Winton Wonderland 30/9 to 1/10 2006 – From the Drivers Seat

Winton Wonderland – From the Drivers Seat 

Can you really get too much of a good thing? After last weekend at Winton, I don’t think so. Good weather, good cars, good racing and good company. The Australian Historic Motor Racing Festival was indeed a good thing!

Sa/Sb/Sc were all together for three scratch races over the weekend. Having last raced at Winton in 1989 (short circuit) but watching the V8’s and Brutes on telly many times I didn’t see the need to practice on Friday and headed straight into Saturday qualifying! I had cross-entered in Regularity, which was the first qualifying session of the weekend, but was red flagged due to a severe oil spill. We were re-started and this was a good warm up for the Group S qualifying session. Out of 26 starters, the usual suspects were up front – Verwoert in the Porsche, Ross in the Shelby, Byrne in the Lotus, Hooper in the Corvette, Morse in the MGB and Daines in the TR6. The two Sa Elva’s of yours truly and Ian McDonald qualified in 19^th & 20^th with Greg Prunster in the Sprite back on P25. For some reason Rowland in the Healey 3000 did not practice and started rear of grid in Race One. 

Unfortunately, McDonald in the Elva succumbed to brake problems and did not start any Group S race was disappointing. Geoff Byrne in the TR6 had some rear axle gremlins and also DNS’d in Race 1. Rowland got a blinder from the back of grid and quickly made his way up the field to finish 13^th and first Sa car home. Up the pointy end, Ross had a lose in the Shelby and could only get back up to 15^th. Verwoert took out the race followed by Byrne in the Lotus, Morse capitalising on Ross’ misfortune for a great 3^rd , Hooper 4^th and Dains 5^th. Further back in the field Rutledge (TR6) and myself had a race long dice for 17^th and 18^th respectively with less than 1/10^th of a second between us at the line.  

Race 2 on Sunday morning was a copy of the previous race for the first five places with Sellers in the Marcos taking 6^th in front of Ross who had brought the Shelby through from 15^th to 7^th. Whitten and Pike followed in 8^th and 9^th places. Unfortunately Greg King’s MGB had succumbed to clutch failure in the MG race on Saturday and did not start Race 2. Geoff Pike had broken an axle in the MGB on Saturday but this was repaired for Sunday only to have a clutch failure prior to Race 3. Brian Weston was consistent back in 11^th place and Rutledge and myself again battled for 13^th and 14^th with Rutledge taking the advantage again (just). Geoff Byrne had solved his axle/hub issues and climbed from rear of grid to 15^th. 

Race 3 was the final 10 lap event for Group S. Unfortunately, some of the cars had succumbed to problems from other events (MG/Healey) and did not start and others succumbed in the race – notably Sellers’ Marcos (brakes), Whitten’s MGB (clutch) and Rowland’s Healey (head gasket). For some reason Hooper in the Corvette pulled off on the warm up lap and did not start. Nevertheless, after a great race Verwoert took three from three to win from Byrne (Lotus), Morse (MGB), Ross (Shelby) and Dains (TR6). Nittis in the green Shelby finished a creditable 6^th. Brian Weston had fixed his coil problems to come in 9^th with Rutledge and myself 10^th and 11^th respectively although with a few seconds gap this time due to the grass tracking I had to do during the event to avoid a spinning Gibb (MGB). Greg Prunster finished all events entered in the mighty Sprite including three Healey races. 

Group S was well represented in the MG & Healey races with the final combined event expanded to include the two remaining fit TR6’s of Dains and Byrne starting from back of grid. Morse had a brilliant drive in MGB to finish 4^th behind some very big V8 guns, with Weston in the Midget in 6^th and Dains getting thru to finish 8^th capping off a great weekend for these three guys. 

Without wishing to blow my own trumpet I managed to finish first overall in the three Regularity events only losing 15 points from 150. Those who were aware of my malaise from suspected food poisoning over the weekend would agree that I was indeed “Regular”!!!! To cap off a very big weekend, I was allowed a start in the final K & L race and came third in the Elva with a progressively failing clutch – that’s my excuse…

As I said at the start, can you really get too much of a good thing – I still don’t think so. Well done Winton and the AHMRF. As big Arnie says “I’ll be back”.

