Celebrating 60 years of Formula Vee during the Return to Goulburn meeting

Race Report

The celebration of 60 years of Formula Vee in Australia was included as the focus of the HSRCA Return to Goulburn race meeting on the first weekend of February in 2025. With outstanding cooperation between the HSRCA, FVANSW and the HFVAA, a huge entry of sixty seven Formula Vees was received. The Vees were split across historic Va and Vb, modern 1600cc Vees and Vee Regularity. The big fields provided plenty of racing entertainment and the feedback from the drivers was that they enjoyed the challenge of the upgraded circuit. There was a high level of camaraderie amongst the various Vee participants and an unprecedented sharing of photos and video on social media. Amongst the entrants, the presence of current and past Formula Vee champions and crews, supported by well informed commentary, enabled Formula Vee to set a new level of expectation.

Saturday

Qualifying 1 - Formula Vee Historics and Invited

Qualifying started out under cloudy skies and a chilly wind  however thirty two Vees were lined up to set their times at the first session for the weekend. The ten minute session results showed that Mat Pearce in the Rennmax Mk2 had set the bar at a 1:13.4 followed closely by Tony Paynter in his Stag and Grant Cassell in the Invited category Nimbus setting the pace for the first race grid. The majority of the field set times within just ten seconds of the fastest lap and this set the scene for some very interesting racing for the day. Unfortunately the Spectre of Blake Hotz never made it onto the track due to some challenging clutch and gear selection issues. Qualifying also demonstrated the variety of Formula Vee designs that were present with Elfin, Spectre and Rennmax Vees proving the most numerous along with a variety of Nota, Mako and Stag Vees in the field.

Qualifying 5 - Formula Vee Regularity

Formula Vee Regularity was a new option that proved to be a popular choice for drivers who were entered in a shared car or had chosen to attend to enjoy the celebration with their Vee without the overhead of full competition. Gary Ogden in the 1600cc 2014 Corsica set a 1:11.72 as the best qualifying time, and Graham Engel in the 1600cc 99 Jacer was only a few seconds behind. Ray Collier was in his brother’s Commando Vee and in his first drive of the car set a very respectable 1:19.7. Chris McKie brought his 1981 Spectre out of many years of storage and set a 1:25.8, right alongside Anthony Charlton in the 1600cc Mako Mk3. It was great to see the Mariotto brothers, John and Loris, in their Notas and Michael Roberts in the very historic first-of-type Elfin Vee out on track. Christine McKinnon rounded out the qualifying field in an Elfin NG and unfortunately for Blake Hotz, his Spectre Vee developed a clutch problem which prevented his participation in the Vee races over the weekend.

Qualifying 7   Formula Vee modern

Through a combined effort of the HSRCA, FVANSW and the HFVAA, for the first time modern 1600cc Formula Vees were included in our racing. It was an eye opener to see the pace of these cars which are more powerful than our historic Vees and are well engineering in terms of suspension and brake components. Daniel Reynolds set the fastest qualifying time, achieving a 1:07.6 in just his second lap. Simon Pace was just half a second behind, both in Checkmate vees. Corey Ogden in the Corsica Vee was then in the following group that included McDonald, Pearce, Sparks, Butcher, Cooke and Stott. Less than four seconds separated the first seventeen cars of the field of twenty entrants.

Race 1 Formula Vee Historics and Invited

The first Vee race of the day included an huge field of thirty three cars of historic and invited categories. Mat Pearce in his Rennmax Mk2 led from the start, however Paynter recovered the lead and held a commanding position for the remaining laps of the race. Cutts and Pearce worked their respective strategies and as always, provided a captivating race as they challenged each other from lap to lap.

Tony Paynter’s Stag beat David Cutts to the line by about four seconds with a similar margin back to Mat Pearce. It was great to see Victorian competitor Max Bonney in his Elfin NG setting quick times and coming in fourth  with HFVAA President Dean Briggs in fifth place after working his way through from tenth. A distributor issue took Norm Johnstone out of the running, and an incident ended the weekend for Rod Wallace in the yellow Rennmax Mk2.

