VSCCWA Collie Coalfields 500 – 19th / 20th October
After a long break of over two months since the last event round 8 of the 2019 Formula classic season was held at Collie. It was great to see a much larger field of entries at the Collie circuit, than normal, and to see some ‘old’ faces making their first appearance for the year as well as a new face too. The weather was kind for the weekend being warm and bright with a light breeze.
John Rowe was one of the ‘old’ faces making his first appearance this year running his Lotus 18 Formula junior, Dick Ward also made his first appearance at collie in his rotary powered Fiat. Brian Searles brought out his Ralt RT1 for the event having spent most of the year rebuilding the car but unfortunately it was quickly put back on the trailer after qualifying following a clutch failure.
A first time entrant in Formula Classic was Paul Barron in his bright green 2001 Van Diemen Formula Ford. Paul ran consistently in all 4 races with a best lap time of 1 minute 24 seconds.
Michael Henderson and Simon Alderson continued to set the pace for the class with Craig Thompson and Harvey Leys trading outright third place honours.
With Hendo being disqualified in race 3 for a red flag incident the outright positions for the race weekend were;
1st Simon Alderson
2nd Michael Henderson
3rd Craig Thompson
Handicap results for the event were;
1st John Rowe
2nd Glenn Swarbrick
3rd Simon Alderson
The next round is only a few days away and is the season finale at Barbagallo, another two day meeting over the weekend of 26th / 27th October. Let’s see if we can make a strong showing for the final Formula Classic event of 2019.
Despite the beautiful winter day only a very small field of cars were entered for the August meeting, 10 in total. The WASCC deemed it appropriate to dock 2 laps from each of the races as ‘punishment’ to the class for providing such a small field of cars. Eight, 6 and 6 being the laps allocated to Formula Classics three events. (I shall comment further on the WASCC decision below)
With the recent introduction of unleaded race fuels only it was interesting to note several competitors struggled with starting problems this cold morning, coincidence or just the cold morning air? Hendo missing the qualifying session completely due to a non-starting car. Normal service was resumed quickly however for Michael, despite a rear of the field start in race one. Craig Thompson too started the race day poorly with a spark plug lead coming off in both qualifying and race one, thankfully this was successfully rectified by one of his support team before race two.
Harvey Leys pulled the pin on the event after the first race in protest over the shortened event durations. An honourable thing to do but maybe not the best strategy for the group as it left even fewer cars in the field.
It was a case of the usual suspects for the outright positions for the race day, the result being exactly the same as the July meeting;
1st Michael Henderson
2nd Simon Alderson
3rd Dave Turner
Handicap results for the event were;
1st Murray Charnley
2nd David Turner
3rd Craig Thompson
The next round is a little way off at Collie on the weekend of 19th / 20th October but closely followed by the final round for the 2019 season at Barbagallo the immediate following weekend of 26th / 27th October. Not great planning, some may say, having a two month break and then two weekend meetings back to back, but it is what it is.
The 2019 season, to date (7 rounds), has not been well supported with an average field of only 11 cars per event. It would be great to see a strong Formula Classic finale to the season at the remaining two rounds. Come on Chaps, let’s put a few more cars on the grid.
Commentary
I think the ruling by WASCC to ‘punish’ Formula Classic for providing a small field by reducing the number of racing laps is unfair and wrong. Unfair, as our entry fee is the same as other class entry fees yet we get less laps and wrong, because the people that are being punished are the one that actually entered the event and yet get penalised for something outside their control.
That said, I do understand that only so many racing laps can be run in a day and that the WASCC want to get and provide ‘best bang for your buck’ and that 15 to 20 cars on the track at one time is better than only 8 or 10.
From my perspective the solution is simple, Formula Classic needs to put more cars on the grid at every race meeting. Not only will this ensure we avoid the unpleasantness of having racing laps taken away from us but ultimately it will give us a ‘loader voice’ with WASCC to get better track terms and conditions for Formula Classic.