 Rick Marks

HSRCA at Wakefield Park, 9-10 September 2006 

Story by the Goulburn District & GSRA Advocate. All photographs courtesy of Patrich Ilufi - SR Photos

What a day at Wakefield; a cloudless blue sky with no wind and the temperature nudging into the low 20’s – it was Thursday 31st August and perfect to sun oneself and check all systems go for the upcoming spring HSRCA.  Nine days later at 9 am, it was a different story as 30 Group Sb/Sc cars plus one invited Group O Sports rolled onto a cold, windy track for qualifying. Before two laps had gone by, several drivers concluded that the grass must be much warmer and backed into the Wakefield turf to find some heat for their tyres. After a lengthy qualifying session in which David Withers managed to rack up 15 practice laps, Sb/Sc retired to the pits and handed over qualifying to the 10 Group Sa entrants, who where running with 17 Group J, K and L cars plus the invited Group Sb MGB of Hamish MacLennan.  The Sc field lacked the usual Alfosi cast (some reportedly sipping a lager at Goodwood) and some Dato regulars, but nine Porsche fronted up for the meeting. Interstaters included Michael Byrne in the Lotus Super 7 and Phil Verwoert (Porsche). The BMC Spridgets of Avis Fowler, Bruce Miles and Denis Best, (including Denis’ rare Lenham Le Mans) boosted the Group Sb small car representation which has been on the wane of late. Group Sa comprised most of the usual HSRCA stalwarts running in their Sa period British sports cars. Regrettably, noises emanating from the gearbox saw Brett Morse park the front running MGB after qualifying well, although Andre Breit was added to the grid after finally coaxing the recalcitrant Datsun 1600 Sports into life. After lunch, rain had dampened the track and Sb/Sc got the race meeting program under way in what looked like drying conditions. But before two laps had passed, rain had set in and the grass assumed a magnetic attraction for many over the demanding 10 lap journey. Sunday morning saw Race 2 start in wet conditions with the rainmasters making hay until a drying line emerged over the last few laps of the 12 lap event. Sunday afternoon saw the final 10 lap race conducted in cold and windy “two sets of socks” conditions, but on a dry track. Race 3 featured a ten lap battle between Bill Pye and John Smith for the lead, and reputedly, saw many good dices right throughout the field - although this scribe confesses to seeing not much more than the back end of a Porsche for all ten laps. In Group Sa, Rick Marks Elva lost oil pressure mid-weekend and there was much activity in the garage of Les Schwebel’s Turner. Andrew Gibson’s TR-3 seemed to have a strong weekend while the Dyer, Young and Rose MGA’s kept on truckin’. HSRCA Registrar Geoff Morse seemed happy with the Sunbeam Alpine’s demeanour, and Greg Prunster kept the Bugeye on the track between bouts of duty as a dummy grid official. All in all, the HSRCA ran an excellent weekend’s racing with the longer duration 10 and 12 lap races receiving much favourable comment from Group S competitors. While the HSRCA cannot take responsibility for the weather, most competitors would have welcomed the fact that their excursions only went so far as the Wakefield Park grass and not the more unforgiving walls at Oran Park. As for the weather, you should have been there on the 31st August.  Report supplied by the Goulburn District & GSRA Advocate	Bob Wootton - Lotus 7 S4
	Brian Weston  MG Midget
	John Young (MGA) hotly pursued by Geoff Morse (Sunbeam Alpine)
	Denis Elborn - Morgan Plus 8
Andrew Gibson - Triumph TR3	Howard Fletcher - Datsun 2000 Sports
George Nittis - Shelby American	Greg Prunster - Bugeye
Mike Dyer - MGA	Bill Pye - Porsche Carrera

Oran Park GP - MG Racing Festival of Sports Cars  2006

Oran Park GP - HSRCA June 2006 From the Driver’s (and Spectator’s) Seat

All British Race Meeting at Wakefield Park - 25th June 2006

Peter Whitten, Laurie Sellers, Tony Dains, Geoff Byrne, Andrew Gibson and Bruce Miles were all seen at the All British Race Meeting at Wakefield Park. Colin Goldsmith was there but without the Bugeye – he was seen in a four door car that defies elegant description.

Liaising over arrangements for this non CAMS meeting had proved difficult with Wakefield Park now organizing their events from somewhere in Queensland rather than through Judy Ellacott at Narellan. Although eight cars qualified for a “Group N and Invited” class start, a similar number of Group S did not. 

The meeting had strong support from the Triumph clubs and they had negotiated a Triumph class start. There was the usual MG/AH grudge match, one or two other class starts and a maximum field of Combined All-British. Included were several cars which must have been carrying a British road map to navigate around Tokyo. 

