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02-06-2011, 10:43 AM
Dick Willis, HSRCA Group JKL Registrar
PO Box 280, Coffs Harbour. NSW. 2450
Ph. 02 66522099, 0427 400158, willisrg@smartchat.net.au
Greetings All,
I know I make the same comment every year but Historic Winton is really a great event for those of us with a love for the earlier cars with 34 Group L cars, nearly 30 JK’s, nearly 50 Regularities ( mostly pre war ) and then the display in the pits of around 30 Amilcars/Salmsons and other small French cars. As usual when one ventured out into the car club display area there were hosts of all sorts of interesting cars many of which will be remembered for making their annual pilgrimage to Historic Winton.
First to Group L where Mal Reid was on pole in the PRAD from Graeme Marks in the Mac Healey, David Reid in the Faux Pas and Bill Hemming in the Elfin Streamliner all lapping in the 1.13’s. The closeness of the racing to come was shown by 29 competitors lapping between 1.13 and 1.20. Saturday’s five lapper was won by David Reid from Bill Hemming and Mal Reid with several lead changes from this group and David Reid posting the quickest Group L lap of the weekend in 1.12.1089.
The Sunday morning handicap was marred by the necessity to have two restarts, one of which I inadvertently caused and for which I apologise for the inconvenience I caused. The back markers were never able to come into contention and it was Peter Rose in the Ausca TR making a welcome return to Historics who took the chequered flag only to be deprived of the win by exceeding his previous best lap by more than the mandatory two seconds giving the win to Greg Smith in the MG Holden looking really magnificent with its new coat of red paint in place of the previous polished aluminium. Second and third places then went to Richard Townley in the immaculate Patterson/Brydon TC Special and Ian Mawson also returning after a lengthy absence with his red TC Special.
By the time of the Sunday afternoon 8 lapper some attrition had become apparent with 25 cars facing the starter and again it was David Reid who appeared on top of the results sheets capping a good weekend with the Faux Pas, second again was Bill Hemming and third Bob Schapel from SA with his quick blown TC Special who actually led the race at one stage. Highlight of the race however was the performance of well known late model racer, John Smith who was having a guest drive in Ian Pope’s Group M Lolita sports and was intended to be starting from the rear of the M & O race which immediately followed the Lb race. Somehow, much to the embarrassment of the officials, he lined up at the rear of the Lb race and proceeded to carve his way through the field, obviously thinking this was easy, and hit the front with about two laps to go. Naturally he was excluded from the results but it beats me why he wasn’t black flagged much earlier.
The hard luck story of the weekend must go to Mal Reid, the PRAD going well initially after an engine rebuild but he was beset by a litany of problems, first on unloading the PRAD the clutch was found to be inoperative because a pin securing the clutch withdrawal fork had sheared, remove floor etc and clutch housing to repair, then the oil filter came loose, next a massive oil leak from the side plate of the Repco Holden which required removal of the carbies to rectify, next the drive flange on the front of the diff came loose causing another oil leak and finally while putting the rear end together a T junction on the rear brake line had the thread stripped, have I missed any ? Hope it goes better next time Mal to repay all the effort.
Graeme Marks threw a rod in the MacHealey ruining the block, if anyone has a spare Austin A90/Healey 4 cylinder block I am sure Graeme would like to hear from you. Shane Bowden was battling with tyres past their use by date on the Testa Rossa PRAD, Bill Schapel was out with overheating in the TC, John Medley had massive oil leak from the rear main bearing seal on the Nota FJ and had to withdraw and Chris Farrell blew a head gasket in his TC Special. My Stewart MG finally finished a race on the Saturday, even if it was in a lowly 22nd position but it wasn’t to last. In the Sunday handicap a massive fuel leak developed because the bolt securing the float bowls to the SU carb had stripped and there wasn’t any way I could effect repairs at the track, better days ahead hopefully said the eternal optimist. Brian Simpson was going quite well in Derry Greeneklee’s Cooper JAP but had a DNF in the last race for reasons unknown to me but a little bird tells me we may not have seen the last of Derry in an Lb race ! Derek McLaughlan seemed to be having a trouble free weekend in the Mallock but had also bought along the Edelbrock Ford V8 special to run in Regularity but some minor problems precluded him from doing this. It is an absolutely gorgeous restoration, the culmination of some nine years work and we look forward to seeing in action soon. Another long awaited restoration is now coming along nicely, Ian Tate’s massive rebuild of the Ian Mountain supercharged Peugeot Special should hit the track some time next year so we await its appearance with interest.
