VHRR Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport recap

Fourteen very enthusiastic Historic Formula Vee competitors made their way to the 2024 Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport held from March 8-10. Some very keen competitors trekked from as far north as Sydney and some crossed Bass Strait from Tasmania to compete and practice over the weekend.

Wednesday 7th March was the designated practice day which enabled three sessions for our historic Vees, although the practice sessions were amongst very mixed fields because of the high volume of entries across the eleven categories racing on the weekend. All of the drivers agreed that it was great to get back on track after what felt like an eternity since the last race meeting in Sydney in November 2023.

Qualifying kicked off on Friday morning in our mixed class J, K & L and Formula Vee event  on track. Inevitably the performance differences of the mixed classes soon showed, often with the Vee drivers seeking the same piece of track at the same time as other classes. With some good sense prevailing, some decided to try and make it through the congestion at the start of the session while others waited for some space.

The key point with driving a Formula Vee is track strategy and getting a slipstream tow is critical to achieving optimal lap times. If the challenge of getting that tow around the Phillip Island circuit is successful it can make all the difference.

Some of the regular front runners had some teething issues while others set some personal best times. As usual there were some close results that set up an exciting first race.

Dean Briggs in his Spectre set the quickest Vee qualifying time with a 2:04.3 and was on pole by 1.6 seconds to Chris Jackson (Avanti) and Luc Botton (Standfast) followed by Glynn Briggs (Spectre).

Race One on Friday afternoon started with a forty second time delay to J,K & L, causing some anxiety to the Vee field waiting on the grid. The race was close and exciting, with Dean  leading Luc and Chris over the line with only 0.3 of a second separating the three cars. The times generally looked fast and a few personal best times were set, no doubt helped by the the new track surface.

The unusually warm Phillip Island weather was starting to heat up and on Saturday it was also very windy and some would say getting hot. Of course our race suits, helmets and other protective clothing added to challenge the drivers all managed to soldier on. 

Unfortunately, the second race saw two Vees not finish, which sadly seemed to plague a few competitors throughout the weekend. Grant Kelly (Stag) had a blinding start and great tow through the first three corners and was dicing for first at the apex of Turn 4 on the first lap after starting from the rear of the grid. Grant’s run unfortunately came to an abrupt end with a mechanical issue at the same corner stopping his race. The front pack of Luc, Dean, Glynn and Chris saw some very close moments, squeezing and bumping wheels across the start finish line as things got a bit too close. Luc took the win from Dean and Chris in another very close finish with the cars separated by less than one second.

There was a lot of memorable action further back in the pack with Ross McLaughlan (Malmark Elfin) getting the better of the group and breaking away with William Sala in another Malmark. Leaving the chasing five cars to battle it out,  Michael Olsen (Elfin NG) led the group across the line, with Chris Curran (Rennmax Mk2), Brendan Sala (Malmark Elfin), Ed Gavin (Rennmax Mk2) and Jonny Scott (Elfin NG) all very close behind in a great battle pack.

The new stubby holders proved to be a hit at the merchandise stand under the HFVAA marquee, with Matthew Briggs representing the HFVAA at the merchandise area all weekend.

The third race on Saturday afternoon was a tale of two battle packs and the attrition of five competing Vees. The mid pack battle between positions five to eight was between William, Brendan, Jonny and Ross, resulting in another very close finish and great racing. Jonny taking fifth, William in sixth, Ross in seventh and Brendan in eighth. The battle for the podium was almost a carbon copy of the previous race due to Chris Neil’s engine requesting an upgrade mid race putting him out of contention for this race and the remainder of the weekend.  The podium was again Luc, Dean and Chris with Glynn coming a lonely fourth trailing by about six seconds.

On Sunday morning, the hot northerly wind and sun was again out for the last day and last two races of the weekend. Sunday was also a a great day for checking out other races and the hundreds of display cars and race cars at the event. The third Vee race was at 9:55am, while the fourth and final Vee race was the last event of the meeting after 4:30pm.

The top three places were again Luc, Chris and Dean, with Chris finally getting ahead of Dean for second place.  Dean McLaughlan finally cured the issue in his car and jumped out of his podium winning Datsun 1600 to join the Vee race, finishing in a very respectable fifth place, just beating Ross to the line after starting from the rear of the grid.

Brendan, William and Jonny had another close race-long battle changing positions every lap. Glynn finished fourth again with brother Dean suggested tongue-in-cheek that Glynn will need to change his race number from 3 to 4 after this weekend. Chris Curran’s personal best times in the earlier part of his weekend were a promising sign, but while his times slowed a little on the day, Chris finished and completed a great weekend.

The fourth and final race of the weekend finally arrived, after a nervous wait, nearing the track closing time and after Formula Ford. The field managed to get four of the planned seven laps completed. Grant Kelly managed to fix the Stag and was battling with Chris and Dean all race long with an eye on a podium finish. After a slip streaming run to the flag, Dean took the last win of the weekend narrowly over Chris and Grant. Glynn was fourth again and not far behind was the battle pack of Brendan, Ross, Jonny and William who had another race long battle with Brendan holding on for a fifth place.

The weekend came to a very warm close resulting in competitors and helpers packing  cars onto trailers and our gear away in very warm and windy conditions. Thankfully all the cars  completed the weekend incident free in what was a very enjoyable event and race weekend.

As usual all the competitors, families and friends owe the army of volunteers (the VHRR event organisers, flag marshals, fire marshals, medics and other staff) a huge thank you. Without these generous people we wouldn’t have the opportunity to race at such amazing places and events.

Historic Formula Vees will race all around the country coming up soon. Come and say hi to us at one of our next events and have look at these very popular racing cars.

Autumn Historic at Morgan Park in Queensland on April 27 - 28.

Historic Winton in Victoria on 25 - 26 May. 

Regards

HFVAA

David Cutts wins 2023 Bernie Haehnle Trophy

SMSP Race Report and AGM 25th-26th November 2023

Images courtesy of Ray Berghouse and Paul D Pickford

In a thrilling final race, for the Bernie Haehnle Trophy, David Cutts took the win, by just 0.032 seconds over Tony Paynter in second with Stephen Normoyle in a close third, In a thrilling race David, Tony and Steve all led laps and three wide was a common sight in a super close six lap race. Full results below.

Unfortunately a few cars didnt make the final race including both Brigg’s brothers, Glynn and Dean, who had travelled up from Victoria, but had late car issues which meant they didnt complete the final race. A special welcome to some new racers, Paul and Justin, to HFVA @ SMSP

It was so great to see Bernie Haehnle race in the race which is name after him and lots of other regulars making up the field.

The annual general meeting was held on the 26th with Dean Briggs continuing as President and new committee members Geoff Russell, Ashley Cuttell and Gary Meyers. Special thanks to Ian Cutcher who leaves the committee and we really appreciate all the work Cutch has put in over the years.

Race 4 Final Results (full weekend results at Natsoft)
1    David Cutts (NSW)        1984 Spectre

2    Tony Paynter (NSW)       1971 Stag

3    Stephen Normoyle (NSW)   1982 Spectre

4    Norm Johnstone (NSW)     1984 Spectre

5    Don Collyer (NSW)        1984 Commando

6    Ian Bloodworth (NSW)     1975 Rennmax Mk11

7    Paul Cochrane (NSW)      1967 CMS

8    Peter Mohacsi (NSW)      1981 Spectre

9    Ashley Cuttell (NSW)     1971 Nimbus

10   Paul McDonald (NSW)      1983 Spectre

11   Bernie Haehnle (NSW)     1967 Rennmax

12   Chris Reeks (NSW)        1971 Elfin Malmark

13   Justin Pogson (NSW)      1984 Spectre

Images from HSRCA Summer Series SMSP Nov 25th to 26th

Picturs from the track and the pits courtesy of Ray Berghouse, Geoff Russell, Paul D Pickford and Gary Meyers

HSRCA Summer Festival Dec 2022 Report

25 vees were entered for the meeting, maybe our biggest field ever. Many were there for Friday practice to sort out rusty driving skills and make sure cars still worked after the recent covid induced lack of use. Matt Pearce found his car didn’t work and swapped a gearbox after the first session and was back out for the final session in the afternoon. Damien Spinks had a loose fan resulting in the pully throwing itself away and a frantic scramble to find a replacement. Saturday morning qualifying saw the front trio of David Cutts, Tony Paynter and Matt Pearce setting best times. The rest of the field were very close promising some close racing.

Your reporter failed to allow a margin of error for traffic at turn 4 and went on a long distance gardening expedition and had a very lonely drive thereafter, the resulting lap time was way off the pace. Ashley Cuttell was running on 3 cylinders and Gary Meyers ran a big end so had no choice but to go home early.

