Welcome to 618 Motorsport
618 Motorsport is an Adelaide based motorsport team competing in their Nissan 180SX Type X. The team will be competing in various motorsports including drift, rally, hillclimbs, time attacks and motorkhanas.
News
Monday November 30, 2009
618 Motorsport was involved in The Classic Adelaide Rally which was held over 5 days in November. Leon was involved in an official role, as part of the course car team and Mettina was involved co-drving in the modern competition category. The event started on Wednesday with a street parade through the city of Adelaide from the 'Parade Grounds' to the prologue at Eagle on The Hill. Leon drove the Nissan 180SX as the lead car in the parade through the city and onto the old free way where prologue was to commence. A single run up the Eagle on the Hill Road would sort all the competition cars into their running order for tomorrow and it was a great shakedown for Mettina and Jason in the Mazda RX7.
Thursday was the first day of competition and the mercury hit 43 degrees! However the weather did not upset Mettina and Jason in the Mazda RX7 – they were both excited about hitting some of their local roads and using their knowledge to their advantage. Apart from the few minutes during prologue yesterday, this was the first time Mettina had co-driven in the Mazda and she was looking forward to putting her skills to the test.
Leon and his co-driver, Lisi’s, role in the classic was one of a floating position, filling in where needed as a course car in case of breakdowns, accidents or extra positions as required by rally HQ. Leon and Lisi’s first task was to go and pick up the camera gear from the camera car who was suffering from a mechanical problem. They then missed the next two stages as they were to make tracks to the morning tea break to pass on the equipment to another course car. After the break they then settled into a position behind the regularity group for the rest of the day.
On Friday, the second day of competition the weather did an about-face and rained! During the first special stage, Corromandle Valley, a kangaroo bounded over the armco and into the mazda on the drivers side. The roo caused some major body damage to the car, however none of it affecting performance. The rain started down in earnest during the Willunga special stage and the slippery road caught Jason nad Mettina out towards the top of the hill. They touched the armco with the rear of the car which brought the front around and caused minor damage both bumpers of the mazda. Again the damage didn't affect performancce and they went on to finish the day mid field of the competition.
On Friday Leon in the 180SX was called apon by Rally HQ to man a chicane control point on the Yankallila special stage due to the lack of road officials. They were able to rejoin the field at the lunch break and then resume their posititon behind the regularity field. Friday was finished off with the usual street party in Gouger Street where the 618 Motorsport Nissan was put on display along with the all the cars involved in the Calssic Adealide Rally.
On Saturday, Jason and Mettina had a good day and finished well on most stages. Mettina and Jason managed to climb a few positions in the modern competition category overall. Leon and Lisi started were moved upto to fill the position of ‘Category S Follower’. This was a great opportunity for them as it meant they were not restricted to the 130km/h speed limit of the regularity competitiors. Leon had a great time in the Nissan, pushing it hard on the wet, slippery roads. After the days competition, the car was again on display, but this time in the Norwood Parade street party.
Sunday was the last day of competition and the weather was looking better. Mettina and Jason were looking forward to hitting the last stage of the day, Windy Point. They set off hard with them sliding the mazda around the look out corner much to the delight of the large crowd that had gathered. Mettina and Jason managed to pull the 3rd fastest time for that stage which excited them both. Leon had resumed his role behind regularity follower and was looking forward to hitting some of his favourite stages. Clarendon always suited Leon well and it was more of a tight twisty stage rather than a fast flowing stage. With Lisi calling the directions, they had their fastest and most fun stage of the event.
Both Leon & Mettina would like to thank everyone who helped out! Jason for giving Mettina a fun ride and his service crew for getting them all there and for looking after them. Lisi for filling in the co-drivers seat for Leon at such short notice, and her boss for allowing her to change flights to do so. We would also like to thank, ‘Pedders Suspension Modbury’ for setting up the 180SX suspension, the boys at ‘Vivid Vinyls’ for the name decals and our host sponsor ‘Three AM Design’ for keeping our website up to date and looking good!
