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.
The seventh round of the 2025 Formula Classic championship took place at Wanneroo Park on Saturday 13th September. The Bureau of Meteorology’s forecast for the week leading up to the event was grim – 15mm of rain with a 95% probability! It was therefore very surprising to see near perfect conditions on arrival at the track in the morning. A field of twelve cars were entered for the event, including a couple of returning drivers and one new entrant.
Work commitments in the Eastern States prevented Craig Thompson from running and Lance Carwardine pulled out before the event commenced with engine maladies.
There had been a little rain over night and the track was still a little damp and slippery for qualifying. Bill Norman qualifies on pole in his Ralt RT4 followed by Allan Jones in his Ralt RT5. The third qualifier was guest driver Marc Redman in a Duratec powered Stealth 03. Marty Bullock was next up in another RT4 followed by Ricky Virago in his Ralt RT5. Almost a Ralt whitewash at the front of the field.
Race 1 With cars lining up in the assembly area for Race 1 it was apparent the second placed car was missing. Allan Jones, who’d pulled off towards the end of the qualifying period had a broken bellhousing that put him out for the rest of the meeting.
Marty who’d lost a section of his front wing during qualifying pulled out of Race 1 with the repaired wing not being installed correctly.
Bill ran away from the lights never to be challenged followed Mark, Ricky and Colin Youd in his Tiga Sports 2000.
Race 2 With Marty’s wing now correctly installed he started Race 2 from rear of the grid but quickly moved through the field to be with the leading pack eventually finishing in second spot behind Bill. Marc continued to run steadily to finish third followed by Ricky, Colin and Brian Searles in his Ralt RT1.
Bruce Allan attends to Brian’s Ralt RT1 prior to the start of Race 2.
A couple of keen amateur meteorologists assessing the conditions before Race 3.
Phil wisely changing to wet weather tyres before Race 3.
Race 3 As Race 3 approached the heavens opened soaking the track. A couple of drivers elected not to run in the third event as they didn’t have appropriate tyres. Bill again led from start to finish, with Ricky and Marc in pursuit in the very wet conditions. Dave Dearden who’d been running very consistently in the mid pack finished fourth, followed by Brian Searles, Glenn Swarbrick and Phil Grove.
At the conclusion of the event Phil got his final licence signature required to ‘get off his P plate’.
Outright results for the meeting were; 1st Bill Norman 75 pts 2nd Marc Redman 56 pts 3rd Ricky Virago 55 pts
Handicap Results: 1st Ricky Virago 26 pts 2nd Brian Searles & Colin Youd 19 pts
Next Round The next round, the Coalfields 500, will be held at Collie Motorplex over the weekend of 27th / 28th September. Entries are currently open via the MSA portal.
The sixth round of the 2025 Formula Classic championship took place at Colie Motorplex on Sunday 17th August. The weather conditions were near perfect, mild, slightly overcast with light winds. Eight cars were entered for the event, and there looked to be a good day’s racing ahead.
Sadly we lost Ricky Virago before qualifying with a repeat of a leaking fuel rail on his VW powered Ralt.
Seven cars started the qualifying run but within one lap the red flags were out with Brian Searles’ Tiga stopped at the end of the ‘bowling alley’. With the Tiga towed off the track the session restarted with no further incidents.
Bill Norman qualified on pole position in his Ralt RT4, followed by Peter Marsh in the Aztec AR-9 F3 and Colin Youd in the Tiga SC80 sportscar. Dave Dearden, Glenn Swarbrick and Phil Grove making up the remainder of the field.
Race 1 saw Bill lead the pack away with Peter hot on his heals. Peter’s run was curtailed early with possible fuel starvation issues. Investigations showed the engine was running very lean and it was decided to park the vehicle rather than risk serious engine damage.
Colin was also a non-finisher in Race 1 going off the track with his throttle stuck open.
Dave was running steadily in his newly acquired Reynard crossing the line in second spot ahead of Glenn.
For Race 2 the field was down to 5 cars, Colin returning to the grid after his off in Race 1 however it would appear that the sticking throttle problem was not fully resolved as he went straight off at the end of the start finish straight on lap one. Bill won the race comfortably from Dave, Glenn and Phil.
A point of note, Dave had removed the front wing for Race 2 as the wing mount had broken in Race 1 and the wing was dragging on the ground.
