By Derek Schlennstedt
Did your parents ever tell you, “Slow and steady wins the race”?
The story of the tortoise and the hare might have been annoying to hear as a child, but in life it’s often correct-and in the case of Rodger Chapman the old adage rings true.
The Silvan MGB racer is once again competing at the Historic Winton cup on 18 and 19 May and though he said he mainly competes for fun, he’s also had his fair share of wins.
In 2017, the self-described “drover down the back” had a Steven Bradbury moment when he competed in more events that the usual race winners, and came out the season winner with top aggregate points.
“Consequently I competed in everything and did reasonably well and then in Tasmania, the last race I got a second or third and that accrued enough points that all the ones who were beating me didn’t do enough races to win or broke down,” he said.
“I was really chuffed because my running joke is that the fellas up the front are all playing for sheep stations and I’m the drover down the back keeping them together.”
“I think they were glad to see a plodder win some recognition!”
Rodgers wife, Lorna, also races the same MGB in Regularity – a type of motorsport race where the objective is to drive the course in a specified time at a specified average speed and consistently match that time.
Nicknamed Burnout Chick 1 she’s definitely no slouch and has won several medals and trophies in regularity and hill climbs.
The dynamic duo both race at Winton meaning they often have to swap over to use the car for their respective races.
“The worst part of sharing the car is jumping in and adjusting the seat,” Lorna joked.
The Historic Winton is one of Australia’s largest and most popular all-historic motor race meetings and both Lorna and Rodger said it was a perfect track for the smaller cars.
“Winton would be my favourite,” Rodger said.
“The track is fairly tight and twisty, and when the minis give the mustangs a hiding, it’s really good to watch.”
“It really suits MG’s and the smaller cars because they handle so well … If you can get ahead in a MG on that Winton track, there’s not enough straight for the big Mustangs to overtake.”
Historic Winton takes place from Friday 17 May to Sunday 19 May.
