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TALESHAFT
The Official Journal of the MMAL Car
Club Incorporated
MMAL
MOTORSPORT
December, 1998
"You’d be worried too, if you had to
stuff an Evo into your sack!"
December 1998 - TALESHAFT
1998 COMMITTEE MEMBERS
PRESIDENT
Colin Hardinge (AH) 9578 1185
VICE PRESIDENT Nic
Lorrain (AH) 9773 0183
CAMS DELEGATE Nic
Lorrain (AH) 9773 0183
SECRETARY Meaghan
McNeill (AH) 9532 7590
TREASURER Meaghan
McNeill (AH) 9532 7590
(ASSt. EDITOR)
Meaghan McNeill (AH) 9532 7590
EDITOR Margaret
Hardinge (AH) 9578 1185
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY
Bill Bennett (AH) 9547 0393
VCRS REPRESENTATIVE
Adrian Best (AH) 9795 3041
AUTOCROSS DIRECTOR
Brent McNeill (AH) 9532 7590
MOTORKHANA DIRECTOR
Brent McNeill (AH) 9532 7590
GENERAL COMMITTEE
Chris Rayson (AH) 9578 3379
Rob Vucur (AH) 9773 1620
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Official mailing address for MMAL Car Club Inc.
P.O. BOX 205
Bentleigh Vic 3204
COMMITTEE MEETINGS: To be held on the 2nd
last Tuesday of each month.
VENUE: To be held at Scout Hall (Bailey Reserve) Beside
Moorabbin Swimming Pool
East Boundary Rd, East Bentleigh, Victoria Australia.
ARTICLES ARE WELCOME !
To ensure that your article is published in the latest
magazine, please have them to the Editor by the Thursday
after the Committee Meeting.
All materials for Publication should be sent to;
1/6 Melton Avenue
Carnegie, Vic 3163
On behalf of the Committee
At M.M.A.L Car Club
We wish everyone a safe & happy
Christmas
And a very happy New Year
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Greetings MMAL’s.
The time has come for my last report as
your President before I hand over to our new first lady,
Meaghan McNeill.
I am sure that Meaghan will be an
excellent President as she is keen and has a great
commitment to the Club.
Looking back over the last two years,
what have we achieved? For a start we survived. Two years
ago we were not looking all that healthy, whereas now, we
are an active club with a growing membership again. We
sought to give our members a good reason to join our club,
so we concentrated on our own members, running several
small, but important event such as a motorkhana and the
two fun days. We continued with our autocross, which this
year saw a large percentage of the club members either
competing, officiating or both. This will be capped off
with our commitment to the Weekend of Motorsport
in February, which again is intended for you, the club
member.
During this time we have seen our
members spread their wings, with members competing and
being involved with many different events, from club
motorkhana’s, through autocross, VCRS and VRC events to
the ARC, the Round Australia Rally, the World Rally
Championship, the Australian Safari (a round of the World
Cup) and the Australian Grand Prix. – yes, we have had our
members at all these events, both competing and
officiating, not bad for a club of 45 members.
My only regret is that due to lack of
attendance some 18 months ago, we stopped having a regular
meeting each month however this year we have had outings
to Gibson Motorsport, a night at CAMS with the CAMS
President, mini-golf,
Go-karts and other events. I think the
time is now right for us to again get together on a
regular basis as a club, perhaps every second month to
start with, where we talk to each other about what we have
done and what we hope to achieve and to get to know each
other better and perhaps form some lifelong friendships as
many of us have in the past.
Thank you to everyone who has been on
the committee in the last two years, thank you to all the
members, both present and past. It has been a pleasure to
have been your President and to be a part of a great club,
of which I am proud to have been a member for 25 years.
But you haven’t seen the last of me yet!
A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
to all. I hope Santa has a good stock of EVO5 ‘s (Good to
see Tommi is World Champion again, we both drive ’98
Lancers you know)
Col
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UNDERNEATH THE EDITOR’S CAP
Christmas is only days away, all that getting ready for
this one big day of the year.
This is the last Taleshaft for 1998. Lets hope next
year will be even better than this year and that all my
readers have a safe Christmas and will be fit and ready
for 1999, (that goes for all your cars as well). Hope
they’ll be ready for all the events you want to enter.
This month I’ve included the supp regs for "A
Motorsport Weekend" with MMAL Car Club due to take place
on 6/7 February 1999. So be sure to get your entries in
early. This will be an event not to be missed.
I’ve also included the results of our ‘Go-Kart’ night
on 4th December. It was a great night for
everyone that attended. By the way we also elected a new
committee at the ‘Go-Kart’ night, details follow in this
issue.
