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Tamworth 28th June

We couldn't have ordered better weather if I had of put a $20 on the plate at Church. With only one caution period in the Heats the Formulas put on a great show for the Tamworth crowd. The feature was won by Chris Alcorn in the newly aquired Hyper/Yamaha. with first time visitor to Tamworth Murray Johnston (Honda/Gimson) claiming 2nd spot just in front of the ever improving Matt Hunter (Honda/Stallard. Another first time visitor to Tamworth and having his first ever drive was Kevin Logan (Kawasaki/Pronger) , after having an eventfull night he made great progress at the practice day on the Sunday. I have included the complete starter's list as a thankyou to all the Drivers for supporting Tamworth. With the season finally over we can look foward to the new season starting in September with possibly the biggest rise in competitor numbers in the recent history of NSW F500.Keep tuned for further news about the 08-09 season.

Tamworth 24th May. The first of Tamworth Day Meetings was held in absolutely glorious weather.The appearance of the newly purchased Team Hyper cars created some more interest in the Formula 500 ranks. With a couple of new Drivers making their first appearence, all was set for a great afternoon. Kenny Norman was trying out the Stallard with a new power plant before the QLD Titles as was Chris Alcorn testing one of the recently puchased Hyper cars. Kieth Levy made the trip to Tamworth to test the effect of a new exhaust restrictor on the CBR.Tamworth will also be holding a Day meeting on the 28th of June, 11.30 Start. Get your entries in early. The following morning a Test & Tune Day will be held ,with special attention to New Driver Training in F500's.

Tr-Steel Series Rd7 Nowra April 26

A week of rain leading up to this event had officials worried the track might not be able to be prepared in time,thankfully the rain let up and the ground dried up a bit enough to mow the lawn etc, and the racing was on.

The Formulas were the first heat of the night and even though this was a relatively small field the Drivers supplied great racing and action.

After the heats the Feature Final was run with the highest pointscorers to the rear of field, but due to a gearbox failure, and the loss of points in two heats, this would have put Michael Baxter off the front row, he elected to go to the rear. Right from the start drivers were very toey, this caused incidents in corner one and with two restarts. First it was Kenny Norman and Luca Cox tangling, causing Luca's car to roll onto its side. Barry Burrows lost a chain after being unable to avoid this incident. Next restart saw Murray Johnson sideways on the track, Chas Groom could not avoid hitting the car and rolled. By this time the Starter had had enough and the remainder of the field were given the caution flag.

Once racing got under way Brian Cox lead the field for two laps until Kenny Norman took the lead and held it until the checked flag, 2nd Michael Baxter, 3rd Keith Levy, 4th Brian Cox, 5th Brian Thorley, 6th Murray Johnson, 7th Murray Livingstone.

The 2007/2008 TRI-STEEL NSW Premier Formula 500 Drivers Series was won by Michael Baxter (766 pts), 2nd Barry Burrows (671 pts) 3rd Keith Levy (662 pts) 4th Brian Cox (623 pts). 5th Luca Cox (583 pts), 6th Brock Hallett (406 pts), 7th Matt Hunter (397 pts), 8th Kenny Norman (338 pts), 9th Tim Woodberry (300 pts), 10th Murray Livingstone (297 pts), 11th Nathan Pronger (265 pts), 12th Chris Alcorn (245 pts).

Thanks to John Dean for arranging the Tri-Steel sponsorship for us. Keith Levy for the sponsorship from Deposit Power and hopefully we will be able to retain this sponsorship for the 2008/2009 season.

On behalf of the NSW Formula 500 Association, Thanks you to Tri-Steel and Deposit Power for your support for this serives. Thanks to BTW for their sponsorship of the radios and to Pit Crew. Thanks to all our officials for traveling throughout the State to officiate, thanks to all the drivers who competed in this years series and we hope we will see you in the 2008/2009 Series season and that the cost of fuel will have gone down a bit by then.

Once again thank you to everyone who made this Series a success.

Bill Hempstead Memorial. Tri-Steel Rd 6 Tamworth 12 April

The running of the 6th Round of the Tri-Steel series in conjunction with the inaugural running of the Bill Hempstead Memorial saw a large field enter for this event. It was a shame however that numbers dwindled closer to race time.

