Issue 5 - MG Racing

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Volume 1, Issue 4 

May 2009 

Under the bonnet 

MGazette—All the news! 4 

Round 2—Sandown 10 

Ross Kaigg 16 

Arriving Holmes 19 

A Bugs Life 20 

From My View—Bill Mitchell 25 

Driver Profile 26 

2009 Poinscores after Round 2 28 

A Lap in the fastlane 30 

What’s inside 

the next issue? 

• Round 3—Sandown Preview 

• The Quiet Achiever of 2009 

• Plus all the news from MG Racing! 



“Ken Price shared a Holden Gemini with Peter Fitzgerald” 

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 4 

Page 4 

MGazette 

All the news—you saw it here first, or last 

Attack of the Mighty Midgets 

At round 1 there wasn’t a midget to be seen, but at Sandown we found ourselves with three 

rapid midgets in the ever capable hands of Peter Brice, Greg Hewson and Simon Gardiners 

car with Mandy Parry-Jones at the helm. 

The Qualifying honours went to Parry-Jones with a scorching 1:28.262, Brice pushing out a 

1:30.057 and Greg Hewson a 1:30.608 holding the Midget brigade in high esteem. In the 

first race Parry-Jones didn’t muck around dropping into the 1:27’s trying her hardest to stay 

with Bonnamy (B GT V8). Brice and Hewson had a race long battle that was one of the 

most entertaining racing this year with Brice holding out Hewson to the flag. 

“Brice and 

Hewson had a 

race long battle 

that was one of 

the most 

entertaining 

racing this year ” 

Race 2 saw Brice uphold the Midget flag in a solo effort after Hewson failed to start and 

Parry-Jones pitted on the opening lap relegating her down the order coming home in 28 th . 

For the penultimate race Parry-Jones came from 28 th on the grid upto 6 th , but with Hopwood 

lapping slowly she got a sniff, eventually taking him on the final lap to get home in 5 th . Greg 

Hewson and Alan Richardson battled for minor placing all race as Brice surcombed to a 

DNF after 5 laps. 

Brice got back out for the final race and battled through the order to come home 11 th just 

ahead of Ross Kaigg, but Hewson was the man who picked up a personal best breaking 

into the 1:29’s and picking up 5 th outright, unfortunately highest placed midget went to 

Parry-Jones who settled for 4 th because she did not have the pace to match the big V8 cars 

out in front. 

Peter Brice (#55) leads Greg Hewson (#18) 


Page 5 

MG RACER 



Rodney eats a HQ! 

Rodney Gibb took to the track in an MG TF Cup car to do some solid testing during Friday practice, 

until the penultimate session of the day when while out with the HQ Holden’s he spun at the exit of 

Turn 1. Whilst facing the wrong direction, one of the HQ’s contingent came off at the same corner; 

causing a head on collision with Gibb. 

Thankfully Gibb was fine physically and merely had a dent to the ego. The car sustained some 

damage 

but it is 

thought that 

the chassis 

rails haven’t 

been bent, 

so the car 

will be fixed 

and back 

on track 

soon.’ 

New Boys Toy 

Jason Holmes would have been forgiven for thinking he was back in Britain as heavy fog took over Sandown 

on Friday morning, preventing the start of practice. While many of us were feeling a bit chilly Holmes was 

asking for some shorts. When the fog cleared and Holmes took to the track he had a steep learning curve 

and struggled with his front brakes locking up under heavy braking. 

After changing pads he reported that he had much more confidence in the car and was looking forward to 

Saturday. 




Page 6 



Rosemary’s Fightback 

Rosemary Trevethan didn’t pick up a point at Phillip Island in the debut of her new ride, a 

historic classification MG B GT V8. This changed at Sandown with a fantastic drive in the 

stunning black and orange V8. After qualifying in 15 th alongside Robert Haywood, Rosemary 

soon put her head down - moving up as high as 12 th before Adrian Akhurst relegated 

her back down to 13 th . She had a great dice with UK expat Jason Holmes (MG TF Cup) for 

the rest of the race managing to hold him out for a well earned 13 th . 

“Trevethan 

didn’t pick up a 

point at Phillip 

Island but got a 

well earned and 

7 th at Sandown” 

In Race 2 Rosemary surged further forward and setting her fastest lap in of a 1:32.16 on 

her way to 10 th , for the third race of the weekend she moved as high as 7 th before being 

relegated back by Greg Hewson (Midget) and Akhurst (TF Cup). In the final she resumed 

her battle with Holmes who had fought back from a spin in race 2, Holmes pushing her all 

the way but unable to find a way past giving Rosmary 8 th in the final and 7 th for the weekend. 

Gidney Make Headlines but not the right ones! 

Chris Gidney stepped into the drivers 

seat for a run late on Friday afternoon, 

but his fun didn’t last long as he came 

around the final corner he couldn’t select 

another gear. His fun would end 

by the end of the main straight with no 

gears to be found. The problem was 

tracked to a clutch, so with the support 

from Kim Cole the team set about a 

clutch change – finishing in the early 

hours of Saturday morning. 