There was a standout drive by Grant Kelly in the Stag who showed strong early pace but dropped back to a ninth place, with better things coming in the later races. As the drivers came to terms with the relatively mild weather conditions we saw the mid-field group including Bando, Cochrane, Collyer, Bloodworth and Peters achieving times around the 1:14s . The race order then saw Dan Torresan in his Rennmax, Reeks in the Elfin Malmark, Chris Curran in another Rennmax Mk2, Bernie Cannon in the invited Kingfisher and Queenslander Neil Sivyer in his Elfin NG completing the field across the line.

Race 5 Formula Vee Regularity

Formula Vee regularity got off to a great start for the day with the appearance of the two Nota Vees of the Mariotto brothers out on track along with the Elfin NG of Christine McKinnon, Chris McKie’s Spectre and the ex-Garrie Cooper Elfin 500 driven by Michael Roberts. Anthony Charlton and Graham Engel rounded out the field of seven in their modern era Mako and Jacer Vees.

Loris Mariotto performed extremely well to achieve the lowest score of the session against his nominated time of 1:31, followed by his brother John, with Charlton and McKinnon following. The remaining three cars didn’t have a nominated time listed in the results.

Race 7 Formula Vee Modern

Twenty modern Formula Vees were gridded for our first look at these cars that were invited to participate at our historic meeting to celebrate sixty years of Formula Vee. Pole position was in Daniel Reynolds’ hands, with Simon Pace alongside. The fastest qualifying times for these cars was about five seconds quicker than our historic Vees. The two prime positions were achieved by Checkmate 1600cc cars, which were to prove dominant over the weekend.

The race saw a Checkmate lockout as Reynolds held a line to line lead over Pace, with Angus McDonald in the Jacer and Matthew Pearce in a similar chassis vying for third and fourth. Corey Ogden in the Corsica was showing a very strong presence as was Craig Sparks in another Jacer.

Further back in the field, the competition was tight as everyone found their pace. Corey Ogden and Stephen Butcher in his Stinger were neck and neck, with Mathew Pearce coming out ahead for a short time.

Back in ninth, Ryan Stott held position in his Jacer for the whole race, with Freemantle, McDonald  and Cooke swapping track position regularly. At the rear of the field, the McKinnon held on to track position as did Leigh Porter in his Elfin NG, Adrian Taylor in his Sabre and Michael Gale in his 2004 Mako.

The finish order was Reynolds in the 2007 Checkmate, followed by Simon Pace in the 2018 Checkmate and Corey Ogden in the Corsica rounding out the key placings.

Race 11 Formula Vee Historics and Invited

The trophy race for the weekend was Race 11. The grid was headed up with Tony Paynter on pole alongside David Cutts. Paynter’s lead only held out for the first lap as he was hotly pursued by Cutts, Pearce and Bonney as a spin dropped Paynter back to the mid field. Chris Jackson and Grant Kelly provided an entertaining battle, exchanging fourth and fifth place during the ensuing laps. Dean Briggs held on strongly in fifth position. The Elfin of Daniel Bando was challenged by Peters in his Rennmax Mk1, then Normoyle and Bloodworth with Collyer, Glynn Briggs Johnstone and Spinks all vying for position within the next group. Lap times were being recorded in the 1:13 to 1:20 bracket which was a great showing for cars drawn from a lengthy historical period.David Cutts eventually overcame the challenges from Mat Pearce to claim first place, making this win special as it was forty years since his first win in the same car. Five cars were on the DNF list, including Curran, Quartly, Ross, McCarthy and Cassell with various issues such as engine gremlins, spins and incidents took their toll in the large field.

Race 15 Formula Vee Regularity

The second regularity session for Formula Vee fielded nine cars through the addition of Chris Reeks in his Elfin Malmark Vee and Ray Collyer in brother Don’s Commando vee. Again the entrants tried their skills over six laps, with Reeks being the most precise against his nominated time of 1:23. Collyer brought his karting experience into his drive of the Commando and achieved a second place from his consistent lap times, followed by McKie, Charlton and John Mariotto in his Nota. McKinnon in her Elfin NG (1:45 nominated) and Gary Ogden in his Corsica (1:12 nominated) rounded out the final two time based competitors. Engel and Roberts had not nominated lap time however showed good consistency with their variations not exceeding three to four seconds overall.

