The Australian Championships

12 June 2004

An impressive interstate contingent made the trek north to sunny Queensland for this year’s Australian Championships. In all, seven competitors from New South Wales and a lone Victorian made the trip.

The morning dawned cool and clear, opening up to a stunning Winter’s day. The 10 cc (Class V) cars were first on, with one of the highlights of the day being Tony Peacock’s Australian record breaking run of 332.1646 km/hr (206.398 miles / hour). This is the second fastest run of a car anywhere in the world this year, and we hope Tony can maintain his form for the upcoming European and World Championships.

Jim Chadwick was one of the more unlucky competitors of the day, scoring a 317.3484 km/hr (197.1911 miles/hour) run, only to come home fourth place to stronger competition. It is a good sign of the speeds of the current generation of cars, that an impressive run like this doesn’t even make the podium.

And well done to Glenn Bransby, who finally managed to oust Tony Peacock from his usual top position in the 5 cc A grade (class IV) results.

Doug Harding’s very neat 3.5 cc A grade car (Class III) continues to show some promising form, with a 231.8094 km/hr run (144.04 miles/hour) run.

During the afternoon round later in the day another record fell, this time in the 10 cc C grade class, with David Williams’ OPS car finally breaking Lex Batterham’s years old record, setting a new figure of 231.3327 km/hr (143.7435 miles /hour). Lex ran again after David’s run, and held out until the very end of his car’s run before calling time, in an attempt to claim his record back, but it was not to be. It will be interesting to see what modifications Lex will have added to his car for the Anniversary Championships in October!    

The usual gaggle of 3.5 cc M class cars again displayed the hardest fought section of the results, with the top six finishers all within striking distance of first place.

After presentation of trophies at the track, the day was concluded with a fantastic meal at John and Pat Walker’s home. This was accompanied by a couple of drinks and more than a few stories of what might have been.

Many thanks to Lenore Stanbury, Viv Buckley and Cyril Clydesdale for their assistance with the timing. Also thanks to the wives and girlfriends for their efforts with the food preparations throughout the day.

We now look forward to the World Championships in Tallinn, Estonia (for those attending) and the Anniversary Championships in Sydney later this year. 

By Scott Clydesdale