Page 7 




Pricey Weekend 

For the Price’s the weekend hadn’t even started when trouble struck. The found compression 

was down in the fourth cylinder of their familiar MG B roadster which was entered for 

Trent to drive. With limited time until the race they decided to park the car and put Trent 

into the ex-MoPro MG F Trophy car, until Ken offered the car to Rodney Gibb who was 

involved in an unfortunate accident during practice on Friday at the track. Trent had now 

had to settle for the car he started in, his green MG F 1.8; until on Saturday morning when 

it was discovered that an engine mount had cracked dropping the car’s engine onto it’s 

gearbox and as a result not being able to select a gear. The Price’s had run out of cars 

leaving Trent without a drive for the weekend and after a tough round one it was not what 

he needed. Ken then found a problem with the MGF Cup alternator as he attempted to 

leave the marshalling area for Race 3 leaving him stranded. 

Ken fought back from the rear of the grid for a well earned 10 th place. 

Sortwell Struggles on Friday 

“Akhurst takes a 

13 point lead 

over Ken in the 

battle for the 

Cup cars“ 

Peter Sortwell 

used Friday to 

take his MGB 

weapon for 

some testing. 

It didn’t go so 

well with the 

car struggling 

to run and 

leaving Sortwell 

stranded 

in pit lane as 

the field took 

to the track. 

Akhurst Jumps to Lead 

With trouble’s sidelining Ken Price from Race 

3 it allowed Adrian Akhurst to closed the gap 

in the fast road class to Price. Adrian picked 

up equal 5 th for the weekend with 56 points 

and with Ken only managing to improve another 

42 from his round 1 tally it has allowed 

Akhurst to take a 13 point lead over Ken in the 

battle for the Cup cars. 




Page 8 



Anderson’s first Points 

David Anderson picked up his first championship points with a very strong haul picking 

up points in every race, coming home 16 th with 25 points to his tally and moving him into 

the top 20 in the Victorian title chase. 

“David 

Anderson picked 

up his first 

championship 

points ” 

British Invitation 

Three invited entries took to the track at Sandown with Barry Pritchett in a Triumph TR8 the 

new name on the grid. Fred Brock drove his Austin Healey Sprite over the weekend, but 

lacked anyone to play with in the field. Tom Hutchinson was once again the one to catch in 

Invited class. 

The Doc needs surgery 

Mort Fitzgerald was expected to get his campaign back on track at Sandown and put on a 

great battle up front with Tom Hutchinson (TR8) and, Robin Bailey (B GT V8). Unfortunately 

he pitted during the Sports Car qualifying session with an engine problem, which was found 

to be a head gasket. With no spare engine around it was time to pack up and go home. 

Fitzgerald has only completed one race of the 6 so far contested in 2009. 


Page 9 




A motorsport circuit that might actually happen? 

It seems like every year 

there is a proposed 

new race track that 

makes headlines, and 

although this isn’t a big 

news story yet it is quite 

possibly the best 

chance of one getting 

off the ground. 

The proposed facility is 

called the ‘Cardinia Motor 

Recreation and Education 

Park’ and is located 

on the outskirts of 

Pakenham in Melbourne’s 

east. The 

park will have both a 

club level race track, a 

world class go kart facility 

and an area for a 

skidpan and motorkhana. 

The Pakenham Autosports Club used to have a motorsport facility with an autocross track and a motorkhana 

pad however it was built on council owned land, so when the Pakenham Bypass went in the land was flattened. 

Since this was closed there have been numerous attempts to get a motorsports facility up and going in the area 

only for them to be turned down. 

This park has already received 

council approval as well as the support 

of the Victorian Government, 

Pakenham Police, CAMS, Motorcycling 

Australia and the Chisholm 

Institute and has already had a 

$30,000 feasibility study put forward. 

The proposed land is on what was 

known as Mount Ararat Road which 

is now known as Oakview Road, 

from here you are on the eastern 

end of the property looking back at 

the freeway on the right and railway 

on the left behind trees (see main 

picture). 

More on the facility as we hear it. 


Page 10 



Page 11 


#73 Mark Bonnamy (MG B GT V8) leads two Midgets, he is starting to bridge the gap 

to the other V8’s... 

Friday practice saw a number of returning and 

first-time MG competitors take to the track to 

gain an early advantage, or merely become 

acquainted with the peculiarities of the Sandown 

circuit. 

Whilst accustomed to atmospheric density in 

his native England, ex-Euro-Saloon Champion 

Jason Holmes had to wait for the fog to lift before 

dialling himself in. Whilst Sandown is shortchanged 

in terms of camber change, the 

bumpy approach to turn 1 left Holmes struggling 

under brakes. A softer pad set-up alleviated 

some of the pain, but the (locking-up) 

problem still affects most of the MGF Cup cars. 

With the exception of Gibb 

(who ended his planned 

weekend after butting 

heads with a HQ Holden), 

Chris Gidney was the only 

Cup runner not to choose 

a softer compound option. 

A flat-spot severely handicapped 

his progress in 

race 4 after a gearbox rebuild 

until 1 a.m. Saturday 

morning. 

speed into turn 1. By Sunday, gone was the 

locking of the brakes, but in its place was a 

seemingly oblivious attitude to what everyone 

else seemed to observe as the “acceptable” 

speed at which the corner can be taken. Was 

it a product of Sandown naivety, or so much 

experience from the European circuit? 

