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The 2012 Historic Festival of Speed is just under a month away, and has already attracted in excess of 200 entries. The event will again be highlighted by the Rose City Touring Car Trophy, an endurance race for Group N cars.
The length of the race will be 20 laps and will include a compulsory pit stop for all vehicles.
Last year’s Rose City Touring Car Trophy was won by Tony Hubbard (Chevrolet Camaro), who held off a fast-finishing Fraser Ross (Ford Mustang) in the closing laps to seal the victory. Phillip Woodbury pulled off a giant-killing performance in his Mazda RX2 to finish third.
“Hopefully the car will run as well as last year,” Hubbard said. “We’ve made some little improvements with horsepower and handling. The car is challenging to drive around Winton, but we’ve fitted power steering which makes it easier.”
Fraser Ross, whose father Ian Ross is chairman of the Festival of Speed race committee, is again entered in his Mustang and is looking forward to another front-running performance after racing a 1968 Trans Am Mustang at Watkins Glen in the US recently. Fraser has also been competing locally in the Australian Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge and has been appointed as an ambassador for the Make-A-Wish Australia Foundation.
“Racing against genuine Trans Am cars in America was awesome,” he said. “I’ve also enjoyed racing in the Porsche here in Australia, but I’m looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of the Mustang at the Festival of Speed.”
The Group N category will be separated into over and under 3 Litre categories for the sprint races, before the classes are combined for the Rose City Touring Car Trophy. As well as Camaros, Mustangs and Mazda RX2s, there will also be an assortment of Holden Torana XU1s, Minis, Cortina GTs, Ford Falcon GTs and Valiant Chargers. The variety of cars should produce entertaining racing, because the different cars will have strengths and weaknesses in different parts of the Winton circuit.
About the Festival of Speed
The Festival of Speed celebrates some of the richest eras of Australian motorsport history, and attracts many historic racing vehicles from a variety of disciplines.
Categories for the 2012 Festival of Speed will be:
- Division 1, Division 2 and Porsche regularity – in these events, drivers nominate a lap time lose points for driving faster or slower than their nominated time, so the emphasis is on consistency rather than outright pace.
- Group N Over and Under 3 Litre. Typical examples of Group N cars include Ford Falcon GT, Mustang and Cortina GT, Holden Torana XU1, Valiant Charger and Mazda RX2.
- Group Sa, Sb and Sc. Group S cars include Porsche 911, De Tomaso Pantera, Alfa Romeo GTV, Shelby Cobra, Austin Healey Sprite and Datsun 240Z.
- Group M and O Sports and Racing and Formula Vee. These include a variety of historic openwheelers, such as Brabham, Lola, Elfin and Reynard.
- Group J, K and Lb – this class is a real treat for historic racing enthusiasts, as it contains classic race cars such as Lola Mk1 and Mallock Mk2, but also pre-war cars like the Ford Roadster.
- Formula Ford Fa, Fb and Fc.
- Group A and C – this is the most recent category at the Festival of Speed, and is open to a large variety of cars, such as Torana A9X, Ford Falcon XD, Ford Sierra, Nissan Skyline R31 and R32 GTR, Holden VC, VH, VK and VL Commodore, Jaguar XJS, BMW 635 CSi and many others.
- Group Q and R Sports and Racing – cars in this category include Ralt RT4, Cheetah Mk8 and March 76B.
- Porsche demonstration laps – this will feature a mixture of new and old Porsche vehicles.
The Group A and C category will include a feature race will be held over 15 laps and be known as the “Precision International Cup.” Like the Group N Rose City Touring Car Trophy, it will include a compulsory pit-stop. Group A racing holds particular significance at Winton, because the first-ever Australian Group A race was held at the circuit in February 1985.
Group S competitors will also have a 15 Lap feature race, the “Rose City Tourist Trophy.”
For more information, please visit the Victorian Historic Racing Register website – www.vhrr.com.
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