HTCAV – 42nd Historic Winton report
A 30-strong grid of JUST CARS Historic Touring Cars rolled up to the 42nd Historic Winton this past May, all ready to give it their all for the annual whizz-around on the Winton short track.
With no rain falling since the Supercars round the preceding weekend, many expected the track to be grippy with plenty of rubber laid down during that meeting. This proved not to be the case: lap times didn’t get near any existing records. A stroll around the pits may have given a clue as to why – ah yes, the old ‘Historic Winton factor’ - pools of oil quietly forming underneath some magnificent old racing bikes and cars! Historic Winton has always provided a wonderfully diverse assortment of racing machinery and this year was no exception.
Saturday afternoon - Race 1: South Australian Jason Armstrong had bagged pole position in his incredibly quick Mini, but could not capitalize on it, with Darryl Hansen erupting off the line to take an early lead in his stunning `68 Trans Am Mustang. Tony Hubbard (Camaro) had also beaten Armstrong into turn one and set about hassling Hansen at the front.
The rapid rotary-powered RX-2 of Anthony Read dived under Armstrong to briefly hold third place before the little “brick” fought back. Further back, the Cortinas of David Schofield and Johnny Luxmoore had an entertaining scrap, while the Triumph 2.5 PI MkII of Ian Watt harried the Cortina GT of Don Knight; the latter making his return to the class after several seasons out of the saddle. Knight’s car survived a storage facility fire in Melbourne last year and is slowly being cosmetically restored.
In the 50th anniversary year of the Escort, Jerry Lenstra from NSW showed why these compact Fords made such a handy rally car and circuit racer with a full-noise excursion onto the grass at the high-speed sweeper before slicing back onto the tarmac! Late in the race, Winton regular Lindsay Siebler got his Mini out of shape through the esses and rolled, the car tripping over itself and landing on its side. The red flags came out as fellow Cooper S pilot Kevin Brown pulled up to check on Siebler. Thankfully, he was able to climb out unassisted, but the Mini will need a big birthday.
Torana man Andrew Girvan had set the fastest lap time in his pursuit of the two V8s up front, but had to settle for a fine third place behind Hansen and Hubbard, who pushed the winner all the way. Armstrong and Read were next, then the Mini trio of Chris Cotton, Jeremy Bennett and Richard Hill.
Sunday morning - Race 2: Disappearing in tyre smoke as the flag dropped, Hansen’s 302-powered Mustang went nowhere as Hubbard pounced to lead into turn one. Gabriel Digenis suffered the classic ‘50 cent part’ failure when a circlip popped off a slave cylinder to leave his BMW 2002 with no clutch. Knight joined him on the DNF list when the coil lead jumped ship, but a repeat would be unlikely with the offending lead superglued and cable tied in place post-race!
After starting the first race with the wrong tyre pressures (blamed on Ben Read, who he shares the driving with – ah, brotherly love!) Anthony Read was flying in race two. In full battle mode against Armstrong, the Mazda man was absolutely at it tooth and nail through against his rival through all corners of the circuit.
Armstrong aside, the second hit-out wasn’t a great race for Minis, though, with Cooper S engine maestro Len Read losing an exhaust, Quentin White retiring and Ian Pringle losing a front wheel after the nut holding the CV joint sheared. Former Mini racer Pete Melick moved up the order in his new bright yellow Torana, as did massive petrolhead Joe Calleja in his ’69 Mustang that sometimes finds Bathurst winner David Reynolds behind the wheel. Joe was finally having his first proper hit-out in the big Ford previously campaigned by Perry Spiridis.
Vince Parisi struggled in his Morris Oxford after the alternator gave up the ghost, while fellow Pommy-mobile punter Gordon Cox gave his quirky Austin Healey-powered A90 Westminster another outing. This car is now on the market as Cox looks to finish the build on another unique Historic Tourer – a Fiat 124 Coupe.
Back at the head of the field, Hubbard withstood some big pressure (and the odd gentle nudge in the heat of battle) from Hansen to take the win, with Girvan bagging another podium in front of the warring duo of Armstrong and Ant Read. Linda Devlin pushed her Cooper S into the top ten, beating out other noted Mini chargers like Adrian Read and the one and only Ted Brewster.
Sunday afternoon - Race 3: With Hubbard a non-starter, Hansen had the front row to himself in the final race for the historic tourers, and duly capitalised; the Mustang skipping away to a handy lead as the carve-ups continued behind him, much to the crowd’s delight. Anthony Read had made a bolter of a start to usurp Armstrong into turn one, with Girvan falling victim to Armstrong shortly after. But at under half distance, the red flags suddenly came out - White had nerfed the tyre barriers coming onto the front straight, his Mini missing a front wheel.
With the race called early, Hansen was declared the winner from the squabbling Ant Read and Armstrong. With the ‘Meguairs Best Presented’ trophy going to dual race winner Darryl Hansen’s Mustang and the organisers’ best-presented award to Gavin Sheahan’s MkII Cortina, the ‘Makulu Driver of the Meeting’ trophy (and what a unique trophy it is!) went to a Tasmanian teenager who’s still too young to drive to the shops! Young Jeremy Bennett, in his late uncle’s Mini that was making its Winton debut, immediately joined the elite 1min.08 Mini lap-time club and finished in the first half dozen or so in every race. A great performance in a class where the competitor age now spreads from 17 to 83!
Credits Words: Darren Knight with Chris Ralph. Photos: Phil Wisewould