The Bill Hempstead Memorial was run in honour of one of our members, who died while practicing at the track three years agao, Bill was a great guy who did a lot for the Tamworth Club and was a keen competitor in the Formula Ranks. Michael Baxter won the inaugural Bill Hempstead Memorial Trophy which was decided on the highest point scorer of the night.

Racing thoughout the heats and feature race was really competitive, however the organiser of the Bill Hempstead Memorial, Brian Cox, did not have a great night after being forced to retire for the night in the first heat when the chain caused damage to the car when it came off.

Highest point scorers to the rear for the Feature, and when the green lights came on Barry Burrows took an early lead from Michael Baxter, Brian Thorley and Chris Alcorn. Baxter took the lead on lap two, from Burrows and Thorley. At the start of lap 4 Chris Alcorn attempted to overtake Brian Thorley in corner one, with drastic results, after hitting the fence heavily, he was forced to retire due to damage Chris also had some anxious moments when he thought his glasses had been dropped on the track after getting out of his car, thankfully after a quick search of the track and car they were found undamaged.

Baxter led from the restart followed by Thorley , will Levy and Burrows having a great dice as their positions changed every couple of laps. Michael Baxter took the win from Brian Thorley, 3rd Keith Levy,4th Barry Burrows, 5th Luca Cox, 6th Murray Livingstone.

Mrs Dawn Hempstead and son Aaron presented the trophy to Michael trackside, at the completion of the Feature Race.

Tri-Steel Series RD5 Goulburn. Fine sunny weather (if a little chilly) greeted drivers to the running of the postponed Series Round from 9thFeb.

The racing on a very slick track was good,with the only incident in the first heat when Kenny Norman got crossed up in the middle of turns 1 & 2 , Brian Cox having no where to go rode Ken's rear wheel, flew up and over the side and front of Kenny's car and into the fence seriously damaging the right rear wheel, into the melee came Murry Livingstone in his newly purchased car and rolled trying to avoid the accidend, putting himself out for the rest of the night.

The Feature was a great race with the highest pointscorers after the heats starting from the rear and making their way through the field.

The Feature win went to Ken Norman from Ian Burrows, Barry Burrows, Micheal Baxter, Matt Hunter, Keith Levy, Tim Woodberry, Brian Cox, John Dean jnr, Luca Cox

Tri-Steel Series RD4 Lismore. Congratulations to ALL DRIVERS who attended this Round of the Tri-Steel Series. Firstly for the way you presented our Division to the public of Lismore, it was a great advertisement for our Australian Title at Easter and hopefully we will be able to have great racing as was had on Saturday night. Secondly thank you for the fantastic racing, close, fast and some spills. Thirdly drivers lining up when told and the forming up on the track for starts was excellent with no messing around and ready to race after one lap.

Nathan Pronger surprised officials and spectators alike by setting an eight lap time of 1.48.97 in the first heat, which was faster than the Speedcar eight lap record of 1.49.50. Due to rain being persistent and not clearing until Wednesday the track staff did their best with the preparation, and the track did deteriorate during the night, although watching these guys race and coming over the finish line 4 wide you wouldn't know it.

The Feature race saw Nathan and Michael Pronger off the rear, with Chris Alcorn and Michael Baxter the row in front, at the start Brock Hallett moved to the lead followed closely by Chris Alcorn. The feature was run without a stoppage with the cars from the rear quickly making their way forward. Chris Alcorn took the lead from Brock in the lapped traffic on the 5th lap and held these positions for the remainder of the race, they were followed closely home by Nathan Pronger, Michael Pronger, Michael Baxter, Ross Mason, Keith Levy, Brian Cox, Luca Cox and Eddie Schwehla.

The next round of the Series is to be run at Goulburn on the 1st March. NSW F500 Press Release

Deposit Power N.S.W. Titles Gunnedah. What could have been the best quality feild ever for a NSW Title arrived at Gunnedahs Bluevale Speedway on a very hot afternoon. During the heats there were some heavy crashes, first was Chase Groom with a rollover, then Deposit Power Cheif , Keith Levy found that the concrete walls at Gunnedah are made of stern stuff and shortened the CBR quite considerably. Mick Pronger in the new PRT got harponed and was sent for a wild ride in what looked to be a big one, this left the PRT with only top wing damage, much to Mick's suprise and delight. After the dust had settled on the heats, Young Brock Hallet had qualified on pole ahead of Ben Devlin, Matt Brown and Tim Winters filled row 2. After everyone had made their final adjustments, the track generator started to die a thousand deaths, the lights dimmed, the PA system distorted, the lights then failed completly,the Ambulance went home and it was all over.With a lot of drivers unable to stay, there was no way of running the final in the morning , it was decided to give the 2008 Title the flick. A fair decision for all concerned.Both myself and Luca qualified 14th and 18th for the final, my Rotax is finally going gang busters but still handling like a pig,were on to it! Luca drove very sensibly and finished in one piece, but was very disapointed the final didn't go ahead ( I need seat time to go faster !)

