Australian Tarmac Challenge 2010: Day 1

There were thrills and a handful of spills in the first round of the 2010 Australian Tarmac Challenge (ATC), which took place in Victoria during a wet weekend in April. Despite the inclement weather -- it varied from drizzle to pouring rain for the most part -- the driving was remarkably satisfying (lairy power slides anyone?) with a range of a different events to test participants and their cars.

The author and co-driver Mark 'Mav' Fattore were fortunate enough to field a Nissan 370Z during the weekend, and though we didn't dominate, we performed well and most of all, we had an absolute blast.

For the record, yours truly finished sixth outright in the Street category, while Mav finished eighth in a field of 27 drivers. Mav was also the third placed rookie, which was an excellent result for Team Carsales.

With more than 90 drivers spread across three classes (Street, Club, Motorsport) vying for bragging rights, the ATC is nothing if not varied.

From hot laps around Winton Raceway and Broadford and head to head motorkhana battles, to skidpan work, auto tests and point-to-point dashes, there are few motorsport events in Australia that offer such a diversity of events.

We chatted with our competitors, raced them, took photos of the action and embellished a few tales of lurid drifts and epic manoeuvres long into the night.

As they used to say in ancient Rome, we came, we saw, we conquered... Here's how the weekend went down:

FRIDAY APRIL 9

4:40pm: Packed helmet, CAMS license and lucky underpants. All set! We hit the road, pointing the white Nissan 370Z towards Shepparton in central Victoria.

6:30pm: Arrived at parc ferme on the main street of Shepparton and the queue for car scrutineering was lengthy, so we headed off down the road for a meal. The veal scallopine at the Overlander Hotel was tip top.

8:00pm: After collecting our  decals and doing an average job of placing them on the car, the officials went over the 370Z with a fine tooth comb and everything checked out. With an 7:00am start the next day, we hit the hay early...

SATURDAY APRIL 10

6:20am: Awoken by the sound of half a dozen high performance vehicles firing up their engines -- the cacophony no doubt music to the ears of sleepy guests at the Country Comfort hotel -- we headed to the function room for some breakfast and the driver briefing.

8:51am: Arrived at the DECA driving training grounds just outside of Shepparton, and it's raining. A lot. But spirits are high: Everyone just wants to compete.

9:03am: First run on the skid pan, and the car felt good; very responsive. Even in the wet we were confident of putting on a good show and by the third run our times have improved by several seconds.

We had six other runs, three apiece on point-to-point sections of the DECA training centre, which saw speeds of close to 130km/h and a pair of crests that almost launched the car into the air. Suffice to say, it was an absolute blast, even in the heavy rain, and the Nissan 370Z proved to be an excellent machine. Balanced and very quick off the mark, the Japanese vehicle was involving to drive, impressively responsive and even when the tail end broke traction it was progressive enough to control. Fun? You better believe it!

Mav also proved himself to be adept behind the wheel, acing a couple of runs and shooting to the top of the rookie list.

11:00am: Our second destination was the Shepparton showgrounds, and my first stuff up in the 370Z occurred at the Battle Motorkhana event. Everything was going well on the super tight course and both Maverick and I ended up posting top five times. The event was billed as something special, as it was a competitive stage where drivers raced each other, not unlike a (very short) WRC super special stage.

Buoyed by our early success I thought that perhaps turning stability control off for my second run would help improve my times. Well, it didn't. But losing the tail end (in a big way) on the wet bitumen and consequently belting out a couple of doughnuts for good measure was totally worth it, and the crowd was appreciative of the histrionics.

2:00pm: Having eaten a hasty (but delicious) antipasto lunch, we cruised down past Benalla and on to Winton Raceway. I remember it vividly. It was like we had arrived in paradise -- there was a dry line on the track! But about five minutes before we were due to race, the clouds closed in and the rain arrived on cue... Still, there's nothing like a spot of rain to even out the field.

The first event at Winton saw competitors complete laps of the shorter sprint circuit, followed by a brief auto test, and finished by laps of the full circuit, the same course traversed by V8 Supercar drivers every year.