Peter Sortwell returned with his muchanticipated 

“super” MGB. Whilst he recorded 

an impressive 1:32:95 in Race 4, engine problems 

scuppered his progress on Friday and 

Race 1. When he has this car sorted it will certainly 

be a weapon, albeit too late to have 

any influence on the champoionship. 

Having to watch from the 

sidelines for most of the 

weekend, I was greatly impressed 

with Holme’s entry 

Jim Hall (B GT) leads Peter Rose and Andrew Watson 



Page 12 

Andrew Watson’s immaculate #34 MG B leads Peter Rose #6 MG B Roadster 

Invited cars took the form of two Triumphs and one Austin Healey. Barry Pritchett’s TR8 was 

embroiled in the mid-pack battle for most of the weekend whilst Tom Hutchinson’s V8 fired 

the first shot in qualifying. Interestingly it was Bob Nordlinger who lined-up beside Tom on 

the front row, with Mort Fitzgerald cooking an engine during the first session – unable to 

compete for the remainder of the meet. Hutchinson was forced to play bridesmaid to 

Robin Bailey, who took 3 from 4 over the weekend and in so-doing tightened his grip on 

the compendiary championship. 

At round 1 there wasn’t a midget to be seen, but at Sandown we found ourselves with 

three rapid midgets in the ever capable hands of Peter Brice, Greg Hewson and Simon 

Gardiner’s car with Mandy Parry-Jones at the helm. 

The Qualifying honors went to Parry-Jones with a scorching 1:28.262, Brice pushing out a 

1:30.057 and Greg Hewson a 1:30.608 holding the Midget brigade in high esteem. In the 

first race 

Mandy Parry-Jones throwing the little midget around 

Parry-Jones 

didn’t muck 

around dropping 

into the 

1:27’s trying 

her hardest 

to stay with 

Bonnamy (B 

GT V8). Brice 

and Hewson 

had a race 

long battle 

that was one 

of the most 

entertaining 

racing this 

year with 

Brice holding 

out Hewson 

to the flag. 



Page 13 

Race 2 saw Brice uphold the Midget flag in a solo effort after Hewson failed to start and 

Parry-Jones pitted on the opening lap after arguing over turn 1 with the MGF Cup of Ken 

Price - relegating her down the order coming home in 28 th . 

For the penultimate 

race Parry- 

Jones came 

from 28 th on the 

grid up to 6 th , 

but with Hopwood 

lapping 

slowly she got a 

sniff, eventually 

taking him on 

the final lap to 

get home in 5 th . 

Greg Hewson 

and Alan 

Richardson battled 

for minor 

placing all race 

as Brice succumbed 

to a 

DNF after 5 laps. 

Rodney Gibb (MG F Trophy) leads Aubrey Paverd (MG F) 

Peter Brice got back out for the final race and battled through the order to come home 

11 th just ahead of Ross Kaigg, but Hewson was the man who picked up a personal best 

breaking into the 1:29’s and picking up 5 th outright, unfortunately highest placed midget 

went to Parry-Jones who settled for 4 th because she did not have the pace to match the 

big V8 cars out in front. 



Page 14 

Tom Hutchinson’s mean machine leads Robin Bailey’s GT V8 

Adrian Akhurst’s MGF Cup had a sniff of the ailing Hopwood V8 in race 4, and in a mirror 

image, so did Richard Milligan – expunging everything from his MGB to keep in touch with 

Chris Gidney. He needn’t have bothered, as Gidney was simply nursing a flat-spotted tyre 

sustained earlier and only resulted in a crippled gearbox on Milligan’s side of the equation. 

Jason Holmes and Rosemary Trevethan also relished swapping positions through the 

course of the weekend, with Rosemary prevailing in the final stint. Kim Cole provided another 

surprise, qualifying his “standard” MGF above some more fancied runners and 

headed a fervid skirmish between the MGB’s of Don Mazzone, Andrew Watson, Peter 

Rose, Mark O’Neil, Phil Cornelius and Jim Hall. Hall showing some impressive form on his return 

to MG Racing until flywheel dramas put paid to his weekend. 

David Anderson picked up his first championship points with a very strong haul picking up 

points in every race, coming home 16 th with 25 points to his tally and moving him into the 

top 20 in the Victorian title chase. He was in the hunt of the Robert Haywood/Ross Kaigg 

battle, with Kaigg finally scoring a win in the Historic 1 battle after nipping down the inside 

of Haywood in Race 4. It could have been a Kaigg/Haywood/ Baragwanath battle had 

not John 

Baragwanath 

struck problems 

on the 

warm-up 

lap in Race 

3 with a 

meeting of 

front 

bumper and 

Armco. 

Kim Cole—MG F 



Page 15 

Race 3 also saw the absence of Ken Price, having struck battery problems, but in so doing, 

provided Race 4 with some terrific entertainment as he scythed his way from 27 th to 10 th , 

notwithstanding some exuberant opposition from the MGB’s of Don Mazzone and Peter 

Sortwell. 

At the rear of the field, an intense battle between Rodney Gibb (having switched to Ken 

Price’s MGF Trophy) and Aubrey Paverd. A down on power engine may have been frustrating 

for Gibb, but it provided excellent racing, with the pair edging each-other out lap after 

lap. 

