A love for motor racing runs deep in the Staude family
THREE generations of the Staude family was at Morgan Park Raceway on Saturday, two as volunteers and one racer.
Retired driver Peter Staude and his wife Denise came to Warwick regularly for super sprint meetings for five years before retiring to the town in 2006.
"We came here because Warwick is a lovely place and due to Morgan Park Raceway," Peter said.
He and son Jeff were officials at the weekend for the Queensland Super Sprint State Championships, a week after volunteering as officials at the V8 Supercars meeting at Bathurst.
Jeff's son Ryan, 17, won his class in the pre-1972 classic touring cars in a Hillman Hunter.
He was the fastest in his class in most of his nine heats in the sprints.
"Pop does most of the work on my car in Warwick," Ryan said.
"Motor racing is in my blood, I was very young when my father raced but remember my Pop racing."
While Peter retired from racing five years ago, he happily works on his grandson's car which is housed at his home in Warwick.
He reckons his grandson will be able to work on the car in future as he is doing an apprenticeship as a mechanic at Ballina where he lives.
While he played rugby league as a junior, motor racing is now the whole sporting focus for Ryan.
Seventy-five drivers participated in the state championships in super sprints.