Race 3 saw only 4 cars take to the assembly grid, Colin deciding the Tiga’s throttle issue needed further investigation.
Dave made a temporary repair to his front wing mount in time for the final run, the repair attracting attention (and decoration) from his crew of supporters.
The finishing order for Race 3 was the same as Race 2.
Two Formula Classic stalwarts discussing the finer points of race craft!
A Cautionary Footnote When travelling to Collie do not turn off the new Wilman Wadandi Highway too soon unless you’re looking for a country farming experience!
Outright results for the meeting were; 1st Bill Norman 75 pts 2nd Dave Dearden 60 pts 3rd Glenn Swarbrick 54 pts
Handicap Results: 1st Glenn Swarbrick 22 pts 2nd Phil Grove 21 pts 3rd David Dreardon 14 pts
Next Round The next round, will be held at Wanneroo Park on Saturday 13th September. Entries are currently open vis the MSA portal.
Wanneroo Park – 27th July The tale of the Safety Car and THE RAIN!
The fifth round of the 2025 Formula Classic championship took place at Wanneroo Park on 27th July in what can only be described as awful weather conditions. The local weather forecasting service had been predicting a very wet day on the 27th for about the 10 previous days and, boy, they were not wrong!
The number of entrants was low for the event, many put off by the weather forecast probably.
The track was wet for the qualifying session and the rain only coming down modestly. Allan Jones qualified fastest in his Ralt RT5 followed by Bill Norman in his Ralt RT4 and Brian Searles in his Tiga SC84.
Race 1 started under heavy rain conditions that rapidly deteriorated to torrential rain, so much so that the safety car was deployed and the field tippy toed their way around track for the latter part of the race until the checkered flag came out. Craig Thompson, Van Diemen FF2000, decided to retire early from the race due to the terrible conditions. The Race 1 finishing order was Allan, Bill and Brian.
Race 2 looked to be much better conditions with the rain holding off and the track drying out a little but no sooner had the field left the assembly area the heavens opened again! Brian spun his Tiga at the top of the hill on the first lap but recovered and continued. Allan Jones was not so fortunate spinning his Ralt into the sand trap at Turn 6 and ending his race there. As Allan was stranded in a precarious position half on and half off the track and the safety car was deployed, and the race neutralised whilst the Ralt was recovered. The finishing order at the flag was Bill, followed by Dave Dearden and Craig.
Dave enjoying a snack with his crew in between down pours.
Track conditions had improved by Race 3 and the rain was holding off (finally!) Allan Jones came quickly from the back of the field to try and challenge Bill for Race 3 honours but it was not to be. Bill holding on to the lead until the flag. Glenn Swarbrick, who had been running very steadily in the two previous wet races, was closing in on the back of Craig’s Van Diemen during the closing laps of Race 3. As the pair approached the entrance to the left hander they touched wheels spinning Glenn off the track into the grass and ending his run. Craig was able to continue to the finish.
The collective brain power of Formula Classic trying to figure out why Bill had an ignition problem.
Post race debrief with a hot dog and a cold beer!
Outright results for the meeting were; 1st Bill Norman 70 pts 2nd Dave Dearden 54 pts 3rd Brian Searles 50 pts
Handicap Results: 1st David Dreardon 26 pts 2nd Brian Searles 20 pts 3rd Glenn Swarbrick 19 pts
The next round, The SmashaStrawb South West Cup will be held at Collie Motorplex on Sunday 17th August. Entries are currently open vis the MSA portal.
The third round of the 2025 Formula Classic championship took place at Carco.com.au Raceway on the 28th of June. It was a cold winters day with bright sunny skies to warm the competitors.
It was great to have Colin Youd joining us for the first time in the ex Rob Jordan Tiga.
Dave Dearden was also out in his newly acquired Reynard FF2000.
Qualifying:
11 Cars took to the track for qualifying in what was a great turnout for Formula Classic.
Pole position was secured by Bill Norman in his Ralt RT1, closely followed by Allan Jones in a Ralt RT5 and Peter Marsh in the Aztec.
Phill Grove put in some excellent times in what was his first competitive session in his VD RF82.
Race 1:
Race one started out well until Ricky Virago’s car caught fire and pulled off the track to the infield just after turn 6.
Ricky was fortunately able to extinguish the fire with his hand held onboard fire extinguisher.