From a personal perspective I find it hard to find positives after the first two races and, find it 

even harder to come up with printable words for MG Racer! Being perfectly honest, despite 

the immobilizer and gearbox issues I experienced at Sandown, the gap between the car I 

started in 2006 (MGF 1.8) and the midfield cars it was competing against two years ago has 

grown extensively.. And therein lies the positive. 

Despite the somewhat antiquated machinery that (at least half) the field represents (and 

the onslaught of the MGF Cup cars), the progress that these vehicles are making is something 

to behold and admire. 33 cars started the weekend and 25 finished. 5 above the 

dreaded figure that guarantee’s our grid a start without 944 or Improved Production appropriation. 

In economic times like this, our category is definitely setting a benchmark neither 

to be sniffed at nor taken for granted. 

Jim Dodd rounds the final corner with Neil Hopwood hunting him down 


Page 16 


Ross Kaigg burst onto the MG Racing scene with a scintelating drive 

at Phillip Island but since then he hasn’t had the same impact, that is 

until Sandown. Kaigg showed the driving ability that impressed everyone 

a few years ago to pick up the prized Peter Lee Trophy. We had 

a chat with a excited Ross Kaigg. 

How's it feel to get your first Peter Lee Memorial win? 

When I found out I had was high as a kite! It was a big surprise as I didn’t realize it 

was based on just that race. I was already on quite a high because it was exciting 

action packed racing and I had won my class. My Car was previously owned 

by John Strachan (spelling?) and he had made quite a big deal about having 

won the Peter Lee himself when selling the car, so for me to win was very nice. 


Page 17 


You and Robert had quite a scrap. 

Did you ever think you were going to 

get past? 

I started the weekend slow but soon 

realized I had similar pace to Robert. 

At the start of the memorial race we 

were side by side, I focused hard 

and had a better start easily taking 

the lead, but after a lap or 2 Robert 

managed to pass me on the outside 

ripple strip on turn one, the same 

turn where we had touched in race 

2 the day before. 

He was right on my rear quarter but 

driving right on the strip as we 

headed to turn 2 – he seemed very 

determined to continue down the 

ripple strip which was about to run 

out and I decided to move over as I 

feared for his safety and mine if he 

touched me. After I moved away 

from the strip to give him some room 

I also gave him the advantage of a 

clear inside run for turn 2 and he 

took the lead. He was very determined 

but so was I. After a couple 

of laps I got good run onto the main 

straight and planned to have a go 

on the inside of turn 1. 

With me hard on his tail we came up 

to turn 1 but we were also catching 

Ken Price in his F. This is going to be 

interesting I thought. Robert was on 

the outside and I came up directly 

behind Ken about mid track. Then as 

they both braked I went inside Ken, 

braked much later and took the 

lead from Robert who was left on 

the outside of Ken and the corner. I 

drove hard to get a small lead. From 

that point some quicker cars frustrated 

Roberts attempts to catch up 

and I focused on my driving like 

never before. At one point I even 

held back one of the faster Midgets 

(that I would normally have let 

through) to keep him between 

Robert and myself. Once I saw 

Robert busy with Peter Sortwell. I let 

him through and a lap later took the 

chequered flag for the Historic Class. 

There is a lot of luck in racing and 

had the race not been shortened, 

Peter Sortwell would have certainly 

passed me on the next lap. 

You shocked the MG Racing scene 

with a spectacular debut at Phillip 

Island in '07. What racing experience 

had you had before that? 

None. Well no racing experience 

any way. I had done some hill climbs 

and sprints in my Robnell Cobra Replica 

that I built in 2002. I bought the 

MG and my very first drive of it was 

doing the OLT for my License and my 

second was my first race at Phillip 

Island . 

Since then your form has ebbed and 

flowed from being thereaboust to 

being right at the pointy-end. What 

do you account for this? 

Competing in my Robnell taught me 

respect for power, speed and had 

trained me to concentrate for a 

short time with no other vehicles 

around to put in a good sprint time. I 

frequently pushed my Cobra beyond 

its limit and would always have 

a good spin in a safe place – lots of 

fun. Now with an MG I had little 

power, had to concentrate for a 

long time and had to deal with cars 

all over the place. 



Page 18 

Racing is very different - traffic, 

strategy, rules, flags, starts, and 

consistant no spin driving. So when 

I started racing I could drive fast 

some of the time but not all of the 

time and hence the erratic results. 

Although I have done 10 races I 

am just starting to come to grips 

with all these things and am feeling 

a little more comfortable. 

In addition to driver skill I have had 

to deal with reliability issues especially 

with the gearbox and despite 

lots of $$$ and still ran the entire 

Sandown weekend with no 

syncro on 4 th . 

My car has performed engine wise 

consistently but others have improved 

their power to the point of 

my car being uncompetitive, but a 

good tune and attention to detail 

gained me a few HP for the Sandown 

weekend. 

I do like being at the pointy end 

but also happy to just have some 

good close racing anywhere in the 

field. 

Plans/hopes for the rest of the 

year? 

If I could get 

the gearbox 

reliable I 

would be 

very happy. 

Would like 

my driving 

to be more 

consistent. 

Have never 

done a 

really good 

start and 

most are 

pathetic so I 

hope to get 

more confidence 

and 

skill with this. 

Most importantly 

have 

fun safe racing 

with the 

fantastic 

bunch that is MG racing. Thanks 

everyone for making the group 

and the racing so enjoyable. 