Although the day proved sunny with no wind, the cold track early in the day caused many to try to warm their tires in the sand. And in the first MG/Healey race Bruce Miles decided to spice things up by blowing an MG Midget oil line on lap one in Turn nine, so that when the leading six cars arrived second time around in close company, all six departed left and right. Needless to say the oil flags came out on lap three! 

Oil lines must have been in the air as later in the day Peter Whitten blew an oil line off the start line in the second Combined All British race. Both MG’s survived the day with only a profuse and unwelcome rust proofing. 

As the day proceeded competitors were seeded by lap time into a final series of divisional races; but by 3.40 pm, with two practice sessions of around seven laps each, then four races totaling 26 laps - and the car still in one piece - we uncharacteristically gave the final divisional session a miss and headed for the trailer. 

As a one day event which includes entry into two different race categories, a $200 entry fee, a $50 per paddock carport space (or $100 per paddock or pit lane garage space), Wakefield Park conducted an efficient program and coped well with the number of red flags. It represents a reasonable value for money meeting. 

It would be nice to keep this one day event in the Group S calendar as they offer plenty of racing laps and a one day meeting allows considerable savings in accommodation expenses. 

As to a Group S class start: I much prefer to see Group S cars race together at least 50% of the time at non-historic race meetings. That is why we have gone to the expense of buying and maintaining a conforming Group S car - and what other view would you expect of an Office Bearer of the GSRA? 

So next year we need to decide whether we wish to have a Group S start, and establish with the new organizers how many Group S entries they require to guarantee us a Group S class start - and then front up. 

Brian Weston

Mallala, Historic Race Meeting, Easter 2006 – a Competitor’s Perspective

 Mallala Motorsport Park, as it is now known, first opened in 1961 for the Australian Grand Prix (AGP) on October 9th.  My Dad and I were there to see a clean sweep for Cooper Climax cars, Lex Davison winning from Bib Stilwell, David McKay and Bill Paterson.  In fifth place was the first front-engined car, Murray Trenberth’s Holden-engined Alta. 

Over the next few years Dad and I would regularly travel 60km north of Adelaide to Mallala to see the heroes of the day – the Neptune Racing team of Norm Beechey, Peter Manton and Jim McKeown and their arch rivals, names like Bob Jane, Alan Moffat, Tubby Ritter and our local favourite who now owns the circuit, Clem Smith.  I vividly remember having a close look at Clem Smith’s R series (or was it an “S”) Valiant in the dirt covered pits with a cavernous hole in the side of the slant six! 

Forty five years later I had the opportunity to race my own period MGB there at the Sporting Car Club of South Australia (SCCSA) annual Nation Historic Race Meeting at Easter. 

I can easily remember the Mallala layout (although the northern hairpin at Bosch corner was shortened by 0.4 mile in 1964) but it is certainly a different perspective when you actually drive on the circuit.  My first “live” encounter was an open practice on Good Friday.  We were seeded into 3 groups, open slow, closed slow and racing cars.  I thought a 1:33 was possible and accordingly slotted into the open slow class.  Just after driving onto the tarmac the rain started pelting on my helmet, the wipers kept the outside of the screen dry but not the inside and other cars made it nearly impossible to see!  Later in the day the weather improved and I finally managed a 1:32 or thereabouts; it’s a very technical little circuit of 2.6km overall length.

Unfortunately Group S was not well supported and our race numbers on Saturday and Sunday were disappointingly small.  This was further exacerbated when Bob Wooton from Sydney ran the bearings in his “B” early on Saturday to be closely followed by Rodney Gibb (a local from Virginia just down the road) who did the same thing to his “B” motor that had only been finished days before.  I know how they feel!  Subsequently Group S was added to the rear of the Group N field with the agreement of all competitors and this made for some spirited racing.

There was a mixture of scratch and handicap races, a total of five in all for the weekend, and I managed to win one and achieve four second places as well.  Had to borrow a box from Mum for the silverware!  One of the handicaps was a very close fought affair at the finish line with 3 cars nearly abreast – John Davies from WA in a 100/4 winning, the nose of my MGB at his windscreen pillar on the nearside a tenth of a second behind and on the other side of John was Peter Hall (SA) in his 260Z 3/100 sec behind yours truly. 

