Congratulations to Mark Croudace, who has driven to the top of a huge field of talented drivers to take both class and outright wins in the 2011 Porsche Club of New South Wales Drivers??? Championship.
He has been exceptionally consistent all year, finishing the extremely competitive season, in which less than forty points separated himself, Dylan D???Szabo and Graeme Evans, with a 36 point lead.
??inning both class and outright was the goal for the 2011 year, so I am rather pleased it came together so well. The car is simply awesome to drive now.??/p>
Mark drives an extremely well sorted ???93 968 Clubsport 3.0, which he and the Autohaus team have painstakingly and lovingly crafted into a masterpiece of a drivers??? car.
Mark???s low-point in the season came during the final motorkhana event, when he forgot to adjust his tyre pressures after time in storage and took to the track on tyre pressures of 47PSI. This played havoc with his handling and meant that his first few runs of the day were all but forfeit. It???s a mistake he laughs about now, and an easy one to make during busy events, especially when drivers like Mark often contribute to the smooth running of events by helping the club with marshalling and other jobs.
The car, the driver, the Autohaus support team and the track conditions all came together perfectly during the second last round of the championship ??? a super sprint at Eastern Creek ??? for the highlight of Mark???s season. Matt Worsley provided some brilliant ideas and advice, based on analysis of the data collected by Mark???s Race Chrono system, and Mark was able to put in lap times below his previous personal bests. At the end of the event he had managed a time of one minute and forty eight seconds, one of the fastest laps of Eastern Creek in a 968.
Autohaus??? fearless navigator Grant Geelan credits Mark???s success to his skill and consistency as a driver, and persistence throughout a challenging and varied championship. ??ark has performed well above his weight and experience and has a massive future as a driver ahead of him.??/p>
Mark will be back for the 2012 season, his fourth with the PCNSW, and hopes to make it to rounds in Queensland and Victoria to experience more of Australia???s many circuits and support the Porsche Club around the country.
Mark would like to thank the Porsche Club of New South Wales and all of the crew and volunteers that make the events and championship possible, along with the team at Autohaus Hamilton who have supported him throughout the season.
Congratulations to Mark and to everyone who took part in and helped organise and run PCNSW events throughout the year!
The Porsche Club will be heading out to the Armory in Homebush for their annual Concours on the 30th of October.
Thanks to??Sanjay Ramadevan and Mark Croudace for the photos.