Page 19 

Words by Jason Holmes 

My first time at sandown. Friday started with a delay due to fog.. I was out with the GT’s for 

the first session and boy were they quick! Quite dangerous really as I was trying to learn the 

circuit and was forever moving out of the way without knowing any of the lines! 

I went to see David Vernall to see if I could do the next session with the MG’s, and he was 

happy to oblige. This session I started to learn the lines, but the car just wouldn’t stop or go 

around the corners.. The MG TF was going up for sale !! I need to drive a front wheel-drive 

car.. For the third session I put in new pads and tyres the ones on the car were 5 years old. Yes 

it now goes around corners and stops (except turn 1) !!! 

My first test at Sandown were how long and wide the straights are.. Two more flat spotted 

tyres.. 

My first Australian Qualifying I had no expectations, so I followed Trent around to see his lines 

after following him for a lap.. Thought I would go for it and went past Trent on the pit straight 

into turn 1 big lock up and another flat spotted tyre !! I got back into it and to my amazement 

I qualified 16 th out of 35 cars. 

First Australian race, first standing start, first race in 2 years and first race in a rear wheel drive 

car.. I had bad nerves. Had a cracking race with Adrian and Rosemary swapping places and 

very close between us. I didn’t think I would have their pace but my fastest lap was quicker 

than theirs and finished 14 th . 

Second race, Didn’t have a good start.. Lost 2 places before turn 1. Until then there were cars 

everywhere as Mandy had spun, got going and started picking the cars off in front one by 

one, I just got past the TR8 up to 11 th place and spun off at Turn 1 managed to get back on 

the track in 22 nd place but got past one more car to finish 21 st . 


Page 20 


Fred Brock had the best view in the house for some good hard racing, but is 

keen to get something with more power for next time out… 

You had a good view of most of the action at Sandown. Were there any interesting 

incidents worth mentioning? 

Yes you do get a good view from the back but the distance seems to stretch as the 

race goes on especially with the 998 cc. 

What is it like to be back MG Racing? How does it compare with the Group S category 

? 

Probably not a lot of difference as in group S the smaller Sa cars always runs at the 

rear and its only some of the slower Sb cars that we get to dice with especially at Winton 

in lieu of the Sandown track. Some of the better racing in Group Sa has 

been when we have been grouped with the JK&L cars at Historic Sandown, there our 

cars are up with the grid being slower on the straights but quicker in the corners where 

we catch-up so run from the rear to mid field, but not overall outpaced and left behind. 

The Racing Register has been labelled 'elitist' on occassion. As MGCC President. Would 

you recommend the register to other club members and how can the register open 

up to the club competitor? 


Page 21 


What are your plans for the rest of the year? Will you be contesting any more rounds? 

The answers is a possible yes but if this was going to be an on going position, I would 

be looking at running another car in lieu of the Bugeye especially at Sandown due to 

the speed differential. 

Just need to be quicker with the tow hitch connection to slow them down and speed 

the Bugeye up 

How do you think the 'Invited British Cars' concept is progressing? 

The concept has started but more work is needed to encourage others, the Triumph 

competitor after our discussions had a great time, but I did not see his name in any 

results as set out by David Vernall this needs to be addressed even if it listed as a 

separate class within MG Racing to show something for his efforts and attendance, 

he also competed at Winton in Historic event in another Triumph in Group S 

Any interesting info on the Sprite you'd like to share? 

Just need to be quicker with the tow hitch connection to slow them down and speed 

the Bugeye up 



Page 22 

Friday, 

6:40 am—Get to Chris Gidney’s and grab ute with equipment and car on trailer, head to 

Sandown and commence unloading into garage. 

8:30—finished unloading car and start helping Jason Holmes get his car setup ready for 

practice, practice delayed due to heavy fog. Commence trying to find source of 

problem on Chris’s car as it is idling at 3100 RPM, dodgy sensor to blame and organise 

with Adrian Akhurst to bring new sensor and brake booster line from Adelaide 

tonight. 

11:30—Jason heads out for first session, has braking issues and reports that he is locking 

rear brakes, inspection reveals flatspot of front left, rotate front left to rear and 

check brake bias. Jason states has no grip whatsoever. 

14:00—Jason heads out for second session, still having issues with pinching front brakes 

but not as bad, states starting to find some kind of rythym (slowly) but still has no 

grip. Hesitant to put new slicks on for risk of flatspotting the new rubber 

15:00—Jason heads out for third session still on old tyres and still struggling for grip, comes 

in to pit lane after Red Flag of session due to Rodney Gibb having a coming together 

with a HQ Taxi, Jason tells me that we need to put his new slicks on for the 

final session. Place new slicks on Jasons car after session and prepare for final session. 

Chris Gidney arrives and is given clearance to drive final session of practice, 

Chris car still idling high but have managed to fix Brake Booster problem temporarily. 