Race 1

Race 1 saw a win for Tony followed by Matt 0.04 seconds behind and then David. Natsoft shows the next 7 cars finishing within 2 seconds with the rest occupied with their own dices a little way behind. I failed to finish after being forced to take to the dirt to avoid a collision and filling the car with gravel which then jammed the throttle open. The over-rev resulted in all the tappet adjusters coming loose. (No, I can’t explain it) Don Collyer was also a DNF.

Race 2

Race 2 on Saturday afternoon saw Tony again win followed this time by David 0.02 seconds behind. Behind them the field broke up into a series of dices as everyone found someone to play with. Except me, the car went on to 3 cylinders and mindful of the previous problem I went to the pits to discover a plug lead fell off! (now cable tied). Pete Iredale and Peter Mohacsi were also DNF’s, cause unknown.

Race 3

Race 3 was held Sunday mid-morning, again the win went to Tony however the race was a non-event as we drove around behind the safety car after the first 2 laps. Chris Reeks dropped a wheel into the dirt at turn 1 and spun back across the track to lightly contact the wall. No damage to Chris but car repairs are needed. And I finished without drama this time! Steve Batty failed to finish with a cooked engine ending his weekend.

Race 4

David and Matt pushed Tony back to third in race 4, the three of them covered by less than 0.3 of a second. Once again everyone found someone to play with 2 or 3 car battles right through the field.

Natsoft can provide more info for those interested. Click here

So a great meeting! The weather was perfect, sunny, very light wind and not too hot. The commentators nominated the vees as the most entertaining of the weekend despite some serious competition from the Fords. I might have been better watching! It was fantastic to have such a large field. Nearly all were from NSW with the Molle brothers making the trip from Qld. Our SA regular Don had conflicting calls on his time and the Mexicans were similarly handicapped.

Next Meeting

The next NSW meeting is at SMSP in February on the north circuit. The north circuit is not a good vee track as it cuts out turns 4 to 8 which are the more interesting parts of the original track. Nevertheless, hope to see everyone in February.

Cutch

Morgan Park May 2022 Race Report

This was a unique event! 13 were entered, 10 travelled from NSW with most arriving on Thursday afternoon and unloading before retiring to accommodation and some meeting for dinner and a quiet ale. (What’s new!). As he had the furthest to travel Chris Reeks elected to overnight on the way and arrive on Friday.

And then the plan went astray!

As I was heading out of the motel on Friday morning Greg Stott stopped me to tell don’t bother – heavy overnight rain had flooded all access roads to the track. At the same time Kevan was trying every road he could find to get there without success. Soon came word that practice was cancelled. Tony and Steve were staying on the north side of town over the Condamine River so made an urgent trip to town for supplies before the bridge closed. Just as well as the New England Highway bridge went under the water soon after. Well, what do you do for the day in Warwick? Not much, coffee then lunch, read a book and nod off until an early happy hour.

Greg was getting early information from the track via Lyall Moyes who was marooned inside so we already knew before the announcement that the meeting was abandoned. Chris was alerted to turn around and head home. The rest of us didn’t have that option because we couldn’t collect our cars. Dave Harley took Pete on a serious back country 4wd adventure to find a way in in the afternoon. Not suitable for Subaru tow cars apparently!

About 3.30 word came through that we could get to the track if we ignored some road closed signs. So early happy hour was abandoned and we retrieved our cars. Except Tony and Steve who were still marooned on the north side of town. They couldn’t get back across the river until lunch time Saturday, too late to head home that day. Don and Greg with wives included Kevan and I for dinner on Friday night before we headed off on Saturday. I’m still trying to work out why shitty nappies became a major topic of conversation, maybe we seniors are preparing ourselves!

The Queenslanders of course weren’t caught up in the excitement. Shame we couldn’t all get together.

So that’s the race report written before the meeting was due to finish. Hope that doesn’t happen again!

Cutch

Wakefield Park New Year Meeting 2022

One competitor’s view

We vees had 14 entries for the HSRCA New Year meeting, the first full race meeting in almost a year.

The Briggs brothers arrived from Melbourne on Thursday ready for first session on Friday morning’s

practice. Almost everyone else was there on Friday morning for sorting out drivers and cars. Just as

well, there was quite a bit of sorting out to do after the long lay-off. Dean and Glynn were working

all day on Glynn’s car, not all of it cleaning mud out of its crevices! Tony had a miss corrected by

timing revisions. Steve B had loose (hub) nuts traced to an incompatible brake drum diaphragm.

Dave reported that my car had bouncing back wheels which set in train a series of setbacks resulting

in me running with Norm’s rear wheel and tyre, Don’s brake drum and Steve N’s wheel studs.

(Compromised my quick getaway on Sunday as I had to dismantle the rear of the car to return all the

borrowed bits). The dud shocker wasn’t able to be resolved at the track and I’m blaming that for

being off the pace all weekend. Chris replaced a starter motor and later in the weekend Steve Batty

need a new fan assembly. Amazing how many spares we carry!

However Friday’s problems were resolved ready for Saturday qualifying and 2 races scheduled.

Qualifying was uneventful apart from the fan belt on the road at the fishhook. We all were watching

temp gauges! The unlucky one turned out to be Greg Stott.

Race 1

Race 1 won’t go down as one the great races. Some grid confusion strung out the field before it even

started. And the start was delayed while Steve Batty’s car was towed after the throttle cable broke

on the warm up. Steve N and Don started from pit lane as punishment for passing under yellows in

qualifying. We down the back were frustrated by the LM cars until we could get past. However I

improved from grid 12 to 10, just failing to beat Don to the line by .06 seconds. Natsoft shows a win

to Tony with Matt Pearce close behind then the field strung out with the only other close finishes

between Dave Harley and Norm Johnstone and then Don and I.

Race 2

As we drove the warm up lap for the first race we were looking apprehensively at the rain showers

to the south – and the west – and the north! Apart from a few drops they stayed away until we were

back in the carports. Then the rain dumped! Pity the Fords who were out on the circuit – should

have been red flagged.

Our carports had water running right through them. Steve N was pitted near the scrutineering bay

on the grass and reported the water running through the floor of his car. There were further heavy

showers resulting in racing being called off for the day. So, no races after lunch.

Race 3

The program resumed on Sunday morning and we the first were scheduled for 3 races for the day.

The weather was kinder, overcast but dry. There was water across the track in the usual places

which brought many of us undone, including Norm on the warm-up lap. (Just testing adhesion) I

managed to improve to 8th in the first race despite the slowest lap times of the vees. My caution and

lack of spins paid off!

This time Matt finished in first ahead of Tony with Dean in third.

Race 4

I can’t report much about the day’s second race after I had a lonely drive way behind the rest after

some landscaping work at the top of the hill while trying to stay ahead of Damien and get ahead of

Chris. So much for lack of spins! Tony finished ahead of Matt this time with Steve Normoyle in third.

Natsoft indicates close finishes between Dean and Don, Glynn Briggs and Gary Meyers and then

Chris, Greg and Damien together. Maybe I should have been spectating!

Race 5

Matt took an early mark so Tony was unchallenged in the last race to get to the finish more then 20

seconds before he needed to. Gary, Dean, Don and Steve finished next with less than a second

separating the group. Greg, Norm and Dave were separated by less than one and a half seconds with

Damien not far behind. I couldn’t keep up with this group and watched them slowly drive away.

Glynn did me a favour by spinning (again?) and letting me through near the end. This must have

been the race to watch!

It was a great weekend of catching up with people we haven’t seem for a while. And all cars were

still running at the end despite some issues to sort out on Friday. Shame about the weather but, hey,

that’s Goulburn. At least it wasn’t too hot!

See you at Morgan Park,

Cutch

Eastern Creek (to some SMSP) November 2019

What great racing over the weekend for the few vees that entered!

I was a spectator this time as were a number of others for various good reasons. So this is a report from the roof.

The group only managed 13 entries. Thanks to the Melbournians who made the trip, Matt Scott and Dean Briggs, Dean for his first Eastern Creek meeting. Steve Normoyle was an early scratching with a broken engine on Friday, suspected melted piston. 

Practice times indicated some good racing to come and so it proved. Race 1 before lunch on Saturday saw Tony, as usual, refuse to join in the racing by running away from everyone else. Geoff Stone followed at a respectful distance and the rest divided into their own private battles with Dean, Gary and Don having fun together resolved in Gary’s favour and all finishing within 0.8 seconds. The best dice of the race was the next 4 of Greg Stott, Matt, Peter Mohasci and Norm crossing the line in that order within 3 seconds across the group. Bernie Cashin had no-go problems and didn‘t make to the start and our president Kevan stopped when his very tired spare engine finally died out on the track with run bearings.

