2023 Formula Classic – Round 1

Carco Cup, Wanneroo Raceway 5th March

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.

Full handicap results can be found here

MA State Title, WASCC & MSW results here

Formula Classic 2023 Calendar

Round 1: Sunday 5th March Wanneroo
Round 2: 25th – 26th March Collie
Round 3: Saturday 15th April Wanneroo
Round 4: 13th – 14th May Collie
Round 5: Saturday 10th June Wanneroo
Round 6: Saturday 1st – July Wanneroo
Round 7: 19th – 20th August Collie
Round 8: Saturday 16th September Wanneroo
Round 9: 30th Sept – 1st October Collie
Round 10: Sunday29th October Wanneroo

Formula Classic Shirts

FCR 2022 SHIRTS
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2022 Formula Classic – Round 9

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.

Outright results for the meeting were;

1st           Dan Gate                                             75 pts

2nd          Terrence Nielson                             57 pts

3rd           Marty Bullock                                    55 pts

Handicap results for this round;

1st          Bob Creasy                                           49 pts

2nd          Terrence Nielson                                 31 pts

3rd           Marty Bullock                                     30 pts

Full handicap results can be found here

MA State Title, WASCC & MSW results here

2022 Formula Classic – Round 8

Coalfields 500 – 1st / 2nd October

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.

Outright results for the meeting were;

1st           Tom Hamlett                                      88 pts

2nd          Dan Gate                                           70 pts

3rd           Lance Carwardine                            69 pts

Handicap results for this round;

1st           Ricky Virago                                     40 pts

2nd          Lance Carwardine                            29 pts

3rd           Craig Thompson                                  23 pts

Full handicap results can be found here

MA State Title, WASCC & MSW results here

2022 Formula Classic – Round 7

Tander Trophy, Wanneroo – 17th September

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.

Outright results for the meeting were;

1st           Dan Gate                                             75 pts

2nd          Simon Alderson                                  58 pts

3rd           Lance Carwardine                            52 pts

Handicap results for this round;

1st          Bob Creasy                           30 pts

2nd         Neil Woodward                                      26 pts

3rd           Simon Alderson                          21 pts

Full handicap results can be found here

MA State Title, WASCC & MSW results here

2022 Formula Classic – Round 6

Tyre Place Track Attack, Collie – 21st August

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.

Outright results for the meeting were;

1st           Dan Gate                                           75 pts

2nd          Lance Carwardine                            60 pts

3rd           Craig Thompson                               54 pts

Handicap results for this round;

1st           Craig Thompson                                    25 pts

2nd          Brian Searles                                          17 pts

3rd           Lance Carwardine                                  14 pts

Full handicap results can be found here

MA State Title, WASCC & MSW results here

2022 Formula Classic – Round 5

Kostera Cup Meeting, Wanneroo – 25th June

The fifth round of the 2022 Formula Classic season was held at Wanneroo Raceway on Saturday 25th June.

It felt like déjà vu!

It was a beautiful winter’s day; there was a very small grid of Formula Classic cars entered, Dan Gate blitzed the qualifying session, failed to finish the first run and then blitzed the second and third races. Have I just slipped back to the May race meeting?

Allan Jones took outright honours on the day with a first and two seconds, it was Allan’s first outright win in his beautifully prepared Ralt RT5 Congratulations Allan, hopefully there’ll be more outright wins to come in the future for you.

The broken driveshaft on Dan’s car at the start line cost him dearly with no points for the first run and despite wins in races 2 and 3 he was only able to manage third overall for the day.

Lance Carwardine had a steady run throughout the meeting in his Jane Brabham netting him overall second place.

 Simon Alderson, normally a front runner, had a tiny touch with Allan Jones’ rear wheel exiting the Esses that damaged his front wing and put him out of race 2.

Outright results for the meeting were;

1st           Allan Jones                                          65 pts

2nd          Lance Carwardine                             53 pts

3rd           Dan Gate                                             50 pts

Handicap results for this round;

1st           David Drearden                                     21 pts

2nd          Allan Jones                                            20 pts

3rd           Craig Thompson                                   18 pts

Full handicap results can be found here

MA State Title, WASCC & MSW results here

2022 Formula Classic – Round 4

May Race Meeting, Wanneroo – 29th May

The fourth round of the 2022 Formula Classic season was held at Wanneroo Raceway on Sunday 29th May.

There was a very poor turnout with only 7 cars taking to the track, one of which was a ‘guest’ car from F1000.

Dan Gate looked like dominating proceeding again but a DNF in race one due to an ignition coil issue put pay to that outcome. He did however win the remaining two races.

Simon Alderson and Stewart Burns, the guest F1000 drive had a great battle at the front of the field with the F1000 just having the legs over Simon’s Van Diemen.

Allan Jones in his Ralt RT5 and Lance Carwardine in the Jane Brabham were the only other drivers in contention for place honours with Allan grabbing 2nd overall for the day.

