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Strong Formula Ford Field Set for 50th Anniversary Celebration

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A bumper field of 36 historic Formula Fords will line up to celebrate the 50th anniversary of international Formula Ford racing at the Sydney Classic Speed Festival, 10-11 June.

Formula Ford was conceived in England in 1967, and quickly evolved into a popular junior development category all over the world. It made its first appearance in Australia in 1969, and quickly earned a reputation as the primary stepping stone for young drivers aspiring to forge a professional career in motorsport.

The Sydney Classic Speed Festival has attracted an array of historic Formula Fords from Fa (pre-1978), Fb (1978-1983) and Fc (1984-1989) eras. All cars are powered by the venerable 1600cc Kent Ford motor, which was a mainstay of all Formula Ford competition up until 2006.

One of the most appealing aspects of Formula Ford was the ease and cost-effectiveness at which chassis builders could construct cars, and this was demonstrated in the variety of chassis that participated in Formula Ford races throughout the 1970s and ‘80s. Some chassis were imported, while some were locally-built, and a number of different brands will be represented at the Sydney Classic Speed Festival including:

  • Hawke (England)
  • Van Diemen (England)
  • Lola (England)
  • Reynard (England)
  • Lotus (England)
  • Hustler (Australia)
  • Mawer (Australia)
  • Elwyn (Australia)
  • Elfin (Australia)
  • Swift (Australia)
  • Zink (USA)

The race meeting has also attracted a number of well-credentialed drivers from all over Australia including:

  • Cameron Walters – 2015 Australian Formula Ford Kent Class Champion and NSW State Champion
  • Geoff Walters – two-time Australian Formula Ford Championship runner-up and NSW State Champion
  • Lyndon Arnell – Australian Formula Ford race winner
  • Jonathan Miles – Victorian State Champion

Other front-runners are likely to include experienced racers Andrew McInnes, Mark Lowing and Andrew Nethercote.

The event will consist of qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday, and Races 2 and 3 on Sunday.

There will also be a commemorative dinner on the Saturday night of the event, with entertainment including footage of historic Formula Ford races, and Q and A sessions with past Australian Formula Ford Champions.

Formula Ford will be one of eight race categories featured through the weekend’s racing on June 11 – 12, amid a prestigious line-up of Formula 5000s, Historic Touring Cars, Heritage Touring Cars, Group S Production Sports Cars, Historic Sports Racing Cars, Holden HQs, Modern Regularity (-1992), and Formula Ford celebrating its 50th Anniversary.

There will be new and exciting race formats including scratch, handicap and also split-grid starts; and Car Club displays, and Sydney’s newest Concourse event, which should attract hundreds of the best display vehicles Sydney has ever seen!

For more information on the Sydney Classic Speedfest or to buy tickets in advance and save, head to speedfestival.com.au or call the ARDC on (02) 9672 1000.

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TOURING CAR SHOOTOUT AT SYDNEY CLASSIC SPEEDFEST

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The Heritage Touring Cars series is set to return to Sydney Motorsport Park this Queen’s Birthday long weekend, June 10-11, for the Sydney Classic Speed Festival, bringing with it a glorious collection of golden era muscle.

The Heritage Touring Cars entry list is stacked with iconic race cars, with historic Australian Touring Cars from Group C, contested between 1973 and 1984, and Group A, which ran from 1985 to ’92.

Sure to be leading the charge are a set of Group A’s technological marvels, including one of Nissan’s highly-developed Skyline GT-Rs and a pair of turbocharged Ford Sierra RS500s.

Tony Alford will be aboard the 1991 Sandown 500-winning GIO GT-R and working hard to fend off Carey McMahon, who’ll pilot the ex-Tony Longhurst 1990 Benson & Hedges Ford Sierra. This car was the last Sierra built by Frank Gardner, Jim Stone and the Benson & Hedges team and the only one built entirely at home in Australia.

The second Sierra will be driven by Terry Lawlor and is a legendary machine from Dick Johnson’s stable. The 1990 Shell Sierra is the last of six built by Dick Johnson Racing and competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship until 1992. It recently joined the Heritage Touring Cars series at Bathurst, where Chris Stillwell went three-for-three and set a new lap record.

Six Group A BMWs will compete over the weekend, including David Towe in the ex-Jim Richards/Tony Longhurst JPS BMW M3, Harri Jones in another ex-Jim Richards JPS M3 and Duncan MacKellar in an ex-Anthony Reid M3. Rick Allen’s ex-Tony Longhurst/Johnny Cecotto Benson & Hedges BMW M3 will return to the Heritage Touring Cars series after its debut earlier this year, while Kyle Alford will pilot one of the Mobil Team cars from Bathurst in 1998. David Harris will break out something a little different, competing in his Group A 325i.

