The Chocolate Cup was a Sweet Success Laang was the Venue on Saturday Night when ten drivers turned up for something different
The Background At a recent Club Meeting there was discussion about how serious most drivers are about racing and whether that is good or bad. Then Kevin Freeman put his bit in by saying “Everybody is racing for Sheep Stations. We should be trying to have more fun. I reckon we would enjoy it more if we were just racing for a block of chocolate! “. So in the tradition of sheep we followed his suggestion and the Chocolate Cup was put onto the Racing Menu.
What sets a “Chocolate Cup” apart? Well, you don’t need to Nominate for the event. Just turn up on the night and then don’t pay an entry fee. After that you will compete for no prizemoney or championship points. Remember what Forrest Gump said.“The Chocolate Cup is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get”. Well, in that vein Kev was at the meeting but unable to compete so he was told that he should come up with the format for the night so he asked Paul Stevenson to add his input. I do suspect that Kev just wanted to share Blame. What these two mental giants came up with was to start all races with a cone and in single file. First heat would start with cars in numerical order because these two are either too dumb or too lazy to do a draw. Second heat would be numerical order to show that they are experts at maths and can count backwards! (You might not be impressed but I am!) Third heat was run from results of the first two heats with the highest points to the back. I am not sure if that was done by mistake but at least it was put right for the final with the highest qualifiers to the front. Somewhere in there Paul suggested that we could go “Old School” and do a standing start. The reaction was cool and I am sure everybody was thinking butthat “Old School” is rhyming slang for “Old Fool” . The idea lasted as long as a chocolate tea cup!
The Racing Before the first heat each driver was given a block of chocolate so they would race hard and clean to get back to the pits to find out who on their team had eaten their chocolate. Overall the racing was fast and competitive but it was clean and it sure looked like fun. Through the heats there were a few minor incidents and equipment failures as several drivers spun around and a couple more overheated or lost chains. Ash Sinclair and Grant Stansfield were fast all night Shane Van Dynhoven and Rob Treewatha were quick and consistent as usual. Jye O’Keeffe seemed to be struggling with setup and his good placings don’t reflect how hard he worked for them. Chris Bellman is new to Formula 500 from juniors and like others before him is settling into the new class quickly with good results and promise for more to come. Josh Fort, Matt Symons and especially Matt O’Rourke performed well but had mechanical issues. ln the relaxed tone of the meeting when Des Wolstencroft was unsure of his setup he put Brett Willsher into his V30 for a second opinion. All cars started the final after the drivers were topped up with another block of chocolate to keep the conflicts off the track. (If we do a follow up Chocolate Cup it should probably have Clearasil involved!)
Results The top four finishers were Ash Sinclair, Jye O’Keeffe, Grant Stansfield and Shane Van Dynhoven in that order. They each received a sash and a box of chocolates. First ,second and third all received chocolate medallions specially cast for this event and leaving them with a decision to make. Do you keep this exclusive and special momento for generations to come or just eat it before you get home? The Inaugural Chocolate Cup goes down as being a lot of fun and the only pity is that more drivers didn’t attend. It was a refreshing change of pace and “a glass and a half of full cream racing fun”.
Next Speaking of fun events keep The Teams Event for Charity scheduled for Laang on April 13th on your calendar. The proposed format promises a very entertaining event. Proceeds go to a worthy cause so support it and have a ball at the same time.