The second race on Saturday saw a bit of a depleted field but closer racing. Tony cruised round to head Geoff by 2.5 seconds at the end and Gary had a lonely time a further 10 seconds behind. A bit further back Don and Dean crossed the line side by side, same for Greg and Matt with Peter close behind. Bernie still hadn’t solved his problems and Norm dropped out, cause unknown.

On Sunday it all came together with some amazing racing. In a race meeting that had terrific close racing across all classes the vees really turned it on to be on a class of their own!

Race 3 saw Tony run away as usual until he suffered a fuel evaporation problem (I’m told, yet to be verified) and slowed allowing every else to bank up behind.  Bernie had the car running again and he, Geoff, Dean and Gary swapped places throughout with the order when the flag dropped being Gary, Bernie, Geoff and Dean but all had been leading at some time during the race. Greg and Matt were separated by half a second, a little behind and both off their normal pace. Norm and Peter were keeping a watching brief from a little further back. Don also had fuel problems and dropped out on the opening lap.

The final race was a 4 lapper run with the Fords but effectively stand alone as the vees started a few grid spaces behind and the Fords weren’t going to start lapping within 4 laps. And what a race!

The first 4 crossed the line all over the track with a total separation of less than half a second and the first 6 were separated by less than 1.2 seconds! The lead was constantly changing throughout and the sight of a line of 6 cars coming down the straight line astern until they fanned out for the pass is unforgettable. It’s the best race I can remember watching since the Amaroo days!

Tony and Greg had elected to miss the last race and Peter recorded a DNF. Bernie crossed the line first then Dean, Gary, Geoff, Don and Matt. Norm was sitting back slightly watching the spectacle! That was the order at the flag, pick any other moment and it would have been different.

Wakefield September 2019 Report

A disappointingly small group entered for Wakefield, only 11. I’d suggest this was a triumph of quality over quantity! Overall entries for the meeting were down so we had qualifying plus 2 races on Saturday. On Sunday we were combined with the Fords for 3 more races.

Most of the group were there on Friday as usual and the small entry meant we had a practice session every hour or so. By the end of the day most were happy to skip a session or two. Ian B started well before his engine decided to go fluffy and refuse to rev. Despite a huge and frustrating effort by Ian and well-meaning but not necessarily helpful contributions from the rest of the group he had to take the problem home after Sunday’s first race. Two meetings with a new engine and yet to be problem free! 

Our president was a reluctant entry with a tired old engine in the car and had only entered because he needed a weekend away. Although he had fitted a new carburettor. 

Saturday qualifying saw some wild card results. Nigel was on pole as expected in the absence of Tony and Pete was off his normal pace running tyres with no tread and visible canvas that wouldn’t stick to the road. Norm was second, setting his best ever time. Kevan’s tired engine claim was refuted by third place on the grid. The new carby worked some magic! I did better than usual to be fourth. Gary was 5/100th of a second behind me followed by Ian B, Pete on his canvas tyres, Peter M, Phil, Chris who was feeling unwell after returning to Australia only a few days ago and Dave Harley who’s getting quicker all the time.

Race one saw a great tussle for the lead between Nigel and Kevan, swapping places throughout before being resolved in Nigel’s favour by 1/100th on the line. I managed to hold out Norm by half a second for third with Pete coming to terms with his tyres to be a further half second behind. The others were close behind with Dave getting quicker to knock a couple of seconds off his qualifying time. He was over the moon to be competitive and learn from being in the group.

Race 2 saw Nigel play dirty tricks to slow Kevan and allow me to catch up and harass him while Nigel took advantage to sneak away for the win. I chased Kevan down the straight to the flag but his ‘tired’ old engine had too much power for me to take advantage of the slip stream. Pete was getting quicker to get past Norm for fourth. Gary was off his normal pace to be next followed by everyone else.

At the end of the day there were some very happy racers. Dave stepped up the learning curve to be right in the race and learning to overtake. Kevan had no expectations with his tired engine but had his best results for a long time and was so close to having a win. I did better than I have for a long time and was consistently running at my PB. Norm was right on the leaders’ pace and 2nd fastest qualifier. Poor Ian was having a very frustrating time. Hang in there, we all have them.

Sunday saw a leisurely start with us not on until after 11 and combined with the Fords despite attempting to negotiate a continuation of our own races. No reflection on the organisers, it just couldn’t be made to work at short notice and they did try. 

Race 3 went to Nigel again followed by Pete, now on borrowed tyres, then Kevan, Gary, Norm, me, Chris who was getting back on the groove, Ian B still struggling with the fluffy engine after working the previous evening into the dark with Gary’s help, Peter, Dave and Phil who was suffering a power loss. The results were distorted as the Fords started lapping us about lap 5 of 8 and it was a bit of a lottery after that.

Race 4 saw a change of fortunes after 3 abreast into turn 2 saw Nigel spin and retire. The resultant avoidance saw the field spread out for Pete to win followed by Kevan, Gary, me who’d snuck past Norm, Chris, Peter and Dave.

Race 5 was the second last race of the day so some elected to head for home early, only 6 faced the starter. A misunderstanding at the fish hook saw Kevan have to hit the brakes too hard and spin leaving Pete and Gary to cross the line side by side with me watching from some distance behind after some off-roading coming on to the back straight. Dave was next then Peter and Chris who’d had a spin coming on to the straight.

Those of you who thought they had something better to do than join us missed out on some great racing. And naturally some great socialising both at the track and at the end of the day.

Phillip island Report for 29th & 30th September 2018

At the invitation of the Formula Vee Association of Victoria and the MG Car club of Victoria organisers of the 2 day meeting, 5 1200cc Historic Formula Vees competed for what turned out to be a great weekend of Formula Vee Racing for both the 1600cc Modern F/Vees and the 5 Historics. 

Geoff Stone, Connor Ryan, Matt Scott, Don Greiveson and Ian Edgar having a welcome return to Vee racing in Noel Bulls Elfin. Ian was a regular competitor in Formula Vees back in the Seventies and Eighties. Ian was to say later in the weekend he had a fantastic time and looks forward to future racing in the Historic Vee class. Ian has been competing in Historic F/Ford, but Vees are more fun!!

Qualification on Saturday morning resulted in 8 timed very competitive laps, for the Historic Cars with Don out slip streaming Geoff to post the quickest time with Ian, Matt and Connor all within a couple of car lengths to lay the foundation for the 1st race in the afternoon. The Historics out qualified 2 1600cc cars who would start 2 rows in front of the 1200cc cars when racing commenced.

Race 1 of 8 laps was a real ding dong race with all 5 Historic cars in the mix for the entire race.

The head wind down the straight resulted in the slip stream being really strong and kept the Historic group in a tight pack. The leading 1600cc cars were also tightly grouped. After a slow start by a couple of 1600cc cars that we blasted past, that was the last we saw of them and we caught another 1600 who had a spin. He ultimately caught our group and split Matt from the run to the finish line.

At the Flag Don had made the best of the slip stream to clinch the class win over Geoff, Ian, Connor and Nick Grigg in the 1600cc car with 5 cars crossing the line within .3 of a second and Matt who got split a couple of seconds adrift.

A very social Saturday evening at the local RSL for Dinner resulted in a round table for us all including Geoff Stone’s daughter Lauren who came to cheer and barrack and support her dad, Peter George another past Formula Vee racer and Noel Bull and Phil Gardner who chose to run his 1600 cc car rather than the Historic Nimbus, plus Don’s pit crew and cheer squad Nevan and Diane.

Race 2 on Sunday morning of 8 laps turned out to be a real challenge as a rain shower just prior proved a real game changer for the 1600cc cars at turn 1 on the first lap. Your correspondent in all the years of racing F/Vees has never seen so many cars “off ” the Black Stuff. They were left and right out on the grass and a couple pointing the wrong way in the middle of the track. Phil Gardner unfortunately clobbered another who had spun to end his weekend [probably wished he bought the Nimbus I suspect] and Don had an eyeball with a red car and decided a deviation was necessary.

Connor found a gap and showed real class on the slippery track to diss appear down the road and a well-deserved class win. Ian Edgar also had the wet eyes on to chase after Connor and the rest of us tried to survive. Matt also showed good form on the slippery track and Geoff lost the gear selection in what Burnie Cashin on the phone politely told Geoff, it was due to driver abuse.

Race 3 on Sunday afternoon of 9 laps was dry again. John Dean and Don had sorted a quick fix for Geoff’s car with split pins, and it was on again for another ding dong battle for both classes.

Geoff started in 3rg gear just to make sure of his start, or so he said. He caught the group pretty quickly so must have had the eyes on or taken some brave pills. The positions changed at nearly every part of the circuit with the slip stream a very strong influence. The times were fast with Geoff, Ian and Connor into the 2.05 bracket out of the tow and Matt slipping out of the tow crucified his race.  Ian again stated he didn’t see the last lap board due to the closeness of the group, however Don did and worked the slip stream again to finish in front of Geoff, Connor and Ian within .15 of a second, another 1600 .5 of a second behind and unfortunately Matt losing touch with the group.

