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).
Make: Elfin Model: FJ (Catalina) Engine type/capacity: Ford 1100cc
Year 1962 Chassis No: 6319
Current Owner: Bruce Edgar, Perth, WA 0414 416 200 Bruceedgar40@gmail.com
History of car
Bought by the Victorian importer (Jack Hunnam) as a kitset, and built up for its first owner Vern Cerche (in Victoria) in early 60s as 1500c but never raced. It incorporated the existing alloy disc wheels and 4 wheel disc brakes.
After a series of owners and adventures, including a court case, the car was acquired by Dave Sullivan (in Perth) and he and his son Dave in 1978 and first raced in 1983 at Mallala and Collingrove. Subsequently the car was raced in a dark green livery through the 80s in Historic races at Wanneroo, Perth with some Round the Houses events. Only sporadically raced since the 80s including an appearance at the Caversham Reunion in 2007 where damage was sustained after an “off”.
Acquired by the current owner in May 2010 and completely rebuilt. The is a great, original example of this type. Raced as a Formula Junior in the original Cerche livery of red with white stripes. Has been raced almost continuously in the west with occasionally forays east and to NZ. Subsequently raced as part of the 2105 FJ series and 2016/7 series in Aust, NZ and USA.
Best lap time at Wanneroo 67.7 sec (Jun2015).
Description of Car
Rebuilt in 2010 to race as a FJ with 1100 Ford engine but not log booked as negotiations stalled. Can be converted to Elfin FJ specifications or as Group M 1500 (as originally built). Original early 60s build (with documentation) includes the solid, unique, wheels as shown and 4 wheel disc brakes. Car accepted by Elfin as genuine FJ (Catalina) and given chassis no 6319.
Car is complete with 1100 105E (3 bearing) Richardson based all steel engine, dry sumped, twin 40 Webers and VW tunnel 5 speed gearbox incorporating Taylor Race internals). Was rebuilt with approved design roll over bar, 6 point seat belts (with 2in top sections for HANS), GAS shocks (steel, single adjustment and adjustable spring height). Fully sorted with increased rate springs and adjustable antiroll bars front and rear. Currently on FJ spec tyres.
Has spare body panels (2 noses, pair of sides and tail, gearboxes) and some other spares.
Car is complete and ready to race. Fuller details on request.
The weather was perfect for racing, dry, sunny and mild.
Eight cars took to the track for qualifying. It was great to see Murray Charnley out in his Lotus 23 and Bruce Mitchell joining us for his first run this year in his Reynard FF2000. Bill Norman had experienced some issues at Friday’s tuning day and was still working on the car on Saturday morning trying to get ready for qualifying. He made it out for only two laps, an insufficient number to formally qualify and therefore had to start rear of the field for race 1. All other drivers qualified satisfactorily with Simon Alderson claim pole.
With Bill starting from the back of the pack, this break gave Simon enough of a gap to hold onto first place for a win of race 1. Bill was close on his heels for 2nd place with Lance Carwardine third across the line.
In an effort to improve the race day scheduling the WASCC introduced this year time allocations for each racing group rather than a prescribed number of racing laps. For race 2 FCR was allocated 15 minutes which translated to 13 laps for the lead cars. Several of the drivers commenting after race 2 on the noticeable increase in track time. Starting from the front row alongside Simon, Bill was able to take the lead of the race and hold it to the chequered flag. Bruce Mitchell made a good start and got up to 4th spot before an electrical gremlin sidelined at turn 6.
Race 3 was allocated 12 minutes track time, it was the usual suspects at the front of the field, Bruce starting from rear of the grid after his electrical woes were resolved only to end up spinning off and out of the event at turn 6. Murray pulled out of the final race too following a fall that resulted in some minor injuries whilst undertaking the self extraction test. Lance was pinged for a minor infringement on the assembly lap that saw him incur a 15 second penalty, this time penalty elevated Brian Searles to 3rd place in his Tiga Sports 2000.
Outright results for the meeting were;
1st Bill Norman 70 pts
2nd Simon Alderson 65 pts
3rd Lance Carwardine 53 pts
Handicap results for this round;
1st Simon Alderson 28 pts
2nd Murray Charnley 22 pts
3rd Bill Norman 16 pts
The next round of the 2024 Formula Classic season is at Collie Motorplex on one day over the weekend 17th / 18th August (whether FCR race on Saturday or Sunday is yet to be decided by the organisers).
FORMULA CLASSIC RACING 20th April 2024 Newsletter 041
We are so privileged to own race cars of a golden era, to have access to two great local race tracks and to have some of the lowest cost circuit racing in the world, yet we regularly choose not to enjoy them. Why is this?
