Consistency sees Whitehead secure win

McPherson Mechanical Autocross 2022 Championship has been run & won

October 9 saw activity return to a still damp SEAC Park for the running of the 4th Round of the McPherson Mechanical Autocross 2022 Championship and because of clashes with other State Motorsport Australia activities the event entry list was a tad on the small side with 27 eager competitors committing to a day at the wheel.

Keen to have a run, Justin Dowel made the trip over from Melbourne to give the Megabuck All Wheel Drive Fiesta Rallycross Special a bit of a workout and also brought his two sons over with him.

Having seen this awesome special in full flight around SEAC Park when it is grippy, it has extreme speed available to the right driver, with the right tyres and decent tread depth.

Justin drove to the available conditions and mixed grip on the soggy track, still in recovery mode from the championship event a few months ago.

Unable to unleash the enormous power on tap, the feisty Fiesta proved to be somewhat of a handful in the mixed grip on track and only survived for a couple of runs before being put back on the trailer with a gremlin in the paddle shift gearbox.

John Whitehead was in his element in the tricky conditions, having the Phoenix buggy on song and enjoying the nippy frames handling on all but one of the five heats that were conducted through a mostly sunny days racing.

Heat 1 was John’s first number one spot heading Dowel’s Fiesta by a couple of seconds, with Matt Kirby another second back in third tackling the Mixed Grip level on the track, Daniel Oldacker drove the Commodore very well for the fourth spot points holding off Geoff Wilson’s Peugeot in fifth and Jayden Edwards sixth, Barry Edwards seventh, Sam Thomas eighth, Jason Sims ninth and Bailey Perryman rounding out the Top 10.

A small sprinkle of light rain changed the track somewhat, but Justin Dowel found some grip to get the fastest time for the second heat from a hard charging Matt Kirby enjoying a welcome return to racing after a couple of years away, just a couple of seconds behind in second slot with Sam Thomas in third spot another second away, Barry Edwards enjoying the big Commodore, fourth from son Jayden in fifth some three seconds slower and Geoff Wilson another second away in sixth.

Bailey Perryman pushed harder in his Excel and trimmed a couple of seconds off his first run to fill seventh spot, heading Curtis Boyd’s Corolla, improving some five seconds on the first fun also, to lock in eighth, Daniel Oldacker finding the slippery stuff and settling for ninth in front of Jason Sims’ Datsun 180B rally car in 10th.

Heat 3 saw some dryish lines appearing and some tram tracks in the recently repaired track surface, still soft from all the rain over the past weeks.

Recovering from a spin in the second heat, John Whitehead had a big dip in the Buggy and pulled a blinder to get the fastest time for this Heat, with an excellent 1:49.03 seconds some five seconds clear of a consistent Matt Kirby (1:54.95) second, Jayden Edwards third (1:55.28) and Geoff Wilson fourth (1:56.68), Sam Thomas fifth (1:57.79), Barry Edwards sixth (1:57.95), Daniel Oldacker seventh (1:58.61), Jason Sims eighth (1:58.78), Bailey Perryman ninth (1:59.68), Aaron Bowering in 10th, finding some grip in the BMW with a 2:01.09 seconds lap.

After a short lunch break, action resumed on a now grippy track well marked in the tighter spots with some deep tram tracks, with the drivers taking on a double lap, just to test them out.

John Whitehead kept the foot down and set the pace with a very tidy 3:39.87 seconds run, with Matt Kirby driving the wheels off his Laser just under one second behind (3:40.84) and Jason Sims, finding some brain food for lunch, rocketing home in third spot with a Quick 3:41.70 seconds.

Barry Edwards showed off his speedway heritage and stopped the clock at 3:45.82 seconds for fourth spot, leading Daniel Oldacker in with his effort of 3:45.99 in fifth and Jayden Edwards having a little contact with a track marker added to his otherwise Quick lap pushing him back to sixth (3:46.87) with the five second penalty costing him a couple of spots.

Still adjusting to recent changes, Geoff Wilson’s 3:47.28 seconds gave him seventh points, Aaron Bowering’s 3:47.35 seconds in eighth, Conner Cooper finally pointing the Commodore in the right direction all the way around the course, pulling a 3:50.41 seconds time for ninth and Sam Thomas, also finding a couple of track markers scored 3:52.84 and 10th spot with the 10 second penalty time included.

Heat 5, also a double lap, saw Whitehead again set the pace with a 3:37.71 second effort, to hold off a late charge from Jason Sims with a 3:38.43 seconds in second spot, Jayden Edwards another to find more grip and less barriers, in third with a 3:41.71 seconds run, Geoff Wilson in fourth (3:42.39), Aaron Bowering fifth with 3:42.59 seconds, Barry Edwards sixth (3:43.19), Matt Kirby next in seventh (3:44.84), Bailey Perryman eighth (3:47.11), Conner Cooper ninth (3:47.67) and Jamie Shephard getting the Falcon to cooperate, in 10th with 3:50.07 seconds.

After a relatively clear day, most vehicles were driven onto trailers after packing up the track markers for more repairs to be done in the near future.

Course director Aaron Bowering and Assistant Director Curtis Boyd thanked all that turned up to compete and pack up.

Outright Positions for Round 4:
1 – John Whitehead (top right) 13:07.21 seconds 1st in Class W

2 – Matt Kirby (centre right) 13:14.52 seconds 1st in Class D

3 – Jayden Edwards (bottom right) 13:27.89 seconds 1st in Class E

4 – Geoff Wilson 13:29.64 seconds

5 – Barry Edwards 13:30.40 seconds

6 – Jason Sims 13:31.04 seconds

7 – Aaron Bowering 13:44.71 seconds

8 – Bailey Perryman 13:51.44 seconds 1st in Class A

9 – Daniel Oldacker 13:51.64 seconds 1st in Class B

10 – Conner Cooper 13:57.20 seconds

11 – Curtis Boyd 14:11.01 seconds 1st in Class C First Junior – Troy Crouch 14:35.61 seconds First Lady – Leila Tedham 18:47.02 seconds

Results are still to be checked, good footage of this event can be viewed on seacsa.com, the club’s website or Facebook.

Next event on the calendar is a Touring Road Event in a week’s time followed by a Motorkhana in two weeks time at the Glenburnie Saleyards. November is the Legend of the Lakes Hillclimb and has a full field of competitors for three full on days of racing at the Valley Lakes Course.