In summary a great weekend of racing for a $425.00 entry fee. At Phillip Island the racing with the 1600cc cars works for both classes. 

Your correspondent from the driver’s seat, as seen by Don.

Vees at Winton Festival of Speed 2018. One driver’s view of the weekend

19 entries and our own races – all good! 11 Victorians were joined by one SAussie and 7 NSWelsh. The NSW group was down at least a couple of regulars with Kevan overseas and Steve still engine building.

The garage started to fill on Thursday afternoon ready for practice on Friday. The weather forecast suggested an early start before the rain arrived in the afternoon. And it was right! Quite a few of us went out early grouped with JKL. I suffered a blow to the rear wheel on the second lap of the first session from an over-enthusiastic very large red thing which I later found bent the rim. He was cautioned and apparently much more circumspect thereafter.

Those of us silly enough to go out for the third session after the rain started discovered that wheel spin in top gear in a straight line a vee is possible. And for those called Ian it results in a spin! Mine ended frighteningly close to the concrete wall!

Heading for the pub seemed a much better option than paddling around for the last session and risking car damage.

We were promised a dry day on Saturday. This turned out to be a politician grade promise. The practice session started on a track with wet bits and dry bits. A lot us were suffering from misting visors couldn’t tell the difference. Then it went all wet bits as light rain fell. Times were a bit of a lottery with those who went hard early benefitting. Conor Ryan blitzed the field with a time 5 seconds faster than anyone else. Those silly on Friday were at least tuned into a wet track and your reporter was happy with 8th on the grid.

An unfortunate non-starter was Nigel whose gearbox locked up on the way to the ‘pre-grid’ on Saturday morning. It’s a long way to travel to confirm in practice your new motor is good but spend the weekend spectating.

The qualifying order up front behind Conor was Bill Roberts, Matt , Don, Grant and Dean. Phil Parky had a great practice to be 7th.

The weather came good(ish) by the afternoon race, dry and cold. I managed to get a demon start and after a couple of laps break free of Damian and chase Matt for most of the race. In a repeat of a past Eastern Creek episode Matt obligingly slowed on the last lap to let me catch up and we crossed the line side by side with Matt 1/100th of a second in front.

So the finishing order was Conor by a large margin from Don, Grant close together, Bill, then Matt and I crossing the line side by side, Andrew and the Deans finished next within a second of each other followed by rest of the field having their own battles. Damian, Alex and Parky were DNF’s, Parky with a broken gear shift rod. All were fixed overnight.

The Glenrowan group retired to the pub again and were joined for dinner by Matt’s FF acquaintances to make a group of 8. I hope everyone else had as much fun as us.

We had a late start on Sunday so had a chance to spectate in the now sunny and cool weather. Given my good result from Saturday I was now on the third row of the grid with Matt and in sight of

the fast guys. For the first couple of laps Matt and I swapped places while maintaining station with the fast group.

I’ve heard people talk about ‘brake testing’ and I’m now suspecting I’ve been a victim of it. Going into the first corner of the ‘cleavage’ Bill hit the brakes far earlier than I expected or would normally brake. The resultant avoidance and spin left me way behind for a 9th place finish. I wasn’t helped my brakes wanting to lock the right front and when I unloaded at home an oily patch in the trailer shows a rear axle seal has failed again and lubricated the rear brakes.

Up front it was again the treacherous and experienced old guys versus the smart young guys. Conor wasn’t allowed to escape this time and was followed closely home by Bill, Don and Grant in a tight bunch. Matt was 5th and admitted that he couldn’t keep up with the lead group. After Matt the rest of us found our own little groups to have a race within a race to the enjoyment of all.

Sunday afternoon saw all lined up to do it again. Satisfyingly, 18 cars faced the starter and all made it to the finish line. Up front it the pattern repeated with Conor comfortably ahead of the tight group  of Bill, Grant and Don. Matt and Damian had a bit of a lonely time to come in ahead of the next bunch of me, Dean McLaughlan and Andrew Grevis-James who had been swapping places throughout the race. According to Natsoft Dean’s slipstream attempt to beat me to the line failed by 1/100th of a second. Another almost dead heat! Ian B who was down on power with a tired engine shadowed us to finish one second behind with Dean Briggs in his new car a further second behind.

Thus ended a great race weekend. I’ve relied on Natsoft for this report and added a few midfield observations from the driver’s seat. I’ve listed the early finishers however the racing extends right through the field and everyone is having a ball. Who cares about the finishing order, we’re here to enjoy ourselves!

And we did!

Special thanks to Ross McLaughlan and family who generously invited everyone to share their brunch on Saturday. It was a great initiative to give all the competitors a chance to mingle. The historic vee community is growing with most of the growth now in Victoria. Victoria are also providing the young guns that are giving the champs of the past a challenge. The chance to get to know each other off the track is appreciated particularly as Winton, together with Wakefield Park, is the track most accessible to both NSW and Victoria.

The Midfield Report from Wakefield Park Jim Clark Memorial meeting in April 2018, this time as observed from the garage

Yes another great meeting and weekend, unless your name was Steve. The weather was terrific and the HSRCA as usual provided everyone with a chance to have fun with old cars.
13 Vees were entered with nearly all there on Friday to sort cars and drivers. Steve Batty almost qualifies as a newcomer having been involuntarily absent for some time with medical / licence problems. Unfortunately he only made the first private practice session before a main bearing let go in his brand new engine. Buggar! Matt Scott made the trip from Melbourne to keep the NSWelsh honest.

He wasn’t the only one with an uncooperative car over the weekend. Steve Normoyle’s car lost oil pressure on Friday so he flag marshalled on Saturday before returning home early. Alex battled a battery flattening problem all weekend until resolving it on Sunday. Phil Parky had a series of issues including collapsing wheel bearings and brake shoe retaining pins disappearing. Still, it kept him and Norm occupied between sessions. Notable was the dummy grid steering box adjustment. It’s a worry when pit crew are wandering around the dummy grid carrying spanner and screw driver. Tony pulled in early from Sunday morning’s race due to a broken top rear shock mount. And your reporter battled a spluttering engine that cleared after about 2 laps until the attempted fixes caused it to run on three cylinders. The remedy was worse than the problem! Nigel took a while to sort brake bias, that’s a problem when you degrease the rear brake linings. And I’m sure there are others I’ve forgotten or don’t know. Kevan was trouble free after lots of work to repair body damage after Eastern Creek!

As normal the group retired to the Astor on Friday evening for refreshments and food to analyse the day’s performances. Saturday qualifying saw Tony on pole by a significant margin (what a surprise), then Pete, Nigel and Kevan. The Ians followed, Ian B in front, then Matt, Alex, Peter Mohacsi, Chris Reeks, Phil Parkinson and David Harley who joined the group for his first ever run in a vee.

On Saturday afternoon I had my best race of the weekend. After starting no. 6 on the grid a misfire for the first 2 laps got me into the company of Chris and Alex. What a race! I understand it was the dice of the race with us all passing, being re-passed and then repeating the exercise. On the last lap Alex dived down the inside at the fish hook to pass both the others but then ran wide out of the second last turn letting Chris and I past. I managed to sneak past Chris into the last turn and hope he
wouldn’t out-drag me to the line. He didn’t by 4/100th of a second! The lap chart shows out of the three of us Alex lead for 4 laps, Chris 3 and I managed 2. Alex slipped in front of Ian B for a short time until Ian B came back past.

Up front Tony finished first followed at a distance by Pete with a further gap to Kevan with Nigel close behind. Ian B was next with Matt half a second behind him then Ian C, Chris and Alex, Peter Mohasci and Phil. David Harley didn’t finish due to leaking axle boots and consequent oil burn on the exhaust.

The table booked on Saturday for 20 at the Astor was full and Pete set up an overflow table as well. As usual the group included our supporters and pit crew. James was around all weekend without his car, Norm was kept busy solving Phil’s car’s on-going minor issues, Ian Bailey helped me not solve my issues while enjoying watching the success of his recently sold FJ Lynx. Richard Batty couldn’t help his dad but I understand was responsible for some unnecessary scotch night capping back at the motel. 

Fortunately it didn’t seem to harm Kevan’s driving the next day. And there were all the others who help out and keep us entertained.

On Sunday morning my fluffy engine took only half a lap to clear and I again managed to get on to Chris’ tail until an overtaking attempt coming down the hill went wrong and I went gardening. After recovery I caught the group of Phil, Peter and Kevan who’d lost time trying the grassy line coming on to the straight. My attempt to out-fox Phil into the last turn was highly unsuccessful and in his words I went roaring past him on the inside with all four wheels locked and had another trip onto the grass.