It was a very happy, convivial, friendly and well organized race meeting and the SCCSA are to be congratulated.  A lot of effort has gone into setting up Mallala since it reopened in 1983 (after closing 1971) and the facilities are great with excellent garages, hard standing, green lawns etc.  They are a long way from what I recall in the 60’s.  Glen Dix, a name synonymous with motorsport in Australia was always busy helping with garage allocations, selling fuel and generally answering questions. 

On Easter Monday Virginia and I headed for Collingrove Hillclimb some 8km towards Mt pleasant from Angaston in the Barossa valley.  We overnighted at Nuriootpa at a motel in the main street which once formed part of the Nuriootpa racing circuit that was used for the AGP in 1950.  

The weather forecast was not good but thanks to very smart work by the organizers we all achieved 3 runs before lunch – and then the rain came!  Only one competitor wanted to continue at that point so the meeting was called off and the presentations held partly in the open under umbrellas and partly sheltered by the Scrutineering Bay.  I managed to bring home a copy of The Sound and the Fury, 100 years of Motor Sport in Australia by Bill Tuckey, which was the first place prize in each group.  My times improved for each run and for those interested the best was 40.21 sec. 

The REALLY nice thing for the weekend was that I drove the car onto the trailer for the journey westward, onto the trailer for the return trip and drove it off again in Canberra with plenty of oil pressure!  My thanks to Ian Stewart (a MGCC Canberra member) of BERCO at Mitchell for all his work and assistance after the FoSC meeting at Oran Park when a piston decided to part company with itself at the oil control ring.  This happening may be the subject of a further story!

Collingrove is in a beautiful rural setting and not a lot different from 1958 when, like Mallala, I made my first sojourn there.  Also like Mallala it is quite a technical hill that definitely takes some learning.  And again congratulations to the SCCSA for making Collingrove, and indeed the whole weekend, so enjoyable.  Virginia and I are certainly looking forward to returning next year and I can only but recommend it to others.  The drawback of course is the distance to be travelled.  There is still not much to see on the Hay Plains but if you rest overnight at somewhere like Tooleybuc and stop in for the world’s greatest Vanilla Slice at Ouyen, the time seems to pass quickly enough. 

Kent Brown

Gp Sb MGB No 15 (at Mallala and Collingrove)

Webmaster's Note: Kent, Bob, Rodney and Peter are all GSRA members.

HSRCA Eastern Creek 2006 - Photo Essay

HSRCA March 2006 Eastern Creek – From the Drivers Seat 

To use an oldie but goodie from Dick Johnson, at Eastern Creek recently I was “busier than a one armed paperhanger in Beirut”.

Electing not to run the Saturday afternoon 25 lapper for various reasons (but that’s another story!), I had cross-entered the Elva Courier for both the J,K,L,Sa,Na and Invited Group M event and Regularity event. This gave me double the laps for the weekend, which hopefully translated into valuable experience in a new (48 year old) car. I will, however, confine this report to the actual Group Sa events. 

Mixing Sa with Group J, K & L and Na is really not a bad fit. However, there are differing schools of thought amongst Sa competitors and the recent GSRA questionnaire asks this very question – where does Sa fit? Should it be with Lb or Na or should Group S be purely divisional ie. Sa with slower Sb and quicker Sb with Sc? 

Colin Golsmith in his Bugeye Sprite - pic Patrich Ilufi

Anyhow, at Eastern Creek we were second practice session on Saturday and my view was that the track was slippery no doubt due to the overnight rain and coolish conditions. I found the Elva a tad skittish (which is unusual) but managed a 2.05 first time out, which put me 12th on the grid for Race 1. Tony Caldersmith in his Elva Courier did a 2.01 for fourth fastest with only Barry Bates in the Lotus 15, John Medley in the Nota FJ and Greg Neal in the Plymouth Special quicker than him. Other Sa competitors were Geoff Morse in the Alpine and Andrew Gibson (TR3) in 10th and 11th respectively (time of 2.04), Brian Caldersmith (Elite) 14th and the remaining Sa guys in various positions spread amongst the J,K & L guys. Mike Dyer was having his first run in the ex Laurie Sellers (and Ed Holly) MGA now owned by Graham Hill – you work it out! 

