For 30 years, the Austin 7 Club’s Historic Winton weekends have given enthusiasts a chance to relive the past.  Traditionally held on the last full weekend in May, it is a globally respected event that provides much entertainment for the fans.  Adam Davis made the trip.

If you enjoy variety and overtaking in your motor racing, look no further than the flourishing historic categories that continue to gain massive support around Australia.  Historic Winton has been one of the strongest contributing factors to the success of the genre for the last 30 years.

Situated along the Hume Highway near Benalla, in country Victoria, Winton raceway is a tight circuit that is traditionally hard on machinery and rewards agility, particularly in the ‘short-circuit’ configuration being used for this event.  The slight uphill gradient on the start line makes a good getaway challenging, especially with the late-autumn afternoon sun shining directly into the competitor’s eyes.  This lack of vision also makes the first right-hander difficult to judge on approach.  An opening right makes up turn 2, which leads onto a short straight where an up change is required.  The long, quick left-hander at turn 3 feeds into a complex of ever tightening turns, right-left-right, then onto the short back straight.  The esses that complete the lap are vital to get right; otherwise speed onto that uphill front straight is squandered. Rapid direction changes and short straights mean lighter and more nimble cars can run with the big guns, which makes for fantastic racing.  The favoured spectator area appeared to be at the exit of the esses, where one can see the drivers fighting to maintain momentum, containing oversteer on exit for to maximise speed.

As usual with events such as this, the display areas surrounding the track provided almost as much entertainment as the fierce competition happening on-track.  Sunday in particular saw a myriad of classics on display, their drivers enjoying the gentle heat of the sun on the drive out into the country.  An Iso Rivolta, Phase 2 and 3 GT HO Falcons, a gaggle of Mini’s (there to celebrate 30 years since a Cooper S won Bathurst outright, Bob Holden being a special guest) and all manner of Austin’s were just a small selection of what could be found.  In addition, and quite amazingly, a silver Gullwing Mercedes sat on the Winton dirt with doors open and bonnet up, getting slowly covered in a film of dry dust as the day wore on.

Back on track, with such a varied entry list there was something to cater for everyone’s tastes, be it pre-war GP cars or eighties Formula 3, with generations of ‘tin-top’ tourers thrown in for good measure.  Winton has no high fencing in the spectator areas, enabling viewers to get a close and unimpeded view of the action. Events throughout the weekend were quite varied, some formats being based on ‘scratch races’ where the fastest car/driver combinations are at the front, whilst others were run to ‘handicap’ regulations, where the slowest class took off first and a time delay occurred before the next slowest were flagged off.  Still others were run to ‘Regularity’ rules, where each driver nominates a time they expect to complete four flying laps in, and the one closest to their nominated time wins the event with the intention that even the slowest car can win.

In terms of the entry list, there were a couple of post-war Grand Prix delights on hand.  American Peter Giddings brought along his 1956 AGP winning ex-Moss Maserati 250F and the United Kingdom’s Dean Butler raced his 1948 Talbot-Lago T26C.  Unfortunately Peter tangled with another competitor early in his first race of the weekend, damaging the nose of his most valuable of cars and necessitating its withdrawal from further competition.  He did however have a chance to drive the Butler Talbot on the Sunday morning, and put on a masterclass of how to drive a Grand Prix car of that era, using the throttle to steer and drifting through the corners to maximise his speed. 

The resurgence of historic touring car (Group N) racing was well displayed by the entry list of over 50 cars, meaning the category had to be split into ‘Fastest’ and ‘Slowest’ races.  The very nature of Winton virtually guaranteed a great mix of cars battling for victory, the Minis being particularly suited to the short Winton circuit as there is not much opportunity for the Mustangs and Camaros to stretch their legs.  Indeed, throughout the weekend Andrew Bergan in his Cooper S hounded and harassed the big Mustangs, even if he couldn’t keep pace with the remarkably well-sorted Tony Hubbard Camaro, which cornered with visibly more grip and balance than the Stangs on its way to winning both scratch races.

The slower group also provided fireworks, the flame-spitting Escort 1300GT of Dean Bryant lighting the evening skies on Saturday as the Slater Cortina battled with the 105 series Alfa GTV of Keith Wong for honours, culminating in a collision between the two in the final scratch race that allowed Robert Burns in his Kingswood to come through after qualifying problems relegated him to the back of the field.

The Group Sb saloon cars also provided real entertainment; with the remarkable 1800cc Marcos GT of Roger Ealand dominating both scratch races after fellow front row qualifier Paul Sabine had a coming together with the Ian Ross Mustang in the first race and retired. Paul drove his 427ci (6998cc) 1968 Corvette back through the field to finish fourth in the final. 

Throughout the other classes there continued to be great racing- Group Q and R Racing cars providing a fantastic open-wheeled Formula 3, Ford and Atlantic battle.  The incredibly rapid 1973 March 73B of the Makin’s was a flamboyant pace setter, with the Ralt RT4’s of Calvert (in an ex-Jacques Laffite car) and Robson providing stiff competition despite some mechanical problems. Group J and K included many custom made specials that did battle with the Talbot and the “toed-out” pre-war GP Bugattis, with the Greg Neal Plymouth Special of 1939 and Trevor Eastwood’s Alvis proving the class of the field.  Regular racers Jim Russell and Barry Batagol in their Ford specials diced closely throughout for the minor placings.

The best battle of all had to go to the Group M, O, Q and R category for sports cars, with Paul Mander in his crackling 1983 Tiga SC83C2 taking on the well-prepared and very nimble Fryer Engineering1966 Lotus T23 of John Smith.  The lithe little Lotus gave away the best part of 800cc, not to mention the aerodynamic aids of the Tiga, but it made up any deficit with its driveability. They battled hard for line honours, passing and pushing each other constantly and utilising traffic to make breaks or overtakes whenever possible.  One win apiece in the scratch races was the result of this epic showcase of historic racing.

The twisting nature of the track and several fast cars coming through the field after problems led to a number of coming-togethers, the worst of which being a multiple rollover for Phil Randall in his Hawke at the esses, after hitting Nick Bennett’s Wren at the esses. John Heagney’s little Austin 7 also brought out the red flags on Saturday.  Happily no one was badly injured.

When you combine racing like this with the laid-back country atmosphere of Winton and the surrounding region, and allow the people close access to the cars and pits, it is obvious to see how this event has become so successful in its promotion of historic racing.  The crowd is knowledgeable, the competitors and cars are accessible to the public and the track layout enables a view of the majority of the circuit.  The organisers provided a wonderful event for competitors and spectators alike. Roll on Historic Winton 2007.

                                                                            - Written by Adam Davis

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