Once back on the track I was now behind Tony a lap down and losing interest in the race to extent that I followed Tony into the pits when he pulled off on the second last lap. I thought I must have missed the chequered flag. That was a race to forget!
And apparently I wasn’t he only one to fall for Tony’s subterfuge. Nigel and Pete slowed and started waving to the flaggies after observing Tony and I pulling into the pits. Same problem, they thought they’d missed the chequered flag!

The result sheet shows a win for Pete then Nigel, Ian B, Matt, Peter, Chris, Kevan, Alex, Phil then David setting some respectable times for a first timer. My attempts to get the car running were becoming more desperate. The Saturday afternoon carby
change only proved that wasn’t the problem. A new set of plugs donated by Phil didn’t solve anything. We decided on suspicion to fit a new set of spark plug leads which resulted in no go at all until the coil lead was found to have no terminal at one end. 

After refitting the old one it ran on three cylinders so I headed for the dummy grid hoping for it to clear. Having time to reflect while sitting on the grid I decided it would better heading back to the pits to try and get the car running properly for the last race. So I was a spectator for race 3. The main interest was watching Tony go from the back of the grid after his previous race DNF to the lead. At the end of the first lap he was 5th, second lap 3rd, third lap 2nd and by the fourth lap was in the lead. How are we going to handicap this man? Behind Tony was Pete then Nigel all fairly close, then Kevan, Matt, Chris and Ian B in a group. Both Chris and Ian were having a great weekend. Alex, Peter Phil and David followed, David getting quicker as he learnt the car and circuit.

My attempts to get the car running were unsuccessful. In the peace and quiet back at home it only took a few minutes to find that one spark plug was gapless and the brand-new Mexican plug leads were useless with a lack of terminals on some. Re-gapping the plug and re-fitting all the old leads has it running on four cylinders again. Fluffy problem yet to be resolved!

So I was spectator again for the last race. Not the only one, Chris who’d had a great weekend despite starter problems found the cause as he was going out for the final race. Getting into the car he had warm feeling between his legs which turned out to be a hot and bloated battery. It was rapidly removed before it exploded.

The interest of this race was whether Nigel could get past Kevan for third place. The two were nose to tail the whole race with Nigel trying everything he knew to get past and Kevan having none of it. Nigel slipped past on the second lap only to be immediately retaken but managed to do it again on the second last lap and hold on to the finish by less than a second – a tight margin after 8 laps. Matt and Ian B put on a similar display with Ian pushing Matt all the way until he got past down the
straight on the second last lap. However, going into turn 2 on the last lap it appeared that they both wanted the same bit of road and Ian found himself on the grass on the inside of the turn. Alex was close enough behind to capitalise on Ian’s misfortune and beat him to the flag behind Matt. No doubt there are two versions of what happened; I was too far away to venture a third opinion. While this excitement was happening Tony was driving away into the distance from Pete a similar distance in front of Kevan/Nigel. Peter, Phil and David finished behind Ian.

The next meeting is Morgan Park with a few of us heading north – eight vees entered at the time of this report. Come and join us and do it all again.

THE MIDFIELD / ROOFTOP REPORT FROM SMSP NOVEMBER 2017

The HSRCA’s summer meeting at Sydney Motor Sport Park on 11 & 12 November brought 21 bees out to play despite a clash with Sandown. Matt Scott and Tony Brook made the trip from Melbourne and Doug Angus came down from Qld to join the otherwise NSW field. Greg Stott made a return from a long absence after selling then buying back his Mako. Bernie Haehnle gave his car some exercise for the first time in a while. Norm Vesty was another entry we haven’t seen for a couple of years. And Steve Normoyle was there for his first run in his new vee.

The weather for the weekend was a good as it gets with temps in the mid-twenties and virtually no wind. No damaged shelters this year!

Most were there on Friday to sort out cars and drivers. Your reporter started the day with very little braking and a spluttering engine from half way down the straight to turn 2. Bleeding, adjusting and hard use on the track sorted the brakes. A change of fuel pump improved the splutter to only affecting the last couple of hundred metres into turn 2.

By the last session on Friday only Alex, Bernie and I were on the track, everyone else obviously had everything sorted. Alex and I had a ball with our own private race after Bernie overtook us and we weren’t able to keep up. Tony unfortunately had some overnight repairs with help from DC after a bit of a bump with Ian B.

The vees had the first practice session on Saturday morning. Our president was off his usual pace as punishment for being led astray by his overnight host Tony Paynter and a scotch bottle. As expected DC set fastest time by a comfortable margin followed by the rest of the field with times suggesting some close racing. Your reporter was happy setting a better than usual practice time after spending Friday experimenting with some new lines through corners. New tyres helped! But the spluttering engine into turn 2 was a frustration.

The race 1 result sheet shows a comfortable win to DC with a tight tussle for second between the Nigels resolved in the Jones favour by .1 of a second. Geoff Stone and Pete Iredale followed then a close tussle for 6th between Matt Scott, Chris Raper and your reporter. Matt was kind enough to let me through at the flag with Chris just behind. Bernie followed and was reported as observing that he was keeping his distance as he thought we were mad. It might have something to do with Chris and I going through turn 4 with wheels interlocked. If this is true our tactic worked!

I can report the last half of race 2 from the pit roof after having the car almost fail to start due to weak battery and subsequent lack of electricity to power the ignition causing me to pull out after two laps. The battery always lasts the whole weekend without charging. Except this time! The field was unusually strung out but with two and three car dices throughout. DC again lead the field home with Pete second and Doug Angus making it to third from the back of the grid after a DNF in race 1.

My sparing partners from race 1 were next, Matt 4th then Chris and Bernie just pipping Kevan after a race-long duel. Kevan was recovering!

Waving goodbye as I sneak off early

With Chris Raper’s help a check of my car with a healthy battery showed all good so Chris and Bernie kindly accommodated my car overnight beside a power point. In the morning everything was working fine – it seemed.

Race 3 was a fizzer. It could have been interesting with both Nigels, Geoff Stone and I off the back of the grid – me hoping to stay with them. However an unfortunate contact between the visiting Victorians brought out the pace car for most of the race. At the restart my car decided to run erratically again, not only into turn 2 but it slowed coming out of turn 3 giving Norm a bit of a surprise. I pulled off before someone ran into me.

Before race 4 I changed the carby and eliminated the fuel filter. And belatedly checking the obvious found that the points had closed up. One or all of these cured the problem!

I was again off the back of the grid for race 4 but managed to work up to dice with Ian B and Greg Stott for most of the race. I lost the tow towards the end and in a last lap attempt to make up ground took a faster line through turn 9. It didn’t work, the resulting spin dropping me two places. At least I got a good look at Bernie’s car that had been parked on the inside of the turn for most of the race. The order up front was again DC followed by Doug, Geoff, the Nigels and Pete.

So it was another great race meeting. Frank Kleinig recovering from some health issues visited in the pits. Non competitors including Steve Batty, Tony Paynter and James Nagel with Karen were in the pits all weekend lending a hand as needed. And of course the families and friends of the competitors were there as usual lending their support.

Here’s to the next one!

Cutch

Green and gold: very patriotic

The vee camp in the paddock

Sandown Park Report for November 11th & 12th

Sandown Park for the traditional November meeting was supported by 6 of our cars

To run with J,K,LB and Invited Categories. It was extremely un fortunate the weekend clashed with Eastern Creek as splitting the numbers for our class is not helpful.

Conor Ryan, Chris Jackson, Ross and Dean McLaughlan, Phillip Gardner and Don Greiveson were all in good racing trim to take on the challenge. Grant Kelly parked the Vee and was offered the drive of dad Geoff’s Sports 2000 Tiga and was enjoying all that Horsepower. Geoff wasn’t so keen on the fact Grant drove the car using the Brakes like a Formula 1 car and wore the Brake Pads out in no time at all, and it uses more fuel.

Much cheaper to run a Vee, and just as much fun, with the suggestion to all, take note!!

The weather was quite hot for Melbourne so no trouble warming up tyres or cars.

Qualifying gave us up to 9 laps and Conor Ryan set the pace for the Vees qualifying a very respectable 10th out of a field of 27 cars. All the rest of us followed split by the cars in other classes and only Dean Mclaughan having any issues. Don 13th was in the next group of times,

under instructions from his pit crew to try and avoid crashing into another RED car.

 After the Drivers Briefing pep talk about driving standards wisely figured $500 bucks might be better in his pocket. Phillip Gardner 15th, Chris Jackson 16th and Ross Mclaughlan 18th were in the mix not far behind and far from disgraced in this company.