We hope you have a great Christmas and Happy New Year,
Leon & Mettina
Sunday October 25, 2009
The month of October has seen a couple of changes to the car; a ‘Kaaz’ two way mechanical differential was fitted by us and the car was set up for grip racing. The boys at Pedders Modbury once again did a great job, changing the wheel alignment settings and giving the suspension more travel. Leon has been busy with the final touches on the car’s tarmac rally trim. He has fitted a ‘Terratrip 202 Plus’ Rally computer and a UHF radio which he connected into the Terraphone Rally intercom. All these changes are in anticipation for Leon’s role in the Classic Adelaide Rally next month. Leon will be driving the Nissan 180SX as a course car during the 4 day tarmac rally!
Leon also prepared himself for the upcoming rally by racing this month. He eagerly jumped into the driver’s seat for another Porsche Club of SA Supersprint, held on the 18th October. Leon was using the event as his 2nd and last 'Observed Licence Test' (OLT) to obtain a Rally Licence. He needs this Licence for his role in the 'Classic Adelaide Rally' and to be able to compete next year in the southern hills tarmac rally. With the few small changes made over the last month - the new diff, the setup an the tuning from last month - it was going to be interesting to see how these affected his lap times. After the first warm up session, Leon made another change on his return to the pits. In the quest for more grip he softened the rear sway bar setting. The feedback on the car was good after the next session, although the crew were given a scare when the Nissan came in early. However, there was no issue apart from the track officials testing Leon’s training! They had waved a Black Flag at him – and Leon obediently came into the pits. It was another spectacular Spring day out at Mallala and Leon was ecstatic to succeed in knocking 3seconds from his lap times.
618 Motorsport have been involved in the Classic Adelaide Rally for the previous 5 years with both Mettina and Leon being part of the course car team. However, this year Mettina has been given a tremendous opportunity and has moved out of the course cars and across to Modern Competition. She will be co-driving in the yellow Mazda RX7 Series 8 of Jason Unkovich, REVS Performance. This will be Jason's first tarmac rally event, but with his experience behind the wheel competing in hillclimbs, supersprints & drag racing Mettina will be in great company. Leon will stay part of the course car team, where he will be driving the Nissan 180SX as an official. It would be great to see you out there supporting Mettina and Jason as they take on the likes of Jim Richards and other well known drivers.
Tuesday September 29, 2009
During September 618 Motorsport held its second private drift day at Mallala Motorsport Park. Eleven other drivers joined us out on track to learn further car control skills and to put in some intense practice. 618 Motorsport held a drills and skills session first up and again, straight after the lunch break. Car control skills were tested with tight and large ‘ringies’ and figure 8's before kicking onto normal drift practice. Mettina again jumped into the driver’s seat to put the Nissan through its paces. She succeeded in carrying out all the drills consistently which not only brought the biggest grin to her face but would be seen to transfer directly to her drifting later that morning and for indeed the rest of the day.
The drivers were then able to flow onto the track and practice both their single runs and ‘battle’ runs. Mettina teamed up with Rick Simmons with his bright green 180SX for some ‘battle’ runs. She used her position as chase car for awhile to take full advantage to emulate line, speed, braking points and so forth. Then, for the first time she lead a couple runs! With her confidence and skills building, Mettina was soon drifting sections of the track consistently.
After lunch we continued with the drills and then with another open session. Leon also jumped into the car and put himself to the test sliding the car nicely around the track. Leon was happy to improve on his skills despite the little time he has had in the 180SX. By the end of the day Mettina was ecstatic to say that she now had several consecutive laps under her belt in which she was able to drift the entire course without a competition losing spin!
618 Motorsport would like to thank the following people for their help with the day: Mark Povey from 'SA Motorsport Tyres', for taking care of the tyre changing and also for cooking the BBQ! Paul and the boys at 'Pedders Modbury' for helping to get the car set up so superb; Simon from Morpowa for getting the boost issues sorted which made the car quicker; Rick for the battle practice and helping to man the start line; Jamie, Thomas and Jay for coming out and taking photos. And of course Clem Smith, the officials and firey (Tony).
