The WA Motor Racing Community mourns the passing of Robert (Bob) Creasy last week.
A stalwart of open wheel racing, Bob was the last WASCC member racing in 2023 who had competed at the Caversham circuit, where he raced a Datsun SR 311 sports car during the circuit’s closing 1968 season.
He then raced the Datsun during the opening season of the current Raceway in 1969 before racing a Fielding – the first Formula Ford to compete in WA – in 1970. Later Bob moved up to a Formula 2 Birrana in which he had much success winning the WA Racing Car Championship in 1978/79 and 1981. He then acquired a Ralt RT4 and won the WA Championship in 1982/83/84/85 and 1987. As well as competing in WA, Bob raced at numerous East Coast venues and with the Ralt competed in several Australian Grand Prix as well as racing in New Zealand.
After a long break, Bob returned to WASCC events in 2017 in an immaculate Ralt RT 1. Later he acquired another Ralt RT 4 and had been competing enthusiastically with this car in 2023. To all who knew him Bob was a quiet and charming man who simply loved racing open wheel cars. He definitely subscribed to the saying that “Real racing cars don’t have doors or roofs”.
What many would not know is that Bob was a keen member of the volunteer WASCC team that worked to build our current venue in 1968/69 and then continued to give up many weekend days to complete the venue in the early 1970s.
We offer our sincere condolences to Bob’s many friends and the Creasy family.
The Tyre Place Track Attack – Collie Motorplex 20th August
There were a small field of nine entrants for the seventh round of the 2023 Formula Classic season.
Qualifying saw a close contest at the front of the field between Bill Norman and Arthur Abrahams in their Ralt RT4’s, Bill picking up pole position with Arthur a close second. Lance Carwardine qualified third in his Jane Brabham and Andrew Gifford 4th in his beautifully presented March 722.
Sadly we lost Andrew Gifford during the course of race one with and electrical / distributor gremlin. Bill Norman led the field for the entire race from the starting light to the chequered flag drop. Arthur finished second with Lance third.
The second race looked like being a repeat of the first at the front of the field however Bill slowed significantly on the last lap allowing Arthur to overtake him for the race win. It turned out Bill had run low on fuel and was struggling to get fuel pick up at the end of the run. It was good to see Bruce Mitchell getting to grips with his Reynard FF2000 after a slow start in race finishing 5th ahead of the very tightly fort FF1600 battle between Glenn Swarbrick, Craig Thompson and Dave Dearden.
With ample fuel on-board for the final race of the day, Bill took off from second position on the front row to lead the race and to take the outright victory for the day. Arthur finishing second and Lance in third place.
Outright results for the meeting were;
1st Bill Norman 70 pts
2nd Arthur Abrahams 65 pts
3rd Lance Carwardine 54 pts
Handicap results for this round;
1st Bruce Mitchell 27 pts
2nd Glenn Swarbrick & Bill Norman 24 pts
The next round is at Wanneroo Park on Saturday 16th September.
This round was happily greeted by a fine but very cold, three degree Celsius morning, and although cold it certainly didn’t dampen the spirits of the 13 entrants for the meeting.
Of special note was the inclusion of Murray Charnley having entered in his Lotus 23b after a long lay-off and who also just happened to be celebrating his 88th birthday. Murray is clearly proving inspirational to us younger competitors.
Unfortunately, the repairs to our key Formula Atlantic entrants were not quite completed but the word is that they are very, very, close to being ready to roll again.
Qualifying was entertaining before it had even started. Simon, having just fitted some nice new tyres, managed a lovely pirouette warming the tyres in pit lane before even getting onto the circuit. Once on track though, it proved to be a closely run affair between Simon in his FF2000 and Allan in his RT5. Pole position was separated by just under 0.2 seconds.
The two leaders were then followed slightly further behind by Bill in his RT4 and Andrew Gifford treading gingerly in his recently repaired March 722 and then by a very tightly bunched midfield and Formula Ford group.
Jamie encountered a gremlin or two forcing him out of qualifying early but a quick once over enabled him to get onto the grid for race 1, albeit from rear of field and Bill although being quick (as usual) was unfortunately chasing a throttle / carb issue which persisted all day.
