The skid pan at Sydney Motorsport Park played host to the First Round of the 2016 Nulon Nationals
What are the Nulon Nationals?
Nulon Oils are hosting a friendly competition between different Australian Car Clubs. Clubs compete head to head across a range of different driving disciplines. Each club selects their drivers/cars for each event and fight it out not only for individual placings, but also for category and the ultimate Club Championship. All in all, it’s a super fun event. Check their calendar for upcoming events. They’re scheduled across the whole year. Speed Nation aim to bring you coverage from the complete series, so bookmark us and check back if your involved!
This round saw 10 Clubs and over 40 Drivers battle it out to see who could get the first points onto the board for the 4 Round series (Motorkhana, Hillclimb, Circuit & Drag). First event… Motorkhana!
Luckily, Motorkhana can be held in any weather condition. The weather on the day was terrible for a spectator, or photographer ;). The weather changed so many times during the day I thought I was in Melbourne for a moment, not Sydney.
The way the courses were designed, you really did need to study the maps, and if you were confident you would get a decent time. Though making a mistake would cost time and an attack on the cones on order, if you weren’t on the ball.
The great thing about the way the series is run is that there is such a variety of different cars.
From daily driven family cars, of a new Renault Clio RS & Toyota FT86.
To a World Time Attack, Class winning car of Daniel Meredith. Whose civic did look a little different without the wing on the back.
To a home built beast. Trent Nolan actually took out 1st in the 2015 Drivers Championship in his 4WD Evo Mirage, it really does go hard. Look out for it at the other 3 rounds where Trent can open it up, as he will be aiming for that No.1 spot once again.
Tim Wilkins in his S15 Silva rally car, which has been campaigned over the last couple years in the NSW Rally Championship, and lately in the NSSCC Summer Twilight RallySprint next door at Sydney Dragway. The car was in full rally trim including dirt rally tyres and light pod up front.
Tyra Maranik in a N14 Pulsar Challenge Race car, was driving the wheels off the car (Obviously only needing 3 wheels on some corners). With one run she beat Scotty Gibbs in the Head to Head aspect, she did get a good applause from everyone with that run.
Steve Pembrey opted not to bring his Toyota AE86 drift car but brought his Ford EL Falcon, which was as sideways as ever.
Ever sideways and spectacular was Adam Burgess in his Ford BA Falcon, which he has recently turned into a dedicated track/drift car.
Tim Burt in his Nissan Skyline R34 was having a good run early in the day until a drive shaft broke.
Tim was still all smiles as he switched across to Pembrey’s Falcon for the rest of the day.
Conner Dyson in a clean looking Porsche Cayman, was definately not shy of giving a red hot go, and as you can tell he was having a ball in the process.
Different drive & engine platforms did have pros & cons, Either way didn’t matter if it was AWD Turbo, FWD, RWD V8, A lot of fun was had.
At the end of the day it was Subaru WRX’s that took out the Outright results.
Outright
1st – Rob Benkovich, 2nd – Adrian Vos & 3rd – Phil Bunter.
Class Winners
AWD – Rob Benkovich (Subaru WRX)
Under 3.5L – Dave Masing (Mitsubishi Lancer)
Over 3.5L – Steve Pembrey (Ford EL Falcon)
2WD Forced Induction – Scott Gibbs (Mazda MX5)
This year the Club Championship points go off the how well each team driver finishes in their respective classes.
Club Championship after Round 1
1st – Road and Track Drivers Club – 53 Points
2nd – WRX Club of NSW – 50 Points
3rd – 86 Owners Club – 49 Points
4th – MX-5 Club of NSW – 41 Points
5th – Skylines Australia – 40 Points
6th – HSV Owners Club – 35 Points
7th – Honda Owners Club – 33 Points
8th – Evolution Oz – 31 Points
9th – Ford Owners Club – 27 Points
10th – Club Deutsche – 26 Points
The next round of the Nulon Nationals on May 14th-15th is a 2-Day Hillclimb event at one of Australia’s best race track of Mount Panorama, Bathurst. Last 2 years the hillclimb has been held at Bulahdelah North of Newcastle, but with a new venue comes a new challenge. With the change it will be interesting to see who will attack The Mountain.
Be sure to check back after the event for coverage from Round 2.
Well done to Gavin, and all officials from RTDC for running an outstanding day!