Race 1 saw Conor in a ding dong battle with former Formula Vee veteran Ian Edgar in the MG TC special, and another TC special just in front. 11th outright for Conor with Don having been challenged the whole race by another “Red” special finishing 13th and the other 4 Vees line astern 19th to22nd in a great race together having been held up by the others.

Race 2 saw a traffic jam from turn 1 to turn 4 on the first lap with the bravest of the brave to find a way through the pack. This race turned out to be a 3 way battle with Conor and Don challenging the superior straight line performance of the Ian Edgar MG Special.

Well we certainly sharpened Ian up for his return to Vee racing next year in Noel Bulls Elfin.

With the end result Ian in the MG 10th, Conor 11th and Don 12th covered by .35 of a second at the line and Chris Jackson sandwiched between an MG and a Nota for 17th with Dean Ross and Phillip line astern behind the Nota in a really tight group. Chris being split by the 1st lap traffic jam robbed him of a Vees slip stream up the back straight, so frustrating!

Race 3 resulted in another titanic battle with Conor eventually getting a break after a wheel to wheel battle with another “RED “sporty to finish a terrific 8th slipping away due to a massive blow up near the end by another class car and leaving oil and yellow flags to be negotiated by all behind, Ian in the MG 9th was leading Don 10th by a slim slipstream when this occurred and thus let Conor slip away. Not far adrift Chris and Dean were travelling well 12th and 13th with Ross split up to be 16th. Unfortunately Phil Gardner had a Gearshift failure and that stuffed his race.

In all a great weekend of racing with former Vee drives Peter George, Frank Bathgate and Reg Gardner in attendance. Reg surprised us with the news that he still has a bottle of Formula Vee Port from 1980 in his collection. Not sure that it was that good Reg!

Another great weekend of “Historic Motor Sport” at Sandown. 

Phillip Island 2017

A number of historic formula vees from the HFVAA supported the Formula Vee Association of Victoria at Phillip Island after an invitation to compete and assist with competitor numbers.

Eight Historic Formula Vee members attended  with Sixteen 1600cc cars and one only modern spec 1200cc car. This made 26 cars in all and with the full support of the Victorian Mini Club who organised the meeting.

This meeting was round 5 of the Vic State Series which is promoted by a different club each time and held at 3 separate venues.

Friday practice was made available for those who wished to practice, plus 1 qualification session on Saturday morning to be followed by three 8 lap races, 1 on Saturday afternoon and the other 2 on the Sunday.

The weather was fine but a bit Windy and cool on Saturday and the odd shower on Sunday made for interesting racing.

Our Senior member Geoff Stone came down from Tweed Heads and was on fire setting the pace throughout the weekend. Grant Kelly followed suit with Don Greiveson from S.A watching the

Ability of the pace setters. Matt Scott, Dean Mc laughlan, Dean Briggs, Ross Mc Laughlan and Phillip Gardner followed on to enjoy the activity. All of the Historic cars were faster than Ian Mac Donald in the later spec

1200cc car. Ian Mac Donald was to express his interest in an Historic Vee later in the weekend as he had observed we were all having a great time and showed ourselves to be a very close knit group.

The first race showed how good Geoff Stone is at the age of 70 something and not counting anymore. Grant, Don, Matt and Dean followed on to attempt to keep up with the Senior Citizen Geoff finished in 14th place overall.

A truly great result. The cars were checked for Historic Rules compliance on the weekend by Victorian Sealer  Max Bonney who advised owners of any issues with their cars, and gave out advice to help.

Sundays races proved a bit tricky with light showers to liven things up.

The front running 1600cc cars went off into the distance and the Historic Vees went about our own racing behind them, having started a couple of rows spacing at the rear of the others.

Geoff again showed us how it was to be done. My car has a mind of its own in the wet [ a quote from Geoff Stone ] well it did not look like that to those following, and Geoff went on to claim the win.

I had a couple of spins, the first due to getting too close to Geoff in turn 2, then another at turn 4 after travelling some 400 meters with wet tyres and a brain in neutral.  Grant Kelly kept it all together to run second after deciding that the black stuff and pointing in the right direction was the way to go, passing  me recovering at turn 4.

We also encountered Benjamin Rhodes who was making heavy weather of his 1600cc car in the wet and he managed to split Grant and myself at the finish. Geoff having blasted past him some time before.

Matt Scott, Dean Briggs, Ross Mclaughlan and Philip Gardner kept it on the black stuff to finish not far adrift.

Former Formula Vee notable competitor  Ian Edgar was a spectator and commented the Vee Race was fantastic to watch all the way through the field.

The final race of the day was used by Geoff and I to help our newer members experience what slip streaming was all about and to make another great race for the Historics.  A shower of rain livened things up again with everybody staying on the black stuff.

 At the finish it was me from Geoff, Matt, Benjamin in the 1600cc car and Grant Kelly followed by a pack of 1600cc cars lapping to the finish line to split both Dean and Ross in a really close encounter.

The weekend was considered a great success for all as the Phillip Island circuit is a truly great place to race a Vee.

The Formula Vee Association of Victoria were extremely grateful  for our support so they did not have to run in a combined field of other classes of cars, and considered it a success all round.

Hopefully we can do it again with more Historic Vees supporting the weekend.

Cheers Don.

THE MIDFIELD/REAR OF THE MID FIELD REPORT FROM WINTON FESTIVAL OF SPEED, 4 – 6 AUGUST 2017

The Winton Festival of Speed was targeted by the HFVAA as a preferred meeting based on its location close enough from Sydney and close to Melbourne. This was rewarded with an entry of 24 vees, 12 from NSW and 11 from Vic and Don as usual representing SA. It was fantastic to see around 20 cars parked in the garage together.

It was great to see some new young faces from Victoria. Shame they brought their weather with them. It didn’t rain all the time, only mostly. And the only reason to put the beer in the fridge was to stop it getting too cold.

Most of the NSWelsh arrived on Thursday afternoon ready for Friday practice. An early scratching was Kevin O’Toole who’d left Sydney at 2 am on Friday morning to make the second practice session on Friday. After the first session his handling problems were traced to an ineffective camber cable. Repaired for the second session all was good until Kevin received a phone call to say his wife was ill. So Kevin had to pack up and head back up the highway. Kevin has battled bad luck with the car for a number of meetings but has persisted. It’s a shame that the car problems seem to be solved but fate intervened in another way.

So the rest of us splashed our way around to refresh our memories or in some cases learn the circuit. A large puddle on the apex of the turn onto the back straight caused some of us to return from the first session soaked through. As usual the green parts of the circuit hid some very brown mud so a few cars came back looking like extreme off-roaders. As the weekend went on many more came back looking like cow pats!

President Kevan would like it recorded that his car was not one of them!

The wet track tends to expose issues not so obvious in the dry. After spinning every time he braked Ian B found that his brake bias was totally to the rear. It wasn’t until overnight on Saturday that he managed to overcome the problems with the balance bar. Those among us, including your reporter, who were caught out be lack of availability of new Dunlops and hence running old tyres with nearly no tread found the conditions testing.

On Friday evening the Glenrowan group had an early beer and meal. Some headed off to a warm bed for early lights out while others stayed on to review the day’s proceedings until a little later into the night. It was a leisurely start on Saturday as most had scrutineered on Friday and practice wasn’t until 11.30. Practice was again on a damp to drying track. Nigel Hooke set a best time that would have been acceptable in the dry, followed by Nigel Jones and Daniel Bando. Grant Kelly missed setting a time due to gear linkage problems after a gearbox swap. A number of the cars returned to the pits with a coating of mud.

The first race was a Nigel benefit, Hook in front of Jones. Connor Ryan made it to third 3 tenths behind NJ. The track was drying and probably the best we were to see all weekend. Your reporter’s support team had arrived at the circuit and the pressure was on to improve a very mediocre starting position. A great start saw me get from 16th up to 9th before a little too much speed and some off line into the esses saw me join the dirty car brigade. How do you get mud on the top of the seat back? As I went rotary to the inside of the track I spotted someone else rejoining on the other side. And we weren’t the only ones! The prize goes to Don who reportedly went straight ahead at turn one, across country through the pond behind the marshall’s hut and rejoined the black bit of the circuit at turn 3. This earned him the commentator’s most entertaining water spray of the day award!

The Glenrowan team again convened for a beer and meal at the pub, the group expanded by the arrival of Matt’s family and Ms Cutcher. As usual many of the drivers were supported by family and friends including the Kelly family all present with their heater in the pits, Daniel’s dad in the role of ‘transport officer’ (according to Daniel), Nigel’s brother, Tash supporting Ian B as usual and Denise and Lisa supporting Kevan and Pete. And many others that I didn’t get to meet.

