunt!!!!

[Zeddophile]

What are the eligibility requirements for a car to enter FOSC?  Had a bit of a browse, and I can't find anything....  Seems like some engine swaps are allowed going off comments in this thread, which leads me to believe the eligibility might be more relaxed than I thought...

[Toecutter]

Sulio - Yes, I believe it was in a Marquew Sports car race and the Lotus spun some where down near Forrest Elbow and was sideways across the track when the Z arrived and had no where to go.

 

Ha that was my boss's Lotus that spun. He told me the Z came out of it with a fair bit of damage!?

 

Hmmm...any idea on what the owner of the Z is doing with the car now?

 

Sulio

[ZED660]

Sulio - Yes, I heard the Z was fairly badly damaged. Haven't heard what the owner intends to do. If its the one I am thinking off it was a nice car and quite quick.

 

Zeddophile - FOSC runs the normal Group S and marque sports car races, however some of us run in Regularity which is the closest thing to racing but not racing.  In Regularity there are no rules as far as engine or suspension mods as long as the car is acceptable to the organisers.  Generally for FOSC this means classic cars, although there were some reasonably late model cars running.

 

The idea of regularity is that you practice and see what times you are doing and then you nominate a time that you think you can lap at consistently (or regularly). At Bathurst we were running in fields of up to 50 cars so there is a bit of overtaking and being overtaken which can affect your lap times.  You lose 2 points for every 10th of a second you are faster than your nominated time and 1 point for every 10th you are slower and the person with the least amount of points wins.  The good part is that you get an opportunity to drive at virtually race speeds on some great tracks.

 

 

 

 

[Zeddophile]

Ah okay.  I knew they had group S, hence my thinking that it was fairly regulated with respect to car modifications (not that group s cars are hugely restricted!).  Didn't realise they had a regularity category though.  Maybe I might have to share a trailer next year with a guy I know who runs in group S (the red number 58 Alfa GTV).

 

The points system they run for that regularity is pretty strict - I can't see too many laps at Bathurst where you'd be able to hit your time consistently with the variety of faster and slower cars on the track.  From memory the Alfa club Six Hour at winton you just have to hit within a second - as in, if you nominate 1:43, any lap that has 1:43 at the start is counted, whether it be 1:43:01 or 1:43:59.

[luvemfast]

Hmmm...any idea on what the owner of the Z is doing with the car now?

Sulio

Sulio's new user name should be changed to "Vulture" 

[ZED660]

Yes, bit of a coincidence that it was his boss in his Lotus who took the Z out!!!!! 

[620Z]

Hmmm I might have to put that event on the to do list! Looks awesome.

[Toecutter]

Sulio's new user name should be changed to "Vulture"

 

well if it is gonna go into bits it would be good to get it up onto this forum.

 

Yes, bit of a coincidence that it was his boss in his Lotus who took the Z out!!!!!

 

hehe, yer he said all that was missing was my smiling face as the Z came around the bend. He reckons it was early in the race, he'd qulified about third and spun early as rain had started and many still had slicks on with an entire field behind him and black flag was up but no luck.

[PZG302]

From what I've told by the bloke that took the Lotus to the beaters, it's not in too good a shape. It's up on the aligner to see how bad, but the cage looks like it has a crease in it so not looking good at this stage.

 

The Z is pretty much stuffed, but until it gets to a decent shop it won't be known if it is fixable.

 

I would say both are very lucky to walk away.

 

I would like to run, but from what happened this year and last year in terms of the number of races to try to get through to keep everyone happy it becomes a bit of a logistaical nightmare with so much time lost that I think I can get better value for money else where. I guess I'm also lucky in that whilst I haven't raced I have had plenty of hot laps driving the medical car up there for the ARDC.

[ZED660]

The weather was a problem this year and caused some delays as well as some 'incidents' which certainly made the organisers rearrange the program.  But in the end having regard to the number of events and competitors I think they did a pretty good job, especially when you consider this is a club level event with mostly volunteers, not the V8 'Taxis'.

 

Even though some of us didn't end up doing the amount of races we were scheduled for we still came away happy having had the opportunity to drive at the 'Mountain' and leave intact.  I drive my car to and from the event with all my gear and spare wheels packed in and always remember I have to drive home at the end of the day!