Les Walmsley has taken out the Just Cars Touring Car Cup 50km feature race for Group N historic touring cars at the Winton Festival of Speed today, driving his six-cylinder 1972 Valiant Charger to victory after a fierce battle with his V8-powered rivals.
For the opening five laps of the race, Walmsley was engaged in a thrilling scrap with Mustang driver Darryl Hansen, until Hansen made a mistake and speared off the circuit at turn 10, causing a Safety Car intervention.
At the restart, Walmsley was pressured by Camaro drivers Dean Neville and Angelo Taranto, with Neville closing right onto the tail of Walmsley when he was delayed by lapped traffic.
Ultimately though, it was Neville who made a mistake, spinning out of second position on the final lap and elevating Taranto into the runner-up spot.
“It was great to battle against some of those more powerful cars and come out on top,” an elated Walmsley said after the race.
“The driving standards were fantastic, we raced hard but very fair and I think all of us had a lot of fun.
“These longer races are a real test of both the car and the driver, so it was a very satisfying win.”
The other feature race was the Rose City Tourist Trophy 15-lapper for Group S production sports cars.
Geoff Morgan led initially in his Porsche 911 but a mechanical problem forced him into the pits after nine laps, handing fellow Porsche racer Wayne Seabrook the lead and ultimately the win. Tony Floreani finished second with Doug Barbour making it a Porsche 1-2-3.
Ray Narkiewicz (1965 Corvette) was the best of the Class Sb cars while Andrew Gibson (Triumph) won class Sa.
Driving his ex-Mark Gibbs/Rohan Onslow Nissan Skyline R32 GTR, Tony Alford won all four Group C and A Heritage Touring Car races, narrowly holding out Carey McMahon, who was driving the 1988 Bathurst-winning Tony Longhurst/Tomas Mezera Ford Sierra.
David Towe (BMW M3) ran strongly in the first two races but suffered a mechanical problem early on Sunday, gifting the final podium position to Mark Eddy (Nissan Skyline R31).
Nissan Motorsport Supercar driver Dale Wood made a guest appearance in the MG and invited British sports car races and duly won all three heats in his MGB GT V8, also breaking the lap record for the category. Wood’s team-mate Phil Chester suffered a DNF in Race 1 but charged his way through the field to finish second in Races 2 and 3, with Jim Robertson (MG Midget) scoring third in Race 3 after a battle with Jason Holmes (MG ZR Turbo).
Andrew Nethercote won the first two historic Formula Ford races but lost places with a poor start in Race 3, allowing David Hardman to take the win ahead of Andrew McInnes.
Richard Davison, father of Supercar drivers Will and Alex, finished third in Race 1 and second in Race 2, but slipped back to fifth after a contretemps with Nethercote on the last lap of the final.
John Bowe clean-swept the Group P, Q and R (1970s and ‘80s racing cars) races in his March ex-Formula 1 car, winning all three races ahead of Andrew Makin.
For spectators, the most spectacular incident was a high-speed off-track excursion for Lucio Cesario at the sweeper in Race 1. Fortunately Cesario was unharmed but the damage to his car eliminated him from the remainder of the weekend’s proceedings.
Bruce Heinrich won the opening HQ Holden race but was defeated by Andrew McLeod in Race 2 and elected not to contest the final, which McLeod also won ahead of Warren Trewin and David Tessari. After running just inside the top 20 for much of the weekend, Phil Brock stormed to 10th in Race 3.
Dick O’Keefe won the first J, K and L (historic sports cars) race in his 1959 Photon, but Samantha Dymond prevailed in Races 2 and 3 after O’Keefe retired with a clutch problem.
Other category winners over the weekend were Laurie Bennet (Group M and O 1960s racing cars) and Tony Paynter (Formula Vee).
