2012 OzRenaultsport Nationals

[walkie86]

The annual OZRS Nationals were held over the last weekend with the event taking place in Benalla, the Victorian Alps and Winton Raceway.


Full report to come, but a few teaser shots for now


Saturday - Drive day and lunch

IMG_8842 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_9092 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_9101 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_9105 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_9110 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr


Sunday - track day

IMG_9242 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_9662 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

 

[Scott™]

Wow some great pictures there. Very nice!!

 

[PaulClioSport]

Great pic's as always from you!

 

[jkyb]

Looks awesome mate

 

[walkie86]

Thanks fellas. Only another 500 or so to come

 

[Ash.]

Cool photos looking forward to seeing the rest. I always look forward to these oz threads

 

[walkie86]

Thanks Ash. More to come over the weekend 8)

Can an admin add [AUS content] to the front of the thread title?

Thanks!

 

[walkie86]

IMG_8844 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_8959 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

 

[walkie86]

The sixth annual OzRenaultsport National meet was held from September 14-17 in Benalla and Winton Raceway, Victoria. This year’s event was the biggest yet, with over forty Renaultsport Clios and Meganes gathered from Victoria, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Queensland for a weekend amongst like-minded French car aficionados.


Friday saw the arrival of the majority of the participants, with the Canberra convoy joining the Sydney crew, the Melbournians cruising up the Hume and two dedicated members from Adelaide coasting along the Hay Plain. The afternoon was spent unpacking, washing bugs of cars, drinking beers and generally talking **** about cars.


Yours truly made the bold move of leaving from the Sydney CBD at 5pm, only to be faced with an M5 motorway car park. A decision was made to head south via the Illawarra Highway but not before the traffic at Loftus persuaded me into a cheeky Natio (Royal National Park) run before rejoining the freeway. I peeled off at Albion Park for a jolt up Macquarie Pass and then continued through Mossvale and out to the Hume. The petrol light had been on for a good hour when I decided a quick fuel stop and McFeed was on the cards, before setting off again: destination Victoria.


My 172 all packed up and ready to go:

IMG_8819 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr


After cruising past Goulburn at 9pm and doing the ETA sums in my head – 2am at Benalla – I opted to pull in at Gundagai at around 11pm for a shower and sleep before an early rise and arrival at the group accommodation. I arrived at the Executive Hideaway in Goulburn after a total of 9 hours on the road…


Saturday was the official Unofficial Drive Day, beginning with a handing out of event showbags (shirts, stickers etc) and a stern pre-drive lecture from Moosolini about being sensible and respectful representatives of our fine forum. Everyone heeded the message as we made our way to our steeds for the day. .Iin my case I was riding shotgun with my Dad in his Megane R26, resigned to photographer and videographer duties after the epic drive down.

IMG_8829 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr


The huge group of thirty-five plus cars was split into 3 groups and sent off at five minute intervals.

IMG_8831 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_8832 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_8835 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr
After a short cruise up the highway, the first destination was Beechworth and a much needed caffeine injection…

IMG_8839 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_8842 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_8847 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_8861 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_8868 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_8872 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_8889 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_8911 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_8912 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_8928 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_8939 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr


… before heading northwest towards Yackandandah and then southeast towards Tawonga with Mt Bogong rising gracefully to the east.

IMG_8959 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_8962 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_8971 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr


A right turn onto Tawonga Gap Road saw the road start to tighten dramatically and some serious elevation changes begin.

IMG_8972 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

IMG_8975 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr


TBC

 

[Christopher]

I want to move to Oz. Now.

Excellent pictures and write-up.

 

[walkie86]

Thanks Chris! The write up is taking longer than expected... that's only halfway through day one before we even really started the proper roads

PS. that offer stills stands if you come and visit Aus

 

[Christopher]

Ha! I'll hold you to that.

My Cousin lives in Melbourne, she has done for the last four years. She's always trying to get me to go too.

 

[JoeyD]

Fantastic pictures!

I wish it was that sunny over here every once in a while

 

[JamesBryan]

Is that a Nimbus R26?

 

[bryera]

looks good mate some good pics !!!

 

[Sargara]

So jelous, i always am actually of all the OZ content i see posted. You seem to have the perfect balance of empty roads to allow these drives to work so well!

 

[jesus]

Great pictures, you guys have some taste in modifications too! Impressive stuff.

 

[walkie86]

@JamesBryan - nah it's a Nimbus 225 with R26 pack (and exhaust, tune, KW v3s and 19" OZ SuperTs with crazy offset)

Thanks for the comments fellas. Lots more to come!

 

[JamesBryan]

@JamesBryan - nah it's a Nimbus 225 with R26 pack (and exhaust, tune, KW v3s and 19" OZ SuperTs with crazy offset)

Thanks for the comments fellas. Lots more to come!