With the synchro-rev system switched on (to blip the throttle on downshifts), we hit the track and the 370Z felt right at home. Though it was treacherously sodden, the 19-inch Bridgestone Potenza RE050A tyres heated up rapidly and the car could be pushed harder and harder through the chicanes.

We scored the third fastest lap on the sprint circuit, just a few tenths behind the Audi RS4 and Porsche 911, which was a real boost considering the amount of AWD rivals we faced. The 370Z felt nicely planted and had a very flat attitude through the high speed corners with virtually no body roll, and with excellent feedback it could be pushed to its limit in the wet without dire repercussions. We got close to 200km/h down the main straight, which in the wet was no mean feat.

Even when the Zed did let go it wasn't difficult to bring it back into line and not once did it leave the track. The stock standard brakes provided excellent feel and the tight little six-speed manual gearbox was also a gem. If there was one complaint about the car, it would be that traction and stability control are joined at the hip, so there's no middle ground to switch off traction and leave stability on...

Several other cars did in fact spear off the track in the foul conditions, but not one car was damaged. All told, the 370Z was a dream to drive -- we just wonder how much better it would have performed in the dry!

4:00pm: Done and dusted at Winton and for the day, I made a last minute request for more laps as the adrenaline was still pumping, but alas, it was time to hit the showers.

An excellent day of competition was had by all, and though it was great to do well throughout the day, the emphasis was on having fun. In that respect everyone performed admirably, with plenty of beaming grins all round.

7:02pm: A large bus arrived to take us all to dinner and we subsequently ate like kings, spinning yarns of the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly. The account of the Subaru Liberty GT overtaking the Porsche 911 GT3 under brakes at Winton was a corker!

Everyone involved had a ball and the camaraderie between drivers was inspiring; everyone involved was in it to have fun and winning was certainly secondary for most drivers.

7:50pm: Shane Jacobson, star of the film Kenny (driving an FPV GTP), got up to hand out medals for the fastest racers of the day, and proceeded to send the gathered crowd of more than 100 drivers and officials into stitches with some amusing anecdotes.

8:30pm: We talked to a number of competitors about the event, and the overall response to the event was remarkably positive. Everyone thought the event was well organised, and we won't argue with that sentiment either.

David Boucher from Canberra, driving a Porsche Cayman S, said the event had met his expectations and there were no failings he could identify. "It is a good event. And my car was fantastic, but perhaps the driver was not up to Mother Nature's level," he opined, adding that the weather was the only downside. "But I want to do the whole thing, with the Sydney event in June and Perth in August," said Boucher.

Mark Tierney, who was fielding a hard-charging 1965 Mustang Fastback with more than 460kW at the rear wheels, was likewise impressed with how the ATC was run, but wasn't happy with some competitors who trailered their cars to each event.

"I'm not happy with all these trailered [Mitsubishi] Evos. They should have to drive their cars between events. Otherwise, I love the event, it's good fun," said Tierney.

Steven James, who was a crew member along with mates, thought that the Battle Motorkhana event was "...a bit Mickey Mouse. It was billed as something bigger and was too short in the end. Our team would have preferred some quarter mile drag events."

Father and daughter team, Stephen and Laura Bourns from Geelong, were clearly stoked to be there, driving a hotted up (and impressively loud) Mini Cooper S. "It's just a social bit of fun. We did Lang Lang [in 2009] and had a ball, so we came back."

Driving a BMW 130i hatch, Drazen Korac from Sydney summed up the spirit of the event: "The best part is going sideways at 130km/h!"

But that was only day one...

Getting to push a road car to its limit on closed circuits and tracks was an absolute thrill. Without having to worry about speed limits, traffic, or anything else made for incredibly rewarding driving.

Stay tuned to the Carsales Network this week for day two coverage of the Australian Tarmac Challenge, where the 370Z gets very sideways at Broadford race track. You can also find the ATC results at the official website.

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