Race 17 Formula Vee ParaThe Formula Vee parade was a spectacular acknowledgement to the sixty year history of Formula Vee in Australia. The display laps included Rob Willets the oldest Formula Vee present, his 1965 Nota, along with Bill Roberts in the original Elfin 500 being standout cars. The parade covered all makes and some generous gestures were made by owners to ensure that a number of drivers of the past were handed the parade drive. With this parade even bigger than the previous major anniversary, everyone was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the cars along with the historical provenance that they carry. The cooperation between the HSRCA, Formula Vee Association of New South Wales and the Historic Formula Vee Association of Australia enabled this excellent display to be realised.

SUNDAY

Race 18 Formula Vee Modern

This six lap race again saw the Checkmate Vees dominate the field.

Reynolds again had the race by the scruff of the neck, leading each lap as he crossed the line in the Checkmate Vee. Pace was a consistent second and McDonald held onto third all the way until the final lap when Pearce managed to get in front of him.With McDonald having dropped two places, Ogden was up into fourth place.

Back in the field, Freemantle, Butcher, Brown and Moran often exchanged track position as they scrapped their way towards the finish. McKinnon in the Aurora Vee and Charlton in the Mako Mk3 also had a battle in a field that was achieving excellent lap times.

Over the line first was Daniel Reynolds, followed just over one second later by Simon Pace with Mathew Pearce a further four seconds adrift. Ogden in the Corsica and Angus McDonald in a Jacer  rounded out the first five places.

Race 22 Formula Vee Historics and Invited

Mat Pearce challenged David Cutts from the start, and was able to keep Cutts at bay for the first half of the race. The leaders were hotly pursued by Paynter, Kelly, Jackson and Briggs. This formula lends itself to the art of slipstreaming which was well demonstrated as the race progressed. Peters held a consistent seventh position, while Greg Johnston, Glynn Briggs and Damien Spinks exchanged positions on the track. It was great to see Gary Quartly in the invited QV and Doug Angus in his Elfin NG circulating with respectable times in the 1:16 bracket.

A great mix of marques rounded out the field with Nota, Mako, Rennmax, Elfin and Kingfisher cars all appearing. Cutts in his Spectre took the win, with the Stag of Paynter making up lost places to achieve second. Mat Pearce was third and Kelly and Briggs filled fourth and fifth respectively.

A rare DNF occurred for Harold Roberts in the first Elfin 500 due to an errant fire extinguisher, and Norm Johnstone also came to a halt due to an on track incident.

Race 26 Formula Vee Regularity

The third regularity run for the Vees occurred just before lunch on Sunday and saw ten cars on track. Graham Engel had a nominated time of 1:16 for his Jacer and had his lap time variations within a two second span to arrive at the top of the list with minimal points.Chris Reeks also did a great job in the Malmark Vee by limiting variations to no more than an overall four second difference during the eight lap session. Loris and John Mariotto in the Nota Vees scored third and fourth respectively, with McKinnon and Roberts bring their Elfin Vees next in the point score. A number of DNF’s occurred with Collyer, McKee, Charlton and Ogden all retiring from the session during the final laps.

Race 28 Formula Vee Modern

In the twelve lap race for the modern 1600cc cars, Reynolds rapidly showed the field the fastest way around the circuit with Pace and Pearce in hot pursuit. There were plenty of position changes as the majority of the 1600cc Vees settled into lap times between 1:07 to 1:12. It was a great demonstration of the advances in the formula, and a look at these cars in the pits showed the substantial design differences that account for achieving those lap times.

Back in the field, Cooke 14 in a Stinger, Moran, Babbage-Hocke and McDonald were fighting hard for position

Finishing order was Daniel Reynolds 78 who was in the lead for every lap, followed by Mathew Pearce in his Jacer splitting the Checkmate Vees and forcing Simon Pace into third place. Pearce worked hard to overtake Pace and was able to stay in front for the later half of the race.