Confusion then ensued with the track going to full course yellow and the safety car being deployed.
It took several laps for the backmarkers to get passed the safety car to allow the lead car to be picked up at which point race control decided to release the cars for the last few remaining minutes of the session.
Unfortunately the pack decided, incorrectly, to follow the safety car into pit lane except for Glenn Swarbrick who swept into the Lead in his Macon Formula Ford followed by Bruce Mitchell.
Craig Thompson slowed to enter pit road and then decided against it and resumed the track behind Glenn and Bruce.
The cars in pit road saw the three leading cars sweep past and decided to join the race again, albeit somewhat behind them.
With only one lap left to run, Glenn Swarbrick crossed the Line for a well deserved win followed by Bruce Mitchell and Craig Thompson.
Race 2:
Race two was closely contested at the front by Bill Norman and Allan Jones, with Allan eventually managing to pass Bill at turn 7 on the last lap for the win with Peter Marsh in third place.
Colin Youd and Craig Thompson were trading places regularly with Colin finishing ahead of Craig.
Further back in the field the remaining 4 cars of Dave Dearden, Phill Grove, Glenn Swarbrick and Bruce Mitchel were also racing closely with each other at times.
Race 3:
Race three had Bill Norman sweep into the lead on lap one and hold that position over Allan Jones through to the finish.
Peter Marsh was third in the increadibly fast Aztec, which only has a 1300cc engine. All credit to his driving skill, setup and tuning by his crew.
The remaining cars all had a good race with the final places being fiercely contested.
All in all a great day was had by everyone.
Final results were as follows:
1: Bill Norman – 60
2: Allan Jones – 59
3: Craig Thompson – 51
Handicap Results: 1st Alan Jones 25 pts 2nd Colin Youd 20 pts 3rd Glenn Swarbrick 15 pts
The next round will be at Carco.com.au on the 27th of July – be sure to be there!
Collie – Ernie Hastie Memorial Race Weekend Report
Round three of the Formula Classic Series had a small but passionate group of drivers come together for a chilly but ultimately beautiful day of racing. It was great to welcome Phil Grove to his first race meeting sporting fresh “P” plates on his recently acquired Van Diemen FF2000 and also to Tim Davies on a return appearance in his lovely and very well prepared Ralt RT4. With only five entries, making a commitment to the meeting the competition was spread (due to the variety of cars) but the camaraderie between drivers and supporting crews was always on show. Qualifying: Slippery Surprises The morning started off with temperatures dipping below 2°C. A very chilly start to the day made the track conditions quite slippery for all competitors in the earlier qualifying events, however the sun eventually provided a good dose of warmth for the remainder of what was to be a stunning day. Qualifying proved to be a bit of a challenge, with the cold track causing some slick conditions. Ricky and Craig both had some tricky moments, with both spinning on the slippery surface. With only five cars on track, there was no hiding, but it was Bill who managed to put in the quickest lap, followed by a surprised Ricky in his RT5 and Tim closely behind. Craig and Phil followed along but it was a solid showing from all drivers, considering the tricky conditions.
Race 1: Unfortunately, it wasn’t smooth sailing for everyone. Ricky encountered some ignition problems with the Ralt and was forced to withdraw before the start of Race 1. It was a disappointing outcome for him given his qualifying position, but the team quickly got to work diagnosing the terminal issue. Phil, meanwhile, faced similar issues as he gets to know his way around a new car, but with the support of the group, he was able to get his car going just in time for Race 2. Bill had lead from start to finish followed by Tim and Craig. The race being a little processional but that’s how it goes sometimes.
Race 2 & 3: In Race 2 and Race 3, Tim managed to lead away from the rolling starts however Bill got his head down and through his solid performance managed to overcome Tim in the later part of both races. It was entertaining watching the battle at various parts of the circuit and clearly room was given on a few occasions despite a good race between both drivers. Phil managed to make the start of race two and was determined to complete the race with a car that refused to behave, unfortunately retiring from Race 2 with one lap to go. It was a tough break, but is confident he’ll be back stronger the next time out. Craig settled into his mid field role for each race but did maage to provide an impressive “off” in Race 3. After experimenting with tire pressures, he managed a spectacular spin at the high speed turn one in full view of the onlooking crowd. No damage was done other than to his pride, so he quickly restarted and bounced back, albeit a little gun shy on his way to finishing the race.