From the Mitsubishi Web site, I’ve included details of
the "Network Q Rally of Great Britain", the final rally
for 1998. And what a great finish Mitsubishi had to 1998,
winning the Manufacturers and also Tommi Makinen winning
by only 2 points ahead of Carlos Sainz. Congratulations to
all the drivers.
This month’s recipes were taken from a couple of
Christmas recipes I had. Try them!
This month our Committee member profile is on myself,
Margaret Hardinge, your Editor for this fine publication.
See you all again in Feb,99 Margaret
MEMBERSHIP REPORT
New Members
Mitchell Mosley
Memberships expiring as at 30th November
1998
Tania Brady Justin Buzza
Glen Dodds Troy McNeil
Please note that in order to renew your membership, we
now require a new membership form to be completed with
name, address, & date of birth etc, and forwarded to Bill
Bennett. (It doesn’t need to be signed.) Every issue of
Taleshaft has a membership form on the last page.
Please contact Bill Bennett to update your membership.
Ph; A.H. (03) 9547-0393
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Birthdays
This is a section created for our members, to bring
some good cheer to your special day.
Unfortunately I don’t have everyone’s birth date as
yet, so when you renew your membership, be sure to let
Bill Bennett know this information.
Celebrations in December for the following are;
Melanie James
We wish you a very Happy Birthday!
1998 CALENDAR
(MONTH BY MONTH)
NOVEMBER
5TH - 8TH Rnd 5, ARC, Drivers,
Rally Australia, Western Australia
14TH Rnd 6, VRC, Djerriwarrah Rally, - BLCC
15TH FAI 1000 Classic (V8), Bathurst
17TH Committee Meeting (Scout Hall, East
Bentleigh) 8pm
21ST Rnd 6, VCRS, Nissan Nightmoves, - NCCA
DECEMBER
4TH Go Kart night & AGM–MMAL, 7pm
12TH Rnd 7, VCRS, Cooper Memorial Trial, -
WDCC
22ND Committee Meeting (Scout Hall, East
Bentleigh) 8pm
25TH Christmas Day!
I don’t have the calendar for next year at this stage.
Details will be published as soon as they are to hand.
 The
Editor & Committee wish everyone a great & safe Christmas
and an even better New Year in 1999.
PROFILE - Committee Members
This Month: "Margaret Hardinge" -
Editor
Name: Margaret Hardinge
Marital Status: Married to Colin Hardinge
Occupation: Merchandiser for Meadow Lea Foods
How long have you been involved with Motorsport?
Only since Colin and I have been going out. I joined
the Car Club in June 1995. My previous love was Drag
Racing, especially illegally at various locations around
the South Eastern suburbs. But it was also great at Calder
Park, when they had the jet cars. I love the smell of the
burning rubber! Strange eh?
What jobs have you done?
Helped at MMAL’s Autocross this year, don’t you
remember I was the one carrying the lolly jar around most
of the day, asking people to guess how many there were.
That jar was heavy. At least I had fun! I also worked at
the A.G.P. in 1998, helping at the Official’s sign in, in
the mornings. (And they were early mornings. We had to be
at the track at 6-30am.) Then I helped in the CAMS
Administration office after the sign in. That was great.
It was fantastic to be there when things happened, or
celebrities came into the office. It was interesting to
see the other side of Motorsport, that was involved with
the support race results
What have you enjoyed doing the most?
Working at the Australian Grand Prix. It was fantastic
to be involved with such an enormous event at the World
level. Getting down into the pits after the race on Sunday
was the biggest high I’d ever been on. I was really
nervous, being that close to the drivers, especially David
Coulthard.
Is there anything you’d still like to do?
To be more involved in Motorsport as an Official. I’ve
got my Officials Licence, so I want to work at a few more
events other than just the AGP.
Any suggestions on how to improve the Car Club?
For our members to attend events and social activities
we organise and.not just the usual people to only turn up.
Recipes
I haven’t had time to try these out as yet. But they
sound like great eating!
Choc-nut Fudge
Makes 54 squares
1 cup chopped pistachios/pecans
250gm dark choc melts
250gm dark cooking chocolate
400gm can condensed milk
65gm butter
PREHEAT oven to moderate 180C. Line the base and sides
of a 20cm square cake tin with foil. Spread nuts in a
single layer on a flat oven tray and bake for 5-7 minutes
or until lightly toasted.
COMBINE choc melts, chocolate, condensed milk and
butter in a small pan. Stir over low heat until chocolate
has melted and mixture is smooth.
STIR pistachios into chocolate mixture; spread into
prepared tin and smooth surface. Refrigerate 1 hour or
until firm.
Cut into squares to serve.