Ogden was fourth, leading McDonald, Sparke and Butcher  over the line. Harriot in a Polar led the three Jacers of Freemantle, Babbage-Hocke and McDonald at the finish with Mako-mounted Charlton next ahead of Moran in an Elfin Crusader.

Race 32 Formula Vee Historics and Invited

The final race of the weekend for historic and invited Vees was held under clear skies and warm conditions.

Grant Kelly made a fantastic start, passing Paynter as Pearce also passed Cutts to grab the lead by Turn 1. Kelly chased Pearce for a full lap then jumped into the lead.

By the third lap, Grant Kelly had shown that he was a force to be reckoned with, and if not for a well corrected slide on turn 2 he may well have been placed higher than his resulting fourth place.Pearce, Cutts and Paynter immediately took advantage of Kelly’s slide and reverted him to rear of their tight group on the track.

Dean Briggs and Steve Normoyle had a close race with times in the 1:16 range. Angus and Peters were battling their way to decide seventh and eighth, and Glynn Briggs in his Spectre and Daniel Bando in his Elfin NG were managing to stay ahead of Will Faulkner’s Elfin which held twelfth position throughout the race.

With the pleasure of seeing such a large number of entries, there were races within the race. Further back, we saw position changes between Bloodworth, Angus and Stott. It was a hard choice of where to focus attention as we watched the Rennmax Mk 2 of Bloodworth fighting for track position against the Elfin NG and Mako.

Not far behind, an untimely clash between the Rennmax of Peters and Commando of Collyer’s saw both cars retire on lap 5. Norm Johnstone had also suffered damage from a mishap on the third lap which saw him exit.

Greg Stott and Bill Roberts ran a tidy race clear of any close competition and it was great to see these two special cars doing there best on track. Towards the rear of the field, Queenslander Neil Sivyer was having a great run in his Elfin NG, heading Chris Curran’s Rennmax Mk2 by a few seconds. This fourth Vee race of the weekend also nicely rounded out Dan Torresan’s first race meeting in his Rennmax Mk2 with Dan later commenting about his positive experience at the well organised meeting.

Cutts couldn’t have been happier, recording his third win for the weekend in his Spectre Vee. Pearce and Paynter made up the placings but the spectacular work by Grant Kelly made for a very entertaining race. It was pleasing to again see the large variety of vees that were present, with a Daveric, CMS and Nota within the results.

Race 36 Formula Vee Regularity

The final six lap Regularity for the Formula Vee cars had five remaining cars vying for the perfect point score. With a wide range of potential performance, the lap times were consistently close across the field. Graham Engel in his 99 Jacer proved to be the star with just 26 points accumulated. Chris Reeks in the 71 Malmark was next having scored 79 points. Third was Chris McKie in his Elfin NG and was great to see John Mariotto circulating in the Nota. Final placing was Michael Roberts in the first built Elfin 500 Vee, but without a nominated time he ended up a with a very enjoyable drive without concern for points.

Race 38 Formula Vee Modern

The final Vee race for the weekend was in the hands of the modern 1600cc cars.

Pearce led from the start and lap by lap held onto first place after a rare off from Reynolds resulted in a DNF ruining his chance of a perfect weekend. Sparke ran a strong race with lap times in the 1:10 bracket but was caught and passed by Ogden in the final stages. Angus McDonald held onto fourth place, keeping Harriott at bay who would eventually drop back to sixth. In the rear half of the field, Babbage-Hocke was eventually overtaken by Cooke and subsequently Porter lost a place to Gale’s Mako.

Mathew Pearce in his Jacer was the eventual winner, just out pacing Corey Ogden in the Corsica and Craig Sparke in his Jacer. Fourth and fifth was a family duo with Angus McDonald just beating dad John to the line by 0.4 of a second. Harriott achieved sixth in his Polar and Freemantle led Stott across the line in their Jacers for seventh and eighth. Browne improved from thirteen place to twelfth in the final laps, leaving Charlton, Gale, Porter Brown and Taylor at the rear of the field.

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

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

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.

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. 

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