WATCHTOWER PROPERTY 2009 FORMULA CLASSIC CHAMPIOSHIP SERIES SERIES

Two out of 5 rounds scheduled for this, our inaugural Formula Classic season, have been run and if they are anything to go by this series is about to really hot up. Simon Ridgewell came out as round winner for the first event and David Turner was on top after round two. Only 10 points separate the top eight cars.

Compared to our Eastern States cousins we are fortunate here in the West as the WA Sporting Car Club allows our class to include a wider variety of cars than the usual single grouping. We believe this will continue to assist in allowing the class to grow. With 16 cars at round one in February, 16 cars at round two in April we now have the potential for 25 plus cars at round three on 26th July. This class is growing in strength and why wouldn’t it?

To join this class at entry level you can buy a genuine, fully log booked, historic Formula Ford for less than $30,000 and race in a friendly atmosphere with some very exotic and historic machinery. I know because this is just what I’ve done myself. From day one I was welcomed by the group and knew right away that this was just the class I was looking for. No one is out to prove anything and we cover a very broad range of ages. We are all there just to enjoy safe racing with a bunch of like minded enthusiasts. Sure you can spend as much money as you wish with the more desirable cars costing anything up to a few hundred thousand but you don’t have to. This year it has probably cost me about $2,000.00 to get set up with clothing and I doubt I’ll be spending more than $2,500.00 during the course of the year on entries, fuel and tyres. Not a bad cost for so much fun and don’t forget, 200kms feels a lot faster when you’re bum is only a few inches off the ground!
If you’re competitively minded the handicapped points system gives you as much chance of overall success as the faster cars.

You must consider too, the very important fact that all of these historic cars tend to appreciate in value as the years go on. What could be better than enjoying a few years racing and selling the car at a profit when you decide to move on, or even better, when you buy something faster. You get low running costs, a high level of excitement and a rolling investment all in one. Not a bad way to top up your super.

The group has some keen collectors like Neil McCrudden and Rob Jordan who between them have several cars some of which they are prepared to make available for the right people to try. Go ahead and get in touch with them and if you fit their criteria you may well be given the chance to try out a whole new world of racing enjoyment. Be prepared though, as I was told before I joined, the open wheel bug bites deep and hard!

It was great to receive news that we are now considered a class who are seen to be actually racing and not just putting on a display. With such a wide diversity of machinery we are obviously going to see the field split up into the various categories but as our numbers continue to grow there will be more of each class so we will see more than one race in each event.

If you want to know more about the class then log onto the West Australian Racing Museum site http://www.warm.org/HRA.htm or just come up and have a chat with any of the competitors. There’s nothing they like more than to talk about the class and their cars.

By Wayne Clarke