2021 Phillip Island Classic - 5th to 7th March 2021

[chavez]

The Classic returns to Phillip Island for a three days of racing - 5th to 7th March.

Unfortunately there will be no spectators and no live-stream.

Hopefully the VHRR are kept busy posting on social media pics from the weekend.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by chavez

The Classic returns to Phillip Island for a three days of racing - 5th to 7th March.

Unfortunately there will be no spectators and no live-stream.

Hopefully the VHRR are kept busy posting on social media pics from the weekend.

And, sadly, of course no overseas entries.

[Newall Andy]

For the first time in nearly 20 years I will not be racing at the Island, very sad.
Ive spoken with them today and with nearly 350 confirmed entries it's looking like a good one !
In the doom of Jan and Feb it was there for me to look forward to, but this year it's not... still i've got the wind and rain, cold and snow and above all the jab to look forward to instead.
As the great man once said... " i'll be back "

Andy.

[delta]

Yes and I’m coming as well

[E.B]

Plus (as chavez said) it is a no spectators event with only a limited number of helpers per car (maybe only 1, but might be a max of 2 per car, TBC nearer the date), so sadly I might also be looking at not going for the first time in many years.

[E.B]

Woohoo scored a pass for the weekend so I will be going after all.

Also have word from an insider there will be limited tickets available for sale for the weekend. Anyone want tickets PM me and I will PM you an online link. It is not yet on the VHRR website but trust me on this one. 1000 only.

Chavez, have sent you a pm.

[drbob]

Come and say hello E.B.
I will have my Group C Torana A9X and Group C Mazda RX7 there.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by drbob

Come and say hello E.B.
I will have my Group C Torana A9X and Group C Mazda RX7 there.

For sure... look forward to catching up again

[E.B]

Just heading off to PI for the weekend,

Entry list is up.... not as good as usual stunning entry because of the lack of and much missed overseas contingent, but still a great list of cars from within Australia.
https://vhrr.com/forms/2021-PI-Competitors.pdf

There is a short press release in which Andy Newall of this parish gets a mention, basically informing everyone that next year our overseas regulars and visitors will hopefully be welcomed back.
Scroll down this page for that: https://vhrr.com/wp/phillip-island/

Looking forward to catching up with any other tenthers there, including Dr Bob.
Camera packed and charged up so Ill post some pics after I return.

Weather looks like it wont be tropical but hopefully will be dry. Mid 20'sC. 10% chance of a shower today but Saturday and Sunday 0% chance and partly cloudy becoming sunny is their expectation.

[GORDON STREETER]

Wow, what a pity it's the other side of the world and we can't travel anyway Is any of it on the box at any time that we can see ?

[E.B]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

Wow, what a pity it's the other side of the world and we can't travel anyway Is any of it on the box at any time that we can see ?

Dont believe so Gordon, but usually one of the involved clubs produces a short review. Plus always there will be a few in car clips uploaded to youtube in the days after. If I see anything I will post it here.

[delta]

Have a great weekend Dave . 👍.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by delta

Have a great weekend Dave . 👍.

[HRSTR5]

Results will appear here for anyone keen to follow: http://racing.natsoft.com.au/results/#2

[GreenMachine]

I probably wasn't going to get to this year's event anyway for [reasons], but I'm there in spirit!!

Have a good one everyone, and for pete's (ie my) sake, post lots of photos - please?

[Gerard C]

How was the first day, Dave?

[E.B]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

How was the first day, Dave?

Well at least dr bob remembered me and my right name. Had a great day thanks and met up with the good Dr....he is suffering from a misfire so of course I suggested the coil to discover Iain had already suggested that by phone
I’m sure dr bob will have something to say.
I’m just sitting by the beach pondering whether to have a curry or fish n chips. Sun is shining. Happy day!

[Gerard C]

If its the rotary engine, dont tell him about the head gasket… Good to hear you can assist and enjoy the show for real. Curry or chips?

[Gerard C]

Hé bien, Dave, on oublie ses vieux potes du forum maintenant? No pics, no news, no nothing? How is the Doc'?

[E.B]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Hé bien, Dave, on oublie ses vieux potes du forum maintenant? No pics, no news, no nothing? How is the Doc'?

