Matt Clift and customers to battle for motor racing title
MOTOR RACING: Matt Clift knows a little about the cars he is in a battle with for the group Nc historic touring car title in this year's CAMS Queensland Motor Racing Championships - he is the mechanic.
Clift and two of his customers at Morgan Park Performance in Warwick, Bob Sudal and Bob Heagerty, are the best chances for victory in the class with one round to go. Clift had two wins and a second behind Sudal in round 3 last weekend at Morgan Park Raceway.
"We are all good mates,” Clift said.
"At times, we have travelled as a group to compete at Bathurst and Phillip Island but not this year.”
They won't get it all their own way in round 4 on November 19-20 at Morgan Park Raceway.
Kevin Heffernan, who works part-time for Clift, will be tough to beat in his Monaro while Mike Lightfoot, from Toowoomba, is set to be in the top-five in a Mustang. Heffernan has competed in Australia's greatest motorsport race at Bathurst.
As for the battle in the group Nc class, Clift said there was no love lost when they put the helmets on.
"We have a ball, the main thing is we want good hard racing and no car damage.”
Gary Beggs won two saloon car races at the weekend to be the class winner.
Bruce Acheson from Warwick was fourth in one of the Formula Vee races. He is a regular in state championship racing in a very competitive class.
In production sports cars, Travers Beynon from the Gold Coast won two races and Brisbane driver Graham Lusty was victorious in the third race.
Hunter McElrea, the son of Matt Campbell's team sponsor Andy McElrea, had three seconds at the weekend in the racing and sports car class and will be one to watch in the future. Steven Jukes drove well with a second and third in improved production.
With one round of the championships to go, the battle for titles is still open in most classes.
The Warwick District Sporting Car Club expects more than 150 nominations for round 4 in November.