Overall, it was a fantastic weekend of racing, and despite the challenges, the spirit of teamwork and sportsmanship was evident throughout weekend. A big thank you to everyone who came out to race and support! We look forward to the next event and hope to see everyone back on track in late June at Wanneroo.
3 x Ralts and 2 x Van Diemens turned out to play…
Troubleshooting problems
Tims very pretty car. (And fast too…..)
No Ricky! You don’t fit.
Outright results for the meeting were; 1st Bill 75 pts 2nd Tim Davies 60 pts 3rd Craig Thompson 54 pts
Handicap Results: 1st Bill Norman 21 pts 2nd Craig Thompson 16 pts 3rd Tim Davies 10 pts
The next round of the 2025 Formula Classic season is at Collie Motorplex on Saturday 28th June 2025
The second round of the 2025 Formula Classic championship took place at Collie Motorplex on 23rd March with 10 cars entered for the event. The weather was unseasonally warm, but the breeze helped to keep everyone cool.
It was great to see a few new cars join us for this event. Firstly, Marty Bullock in his recently refurbished Ralt RT4 that had just returned from New Zealand after competing in the Taupo Historic Grand Prix.
Glenn Swarbrick had forsaken his traditional Macon Formula Ford in favour of the recently refurbished ex Trevor Hine Lotus Elan. The Elan was acquired last year, by Marty Bullock, from Trevor’s estate and this was it’s second run following its maiden outing at the Vintage Stampede at Wanneroo last year.
Paul Barron made his return to the track after a long absence with his trusty 2001 Van Dieman Formula Ford. Following an accident at Wanneroo last year the car was extensively rebuilt and is now sporting a new red livery.
Qualifying – Bill Norman claimed pole position in his Ralt RT4 by several seconds from Marty Bullock in his later model Ralt RT4 followed by Ricky Virago in his immaculately prepared Ralt RT5 and Lance Carwardine the Jane Brabham BT23. Interestingly Ricky and Lance were only separated by 0.1 of a second. Next up was John Hurney followed by Paul Barron, Craig Thompson, Brian Searles, Dave Dearden and Glenn Swarbrick. Unfortunately, John Hurney pulled out after the qualifying session and didn’t run for the rest of the day.
There was a little bit of uncertainty at the drivers briefing regarding which side of the track was pole position for a rolling start, also whether there should be one or two warm up laps. All was resolved after a bit of common sense was applied.
Race 1 saw Bill take the lead from Marty with Ricky and Lance in pursuit. Sadly, Bill came to a halt early in the race part way up the ‘bowling alley’ causing the race to be red flagged whilst his car was recovered to a safe position. There was then a bit more pit lane confusion sorting out the correct order for the restart necessitating the whole field, apart from Marty, on doing one further lap under the safety car. Following the red flag Paul had returned to his pit bay assuming the event was over and was not allowed by the marshals to rejoin the field on the grid for the restart. The race resumed with Marty leading followed by Ricky and Lance. With only a couple of laps to go Lance pulled off at the end of the ‘bowling alley’ with some mechanical issue but was able to coast around turn 8 into a safe location. It was a good day for the Ralt marque claiming first, second and third places in the race. (Brian Searles claiming third spot in his Ralt RT1 after the demise of Lance) Glenn retired the Elan during race 1 with engine maladies.
The telltale pool of oil below the Elan was not a good sign.
Race 2 – The diminished field of 6 cars took to the grid for Race 2. The three Ralts lead away the field but Paul who had started from rear of the grid was moving up through the field and was beginning to challenge Brian for third spot. With only a couple of laps remaining Brian spun off at the beginning of the start finish straight hand could not handing third place to Paul. Unfortunately the RT1 had stalled in the spin and would not restart.
Race 3 – saw Marty, Ricky and Paul lead the field away. Brian who’d start rear of the grid moved up through the field to finish 4th with Dave Dearden and Craig Thompson the remaining finishers.
The first round of the 2025 Formula Classic championship took place at Wanneroo Park on 22nd February with 12 cars entered for the event. The weather was a balmy 25 deg. C but with a fresh breeze helping to keep everyone cool.