Outright results for the meeting were;

1st           Simon Alderson                                  65 pts

2nd          Allan Jones                                         56 pts

3rd           Dan Gate                                             50 pts

Handicap results for this round;

1st           Simon Alderson                                     27 pts

2nd          Allan Jones                                           24 pts

3rd           Dan Gate                                              10 pts

The next round is at Wanneroo on Sunday 25th June.

Full handicap results can be found here

MA State Title, WASCC & MSW results here

2022 Formula Classic – Round 3

Ernie Hastie Memorial, Collie – 15th May

The third round of the 2022 Formula Classic season, the Ernie Hastie Memorial, was held on Sunday 15th May. Several entrants made the journey down to Collie on Friday for the afternoon practice session and then took ‘the day off’ on Saturday to do other things in region before returning to race on the Sunday.

Bill Norman Did not have a good Sunday! He left Perth at 3.00 pm to get to the track on time only to have very concerning mechanical rattle from the bottom end of his engine during the qualifying session that forced him to retire his car before the first event.

Dan Gate continued his dominance of the class with a qualifying pole time 4.5 seconds quicker than the second place car and a comfortable win in all three events.

Young Formula Ford driver Marc Redman and FCR regular Lance Carwardine had a great battle for second place honours with Marc coming out on top with two second places to Lance’s one.

Further down the field Craig Thompson and Glenn Swarbrick were having a great battle in the historic Formula Fords.

Outright results for the meeting were;

1st           Dan Gate                                           75 pts

2nd          Marc Redman                                  58 pts

3rd          Lance Carwardine                           56 pts

Handicap results for this round;

1st           Lance Carwardine                          33 pts

2nd          Dan Gate, David Drearden & Glenn Swarbrick       20 pts

The next round is at Wanneroo on Sunday 29th May.

Full handicap results can be found here

MA State Title, WASCC & MSW results here

2022 Formula Classic – Round 2

Icebreaker, Collie – 26th March

The Collie Icebreaker, second round of the 2022 Formula Classic season, was held on Saturday 26th March. The weather forecast was for heavy rain all day which fortunately did not happen. The morning qualifying session was wet and there was a further shower just before the final race of the day but in between this it was dry, overcast and very humid. There was a modest entry with just 10 cars being present. Sadly some of the more regular entrants were unable to compete due to their cars being out of action or virus restrictions.

New kid on the block, Dan Gate, continued to show his race pace securing pole position for every race and winning all three events too. Bill Norman kept him honest in the first two events but unfortunately his Ralt suffered engine failure during the second race. A suspected dropped valve being the cause of the failure.

It was good to see “The Father” of Formula Classic, Neil McCrudden, making an appearance on the track again after a several year hiatus in his trusty Macon F2. Neil was immediately on the pace and ran well in the first two races until a fuel issue forced him to retire the car before the third run.  

Ricky Virago and Lance Carwardine were trading third and fourth places depending upon whether the track was wet or dry with Glenn Swarbrick behind them, and as always, running steadily in his Macon Formula Ford.

Outright results for the meeting were;

1st           Dan Gate                                             75 pts

2nd          Lance Carwardine                             52 pts

3rd           Ricky Virago                                        50 pts

Handicap results for this round;

1st           Lance Carwardine                                  28 pts

2nd          Brian Searles                                          25 pts

3rd           Glen Swarbrick                                      18 pts

The next round is at Collie over the weekend of 14th / 15th May.

Full handicap results can be found here

MA State Title, WASCC & MSW results here

2022 Formula Classic – Round 1

2022 Formula Classis – Round 1 

Twilight Race Meeting, Wanneroo – 27th February

The first round of the 2022 Formula Classic season kicked off at Wanneroo with the twilight meeting. There were 13 cars entered but sadly a couple didn’t make it past qualifying due to mechanical issues. Marty Bullock’s Chevron leaking oil from the rear of the engine somewhere and Allan Jones’ Ralt developed a misfire that could not be found. 

New kid on the block, Dan Gate, showed his race pace immediately by putting his recently rebuilt Ralt RT4 on pole and then running away with a win in races 1 and 2. Unfortunately a clutch issue on the start line for race 3 excluded him from the final race of the day.

Andrew Nielson had handed over the reins of his Ralt RT4 to his son Terrence, for this race, and he was going great guns in his first outing in the car, chasing Dan hard. A good second place finish in race 1 and running strongly in second place in race 2 until a front suspension failure put him off the track and into the sand trap at the bottom of the hill.

Simon Alderson and Bill Norman were also in the mix at the front of the field in their respective Van Diemen FF2000 and Ralt RT4. Their consistencies paying off with a round win to Simon and Bill in second spot.

In the mid field, Craig Thompson and Lance Carwardine were having a great duel trading places regularly throughout the three races. Craig finishing on top and picking up third place overall for the day.