Race 1 was met with a warmer track thankfully. Bill didn’t manage to get to the grid and Jamie, although starting from the back wasn’t planning on being there for too long, hammering past the field towards the front once the lights went out.
The two leaders continued their close battle, being joined by the flying Jamie in his Argo and an increasingly confident Andrew in the March 722.
The midfielders of Lance (Brabham BT23), Harvey in his gorgeous Chevron and the persistent Ricky (Lola) were having a nice tussle and Bob Creasy in the lovely RT1 poking his nose in from time to time as well. The Formula Ford group including the birthday boy enjoying his day out in the Lotus were plugging away swapping positions regularly.
Unfortunately, Murray suffered an oil leak in the Lotus which although not stopping him completing the race did prove to be severe enough to put a stop to his day of fun.
Final positions for Race 1 were; 1st – Simon, 2nd – Allan, and 3rd – Jamie (who also managed fastest lap).
Race 2 – Bill managed to get things sorted and joined the field. Once the race started it was with a bang. Unfortunately for Jamie it was quite literally a bang with a driveline failure off the start forcing him onto the grass and enacting a safety car to clear him away safely.
During that safety car period a few liberties “might” have been taken with numerous overtakes and redressing being performed along with the penalties that go with them. I am sure there were a few lucky (and unlucky) calls given.
When the race restarted, Allan and Simon scooted away however this time being closely followed by Andrew who was impressing with very quick times – dropping nearly 3 seconds a lap over is previous efforts.
Lance and Harvey were pushing on hard with Bill snapping at their heels despite the ongoing carb problem.
The Formula Ford group were keeping each other very honest with close racing as usual. So close in fact that Glenn and Craig were within 0.1 seconds of each other on the finish line in favour of Glenn with Dave Dearden in his Vector right on their tailpipe.
Results were 1st – Allan, 2nd Andrew, and 3rd – Simon (also with the fastest lap)
Race 3 was another close race. With both Bill and Simon out of their usual position, Allan managed to break away in front. Bill got into 2nd on lap 2 followed by the fast charging Andrew in 3rd and Simon in 4th. Not to be perturbed, Simon got his head down and managed to get by Andrew on lap 4. The race continued until the inevitable catching of traffic during the closing stages were things got serious for the front runners. With no quarters given, a close affair was guaranteed with positional changes and a last corner dash on the cards, it was Simon victorious followed by Allan and Bill. There was less than a second covering the group at the finishing line.
Andrew, who must have been feeling well chuffed with his performance on the day was not far behind, consolidating on a successful outing.
The Formula Ford battle was again a continuation of the preceding races being equally as close. This time however Craig managed to overcome Glenn to the line by 0.02 seconds with Dave again staring at their exhaust.
Outright results for the meeting were; 1 Simon Alderson 68 2 Allan Jones 65 3 Andrew Gifford 54 4 Lance Carwardine 49 5 Harvey Leys 46 6 Ricky Virago 42 7 Bob Creasy 39 8 Craig Thompson 35 9 William Norman 33 10 Glenn Swarbrick 33 11 David Dearden 31 12 Jamie Kerkhoff 18 13 Murray Charnley 9
Race report prepared by Ricky Virago.
Handicap results for this round;
1st Andrew Gifford 37 pts
2nd Allan Jones 24 pts
3rd Simon Alderson 21 pts
The next round is at Collie on Saturday 20th August.
There was a small field of only nine cars which fronted up for the Fifth round of the Championship held at Carco.com.au Raceway.
Qualifying took place on a slippery cold and damp track with pole position being taken by Allan Jones in his beautifully presented Ralt RT5 and closely followed by Bill Norman and Ricky Virago.
Race one took place on a drying track, Bill Norman coming in first ahead of Allan Jones, with Lance Carwardine in third place.
Rain was threatening when race two started and a few laps in a light shower occurred. Harvey Leys withdrew and Craig Thompson pitted after one lap with mechanical issues which proved to be terminal, thus ending his day. Dave Dearden lost the nosecone of his Vector on the turn seven curbing and retired.
The race was won by Allan Jones, closely followed by Bill Norman with Lance Carwardine in third place.
