MSCA Wrap: The Bend - June 2023
Hi everyone
We made it back to the Bend! We thought we’d spice it up this year and run a double-header with our friends at the Porsche Club. This was only made possible by the great collaboration between the two clubs and the beautiful bromance between Andrew Smith, PCV’s Competition Director and The Husband. We had a hoot with two great days of sprinting and lots of socialising in between.
As I fondly gave Miss Elise a little pat goodbye, The Husband and I loaded the course car onto the back of the motorhome and set off. After several hours of The Husband scoffing too many lollies and singalongs with Ed Sheeran and Keith Urban – the man loves an acoustic ballad – we arrived at The Bend. The place was buzzing with familiar faces and smiles as wide as the great Australian Bite.
With enough wristbands to start a serious fashion trend or at the very least show solidarity with Ukraine (blue, yellow and white for the UN), our drivers took to the circuit and (mostly) didn’t get lost! The weather gods were kind on Saturday with perfect track conditions. Clear blue skies and mild weather with just a puff of wind to let us know it wasn’t summer. The thermals came off and the sunnies came on. The weekend was off to a great start, and even with a delay to clean the track we got through 5 sessions with enough time to freshen up for our welcome dinner. Around 190 guests shared a meal, heard a lot about the world of drag racing and enjoyed a detail corner-by-corner dissection of the circuit with Dean Canto. You could have heard a pin drop when Dean was sharing his insights, with audible a-ha! moments (“so that’s where I’m supposed to be!”) and many raring to put it all into practice the following day.
Sunday arrived and I got my eye in by cutting a few laps in the course car before breakfast, wishing I was competing, and putting into practice what I’d learnt from The Bend 101 class the night before. The Husband didn’t quite fulfil his very important job of getting the weather right. When those ugly clouds rolled in, they sure meant business. We managed to get two sessions in before the rain came and the track became super-slippery, especially those ripple strips. It made for interesting driving to say the least. Even the little course car was taking it quietly in her roadies.
The fastest time of Saturday was Alan Rosedie Din in his Porsche 997 GT3 with an awesome time of 2:00:04, followed closely by Daniel Reynolds in a Porsche 911, in a time of 2:00:05. On Sunday the positions were swapped with Daniel taking first place and Alan taking second. Times were a little slower on the Sunday in the changing conditions. Well done to you both
A huge thank you to our officials from the Porsche Club and MSCA who made the trip over to check us in, stand on a flag point, scrutineer our cars, grid us up, time us and control the proceedings of the day to keep us safe. Thanks also to our competitors for a great weekend of camaraderie and competition. We could not have done this without all your support.
Winton, Sunday 20 August
After our winter break, we will be back trackside in August at Winton where we are hosting the annual Triumph Challenge. Entries are open so register and join us at this technical track.
Phillip Island, Saturday 9 September
We are off to the Island in September and will be back-to-back with our Porsche friends. Entries will be opening soon. Our Phillip Island sprints are popular so get in fast to avoid disappointment. The winter weather should be behind us by then so come for a run!
Enjoy the winter break. Take care and see you at Winton.
Petrina