Qualifying saw Bill Norman (who’s 79th birthday was the day before) claiming pole position in his Ralt RT4 by a couple of 10th’s of a second from Marty Bullock in his Chevron B20, both cars qualifying in under 60 seconds. Lance Carwardine was third in the Jane Brabham BT23 followed by Ricky Virago in his immaculately presented Ralt RT5. James Hagan, a guest from Northern Ireland, in a borrowed Van Dieman Formula Ford was next up followed by Craig Thompson, Brian Searles, Dave Dearden, Glenn Swarbrick and Leon Magistro. It was good to see Leon out in his Reynard 84F Formula Ford, another immaculately presented car. Unfortunately neither Bruce Mitchell nor John Hurney made the qualifying session both having issues at the start of the day.
Race 1 saw Bill take the lead from Marty with Lance and the remainder of the field in pursuit. On the opening lap of the race Dave Dearden, uncharacteristically, spun his Vector at turn 7 and beaching the car on the infield. This brought out the safety car for a few laps whist Dave’s car was recovered. Dave confessed in the pits afterwards that his left foot had slipped off the clutch pedal whilst changing down at the bottom of the hill and momentarily got stuck under the brake pedal and causing him to miss his braking point! No harm done fortunately. Marty drop out on lap five with fuel starvation issues handing over a comfortable lead to Bill that he held until the end. Craig, had an incident at turn 7 too whilst running a steady 6th place when part of his rear wing collapsed on the corner exit, Craig electing to head to the pits then rather than risk being black flagged.
Repairs to the collapsed rear wing of Craig’s Van Dieman.
Race 2 was a 15 minute + 1 lap event. Bill led the pack away but developed an engine problem during the race and subsequently slipped back to 6th place. Brian Searles dropped out on lap five following a missed gear that ‘buzzed’ the engine that sheared the flywheel bolts. In the meantime Ricky was getting quicker and quicker in his Ralt finishing in third spot behind James in the Van Dieman.
The collective Formula Classic ‘Brains Trust’ examining the over revved Tiga engine.
Race 3, Bill retired his Ralt after race 2 with a shredding cam belt issue. Lance lead the field away followed by James , Ricky and the rest of the pack. Ricky continued getting quicker and quicker again in race 3 and eventually hauled in and passed James to claim second place honours for the race. Meanwhile at the back of the pack Leon and Glenn were having a ding dong battle. Leon had a little more straight-line speed than Glenn but Glenn made up for this in the braking areas and corner speed. Coming over the hill on the last lap Leon was ahead and pulling away slightly but Glenn made up heaps of ground under brakes and did the world famous under over move to sneak through on the inside and managed to hold Leon off to the line, but only by inches. A fantastic end to the days racing.
Outright results for the meeting were; 1st Lance Carwardine 70 pts 2nd James Hagan 56 pts 3rd Ricky Virago 55 pts
Below are the dates for the 2025 Formula Classic Championship. 22nd February Wanneroo Night Masters 22nd / 23rd March Collie Icebreaker 17th / 18th May Collie Ernie Hastie Memorial 28th June Wanneroo 27th July Wanneroo 16th / 17th August Collie SmashaStrawb South West Cup 13th September Wanneroo 27th / 28th September Collie Coalfields 500 25th October Wanneroo Bob Creasy Memorial
The End of season dinner was held on 7th December at the Mount Henry Tavern in Como. A great evening was had by all. Below is a selection of photographs from the evening.
Congratulations Glenn Swarbrick on winning the 2024 Handicap Championship (again!)
Congratulations to Dave Dearden, runner up this year in the Championship.
FCR Secretary, Brian Searles, looking a little smug with his 3rd place in the Handicap Championship.
Congratulation to Kevin Taylor for being awarded the FCR Spirit Award for 2024. Sadly, we haven’t seen Kevin on the track in recent years but his on going commitment to the club especially maintaining the club’s website and managing the handicap scoring system is greatly appreciated.
Round 9, the final round of the 2024 Formula Classic championship took place at Wanneroo Park on 19th October. Race three, the Bob Creasy Memorial Cup for Formula Classic cars being the feature race of the day .
Ten cars were entered for the event including a couple of guest Radical sports cars.
Qualifying was a routine outing for all the cars, Bill Norman claiming pole position, followed by the two guest Radicals. Lance Carwardine was next, then John Hurney in the Duratech powered Stealth followed by the remainder of the Formula Classic group. Notably, Bruce Mitchell qualified well in his Reynard FF2000.
