Nissan Datsun Nationals - Sandown 2019

For details on the upcoming 2021 Nissan Datsun Nationals in South Australia head to www.ndn21.com

Every two years on the Easter weekend the Nissan Datsun Australian Nationals event is held, traditionally alternating between the three eastern states of Australia.  For 2019 the nationals returned to Victoria and were hosted by the Datsun Sports Owners Club with a show and shine day at Nissan HQ in Dandenong and a track day Supersprint at Sandown Raceway.

We've never done the NDN before and never driven at Sandown so when our calendar opened up at Easter we signed up and planned a 1,600km road trip with the rally car in tow.

The weekend started with a welcome function at a local brewery (which was the start of a pattern) where we got to catch up with our SA peeps and meet some of the other entrants from as far away as QLD and WA (and they drove their cars instead of towing!).

Saturday saw the generous use of the lawns at Nissan HQ for a show and shine event, Nissan also provided a couple of new cars on display for an up close and personal inspection and the club arranged food and drink stalls to keep everyone happy.  The range of cars was wide from modern right back to some early Prince models and there was a very relaxed vibe about the whole thing and the perfect weather topped off the day.

Sunday was Sandown day for the racers while the roadies headed out to the hills for something a bit slower with a rendezvous back at Sandown for a few parade laps at the end of the day.

Sandown Raceway is historically significant in Australia, it hosts the annual 500km endurance race for Supercars and has a strong racing history dating back to the early 1960's including hosting the Australian Grand Prix.  It's located deep in the suburbs of south eastern Melbourne and it's days are surely numbered due to the ever expanding suburban sprawl. There are actually houses built right up to the fence line.

While I've been to Sandown many times before as a race team member and walked the track I have never driven here before and it's been a bucket list track (along with Phillip Island – which might be next) so the opportunity to race here at NDN was just too good to pass up.  On paper the track map doesn't look to daunting, it's open and fast with only 12 corners but on closer inspection there are a couple of attention grabbing spots on the circuit that require respect and caution, especially for us novice drivers.

The complex at turns 2,3 and 4 is tight with monster kerbs that toss the car up on two wheels combined with walls right on the track edge so that if you get it wrong it could certainly ruin your weekend.  While turn 6 is a circa 200kmh approach to a blind corner over crest where a mistake here will ruin more than your weekend and has claimed plenty of cars in its time.

So our pre game chat? Don't fuck up at turns 4 or 6.  Done.

A smaller than expected entry list meant only four separate groups (3 sprint and 1 regularity) of about 10 cars each so there was plenty of track time forecast and while rain was predicted for late in the day it never eventuated.  As we were double entered in the 240z it meant driver in group 1 and navigator in group 3 so it was quite a busy day with constant driver swaps and refuelling but thankfully the car was trouble free all day only needing attention to tyre pressures to keep the car rolling.

So my impressions of the track?  Awesome.  It's fast (almost 200kmh on both straights) and very technical at the same time with enough rise and fall to make it interesting.  The run down the hill into "Dandenong corner" at turn 9 is especially fun, you are grip limited at high speed over turn 6 and then hop the kerbs at 7 and 8 before a big brake while the car is unsettled at 9 with a wall on the entry and gravel trap on the exit to keep you honest.

I was hoping to have more local drivers to follow around to help me learn the ideal lines but the small grids meant few playmates but the trade-off was plenty of clear space to try some lines and make a few mistakes without any worry of embarrassment (or so I thought).

In the end I think we were both happy with our quickest laps but both realise there is more speed to be gained with more laps so perhaps we need to make another trip one day….

For the record, Driver took out the fastest time of the classics and Navigator steadily knocked off time all day to finish in the mid pack just a few seconds adrift and we finished the weekend at another brewery to celebrate and help the SA contingent to take home a whole swag of trophies for both the racing and show components of the event.

Very grateful to the Nissan Sports Owners Club for hosting and organising the event and to all the volunteers and other entrants from around Australia who made the trek to Vic and made it such a great event

So, where will the 2021 event be I wonder…..