David Anderson (Red MGB), Rodger Chapman (purple MGB), Jane Vollebregt (blue MGBGT) and Glenn Campbell (red Alfetta GTV) were all competing in the Historic Sports Car class over the weekend. Malcolm Irwin sent in some photos from Sunday; but unfortunately Jane’s MG was back on the trailer having broken a con-rod on Saturday.
Once again the Phillip Island Classic was a great event on the Historic/Classic car racing calendar with an absolute plethora of classic racing cars and classic cars displayed in the pavilion and many car clubs who displayed their vehicles in the car park. Although in the middle of Victoria?s record March hot weather, this didn?t appear to deter the crowd numbers, but by the middle of the afternoon most spectators were looking for a shady position to watch the racing events.
There was a great array of local and overseas cars such as the Paul Halstead owned Pantera GT (this was originally driven by Kevin Bartlett), a Spa winning Matra 670B #5 driven by Jackie Ickx, and a Lola Spider owned by Paul Newman. To make us drool even more there were the classic Porsche 956 and a Jackie Ickx/Derek Bell Le Mans winning Porsche 936. It was also fabulous to see the 1955 D-Type Jaguar ordered and raced by Bib Stillwell.
The was some great racing and spectacular drives, with Mark Skaife displaying all of his great ability in the last race for the touring cars when he came from the back of the field to finish second. Members of the GSCCR who were racing (Glenn Campbell, Dave Anderson, Rodger Chapman and Jane Vollebregt) had mixed success, and with the hot conditions were glad when the driving commitments were completed.
A number of GSCCR members took part in the Shannons Cavalcade so had the opportunity to do a circuit of the Phillip Island track during the car racing lunch break, this provided members with a feel of what it?s to drive around the famous track. These members were also provided with prime parking positions opposite the Start/Finish in front of the display pavilion. Kevin Riley was approached to see if he would like to park his Porsche 911 in the display pavilion for the day which he duly accepted.
For those members who have yet to attend this event, I would strongly recommend that you put it in your calendar for next year, it is on a par with overseas classic car meetings and there is something there to appeal to all tastes.?? Words and pictures by Phil Barnard.
?Good? things come in threes
The Phillip Island Classic is Australia?s biggest historic racing event and is always enjoyable to be a part of. A number of club members were participating in Group S class, including Roger Chapman in an MGB roadster, Jane Vollebregt in her brand new MGB GT, Dave Anderson in his red MGB roadster, and myself in the Alfetta GTV.
I knew that things were not going well when I heard strange noises under the Alfa while taking it off the trailer on the Friday. Sure enough, it was serious, the 2 bolts holding the transaxle had fallen out! And I hadn?t even taken it on the track yet. Warren, our resident mechanic (a visitor from Queensland) dived under the car and fixed it 5 minutes before I was to go out for my first Qualifying session. (That?s ONE, I said to myself)
The session was awful, as the car was sluggish, and after a best time of (a very slow) 2:17, I pulled into the pits early. It turned out that the throttle linkage was loose and I was only getting half power. This was fixed easily, so I would have full power next Qualifying session. (That?s TWO, I said, and where?s NUMBER THREE?).
The car was now performing very well, and in the second qualifying session I stormed down to the turn one with a big grin on my face, this is fantastic, and then …….nothing, no throttle, no power, no go! I sat at the side of the track while the rest of the field went circulated for 20 minutes. When I was towed into the pits, I yelled to my fellow MG racers ? That?s number THREE!
Apparently, in my enthusiasm I had stomped on the throttle and popped off the linkage. We needed to adjust the throttle stop and tweak the linkage to avoid this problem again.? Thanks to John Weymouth and Greg Ireland for helping me out late on the Friday.
The rest of the weekend was uneventful, although very hot, and I had to start from near the rear of grid in Race 1 Saturday (43rd), made it to 26th (about 4th in class) with lots of big capacity sports cars out front. Race 1 Sunday (started 41st), was with the MGBs in an under 2 litre race. I worked my way to 19th by the end of the first lap, passing Roger, Jane and even Dave.? Unfortunately, Jane came to a catastrophic end in Race 2 Sunday with a blown engine.? Even with the heat, we had lots of fun. Glenn C
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More shots from Malcolm Irwin
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