David Gardner’s ex-Alf Barbagallo VN Commodore is an interesting car and one to watch. It is one of just a few VN Commodores that were built for Group A competition in Australia.

Fans of many-cylindered muscle should keep an eye out for Garry Willmington’s Jaguar XJ-S. The 5.3-litre V12 is something you need to hear opened up at full race pace!

On the other end of the cubic capacity spectrum will be the ex-Mark Skaife Gibson Motorsport Peter Jackson Nissan Gazzelle run by Brian Henderson and the Bob Holden Motors Toyota Corolla Sprinter of David Paterson.

The Sydney Classic Speed Festival will see the second outing of Craig Foster’s ex-Toyota Team Australia AE86 Toyota Corolla Coupe, after the pair dominated the class at Phillip Island earlier this year. This was the last factory-built Toyota Racing Development TTA AE86 to come across from Japan and it competed from 1986 through to 1989, when John Smith helped Toyota secure a manufacturer’s championship.

Dean How’s ex-Allan Grice/Jim Richards JPS Team BMW 635CSi will debut after 30 years off the track and will show the younger Group A BMWs a thing or two. One of three Group 2 635CSis that Werginz Motorsport in Austria built and raced in Europe, it was brought into Australia by Frank Gardner and Allan Grice. Grice competed in the ’81 James Hardie 1000 in the car and the following year it would be driven at Bathurst by Denny Hulme and Stephen Brook.

Keeping with the European theme, but moving to muscle from a Swedish marque, and you have the Volvo 242GT of Peter Woods. The car ran in the 1979 Hardie-Ferodo 1000, driven by Spencer Martin and David McKay.

And, finally, returning home for some classic Australian muscle, the weekend’s competition will see series-regular Frank Binding once again unleash the awesome Army Reserve XD Falcon Group C on Sydney Motorsport Park. The car was originally bought by Bob Muir, who built it up with running gear from an ex-Colin Bond Falcon XC Touring Car and ran it in 1980 and 1981.

Heritage Touring Cars will be one of eight race categories featured through the weekend’s racing on June 11 – 12, amid a prestigious line-up of Formula 5000s, Historic Touring Cars, Group S Production Sports Cars, Historic Sports Racing Cars, Holden HQs, Modern Regularity (-1992), and Formula Ford celebrating its 50th Anniversary.

There will be new and exciting race formats including scratch, handicap and also split-grid starts; and Car Club displays, and Sydney’s newest Concourse event, which should attract hundreds of the best display vehicles Sydney has ever seen!

Head over to www.heritagetouringcars.com.au for more from the Heritage Touring Cars series, or more information on the Sydney Classic Speedfest or to buy tickets in advance and save, head to speedfestival.com.au or call the ARDC on (02) 9672 1000.

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DAVID VS GOLIATH AT SYDNEY CLASSIC SPEED FESTIVAL

From the halcyon days of Australian Motorsport come the legends of Group N: a category that began 35 years ago as an entry-level tin-top race category, and has evolved into a popular retro racing showcase of might versus lightness and handling against horsepower.

Set to star at Sydney Motorsport Park this Queen’s Birthday long weekend in the inaugural SYDNEY CLASSIC SPEED FESTIVAL, these Historic Touring Cars have always drawn a crowd, both for their close racing, and for the memories they inspire for enthusiasts and competitors alike.

Made all the more famous by racing legends such as Brock, Moffat, Johnson, Beechey, Geoghegan and Bond, nothing ensnares the senses like the cars once tacked to the walls of teenage bedrooms – and still hang from the garage and pool room walls today!

Makes and marques such as the Ford Falcon GT, Galaxie and Mustang, Chrysler Valiant, Holden Torana and EH, Chevrolet Camaro and Nova mix it up with the smaller but more nimble Mini Cooper S, Ford Cortina, Escort and Capri, Mazda RX2, Datsun 1600, and even the Jaguar Mk2 and BMW 2002, producing those ‘mini vs might’ battles that both spectators and drivers love.

The Group N Historic Touring Cars will be one of eight race categories featured through the weekend’s racing on June 11 – 12, amid a prestigious line-up of Formula 5000s, Heritage Touring Cars, Group S Production Sports Cars, Historic Sports Racing Cars, Holden HQs, Modern Regularity (-1992), and Formula Ford celebrating its 50th Anniversary.

There will be new and exciting race formats including scratch, handicap and also split-grid starts; and Car Club displays, and Sydney’s newest Concourse event, which should attract hundreds of the best display vehicles Sydney has ever seen!

For more information or to buy tickets in advance and save, head to speedfestival.com.au or call the ARDC on (02) 9672 1000.

LARGEST AUSTRALIAN F5000 FIELD IN DECADES TO LINE UP AT SYDNEY CLASSIC SPEED FESTIVAL

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The sonorous sound of a full grid of five-litre V8 F5000s will fill and thrill fans at Sydney Motorsport Park this Queen’s Birthday long weekend.