Tamworth Country Music Festival Meeting What a great night of Formula 500 racing, a total of 16 Cars faced the starter. After the heat races, we decided on a slight handicap start in the feature, I dont know if it was slowest at the front and fastest at the rear or youngest at the front and oldest at the rear! At the start young rookie Luca Cox lead for nearly four laps before Hugh Austin took over the lead. At about 1/2 race distance it was the charge of the light brigade as everbody was in one tight bunch (any AJC handicapper would have been proud). Andrew Cox from Maitland had a moment in turn One, with more than a few drivers taking evasive action, this brought one the yellows with only 2 laps remaining. Roy Urpeth (Racetec R6) lead the charge home to win from Tony Pryor (Murphy RG) and Micheal Baxter (Baxter RG) in third. A big thankyou to all the drivers that made the effort to support the Tamworth Club. The next big F500 meeting at Tamworth will be Round 7 of the Tri-Steel State Drivers Pointscore in conjunction with the Bill Hempstead Memorial.

Christmas Cup Tamworth .At 8.00 on Saturday morning racing at Oakburn Park looked like being called off after Friday afternoons mini cyclon ripped through,dumping 35mm of rain in 20 mins.Pit corner was under more than a foot of water but club workers managed to pump out most of the water and by race time the track was as good as it gets, plenty of moisture and smooth as a billiard table. With 10 divisions contesting the night there was a longer than usual wait between heats. Not only was the Christmas Cup up for grabs but one of the more unusual events in speedway racing with 4 COX boys having a drive in the F500 division, young Luca and dad Brian, Craig and his nephew Andrew having his first F500 drive after moving up from Speedway Karts. Keith Flint made the trip south from Qld for some good club racing. After the Heats it was the business end of the night (about midnight) Kenny Norman took the honours in the new Stallard R6 from Brian Thorley in the granite loving JAWA with Keith Levy in third (CBR). Yours truely was in 4th after some very poor driving, might have been due to being at the speedway all day getting things back in shape after the big storm, both Luca and Andrew had great nights finishing all heats and the final with no dramas. Photo at bottom of page.

Southcoast Championship Nowra. Yet another big drive, with rain a threat, racing started on time, my NSW 50 spat the dummy in heat 1, a failed base gasket on a 2 stroke will do that!. Young Luca N51(Rotax) then had a pit crew to look after him and he had another great night ,finishing all three heats and then had his best drive yet in the final to finish in 7th. Steve Caunt (Stallard) cleaned up with fellow Stallard driver Terry (didn't tear it up) Kershaw in 2nd and Barry Burrows (LGM) 3rd. A great night was had by all, with special thanks from the Goulburn Club to both Marion and Graham Baxter for jumping in , giving a hand with the smooth running of the night. Thanks to the Goulburn Club and to Terry and Daniela for their hospitality. Next stop Tamworth for the Christmas Cup, only 10 k's from home(you beauty)

Rd 3 Tri-Steel Series Gilgandra. Micheal Baxter came back into pointscore contention with a bagfull of points after some very surprising and disappointing results from the first two rounds, finishing with 2 heat wins and 2nd in the final .Young Brock Hallett once again made the long trek from Woodgate ,north of Marybourough to over come some early mechanical woes to clean-up yet another feature race. The XXXX GOLD Cox Rotax ran consistanly all night picking up a 2nd in Ht2 and finishing the final in 6th ,finishing 3rd in the points for the night. I can concentrate more on car setup now we have the 10 year old engines running a bit stronger. Colin Adam, making one of his rare appearances drove hard all night to finish the final in 3rd and bagged heaps of points

ACT Titles Goulburn 10/11/07

After the 600km drive the XXXX GOLD machine decided to play up in the first heat and finished at the rear end of the 17 car feild, heat 2 the car was responding a little better an held onto 2nd for a while until getting involved in an overtaking incident and was left with a torn right rear tyre and out of the heat. Heat 3 we finally had the car running properly and was having great fun driving with a good car, trying to pass Matt Hunter on the final turn to pick up 4th , I spun and recorded another DNF. After such poor results during the three heats there was only one place that I would start the final from and that was up the back. After numerous restarts from spins and a rollover(Dan Moes) I managed to get throught the traffic to finish in 5th. Congrats to Steve Caunt for his 2nd consecutive ACT Title and to Dan Moes who restarted after his rollover to finish a fabulous 2nd with the very capable Barry Burrows in 3rd. Many thanks to the organising committee of the Goulburn F500 Club for a great night of F500 racing.

