Interest was expressed for videos filmed of the AX Rd 1 on 20th Feb, 2022 by various club members on the day. YouTube user outside the box has created a YouTube playlist.

The Day/Night AX on Sept. 11th has been postponed due to the continuing trends of the lock down and how the easing of restrictions usually play out.

Cog’s Carnival is currently happening on the 30th / 31st October unless Bathurst moves again.

Positive turn-out to the Digital Meeting on last Friday given the short notice. Thanks to all those who attended!

Based on current Government Restrictions, the AGM has been postponed until:
August the 27th

Ticket purchase details in the post below.

In regards to getting your Vicroads paperwork filled out by a club official:
Rick Pope can be contacted at: spatiala@yahoo.com.
You can send your paperwork with a self addressed and stamped envelope included and Rick will complete your paperwork and send it back through to you.

Stay Safe,
BLCC.

BLCC brings traffic back into the Bridge Mall!

Saturday 19th October 2019

Cruising down to the Bridge Mall, to be one of the few lots of cars allowed inside the shopping mall these days, we had expected a decent amount of cars to rock up to the car show, but even so, 30 minutes before the set-up was supposed to start and we already had six cars parked in the mall. With Paul Gladman and Trevor Ryan organising the day, we had a range of Autocross, Hillclimb and show cars front up, with the marvellous spectacle of Grinstead’s VL being offloaded, drawing out every shop owner checking out the noisy V8 idling away on the trailer!

Ross Barnett, David Jowett and Jake Gladman walked the cars in while everyone else hung around up top and fielded questions from the public.

Once 10am rolled around and all the cars were in, cafes around the Mall must have reported a surge in
business as scores of Club members soon emerged with coffees in hand. A couple of buskers and some nice sunshine in between moments of cloud produced a nice atmosphere and crowds of people came up to see the display while everyone headed off for lunch.

Once the morning was over, Barney sent a smaller field off on a club run, where many found new directions that weren’t listed on the road map and tired but happy, a large group fronted for a night out at the clubrooms, where John Emery conducted a hour of speeches on the history of the BLCC and the world of motorsport around the club. Now very tired, scores of people headed home to get ready for the Autocross the next day.
A. Bayley

On the 19^th and 20^th of October 2019, we will be holding a celebration of the
70^th Anniversary of the LCCA and the BLCC.

The weekend will start in the Bridge Mall with a car show,
Then a road tour around Ballarat, and another car display at the BLCC clubrooms at the airport.

Saturday night hosts a dinner at the clubrooms, featuring local motoring identity John Emery as the MC and a host of club members reflecting on the club, past and present.

Sunday will host an Autocross, at the BLCC’s track, also at the airport.

Schedule:

Saturday 19^th of October

9am: Bump in at Bridge Mall starts, Enter from Peel Street, wait to be escorted in.

10am: Car Show opens at Bridge Mall.

1pm: Car Show closes at Bridge Mall, Transport to Road Tour

2pm: Road Tour around Ballarat and District, Starts at Wendouree Parade,
finishes at the Clubrooms.

5pm: Car display

7pm: Dinner at Clubrooms

Sunday 20^th of October

Hot laps and Autocross CDC Rnd 1.

Tickets to Dinner and Car Show entries to:

Paul Gladman: 0428 380 302 or Pgladie517@gmail.com

T-SHIRTS are also available!

Finished in a Light Blue with the BLCC 70th Logo the shirts will be available to order from
Michele Bayley (treasurer) and come in a range of
Sizes from S-5XL Mens and 8 -20 Ladies.

$30 (Pocket extra cost)

Victorian Club Autocross Series (VCAS) – Saturday May 18

BLCC hosted 60 competitors for Round 3 of the Victorian Club Autocross Series (VCAS) for a day/night, road tyres only event.  Weather was clear throughout with 20^oC for the 2pm start and 7^oC and full moon till the last of six runs at 8:40pm.

Sam Rozitis and his team did a great job in preparing the track after the deluge 8 days prior, then getting the water trucks ready for action … after finding jumper leads.

Competition soon swept the surface crust away to a fine sand, which resulted in low grip and mostly light dust for the first two runs.  Several starts were delayed after exuberant runs, until the two water trucks were brought on to clear the air and improve all competitor times by several seconds for the remaining runs.

Subaru all-wheel drivers claimed the top 13 outright placings.  Perhaps that might provide a sponsorship opportunity for next year’s event or Series … or maybe a rule change?

Arron Windus (Kyneton Car Club) and Murray Mackenzie (Bendigo Car Club) battled it out for 1^st outright, with Murray hitting a hat on his final run, with an otherwise winning time.  Our Ben McKee was 3^rd with three strong runs, before rolling a tyre off a rim on his last run.

BLCC skills (and home track advantage) saw four of our 14 competitors finish in the top-10 outright and another three in the top-20:

3^rd – Ben McKee (Subaru Liberty)

5^th – Stacy Elson (Subaru WRX)

6^th – Darren Windus (Subaru WRX)

8^th – Paul Gladman (Subaru WRX, ex Keith McElroy)

12^th – Darren Watkins (Subaru WRX)

13^th – Tom Werner (Subaru WRX)

17^th – Paul Shaw (Nissan Skyline)

Full results are on the BLCC and VCAS web sites.

CAMS Steward Lynn Cuttle and many competitors were complimentary about the track and the efficiency of our team, eg; the two water trucks were novel for at least two visitors, given each watering took only 10 minutes; others noticed that three cars were normally on the track, so particular credit to our timekeeping and start-line teams.

Bernie Gladman, Melissa McKee and their Duster Diner crew (Paige, Jake and Drew) once again coped brilliantly with the large crowd throughout the day.

22 officials signed on for at least part of the event. Particular thanks also to:

Secretary:           Michele Bayley

Scrutineers:        Darren Wythe (Chief, and now Rally accredited), Ben McKee, Noel Peers, Paul Duncalf and team

Timekeepers:    Rod Hall (Chief), Ben McKee, Drew Gladman, Ambrose Haddon

Track setup and infield Marshalls:             Sam and Nathan Rozitis, Reg Johnson, Andrew Bayley, Rob and Gareth Prosser, Ken Rowland, Damian Quirk, Damien Murley.

Stewards:            Lynn Cuttle and Barney Haddon

VCAS Round 4 will be held at Swan Hill’s two-lane track on 1-2 June.  You can enter for either day, but if you’re chasing Series points you will need four runs on each day.

Your next opportunity for BLCC autocross will be 7 September.

Terry Brain

Clerk of Course

Pictures by John Tonks.