Ahh, so it must be a 225 Trophy :approve:

 

[Matt W]

Awesomeness.

Would love to take my clio with me if I moved back to NZ

 

[walkie86]

Ahh, so it must be a 225 Trophy :approve:

Sorry, I meant to say R26 sticker pack!

We didn't get the 225 Trophy here - the 3-door 225s (that aren't R26s) are all standard 225s without Cup packs.

 

[walkie86]

Sorry to grave dig, but I finally got around to putting a little video together of the drive day from our 2012 National Meet weekend. It should work in 720 HD:

[video=youtube_share;ZHItIdb2bt0]http://youtu.be/ZHItIdb2bt0[/video]

 

[walkie86]

Ps. The best bit of driving are in the second half when I was passenger in a tuned Meg 250 8)

 

[nick172sport]

Pics are AWESOME!
Going to Oz for 7 weeks in december with the hope of moving over to the east coast next year, so im glad there is a Renault Sport following!!

 

[.GAZ.]

Brilliant!!!

 

[walkie86]

I just realised I never finished writing up the report for the rest of the drive :S

 

[Andy93]

I just realised I never finished writing up the report for the rest of the drive :S

You'll get it finished just in time for the '13 nats!

 

[walkie86]

You'll get it finished just in time for the '13 nats!

Cheeky git :rasp:

 

[walkie86]

A stop at a scenic lookout towards Mt Bogong for a group photo and we were back on the road, rising a bit more before descending down towards the Great Alpine Road and a lunch date at the Brewery in Bright.

IMG_8982 copy by www.autofocus.net.au, on Flickr

IMG_9006 copy by www.autofocus.net.au, on Flickr

IMG_9015 copy by www.autofocus.net.au, on Flickr

IMG_9027 copy by www.autofocus.net.au, on Flickr

IMG_9032 copy by alex b photo, on Flickr

After a fearsome pizza and “all-6-types-of-beer” tasting paddle, I was eager to push on (as passenger) towards Mount Buffalo, amid fond memories of the 2009 Nationals to the same road. I convinced Danny (in the RSCUP Megane 250, a Mount Buffalo virgin) to forgo his early trip back to Benalla to wash his car, and join the rest of the crew for this epic drive.

Mount Buffalo Map - http://goo.gl/maps/tC0ke

IMG_9045 copy by www.autofocus.net.au, on Flickr

IMG_9059 copy by www.autofocus.net.au, on Flickr
​

IMG_9071 copy by www.autofocus.net.au, on Flickr

 

[walkie86]

A fifty kilometre return twisty mountain road, amongst the best I’ve driven, Mount Buffalo is a must drive for all enthusiasts. I was riding shot-gun in a Megane 250 Cup Trophee and was simply blown away: the grip out of corners, generated by the sticky tyres and mechanical LSD was just astounding.

After a brisk run to the top of the mountain, we found ourselves surrounded by a decent amount of snow, which presented many interesting photo opportunities:

IMG_9075 copy by www.autofocus.net.au, on Flickr

IMG_9092 copy by www.autofocus.net.au, on Flickr

IMG_9097 copy by www.autofocus.net.au, on Flickr

Another group shot was organised, after we all played in the white stuff, and the procession began the one hour drive back to the accommodation.

IMG_9105 copy by www.autofocus.net.au, on Flickr

IMG_9123 copy by www.autofocus.net.au, on Flickr

IMG_9124 copy by www.autofocus.net.au, on Flickr

IMG_9127 copy by www.autofocus.net.au, on Flickr

Drive route - http://goo.gl/maps/KL14q

Back at ground zero, some of the track day junkies began changing their wheels over, to save time in the morning and leave room for a hangover, should the group dinner proceed as expected. Everyone was showered and dressed in clean clothes and off to the North Eastern Hotel for dinner and the much anticipated annual quiz.

IMG_9131 copy by www.autofocus.net.au, on Flickr

Dinner was delicious, the beers were flowing and the quiz was rigged: two of the site’s admins were on the winning team, so there’s no other explanation. We car-pooled back to the accommodation for a cleansing ale, more car talk and some obligatory exotic car exhaust videos on YouTube, before heading to bed.

A successful Saturday on all accounts.

 

[Martin_172]

Good pictures!

Granted I didn't really go to school much but Snow?? I thought Australia was hot as f**k?!

 

[walkie86]

Good pictures!

Granted I didn't really go to school much but Snow?? I thought Australia was hot as f**k?!

Hahaha thanks mate.

And yeah, it's very warm in parts but depends where you are as it's quite large. We have a few ski resorts in the NSW/Victorian Alps - about 2 hours south of Canberra.

In fact, I'm going down next week for a few days skiing 8)