Winton Motor Raceway is excited to welcome Cancer Council Victoria as the official charity beneficiary for the Valvoline Winton 300 endurance race, to be held on 12-13 November 2016.
Ten dollars from each entry received for the race will be donated to the charity, which has been in existence since 1936, and has earned an internationally-acclaimed reputation for its innovative work in cancer research, prevention and support.
Cancer Council Victoria holds many fundraising events each year, one of the most iconic of which is the Relay for Life, 24-hour events in which teams participate in a relay-style walk or run.
Winton Raceway operations manager Wayne Williams is thrilled to have the Cancer Council on board for the Winton 300.
“Cancer Council Victoria is a well-respected charity, which provides support services to cancer patients and an invaluable role in generating funding for cancer research,” Mr Williams said.
“The Winton 300 is one of our most popular events and we decided it was the ideal opportunity to give something back to the community.
“The Winton 300 is an endurance race where it’s a challenge just to reach the finish, so it’s like our version of Relay for Life! Hopefully most teams can reach the end and we have an exciting finish like we’ve had in the past.”
Cancer Council Victoria’s Head of Events Megan Potter said cancer affects everyone in some way, with 84 Victorians diagnosed with cancer every day.
“We work to reduce the impact of all cancers for all Victorians, with all funds raised from the Winton 300 going towards cancer research, prevention programs and support services. Cancer Council Victoria relies on generous donations and passionate fundraisers for more than half of our funding,” she said.
More than 40 entries have been received for this year’s Winton 300, with a diverse array of cars from manufacturers including Holden, Ford, Mazda, Mini, BMW, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Peugeot and Lotus.
This year’s Winton 300 will be live streamed online, with some other exciting innovations to be revealed closer to the event.
About the Winton 300
The Winton 300 was originally an annual endurance race in the 1980s and early 90s, before it was resurrected in 2011. It is open to a wide range of cars, which are allocated into divisions for the race based on the lap times they achieve in qualifying, and all teams are required to have at least two drivers and must make compulsory pit stops.
Since 2013, the Winton 300 winners have been awarded the Michael J. Ronke Memorial Trophy, honouring the former Winton Raceway CEO who was a passionate supporter of grass-roots motorsport.
The Winton 300 is widely regarded as the Bathurst 1000 of club-level motorsport and attracts large numbers of entries each year, with teams travelling from as far as Queensland to participate.
Winton 300 Honour Roll
2011 pole position: Stephen Anslow/Hayden Pullen – Mazda RX7
2011 race winners: David Raddatz/Shane Otten – Mazda MX5
2012 pole position: Nathan Jess/Matthew Thomson – Future Racer
2012 race winners: Chad Cotton/Jeff Davy – Future Racer
2013 pole position: Nathan Jess/Matthew Thomson – Future Racer
2013 race winners: Rob Hay/Nick Cancian – Mazda MX5
2014 pole position: Ben Schoots/Bill Schoots/Wayne Alway – Mazda RX7
2014 race winners: Nathan Jess/Matthew Thomson – Future Racer
2015 pole position: Glenn Townsend/Anthony Soole – Lotus Exige
2015 race winners: Steve Shelley/Jake Shelley – Lotus Elise