Outright results for the meeting were:

1st           Simon Alderson                                    63 pts

2nd          Bill Norman                                         53 pts

3rd           Craig Thompson                               52 pts

Simon Alderson accepting 1st place trophy
Bill Norman (2nd) describes the days events
Craig Thompson (3rd)

Handicap results for this round;

1st           Robert Creasy & Genn Swarbrick          20 pts

3rd           Allan Ould                                             19 pts

The next round is at Collie over the weekend of 26th / 27th March.

Full handicap results can be found here

MA State Title, WASCC & MSW results here

Formula Classic 2022 Calendar

Round 1: Sunday 27th February Wanneroo
Round 2: Saturday / Sunday 26th / 27th March Collie
Round 3: Saturday / Sunday 14th / 15th May Collie
Round 4: Sunday 29th May Wanneroo
Round 5: Saturday 25th June Wanneroo
Round 6: Sunday 21st August Collie
Round 7: Saturday 17th September Wanneroo
Round 8: Saturday / Sunday 1st / 2nd October Collie
Round 9: Sunday 6th November Wanneroo

2021 Formula Classic – Round 8

2021 Formula Classis – Round 8

Night Masters Race Meeting, Wanneroo – 13th November

A good field of 16 cars entered the Night Masters race meeting, the final event of the 2021 season. Sadly the field was reduced by a couple of cars after qualifying notably Ricky Virago pulling out with engine issues in his newly rebuilt Ralt RT5.

It was a case of the usual suspects battling it out at the front of the field however ‘new kid on the block’ Allan Jones was keeping them honest in his newly acquired ex Ricky Virago Ralt RT5.

Race 1 was red flagged on the first lap after Bob Creasy’s Ralt RT4 stalled on the starting grid. The re start saw Marty Bullock take the win from Simon Alderson with Bill Norman coming third.

Race 2 saw Marty and Bill swap places at the front of the field will Allan Jones picking up third spot. Simon Alderson picked up a 30 second time penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag. This dropped him to ninth place in the results for race 2.

Race 3 was very good to watch with a huge battle between Andrew Nielson in his Ralt RT4 and Simon Alderson. Andrew keeping ahead of Simon to the chequered flag only to lose the place after receiving a 5 second time penalty for a jump start. Leone Magistro who’d been running reliably all day got a puncture in his rear tyre on the last lap and ended up in the sand trap. Fortunately no serious damage was done to his car although it was completely covered with sand and dust.  Bill continued his winning way with Marty second and Allan third.

Historic results for the meeting were;

1st           Bill Norman                                         70 pts

2nd          Marty Bullock                                    65 pts

3rd           Andrew Nielson                                  52 pts

Libre results for the meeting were;

1st           Simon Alderson                                  68 pts

2nd          Allan Jones                                         65 pts

3rd           Harvey Leys                                        56 pts

Handicap results for this round;

1st           Glenn Swarbrick                                     17 pts

2nd          Andrew Nielson & Harvey Leys             14 pts

This was the final race of the 2021 season. The 2022 season will start around the end of February / early March.

We look forward to an exciting year of racing in 2022.

Full handicap results can be found here

MA State Title, WASCC & MSW results here

2021 Formula Classic – Round 7

2021 Formula Classic – Round 7

Rob Janney Memorial Race Meeting, Wanneroo – 17th October

A good field of 16 cars entered the Rob Janney Memorial race meeting. Seven of the 16 entries were from the Ralt marque. The weather was dry and overcast in the morning but the sun broke through later in the day leading to a warm afternoon. The local flies were out in force, lovely!

Ralts on parade

The field was reduced to 14 cars before the first race began with John Hurney withdrawing with gearbox issues and Harvey Leys pulling out after qualifying with fuel system problems.

Race 1 started with Marty Bullock in the lead and Bill Norman snapping away at his heels. On lap 6 Marty, unfortunately had an ignition wire come off whilst heading down into Kolb corner, effectively killing his engine. Bill following so closely was forced to take avoiding action and took to the grass sadly breaking the front left wishbone in the process. Both cars being towed back to the paddock at the conclusion of the race. Simon Alderson taking the chequered flag from Andrew Nielson and Stuart Kostera.

Race 2 saw Marty up and running again but starting from the rear of the grid prevented him from challenging for a win however he did manage to get up to 3rd spot at the drop of the chequered flag. Simon winning the race from Stuart in second place.

Race 3 saw the return of Ricky having fixed his fuel line issue. Simon continued his winning way in the third race making it a clean sweep for the day.

Allan Ould’s normally very reliable Aztec let him down this weekend with 3 DNF’s. The problem appears to be with the fuel pump.

Historic results for the meeting were:

1st           Andrew Nielson                                               70 pts

2nd          Leone Magistro                                58 pts

3rd           Lance Carwardine                            53 pts

Libre results for the meeting were:

1st           Simon Alderson                                                75 pts

2nd          David Turner                                      56 pts

3rd           Allan Jones                                         51 pts

Handicap results for this round:

Libre results for the meeting were:

1st           David Turner                                                  23 pts

2nd          Leon Majistro & Allan Jones                            17 pts

Full handicap results can be found here

MA State Title, WASCC & MSW results here