HTCAV – Vic State Race Series report

Words: Chris Ralph

Photos: Phil Wisewould

The JUST CARS Historic Touring Cars opened their 2023 account at Sandown on 18-19 February as part of the Vic State Circuit Racing Championship. After a heatwave Friday practice session, great weather favoured a weekend of excellent Historic Touring Car action.

The famed suburban Melbourne power circuit was in its element with an entry dominated by V8s - Ford’s finest versus a gaggle of cars from ‘The General’. There were 12 of the former, made up of Mustangs and Cortinas, while the six GM representatives, consisted of Chev Camaros, a Nova and lone Holden LJ Torana six

Qualifying

Although Andrew Lane was complaining about a slight misfire, his sleek black Mustang Fastback not unexpectedly grabbed pole with a handy 1.21.52 – but the rest of the qualy podium was interesting…

Last time, we told the story of the ‘Warhorse Mustang,’ one of the original Group Nc cars, that changed hands late last year from the Leo family to the Collins stable. Dom Leo would get the Collins Camaro, while Darren Collins took on the Trans Am Mustang. With them both on the grid this meeting, how would they fare?

Darren and Dom slotted into P2 and P3, with only a tenth between them as both learned their new mounts. Joe Calleja qualified fourth in his Fastback Mustang, while reigning Club Champ Pete Meuleman was an excellent fifth in the Nb Mustang, dipping into the 1.24s for the first time.

Next best was Geoff Munday’s Camaro, then Andrew Girvan’s bright green LJ Torana and ex-engine builder and Ute racer David Murphy, having his first run in the ex-Gary Treloar big block Camaro. Filling out the top ten were a returning Brent Trengrove in his Camaro and Rob van Stokrom, debuting his new ’68 Trans Am Mustang - a huge step up from his previous BMW 2002.

Just outside the top ten, Bill Trengrove (father of Brent) qualified ahead of a group of Cortinas that included Simon Browning, Mick Stupka and Don Knight.

Engine problems saw four old warriors fail to proceed beyond qualy – the Nb Mustang of Darren Jones, Chev Nova of Rod Evans, Lotus Cortina of Kim Shearn and pushrod Cortina of Jerry Lenstra.

In a first for the State Race Series, events would be ‘time certain’ at this round, with the stopwatch, not lap counter, determining race length.

Race 1 - Saturday afternoon drama

For the first HTCAV race of 2023, Collins got the initial jump, but Lane was first into T1. Leo was shuffled back in the pack, but the big mover was Murphy out of eighth, using every last one of his Camaro’s 6,800 cubic centimetres to slot into third. Collins would fall prey to Murphy, then Leo, the latter showing he was getting to know his new Camaro very well.

Once Leo got past Collins, he set about chasing Murphy, with both setting fastest laps along the way. Behind Collins, the trio of Brent Trengrove, Calleja and Meuleman were going well, gapping the Girvan Torana.

Drama ensued when Murphy popped a right rear wheel cylinder just when he needed it most – heading into T1 at the end of Sandown’s front straight. Experience saved the situation as he ran wide, then motored calmly to save track position for the next race, only to DNF anyway.

Leo’s elevation to P2 was short-lived as his Camaro rolled to a stop with a fuel issue at the top of the circuit, returning Collins to the place he’d had at the start of the race.

Behind the winning Lane and runner-up Collins, Brent Trengrove was third, while off the podium, Meuleman led home Calleja, Girvan and Munday.

Race 2 - Sunday morning tight racing

Murphy, Race 1’s big mover, extended his rear-of-grid handicap in Race 2 by stalling the Camaro and giving himself a monster catch-up job – which he did in very short order.

Collins again got the initial jump before settling for second into T1, but tigering away at the back of Lane paid dividends when the big black Fastback faltered out of Dandenong Road on Lap 3. Collins grabbed a lead he would hold for the next three laps before a long brake pedal saw him slightly overshoot that same corner, allowing Lane to take back P1 sharply.

Leo’s Camaro retired with a suspect oil pump drive on Lap 3, while Murphy was up into fourth by Lap 5. However, grabbing the leading – and distant - trio of Lane, Collins and Trengrove was not on. 

The mid-pack resolved into Munday’s Camaro, Meuleman’s Nb Mustang, the fantastic Torana of Girvan, Calleja’s Fastback and the 69 Trans Am of van Stokrom, with Bill Trengrove’s Nb Mustang as rearguard.  

Amongst the Cortinas, Don Knight repeated his performance from Race 1, this time holding sway over Simon Browning (who’d started off the back after a wayward bonnet forced him to DNF in R1), while Mick Stupka’s engine refused to rev out and he finished a lap down.

Lane took the chequer ahead of Collins and Brent Trengrove, while Murphy was a close fourth and Munday further back in fifth.

Race 3 – afternoon boil over

Murphy looked menacing in P4, but it was again Lane who led the field into T1 for the final Touring Car race of the meeting. Two Mustangs held the advantage over three Camaros, but only briefly, as the 6.8 litre big block of Murphy grunted past Collins into T1 on the first tour, then set about after Lane.

Murphy’s move to the lead came after the third lap with a big push down the inside of T1. Lane decreased the amount of available track, but Murphy kept insisting on a pass, taking to the ripple strip. Inevitably there was contact, Lane spun and Murphy found Darren Collins glued to his tail, with Brent Trengrove’s Camaro just astern.

Behind them, there was a battle pack of Calleja, Meuleman, an on-pace van Stokrom, Bill Trengrove and the gallant Torana of Girvan.

Having to work his way back through the field, it wasn’t long before a fired-up Lane caught Bill Trengrove, just as Calleja’s iffy gearbox cried enough.

On Lap 5 it was Murphy, Collins and Brent Trengrove out in front, with a gap to Munday’s Camaro. Brent was trying everything to catch Collins’s Mustang and had closed right up on the last lap before getting woolly at Dandenong Road.

Lane made an almighty lunge into the same corner to take Meuleman for fifth. Getting the hang of his new steed, van Stokrom was next, finishing ahead of the fast-finishing Girvan and Bill Trengrove. Knight again won the Cortina battle, although Browning got a slightly faster lap time.

After looking like he’d take a win all weekend, Murphy finally did so in the third and last race for the Historic Tourers. Collins collected three seconds and Brent Trengrove left Sandown delighted with his third place finishes after a sabbatical from racing.

Next, the Classic…

The biggest historic meeting of the year is the Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport. The JUST CARS historic tourers fielded 80 cars in two full-capacity class grids at this mega event, the full report on which you can read in the next JUST CARS.