Race three was on a wet track, Allan Jones took an early lead with Ricky Virago in His Lola T492 S2000 on fresh wet tyres running in second place ahead of Lance Carwardine in the Brabham who finished third.
Dave Dearden was having handling problems and retired after a short spell in the turn 6 sandtrap.
Bill Norman struggled with grip due to his wet weather tyres being concrete like in hardness.
Outright results for the meeting were;
1st Allan Jones 70 pts
2nd Bill Norman 61 pts
3rd Lance Carwardine 54 pts
Handicap results for this round;
1st Bob Creasy 33 pts
2nd Glenn Swarbrick 28 pts
3rd Ricky Virago 14 pts
The next round is at Carco.com.au Raceway on the 1st July.
There were a small field of entrants for the fourth round of the 2023 Formula Classic season. Sadly, many of our usual Formula Atlantic entrants were out still waiting on engine parts / repairs for their BDA’s.
Qualifying was a very sad affair for Andrew Gifford and his March finding the wall in the “bowling alley” on the very first lap. Lance Carwardine only managed a few laps in qualifying too with a right rear puncture and Ricky Virago also only managed a few laps as well with a blocked air filter.
It was good to see Bruce Mitchell out in his Reynard FF2000, his first outing in the car for some time.
Race one saw Bill Norman on pole, the only BDA powered car running at the event, with Jamie Kerkhoff alongside him. Third was Brian Searles in his Ralt RT1. The race finishing in the same order but with Ricky Virago getting past Brian’s Ralt to claim third spot.
Race two saw Lance back on the grid with his rear tyre repaired. Despite him starting rear of the grid it didn’t take him too long to get up to third spot. The three Formula Ford drivers in our group all were having a great battle mid pack trading places along the way.
Race 3 saw Bill out front with Jamie and Lance in hot pursuit and the rest of the group following in their wake.
Outright results for the meeting were;
1st Bill Norman 75 pts
2nd Jamie Kerkhoff 60 pts
3rd Ricky Virago 52 pts
Handicap results for this round;
1st Glenn Swarbrick 28 pts
2nd Ricky Virago 27 pts
3rd Bruce Mitchell 21 pts
The next round is at Wanneroo Park on Saturday 10th June.
There were a good number of entrants for the third round of the 2023 Formula Classic season. Sadly, many of our usual Formula Atlantic entrants were out waiting on engine parts / repairs for their BDA’s and as a result of their absence it made for a very different front end of the field.
There was also the return of an immaculately prepared Formula Two March that had not been seen at the track for several seasons. It’s new owner, Andrew Gifford, being the brother of the car’s previous owner, Shane who’d had it in storage since he retired from racing. Andrew made a very good showing for his first run in the car, running on some tyres that were so old they needed to be Carbon dated.
Qualifying saw Allan Jones and Simon Alderson top the times with Harvey Leys, John Hurney and Lance Carwardine close behind them. Jamie Kerkhoff missed qualifying with an electrical gremlin but had it fixed in time for the races.
There was a long wait on the dummy grid for race 1 following a huge oil spill on the track from the previous event. The marshals doing a great job to get the mess tidied up but it took close to an hour before the track was ready again. We lost Bob Creasy’s Ralt RT1 in race one with fuel contamination issues. Allan Jones won the event from Simon Alderson and Jamie Kerkhoff.
Race 2 saw Lance Carwardine a nonstarter with a starter motor issue and Ricky Virago pulling off after one lap with carburettor issues. Jamie Kerkhoff made a poor start and let Allan Jones and Simon Alderson pull out a small lead on him, however by the end of the race he had caught and passed Simon to claim second spot.
Race 3 saw Simon Alderson missing from the grid with a failed battery. Jamie made another poor start from the front row allowing Allan a small lead which he never relinquished, despite a few late braking moves from Jamie.
Craig Thomson and Ricky Virago were having their usual great battle in the mid field with their similarly powered Ford Pinto cars, Craig in a FF2000 Van Diemen and Ricky in a Lola S2000.
Outright results for the meeting were;
1st Allan Jones 75 pts
2nd Jamie Kerkhoff 58 pts
3rd Harvey Leys 50 pts
Handicap results for this round;
1st Jamie Kerkhoff & Brian Searles 37 pts
3rd Harvey Leys 30 pts
The next round is at Collie Motorplex on Saturday & Sunday 13th / 14th May.
