Octagon July, 2016

WIDE BAY CHAPTER AND THE INAUGURAL WONDAI SPRINTS
by David Hall & Lyn Hayward ; photos by Lyn Hayward
The Inaugural Wondai Sprints
were held on 11/12 June and
it was decided by a few of the
MGCCQ Wide Bay that we
would attend as our members
David and Margie Roberts would
be entering the sprints in their
beautifully presented Datsun
260Z (the FAST Yellow Peril).
David has done a lot of work on
the car to get it in full race mode
for the up and coming Sprints and
Hill Climbs including Mount Cotton
and Noosa. We are sure he is
going to do well as he has a great
attitude to this type of racing.
David and Margie arrived in their motor
home on the Thursday to set up Camp with
Workshop alongside as close to the start as
possible. John and Annie Carol came with
their caravan and David and Lyn arrived a
little later in their Motor home towing their
MGA Coupe to enter in the Show & Shine to
be held on Sunday!
Saturday arrived to a glorious blue sky as
the sun was shining on Wondai! It was very
special! The sprints were starting and some
good times were being achieved. Mal and
Elizabeth Cumes members of the Wide Bay
Chapter and owners of an MGA Twin Cam
Roadster came along as support. Then a tap
on the shoulder, and there appeared another
four members from our chapter who had also
come along to support the Yellow Peril. Darrell
Martin brought Bill Manns, Peter Worland
and Peter May along for a day out and to
cheer David and Margie along.
One hundred and five cars lined up to the
starter on Saturday to take their first run for
the morning. The entries ranged from our
friend John Luttnell from Tinana in his Renault
Dauphine to open wheeler full on race
cars. There was even a split windscreen
Morris Minor with a Chev V8 engine - boy did
he go. The newly laid tarmac track around
the Industrial estate and some good times
were achieved once the track warmed up.
Dave Roberts leaves
the starting line in his 1976 Datsun 240Z called Yellow
Peril (photo by Peter Matthews)
Some thought it was going to be easy until
they realised that witches hats had been
placed strategically on the straights just to
make things a little more challenging for the
competitors with David and the yellow Peril
being one of their first statistics. Ooops -
knocking a witches hat added 5 seconds to
the total time for the run. When the tyres and
track warmed up some pretty good times
were being recorded and David’s times were
no exception.
On Sunday Morning we woke to an overcast
day and a bit of a chill in the air but still a
good day for a Show & Shine. 120 entrants
lined up from Hot Rods, Classic Cars, Motor
bikes, Vintage vehicles and even Moderns.
However MGs shone through and gave a
little ray of sunshine to the day. It was nice
to see the late Ken Wilson’s Black MGB GT
V8 looking in pristine condition with a new
air conditioner fitted. We were all pleased to
see it looking so smick. Cars were judged
by People’s Choice and we managed a first
place with our Red MGA Coupe for best
Sports Car Pre 1966.
The whole weekend was very well attended
and organised by the local community who
did a fantastic job involving all the schools,
Sporting clubs, SES and local Service clubs
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The Octagon - July 2016