Sunday was again a relaxed start with our first race scheduled for midday. With no improvement in the weather a few elected to put cars on trailers including Alex, Peter Mohacsi and Geoff Stone. Maybe Geoff was still dizzy from the day before and the task of cleaning the car too daunting. And he told me his tyres had grip! Yeah!

Race 2 saw a new winner, Conor Ryan. Nigel Hook took second with Pete Iredale in third. Nigel Jones had car issues and joined the other three Rennmax Mk2’s at the blunt end of the field. Phil Parkinson was thrilled to be the first Mk2 to finish!

Our third race was the last race of the day so many elected to head off early. While they were packing up I watched the Group N’s and S’s on a wet track. Even the lowest powered N’s were getting wheelspin up the incline out of the esses. The Group S race was one of the most entertaining I’ve seen for a long time. It started with a Geoff Morgan spin in the first corner and thereafter it was constant action. At least 6 cars spun on the short straight out of the esses, fortunately without any contact.

In the early afternoon the weather fined up and the radar showed no rain in the area. A dry race at last! 11 cars faced the starter for the third race. Your reporter again took advantage of the dryish track to pick up a number of places on the first lap. And then – down came the rain! After yet another spin at the end of the back straight due to lack of grip under brakes I decided to just do the best I could in the circumstances while staying pointed in the right direction. Ian B was suffering similar tyre disadvantage and a spin at the same time so we had our own private race until Ian got past and disappeared into the distance. So a first for me, last that is!

This race saw Conor with another win. Pete got to the chequered flag second this time with Grant Kelly overcoming his disappointing start to the weekend with a third. Daniel was uncharacteristically down the order. Maybe the warm up lap spin spooked him?

Any racing weekend is a good weekend and this had its high points. But the weather was testing. It was great to see a garage with around 20 vees and few more elsewhere around the pits. There were very few mechanical issues and Grant was the only one to lose track time. You need to do Friday practice Grant! Despite the number of spins and dirty cars there was no damage all weekend.

It was also great to see virtually equal numbers of entries from Vic and NSW. It’s been a goal for a long time!

And it’s great to see some of the young guns winning.

And I’m off to buy new tyres!

WINTON FESTIVAL OF SPEED 2017 - ENTRIES CLOSE SOON!

The 8th Historic Festival of Speed Returns to Winton in August 2017

A 300 plus field of historic cars from the 1940s through to the 1990s are set to raceat the Winton long track for the Winton Festival of Speed, on 5-6 August this year.

The Festival of Speed first appeared on the Winton calendar in 2010 and since then, it has grown into one of the best-attended historicevents of the year.

Organised as a joint venture between Winton Motor Raceway and the Victorian Historic Racing Register (VHRR), the Festival of Speed is growing in competitor and spectator numbers year on year.

At the top of the events is the Just Cars Touring Car Cup for Group N Historic Touring Cars, a 50km feature race that sees iconic V8 muscle cars of the 1970s (Ford Mustangs Falcon GTHOs, Chevrolet Camaros, Valiant Chargers and Holden Monaros) competing against smaller and more nimble cars of the era such as Holden Torana XU1s, Ford Escorts and Alfa Romeo GTVs.

The powerful tin top V8s are expected to lead the way early, but will also be harder on their brakes and tyres over the 17-lap journey so the lighter vehicles will be at their heels towards the end, setting up the prospect of an exciting finish.

Festival of Speed race director Peter Donald said the Just Cars Cup was an exciting addition to the program in 2016.

“Fans who attend historic race meetings always enjoy the spectacle and sound of muscle cars being hustled around a technical racetrack like Winton, and Historic Touring cars appeal to fans of all ages, Mr Donald said.

“There are the people who grew up with those sorts of cars, but there are also the younger generations who are fascinated by the older vehicles.”

The Festival of Speed will again include a feature race- the 15-lap Rose City Sports Car Trophy-, for Group S historic production sports cars including Porsche 911s, various MG models, Corvettes and De Tomaso Panteras.

A new addition is a special speed event for Bathurst era Group C tribute and muscle cars from the 70’s and 80’s, otherwise known as classic tin tops. Also on the schedule will be the Victorian MG Racing Series, Group P, Q and R Sports and Racing, Group M and O Sports and Racing, Group J,K and Lb races, and historic Formula Ford and Formula Vee.

A number of high-profile drivers are set to compete in the event, with further news to be released in the coming weeks.

• Winton Festival of Speed Competitor list & Race schedule – Up around early August
• Winton Festival of Speed Entry Forms – Click here
• Advertising Rates for the Race Programme – Click here

Malala Race Report by Don Greiveson

"The weekend at Mallala went off without a hitch.

Geoff Stone, Matt Scott, Frank Chessell and myself represented the Vees. We ran with K L M & O which on paper looked bad news, however it turned out ok. Most were quicker and the few slower not really a problem. Entries for the meeting were well down, they suspect due to the Easter timing. I was the pace in the Vees and the others chased me. We had a  Qually and 4 scratch races and 1 handicap race.

Frank Chessell unfortunately had a gearbox problem and that took him out for the weekend. We all had a good time with good weather up until the last race on Sunday which was wet. Geoff decided not to run in the last, but after watching me work the 3 others who were quicker, I think he wished he had run.

The race in the wet showed just how good our cars can be when compared to the other classes. Firstly 1 car spun in front of Matt and I in the first turn after leaving the pits on the warm up lap. He was trying to warm up his tyres on a wet track [ what a laugh ] and promptly spun and blocked the track. We stopped and let him sort himself out. Off the line I nearly out dragged them to turn 1, couldn’t quite pull it off.

Then for the next few laps both Matt and I shadowed the 2 leaders who were dicing intensely and the inevitable happened, both went wide at Woody’s hairpin corner, and I was in the lead in a split second decision. 

The guy in the Riley special who was now second was very determined to re pass me, and next thing I look in the mirror and he is sideways on the Start Finish straight having a big loose. Matt who was behind him having passed Bill Hemmings Formula Junior said it was a real classic. The guy apparently gave it the welly and the result was he blew it in a big way, and finished well behind. I decided keeping it on the black stuff was the way to go and greeted the flag on my own. Matt just got pipped for second by Bill Hemming. Geoff watched the race from the bank and said the commentators and the crowd on the bank were all barracking for the Vees to beat them.

So a good thing we didn’t let them down. I think Tony would have really enjoyed the challenge. Peter Williamson from the Sporting Car Club spoke to me afterwards and lobbied for us to support the meeting next year.

The Fords had 12 cars and got their own races, and I suspect if we could raise the numbers they would also support us. Next year is 21st and 22nd of April.

Don Greiveson

A Newbies Perspective - Wakefield Park

As newcomers to the club, we (David and Geoff) brought our recently acquired Avanti along for our first participation in historic Formula Vee. After pooling our gold sovereigns and purchasing the Avanti from Kevan Peters towards the end of 2016, we have basically spent time getting familiar with how the car works as well as squeezing in a track day and having a drive each. David rapidly achieved a competition licence while I am aiming to progress from an L2S as time permits. 

Saturday offered reasonable conditions and David qualified the car in 9th, and in respect of track position, was able to stay with the second group of cars over the races. Sunday went smoothly for David while he got into the competition groove and tried the limits of the old tyres we were running. Meanwhile I took what opportunity there was to do my normal routine behind the camera but that will come to a halt when my Ranger completes restoration later in the year. 

It will be interesting to see how David goes with a bit more experience in the Avanti and fresh set of tyres.
 
So what do we think as our first impressions? We had a great time - the quality of the cars is excellent, there is a distinct camaraderie that reflects a healthy and engaged club membership, and the welcome that we have received has been heartening. The category is reasonably affordable to get into, advice is readily available and the cars appear to be quite reliable. What is even better is that my dear wife visited Wakefield Park on Sunday to see what we were up to and I appear to have achieved a renewable leave pass to get along to the next meeting, but I'm really not sure if it was Steve's birthday cake or the smell of fuel and oil that impressed her the most.

Geoff Russell and David Clark

The mid-field formula vee report from Wakefield Park, 8 & 9 April 2017

As usual in the erratic series of mid-field reports, this report is the biased view of the reporter and relies pit hearsay. Both these sources of information are highly unreliable.

There were 16 vees entered and HSRCA had programmed practice / qualifying plus 4 races over the weekend, all vee only events. Don was over from SA as usual and Matt Scott and Clive Brook made the trip from Melbourne.

Most of the group were there on Friday to sort out cars and drivers. President Kevan was again plagued with a car that refused to run cleanly. After the usual change-out of high tension leads, condensers etc. without effect Pete Iredale peered into the carby to observe the absence of the air correction jet! A late in the day lap of the pits confirmed problem solved! The Victorians spent the day finding their way around the track, neither having raced it before. Nigel Hook was having a frustrating time sorting out his clutch slave cylinder geometry. Someone who will not be identified had problems with an errant engine cover that couldn’t make it around turn 2 without detaching itself. Fortunately it was only bruised, not broken.

