Gary is a Foundation ROOZ member since January 2011, and came across from the original whirlpool site. He has been racing since season 1 where he started in with the big boys in the top division. With a few seasons and lots of fast guys joining the grid he was shuffled down to race in some of the lower divisions, always being amongst the faster guys on the grid. Unfortunately, we lost the Wiki records for the first 4 seasons and i am unsure where Gary finished in those seasons. I remember racing Gary in season 3, my first race in my first season, in the Tamora and we lined up on the front row of the grid at Autumn Ring. After 2 or 3 laps there was three of us heading into turn 1, and it all went a little pear shaped. Like always, he fought on and brought the car home. In Season 5 (G37) Gary finished 6th in the Div 3 championship, finishing on the podium in races 6 and 7. In season 6 (RM Vette) Gary finished 3rd in the Div 3 championship with 3rd place finishes in round 2 and 6, and a well deserved race win in the final round at the Nurburgring. In season 7 (Camaro RM) he finished 4th in very good company, with Dutch, Cob and Daninline6 taking the podium positions, but after the drop your worst round rule was enforced he pushed out Dan for third in the championship. He still managed 4 podiums that season and raced every round. Season 8 (FT86) saw 5 podiums including 2 race wins for 3rd in the championship, while season 9 (GTR GT500) again saw him finish 2nd with 3 race wins and two 2nd place finishes. In season 10 (Mazda RX7) we had a big push for new recruits and Gary was more than happy to help out. We ended up with 4 divisions, which meant that after all drivers had been placed, he remained in the third division, and, again finished the bridesmaid behind a very fast Sidfire. He added to his podium tally with another 2 wins, and 4 other podiums. Season 11 (Tuscan Speed Six) came along and after yet another top 2 finish the previous season, he was promoted to Division 2 where he had a great run, finishing 4th in the championship above very fast and respected drivers in TTRjoe, Natmanscoop and Overdrivve. A podium (3rd) in the first round at Rome set up the season and a consistent string of drives, with another 3rd at Trial Mountain secured his position. Season 12 (NSX Type R) we started to see the start of the decline in numbers on the grid, however we did still manage to get 3 divisions up and running. Gary was again promoted, this time starting in Division 1 with some drivers he had raced with in previous championships, namely Joe, Tek and Natman. He finished a respectable 8th, in very good company including Warrior, Mustafur and Rotorsplox. By the time season 13 (Citroen RM) came along, numbers had started to dwindle with the life of GT5 getting near to its end. We decided to run with just 2 lobbies, but running in separate classes so we could split the fast div 1 guys and the not so fast div 2 runners !! Gary lined up in Class B, and as had been the case since season 1, way back when, was a regular starter. In a tough crowd, with a very fast grid, Gary managed to finish 12th outright and 6th in Class B. GT6 has seen a huge number of new drivers join our forum, and with the new qualifying format, saw him slot into Div 3, with some very fast drivers. A podium in round 3 looks like it could be setting him up for another tilt at one of the top 3 spots by seasons end. Gary, its been fantastic the amount of support you have given the forum over the years since early 2011. You have been a regular on the grid in whichever division you have been allocated, been willing to help out where needed, given regular race reports and feedback in the interest of other members and the forum in general, and we would like to award you a Super-ROOZ membership.
Great idea this and well deserved there Gary - fantastic stickablity. hopefully see you in Div3 next season - these younger fellas are getting too quick for me!
Wow! Thanks Stu and the mod team! Never expected that. Heck, I didn't do nothing except turn up whenever I could, and that was only because it is so much fun! Have had an absolute blast in every season I have raced in, and really enjoyed meeting seem great guys/racers. I am looking forward to many more seasons of it! Thanks again guys, truly humbled.
Well deserved Gary, congrats. And now that it's out in public, I was biting my tongue all weekend having spent some time with Gary at the Clipsal 500.
Congratulations Gaz!! You deserve it just for spending the weekend with Stumbles...did he have Col's dog??
Well done Gary, it's a pleasure to share this honour with you. We've had some ding dong battles, the Season 8 Burger ring round in the '86 comes to mind. Chasing you down after spinning out, but you drove a controlled sensible race with a cool head and you prevailed in the end!