16:00—Chris and Jason head out for final practice, session starts well and both cars seem 

to be running well, after two – three laps Chris limps in and drives through the pits, 

making an unknown hand gesture (along the lines of “its Fucked”) heads back out 

onto main straight and accelerates away before slowing and pulling off at turn 

one. Receive word from turn one that Chris’s car is stationary and will be towed 

back, I head to turn one to see what the problem is and Chris states that car will 

not drive when in gear. Car is towed back to garage and we begin looking over 

issue, car will move under own power at low revs but from all reports seems to be a 



Page 23 

16:30—Commence disassembling Chris car with the help of Kym ……? (surname) after a 

brainstorm with other drivers comes to the conclusion that we must have a blown 

clutch, Kym and I settle in for another long night with the temperamental Cup Car. 

16:50—Car now in numerous pieces with the entire left rear upright assembly removed, 

both drive shafts removed, left engine mount and starter motor removed and the 

gearbox separated from the engine, Clutch is removed and inspected to find destroyed 

thrust bearing but no real evidence of slipping clutch. Adrian advises that 

his flight from Adelaide has been delayed and will now not be in until around 2230 

20:30—grab new AP racing clutch from box and try to fit to car, discover that clutch is 

wrong type and commence long and drawn out session of swearing and cursing. 

Replace thrust bearing and try to find another clutch. Break into Ken Prices Bus (on 

his instruction) and grab his replacement clutch, return to garage to find that this 

clutch also does not fit, commence more swearing with some throwing of tools for 

good measure. Chris heads to Airport to pick up Adrian. 

22:30—Adrian arrives at Sandown and commences to look over car, swears at the replacement 

clutches and inspects the old one, realise that old clutch is not overly 

worn and should be fine to use again with new thrust bearing, takes stencil of pressure 

plate so we can find out what clutch it actually uses. Old clutch is replaced 

into car and lined up, inspection of slave cylinder reveals some play in the Piston 

and the fact that it is not lining up, piston is re-alligned. Car is reassembled as Security 

instruct us that we can not stay past 0100. 

00:30—Car is dropped down after being reassembled and we head home to grab some 

sleep. 


Saturday 

8:00—Arrive at track after very little sleep, inspect last nights work to ensure nothing was 

forgotten, commence trying to fix Idle problem and replace Brake booster seal with 

Adrian. After some investigation of idle problem and sensor function we simply yank 

the cables out of the faulty sensor at a precise time and the car idles correctly. New 

clasp is placed in Brake Booster manifold joint and leak is sealed. 

10:00—MG’s head out for qualifying with all four cars in the group running well, Jason 

has found a lot more grip but Chris is still struggling with grip and brake balance and is a 

bit off the pace. Adrian and Kym are quick despite Adrian moving to radial tyres and 

finding the car very twitchy. Vows to return to slicks. Check over cars and inspect slave 

cylinder on Chris’s car, Jason commences to “polish” his tyres with much ribbing from 

the rest of us. 

13:30—MG’s head for first 

race (insert race information 

here) all cars return 

to garage in one piece. 

Chris states that car 

slipped in second gear 

off the line but then ran 

well. Jason states new 

Slicks give heaps of grip 

and is gaining confidence 

in the car, but has 

flatspotted one of his nice 

polished tyres, First roll 

start for Jason was good. 

16:30—MG’s second 

race, Chris’s car does not 

slip the clutch this time 

and he manages a very 

good start, Adrian has 

gotten used to the radials 

and is driving well. Jason 

moves his way up 

through the field, but 

locks up again on the 

same tyre and ends with 

two large flatspots. All 

cars come back to the 

garage with no obvious 

mechanical issues and 

we manage to head 

home at a decent hour. 


Sunday 

10:00—Arrive in morning and find that Kyms and Chris’s car will not start. Also find small 

knick on driveshaft boot of Kyms car which is spraying some grease onto the exhaust, 

this is quickly fixed and Kym finally manages to get his car started. Chris’s car is placed 

onto the charger but will still not start, inspection of the power cable from the relay 

shows that the starter is receiving no power, the relay is “persuaded” to provide power 

and the car starts, upon turning it off it would not start again and a new relay will have 

to be installed (which we do not have). Every start would then have to consist of a gentle 

manipulation of the relay. Rotate Jasons (again polished) slicks so the tyre with the 

flatspots is at the rear. 

Adrians car has no issues. 

12:30—1 st race Sunday, cars 

start well and Jason makes a 

good run before spinning on 

the second to last lap, Adrian 

also has an off, Chris limps in 

at the end stating that there is 

a large grinding noise coming 

from the front left wheel, inspection 

shows that the swaybar 

connecting rod has 

snapped and will need replacing, 

Ken Price has some 

spare and kindly gives them to 

us and both sides are replaced. 

Adrian states some 

strange noises from his car after 

his off and the car is inspected, nothing obvious is found. Jason removes tyres to see 

if his spin has had any negative impact on his tyres and car. No obvious damage to report. 

Kyms car returns unscathed. Chris’s dry sump system connector at the oil filter is 

showing some wear and a small leak has appeared, connector is tightened and the 

taper is re seated to prevent any further leak. 

15:30—2 nd race Sunday, 

Chris’s car will 

still not start without 

the relay needing 

some coercing, car 

is started and all cars 

head out (insert race 

results) Chris struggles 

for the last lap 

after locking up his 

front left in a huge 

way. 

16:30—I head home 

to sleep for 14 hours! 



Page 26 

Each issue we pop the bonnet pins 

and ask why the battery is still 

charged to one of the MG Racers 

This monthit’s Richard Milligan 

Name: Richard Milligan 

Nickname: 

I’ve been called many different names 

over the years! 

