For just the second time this year, up to 80 competitors from around New South Wales will go head-to-head in the Zestino Tires Motorsport Australia NSW Supersprint Championship.
Following on from last week’s successful Motorsport Australia New South Wales Motor Race Championships, Wakefield Park will once again have the honour of hosting a state level event this weekend.
A lot has happened since the Championship’s opening round took place at Sydney Motorsport Park with this weekend’s organising club, the Mazda MX-5 Club Of New South Wales, having worked overtime to meet the COVID-19 requirements needed to run an event safely.
At the heart of the operation, and the event’s official COVID-19 checker, is Ian Combes, who was satisfied with everything the club had done in order to make sure the event runs smoothly.
“We are taking this very seriously because it is a high profile event as it’s state level,” Combes said.
“It’s a fairly big investment from our club. We take great pride in the events we put on and we would like to think even though we’re an amateur club, we’re very professional in our approach.
“It’s been a big learning curve for us in terms of how to run an event in the current environment, so getting assistance from the New South Wales Supersprint Committee was quite helpful.
“I am the official COVID-19 checker because it’s really important to get right. I basically report to the Steward and Clerk of Course to tell them that everyone is playing by the rules. The event can’t go ahead until I give the green light, so it’s pretty important.
“One thing I will be really focusing on is event entry. Everyone who wants to enter the event will need to be on a list and vetted before they come inside so we know everyone is safe.”
With the also club limiting the event to 200 people, crews will also have limited numbers supporting drivers, while the introduction of light points will reduce the required officials.
Headlining the field is round one winner Richard Perini who will most likely find himself under a heap of pressure from the round’s runner-up Daniel Nolan after the Ginetta G55 driver took out a comfortable three second victory earlier this year.
Perini, Nolan and the remaining 78 drivers will each have around five to six runs at posting the fastest lap around the course and Combes is confident it will be an entertaining event due to it being the first one since March.
“There is a lot of excitement building and we had fun filling up this event. We thought we would struggle a little bit, but we managed to fill it up quite quickly,” Combes said.
“The majority of entrants, apart from half a dozen, are registered for the series, meaning the competition will be quite fierce. Richard is definitely one who would be fancying himself.
“Everyone is keen to get out there. Of course they are wrapping their heads around the different arrangements like pre-event registration, but I feel everyone is really keen.”
The Zestino Tires NSW Supersprint Championship takes place at Wakefield Raceway on Sunday 19 July.
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