No friends forgotten, more a case of a busy long day yesterday, getting home last night and falliing asleep as soon as I sat down.

I will try and post some pics later this evening.... have to get my camera nd PC to talk to each other first.

Re dr bob I will leave him to tell the details, but basically the previous misfire on Saturday was thought to be a fuel regulator issue... the only thing that had been altered from previous racing. Sunday race 1 and dr bob stopped on the warm up lap with flames emanating. The marshalls contained that swiftly and the car was returned to the garage on a truck. Overfuelling had led to the fire which fortunately had been dealt with swiftly and no major damage.

We managed to find a new regulator, but dr bob's men with knowledge and spanners despite there best efforts and swapping of parts still had problems with fuel pressure.... the decision to pull the pin and not race was made, as dr bobs Torana needed race prep (the man with the spanners was racing that), so I left dr bob with my sorrow for his curtained racing and wished him a safe long journey home to NSW, as I had to help organise some prizegiving stuff for our car club (the other HTC class running)

Next thing I saw was the Heritage cars (dr bob's RX7 runs in the Heritage class) heading out on track for their final race. Much to my surprise with dr bob's Mazda taking the start.

I watched the race and the car seemed to be running sweetly, and certainly finished.... but have not spoken to dr bob since then. I did not want to be asking questions and interrupting when he was loading up and trying to beat the traffic out, and he had plenty of helpers... my additional help would likely have been hindrance. So whatever the fix was or how it ran I know not at this stage.

Im sure when he arrives home maybe later today and gets his feet back on the ground he will update here with more reliable news on his weekend than I can offer.

From my point of view it was great to get out to the first proper decent size motor race for 12 months, (Last years PI race was the last historic event we got here) and I feel fortunate to have been one of the lucky 1000 allowed in to get a pass this year.

Always great to catch up with the likes of dr bob, who was the usual welcoming sharing and hospitable gentleman he is.

Despite the lack of international content it was still a superb locally sourced entry list (I heard 450 cars) across all categories from Ferrari F1 cars, Indycar F5000, F2 etc through Can Am type cars (the ex Keke Rosberg Budweiser Spyder was there) Porsche 962's right through the Heritage and other Touring Car classes of all eras to MG Midgets MGBs and FFs, all providing great racing in beautiful weather.

The competitor / car list is still available here: https://vhrr.com/forms/2021-PI-Competitors.pdf

Watch this space for some photographs.

[delta]

Thanks fir keeping us informed Chris . Glad you had a good time . Looking forward to the photos .👍

[E.B]

OK I have got myself totally confused now.... dr bob, I need your help when convenient!.

I just looked up the Natsoft results service and specifically the Group A / Group C race, and it shows dr bob as a class winner in the last race. But I saw another looked like Group C Mazda just ahead of him.

Looking at Natsoft it shows dr bob in the Group C 2-3 litre class, yet the other RX7 in Group C over 3 litre class. Their fastest laps are within a tenth of each other.

This is the results page for the race in question. (dr bob is #42 entered under the Muddle Bar name.)
http://racing.natsoft.com.au/6391874....83u/Result?43

Ifit is true that dr bob won the class then congrats.

Confused
Melbourne.

Oh and I believe I have here a video of the race onboard from a car a few behind dr bob.
I have to admit I have only watched it on my phone so far, so will cast it to the big screen later on to check in more detail.

https://youtu.be/KTvmqRu3YVI

[E.B]

I forgot to mention that David Towe, also of this [10/10th] parish, scored a clean sweep in all the Heritage races driving his beautiful JPS BMW M3.

[E.B]

I did spot dr bob taking sneaky photos of another car in the paddock. (sorry dr bob for outing you without warning)

What was he snapping? This little beauty.

The other pics are a quick fix for an exhaust bracket, make sure everything is where it was last year and then to the track.....

Edit: apologies I must have uploaded them in the wrong order. You are a bright lot.... you will work it out.

Oh, and the yellow Torana in the garage in front of the Mazda is also owned by Bob

[Gerard C]

Had the same 'Vette body, must be a lightweight one. The rims are incredibly wide! Thanks for the pics, good dr looks great and fast.
Shhhh he's typing at the moment!