MOBIL 1 MAINLAND MUSCLE CARS
Speed Festival, Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Ruapuna, 27–28 October 2018
The thrilling sound and spectacle that is the Mobil 1 Mainland Muscle Cars series fired into life at Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Ruapuna over 27–28 October. Despite still being in its comparative infancy — going into its fifth season — this class is already regarded by many spectators and racers as the best class of motor racing in the South Island. A field of 20 thundering V8 and six-cylinder US and Australian muscle cars took to the grid for round one — five more than started last season, boding well for the season ahead.
Joining the series for the first time was newcomer Dan Barlow in his Ford Capri. After watching the Mobil 1 Mainland Muscle Cars at Highlands last season, while racing his two-litre Capri in the Sprint Series, Dan was so turned on by the V8 machines that he vowed then and there that he’d soon be part of the Mobil 1 Mainland Muscle Cars action — and here he was, six months later, sporting twice the number of cylinders in the same Ford Capri!
“It goes great now — and it sounds fantastic!” smiled a jubilant Dan.
Also having his first day in the muscle car spotlight was well-known racer Craig Gilbert from Timaru, in his freshly completed secondgeneration Chevy Camaro, along with Michael Bushell, in his beautiful yellow XB Ford Falcon, and Graeme Sargent, returning after a hiatus of three seasons and growing the six-pack ranks with his bright orange Holden Torana.
Future-proofing the class
This season saw the introduction of a new concept for the series, known as ‘lap-time capping’. Lap-time capping is about setting a minimum and a maximum lap time at each track for those competing in the series. There are many reasons for this move, but the most compelling are to make the class sustainable into the future by keeping the performance levels within reach of the average racer, to keep the massively high speeds of these classic cars down to something approaching a sensible level, and to prevent the field from becoming more and more spread out as the gap between the fastest and the slowest, without ring-fencing, inevitably increases. Part of the rationale is also that the club wants the class to remain true to its roots; that the cars are, in fact, genuine muscle cars rather than thinly veiled V8 supercars.
While the driving in the weekend was hard and fast, the racers did a fantastic job of observing the strong ‘rubbing is not racing’ culture that has become a cornerstone of the class. The class has now gone eight races over two consecutive meetings with zero car-tocar contact, and that speaks volumes for the drivers’ respect for each other’s beautiful and valuable classic racing machines.
Race one
Saturday morning’s scratch race saw confusion overcome many in the field on the second-tolast lap, when at least four drivers suddenly found themselves battling sudden and inexplicable handling issues. Johnny Hepburn spun in his HQ Holden Monaro, and the others had close calls, all thinking that they had a flat tyre or a suspension failure. The culprit was in fact seven litres of racing-weight oil that had exited Dave King’s six-cylinder
Holden Torana engine when a connecting rod tore out the right-hand side of Dave’s block. Unfortunately for Dave, fewer cylinders don’t equate to less cost — a new racing crankshaft alone will cost Dave around $5K.
Once the confusion and early pitting settled, the race was won by Graeme Allan in his yellow 1970 Chevy Camaro. He was followed home in second place by Andy Knight, with a great third place for Craig Gilbert in his very first race in the new Chevy Camaro, and Steve Mclachlan taking fourth in his beautiful Allan Moffat– liveried 1969 Ford Mustang. Top marks to Graeme Allan, who was having his first day back on the horse after a huge high-speed crash at Ruapuna a year before that destroyed the front third of his Camaro. Clearly, any memories of the crash had no effect on Graeme’s speed or his competitiveness!
Such is the nature of vintage muscle cars: four drivers had mechanical niggles that prevented results, from simple tuning problems to a broken rear spring and a destroyed gearbox.
Race two
Race two was a reverse-grid handicapped race that was a nail-biter until the last second. It looked almost certain that newcomer Dan Barlow in his Ford Capri — one of the first to start — was going to be first to the flag, until Paul Boden’s Camaro stole the win from Dan by .18 of a second. After a storming drive through the mid-pack, Greg Donaldson followed Dan across the line by .5 of a second for third. Well done, the handicappers!
Race three
Of the original 20, 16 started race three, the second scratch race. Andy Knight, in his Oldsmobile Starfire, won the race, crossing the line less than .03 of a second ahead of Graeme Allan, with Craig Gilbert taking third spot.
Race four
The handicapping in the second reverse-grid handicap race of the weekend was faultless, with the whole pack thundering down the front straight on the final lap — once again, great racing throughout the field, yielding unpredictable results.
Paul Boden from Wellington also won this race, in his immaculate red Chevy Camaro, followed by Graeme Allan in second place. Greg Donaldson stormed through the field again for another well-deserved final step of the podium. Still recovering from a frightening fuel fire only weeks earlier, Greg drove brilliantly all weekend and deserved his good results. A great fourth placing went to Sean Fowler in his immaculate white SLR 5000 Holden Torana.
Great start to the season
The first meeting with the new time-capping system was widely regarded as a great success. Position and time penalties for breakouts were awarded to four drivers, which had the effect of pushing them back into the field for the following races. The racers enjoyed the added challenge of fighting their way through the field, and the spectators benefited from closer racing and unpredictable results. All of the drivers and crews appreciated loading their race cars onto their trailers at the weekend’s end without any damage, and a big effort is being put in by the category to keep it that way.
The next race on the 2018–2019 calendar for the Mobil 1 Mainland Muscle Cars class will be at Timaru International Motor Raceway on 26–27 January. Catch them if you can!