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 Marcos runs at Geelong Revival - Downunder (currently 2,562 views) |
| Steve_Schmidt |
| Posted on: November 30th, 2015, 09:36:48 |
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Medium Member
Location: Gippsland, Victoria, Australia
Posts: 167
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It's not the Goodwood Festival of Speed by any means, but it's fast becoming a 'must-do' event in this part of the country.
Here's a slightly edited version of an item I wrote about the event for our local car club:
GEELONG REVIVAL, Eastern Beach Sprints Sat 28th & Sun 29th Nov.
If you consider this event to be all about drag racing, then you have the wrong end of the stick. Consider it instead to be a sporting / classic car and bike show with noise and movement. The venue must be one of the most picturesque sites for an event of this nature anywhere in Australia. The drag strip is a sweeping curved section of Ritchie Boulevard which flanks Geelong's Eastern Beach entertainment precinct on one side and is overlooked by a sloping grassed spectator area on the other which is dotted with magnificent shade trees and huge TV screens covering the action. Each day, about 100 cars and 40 bikes take to the track, one at a time, to record their best quarter-mile time out of 4 runs. (Health and Safety concerns rule out the side by side competition us more mature competitors remember enjoying a couple of decades ago). Saturday's competition sees contemporary sports, production and rally cars competing, whilst on Sunday all the historic categories get to strut their stuff.
As well as the competition cars, there were car club, bike club and water craft displays, trade stalls, an evening cruise on Friday night, and all manner of food and beverage outlets. The Geelong City Council actively support the event and there are dozens of officials and support crew who ensure the event is well run. Unfortunately, on Saturday an incident involving a Porsche and several water-filled crash barriers, caused an unexpected 90-minute delay in proceedings whilst the car was removed and the damaged barriers replaced and filled with water. At Sunday morning's Drivers' Briefing we all assembled at the finish line where it was pointed out in no uncertain terms, that once you cross the clearly marked Finish Line, you get off the loud pedal and onto the brakes. There's a 300-metre-long braking area in which you need to bring the car down to walking pace to turn left and park in the Return Assembly Area, and just to make sure everybody complied, there was a flag marshal waving a yellow flag about 100-metres into the braking zone which certainly caught your attention.
Most drivers enjoy the opportunity to showcase their vehicle in an event such as this and they try hard to achieve respectable standing quarter mile times, but because burnouts aren't permitted, getting away at the start becomes quite problematic with cold tyres and the associated lack of traction. Once underway the track curves around to the right, bringing the finishing line into view with a couple of hundred metres to go. It's all over very quickly (some more quickly than others) and then the group assemble and wait for the slow processional return back along the track to the pits. It seems incongruous that during a full day of motorsport, about 1-minute is actual competition, but as mentioned earlier "that's the wrong end of the stick". Filling in time between runs is not a problem with so many fascinating vehicles to inspect and admire. The public can purchase a ticket which gives them access to the pit area where owners and drivers seem only too happy to answer questions or have a chat.
Once again this year, I decided to enter my Mini Marcos. Last year the car had just finished being restored and this event was its first real public outing. This year the aim was to better those elapsed quarter mile times and run the car in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Mini Marcos, even though mine was built in '67. I was overwhelmed by the interest shown in the little car, some people recognised it for what it was immediately, having seen photos or read about them in magazines, but because they are so rare in Australia nobody had ever seen one in the flesh before. I received so many compliments in regard to its presentation and performance that it was embarrassing. On the competition side, the car recorded consistent times varying only by 0.3 of a second over the four runs. Each run was faster than last year, the fastest being a 15.56 on the third run. I tried closing the windows to perhaps reduce drag on the final run, but it didn't work. Even though it felt faster, it was 0.07 seconds slower. All in all, it was a very enjoyable day, the weather was perfect and the Geelong people know how to run a great event.
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Steve (MM 7056) Downunder
http://www.mm7056.wordpress.com |
Last modified November 30th, 2015, 10:19:26 by Steve_Schmidt |
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| Rodger Howard |
| Posted on: December 1st, 2015, 07:59:23 |
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Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 162
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Well done Steve
Being a Geelong boy I have fond memories of this event.
As chairman of the foreshore committee my father was responsible for making it possible for this fantastic event to be run again.
A friend of mine ran his Isle of Man AJS and thoroughly enjoyed it.
We definitely will attend together in our Marcos's next year. |
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| Goff_Allen |
| Posted on: December 1st, 2015, 15:16:38 |
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Location: Maltby ,South Yorkshire
Posts: 397
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Hey Steve and Roger , Why don't you two get together with your cars and book yourselves on a airfreight to Classic Le Mans, ???????, What a fantastic holiday you could have!!!.
Steve car still looks super.
Goff |
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| Steve_Schmidt |
| Posted on: December 1st, 2015, 18:39:42 |
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Medium Member
Location: Gippsland, Victoria, Australia
Posts: 167
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Quoted from Goff_Allen, posted December 1st, 2015, 15:16:38 at here |
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Hey Steve and Roger , Why don't you two get together with your cars and book yourselves on a airfreight to Classic Le Mans, ???????, What a fantastic holiday you could have!!!.