I am afraid my version of the race was pretty much seeing the back of a certain white Elva Courier. Tony lost a few spots off the line to the “grey Holden” brigade and I managed to get by Gibson and Morse to catch Tony and stick to him like glue for the rest of the race. Dubois in the Anglia and Medley in the Nota FJ were initially in front of me but eventually DNF’d so the two Elva’s came in 7th and 8th overall (1st and 2nd in Sa) with Caldersmith retaining the upper hand to the finish line where the margin was a mere 2/10th of a second. (Our fastest laps were also very close with Tony achieving a 2.00.15 and myself a 2.00.18). Gibson came in 9th overall (3rd in Sa) with Mike Dyer in the white with red sides MGA right behind. The race was won by Greg Neal in the big Plymouth Special (Group K) with Paul Armstrong (Jewitt Holden) and Mick Arnold (Sharp Holden) in 2nd and 3rd place overall. 

Our next event on Sunday morning was a handicap race and I started in a group that included six or seven cars. I started out of position 27 and managed a fairly good start. Unfortunately, on Lap 1 the Sharp Holden of Mick Arnold spun right in front of me and hit the wall quite hard at Turn 5. After that, I just put my head down and went for it. Came 6th overall with Col Goldsmith (Sprite) just ahead in 5th – we were first and second in Group Sa. Mike Dyer and Geoff Morse were behind me by a couple of seconds. I don’t really like handicaps but this was an exception and found it most enjoyable as I got more accustomed to what the Elva can (and can’t) do at Eastern Creek.

Our feature race on Sunday afternoon was a fiasco from the start. Our positions on the dummy grid looked odd as soon as we were directed to them. This was a scratch race with starting positions supposedly being the finishing order from our first scratch race on Saturday. Unfortunately, the grid positions had been taken from the finishing order of the handicap race and no amount of gesticulation or frustrated comments by the competitors could get it changed. This was a potentially dangerous situation as some of the quicker cars that had not managed to get through the traffic in the handicap race were starting well back and we knew all would eventually converge at Turn 2!!! 

Mike Dyer MGA - pic Patrich Ilufi

Fortuitously, all survived the infamous Turn 2 with a little bit of pushing, shoving and jostling for position. On Lap 2, Geoff Morse received a nudge at Turn 1 that sent him off the track at very high speed and off the dial. (Geoff says these J,K,L guys play too rough compared to us well mannered Sa people!). Once composed and back on track, he managed a 2.02 in the old Alpine to get back in touch. I reckon that after 22 years of racing the Alpine now has more bog in it than metal and that’s why it is going so well!! This was after his “you beaut” roller rockers had busted on Saturday and were replaced by standard rockers – who needs ‘em? 

After getting up to second place for half a lap or so, Barry Bates in the Lotus 15 got by me, followed by Armstrong (Jewitt Holden) and then Medley (Nota FJ). I finished fourth (1st Sa) behind this trio with Henry Walker in the Nalla Holden closing fast for fifth place. Andrew Gibson (TR3) was next Sa car in 8th, Paul Savoy in the stunning silver Porsche 356 in 9th and Tony Caldersmith (Elva) in 10th. Mike Dyer (MGA) came in 13th with Bruce Mansell in the Elite in 14th with Morsey, Reg Darwell (Alpine) and Colin Goldsmith (Sprite) in 15th, 16th and 17th. Richard Rose (MGA) and Mike Gunnell (Healey 3000) were a tad further back but finished well. 

The ramifications of the incorrect gridding of the feature race ie. primarily safety and, less importantly, trophy presentations and pointscore have been discussed with HSRCA and the error has been well noted. This is due to be discussed at the next Registrar’s Meeting to implement procedures to ensure that it is not repeated. The organisers have a great deal to do at these meetings and while the entries were a bit lower than anticipated I think it ran very smoothly. 

I watched all the Sb/Sc races including the 25 lapper and enjoyed them very much. I am sure these will be reported in detail elsewhere.

Rick Marks

Phillip Island Historics, 11-12 February 2006, by Rick Marks

I have been a spectator and Group S groupie at the Phillip Island Historic Racing for the past three years and each year say "I will run at the event next year" - the time finally had come to put my credit card where my mouth was. The Elva Courier, which had performed admirably at Wakefield in November was duly entered, prepped, locked and loaded.

Having not entered the Friday practice sessions for varying reasons (but that’s another story), my first "in car" sight of the full circuit, other than on TV or on our Playstation 2, was on Saturday morning for qualifying. Our Sb/Sc buddies had a very wet practice and Col Goldsmith and I were patting each other on the back saying how clever we were to run in Group Sa. Our group, combined with some fabulous Lb sports and racing cars from here and overseas (Lister Jag, Maserati 250F, Allards, Kurtis 500, Coopers, Lotus XV etc) was third last qualifying session and the track would, of course, be dry by then. Right? WRONG….

