Round Wrap-Up: The 2020 HSRCA Summer Festival

On reflection, the 2020 historic motor sport season offered mixed feelings. From risking the dreaded virus in its very early days and travelling to compete at Wakefield Park in March to then enduring a large gap until October.

Strangely, as a result of the virus lockdown in Victoria, we were offered the opportunity to compete at Bathurst supporting the V8 Supercars, which was a very welcome surprise. At Bathurst there were some early speed differential concerns that mixing the Group N category cars with A & C category historic cars may not have worked, but the groups blended together reasonably well with a number of Group N cars finishing at the front of the field.

Fast forward to a return to Wakefield Park, a deferred meeting originally planned for a couple of months earlier, presented with wet weather conditions that were certainly challenging and a definite test our wet weather driving skills. No major incidents to report as a result all competitors coming to terms with the treacherous conditions. A surprise wayward excursion across the infield by Geoff Pike in his Mini Cooper S gave the illusion of grass growing across turn two, certainly an unexpected situation for following field of cars.

Just when we had thought we had experienced the worst that the weather could throw at us, along came the HSRCA Summer Festival. And it certainly lived up to its name. With temperatures reaching 40C and beyond both days, and wind that attempted to blow away whatever little hair we have remaining, it was a challenge.

All in all we should be grateful that we have had any motorsport activity this year, and maybe that is why we endured extreme conditions to enjoy the sport we love. Each and every one of us deserved a medal for having the tenacity to pull on a race suit, get into a hot car and race around a track putting our bodies and vehicles through such physical exertion. And then turn around and do it all again in the next rage. On occasions many competitors experiencing disappointment with mechanical issues, that needed to be resolved before the next on track excursion.

The heat got to a large number of vehicles. The Mini Cooper Ss experienced a range of mechanical issues, including Francis Meier taking his car home on the Saturday night, repairing it and returning to compete successfully on Sunday. It seems a bit of a miracle that Dave Gray’s car, one of the only Cooper S vehicles left competing quite successfully despite the smoke billowing from under the car.

Home base at the Summer Festival

Acknowledgement is in order for all those wives, girlfriends and guys and support staff that worked tirelessly in the heat and wind in an effort to keep the cars running over the weekend. As usual the member support for the HGNA was beyond reproach thanks to Paul Tierney setting up the HGNA club marquee, which provided much welcome relief from the extreme weather.

John Battersby and his family, despite both cars expiring early remained onsite supporting those drivers still in action. The always resilient Bruce Whitford, ultimate pit crew member, was on hand for consultation and busy working to resolve many vehicle issues over the weekend. It is always comforting to see Michelle Cocks smiling face also providing support for fellow HGNA members, the HGNA club are proud of all our female members that compete and support fellow competitors.

Elizabeth Wilks in her Holden Torana XU1

Also pleasing to see Elizabeth Wilks in her immaculate Holden Torana XU1 out on track with some positive on track performances improving on her previous lap times considerably, but unfortunately joining the rest of us in experiencing mechanical failure.

A special mention for the two fellow Torana drivers Bruce Tressiter and Peter Cox, who assisted Greg Luca with a gearbox change kindly provided by Paul Tierney to keep his Holden Torana XU1 in the competition. Greg actually won the last race of the day on Sunday. Great to see him back on track after a long absence.

Steve Pitman, EH Holden

There were a long list of members whose vehicles just did not cope with the extreme heat, including my EH Holden which suffered a blown head gasket causing the engine to boil in a violent volcano action similar to the 3801 steam engine. Bob Munday in the Mustang failed to compete on the Sunday, along with Jerry Lenstra’s Cortina and David Roberts Mini Cooper S just to mention a few.

In summary it is not all doom and gloom. As competitors we accept the challenge of each race meeting as an adventure, which may include negatives along with the the positives, and we look to many valued and often lifelong friends who together support each other. The dedication of these partnerships sharing each other’s triumphs, tribulations and disappointments is far more important than winning a race or beating any records.

Finally I would like to show appreciation for the HSRCA and all the volunteer officials that braved the heat and wind standing on flag positions for extended periods making the event possible for us all. Thank you all for a job well done under extreme circumstances.

By Steve Pitman
Edited by David Roberts