Steve car still looks super.
Goff
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I wish it was that easy, Goff.  |
Steve (MM 7056) Downunder
http://www.mm7056.wordpress.com |
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| Rodger Howard |
| Posted on: December 1st, 2015, 19:24:57 |
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Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 162
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Great Idea Goff.
What was your credit card number and frequent flyer number  |
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| Goff_Allen |
| Posted on: December 1st, 2015, 19:34:40 |
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Location: Maltby ,South Yorkshire
Posts: 397
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| Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Overland then. |
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| Simon Robinson |
| Posted on: December 2nd, 2015, 10:18:39 |
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Location: Northampton
Posts: 335
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| Hmm...if you dropped out the engine and sealed up the doors, a MM should float quite easily. Then you just need a paddle and a sail! |
D&H Mk IV 8313, KGV 215V (aka George) - 75,000 miles and counting since restoration in 2011. |
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| Steve_Schmidt |
| Posted on: December 2nd, 2015, 20:50:22 |
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Medium Member
Location: Gippsland, Victoria, Australia
Posts: 167
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Quoted from Simon Robinson, posted December 2nd, 2015, 10:18:39 at here |
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Hmm...if you dropped out the engine and sealed up the doors, a MM should float quite easily. Then you just need a paddle and a sail!
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Is that how they got to South Africa?  |
Steve (MM 7056) Downunder
http://www.mm7056.wordpress.com |
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| Simon Robinson |
| Posted on: December 3rd, 2015, 09:19:54 |
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Location: Northampton
Posts: 335
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Is that how they got to South Africa?
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Just imagine the flotilla of MMs leaving Portsmouth, heading south. The Taylorspeed Jems must have followed a similar route! |
D&H Mk IV 8313, KGV 215V (aka George) - 75,000 miles and counting since restoration in 2011. |
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| Rodger Howard |
| Posted on: December 4th, 2015, 08:29:04 |
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Location: Melbourne Australia
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Except for the fact that the Taylorspeed Jems were made in a surf board shop in Adelaide south Australia.
My Irish Mini Marcos never made it out here in the day... It floated ok but kept going around in ever diminishing circles until it disappeared up its own fundamental orifice where it looked upon the car world with scorn and contempt until I saved it 9 years ago and set it on the straight and narrow here in Australia |
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| Goff_Allen |
| Posted on: December 4th, 2015, 19:06:16 |
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Big Member
Location: Maltby ,South Yorkshire
Posts: 397
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Quoted from Rodger Howard, posted December 4th, 2015, 08:29:04 at here |
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Except for the fact that the Taylorspeed Jems were made in a surf board shop in Adelaide south Australia.
My Irish Mini Marcos never made it out here in the day... It floated ok but kept going around in ever diminishing circles until it disappeared up its own fundamental orifice where it looked upon the car world with scorn and contempt until I saved it 9 years ago and set it on the straight and narrow here in Australia
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Wasn't a MK1 Jem body taken to Australia so they could make up the molds and start producing body's ???????????? |
Last modified December 4th, 2015, 19:06:42 by Goff_Allen |
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| Rodger Howard |
| Posted on: December 4th, 2015, 19:30:04 |
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Location: Melbourne Australia
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| Yes but that wasn't a Taylorspeed Jem |
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| Goff_Allen |
| Posted on: December 6th, 2015, 10:35:19 |
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Big Member
Location: Maltby ,South Yorkshire
Posts: 397
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Quoted from Rodger Howard, posted December 4th, 2015, 19:30:04 at here |
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Yes but that wasn't a Taylorspeed Jem
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Bang on Roger, Question for you , What happened to the Fellpoint Jem body that arrived at the surf board factory , Was it unusable once the jigs had been made or does it exist, If so was it made up into a car ?????????????? |
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| Phil Smethurst |
| Posted on: December 20th, 2015, 03:03:00 |
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Posts: 145
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Hi steve,
I planned to attend the Geelong sprints but was unfortunately away in Vanuatu with work from early November until 4th December. I am an Ex-pat pom and will hopefully be bringing my MM Mk4 (8241 in the gallery) out to Oz finally next year. It has sat in the garage in England since 2007 but we have just relocated from cape York to Frankston in Victoria where we will hopefully settle down and buy so it would be good to get some advice about registering a modified/classic vehicle - I believe it is quite hard with the H plate/club system so I'm a bit concerned I won't be able to register it.
Where about in Victoria are you exactly?.
Cheers,
Phil |
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| Phil Smethurst |
| Posted on: December 20th, 2015, 03:07:15 |
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Medium Member
Posts: 145
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I'll also be bringing my Marcos 1800GT with me when the MM comes. The 1800GT has the early plywood chassis and Marcos own design IRS. It needs completely restoring after being off the road for 26 years before I bought it in 2011 and will present it's own challenges to get into Oz with the wood but there is a guy in NSW who has imported one which he races so I'll be chatting to him too before the cars go in a container middle of the year.
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Mini Marcos Forum > General Boards > Events > Marcos runs at Geelong Revival - Downunder