Rd 2 Tri-Steel Series Gunnedah

Queensland youngster Brock Hallett took out the Feature Race and was the highest point scorer on the night in the second round of the Tri-Steel Series. The large field provided action aplenty with a number of restarts in the first race as drivers came to grips with the track and large field. Once the field got the green, Matt Hunter was the first casualty of the night when his car lost the front left wheel and came to a stop in turn one after rolling.

Brian Cox was not able to avoid Matt's front wheel sitting in the middle of the track, causing him to roll as well he only had minor damage to his car and he was able to restart the race.

Steve Caunt's night didn't get away to a great night either after he hit a slowing car on the back straight, breaking a steering component and forcing him to retire while comfortably leading the race.

Michel Baxter took the win from Terry Kershaw and Barry Burrows.

Race 2 Was run without incident with Steve Caunt taking the win from Lee Wallace and Barry Burrows.

Race 3 Had to be restarted after Terry Kershaw's car was damaged after being forced high and into the wall. Brock Hallett took first place from Tim Morse and Steve Caunt.

In the Feature Race Lee Wallace was first into the corner from his front grid position and remained in the lead until Steve Caunt over took him on the third lap. Steve had a good lead on the rest of the field. In the 12th lap his car once again suffered problems with the steering, nearly hitting the wall in the turn 3 and ending up in the wall on turn 4 thus ending his night.

Brock Hallett then led the field home from Tim Morse, Barry Burrows, Lee Wallace, Darren Writer, Luca Cox and Tim Woodberry.

Cullen Bullen 27/10/07

Our first trip to the small village of Cullen Bullen was a really good one. A small club of volunteers put together a great night of club racing with everybody enjoying their night, The track was very racey and as smooth as a billiard table. Throughout the night the F500's ran a pointscore 3 x 8 Lap and 1 x 15 Lap. Kieth Levy in his CBR600 cleaned up with Murray Johnson (CR500) in second with Murray Livingstone (Yam 500) having a great night in third. The night didn't start well for both Graeme Staff and Dave Hennock both having big engine woes, Luca Cox made up for his bad luck at Grafton, Honing his driving skills throughout the night, picking up his pace each heat,and eventually winning the 5th bonus heat. Everybody enjoyed their night and can't wait to return. A big thankyou to the Portland Club for their hospitality and track prep.

Rd 1 Tri-Steel Series Grafton

A warm afternoon greeted drivers to the Showground Speedway. Track preperation had been hampered by both truck and water problems, but I'm sure none of the F500 troups would complain about the track, slick and quick.

Through the heats there were the usual failures but the suprise of the night came in practice with the failure of the ever reliable N32 of Micheal Baxter. First major of the night came in heat 2 when the newly purchased Polaris of Darren Writer detonated leaving rockie Luca Cox no option, making contact and rolled the N51 Rotax. At the restart Dale Shilletto Q4 harponed the wall at turn 1 after contact with another car.

Things progressed to the final without any more real drama's, Luca Cox had made repairs to his car and was able to start from the rear. Driving under instruction to stay down low and keep out of harms way to get the points, the lack of a top wing soon caught him out and parked it backwards into turn 1 and rolled it again. After the restart Dan Moes,Kenny Newton and Nathan Pronger fought hard for the lead, Kenny had some minor failure on his car and drifted back through the field. At the finish Danny Moes lead home Nathan with Barry Burrows in third. I managed to finish in 4th with Keith Levy in 5th.

A big thankyou to the Queensland teams for coming down to Grafton and putting on a great show. Thanks also the the boys from the ACT Club for making the longtrip north. Welcome to our new Drivers Darren Writer (Polaris) and Brendan Norley (CR500) and to Brock Hallett Q13. See you all at Gunnedah on the 3/11/07