2019 Club Motori Italia Baskerville Supersprint

Andrew Johnston in his 105 GTV on the hammer of either Graeme Mitchell or Peter Lowe in their shared 75

A field of around twenty competitors lined up for this year's CMI Supersprints, held at the Baskerville Raceway in Tasmania's south, on an absolute cracker of an early autumn day.  The on-track action was well worth a look, with plenty of skill on display as groups of four similarly matched cars hit the circuit all at a time and their drivers set about to achieve their best possible elapsed times.  

"Personalised", model-specific racing numbers.  Cute!

Event rules stipulate that whilst overtaking is permitted, racing is not.  The on-track groups are selected after drivers participate in timed qualifying sessions, ensuring that there are no major disparities between cars competing in any particular session and, as a result, not a lot of passing occurs anyway.   

This doesn't mean that the driving was tame, though; a lot of talent was on show, with some competitors making it look a lot easier than it doubtlessly was.  The sublime sound of hard-pressed engines was enough to demonstrate just how quickly some of the cars were being pushed, even if the driving was smooth and assured.  

There was an excellent turn out of Italian cars, as you'd expect at an event organised by Club Motori Italia.  No fewer than six Alfas and one Fiat flew the flag for the boot-shaped country, while the rest of the field comprised of a Triumph, a Datsun and a Toyota, a couple of Fords, a few Holdens, a BMW, a Nissan and a pair of Mazda 3s, a Honda and a blisteringly quick Mitsubishi.

 

With a relatively small field - possibly because CAMS didn't include the event on their calendar - it was easy to get up and intimate with the racing machinery and competitors, which always makes for a nice atmosphere.  It was a great pleasure to be able to walk about the pits, striking up a conversation here and there, learning about the cars' competition histories, set-ups and how they were going on the day.

A Targa veteran:  the Storer / Caplice GTV. 

This is the 2.5 litre V6-powered 75 that was being shared between Graeme and Peter, although I understand that it's owned by some sort of communistic motorsport collective involving the aforementioned duo and three other CMI members.  According to Graeme, it a group general maintenance, "you bend it, you mend it" arrangement that seems to suit everyone involved quite nicely.    

It would be an Italian without some, now would it?

It has to be said that the car sounded superb under full throttle and was deceptively quick.  However, Graeme thinks it's reached its limits, handling-wise, and that it's time to tidy up some excessive body roll with a couple of sway bars.

Bruce Heron and his lovely Triumph Dolomite Sprint is a regular motorsports competitor, having been involved in the Targa Tasmania scene for many years and also making regular appearances at CMI's annual Lufra hillclimb.  He reckons two things qualify him to participate in CMI events:  Firstly, the Dolomite was styled by Italian Giovanni Michelotti - who also penned the Triumph Herald, Spitfire, GT6, TR4 and Stag lines - and, secondly, there's a dent in the rear caused when a Lamborghini gave it a nudge during a recent scrutineering session.  The story of the latter's told with good humour; it appears no ill-will has resulted!   

The Dolomite was in fine form, according to Bruce, as he's finally sourced and fitted some rear seals that overcome the axles' propensity to flex under high loads, causing oil to leak onto the rear brakes.  Although he says he could always use more power - especially up Baskerville's short but steep uphill straight - the engine's running strongly and is nicely matched to its nifty gearbox that's been set up so that overdrive can be used in conjunction with second, third and fourth gears, TR2-style.  This allows him to utilise just two ratios on the circuit:  overdrive second and third. 

An Italian accessory that's maybe not so welcome.

I've got no idea who won the event or who might have taken out class places, having departed before the close of play.  At the time of writing, there's nothing on either CMI's website (http://cmitas.org/blog/) or Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/clubmotoriitalia/) to enlighten me, so all I can do is to suggest you check either source yourself if you want to know the results.  Doing so's also a great opportunity to check out what else CMI's got coming up, as they do put on a fabulous event!

U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)