Phillip Island Classic, Australia, 11-13 March

Story and Photos by Vince Johnson

After last year’s restrictions, spectators were back at the Victorian Historic Racing Register’s Phillip Island Classic, held on the sweeping circuit south of Melbourne. The perfect weather and long weekend holiday also saw over 400 entries, but shipping issues meant they were an all-Australian affair, although several overseas drivers had made the journey down to the sun.

Thursday was for free practice, the extra track time valuable to those who had missed last year’s competitor-only meeting. On Friday morning further practice and qualifying was followed by the first of the Regularity events and racing categories.

Matched lap times are the goal in Regularity and with a field of over fifty cars on track, getting an uninterrupted run can be a problem. Steven Byrnes’ immaculate 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA Corsa, chassis AR752.561, wasn’t always this pristine though. Raced in 1966-7 by Frank Gardner and then Kevin Bartlett through the eastern states with several outright wins, from 1968 John French ran it in Queensland. It was sold to Brian Foley in 1972, a highlight being his outright win in the touring car 1973 Grand Prix of Singapore. Suffering severe damage that year it eventually ended up in Western Australia before being taken over by Steven. It is now in Alec Mildren Racing livery to Autodelta Group 2 touring car specifications. Shane Lee’s consistent pace in his 1968 Elfin Formula Vee gave him the laurels with two firsts and a second place. Geoffrey Burgess kept the Italian flavour alive with his Veloce Racing 1971 1750 GTV, along with Richard Shinkfield’s 1979 2 litre Fiat X 1/9, and French honour was upheld by regular entrant John Hardy, who never fails to impress with his 1967 Alpine Renault A110 1600S.

VeloceToday contributor Ernst Luthi did the same with his 1971 Alpine Renault A110, which he regularly drives in historic road events. But here in Group S the cut and thrust is more pronounced, with many entries set up purely for racing, and requires determined hands on the wheel. Group S winner with 3 firsts and a 2nd from 4 races was Alexander Webster (1975 Porsche 911) from the 1966 Shelby American GT350 of Terry Lawlor.

Ernst agreed that “Group S drivers are a great bunch of people. However, engine size and weight matter if one wants to be at the front of the pack. With only 1397cc, a heavy roll cage and 4 speed gearbox, the little Alpine was slightly handicapped in top speed to be really competitive on this fast circuit. It was great fun though, even when following the field at a distance.”

Italian cars, particularly Alfas, abounded in this category. Hugh Harrison made it to 9th in his 1979 Alfa Romeo GTV, Ross Jackson’s De Tomaso Pantera made it as high as 8th and also in the mix was David Powell’s 1974 Ferrari Dino GT4.

In the hotly-contested Under 2 litre Touring Cars Mick Stupa can often be relied on to bring his 1954 Citroën 11D. This car embodies the spirit of the meeting, providing Mick with enormous fun while he checks his mirrors, avoiding the quicker entrants in the tighter sections of the circuit. The two Alfas in this category, the 1972 and 1973 GTVs of Robert Burns and Spencer Rice, showed the Minis, Cortinas and others the way home. Between them they took four wins and three seconds from the four races.

You can always tell when Guido Begiorni-Nettis is on track in the Q&R Racing and F5000 category. Guido and his team have the Formula One pair of Grand Prix cars sounding just like they did in Adelaide 37 years ago. This year his #27 ex-Michele Alboreto 1985 Ferrari 156/85 F1 chassis 079, did the business while its twin, the #28 ex-Stefan Johansson chassis 082, waited in the pit as back up. As expected the Ralts, Elfins, Marches, Lolas and others were simply outclassed though Grant Dolman’s 1988 Shrike NB89H came closest.

On display behind the pits was an almost Italian. Starting in 1986 with an Alfa Romeo Sprint, Paul Halstead and Barry Lock redesigned it, dropped in a mid-mounted Alfa V6 and named it ‘Giocattolo’. Economics and supply issues led to a Holden 5 litre Walkinshaw Group A V8 taking its place and 15 were built before the company closed in 1989. This car, chassis 11, has now been modified to ‘Competizione’ specifications, with plans for a HyperRod W16 to be released at the end of next year.

There were several awards presented during the weekend. The Sir Jack Brabham Trophy for Driver of the Meeting went to Nick Bennett who raced in two categories and achieved 3 outright wins in Class M & O Sports Racing driving a 1970 Elfin TC-W 600B, from Andrew Robson’s 1968 Brabham BT30. This year marked the 50th anniversary of Peter Brock’s first win at Bathurst. He went on to win the 1000km race at Mount Panorama nine times between 1972 and 1987, earning him the title ‘King of the Mountain’. The Brock Trophy went to Craig Allan’s 1972 car, the first Torana home in Sunday’s midday race.

Three of the overseas drivers competed with the locals for the Formula Ford Perkins Cup, named to honour the Australian Perkins brothers, Larry and Terry, who both won the Australian Formula Ford title in the nineteen-seventies before going on to success in Europe. The international drivers enjoyed great success with Swiss Gislain Genecand winning outright, Richard Tarling (UK) taking seventh and Frenchman Xavier Michel eleventh in a 57 car grid. Andy Newall (UK) was due to run a local 1968 M6B McLaren but a Friday hub failure meant he missed the weekend’s racing.

Larry Perkins and his son Jack ran together in the 5 litre Touring Car races while Thomas Tweedie (1974 Elfin MS7) made it a clean sweep in Q & R Sports from Duncan MacKellar’s 1989 Porsche 962. In group A&C Historic Touring cars Jonathon Webb (1992 Ford Sierra) was unbeaten, from Bryan Sala (1988 Sierra) and Anthony Alford (Nissan GTR R32 Skyline).

The Don Kinsey Encouragement Award for Young Drivers went to 16 year-old William Sala, driving a 1975 Elfin T Formula V. He raced in the Groups J, K & L, invited Vees and Group Sa category, which was won by David Reid’s 1959 Faux Pas from Graeme Raper’s 1948 G Reed Ford Special Monoskate.

Younger drivers appearing more often on the grid is a positive sign for the future of historic racing. Another is the likelihood of international transport becoming more ‘normal’. Let’s hope those dedicated custodians from the UK, Europe and the USA can get their treasures to the Island for more fun at next year’s Classic.

Many more photos below, please scroll!