Photo : Peter Weaver Motorsport Photography, used with permission

Although the Winton Festival of Speed has never been very popular with our members we decided that for all the reasons laid out below it was too good to miss this year, so we made into a club event. I’ll be honest and admit that the turnout was not overwhelming but we had a bit of car display (with more interest than I expected) and a cracking day at the races.

There was plenty of action on the track and easy access to the pits and paddock with lots to talk about and observe.

The Winton Festival of Speed is organised by the Victoria Historic Racing Register, VHRR, who also organise the popular Phillip Island Classic in March.

The format and racing is very similar at the two events, most noticeably for us the inclusion of the Heritage Touring Car championship for Groups A and C (1980s “touring” cars – sedans) which feature the ex JPS Team BMW cars, or one of them as was the case at Winton.

These always provide great entertainment as the small, light and nimble E30 M3 battles with the more powerful Sierra Cosworths or the V8 powered Group C cars. Sometimes the BMW 635CSi joins in, usually doing rather better than it did in the day when, in Group C format, the rules were literally weighted against it.

This year’s event was enlivened by a round of E30 Racing’s BMW Drivers Cup championship, E30s have now qualified as Historic.

What made the E30 presence all the more special was the milestone 25 years anniversary, celebrated in style with a bumper grid which included a gaggle of Bells; Graeme (E30 Racing founding member and former champion), sons Sean and Chris (both former champions) and daughter Jess (current E30 Racing President in a beautiful newly built green car that looks way too nice to be on track).

    

 Yes, Winton is a long way away but it was certainly worth the effort.

Lawrence Glynn #3
Photos : Simon Wilkins and Lawrence Glynn