HTCAV – Vic State Series Rd.05 report
Words: Chris Ralph
Photos: Supplied
Held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit on 22-24 September, sunny spring weather for this state round (run by the Victorian Mini Club) mirrored conditions at the Winton Festival of Speed from the month before, making the big banger battles all the more enjoyable.
Qualifying, Saturday morning
Big bangers made up the majority of the 14 cars in qualifying. Bill Trengrove had retired the ’64 Mustang on Friday, but son Brent put his Chevy Camaro on pole with a 1.49.6; two tenths ahead of Darren Collins’ Trans Am Mustang and a tenth in front of Trevor Talbot’s Camaro.
Glenn Miles’ Charger lined up in fourth on the grid, with defending HTCAV champ Pete Meuleman’s pre-65 Mustang and Adrian Moyle’s Camaro on the next row. Behind them, HTCAV Club President Ben Dahlstrom (Charger), Geoff Munday (Camaro), former champs Jervis Ward (Falcon Sprint) and Stephen Pillekers (Torana) filled the top ten.
Down the back of the grid, Mini brothers Richard and Graeme Hill had newcomer Reece Moyle’s Mazda RX-2 for company.
Race 1, Saturday afternoon
Munday’s Camaro sat in a cloud of blue smoke as Ward’s new starting technique split the pack through the vacant allotment left by the non-appearing Adrian Moyle, to get right on to the tail of Group Nb archrival, Meuleman.
At the front, Collins in the ‘Warhorse’ Mustang also made a great start and fended off Trengrove for the first lap, who in turn had Talbot in his mirrors. After Talbot passed Trengrove out of Siberia, he set off after Collins, while the skinny tyred Sprint of Ward was chasing Meuleman (variously called Mooman, Moolyman and Mooloolooman by the commentators).
Dahlstrom in the Charger was hanging on to Ward - while hanging on against an attack of gastro! Holding off his own runs, he made one under Ward at Turn 4, but the plastic fantastic had its nose back in front out of Siberia. As the Meuleman/Ward battle raged on, Talbot raged against his failing fuel pump, pulling off at T4 on the penultimate lap.
With Talbot out of the picture, Collins took the flag ahead of Trengrove at the end of the allotted 20 minutes, setting the race’s fastest lap at 1.48.8 in the process. Talbot was the only other starter to do a sub-1.50 lap.
Miles finished third in his Charger, ahead of the two Nb combatants and a very seedy Club President, who had to be helped from the car. Dahlstrom returned the next day, but this time it was the car complaining of a blown head gasket.
Munday didn’t recover from his poor start, ending the 20 minutes behind Dahlstrom, while at the back of the field, Reece Moyle was the meat in a Mini sandwich; Richard in front and Graeme behind.
Gearbox linkage woes saw Pillekers retire without completing a lap, but he would be back with a vengeance…
Race 2, Sunday morning
Collins’ next good start headed Trengrove, Miles and Ward, whose own rocket start put him ahead of Meuleman. Not unexpectedly, Talbot charged from the back row to be fifth by T4. By the end of the first tour, he’d grabbed third, his race face on.
Munday joined the Meuleman/Ward punch up, putting Camaro power between the two Nb cars. Despite a massive lockup into MG, Munday took Ward, who then locked onto his bumper down the straight with Meuleman in his mirrors.
Avoiding a very early braking Munday, Ward then had his own lock up, with nowhere to go except into T1 in a cloud of smoke ahead of Meuleman. Munday took back the advantage down the straight, with Ward hanging on ahead of Meuleman.
As this group battled, Pillekers now had his Torana in top form, with the flying Mini of Richard Hill not far behind.
In a masterful outside line overtake exiting MG, Pillekers grabbed Meuleman and set off after Ward, who picked off Munday after the Camaro locked up at T2, allowing Meuleman to retake Pillekers. That’s the way they would finish.
Up front, Collins held sway, but distributor issues caused Trengrove to DNF, handing second to Talbot, with Miles further back in third.
Entertainingly, Richard Hill’s Mini did the classic blowfly, all over Munday’s Camaro in the corners and finishing less than a second in arrears, lowering his PB by a second to 1.57.1.
Graeme Hill’s second outing for the meet was less successful, joining Trengrove and Reece Moyle on the retirement list.
Race 3, Sunday afternoon
Once again, Collins led from the start, with Talbot hot on his tail. Reece Moyle made a cracker start from the back row to be up with the big bangers early on. The Ward/Meuleman stoush was back on in earnest, but this time Pillekers bought in from the start.
On to the straight for the first time and Chevy muscle won out, but Collins’ pony power challenged Talbot into T4 and stayed on his tail, with Miles close behind in the Charger.
Munday had come into the mid-pack and stuffed it right under Pillekers into MG corner, but the Torana driver glued himself to the back of Meuleman and pulled clear. Chasing Ward on the next lap, the order was Munday, Meuleman and Pillekers down the main drag.
The battle at the front was full on, too, with Collins consistently attacking Talbot under brakes. As the clock ran down (remember, elapsed time for this meet, not laps), Talbot locked up into MG and Collins was immediately on his case. With both cars tyre weary, Mustang oversteer trounced Camaro understeer and Collins won through, with Miles in third.
Off the podium, a four-way fight saw Munday lead before Ward took the place under brakes in T4. Then, Meuleman’s slight off in Siberia saw Pillekers move up on the heels of Munday, whom he soon vanquished. Next was Ward, who, suffering a slight misfire, was taken by the Torana at MG.
The Hill Minis were the last runners home behind Meuleman; Richard finishing ahead of Graeme, while Moyle had another DNF.
Winning Horse
In the end, it was a triple for Darren Collins in a weekend that showed smaller fields can still serve up big excitement.
Next up for the Just Cars racers: two big fields at Historic Sandown on 10-12 November, a few days after the Melbourne Cup. You can read all about it in the next instalment.
