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Image with thanks to Trapnell Creations
The Historic Racing Car Club of Queensland kindly hosted round 2 of the 2026 Heritage Touring Cars series over the weekend of May 9-10 at the Autumn Classic, a strong field making their way north to enjoy a run at Morgan Park.
While conditions had been questionable in the lead-up to the meeting, particularly on the world stage, the Queensland weather was very welcoming throughout and we were pleased to encounter no fuel shortages on the way. This was particularly helpful to the five drivers who travelled up from the southern states, Dean How coming all the way from Victoria and Don Dimitriais, Terry Lawlor, Michael Logiudice and David Towe travelling from New South Wales.
We started with 14 Group A & C cars and were pleased to see 11 cross the line at the end of the weekend, a few failing to proceed following mechanical failures.
Glen Gerstel was quick to get the Bayline Renters VH Commodore up to speed in qualifying, topping the timesheets in Group C closely followed by Anthony Tenkate in another VH Commodore and Dean How in the superb JPS BMW 635.
Group A saw Terry Lawlor in the Shell Sierra qualify in P1, with Aaron Hodges joining him on the front row in the Mustang and David Towe in the JPS BMW a close third alongside Michael Logiudice.
Glen Gerstel beating Anthony Tenkate over the line for a Group C 1 and 2
The first race of the weekend went out not long after, with Terry Lawlor steering the Sierra to victory and David Towe and Michael Logiudice both improving to finish on the podium. In a mirror of qualifying, Glenn Gerstel led the Group C cars home in fourth overall and Anthony Tenkate in second. Dean How finished third as part of a three-way scrap that also featured Don Dimitriais and Scott Robinson.
Unfortunately we had four DNFs during the race, with Wayne Clift lunching an engine after only three laps, Jason Delany in the Escort out with steering problems and Willie Van Wersch out early in the ex-Craig Neilson Starion. Aaron Hodges was also sent back to the tools to repair a small electrical fault in the Mustang.
Crossing the line, from the race cam of David Towe’s car
The second race of the weekend was an exciting reverse grid affair, led out on a brisk rolling start by David Patterson in what may have been his first pole ever! David Towe won the race over the Sierra by a mere five hundredths of a second, Michael Logiudice in third with the Group C cars of Tenkate, Gerstell and How following on. An unfortunate coming together between Van Welsh, Paterson and Woods saw all of them DNF, with the latter two being repaired and returning to the track for Sunday.
Race 3 on Sunday morning saw the Glenn Seton Trophy race for Group A and the John French Trophy for Group C contested. Group A went to Terry Lawlor ahead of David Towe and Aaron Hodges, who had recovered nicely from his early finish in race one.
Image with thanks to Trapnell Creations
The Group C John French trophy went to Glenn Gerstell ahead of Anthony Tenkate and Dean How. In the smaller cars, Scott Robinson in the JPS BMW, Peter Woods in the Chickadee Celica and David Paterson in the Corolla all scored well-earned class wins, Woods and Paterson making a much appreciated and well prepared return to the track after the dramatic events of Saturday afternoon.
Eleven cars rolled onto the grid for the final race of the weekend, and all of them saw the chequered flag, positions well established at this point and mirroring the finish of race three. Jason Delaney and Peter Woods put on a good show for the finale, running closely together to the final chequered flag of the weekend.
Peter Doulman receiving his 2025 HTC Clubman of the year trophy presented by David Paterson and Peter Woods
We were pleased to present Peter Doulman with his 2025 Heritage Touring Cars Clubman of the Year trophy over the weekend, Terry Lawlor receiving the Glenn Seton trophy for Group A and Glenn Gerstel the John French trophy for Group C.
Thanks to everyone involved for the great camaraderie and great racing, and particularly all of the volunteers and organisers at the HRCC who put on a smoothly run and most welcoming meeting. With the lovely Queensland weather putting a bow on a fine weekend of historic motor racing, we’re looking forward to the 2026 Winton Festival of Speed which will be held July 25 – 26 at Winton Motor Raceway in Victoria.
Image with thanks to Trapnell Creations
