Here we go!!!
Here we go!!!
Got a message today from the bridge of the ship taking our HMC cars to Aussie. `Waves 40 - 60 feet, huge seas, all 4 Mustangs violently seasick, Javelin seedy, all 3 Camaros in fine health, over and out!'
Who can't spell Queensland?
The Aussies, and they are from there!
ERC- its actually how they pronounce it.
They spelt KIWI correctly.
Not long now. Weather pretty crappy early today but supposed to be clearing for this weekend so hopefully it carries on through to the next weekend and the big event.
For the group A and C followers, this came online today;
HERITAGE TOURING CARS RETURN TO LAKESIDE
When: Lakeside Classic, Saturday 20-Sunday 21 July 2013
Event Location: Lakeside Park, Kurwongbah
Admission: $20pp Saturday, $30pp Sunday or $40 for a weekend pass, kids 12 and under FREE!
Perennial crowd pleasers, Heritage Touring Cars will head to the exhilarating Lakeside Raceway for the 2013 Lakeside Classic across the weekend of 19-21st July for the third round of the 2013 championship series.
A bumper grid of 26 original Group C and Group A Bathurst touring cars will thunder around the tight and challenging Lakeside circuit, with Jim Richards joining the series for the first time in his Nissan Skyline HR31 - the very car that he raced in the 1990 Australian Touring Car Championship.
Looking after Jim's Nissan shall be none other than the Gibson Motorsport team, headed by Fred Gibson and Alan Heaphy. Talk about getting the band back together...
Speaking of Australian motorsport high achievers, Gold Star winner and touring car legend Kevin Bartlett shall be on hand to present the inaugural "Kevin Bartlett Lakeside Challenge Trophy".
New for 2013, the trophy acknowledges Kevin's involvement with Heritage Touring Cars over recent years, and particularly his personal success at the circuit, where he won the "Governor's Trophy" in several Australian Driving Championship races in the late 60s and early 70s.
And not to be outdone, 1966 Bathurst winner Bob Holden - a stalwart of the Heritage Touring Car scene - will be coming along to what he does best - racing and reminiscing.
The action on track shall be non-stop, with 5 sprint races scheduled across the weekend. Jim won't have it all his own way, with the nimble M3 BMWs and lightening fast Sierras challenging, and a menacing Walkinshaw HRT Commodore thrown in for good measure. Did we mention the Greens Tuf ex Dick Johnson Mustang? Wearing the famous number 17, the striking green machine is bound to be a favourite with the locals.
So, grab the family and come and see what racing used to be like. From the Group C era (1973-84), you'll see the big banger Commodores, Toranas and Mazda RX7s, as well as a gaggle of Escorts and Celicas.
Group A (1985-92) brings an even greater variety with Starions, Gazelles, Supras and Corollas joining the front running Nissans, M3s and Mustang to ensure the racing is door hand to door handle right across the field - and the weekend.
Should be an awesome weekend. Have organized to get my old camera back from the guy I sold it to for the weekend so hopefully I can get some good shots.
Cheers
Tony
Thanks for that Tony, Jim Richards did tell us at QR that the punters literally line the track by being able to stand right behind the armco, and your photos show that. It sounds like Kevin Bartlett is also possibly now coming to our Saturday night function, and we`ll know in the next few days if Jim can get Fred Gibson and Alan Heaphy to join us as well.
Is there anywhere online (other then The Roaring season of course!) we can get updates on the race results, etc?
Just be aware that the forecast is wet at this stage
Malcolm, as Dewi has pointed out, Natsoft do a fantastic job providing race results from all Aussie events, being updated after every race. Keep an eye out this weekend for the Lakeside event at: http://racing.natsoft.com.au/results/#1
Huge thanks to Dewi Jones, from the Australian Trans-Am Association for sending me these pics from yesterdays practice session. More to come from todays action. Thanks Dewi!
Will be there tomorrow
On behalf of everyone at the Australian Trans-Am Association, we thank all the kiwis who have made the trip over to race with us at the two rounds, especially to the fans who came to Lakeside.. for me, it truly was an unforgettable weekend, and one that I will reflect on for a great time.. It was an honour to be able to shoot the drivers parade from the back of a ute on Sunday..
Was at Lakeside today aswell as my brother and I had been awarded a hot lap with Jim Richards in his Porsche cup car by the kiwis (who were also there today to load up the cars), and it truly was a thrilling experience, although he only managed a cruisy 1.00.67 around Lakeside, his quickest was a 54.6 with John Harris of Bryan Byrt Ford fame... I'd like to thank Steve Elliott especially for putting all this together.. The kiwis are off to Bowden's tomorrow before flying back home!!