My initial stage fright at this whole daunting PI experience was capped off first by light spots of rain, followed by heavier, bigger spots and then the whole nine yards! Bruce Mansell in the Elite, beside me on the dummy grid, turned and said "Thank heavens for a closed car" while I struggled to find the hidden umbrella in the open topped Elva – shades of Wakefield Park last November.

There is good and bad news about a wet qualifying session when you are a track virgin. The good news is that everyone else is having their own problems keeping their car on the track while my problem was not knowing the track at all AND keeping the car on the track as well. Therefore, my incompetence was fairly well hidden. The bad news is that some of the quicker Lb cars mentioned above did not qualify further up the grid where they belong and VHRR don’t run progressive grids. That meant a pretty mixed bag for the first scratch race on Saturday afternoon which would be the same for the feature race on Sunday.

Despite all this, I qualified 18^th out of 35 cars, fellow NSW punters Bruce Mansell (Elite) on 23^rd and Col Goldsmith (Sprite) on 32^nd. Rob Rowland in the Sa Healey 3000 had a blinder and was on pole. Steve Schuler in the ex Thallon Corvette qualified 21st while the Victorian big Healeys of Pike and Kent were on 11^th and 15^th respectively. It’s not too often that two Allard J2’s, a Kurtis 500 Indy Car, a Cooper Climax, Cooper Bristol plus a Corvette and Elfin GTS all start behind a PI novice in an Elva Courier!

Start of race 1 saw the Giddings Maserati 250F stall on the line. Barry Bates in the Lotus XV was in front of me but got baulked by the stalled Maser and I got a good run up the inside of him. Was a tad tentative around turn 1 with some heavy breathing going on behind. Can’t figure out Southern Loop as yet (do you brake, change down a cog or go around flat in top?). Once sorted, around the back into Honda and thru Siberia there are a couple of quickies knocking on the door and they finally blast past on the straight. I have my rev limiter set on 6,300 and mentally note that’s not enough as I hit max revs near the start of the pit garages and feather the throttle for the rest of Gardner Straight. As the laps tick by I am feeling more and more confident in the track, the Elva and myself. Brake later into Southern Loop and Honda, wider entry into next left hander, flat chat all the way up to Lukey Heights then feather it over the hill and brake hard for MG and then flat up the gears round the sweeper and onto the straight again. Giddings in the Maserati just gets me on the finish line on the last lap. Lost six places but gained three – net back three to 21^st (thank heavens no progressive grid!!). Both Mansell and Goldsmith DNF’d with "missing" probems. Willis in the Mildren Cooper was first, followed by Jolley in the magnificent Lister open wheeler, then Simpson in the Penrite Lola. Rowland and Pike in their Healey 3000’s take first and second in Sa with yours truly third in the Elva and first in class.

Race 2 was the 5 lap handicap which is not one of my favourite events. Co-incidently, I started 18^th again with eight other cars in our pack including Bates in the Lotus XV, Kent the big Healey, Ashby in the 100S, Bate in the Bug Eye, Mansell in the Elite, Schuler in the Corvette and Brooks in the MG Special. The Kurtis 500 Indy Car was also in our group and when it screamed off the line I knew it was only a matter of time before this monster cleaned us up. It didn’t for some reason but the Allard J2 of Smith did. My still tentative entry into Southern Loop gave Bate the opening he needed and he slipped inside me and through. We exchanged places a couple of times but I seemed to have the upper hand in this one and ahead had Kent in the Healey 100/4 to play with. We had a great dice for a lap or two until I tried an inside move at Honda. This kind of worked but Kent hung on and I pulled back only to have Kent spin in front of me forcing me to take to the grass to avoid a nasty collision. Fortunately, I came out the other side in tact and despite losing three places to Bate, Murphy (Wayne Ford) and Ashby (100S), finished seventh after Dick Willis in the Cooper Climax took me just before the finish line. First was Schuler in the Corvette, followed by Smith’s Allard J2 and then Bate in the Bug Eye who had earlier taken "my" third place!!!