The second round of the 2023 Formula Classic season was a very interesting event. Formula Classic was the first qualifying session on the Saturday morning. After only a handful of laps the red flag came out and we were told the timing system wasn’t working correctly. (Bob Creasy being provisionally on pole position with a 14 second lap!!) After a while the qualifying session restarted only to find out later the timing system was still not working. After about a 3 hour delay the timing system was sorted and a reduced race programme commenced for the afternoon session.
There was a good size field of 14 cars running including three guest Formula Ford entrants. Dan Gate and Arthur Abrahams were the pace setters in the first race in their Ralt RT4’s with Jamie Kerkhoff and Lance Carwardine chasing them.
Race 2 saw Arthur spin off into the gravel ending his weekend with engine damage.
Sunday morning came with a revised race schedule. Dan retired his Ralt before the start of Sunday’s first event with engine trouble. Two of the guest Formula Ford drivers had retired too, flying back to Melbourne for school on Monday morning! Jamie Kerkhoff retired his Toyota TRD as well with a frayed water pump belt.
To add to Collie’s woes for the weekend their PA system packed up on Sunday leaving the officials to run around getting race groups organised for their next event.
With the Formula Classic numbers depleted Lance and last remaining guest Formula Ford driver were battling it out for the day’s honours. Lance maintaining the upper hand until the final lap of the last event when his fuel pump packed up, handing the race and weekend win to Andrew Van Leeuwen.
Craig Thomson and Ricky Virago were having a great battle for third place honours in their Ford Pinto powered cars, Craig in a FF2000 Van Diemen and Ricky in a Lola S2000.
Outright results for the meeting were;
1st Andrew Van Leeuwen (guest) 93 pts
2nd Lance Carwardine 84 pts
3rd Craig Thompson 82 pts
Handicap results for this round;
1st Ricky Virago 42 pts
2nd Glenn Swarbrick 34 pts
3rd Craig Thompson 28 pts
The next round is at Wanneroo Park on Saturday 15th April.
The first round of the 2023 Formula Classic season was held at Wanneroo Raceway on Sunday 5th March. It was a perfect day for racing with clear blue skies and a very civilised start time of 11.00 a.m.
Thirteen cars were entered for the event and there were a couple of guest Formula Fords with us too.
In the qualifying run we saw a few different car and driver combinations, mainly due to several cars being prepared for next weekend’s big race at Phillip Island. New boy to Formula Classic, Arthur Abrahams was driving Bob Creasy’s Ralt RT4 whilst Bob had reverted to his RT1 and Dan Gate was in his March 80A.
Sadly, Bill Norman broke his CV joint at the start of the first race causing a bit of mayhem for the vehicles behind him and prompting a safety car intervention, that in itself cause some issues subsequently with time penalties being applied to several drivers for yellow flag infringements.
Arthur won the first two races and looked set to make it a clean sweep but for an electrical issue to sideline him partway through the third race. Jamie Kerkhoff, who’d been running a strong second in the first two races swept through to win the final race of the day, his first ever win and taking the outright win for the day too.
Glen Caple returned to the track after a three year absence with his beautifully presented Birrana 274, similarly Harvey Leys returned to the track after an absence with his equally beautifully prepared Chevron B19, Harvey picking up overall 3rd place on the day.
CONGRATULATIONS JAMIE ON YOUR FIRST OUTRIGHT WIN!
There was one huge big smile on Jamie Kerkhoff’s face on Sunday afternoon following his inaugural outright win in the Carco Cup race. There could have been no more deserving winner following last season’s struggle with a string of car problems that saw him sidelined more often than on the track. Further cause for celebration too was the sub sixty second lap he managed along the way to his win.
Outright results for the meeting were;
1st Jamie Kerkhoff 65 pts
2nd Lance Carwardine 54 pts
3rd Harvey Leys 52 pts
Handicap results for this round;
1st Harvey Leys 42 pts
2nd Glenn Caple 36 pts
3rd Jamie Kerkhoff 35 pts
The next round is at Collie over the weekend of 25th / 26th March.
