The inaugural One Raceway Historic Summer Spectacular has been hailed a success, with spectators turning out in force to watch a superbly-presented array of historic cars doing battle on both the clockwise and anti-clockwise layouts of the Goulburn circuit.
Saturday’s action was held on the Wakefield circuit in hot weather conditions, and the high ambient temperatures were reflected in the intensity of the on-track action, especially in the Group N (historic touring car) Under 2 Litre races where there were fierce battles throughout the field. David Noakes prevailed in his Ford Mk1 Escort to notch up a pair of race wins from the Mini Cooper S’s of Tom Tweedie and Alex D’Onofrio.
In the Group N Over 2 Litre class, it was historic racing veteran Brad Tilley who won both races in his Mustang, ahead of the Camaro driven by Queenslander Adrian Moyle.
The Group S (historic production sports car) category was also split into two divisions, for “Bombers” and “Mosquitos”. Canberra driver Graham Gulson (Porsche 911) and Southern Highlands competitor David Stone (MGB) won both races in their respective divisions.
In the combined Formula Ford/Formula Vee category, Garry Watson was best of the Formula Fords, leading home Kris Matich (son of former Australian open-wheel legend Frank Matich); debutant Patrick Balk was the best of the Formula Vee runners.
Some wet weather on Sunday morning saw event organisers making the decision to combine the Group N and S fields to ensure all competitors still received a generous amount of track time.
The first of the Sunday Group N races featured a handicap format, in which the cars started in staggered intervals from slowest to fastest. Driving his Mini Cooper S, Hamish Bedwell put in an exemplary performance in the challenging conditions to take the handicap race win, earning the “Steve Shelley Way” perpetual trophy from circuit owner Steve Shelley for his efforts.
The other two Group N races were won by Tilley and Moyle.
Gulson looked set to continue his Group S domination after winning the first of the Sunday races, but a spin on the first lap of the final race dropped him to the rear of the field, allowing Chris Jackson (De Tomaso Pantera) to take the win from Doug Barbour (Porsche 911) and Joe Calleja (Chevrolet Corvette).
Watson took another pair of wins in the combined Formula Ford/Formula Vee category, while the event program was rounded out by the Classic Cars and Invited Supersprint, in which spectators were treated to fast laps from a variety of historic machines including Chris Clearihan’s unique 1973 Bolwell Nagari and Paul Burke’s Triumph TR7 V8.
