Winton marches on

Historic Winton 2 + 4

30-31 May, 2015 – Winton, Victoria

The 39th Historic Winton was run in May and once again the Historic Motorcycle Racing Association of Victoria (HMRAV) took care of the 2 and 3 wheeled side of the event. This year we had a 20% increase in competitor numbers with some classes very close to the grid limits. Winton is a real racers’ track and our members love doing battle here. This race meeting attracts a lot more of the “classic” machines and in doing so adds much to the atmosphere of what is a celebration of historic racing. Booming camshaft singles, cracking V twins, wild and crazy sidecars, the smell of methanol and Castrol R – Historic Winton is all about nostalgia. Lucky to once more be greeted with clear, dry but quite cool conditions, competitors had come from near and far, but none farther than USA bike nut and competitor Luke Ransom who was competing as a guest of Ken Lucas. Luke was entered on a little pre-war MOV Velo and a Period three Triton solo. Saturday’s qualifying and racing saw some new teams and new faces take to the track. In historic sidecars we had Graeme (Wal) Dodds and Graeme Marston joining forces on Butch Davies’ Triumph outfit and Stacy Heaney and Rebecca Betteridge teaming up on the Betteridge Norton outfit. In the solo classes Wayne Donuhue took to the track for the first time on his Commando, and did very well. We also had Rob Rowe bring out a very nice “Supreme Special” 1937 750 V twin. Sunday saw the running of the special races, which included the Bill Luke Memorial, the Ken Lucas Handicap and the Sidecar Handicap. These races are a very special part of the Winton program and always feature hard fought battles. Results of the Bill Luke Memorial were Bob Rosenthal – 1st, Mick Panayi – 2nd and Neil May – 3rd. In the Ken Lucas Handicap it seemed somehow fitting that our USA visitor and guest of the man himself, Luke Ransom, should take out 1st, with Bob Rosenthal again in the silverware in 2nd and Ross Bolding on his handshift Harley 3rd. The Sidecar Handicap was an all in affair with 21 sidecars ranging from Period’s 3 to 5. As you’d expect the Big Banger classic outfits were away first but by about half way through the race the much more modern and powerful P5’s had gobbled them all up. I’m not sure how it looked from the sidelines but to be amongst a pack of 5 sliding big wheelers through Winton’s infamous “cleavage” section was something I’ll remember for quite some time!

Historic Winton is an absolutely iconic event on the Aussie race calendar. Next year will be the 40th running of the event and I’m sure it’ll be a big one. Keep the last weekend in May free and come along to this truly great meeting.