Sadly, as with most great things that are ‘on your doorstep’ they are taken for granted and often underutilised, ignored or forgotten about, assuming they will always be there whenever you want them. Please don’t take for granted this amazing privilege we have as one day it may all be gone. I’d like to share with you some statistical data from the past few years regarding the number of drivers that took part in Formula Classic events by year;
What has happened? What is going on? Why are we having so few entrants to our events? The Formula Classic website lists 86 known historic racing and sports cars in WA, the majority of which are owned by FCR members.
FCR currently have 41 club members, 34 of these are racing members. I’ve highlighted these statistics to demonstrate the imbalance between the number of racing members, the numbers of eligible race cars in the state in comparison to the number of cars on the track this season.
Last weekend’s showing would not have been missed by many and the reputation of Formula Classic will have been seriously tarnished as a result of having only 2 cars running in the final race. I think this is only time, in my many years that I have been involved in motorsport, that I have ever seen such a small grid.
We all want Formula Classic to succeed and be around for years to come, not only for ourselves but for future members to ensure the legacy of historic motorsport continues.
Round 5 at Wanneroo Park is being held on Saturday 15th June. It is imperative that FCR put out a big field of cars at this event to show everyone that we are a robust class with a strong and deep membership. Whilst entries for Round 5 are not yet open, I would ask everyone to put in an early entry again signalling our strength as a racing group.
It has been said many times before but I’ll repeat it once again. Any member who needs help preparing their race car please do not hesitate to ask. There are several very able members willing to assist anyone in getting their car prepared for the track.
Just when you thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse!
Only 7 cars entered the third round of the 2024 Formula Classic Championship. Lance Carwardine withdrew on the morning with a back injury.
Qualifying was uneventful with Simon Alderson putting his Van Diemen on pole with Marty Bullock in his Chevron alongside.
Race 1 saw Simon take the win, with Marty in second place, followed by Dave Watkins in his Royale, Glenn Swarbrick and Dave Dearden. Brian Searles dropping out with engine maladies in his Tiga Sports 2000.
Race 2 culled over half of the remaining cars. Watto’s Royale developed a terminal ignition issue, Glenn ruptured a water hose and ‘cooked’ the Macon engine and Marty had a major lock up at the end of the start finish straight ending him in the sand trap.
The final race of the day saw only two cars take to the track.
The highlight of the meeting was seeing Dave Dearden take an outright second place trophy home with him. Congratulations Dave!
Outright results for the meeting were;
1st Simon Alderson 75 pts
2nd David Dearden 56 pts
3rd Marty Bullock 20 pts
Handicap results for this round;
1st Simon Alderson 16 pts
2nd David Dearden 14 pts
3rd David Watkins 10 pts
The next round of the 2024 Formula Classic season is at Collie Motorplex on Sunday 5th May.
The second race meeting of the year was a bitter sweet event in many ways.
The Bitter
The choice of date for the event may have impacted the number of entries received being the same date as the Melbourne Grand Prix, plus several of our top running competitors were still waiting for their vehicles to return from the Phillip Island Classic following some transport issues due to bad weather.
However, the absence of some of our regular top running competitors opened the door for some of our other ‘mid field’ players to vie for top honours.
Race 1 saw Lance Carwardine put his Jane Brabham on pole position with Brian Searles alongside him in his Ralt RT1 on the front row. Some engine maladies hampered Lance allowing Brian to take the lead and hold the position until the chequered flag. (The Sweet – Brian’s first race win in over 30 years!)
Murray Charnley join us for Race 2 with his beautiful Lotus 23 following some oil tank breather issues in qualifying that were not resolved in time for Race 1.
Lance had resolved his engine issues after Race 1 and quickly took to the lead in Race 2, followed by Brian and Glenn Swarbrick. Dave Dearden, in his Vector FF1600 was struggling with third gear issues that were hampering his efforts to challenge Glenn and Brian.
Race 3 was pretty much a copy of Race 2 except for Lance starting from pole position.
Long time between drinks, one happy camper!
Natsoft outright results for the meeting were;
1st Lance Carwardine 67 pts
2nd Brian Searles 65 pts
3rd Glenn Swarbrick 56 pts
Handicap results for this round;
1st Glenn Swarbrick 27 pts
2nd Brian Searles & David Deardon 14 pts
The next round of the 2024 Formula Classic season is at Wanneroo Park on Sunday 14th April.
The first race meeting of the year held all kind of promises that sadly failed to deliver.
The Phillip Island Classic drew several of our top competitors away from our grid together with several other regular competitors not have their cars ready in time for the event. The Formula Ford group were in a similar yet somewhat worse position with only a handful of entrants for their event. The organisers wisely amalgamated the two groups to make a half decent field of cars.
As if this was not enough of a challenge, the weather was very hot and humid making it very uncomfortable for everyone. Compound this now with a series of medical emergencies (none race driver related) that took the medical staff away from the track and halting proceedings. The perfect storm scenario.
