One of Hobart Sporting Car Club’s biggest events of the year returned with a bang last weekend, with a record-breaking rendition of the Autocraft Baskerville 1000.
The 16th running of the popular regularity event saw more than 100 competitors spread across 29 teams battle it out at Pepsi Max Baskerville Raceway on Sunday, with points awarded to teams who could get within one second of a pre-nominated lap time.
The event saw a number of records broken throughout the day, with all 29 teams combining for the highest number of points tallied, as well as the most laps completed.
Not only did the event see combined records being broken, but it also saw the Yellow Ren-O team break the record of most points tallied by a single team with 1105, while Hurd Bros Racing produced the greatest number of laps ever seen in the six-hour event with 277.
Onlookers were treated to an incredible fight for top honours throughout the day as well, with Yellow Ren-O Racing edging out MyRage Racing by just 75 points in their Renault Clio.
MyRage gradually worked their Mitsubishi Mirage up the field to make their way past eventual third place finishers Hurd Bros Racing in the final hour, with only 40 points separating the two teams at the chequered flag.
Finishing fourth in their Mitsubishi Magna was Team Newie, who missed out on a top three finish by a mere 20 points, but had done enough to finish ahead of Lance-R-Lot Racing in the Mitsubishi Lancer – who were a single timed lap ahead of Mozza’s Mates in sixth.
Whilst the battle for outright honours entertained throughout, there were plenty of other stories to come out of the day - one being the #31 Dakar Motorsport Hyundai fielding the first three-generation team the event has ever seen.
The O’Connor family saw grandfather, father and son combination and were one of many family-orientated teams entered in the event, finishing 17th overall and completing a total of 665 laps in their Hyundai Excel.
It was also an impressive outing for Heather Butler, who finished 11th in her first ever motorsport event alongside her two sons Robbie and Jamie, while her Mazda 323 was also awarded as the best presented car on the day.
Chair of the Baskerville 1000 organising committee, Bruce Thomas, was pleased with the running of the event and the local involvement that came with it.
“As per usual, the event was an incredible success. We were treated to a perfect winter's day and there were plenty of entertaining battles out on track,” Thomas said.
“It was just such a wonderful day, there are always smiles on people's faces and some good stories to come out of it.
“It was great to see some records broken and there were also four or five new volunteers getting involved and getting their first taste of motorsport, which is always great to see.”
The Hobart Sporting Car Club’s next scheduled event is Time Attack Tasmania, which will take place at Pepsi Max Baskerville Raceway on 17 September.