A huge crowd flocked to Winton Motor Raceway for the 47th running of the annual Historic Winton event. The longest running two and four-wheel motorsport festival in Australia was organised by the Austin 7 Club in association with HMRAV.
The campsites were packed to the rafters with race fans, the fences all around the circuit were aligned with spectators from dawn until dusk, it was a truly special weekend for fans, competitors, and organisers at the legendary historic event in 2024.
“About 5,000 people enjoyed the spectacle of car, motorcycle and sidecar racing across 48 events,” said event director, and President of the Austin 7 Club Len Kerwood.
One of the great things about the event (as always) was the fact that there was always something to do.
If you wanted to take a break from the on-track action you could have a look at the many historic car and motorcycle displays that surrounded the venue, supported by Shannons.
There were anniversaries celebrated within the displays as well as on the race track.
Some of the notable birthdays celebrated and remembered were 50 years of the Lamborghini Countach, 60 years of the Porsche 911 and Ford Mustang, 100 years of the Bugatti Type 35 and 125 years of Fiat.
As always Historic Winton is a jump back in time, and as a result the old shorter 2.0km circuit layout was used throughout the weekend.
In total 15 categories competed on track, from motorcycles to sidecars, open-wheelers and touring cars, there really was something for everyone!
One of the anniversaries celebrated this year was for the much-loved Ford Cortina, so the organisers elected to run the Cortina Challenge for the very first time.
Nick Cascone in his 1963 Cortina GT took the win by 4s from Peter Van Summeren, Les Walmsley finished a distant third, a further 12s back at the end of the six-lap encounter.
The two wheeled Hand Shift Battle between Harley Davison and Indian motorcycles was hard fought.
All three race wins went the way of Harley Davidson rider Jack Petith, he led home fellow Harley driver David Hoy in all affairs. Indian Motorcycles did score one podium, a third place in Race 1 for Clint Chegwidden.
Malcolm Oastler took victory in two of the three races, to win the ever-popular Historic Formula Ford category.
The Group S Series had a trophy named after 1980 Formula 1 World Champion Alan Jones, and it was Porsche 911 driver Wayne Seabrook who won the esteemed trophy home.
Other notable trophy winners were Laurie Bennett in the M & O Sports & Racing & Formula Vee – Phil Irving Trophy race, and the Doug Hicks Trophy for P3 350, P3 500 and P3 Unlimited Solo bikes was won by Leigh Corbett.
There weren’t just star cars and bikes in attendance, 1995 Australian Touring Car Champion and two-time Bathurst 1000 winner John Bowe thoroughly enjoyed all the action throughout the weekend as well, with a beaming smile from ear-to-ear.
Another highlight was the Sunday Parade which contained the very best machines from the Shannons car display.
There were awards handed out on Saturday night, the winners were as follows.
- Best Presented Car – “Mr Juicy” 1977 Ralt RT1 – driver Malcom Oastler of Candelo, NSW
- Best Presented Sports Car – 1970 MG Midget – driver Warren Hotz of Blaxland, NSW
- Best Presented Sedan – 1963 Mini Morris Cooper S – driver Tom Tweedie, Darlinghurst, NSW
- Best Presented Regularity Car – 1960 Aljon Special – driver Angelo Di Donato, Spring Gully, Vic.
As the highly successful event concluded, it was announced that Historic Winton will return for its 48th edition next year on May 24-25. Check out the many photogalleries on facebook.com/HistoricWinton
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