Historic Racing reaches middle age
40th Anniversary of All-Historic racing
17-18 September, 2016 – Wakefield Park, NSW
What began as an experiment at long-gone Amaroo Park on January 25th, 1976 spawned Historic Racing as we know it today. As a young, newly married lass, I was at that inaugural meeting and Historic Racing has been a great part of my life ever since. Promoted by the Vintage Sports Car Club, that seminal meeting was effectively organised by stalwarts and enthusiasts from various car and motorcycle clubs, and three of those originals, John Medley, John Lackey and Rob Rowe were the main movers behind the celebration, 40 years on. Restricted to Period 3 (pre December 1962) and Period 2 bikes and cars up to 1961, the meeting drew a healthy entry, with Wangaratta evergreen Ken Lucas bringing no fewer than 18 bikes to the meeting, which were shared by several riders. Many of the bikes entered had not seen a race track for years, but the standard of reliability was nonetheless admirable. Saturday’s proceeding got under way bang on time, under brilliant sunshine and the races were run without major incidents. Standout performances came from Garth Francis, who won all three Unlimited P3 races, Jim Scaysbrook (the only motorcycle competitor from the 1976 meeting) who similarly took out the P3 500 races, and Jonathon Houston who won the well-supported event for P3 bikes up to 350cc, each time with Eric Salmon (Honda CB77) and Brice Davies (500 Rudge) in hot pursuit. There was a big turnout from the hand-shift brigade, with Ross Bolding, Bill Brice and Charlie Palmer at the pointy end. In the Sidecars, Garth Francis (passenger Paul Kelly) and Geoff Dodds (with Zane Dodds) put on some great battles, with allrounder Francis, who was quite the man of the meeting, coming out on top on each occasion.
At the conclusion of Saturday’s events, competitors, officials and helpers were treated to a fine spread of drinks and finger food, with entertainment provided by a three-piece jazz band, the banjo player being Dennis Quinlan, who competed in the 1976 meeting on (of course) a Velocette. As evening fell, locals were casting a knowledgeable eye to the sky and forecasting a change for the worst in the weather. Sure enough, Sunday was the opposite of Saturday, wet and cold. The track conditions changed dramatically, Saturday’s dry and grippy surface becoming a skating rink, due not just to the rain but to fluids escaping from cars. This caused numerous accidents and race stop- pages, and by early afternoon, with the rain intensifying, most solo competitors had called it a day. Just five starters fronted for the final leg of the P3 Unlimited, with young Stacey Heaney scoring a popular win on Martin Gratton’s 612cc Royal Enfield. Despite the soggy end, it was, as the organisers prophesised, a relaxed, friendly and enjoyable get together, with reunions and reaquaintences the order of the day. Speaking with several of the riders, it was clear to me that classic racing is all about mateship, sharing ideas and talking for hours on their favourite topic – motorcycles. It was certainly a memorable celebration of that day at Amaroo, all those decades ago.