Date of Birth: 12/8/55 (getting old!) 

Job: Teacher / Motor Mechanic. 

Race Car/s: MGB, MKII Jaguar. 

Hero/Person you admire most: 

John Goss. 



Page 27 

First car: MG Y Type saloon 

First Race (where/when): Historic Winton in 1980. 

Why did you choose MG Racing: 

I was able to bring my passion for MG’s and motor racing together. 

Why do you enjoy MG Racing: 

The camaraderie & fun of racing with a tight-nit group. 

Favourite racing moment: 

Racing a Group N Jaguar MK II at the Sandown ‘Tribute to Champions’ in 

Feb 1981, and coming 8 th after qualifying 19 th in 41C heat! 

Career highlight: 

Coming 3 rd in the MG Racing Championship, 3 rd in my class (Historic), 3 rd 

MGB on radials, & winning the Phillip Island Performance trophy in 2008. 

Racing ambitions: To win the MG Road Racing Championship in 2010. 

What got you into Motorsport? My Dad. 

Favourite circuit: Sandown. 

Favourite Food: Asian 

Favourite Drink(s): Calton Cold, VB, & San Miguel beer. 

Favourite non motorsport achievement: Obtaining my Diploma in Education 

at Melb Uni in 2004 and teaching Automotive. Buying my own workshop 

in 2005. 

Can’t live without: My red MGB race car. 

If I had $1 Million I would: 

Invest it and spend the interest on my racing. 

One weird thing about me: 

I hate germs, dust on my cups & plates, and finding hair in my food. 

Favourite TV show: 

Use to be ‘Married with Children’, but these days it’s ABC’s ‘Late Line’ with 

Tony! 