FCR 2022 SHIRTS The latest FCR shirts are available for sale at $35 each. The shirt is made from lightweight breathable polyester material and available in a range of sizes from Medium to XX Large. Please contact Brian Searles (0438 160 435) if you wish to buy one.
Rob Janney Memorial, Wanneroo Raceway 6th November
The final round of the 2022 Formula Classic season was held at Wanneroo Raceway on Sunday 6th November.
The biggest field of cars in several seasons turned out for the final round, a total of 19 entrants.
Prior to qualifying one Ralt dropped out and a second Ralt was lost after qualifying with a broken axle.
There was a very interesting mix of new cars and drivers swapping cars with others. Dan Gate delivered a blisteringly hot 54.9 sec lap in qualifying driving Bob Creasy’s RT4. Whilst Bob reverted back to his earlier RT1 Ralt. Meanwhile, Tom Hamlett had jumped into Dan Gate’ newly acquired March 80A and Terrence Nielson had jumped into his Dad’s RT4 and left Dad (Andrew) to drive his newly rebuilt Tiga FA-82. Brian Searles had an engine failure in the Friday practice session and brought out his recently acquired Tiga SC84 for its maiden outing. Other debutants for this season included Ray Stubber, Dave Watkins, Jamie Kerkhoff and Bruce Mitchell.
Dan dominated the day winning all three events with Terrence Nielson taking out overall second with Marty Bullock in his trusty Chevron rounding out the top three.
This final round of the 2022 FCR Championship was sponsored by Trench West with 4 lucky entrants each receiving $500 at the end of meeting barbeque having their names drawn from a hat. Congratulations to Jamie Kerkhoff, David Dearden, Bill Norman and Ricky Virago.
The penultimate round of the 2022 Formula Classic season was held at Collie Motorplex over the weekend of 1st / 2nd October.
The initial entry numbers looked very encouraging with 13 entrants however 3 Ralts all fell by the wayside before qualifying was completed. Neil Woodward was a further retiree after race 1 with the Bifa Ford leaking oil profusely.
Dan Gate, usually the dominant driver at Collie, had a couple of issues with his Ralt RT4 on Saturday with a control arm failure in race one and overheating issues in the second race. However normal service was resumed for the Sunday with wins in both races.
Simon Alderson, another usual top performer had issues with his Van Diemen on the Saturday losing a front brake in race one. A replacement calliper was sourced overnight and Simon was back on Sunday with a third and second place finish in races 3 and 4.
Lance Carwardine suffered an unusual problem in race 1 with a piece of plastic debris getting in behind his clutch pedal and restricting its operation. The problem was easily rectified and Lance continued to a steady third place overall for the weekend.
The weekend was won by a guest driver, Tom Hamlett, in a Stealth S3D Duratech powered Formula Ford.
The seventh round of the 2022 Formula Classic season was held at Wanneroo Raceway on Saturday 17th September.
There were eleven entrants in the Formula Classic event.
Dan Gate was the dominant driver winning all three races. Allan Jones kept him honest in the first race but sadly retired his Ralt RT5 with electrical gremlins.
Ricky Virago gave his new Lola T492 Sports 2000 its first race and he ran consistently with it throughout the day.
Sadly, another casualty after the first race was Bill Norman with a worrying rattle from his freshly rebuilt BDA. Fingers crossed it is only something minor.
The sixth round of the 2022 Formula Classic season was held at Collie Motorplex on Sunday 21st August.
There were only six entrants in the Formula Classic event and FCR had to argue strongly with MSA and the Collie race officials not to amalgamate the group with Formula Ford. The winning argument being that the Formula Ford event was a championship round and that for them to have ‘other’ cars on the track at the same time may interfere with the outcome of their championship.
Dan Gate blitzed the qualifying session in his Ralt RT4, 7 seconds quicker than the second place qualifier. Sadly, Ricky Virago’s Ralt RT5 only managed half a lap in qualifying before clutch failure put him out for the day.
The highlight of the meeting was Dan Gate setting a new Formula Classic lap record in race one in a time of 1 min. 07.81 sec. Eclipsing Hendo’s previously lap record by 0.1 sec.
Outside the excitement of the new lap record the three events were largely processional with only Neil McCrudden and Brian Searles having a personal battle at the back of the field for tail end honours.
