PHILLIP ISLAND FESTIVAL OF MOTORSPORT
For its annual Festival of Motorsport held over March 9-12 at Phillip Island near Melbourne, the Victorian Historic Racing Register attracted five F1 cars of the ‘70s and ‘80s, plus a group of impressive sports cars, all from Europe.
This included a Shadow DN8, Hesketh 308/1, Surtees TS16, Tyrell 012, Ensign MN09 and Lotus 81 which were joined by Australianowned F1s, F5000s, and Indy and smaller capacity cars to deliver a spectacular field of 37 single-seaters. Sadly, the Lotus destroyed its latest DFV on the first day of practice.
F5000 fans will be happy to hear that the locals dominated the first two days. Tim Berryman’s Lola T332 and Thomas Tweedie’s Chevron B24/28 headed the Shadow and the Hesketh. But by Sunday, O’Connell’s Shadow had found its groove on the flowing track and beat the Lola to the flag in both races.
The only Kiwi entrant at the meeting was Wayne Colville who was running a Van Dieman RF88 in a field of 39 other Formula Fords. Ex-Kiwi champion Grant Walker was keeping the young blokes honest, finishing sixth overall in a Swift DB1. Grant had a busy day as he also raced the Jim Richards-owned Lotus 18 Formula Junior.
Eleven categories of races provided plenty of variety including the much-loved Aussie V8 Ford versus Holden Historic Touring Cars, and the classic Mustang v Camaro rivalry. In the race I watched, a couple of Camaros were well clear of a gaggle of Mustangs.
But my favourite of the weekend was a big six, Maigret-style Citroën that was racing amongst the Minis, Lotus Cortinas and Alfas in the Under 2-litre category. Mysteriously this French confection was listed as a Ford Cortina in the programme and results.
The sun shone all weekend which made for a very pleasant time for the 450 entrants who filled the paddock and the grids.
It was a pity that there weren’t more Kiwis involved. I was told that eye-watering shipping costs have deterred any cross-Tasman movement.