Favourite Movie: Mad Max 

What’s in your CD player? James Reyne, Dragon/Marc Hunter, AC/DC, 

Ross Wilson/Daddy Cool, Huey Lewis, Deep Purple. Santana, Sneaky Sound 

System, Gwen Stephani, Britney… 


Victorian State Circuit Racing Championship 

MG Racing & Invited British Sportscars Pointscore 

VSCRC MG Pointscore 

Pos 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

No. Driver Car Cap Points 

50 Robin Bailey MG B GT V8 4890 139 

42 Bob Nordlinger MG C Sebring 5000 126 

40 Neil Hopwood MG B V8 Roadster 5000 105 

17 Adrian Atkhurst MG TF Cup 1796 83 

72 Alan Richardson MG B V8 Roadster 4000 78 

1 Ken Price MG TF Cup 1796 70 

93 Mandy Parry-Jones MG Midget 1293 65 

7 Robert Haywood MG B Roadster 1868 62 

73 Mark Bonnamy MG B GT V8 4900 61 

20 Paul Trevethan MG B GT V8 4600 57 

18 Greg Hewson MG Midget 1380 56 

51 Rosemary Trevethan MG B GT V8 3650 55 

19 Chris Gidney MG TF Cup 1796 45 

36 Ross Kaigg MG B Roadster 1867 45 

98 Jason Holmes MG TF Cup 1796 38 

55 Peter Brice MG Midget 1420 36 

31 Kim Cole MG F 1796 32 

10 Richard Milligan MG B Roadster 1840 30 

16 Matt Barragwanath MG B Roadster 1998 29 

68 David Anderson MG B Roadster 1998 25 

30 Mort Fitzgerald MG B V8 Roadster 5000 20 

5 Peter Sortwell MG B Roadster 1860 20 

32 Rodney Gibb MG TF Cup 1796 18 

16 John Barragwanath MG B Roadster 1998 18 

15 Mark O'Neill MG B 1840 15 

52 Don Mazzone MG B Roadster 1860 9 

6 Peter Rose MG B Roadster 1800 8 

21 Peter Dunn MG B Roadster 1860 8 

3 James Hall MG B GT 1845 7 

76 Trent Price MG B 1860 3 

34 Andrew Watson MG B 1860 3 

96 Jan Jinadasa MG F 1796 2 

69 Michael Herlihy MG F Trophy 1796 0 

8 David Vernall MG B Roadster 1860 0 

56 Aubrey Paverd MG F 1796 0 

66 James Dodd MG B Roadster 1860 0 

43 Phil Cornelius MG B 1860 0 

Invited British Sports Cars Pointscore 

Pos No. Driver Car Cap Points 

1 12 Tom Hutchinson Triumph TR8 5000 140 

2 11 Barry Pritchett Triumph TR8 4400 94 

3 119 Fred Brock Austin Healey 998 36 


2009 MG Road Racing Championship 

Name Car Class Points 

1 Robin Bailey 1975 MGB GT V8 Open-2 218 

2 Bob Nordlinger 1968 MGC/V8 Open-2 198 

3 Robert Haywood 1969 MGB Roadster Historic-1 183 

4 Adrian Akhurst MGF Cup Car Fast Road-1 175 

5 Neil Hopwood 1965 MGB V8 Roadster Fast Road-2 163 

6 Alan Richardson 1970 MGB V8 Roadster Open-2 161 

7 Ross Kaigg MGB Roadster Historic-1 158 

8 Ken Price 1997 MGF Cup Car Fast Road-1 153 

9 Richard Milligan 1976 MGB Roadster Historic-1 123 

10 Kim Cole MGF Fast Road-1 122 

11 Chris Gidney 1969 MGF Open-1 120 

12 Mark Bonnamy MGB GT V8 Open-2 115 

13 David Anderson MGB Fast Road-1 109 

14 Paul Trevethan MGB GT V8 Open-2 106 

15 Rosemary Trevethan MGB GT V8 Historic-2 105 

16 Peter Rose 1963 MGB Mk 1 Roadster Historic-1 101 

17 Mandy Parry-Jones MG Midget Open-1 92 

18 Jason Holmes MGF Open-1 91 

19 Greg Hewson 1969 MG Midget Open-1 90 

20 Rodney Gibb MGF Fast Road-1 87 

21 Don Mazzone 1975 MGB Mk 2 Roadster Historic-1 82 

22 Andrew Watson 1963 MGB Mk 1 Roadster Historic-1 74 

23 Peter Brice MG Midget Fast Road-1 73 

24 Audrey Paverd MGF Fast Road-1 63 

25 Peter Sortwell MGB Roadster Historic-1 61 

26 Mark O'Neill 1965 MGB Roadster Historic-1 52 

27 John Baragwanath MGB Open-1 49 

28 Matt Baragwanath MGB Open-1 48 

29 Jim Hall MGB GT Historic-1 46 

30 Phil Cornelius MGB Roadster Historic-1 42 

31 Jim Dodd 1964 MGB Roadster Historic-1 40 

32 Mort Fitzgerald 1972 MGB V8 Roadster Open-2 34 

33 Peter Dunn 1971 MGB Roadster Historic-1 33 

34 Jan Jinadasa MGF Fast Road-1 28 

35 Trent Price 1997 MGB Historic-1 22 

36 Mike Herlihy MGF Fast Road-1 20 

37 David Vernall MGB Mk 1 Roadster Fast Road-1 13 


The Bill 

Mitchell 

Report 

Let me begin by 

saying, what a wonderful 

group MG 

Racing is. In the two 

or so years I’ve 

been pitcrew for JB 

and indirectly PT, I 

have really enjoyed 

the “work” regardless 

of the weather. 

It does help a great deal, when the car you’re working on, is so well prepared and the 

people around you are as friendly as you all are. 

This meeting was unfortunately marred by several incidents throughout the weekend. An 

organisers nightmare. 

Friday saw Rodney’s taxi he called arrive a little earlier and quicker than expected at turn 

1, followed by some painful moments in the Med Centre. Hope they’re back to normal 

Rodney. We had a few problems over the weekend, with a missfire that wouldn’t go away 

in Mark O’Neill’s car, an oil pressure problem with Paul’s V8 and a diff problem with JB’s car 

which decided to turn him into the wall on the warm up lap on the main straight. After we 

got the car back to the pits and had a look at the damage, which fortunately wasn’t bad, 

we thought we may have been able to get it ready for the next race. (At this time we didn’t 

know it was the diff that caused the problem) alas this was not an option, so it was 

parked for the rest of the meeting. We obviously weren’t the only people having problems 

– Mort had overheating, Neil Hopwood lost 2 nd gear and then 3 rd , Richo was fighting a voltage 

battle with a faulty alternater, Chris Gidney with a small oil leak, Jim Hall with a loose 

flywheel and Trent with a gear selection problem. 

On the bright side, Bob Nordlinger was running very quickly and trouble free, Mark Bonnamy 

was really getting on with the job in his V8, Mandy was showing good form after a 2 

year absence from racing, except when Ken Price showed her how to do a pirohuette in 

turn 1 (not intentional), Peter Brice had the Midget running really well (and indecently 

quick), Ken Price was going extra well and in fact created a huge vortex behind him that a 

certain Blue B got sucked into (more on that later), Rosemary had a very good meeting 

running cleanly and quickly, Peter Sortwell had one of the biggest grins on his face after 

the racing finished (call for a swab test), Peter Rose definitely enjoyed his day and passed 

a few cars as well, Andrew Watson also had an incident free weekend and was also seen 

smiling at the end of proceedings, Robin Bailey and Tom Hutchinson had a lot of fun racing 

each other. To the highlight of the meeting, Ross Kaigg, really has a handle on his car and 

boy, has that car got the best brakes or what? Excellent driving Ross and rewarded correctly 

at the day’s end with “The Trophy” a great exhibition of clean and clever racing. 

Well done Ross. 

Bill Mitchell 


Inside MG Racing Victoria 

Contributers 

Trent Price 

Paul Vernall 

Bill Mitchell 

Paul De Keizer 

Jason Holmes 

Pictures: 

Paul Vernall, Sean Herlihy 

Got any feeback? Let us know 

E-mail: mgracermag@yahoo.com.au 

Back Page News 

Were on myspace! 

www.myspace.com/ 

mgracingvictoria 

This belongs to my dad, it’s the same colour as the car and is 

about the power he needs… 

what you think? Will they notice it’s gone? 

"Yes but my suit is blue and yours is green, plus my car has racing stripes and I have a 

moustache rather than a beard that is why I am faster" 

"Yes but my beard gives me Chuck Norris credentials and my car is red with flames" 

"Yes but I have tinted glasses"

Issue 5 - MG Racing

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