Probably Australia’s second most notable Group L Australian special (after the Maybach ) is the Eldred Norman supercharged Zephyr Special which has been owned for many years by the Snape family of Gundagai and it made a rare appearance at Winton in the hands of Greg Snape. Unfortunately Greg had to retire from the first Sunday race due to an unusual noise in the transmission after finishing a close fourth in the Saturday race. The Zephyr Special always seemed to have a huge crowd around it especially when the body was removed to allow people to inspect its revolutionary mechanicals but even more especially to listen to the great noise it makes when started. It is indeed a shame that Graeme is unable to bring it to our Australian Specials feature at Wakefield Park in September even if only as a static display to allow the enthusiasts of NSW to share in its features.
JK belonged to Graeme Raper in the Monoskate with pole position and a clean sweep of all three races with the car sounding really strong. He was briefly challenged in the Saturday race by Jim Russell until Jim’s V8 succumbed to low oil pressure on the Sunday and, not wishing to incur further damage Jim withdrew. This left Andrew Wilson in the Amilcar AC, originally raced so successfully by Richard Stanley, to finish a close second in both Sunday races, followed by Bruce Hartwig from SA in the Plymouth Special. Back after a long absence was Rob Harcourt from Qld in the Lancia Meadows showing he had lost none of his touch by finishing fourth in the Sunday races. Another returnee was Tony Caldersmith with his Amilcar Ford B Special who was the subject of a TV feature in a prelude to the meeting, go to
http://wwwnbntv.com.au/index.php/2011/5/16/start-your-engines-1920s-automobile-on-the-road-again/
Tony Osborne too had the misfortune to ventilate the block in his Riley Special so would be pleased to hear from anyone who has 1500 Riley block for sale, it was good to see David Shannon back with his Ford V8 Special. Frank Cuttell was having a good time keeping his hand in driving the Reid family’s Sulman Singer while he awaits completion of his latest special which, from the pics I have seen of it, will be quite something to see. I have always thought it is very praiseworthy that some competitors are willing to race cars which are obviously very valuable in our events, for example George Hetrel with his T35 Bugatti who had the misfortune to have it catch fire at the end of Saurday’s race but, thankfully it was back in action for the Sunday races. John Gillett too with his K3 MG was not afraid to be amongst the action. Another car I was pleased to see back in action again and going quite well was the MG TB Special of Neill Murdock, it was an old friend to me having bought it off Paul Trevethan in 1985 and I raced it for about two years, it is a car I remember with very fond memories.
Preparations for our Australian Specials feature at Wakefield Park on September 24/25 are coming along very well, I have sent out just on 100 invitations to owners of appropriate cars I would like to have there and to date have received 44 replies of indications to attend, another 10 or so possible and about a dozen I need to follow up on. I am sure this is going to be an event to remember with events for cars with C of D’s and Regularities for those without plus an area for static displays of interesting cars. Entry forms will be going out in July so don’t forget to spread the word.
And now for a commercial, you will remember last month I mentioned my DVD “The Dick Willis Story” you can see a preview on you tube, go to ;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is9cLYpBy5s
It seems that both the Coopers of Richard Longes are destined for overseas owners, a pity as they both have extensive Australian histories, but it may not be too late if you ring Michael Vigneron on 02 48721024. Barry Naylor’s Sabrina auctioned at Lakeside last month didn’t quite make the reserve so ring Peter Mohr on 0412 564706 if you are interested.
We recently lost two great stalwarts from our era, Don Biggar from Queensland and formerly from Victoria and Leon Thomas of Bruderlin and Thomas fame in NSW.
I recently had another example of a motor getting rust under the valve seats after non use for a time, this time in the Gladiator necessitating a strip down and overhaul so don’t forget to oil them up though the carbs or plugs or use some oil in the fuel if you don’t intend to use the car for a time.