Over the past five seasons over 50 different cars and drivers have run in Formula Classic events at the Barbagallo and Collie circuits, with most of these cars and drivers still in the State. Surely we can put on a better show than we have for the earlier part of this season and demonstrate to the WASCC and the viewing public that Formula Classic is a great class and one that’s here to stay.
Well it was a very different day weatherwise from the last meeting, blue skies and sunshine all day, magnificent, no wet weather tyres required for this meeting!
This was the first Formula Classic round to be held under the new CAMS fuel regulation that requires all vehicles to run on unleaded fuel. The WASCC was unable to offer any unleaded race fuel at the time of the meeting so entrants we left to make their own arrangements. Unfortunately Harvey Leys was not able to source any suitable fuel for his Chevron in time and withdrew his entry.
A small field of cars 12 cars were entered for the June meeting, it was good to see Rob Jordan and Dave Turner returning to the ranks with their Tiga Sports 2000 and Ralt RT4 respectively. Dave putting on a great showing with a consistent third place in each race.
In the dry conditions and with his engine recently set up on the dyno Michael Henderson returned to his number one spot with a magnificent 55 second lap in qualifying and maintained this dominance throughout all three races. Interesting the finishing order for the top six drivers was identical for all three events and with only a couple of minor changes in the lower finishing order too.
As with the June meeting the percentage finishing stats were high will all cars, bar one, completing all three races.
The prize giving debacle for Formula Classic’s last meeting was resolved and the points tally correctly allocated for this meeting.
A very wet Barbagallo circuit welcomed the drivers to the June meeting. Wet weather tyres were the order of the day although occasionally the sun teased us only to rain again just before the Formula Classic events.
Unfortunately, again, only a small field of cars were entered for the June meeting, 10 to be precise. It was good to see one new driver join our ranks for the event, Glen Page, driving the Sutol 23 from Neil McCrudden’s the WARM museum.
Simon Alderson was all dominant in the very wet qualifying session posting pole position by 5 seconds from the second placed car. The three races were closely contested by Simon and Michael Henderson with Hendo taking two wins to Simon’s one. Leone Magistro, Bob Creasy and Allan Ould were scraping over the minor placing, Leone ending up with the final trophy.
It’s good to report that despite only a small field of cars for this meeting all 10 entrants finished the last race.
The prize giving was a bit of as debacle as WASCC recorded the results for Formula Classic in two sections (Historic and Libra log booked cars) and failed to combine the results for the prize giving awarding on the Historic log booked cars only. This was subsequently addressed but at the time it was a little awkward and embarrassing.
Collie Ernie Hastie Memorial meeting – 18th – 19th May
Spin, spin, spin, that was the order of the day for a couple of the Formula Classic entrants on the new long track at Collie. Craig Thompson almost making an art form of it with a first lap spin in each of the first three races. Brian Searles only managing two spins, one in the free practice on Friday and the second in qualifying on Saturday.
Despite this round being the inaugural meeting on the new long circuit Formula Classic only managed to attract 7 entrants. These were the ‘usual suspects’ however a couple of the drivers entered in different cars. Lance Carwardine had borrowed the ex Roland Ratzenberger Van Diemen Formula Ford from the WARM museum as his regular car is still undergoing repairs from last season’s accident at Barbagallo. Jamie Kerkhoff’s had recently acquired a Formula Toyota TRD but due to work commitments was unable to enter the meeting himself but kindly offered the seat to Brian Searles who’s regular car is undergoing a gearbox overhaul.
All the Formula Classic drivers enjoyed the challenge of the new track.
Michael Henderson ran away with the outright round results take all four race wins. Simon Alderson tried very hard to hang on to Michael but he was unable to match the Ralts pace, his only consolation being a very consistent second throughout the weekend. Allan Ould, Craig and Lance enjoyed a great scrap all weekend for third place honours, Craig come out on top three times out of the four, however Allan made a great start in the final race and held third all the way to the checked flag.
