2014 WASCC All Historic Meeting
Historic Tourers would again provide a big field split into two groups for the annual All
Historic bash. Mustang racer Daryl Hansens company Forpark Australia joined
Supercheap Auto as a meeting sponsor for the first time.
Group One
Having qualified fifth fastest Glen Badger stalled his XW off the line at the start of race
one. Cars frantically swerved to avoid the big Falcon until Gary Francis (EH) came
rocketing through from the back row. Francis almost made it past but just clipped the rear
quarter, the EH pulling off with hefty damage all the way down the drivers side and
putting him out for the weekend. After the restart Pole man Greg Freeman (Camaro) was
soon in the lead with Pat Van Brakel (sharing the driving of the Monaro with car owner
Daniel Dragojevich) picking off first Bill Meeke (Falcon Sprint) then Steve West
(Camaro) to move into third behind Will Colton who was running a brand new engine in
the Falcon for the first time. Steve Hooton went out earlier with a dropped valve in the
Charger while Badger rejoined from the pit lane after checking out the damage to the rear
corner of the XW. There were great battles inside the top ten with Barry Baltinas (BMW)
harassing Greg Barr (Torana) and Gary Martinovich (Kingswood) keeping Frank
Viskovich (Mustang) honest all race long. Freeman won from Colton and Van Brakel.
Race two saw another early Safety Car after Tony Gulfius (Capri) copped a nerf in the
rear at a very congested first corner, sending him into the sand. Freeman bolted away
after the re start and was never headed with Dragojevich coming through to grab second
after a slow start. Colton was third with the XYs new donk misbehaving slightly and not
giving him full power. Barr spun in front of McCracken House on the very last lap and let
Baltinas through.
Meeke had a shocker of a start in race three and fell back to be dead last as Freeman
again scooted away at the front. Van Brakel dropped a few spots after running very wide
down at Kolb but rejoined while Badger plonked the XW into the deep sand at Chill
Corner and had to bail out. Freeman won from West who had been pressuring Badger
with Colton third from Barr and Baltinas. Post race everyone moved up a spot after West
copped a 60 second penalty for moving before the start, sending the Englishman right
down the finishing order. Meeke recovered to be sixth. The final scratch race for Group
One saw Freeman take an early lead as Colton dropped a few spots with a shifter issue.
Van Brakel moved up into second then grabbed the lead with a tidy performance up front.
Having had an overnight engine change Lance Stannard (Mini) mixed it up with Gary
Edwards (BMW) as did John Harwood (Lotus Cortina) and the invited Group S Alfa of
Rod Lally. Colton and Barr were into it as well with Colton moving back up into third at
turn one. Van Brakel won from Freeman and Colton who just held out Barr.
Group Two
Rick Tarr would not line up in his spectacular new `69 Camaro after shearing a main
shaft during qualifying. Another debutant had a much better run with Paul Jakovich
taking his immaculate XR Falcon to a first up win from George Cameron (in Geoff
Morans Capri) and Mike van den Rydt (BDA Escort). Kim Ross (Escort) led for a good
portion of race two as Chris Chang (Alfa), Simon Northey (Mazda), Murray Paddison
(Cortina) and Max Farrell (BMW) had an almighty scrap until Farrell went off at Kolb.
The Cortinas of Randell Beavis and Gerry Emmelhainz also had a big dice while fellow
Ford man Andy Freeman suffered a suspected burnt piston in his Cortina. Martin Dennis
(Datsun) broke a gearbox joining Patrick Dick (Mustang) on the sidelines as the V8s of
Badger (XW) and Graeme Woolhouse (Mustang) came through from the back to finish
first and second with Ross third. Brian Francis (EH) made a lightning start in race three
to grab the lead with Harwood also showing plenty of speed to move into second. Former
125cc bike champ Peter Taplin (Mini) had his hands full fending off Paddison as Tony
Gilfuis (Capri) eventually took the win from van den Rydt and Francis. Race four saw
David Moran (Capri) lead briefly before the heavy metal starting from the back sliced
their way through, West winning from Badger and Hooton. Bill Schipper (Datsun) finally
had a good run into fifth after copping not one but two penalties for moving before the
start in the opening two races. Beavis posted a DNF after the diff let go as did Taplin
with a gearbox issue.
Trevor Roy Young Trophy
In just a few short years the split grid/handicap format of this race has proved to be a real
highlight of the seasons racing. Colton would miss out however as he pulled in after the
warm up lap with a cracked front disc sending bad vibes to the XYs pilot, with Ross also
coming in before the start after a distributor module died. Front row starter Hooton did
not last long once the race got under way after some major overnight work on the
Chargers 265 cube power plant. Lally grabbed an early lead as the Minis of Cono
Onafaro and Stannard continued their own private battle with much gusto. Harwood had
the red and gold Lotus flying, moving up to third until an oil leak filled the cabin with
smoke forcing him out. Spectators were treated to some great action as the quick cars
were forced to really push hard from the back with just the ten laps to catch the front
runners in the first group who had a 30 second head start. Jakovich parked the XR with
high temps under the bonnet as Lally could see the big blue Monaro closing in behind
him as the chequered flag was readied. Lally kept it all together to greet the flag first by
less than two seconds from Dragojevich and Geoff Moran closely followed by Freeman.
Post race the Alfa was demoted after a penalty so Dragojevich collected his first ever
TRY Trophy after a consistently strong weekend of racing from the big Holden.
Darren Knight