 |
|
| Home | Features | Records | Online Store | Media | Careers | Contact Us |
Back to August 2011 Motorsports News Archive
| 18-08-2011 at 08:00: Crowd Packs Lakeside for Final 50-Year Celebration | |
|
The fourth and final of Lakeside’s 50th anniversary celebration race meetings, the Lakeside Classic Festival of Touring Cars saw more than 160 historic touring cars line up in seven categories for two days of amazing on-track action. The weekend was designed as a tribute to the Lakeside’s rich history of touring car racing, which stretches the full fifty years and includes highlights such as Dick Johnson’s titanic battle with Peter Brock to secure his maiden Australian Touring Car Championship in 1981. In fact Johnson famous number 17 Tru-Blu XD Falcon was on show across the weekend, along with his 1978 and 1979 XC Falcon Coupes. Last week Paul Morris declared he would attempt to break Glenn Seton’s long-standing touring car lap record of 51.44 seconds, set in 1997. With the Lakeside’s biggest crowd since the 1998 V8 Supercars round watching on (including Seton and his father Barry), Morris set some hot laps on Saturday, before nailing it on Sunday with a blistering 51.16 seconds. This is of course an unofficial record, due to it being set in a demonstration run rather than an actual race but it was a joy to watch nevertheless. In the main event, the Group A/C category, the mighty Godzilla R32 Nissan Skyline triumphed yet again. The car that carried Jim Richards to victory in the 1991 Australian Touring Car Championship, now owned and driven by Terry Ashwood, Godzilla took the chequered flag in three of the four Group A/C races over the weekend. Glenn Seton was a close second in the 1985 Pinepac Mustang, with Carey McMahon in the Nissan Skyline HR31 wrapping up third. All categories provided spectacular racing, with the two fields of Group N historic touring cars, HQ Holdens and Geminis all providing heart stopping moments as they diced without fear on the fast, unforgiving Lakeside circuit. Several former touring car greats were on hand for the occasion, with event Grand Marshal Jim Richards, John French, Kevin Bartlett, John English, Barry Seton & Glenn Seton all either competing or driving demo laps throughout the race meeting. Vehicle owners competing in the show & shine, including the HSV Owners Club of Qld, also had the thrill of a lifetime, driving cruise laps of Lakeside in front of a packed house. LAKESIDE CLASSIC FESTIVAL OF TOURING CARS RESULTS Group A Group C HQ Holdens Holden Geminis 1. Rohan Barry Group N (1) 1. Spike Jones – BMW 2002 Group N (2) 1. Jason Black – Ford Escort Regularity Trans-Am Championship |
Records fell like nine pins over the weekend of August 12-14, as Lakeside Park wrapped up its 50th anniversary celebrations with a superb two days of racing, attended by a crowd of almost 14,000 fans and highlighted by V8 Supercar team owner and driver Paul “Dude” Morris setting a new touring car benchmark of 51.16 seconds.
^ 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 |