The day dawned a cool and overcast Sunday, and those clouds would soon turn nasty. And at the worst possible time; we had sideways rain during the drivers briefing! Long-time TA member Colin was at Mallalla Motorsport Park for his first Super Sprint. Sure, he's a CAMS scrutineer, and an ANDRA steward, he's been a state champions at drag racing, he’s hillclimbed at Collingrove and he finished 3rd in the Rookies class in Modern Regularity last year at this very track. But none of them are Super Sprints. And very few of them were in his much-maligned Nissan 180SX.
Now if you've never entered an MSCA Super Sprint before, it's a bit daunting straight up. Colin and his general racing buddies tend to drive the car to the event, unload their junk, stick the number to the door and head to scrutiny. This is a rarity at a Super Sprint with so many competitors electing to trailer their cars. It's almost as though the level of seriousness has increased between a Modern Reg round and a Super Sprint round. But this is really an illusion, as it’s not uncommon to see tools and spares being lent between competitors during the event.
As a first-time sprinter, there was a dedicated practice session prior to the beginning of the Sprints proper, and the track was cold and damp. For the first session, the weather hadn't improved and the rain was probably best described as persistent drizzle. But if the first session was a little drizzley, the second was very wet. Colin likes to drive with his windows down, and had them down for this session. B ut shortly after commencing his third lap, the monsoonal conditions that occasionally are seen at this racetrack came about; and Colin got a face full of rain as he turned through turn 3. Which is a fair effort since he wears a full face helmet with the visor almost down!
Sessions 3 and 4 were not as weather effected, as the skies cleared up nicely after lunch. Ambient temperatures approached almost warm, and while there was still plenty of standing water on track when you were off line, it was essentially dry and the dry line started to get faster. And the water off line? Well, stay on-line and you won’t have a problem!
Mallalla has a reputation as a bit of a car breaker, and Colin learned this first hand. Typically he brings a jack and a couple of stands and some basic tools, but figures if the day requires anything more drastic than that then it’s probably too much to fix at the track anyway. But on this day, when the weather was at it’s hottest, the engine got a little warm, and Colin boiled off some coolant. And without a spare bottle to add at the track, the cooing issue reared it’s head again, cutting short the final session.
So would he do it again? Hell yeah! With a fastest lap time only a couple seconds quicker than what he has run in the Excel on similar tyres (it should be a much slower car!) there’s plenty left in it, and Colin is resolute in his belief that the car will go faster next time. After all, it took a couple of events to get comfortable in the Excel around the circuit too. But if he’s to continue Sprinting in the 180, then the seat needs to be lowered. And the cooling system needs upgrading. And the brake pads, while they’re a good street pad they certainly ain’t a track pad!
Colin has now competed in his first Super Sprint, joining Nathan who is a regular Sprint competitor in either his Nissan GT-R or his Circuit Excel, Jason who's also a regular in either of his RX7's and Shaun, who has done numerous Sprints in the Evo VI. Will you join us for the next one?
Contacts: www.mscasa.com