Eventually the meeting was abandoned around 5.00 pm with only one race run but with many frustrated drivers and helpers.
It’s not clear at the time of writing whether points, partial points or no pints will be awarded for the day.
The highlight of the day was the barbeque at Jamie’s shed after everyone packed up and the beautiful MGTC of one of our guests.
Outright results for the meeting were;
1st Arthur Abrahams 25 pts
2nd Simon Alderson 20 pts
3rd Lance Carwardine 18 pts
Handicap results for this round;
1st Brian Searles 14 pts
2nd David Watkins 11 pts
3rd Glenn Swarbrick 9 pts
The next round of the 2024 Formula Classic season is at Collie Motorplex on Sunday 24th March.
The season finale was a very well supported event with 17 entries, the highest number all year. It had been decided to trial rolling starts for Formula classic following the start line incident at the previous Wanneroo round where several cars were damaged.
It was good to see FCR Chairman, Marty Bullock, back on the grid with his trusty Chevron following an extended overseas trip. It was also great to see Andrew Gifford’s beautifully presented Formula Holden on the track again in its Mitre 10 livery.
Terrence Nielsen was making his first appearance for the year too in the ex-Rob Jordan Ralt RT4.
Race one was a bit of a none event following contact between Arthur Abrahams and Terrence Nielsen at turn one on lap one putting them both into the sand trap and track conditions deteriorated further with Allan Jones car catching fire. The race was red flagged and the remaining 6 laps were run behind the pace car.
With Jamie Kerkhoff on pole position for race two he made the most of controlling the rolling start pace and led into the first corner never to be overtaken. Simon Alderson was hot on his heels but couldn’t get past.
Dan Gate had forsaken his usual Ralt RT4 for the memorial event instead driving the Ralt RT1 that Bob Creasy had previously campaigned for many years. Dan finishing 4th in race two and was looking good to improve in the final run of the day.
Race 3 was the main event for the meeting being the Bob Creasy Memorial Cup. Jamie made his usual great start and was leading until his engine went of song a little and Simon was able to sneak by and claim the big prize. Dan great progress in race 2 came to naught in race 3 with a broken CV joint at the start forcing him to retire the car. It would have been so appropriate for Bob’s old RT1 to win the inaugural cup but it was not to be sadly.
A very happy Simon Alderson celebrating his win of the inaugural Bob Creasy Memorial Cup.
Outright results for the meeting were;
1st Jamie Kerkhoff 68 pts
2nd Simon Alderson 65 pts
3rd Terrence Nielsen 48 pts
Handicap results for this round;
1st Lance Carwardine 34 pts
2nd Jamie Kerkoff 31 pts
3rd David Dreardon 30 pts
This is the final round of the 2023 Formula Classic season see you next year.
Coalfields 500 – Collie Motorplex 30th September / 1st October
Ten cars entered the 9th round of the 2023 Formula Classic season. The Coalfields 500 was a two day event with four races for Formula Classic.
It was great to see Peter Marsh for the first time driving in Formula Classic in his Aztec AR9 F3 that he had recently acquired from Allan Ould.
It was also good to see Ray Stubber for the first time this year in his beautifully restored 1981 Van Diemen Formula Ford.
Qualifying saw the usual line up with Bill Norman on pole and Simon Alderson close behind, then followed by Lance Carwardine and Peter Marsh. Brian Searles had a problem in qualifying, breaking the alternator bracket on lap two, however some speedy repairs were undertaken with the help of Dave Dearden and the car was back in time for race 2.
The two races on Saturday were both 12 lap events, Bruce Mitchell’s Reynard FF2000 overheated towards the end of race one forcing him to retire the car before the race finished. Unfortunately he was not to return to the track that weekend following a burnt hand whilst investigating the overheating issue.
Sunday’s two events were the usual 8 laps, both in the morning, and thereby allowing us to leave the track at the lunch break and head home in daylight.
Bill dominated the weekend taking all 4 wins, similar Simon was a consistent 2nd with Lance and Peter scrapping for the final podium spot. Unfortunately Peter missed a gear change during the last race and ‘buzzed’ his engine, costly in he missed out on a possible podium spot but also possibly a large engine bill too.
At the back of the pack Craig, Glenn, Dave and Brian were having equal fun scrapping over the minor points.
Outright results for the meeting were;
1st Bill Norman 100 pts
2nd Simon Alderson 80 pts
3rd Lance Carwardine 71 pts
Handicap results for this round;
1st Craig Thompson 28 pts
2nd Bill Norman 26 pts
3rd Peter Marsh 25 pts
The final round of the 2023 Formula Classic season is at Wanneroo Park on Sunday 29th October.