Set to be one of the largest gatherings of Australian-owned F5000 vehicles since their heyday in the late 1960s and 1970s, these amazing aero monsters, which were akin to the Formula 1 cars of the day in speed and sound and capable of speeds up to and 300km/h, will line up once more at the new Sydney Classic Speed Festival event on June 11 – 12.

Makes such as Lola, Chevron, Elfin, March, Matich and McLaren will line up on the grid, and with seventeen cars already registered, it will be the largest single Australian F5000 field in many years.

These are original masterpieces – not replicas – and each vehicle has its own place in motorsport history, competing around the world at various events throughout the last half-century.
The large field will be racing for line honours over the weekend’s racing, and for the top spot in the feature race named after Alfredo ‘Alfie’ Costanzo, a famous F5000 driver who won four CAMS Gold Stars as Australia’s National racing champion. Costanzo himself, who is still racing for his original mentor and Melbourne car owner Alan Hamilton in a McLaren M10B, will be competing in the Sydney Classic Speed Festival, and aiming to win his own namesake race!

A static display of four iconic vehicles will also be on hand over the weekend for all to enjoy, and their owners on hand to answer questions and talk about their car’s history.
The brand new event promises to showcase the best of classic racing cars with a fun, 60’s/70’s themed festival atmosphere, with eight race categories featured through the weekend’s racing; Heritage Touring Cars, Group S Production Sports Cars, Group N Historic Touring Cars, Historic Sports Racing Cars, Holden HQ Racing Cars, Modern Regularity (-1992) and Formula Ford celebrating its 50th Anniversary.

There will be new and exciting race formats including scratch, handicap and also split-grid starts; and Car Club displays, and Sydney’s newest Concourse event, which should attract hundreds of the best display vehicles Sydney has ever seen!

For more information or to buy tickets in advance and save, head to speedfestival.com.au or call the ARDC on (02) 9672 1000.

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SYDNEY CLASSIC SPEED FESTIVAL – A  BRAND  NEW  ERA  OF RETRO  RACING

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EVENT RELEASE: Everything old is new again this June long weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park with the new Sydney Classic Speed Festival. The Golden Era of ‘60s and ‘70s racing, its fantastic cars and fabulous drivers, and the fierce competition they procured are back in a brand new racing weekend for motorsport fans young and young-at-heart will enjoy.

To be held at Sydney Motorsport Park, Eastern Creek on Saturday June 10 – Sunday June 11 2017, The Sydney Classic Speed Festival will showcase the best of classic racing cars with a fun, 60’s/70’s themed festival atmosphere.

No less than eight race categories will feature through the weekend’s racing, with new and exciting race formats including scratch, handicap and also split-grid starts: fiercer competition on the track, and more exhilarating heart-in-your-mouth photo finishes.

Headlining the event are the phenomenal Formula 5000s – over 20 are expected to fill this grid. These thundering open-wheelers were faster than the F1 Cars in their day; many being able to go top 300kmh! Also featuring will be the Heritage Touring Cars which wowed the crowds at Bathurst from the 70’s through to the early 90’s. Fans can expect to see the legendary cars of this era including Commodores, Falcons, Skylines, Sierras and BMWs, plus the highly competitive Formula Fords who will also be celebrating their 50th Anniversary.

The ever-popular Sports and Touring Cars such as Porsches, Mustangs, Camaros, Toranas and Minis will be a favourite as well as a new category for later model cars (up to 1997) being modern regularity.

There will also be themed entertainment, Retro and Car Club displays, and Sydney’s newest Concourse event, which should attract hundreds of the best display vehicles Sydney has ever seen!

For more information, tickets, or to enter as a competitor, head to www.speedfestival.com.au

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24-hour fuel bowsers at SMSP!

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VENUE RELEASE: 08 November 2016

RaceFuels is pleased to announce a new partnership with both Sydney Motorsport Park (SMSP) and the Australian Racing Drivers Club (ARDC).

RaceFuels has installed new bowsers and tanks at SMSP; seven nozzles in total will dispense fuels 24 hour per day with the assistance of a credit card reader. Account cards will also be issued to corporate users of the facility.

On demand will be the following fuels:

98 RON (high quality pump grade fuel)
RF100 Leaded Racing Fuel (Avgas)
E85 RaceBlend (Batch Testing E85 for racing)

RaceFuels will take over the responsibility for fuel supply at SMSP incorporating the corporate hire of the circuit as well as the historic race meetings, RaceFuels will continue to operate the Shannons Nationals and Supercar round as normal.

SMSP will be the first circuit in Australia to offer bowser supplied fuel at all hours via a card reader.

Race Fuels Queries:    info@racefuels.com.au

Race Fules Sales:       sales@racefuels.com.au

Event fuel order: fuelorder@racefuels.com.au

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