Only 11 Formula Classic cars were entered for the April race meeting, a somewhat disappointing number for the third round of the 2019 championship, however it was good to see two Sports 2000 cars from Rob Jordan’s collection join the Formula Classic group for this race meeting. Rob was driving his Tiga SC80 and David Turner in the Lola T492. Rob ran reliably in the first two events but spun off on some oil during the third race. Dave, unfortunately struggle all day with the Lola only managing a couple of laps before retiring the car. Hopefully we’ll see more of them throughout the remainder of the season.
Michael Henderson continued his winning ways in his Ralt RT4 with Simon Alderson snapping at his heels in Race 1 but unable to keep up that pressure on Michael during the next two runs due to some clutch issues with his Van Diemen. “Hendo” did get his wrist slapped by the officials after race 2 for overtaking a backmarker under the yellow flag and he earned himself a 30 second time penalty for his trouble reducing him to second place in that race.
Harvey Leys brought out his big Chevron sports car and it ran strongly all day, Harvey cleaning up in the handicap results winning all three rounds.
Outright positions for the weekend were;
1st Michael Henderson
2nd Simon Alderson
3rd Andrew Nielson
Handicap results for the event were;
1st Harvey Leys
2nd Murray Charnley, Simon Alderson, Craig Thompson & Michael Henderson
The next round is the Ernie Hastie Memorial at Collie over the weekend of 18th – 19th May, this event should be on the new long circuit so let’s see if we can put out a large group of cars to support this event and the Collie Motor Club.
The second round of the 2019 Formula Classic season was dominated by the Formula Ford 2000 cars taking out the top three spots in the Collie Icebreaker event. However, it wasn’t all their own way to start with Michael Henderson dominating the first two races on Saturday in his Ralt RT4 until a gearbox failure on Sunday took him out of the running.
Twelve cars entered the event but sadly only 9 cars took the start after early failures in qualifying for Marty Bullock’s Chevron, Ricky Virago’s Ralt and Lance Carwardine’s OMS.
It was good to see the return of the Dave Watkins to the Formula Classic ranks reunited with his beautifully presented Royale RP31M and Colin McKee in his Reynard FF2000. Both drivers and cars performed well finishing 4th and 3rd respectively in the outright weekend results.
The first round of the 2019 Formula Classic season kicked off in glorious fashion at the WASCC Golden Jubileeevent with 17 entries. As usual, the field include a wide range of car ranging from early 60’s through to the early 90’s.
It was good to see two new cars joining the class for the first time, notably Andrew Nielsen’s Argo-Toms TRD and Lance Carwardine’s OMS SF/2A. Sadly the OMS didn’t make it beyond qualifying due to an engine oil problem. Similarly the Argo had problems and was retired after race 1.
It was also great to see the return of the WASCC president Russell Sewell to the Formula Classic ranks after a sabbatical for a few years with his monstrous Lola T800 Indy car. The rumbling of the V8 motor sounded fantastic as it went along the start / finish straight.
Maintaining his 2018 season form, Michael Henderson continued his domination in the opening round of the 2019 season winning all four races; however Simon Alderson and Marty Bullock were snapping at his heels all the while and kept him honest.
Harvey Leys was sporting a new vivid green colour scheme on his Tiga SC84, he ran well on day one but unfortunately did not run on the Sunday.
Outright results for the weekend were;
1st Michael Henderson 100 pts
2nd Simon Alderson 78 pts
3rd Ricky virago 68 pts
During the off season Kevin Taylor revised the handicapping system to allow the results to be processed on the day, below are the handicap results for this round;
1st Murray Charnley
2nd Craig Thompson
3rd Allan Ould
The next round is the Collie Icebreaker over the weekend of 30th / 31st March. Let’s see if we can put out a large group of cars to support this event and the Collie club.
Congratulations to the 2018 Formula Classic Handicap Championship podium finishers.
2018 Formula Classic Handicap Champion – Allan Ould – 2 years running!
2nd place – Glenn Swarbrick
3rd place – Craig Thompson
“Spirit of Formula Classic” winner was deservedly – Craig Thompson
Full results for 2018 can be found here.