Thursday August 27, 2009
August was set to be a busy month with 618 Motorsport entered in two events in two days. First up, Mettina hit the track at the monthly Drift Practice night on Saturday the 22nd. The car was unchanged from the last outing and was running well. Mettina put the Nissan through its paces sliding the car well. Her entries into turn one and turn two have continued to improve although she did go past the limit on the odd occassion.
We then took the car home, to make a few changes to the setup as both Mettina and Leon were double entered in a supersprint the following day. Leon jacked up the car and changed the rear brake pads from those used for drift to higher temperature items used for circuit racing. He also removed the wheels and fitted another set of wheels fitted with semi slick tyres. The rear suspension dampening was also softened to help increase grip through the corners rather than the stiffer setup used for drifting. The 180SX was then put back onto the trailer and Leon gave it a quick clean before retiring for the night.
The team was back at Mallala the following morning to compete in the Porsche Club of SA Supersprint. The morning started off with track familiarisation with both Mettina and Leon jumping in as passengers with different Porsche drivers. The drivers showed us first hand braking, entry, apex and exit points on every corner on the track. Leon was thrilled to be passenger in the GT3 driven by the leading Porsche Club driver, Roger. The morning was then given over to practice sessions. These sessions were run exactly as the competition would run that afternoon. The practice enabled the event officials to group the drivers according to their lap times. The cars were split into 6 groups containing 10 cars in each. The sprints were run as a 4 lap dash with each lap time being recorded. Leon and Mettina lapped within 1/2 second of each other. The team hopes to be out at more of the grip events to gain experience and improve their driving skills but most of all to have fun!
Thursday July 30, 2009
After a short break due to illness, 618 Motorsport hit the track again at the monthly Drift Practice night held on Saturday 4th July. As Leon was still recovering from his operation, Brandon from S2 Performance kindly offered to come along to give Mettina a hand. Brandon helped Mettina with the car from unloading to tyre pressures and also gave Mettina some helpful driving tips which had her hitting the corners a lot harder and carrying a lot more speed through the corner than she has managed before. He was able to point out where she went wrong and had her thinking about the reasons between sessions. Thanks to Brandon’s input Mettina’s driving improved, and she had her best practice night this far!
On the following Monday, 618 Motorsport attended a private practice day run by the boys at Japanese Import Spares. As most of the drivers were inexperienced, the day started off with some basic drills like tight ringies, large ringies and figure 8's. Mettina hit the burnout pad a bit cautiously, but soon had the tyres peeling! The track was then opened up for drift and Mettina went out putting into practice some of the things she had learnt from Brandon and done only days earlier at the Drift Practice night. Mettina drove the 180SX sliding it through most corners well continually improving on her lines, speed and angle. Mettina managed to link the esses on several occasions along with holding some good lines through turn 1.
After a short lunch break everyone hit the burnout pads again to work on skills once more. Mettina got the 180SX working well on the drills and managed to get a few figure 8's linked up. After a short session, it was back onto the track to work on drift skills again. The car was running well, until the Nissan suffered a minor fault. Due to the increase in steering lock, one of the front wheels managed to rub through the brake line. Luckily the brakes finally failed coming onto a straight and Mettina could pull the car up in time. Back in the pits we discovered the fault of the failure but as it was late in the afternoon we decided to pack the car up and call it a day. Thanks to Brandon from S2, Japanese Import Spares and the guys out on the day for their help and offers of spare brake lines!
Tuesday June 30, 2009
June was shaping up to be a very busy month for 618 Motorsport with both Mettina and Leon spending time behind the wheel. On 14th June 618 Motorsport entered a hill climb event held at Collingrove – a purpose built hill climb track near Angaston. Due to the nature of the event the team could enter both Leon and Mettina. It would be their first time attempting this course – single lane and bitumen. On arrival to the track the weather was looking rather gloomy and with delays in documentation and scrutineering, the drizzle started by the time the drivers hit the track. Mettina was first to steer the Nissan and attempted to warm up those semi slicks with a burnout before she took off up the hill. With tyres spinning off the line she made relatively good progress in the lower section of the course until she dropped a wheel into the weeds and shot backwards off the track. A combination of geography, weather and vegetation meant that Mettina crossed the finish line attached to a patrol by a long piece of rope! The only damage done was that to ego … there may exist a humorous photo of her attaching the rope to the car herself!