Good Racing, Dick Willis.
PO Box 280, Coffs Harbour. NSW. 2450
Ph. 02 66522099, 0427 400158, willisrg@smartchat.net.au
Greetings All,
I know I make the same comment every year but Historic Winton is really a great event for those of us with a love for the earlier cars with 34 Group L cars, nearly 30 JK’s, nearly 50 Regularities ( mostly pre war ) and then the display in the pits of around 30 Amilcars/Salmsons and other small French cars. As usual when one ventured out into the car club display area there were hosts of all sorts of interesting cars many of which will be remembered for making their annual pilgrimage to Historic Winton.
First to Group L where Mal Reid was on pole in the PRAD from Graeme Marks in the Mac Healey, David Reid in the Faux Pas and Bill Hemming in the Elfin Streamliner all lapping in the 1.13’s. The closeness of the racing to come was shown by 29 competitors lapping between 1.13 and 1.20. Saturday’s five lapper was won by David Reid from Bill Hemming and Mal Reid with several lead changes from this group and David Reid posting the quickest Group L lap of the weekend in 1.12.1089.
The Sunday morning handicap was marred by the necessity to have two restarts, one of which I inadvertently caused and for which I apologise for the inconvenience I caused. The back markers were never able to come into contention and it was Peter Rose in the Ausca TR making a welcome return to Historics who took the chequered flag only to be deprived of the win by exceeding his previous best lap by more than the mandatory two seconds giving the win to Greg Smith in the MG Holden looking really magnificent with its new coat of red paint in place of the previous polished aluminium. Second and third places then went to Richard Townley in the immaculate Patterson/Brydon TC Special and Ian Mawson also returning after a lengthy absence with his red TC Special.
By the time of the Sunday afternoon 8 lapper some attrition had become apparent with 25 cars facing the starter and again it was David Reid who appeared on top of the results sheets capping a good weekend with the Faux Pas, second again was Bill Hemming and third Bob Schapel from SA with his quick blown TC Special who actually led the race at one stage. Highlight of the race however was the performance of well known late model racer, John Smith who was having a guest drive in Ian Pope’s Group M Lolita sports and was intended to be starting from the rear of the M & O race which immediately followed the Lb race. Somehow, much to the embarrassment of the officials, he lined up at the rear of the Lb race and proceeded to carve his way through the field, obviously thinking this was easy, and hit the front with about two laps to go. Naturally he was excluded from the results but it beats me why he wasn’t black flagged much earlier.
The hard luck story of the weekend must go to Mal Reid, the PRAD going well initially after an engine rebuild but he was beset by a litany of problems, first on unloading the PRAD the clutch was found to be inoperative because a pin securing the clutch withdrawal fork had sheared, remove floor etc and clutch housing to repair, then the oil filter came loose, next a massive oil leak from the side plate of the Repco Holden which required removal of the carbies to rectify, next the drive flange on the front of the diff came loose causing another oil leak and finally while putting the rear end together a T junction on the rear brake line had the thread stripped, have I missed any ? Hope it goes better next time Mal to repay all the effort.
Graeme Marks threw a rod in the MacHealey ruining the block, if anyone has a spare Austin A90/Healey 4 cylinder block I am sure Graeme would like to hear from you. Shane Bowden was battling with tyres past their use by date on the Testa Rossa PRAD, Bill Schapel was out with overheating in the TC, John Medley had massive oil leak from the rear main bearing seal on the Nota FJ and had to withdraw and Chris Farrell blew a head gasket in his TC Special. My Stewart MG finally finished a race on the Saturday, even if it was in a lowly 22nd position but it wasn’t to last. In the Sunday handicap a massive fuel leak developed because the bolt securing the float bowls to the SU carb had stripped and there wasn’t any way I could effect repairs at the track, better days ahead hopefully said the eternal optimist. Brian Simpson was going quite well in Derry Greeneklee’s Cooper JAP but had a DNF in the last race for reasons unknown to me but a little bird tells me we may not have seen the last of Derry in an Lb race ! Derek McLaughlan seemed to be having a trouble free weekend in the Mallock but had also bought along the Edelbrock Ford V8 special to run in Regularity but some minor problems precluded him from doing this. It is an absolutely gorgeous restoration, the culmination of some nine years work and we look forward to seeing in action soon. Another long awaited restoration is now coming along nicely, Ian Tate’s massive rebuild of the Ian Mountain supercharged Peugeot Special should hit the track some time next year so we await its appearance with interest.
