2025 Formual Classic – Round 8
Collie Motorplex 27th / 28th September
The eighth round of the 2025 Formula Classic championship took place at Collie Motorplex over the weekend of 27th / 28th September. Weather conditions were near perfect, with dry sunny conditions and a light breeze. A field of ten cars were entered for the event.
Drivers Briefing
The Clerk of the Course advised at the drivers briefing that Formula Classic would be doing standing starts, as per the regulations. This promoted a bit of discussion at the drivers briefing as all season rolling starts had been the norm. Upon closer examination, the Coalfields 500, a VSCC run event, has a slightly different set of regulations for the event that states standing starts.
Qualifying
Qualifying came to an early end with the event being red flagged on the third lap. Sadly, Ricky Virago’s immaculately prepared Ralt RT5 was on fire on the infield just past pit entry.
Cars lined up again in the assembly area, expecting further qualifying laps, only to be turned back and told the session was finished.
With so few qualifying laps some drivers had barely got themselves or their car warmed up and hence the qualifying times were a little slower than expected.
Bill Norman put his Ralt RT4 on pole position with Marty Bullock in a similar Ralt along side him, followed by Peter Marsh in his Aztec, Craig Thompson and Dave Watkins. It was good to see Dave Watkins out with Formula Classic again in his Royale RP31M.
Ricky examining the fire damage to his car following the injector failure.
Race 1
Several drivers had geared their cars for a rolling start but with the unexpected requirement for a standing start this put a little additional pressure on some of them. Bill took the lead from the start and maintained that position until the end. Marty was on Bill’s heels but couldn’t quite get past him on the tight twisty Collie circuit. Peter was running a very competitive third, not quite able to hang onto Marty’s tail, but close enough to pounce should Marty have made a mistake. Dave, Dave and Craig were having a very close scrap for the mid field honours as were Glenn, Brian and Phil further down the order.
Race 2
Race 2 saw a very similar outcome to Race 1 the only small difference coming at the back of the field that saw both Brian and Phil get past Glenn off the start line and hold those positions until the end.
Race 3
Day 2 of the Coalfields 500. The previous day’s two race events had been 6 lap affairs, Race 3 was to be run over 8 laps.
Bill lead away from the start followed by Marty, Peter, et al. Part way through the race Bill pulled way off the track at the start of the back straight with a dead engine. Very considerately, Bill positioned himself so far away from the track that the event did not need to be red flagged thereby allowing the race to continue for its full duration.
Below are a couple of pictures of Bill’s engine post race.
Bill’s BDA block
Part of the conrod
Race 4
Race 4 was also an 8 lap affair. With Bill out of the running Marty took pole position with Peter alongside him. The little Aztec punching well above it weight and keeping Marty honest all the way to the chequered flag.
Dave Dearden ran out of fuel on the final lap within sight of the checked flag, a very rare mistake from Mr Reliability!
Ed Farrar Tribute
At the Sunday lunch break at tribute was made to honour the recent passing of Ed Farrar a long-time member of the VSCC and historic racing enthusiast.
Race 5
The final race of the weekend was a 6 lap event. Dave Dearden not wishing a repeat of the previous outing’s faux pas ensured he had plenty of fuel onboard for the outing.
It was a case of the usual suspects now, Marty in front with Peter not far behind keeping him honest, then Craig and Dave Watkins.
Dave Dearden starting rear of the grid made up some good ground during the course of the race but was unable to catch Dave Watkins before the chequered flag fell.
Prize Giving
The VSCC President, Glenn Swarbrick and event sponsor Peter Marsh present the winners trophy to Marty Bullock.
Marty also picked up the Circuit Master Trophy too for the two combined meetings.
Outright results for the meeting were;
1st Marty Bullock 115 pts
2nd Peter Marsh 96 pts
3rd Craig Thompson 88 pts
Handicap Results:
1st Peter Marsh 53 pts
2nd Craig Thompson 39 pts
3rd Martin Bullock 34 pts
Next Round
The next round, the Bob Creasy Memorial, will be held at Wanneroo Park on Sunday 26th October. Entries are currently open via the MSA portal.