Leon now possibly a touch more nervous but definitely wiser jumped into the car. He drove the car to the conditions, controlling very carefully his throttle inputs and finished the course without drama with a time of 46.68sec on a very slippery track. And that was to be the end of the event for the team! Not longer after Leon’s run a vehicle dropped oil on the majority of the track. The clean up crews started on it but soon the skies opened and it rained quite heavily. The team decided that the conditions were too slippery and dangerous to continue and packed up and headed home!
The next event the team was to attempt was a Super Sprint – something neither driver had experienced before. The Porsche Club of SA were the organizers and held the Super Sprint at Mallala on the following Sunday. Again the nature of the event allowed both Leon & Mettina to enter. Unfortunately, just days before the event, Leon was struck down with a medical issue which had him hospitalised. Thus neither Leon nor Mettina were able to enter the event. Leon is back home now and doing well, however he is on light duties!
In other news - on the 27th June, Mettina with much excitement went back to her grass roots of gravel rally. She was offered the drive of the 00 Safety car in the 2nd round of the South Australian Rally Championship held at Robertstown. This again was in an official capacity and had her driving a Subaru Outback on the loose, muddy roads in the north of the state. The rally ran well and we’d like to thank the organizers for the opportunity and especially Jason Lange who trusted Mettina with his car!!!
Thursday May 28, 2009
May saw the biggest drift event held thus far – Drift Super Cup. Held over two day the event would showcase not only local drifters but draw entries from the other states. Drift Super Cup was to showcase the sport of drifting by providing a competition for the top Drift Australia Drivers and a competition for the new talent to show off their progress and battle in their own class. The event also featured stunt bikes, a burnout competition and demonstrations of time attack races.
618 Motorsport was asked to help be apart of the promotions the weekend leading up to this great event. The event organiser and lively commentator, 'Racin Jason', was keen to have the 618 Motorsport Nissan 180SX on display in a Westfield Shopping Centre. The team was eager to help and was set up in the West Lakes Centre in a high profile location within the shopping complex, right near the food court and fashion stores. The team was there to hand out flyers and speak to the public hoping to not only promote Drift Super Cup but also to help raise the profile of the sport.
618 Motorsport, although not entered in a drift category, were to be represented at the event in a 'Time Attack' demonstration. This required a few changes to the car during the week – brakes, tyres and suspension – carried out by both Leon and also Adelaide Radial Tyre. Unfortunately however Leon suffered and injury on the Friday making him reliant on crutches and would be unable to drive or crew for the weekend. Leon was devastated as he had put a lot of time and effort into the whole event, now he could not even get himself into the driver’s seat. Both Leon and Mettina still attended the event on the Sunday, and were thrilled to see such a large turnout for what was a rather drizzly weekend. Both the organizers and the drivers lived up to the hype and put on an awesome show. 618 Motorsport was pleased to be apart of the promotions for this event and thank the organisers for the opportunity.
In other news, Mettina found her way into the co-driver’s seat again. The opportunity was provided in the Adelaide Hills Tarmac Rally held the last weekend of May. She was co-driving for Noel Clarridge in a CV8 Monaro. The Monaro ran in an official role for the event but this did not lessen the excitement of the experience! The event took place in the southern hills area of Adelaide and used a number of routes also used in the Classic Adelaide Rally held later this year. The car and crew had no issues and Mettina has since gained a few more official roles, in both driving and co-driving, in other rallies to be held this year.
Wednesday April 29, 2009
After plenty of work by the team, 618 Motorsport's Nissan 180SX has now gained 'dedicated rally car' registration. This allows our team to compete in road style events such as the ASP Tarmac Rally and the Classic Adelaide Rally. With a heritage in gravel rallying, the team is keen to make the transition to bitumen rally events.
Leon recently drove the Nissan in his first competition, in the inaugural Mt Alma Mile Hillclimb. He entered the strong 120 car field amongst many experienced drivers and purpose built hill climb vehicles. Hill Climbs are usually scored using the fastest time of a single run up the hill. The Mt Alma event, however, was scored by combing the times of the several runs that the competitors ran. This implied that you needed to be consistantly fast over all runs, rather than just pulling one out of the bag!