Cherry Truffles
Makes about 30
1/3 cup Glace Cherries, halved
2 tsp Alcohol Free Cherry Brandy or 1tsp Brandy essence
150gm dark (choc) melts
60gm butter
2/3 cup condensed milk
1 1/3 cup shredded coconut
¼ cup cocoa
Combine cherries and half the brandy essence in a small
bowl. Allow to sit for 1 hour.
Melt chocolate and butter in top of a double saucepan.
Stir in condensed milk, remaining brandy essence and
coconut. Cover, refrigerate 30 minutes or until mixture is
firm.
Roll tablespoons of mixture around cherry halves. Roll
truffles lightly in cocoa, refrigerate 1 hour or overnight
until firm.
MMAL CAR CLUB Inc.
Committee Members
1998
1999
PRESIDENT PRESIDENT
Colin Hardinge Meaghan McNeill
VICE PRESIDENT VICE PRESIDENT
Nick Lorrain Chris Rayson
CAMS DELEGATE CAMS
DELEGATE
Nick Lorrain Colin Hardinge
SECRETARY SECRETARY
Meaghan McNeill Adrian Best
TREASURER TREASURER
Meaghan McNeill Joan Bennett
MEMBERSHIP OFFICER MEMBERSHIP OFFICER
Bill Bennett Bill Bennett
VCRS DELEGATE VCRS DELEGATE
Adrian Best Glen Dodds
AUTOCROSS DELEGATE AUTOCROSS DELEGATE
Brent McNeill Brent McNeill
EDITOR EDITOR
Margaret Hardinge Margaret Hardinge
GENERAL COMMITTEE GENERAL COMMITTEE
Chris Rayson Adam Bloomfield
Rob Vucur
{ALL MEETINGS FOR THE NEW COMMITTEE OF 1999 WILL BE
HELD AGAIN ON THE 2ND LAST TUESDAY OF THE
MONTH.}
WHEN: TUESDAY 16TH FEBRUARY, 1999
WHERE: SCOUT HALL
(Bailey Res) BESIDE MOORABBIN
SWIMMING POOL
EAST BOUNDARY ROAD
EAST BENTLEIGH
AT: 8PM SHARP
Go-Kart night
The night at Le Mans Grand Prix was a great success. I
hope everyone that came enjoyed themselves. I even had a
drive myself, much to my delight (after a bit of coaxing
by Meaghan McNeill. We even managed to elect a new
committee for 1999.
The results of the races are as follows;
Race 1 Race 2
1st – Macks 1st – Glen Dodds
2nd – Dillon 2nd – Ian
3rd – Mitchell 3rd – Craig James
4th – Gary 4th – Kim Morton
5th – Rob Vucur 5th – Meaghan
McNeill
6th – Chris W 6th – Joan Bennett
7th – Cory Shaw 7th – Chris
Nielson
8th – Scott Morton 8th – Helen
9th – Guy 9th – Bill Bennett
10th – Ian 10th – Margaret
Hardinge
11th – Dale Drinnon 11th –
Melaine James
12th – Chris
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Computer v Car
At a recent computer expo, Bill Gates
reportedly compared the computer with the auto industry
and stated:
" If GM had kept up with technology like the computer
industry has, we would all be driving twenty-five dollars
cars that got 1000 miles to the gallon"
In response to Bill’s comments, General
Motors issued a press release stating:
If GM had developed technology like
Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following
characteristics:
- For unknown reasons, your car would crash twice per
day.
- Every road repainting would require purchase of new
car.
- Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for
no reason, and you would just adjust, accept, restart
and drive on.
- Occasionally, executing a manoeuvre such as a left
turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to
restart in which case you would have to install the
engine.
- Only one person at a time could use the car, unless
you bought "Car95" or "CarNT". But then you would have
to but more seats.
- MacIntosh would make a car that was powered by the
sun, reliable, five times as fast, and twice as easy to
drive but would only run on five per cent of the roads.
- The oil, water temperature and alternator warning
lights would be replaces by a single "general car
default" warning light.
- New seats would force everyone to have the same size
gluteus maximus so pity the small or the large.
- The airbag system would say "are you sure?" before
deploying
- Occasionally, for no reason, your car would lock you
out refusing to let you in until you simultaneously
lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold
of the radio antenna.
- GM would require all car buyers to also purchase a
deluxe set of Rand McNally road maps (now a GM
subsidiary) even though they neither need them nor want
them. Attempting to delete this option would immediately
cause the car’s performance to diminish by 50% or more.
Moreover, GM would become a target for investigation by
the Justice Dept.
- Each time GM introduced a new model, car buyers must
learn to drive all over again because none of the
controls would operate in the same manner as those in
the old car.
- You’d press the "start" button to shut the car down.
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