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Following a refreshing summer break, the red lights went out on Heritage Touring Cars’ 2026 season at the Phillip Island Penrite 100 Classic over March 14 and 15. We brought two strong grids out for the weekend, unleashing more than 40 historic Australian touring cars on the iconic seaside circuit.
Let’s begin our recap with a look back at the HTC race grid, featuring Groups C & A and the newly recognised Group 3A and 3B.
Unfortunately our qualifying session was red flagged on lap 2 after Adrain Allisey had the rear step out going over Lukey Heights. With a safety barrier repair required, and extra car recovery time due to a leaking fuel tank from the Commodore, there was no room for a restart. Fortunately the HTC committee, with the full support of the competitors, agreed to construct the starting grid for race 1 using qualifying results from the previous year’s Philip Island Event.
Ex-Supercars pilot and current TransAm Series contender Elliot Barbour started the weekend on pole position in Carey McMahon’s very fast Yellow Pages Group C Mazda RX7. Terry Lawlor was alongside him, debuting the DJR Shell Sierra after a long restoration. This is as high as the Sierra would get, Lawlor chasing alternator gremlins all weekend and then blowing an intercooler clamp reducing the car to a 2L normally aspirated Sierra!
There was some very good, clean and close racing between the top 5 positions with the RX7 over the line first followed by Michael Logiudice in the Group A Commodore with a great performance in second. The Sierra was placed third with David Towe in the JPS BMW close behind. Aside from the RX7, the next Group C cars home were the Commodores of Glenn Gerstel and Anthony Tenkate.
First home of the smaller capacity cars was Craig Foster in the ex-Toyota Team Australia AE86 Corolla. Jerome Nehrybecki, Jacob Khouri and Scott Robinson had a great scrap towards the back of the field in the 1986 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16, ex-Dick Johnson/Kevin Bartlett Greens-Tuf Falcon XE and JPS BMW E30. Unfortunately Eddie Sansil had an off and nudged the safety wall which required repairing and ultimately that took our track time away for race 2.
Race two, previously scheduled for Saturday afternoon, was unfortunately cancelled, but that made for an easy transition to our Saturday social event. A big ‘Thank you!’ to everyone who joined in, and particularly Lindsay Woolard and Scott Robinson, who helped us to present our 2025 trophies. The Peter Brock trophy for Group A was presented to David Towe and the Group C trophy to Steve Axisa.
Barbour was back on top in race three, with David Towe moving up to second and chasing him down to the line. Trevor Sheumack improved on his sixth place finish in the first race of the weekend to put the 2-litre BMW Super Tourer on the podium.
Rick Allen also had a strong run, moving the Benson & Hedges M3 up into fourth ahead of Michael Logiudice. Lawlor followed, with Mark Taylor chasing him to the line. A little deeper into the order, Dean How in the JPS 635CSI, Craig Foster and Jacob Khouri had a great scrap for position.
With the grid lined up for a rolling start for race 4 on Sunday, Trevor Sheumack’s 2-litre BMW Super Tourer in P3 blew its engine the moment the lights went out. Several litres of engine oil made it challenging for the cars behind in the right-hand starting row, resulting in several cars on the grass and unfortunately one crashing into the fence and tyre barrier. After recovery and barrier repairs there was no time for a restart.
By the end of play, Justin Nilsson had knocked half a second off his own lap record for under 3.0-litre Group C touring cars and David Towe had blitzed Bill Cutler’s long standing record for under 3.0-litre Group A touring cars.
A special thank you to long time member and BMW racer Bill Cutler, who was roped in by the VHRR commentary team as their special subject expert. It was great to hear Bill’s dulcet tones across the PA, and he took to the task like a pro.
While some unfortunate incidents shortened the weekend, we were pleased to see several new cars on the grid for the start of the season, and all of the cars presented with the highest attention to detail. As mentioned, the Shell Sierra saw the track for the first time in over 20 years. Aaron Hodges from Queensland debuted the blue Group A Mustang campaigned in period by privateer Kevin Clark. Aaron ran very consistently all weekend. Peter Killick came all the way from Tasmania for his second outing in the Group A Corolla, while David Holland ran his father’s Torana XU1, but was also plagued with gremlins.
Jacob Khouri ran the ex-Dick Johnson Greens-Tuf Falcon after a bit of an overhaul. This is an ex-Dick Johnson/Kevin Bartlett car, which gained notoriety as the ‘overnight’ car when it was brought in and rebuilt for competition after Johnson’s incident in the 1983 Hardies Heroes top ten shootout left him without a ride for the great race. It was restored and made its debut at Winton last year.
A huge ‘Thank you!’ to the VHRR, our competitors, family and friends and the many volunteers and supporters involved in making the 2026 Phillip Island Penrite 100 Classic a success. The event is a highlight on the calendar, and we look forward to returning next year.
Until then, there’s just a few short weeks until we head up to Queensland for the 2026 HRCC Autumn Classic Speedfest at Morgan Park Raceway. Put May 9 – 10 in your calendars, and we’ll look forward to seeing you there.