Unfortunately however we lost Bruce Mitchell early in race one with a major engine malady that could not be rectified at the track. Bill lead the race from start to finish although his Ralt was under constant attack from the Radical of Stewart Burns. Considering there was a fairly small grid of cars there was close racing going on throughout the field. Lance and John were battling over second place honours whilst further behind them Craig Thompson, running his Van Diemen FF2000 for the first time this season, was fending off Brian Searles in his Ralt RT1. Whilst Dave Dearden and Glenn Swarbrick were having their regular FF1600 battle at the back of the pack.
Races two and three were very much a repeat of race one with the exception that Craig spun his Van Diemen on the last lap of race two trying to out brake Brian’s Ralt into turn 7. The spin costing him a couple places in the finishing order.
The Bob Creasy Memorial Cup was presented to the winner of race three and it was a very happy Bill Norman that picked up the magnificent trophy.
There was significant milestone event too for John Hurney who completed his 50th year of motorsport with the WASCC. John has been, and continues to be, a pillar of the WASCC not only as a competitor but as a very active long term member of the club’s management team. Race number 50 was not a coincidence. (Thanks Dave Watkins for ‘loaning’ your race number for the day)
Outright results for the meeting were; 1st Bill Norman 75 pts 2nd Lance Carwardine 60 pts 3rd John Hurney 54 pts
Handicap Results:
1st Lance Carwardine 36 pts
2nd John Hurney 21 pts
3rd David Drearden 20 pts
The next round of the 2024 Formula Classic season is at Wanneroo Park on 19th October 2024
Round 8 of the Formula Classic championship took place at Collie Motorplex over the weekend of 21st / 22nd September. The weekend event being the second and final part of the Western Nationals championship that saw large grids of Historic Touring Cars and Formula Vees. The weather conditions over the weekend were near perfect with a dry and sunny track.
It was great to see the return of a few drivers to the field, notably; Tom Hamlet, Tim Davies and Peter Marsh for the weekend event.
Tom was driving the ex Bob Creasy Ralt RT1 and he really had it flying qualifying the car on pole position for the first race of the weekend. Dan Gate qualified second fastest in his March 80A followed by Bill Norman in his RT4. Local driver Peter Marsh squeezed every last drop of performance out of his 1300cc Aztec F3 to put it alongside Bill on the second row. Next was Tim driving his beautifully prepared Ralt RT4 followed by Craig Thompson, Glenn Swarbrick, Brian Searles and Dave Dearden.
Race 1 saw Tom hold the lead from the start of the race with Dan hot on his heels followed by Bill and this was the finishing order of the top three. Further down the field Craig and Glenn were locked in their ‘private’ Formula Ford battle with Brian Searles just behind them watch their antics. Dave Dearden was struggling with his Vector jumping out of forth gear.
Dan’s March was absent from the grid for race 2, water contamination in the oil suggesting a possible blown head gasket or similar. With Dan absent from the field Tom ran away with a second win for the day followed by Bill and Peter. The ‘private’ Formula Ford battle continued but with Craig claiming honours this time.
The Sunday programme began mid morning for Formula Classic allowing for a more leisurely start to the day. Both Dan and Tom had backed up on Saturday night reducing the Sunday field by a couple of cars. With Tom absent from the pole position for race 3 Bill leaped into the lead and never looked back with Peter following and Tim in third spot. Brian felt there was a bit more grip from the track on Sunday and took advantage of this to sneak by the two vying Formula Fords for fourth spot. Dave was still struggling with his gearbox but kept his Vector running as best he could.
The final run of the day was an almost repeat of race 3 but for Craig and Glenn swapping places once again!
Best photograph of the weekend It’s lovely to see a craftsman at work!
Outright results for the meeting were;
1st Bill Norman 88 pts 2nd Peter Marsh 75 pts 3rd Tim Davies 69 pts
Handicap Results:
1st Bill Norman 36 pts
2nd Peter Marsh 33 pts
3rd Craig Thompson 24 pts
The next round of the 2024 Formula Classic season is at Wanneroo Park on 19th October 2024
Round 7 of the Formula Classic championship took place at Wanneroo Park over the weekend of 14th / 15th September. The weekend event being part of the Western Nationals championship that saw large grids of Sedans, Historic Touring Cars and Formula Vees. The weather conditions over the weekend were perfect with a dry and sunny track.