In the evening the group re-assembled at the Astor for a few quiet drinks, pleasant conversation and dinner. 

It was an early start on Saturday morning with drivers’ briefing and then first practice session at 9 am. Unknown to the group was the quota of two spins during qualifying and quite a few unknowingly used their quota. Ian B exceeded the quota with three spins and was yellow carded by the clerk of course. The CoC accepted his excuse that it was the fault of the car and the track and nothing to do with the driver and it wouldn’t happen again. (Remember this as you read below).

As usual with Tony was fastest with the Nigels following. Ian B surprised himself with fourth fastest proving the old adage that you don’t know how fast you can go until you spin. David Clark in his first drive of the ex-Peters Avanti and without the benefit of Friday practice set a very respectable time to be in the mid group.

Race 1 before lunch saw Tony with a clear win followed by Nigel J and Pete Iredale in third. The next group of Kevan, Don and David Clark crossed the line together with Chris Raper a little way behind battling clutch issues. Ian B was monstered out of his 4th place start to lose touch with this group and eventually obliged your reporter by spinning and letting him past. The Ian’s finished side by side with Ian C a nose in front. 

Race 2 on Saturday afternoon started (?) in confusion with over-excitement causing our president to gun it when the red light came on, the pole sitter acting on the orange light by reversing back up the grid and those further down the grid facing a wall of stationery or reversing cars. Both Ian’s admitted to demon starts that went nowhere. Another warm up and reformation saw the race under way. Chris Raper was slow away still having clutch problems and in the course of coming back through the field touched another car and lost the bodywork. Those suitcase latches have their limitations! The established order at the front was disestablished when Tony had a little excursion at the fish hook letting Pete and Nigel through. The next group of Nigel H, Don, David, Kevan and your reporter finished in a tight group after a race-long tussle. Pete took the win with Tony recovering to pip Nigel J on the line by 3/100th of a second. A great first historic win for Pete! (I’m told others have convinced him to stop fiddling with the car and just drive it).

Sunday morning brought showers with it and wet track to start the day. Our 3rd race was the fourth one of the morning and the track still looked a bit damp when we went out. Ian B stayed on form with a spin on the warm up lap – just testing the adhesion! The result sheet shows Tony just in front of Nigel at the finish after a trip up the hill on the grass. Don just pipped Pete by 4/100th for third. Nigel H was next clear of Kevan. Your reporter was a little too cautious on the opening lap to lose touch with Kevan but was soon joined by David and Nigel H. The three way dice apparently kept the spectators with their hearts in their mouths watching some desperate lunges under brakes at the end of the straight followed by two abreast runs up the hill and position changes a couple of times a lap. Nigel spun coming off the top of the hill on the last lap and Ian’s avoidance caused him to also spin letting Matt through and Ian B closed enough for another side by side finish in Ian C’s favour.

Our last race was just after lunch on Sunday. Despite threatening, the rain held off. Due to the spin on the last lap of race 3 your reporter was a little further back on the grid then he would have liked. And one day he’ll learn to start racing on the first lap, not the second when everyone else has disappeared into the distance. Like bike racing, if you drop off the group it’s virtually impossible to regain it.

Again the result sheet shows a comfortable win to Tony with Nigel in second and Pete close behind in third. Somehow a formula ford showed up in the race and is recorded as fifth after Don. That remains unexplained, but fordies, we don’t want your discards if that is the plan! Must admit it was a bit of a surprise to have a ford roar past on the straight! The Ians again had fun together with Ian C just getting to the line first one more time. Matt was close behind as he’d been all weekend.

Looking at the result sheets there was great racing all weekend close behind with Chris Reeks, Peter Mohasci, Clive Brook, Phil Parkinson and Alex Kelty. Your reporter tends to look forward, not back, during the race so can’t offer any info on these tussles.

Feats of note include rare offs by Tony enlivening the race up front, a maiden win for Pete (careful how you read that), very quick lap times from Ian B which unfortunately didn’t translate into race positions, Kevan had a problem free weekend after a frustrating Friday and an impressive performance from David Clark on his debut. The Victorians got better all weekend as they learned the track.

Also gratifying was the pit support. Among others were a couple of Batty’s, James and Karen (why weren’t you competing?), a highly experienced pit crew for Phil and about 25 of Pete’s family. As usual Tash was supporting Ian B and Denise was it doing for the president. And the evenings are just as important as the racing when everyone gets together for a drink, dinner and solve all the day’s problems. And create tomorrow’s problems?

The HSRCA provided a great meeting, the weather was great on Friday and Saturday and the rain concentrated on the group N races on Sunday, adding immensely to the entertainment. As far as I know there were no vehicle recoveries all weekend although I wasn’t watching all the time. That is amazing.

See you at Winton!

HSRCA Tasman Trophy Meeting 2016 at Sydney Motorsport Park Formula vee: The Midfield Report

The midfield reporter has been lured out of retirement to report on what may be the best racing yet seen by the FV category. Certainly that’s true for your biased reporter.

17 vees entered for the meeting which offered practice plus 5 races – that’s a good deal!

Consistent through the weekend was the spectacle of David Cutts and Tony Paynter duelling for the lead with Nigel Jones just behind them. Then there was the real race behind that with 9 or 10 cars duelling for 4th place.

The class is maturing with a large number of cars running around a 2 minute lap of SMSP providing great close racing for the drivers and a great spectacle for the viewers.

Friday private practice: most of the FV entrants were there to blow out the cobwebs and find any car problems in time to fix them. Kevin O’ Toole was an unfortunate casualty with a brand new engine having terminal problems. Kevin’s suffering more than his fair share of teething problems, hang in there, it all gets better!

Saturday was busy with HSRCA scheduling practice plus 3 races for the day. FV was grouped with L & M which includes some wonderful cars but there’s a compatibility problem on the race track. Vees are fast in the twisty bits and slow on the straights, L & M have the opposite characteristics. This problem was resolved with a HSRCA agreement to a staggered start with the L & M’s starting 10 seconds behind.

Race 1 before lunch was a screamer. The usual suspects at the front of the field ran away but the next group of about 9 cars had a fantastic race–long dice changing places and slip streaming and weaving continuously and all finishing within a few seconds of each other after the usual lunge to pick up another place at the finish line.

Race 2 started as a continuation of race 1 but was interrupted by a pace car after 2 laps which continued to the race end. Given the obstacle car drove back the pits no-one was able to understand why the racing couldn’t resume. So that has to be called as a non-event after finishing behind the pace car.

Race 3 was a vee only race with now 14 starters. Alex was having some teething problems with his car so had to miss this event. Bernie Cashin was also absent. Your reporter can’t make much comment on race 3 as a combination of a missed gear into turn 6 (twice) and avoiding a spinning car at turn 9 left him some way behind the pack. It’s a tough school, miss a gear change, run wide and you lose touch with the pack. Lose the tow down the straight and it’s virtually impossible to catch up.

The result sheet shows 7 cars continued the race for fourth with the two Ians having their own little race behind them.

At the end of Saturday there were some very tired but happy drivers.

Sunday was less demanding with one race in the morning and another in the afternoon. In the morning we shared with L & M again and in the afternoon with our old friends FF. Your reporter adjusted the gear shift and added some more air to the tyres to overcome his race 3 issues. Both adjustments worked!

The race pattern continued in the morning with the front runners having their own race and the rest tightly bunched. The race was enlivened by a couple of slow starts from Liz and Nigel with Nigel aggressively carving back through the field to work up to third place at the end. The mid field was split after our president Kevan was punted off the track again (it’s become a tradition) and those behind lost touch with those in front. So this time there was a group racing for 4th and another group fighting for 7th place.  This was also the race of the last lap spinners with Liz, Ian B and Alex all managing to throw away hard earned places on the last lap. Your reporter benefitted with his best placing of the weekend.

The final race started with some very strange grid positioning that had nothing to do with the results of the previous race couldn’t be reconciled with best lap times. This time Nigel joined the mid-pack after being helped to spin in turn 2 on lap 1 and having some anxious moments while the rest of the field missed him. Turn 2 can be very exciting on the first lap!

President Kevan had ignition problems and his car wouldn’t go. Sunday was a bad day for him! Tony and David again had a close tussle at the front resolved in Tony’s favour – just, I’m told. I’m also told it was extremely entertaining to watch.

This time the mid field again split into two groups each finishing in close company again after the usual place swapping within the group.

So there was some serious good racing. Newcomers Peter Mohasci (new to vee that is), Alex Kelty and Phil Parkinson were never far behind and had a lot of fun together. I’m sure they’ll be joining the big group shortly as they gain experience and sort their cars.