The first run of the day was a practice run, allowing the drivers to test their vehicles and setups at pace. The car was running fine, with no issues but Leon had to settle straight in not allowing nerves to hamper his driving. He drove consistently throughout the 2 days improving on his previous time with every run. Every run that is except the one where he encountered rain half way up the course! But only a second was lost and his times remained consistant. Leon finished 4th in his class and 67th Overall, a result which he was happy with considering it was the team’s first ever hill climb.
Again there is much to learn in this displine of motorsport. 618 Motorsport hope to compete in future events and will be looking at getting some softer and wider semi slick tyres to give more grip in the first instance. The team is also researching modifications to allow us to gain more power. It looks like this year is shaping up to provide the team with a lot of experience and not a little fun!
In other news, 618 Motorsport again had their car on display at the annual ‘All Jap Day’ car show held at Glenelg. The show incorporates all Japanese vehicles that keep that Japanese feel. The cars ranged from an rare old classic ‘66 Silvia to the R34 Nissan Skyline. Our 180SX was one a several race cars on display. The weather held until the end of the day allowing a number of spectators to make the most of the relaxing Sunday.
Monday March 23, 2009
March is always a busy time of year for motorsport in Adelaide. Early on we saw the first State round of G1 Extreme Drift Series but of course the focus was on one of Australia’s best major events – The Clipsal 500. 618 Motorsport’s participation at this event is normally that of avid spectator but this year was a surprise. Monday afternoon leading into the 4 day event, a member from CAMS (Confederation of Australian Motorsport) rang Team Manager Leon to ask if he would like to put the Nissan in the CAMS static display. The CAMS Display showcases motor vehicles from those motorsport disciplines NOT being raced in this event.
618 Motorsport had 2 nights to have the car finished and presentable. Leon was successful in finishing the custom door trims. Nick had the car buffed and polished and Mettina had her hands full going over the interior. Finally the boys from Vivid Vinyls were able to fit the decals on the repaired panel on the Wednesday afternoon just in time to get the car into the track to be set up for the display.
The CAMS display was on one of the main thoroughfares into the track and was easily viewed and appreciated by thousands of fans. Both the display and the 618 Motorsport car had a lot of interest, with numerous people taking the opportunity to have their photo taken with or sitting in the 180SX. We thank the crew manning the display for cleaning the car every morning, although in the dry and dusty conditions it didn’t take long for their work to be lost! These type of displays are great to showcase the many types of motorsport on offer to the enthusiast AND to show that you don’t need the budget of a supercar team to participate!
618 Motorsport would like to thank Vivid Vinyls, Adelaide Radial Tyres and Nick for their help to get the car on display in very short notice.
618 Motorsport would also like to announce that their entry for the inaugural Mt Alma Hillclimb was accepted! It will the first time Leon has competed in a hillclimb and he is excited about the opportunity. The car set up will be adjusted for maximum grip with changes to tyres and suspension. The car will run semi slick racing tyres rather than the normal radial tyres used for drift and will be softer in the suspension. The hillclimb will be run on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th of April.
Monday February 23, 2009
The last couple of months for the team has been busy going over the car, repairing the damaged rear quarter panel and making some small changes. The 180SX is now sporting a late model Type X front bar which has improved the look of the car substantialy. A special thanks goes out to Nick for all his help getting the car straight, orange, shiny and looking great again.
The team will be competing in various motorsports in 2009 and beyond and to enable this the car setup is based on tarmac rally events. This means the 180SX was fitted with all the mandatory rally items ie first aid kit, safety triangles, jack etc. We have also sourced some semi slick tyres to help maximize grip and improve handling. Currently we are now in the process of trying to get the car registered as a dedicated rally car, so that we can compete in events like the Classic Adelaide Rally and Targa Tasmania in the future.
618 Motorsport have put in an EOI to compete in the inaugural Mt Alma Hillclimb to be held on April 18 & 19. The event will take place in the State’s south near Victor Harbour. If the Team’s entry is accepted it will be Team Manager Leon who will take up the reins.