It was great to see the return of a few drivers to the field, notably; Dan Gate, Marty Bullock, John Hurney and Jamie Kerkhoff for the weekend event.
Dan immediately stamped his name on qualifying taking pole position in his March 80A from Simon Alderson with Marty in third spot. Marty was racing for the first time his newly restored Ralt RT4, the car looked fantastic with its vivid yellow bodywork. Jamie Kerkhoff only managed a single lap in his Toyota Argo, a leaking oil union ending his qualifying run prematurely.
Race 1 saw Dan hold the lead from the start of the race with Simon hot on his heels followed by Marty and Bill Norman. It looked like this would be the finishing order but Marty rolled to halt on the last lap, out of fuel!
Race 2 saw Jamie return to the grid having fixed his leaking oil union. He made great progress through the pack to finish third just behind Dan and Simon. Further down the field Lance Carwardine and Brian Searles were having lonely individual runs in their respective Jane Brabham BT23 and Ralt RT1 with no other competitors near them to race with.
Having had a very early start on Saturday morning being the first group to qualify, it was nice to have a lazier start to the Sunday programme with race 3 commencing just before the lunch break. Jamie was running very well and looked as if he could challenge the front runners but a major engine failure on the second lap took him out of the race and ended his weekend. The race was yellowed flagged on lap 3 after John Hurney went off into the sand trap at turn 1. The race continued under safety car conditions until the last lap whilst the recover crew cleared John’s Spectrum from the sand trap.
The final race of the weekend saw Dan dominate again from the front with Simon keeping him honest and Marty running in third spot.
Throughout the weekend Glenn Swarbrick, Dave Dearden and Bruce Mitchell had been have their own battle in their Macon, Vector and Reynard Formula Fords. Bruce sadly struggling in all his runs with a variety of car maladies.
Outright results for the meeting were; 1st Dan Gate 100 pts 2nd Simon Alderson 80 pts 3rd Bill Norman 68 pts
It was a very wet and windy day that greeted us for round 6 of the 2024 Formula Classic Championship at Collie Motorplex.
Eight cars were in the paddock for qualifying but only five made it to the track! Bruce Mitchell had no wet weather tyres for his Reynard FF2000 and wisely choosing common sense over stupidity in the very wet conditions. Marty Bullock was unable to get his Palliser FF1600 to fire up in the paddock and Brian Searles got turned away from the dummy grid with a leaking fuel line.
The qualifying run saw Bill Norman put his Ralt RT4 on pole position with Glenn Swarbrick alongside him on the front row, Glenn punching way above his weight in the very damp conditions in the Macon FF1600. Dave Dearden qualified 3rd followed by Lance Carwardine and Craig Thompson.
Brian got his fuel leak sorted on his Ralt RT1 in time for the first race and joined the field at the back of the grid. The race was red flagged after the first lap as Lance had aquaplaned into the wall on the back straight and was stranded beside the track. Fortunately only minor damage to the front wing and nose of Jane Brabham was incurred. The race was restarted after a few minutes and the finishing order was Bill followed by Glenn and Dave.
Bill elected to swap from his wet weather tyres to his slicks for race 2 as it appeared the weather was clearing, however the clearing weather was short lived and rain resumed in time for race 2. Lance re-joined the field for race 2 with his front wing and nose cone sporting for racing tape repairs, the engine however was not running cleanly and struggling to run at its best. The slick tyres didn’t seem to hinder Bill’s performance as he disappeared into the distance to claim the race win. The minor places went to Glenn finishing in second spot with Brian third.
Race 3 saw Bill disappear once more into the distance with the rest of the field tip toeing around the continuing wet conditions. Lance had elected not to run in the third event following the engine maladies experienced in race 2. Glenn and Brian were having a great tussle for second spot, with Glenn the victor.
Outright results for the meeting were; 1st Bill Norman 75 pts 2nd Glenn Swarbrick 60 pts 3rd Brian Searles 53 pts
Handicap results for this round;
1st Craig Thompson 21 pts
2nd Glenn Swarbrick 20 pts
3rd Brian Searles 19 pts
The next round of the 2024 Formula Classic season is at Wanneroo Park over the weekend 14th / 15th September (note; Formula Classic will be running on both days).