Probably Australia’s second most notable Group L Australian special (after the Maybach ) is the Eldred Norman supercharged Zephyr Special which has been owned for many years by the Snape family of Gundagai and it made a rare appearance at Winton in the hands of Greg Snape. Unfortunately Greg had to retire from the first Sunday race due to an unusual noise in the transmission after finishing a close fourth in the Saturday race. The Zephyr Special always seemed to have a huge crowd around it especially when the body was removed to allow people to inspect its revolutionary mechanicals but even more especially to listen to the great noise it makes when started. It is indeed a shame that Graeme is unable to bring it to our Australian Specials feature at Wakefield Park in September even if only as a static display to allow the enthusiasts of NSW to share in its features.
JK belonged to Graeme Raper in the Monoskate with pole position and a clean sweep of all three races with the car sounding really strong. He was briefly challenged in the Saturday race by Jim Russell until Jim’s V8 succumbed to low oil pressure on the Sunday and, not wishing to incur further damage Jim withdrew. This left Andrew Wilson in the Amilcar AC, originally raced so successfully by Richard Stanley, to finish a close second in both Sunday races, followed by Bruce Hartwig from SA in the Plymouth Special. Back after a long absence was Rob Harcourt from Qld in the Lancia Meadows showing he had lost none of his touch by finishing fourth in the Sunday races. Another returnee was Tony Caldersmith with his Amilcar Ford B Special who was the subject of a TV feature in a prelude to the meeting, go to
http://wwwnbntv.com.au/index.php/2011/5/16/start-your-engines-1920s-automobile-on-the-road-again/
Tony Osborne too had the misfortune to ventilate the block in his Riley Special so would be pleased to hear from anyone who has 1500 Riley block for sale, it was good to see David Shannon back with his Ford V8 Special. Frank Cuttell was having a good time keeping his hand in driving the Reid family’s Sulman Singer while he awaits completion of his latest special which, from the pics I have seen of it, will be quite something to see. I have always thought it is very praiseworthy that some competitors are willing to race cars which are obviously very valuable in our events, for example George Hetrel with his T35 Bugatti who had the misfortune to have it catch fire at the end of Saurday’s race but, thankfully it was back in action for the Sunday races. John Gillett too with his K3 MG was not afraid to be amongst the action. Another car I was pleased to see back in action again and going quite well was the MG TB Special of Neill Murdock, it was an old friend to me having bought it off Paul Trevethan in 1985 and I raced it for about two years, it is a car I remember with very fond memories.
Preparations for our Australian Specials feature at Wakefield Park on September 24/25 are coming along very well, I have sent out just on 100 invitations to owners of appropriate cars I would like to have there and to date have received 44 replies of indications to attend, another 10 or so possible and about a dozen I need to follow up on. I am sure this is going to be an event to remember with events for cars with C of D’s and Regularities for those without plus an area for static displays of interesting cars. Entry forms will be going out in July so don’t forget to spread the word.
And now for a commercial, you will remember last month I mentioned my DVD “The Dick Willis Story” you can see a preview on you tube, go to ;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is9cLYpBy5s
It seems that both the Coopers of Richard Longes are destined for overseas owners, a pity as they both have extensive Australian histories, but it may not be too late if you ring Michael Vigneron on 02 48721024. Barry Naylor’s Sabrina auctioned at Lakeside last month didn’t quite make the reserve so ring Peter Mohr on 0412 564706 if you are interested.
We recently lost two great stalwarts from our era, Don Biggar from Queensland and formerly from Victoria and Leon Thomas of Bruderlin and Thomas fame in NSW.
I recently had another example of a motor getting rust under the valve seats after non use for a time, this time in the Gladiator necessitating a strip down and overhaul so don’t forget to oil them up though the carbs or plugs or use some oil in the fuel if you don’t intend to use the car for a time.
Good Racing, Dick Willis.