 |
|
| Home | Features | Records | Online Store | Media | Careers | Contact Us |
Back to July 2011 Motorsports News Archive
| 13-07-2011 at 10:00: Rare Sports Cars Go Head To Head | |
|
With brand names like Porsche, Aston Martin, Mosler, Ascari, Chevrolet and Dodge pitted against specialist sports racers such as Kaditcha, Chiron, Auscam and Elfin, the stage is set for an epic showdown of speed and handling around the challenging Lakeside circuit. How will the bespoke machines that dominated the Australian sports racing landscape in the 1980s stack up against the latest technology from the Australian GT Championship and Carrera Cup? Throw into the mix a handful of super-fast motorcycle engined lightweights and it shapes as a battle royal. Leading the new breed attack will be Queensland father and son Tony and Klark Quinn from the VIP Pet Foods camp, with the mighty Mosler MT900 GT3 (7l Chev V8) and the Aston Martin DBRS9 (6l Aston V12). Klark Quinn currently leads the Australian GT Championship, with the Mosler showing blistering pace in the four rounds to date. Also hailing from the Australian GT Championship is Brisbane racer Darren Berry in his Ascari KZR1 GT3. The only car of its kind in the southern hemisphere, Berry’s Ascari formerly competed in the 2009 FIA GT3 series in Europe, with several podium finishes. Running a mid-mounted BMW M5 V8, which is good for 580hp and 550nm the sleek, little Ascari is a sight to behold. One modern car of particular interest is the visually stunning, lightweight and extremely adhesive Chiron LMP3-05 of Sunshine Coast racer Steve Morcombe. Running a 1600cc Toyota engine, the Chiron has been described as one of the fastest under 2 litre cars of any type in Australia, excluding Formula 3. Leading the charge for old guard is the undisputed king of 1980s sports cars, the Romano WE84 Cosworth (originally a Kaditcha K583). This awe-inspiring piece of Queensland engineering completely dominated the opposition in the 1984 Australian GT Championship, winning four of the five rounds and setting sports car lap records at several circuits throughout the season – and all this with a 3 litre engine up against much larger capacity opposition! A devastating crash put paid to any further championships for this legendary machine but in recent years owner Bap Romano has had the WE84 rebuilt and fitted with the engine he intended to run in subsequent seasons, the even more powerful 3.5 litre Cosworth V8. Another blast from the sports car past is the Auscam Mazda, now owned and campaigned by Barry Singleton. This car has a special connection with Lakeside Park, being built by Lakeside original Ian Peters and raced for several years by his older brother and Lakeside co-founder Ken Peters. The Auscam also competed in the famous 1984 Australian GT Championship and is a credit to Queensland engineering and ingenuity. The Festival of Sports Cars is the third of four 50th anniversary celebration events for Lakeside and is set to be a tremendous weekend for motoring fans, with a huge range of sports cars represented on-track and in trackside vehicle displays. With one of the largest and most varied line-ups of sports cars ever assembled in Queensland, the Festival of Sports Cars is one race meeting you simply can’t afford to miss! The final event scheduled to mark this year’s golden milestone of 50 years is the Lakeside Classic Festival of Touring Cars, August 12-14 (for historic touring cars of all ages). FESTIVAL OF SPORTS CARS |
A multi-million dollar feast of Australia’s most rare and powerful sports cars is set to headline the Festival of Sports Cars at Queensland’s iconic Lakeside Park on the weekend of July 22-24.^ Back to top ^
|
Login
 Forgot my password! |
|
Copyright © All Vic Pty. Ltd. 2007-2024 |
Terms of Use | Home | Features | Records | Online Store | Media | Careers | Contact Us |