Race 3 was the 6 lap feature race (reduced to 5 laps due to time constraints). Again, with no progressive grid I was back on position 18 with Peter Kent in the Healey beside me, Barry Bates in the Lotus in front and that monster Kurtis 500 right behind me. With the rev limiter bumped up to 6,500 the Elva rocketed away and all was going well. Schuler in the Corvette flew past me on the inside, Bates stayed ahead marginally, I got in front of Kent and stayed there, Mawson in the MG Special gave me some hurry up but I managed to keep him at bay. The Kurtis took me around the sweeper before the main straight so Harper must have had a poorish start. From there it was a tad lonely – I felt I was going quicker and seemed to be pulling in Pike in the Healey 3000. Bate had a problem in the Bug Eye and was not in the hunt this time.

All too soon the chequered flag was out – I finished first in class, fourth Sa car and overall. First was Dick Willis in the Cooper Climax, followed by Jolley in the Lister and Giddings in the Maserati. First Sa car home was Rob Rowland in the Healey 3000 (5^th), Schuler in the Corvette (12^th), Pike’s Healey 3000 (19^th) and then the Elva in 20th. Another first in class!!

Well, all over for another year. My apologies if this report is a tad one eyed but it is difficult to comment on too much other than what is happening around you in the race. Personally, I had a great first meeting at Phillip Island and appreciated the comraderie of our Sa/Sb/Sc colleagues, in particular fellow Sa competitor, Col Goldsmith, the Group Seahorse Motel crowd and the company and assistance of John Young and Graham Leese as travelling, drinking and support crew.

Rick Marks

Phillip Island 2006 – Group Sb/Sc

This year, the dates for the Phillip Island Classic were moved forward to the weekend of 11/12th February accommodate the staging of Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Group Sb/Sc entries were initially in excess of the grid limit of 52 cars, but subsequent “no shows” reduced the Sb/Sc field to a more manageable field of 44 cars. 

Given the crush that usually accompanies accommodating some 440 entries at a Philip Island meeting, it was most pleasing that organisers were able to open the track on Thursday afternoon to allow competitors time to unpack and complete paperwork. This was a most satisfactory development given the rush that previously has taken place at 7 a.m. on Friday as competitors swarm in to set up camp, complete paperwork and undergo scrutineering before launching into private practice. 

Unfortunately scrutineering still had to wait until Friday morning and this caused some inconvenience as Group Sb/Sc competitors had to tow cars to scrutineering in view of the ban on starting competition engines before 9 a.m. With the first of only two untimed practices due to start at 9.50 a.m. on Friday, there was some general concern about getting through scrutineering in time to make the practice session. 

The first private practice session was marred by an unfortunate incident when “Spud” Spryut was struck a serious blow on the helmet when the bonnet of the MGB flew back onto the driver at speed on the main straight. Spud did well to bring the car to a stop on the left side of the track before he was whisked off to hospital and not seen again until Saturday. Under doctor’s orders he handed the keys of the car to Michael and spent the rest of the weekend as a spectator. The incident must have also unsettled the “B” as it to soon called it a day, with no oil pressure putting an end to Michael’s racing. 

After the red flag of Friday morning, Sb/Sc circulated for the full 15 minutes in the afternoon untimed session after which most elected to scrutineer their cars to avoid the Saturday morning scrutineering rush.

Qualifying dawned wet, with scudding clouds but by 9.50 a.m. the rain stopped and there appeared prospects for a dry line, but the optimists were soon disappointed as a steady mix of oil was added to the water already on the track, providing some drivers with interesting and unplanned excursions. Geoff Olle (Porsche) and Peter Hall (260Z) capitalised on the conditions by locking up the front row with most of the V8’s back a little in the field. 

With no progressive grids, the action was all about cars working through from some unfamiliar grid positions while Olle and Hall played catch us if you can. After three races, three different winners emerged – all painted white – the Porsche, 260Z and the Paul Sabine Corvette. 

The King and Whitten MGB’s were always well placed using their grid positions to advantage. Apart from several dnf’s, the racing was not without incident including a Porsche into the wall near the Start/Finish line and a Morgan Plus 8 dumping its engine oil at the end of the main straight, which made for interesting entry into Turn One.
 

The event was well supported by large spectator crowds, which made getting off the island and back to Melbourne a slow affair. Phillip Island also marked the last event for Geoff Olle as the Porsche is up for sale while Geoff sorts some other things. Geoff and his two musketeers have been a great asset to Group S racing. Their cheery disposition and enthusiasm for historic racing will be missed – although we may see them back in some 12 months. 

The Wandering Penguin