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Image: Darrin Mandy
1966 Bathurst winner turns back the clock in Heritage Touring Car Handicap race
THE Heritage Touring Car Championship moved to Morgan Park on the weekend of July 12-13 for the Historic Queensland event, which hosted round three of the HTC Championship and saw a field of 17 Group A and C machines take part.
While Terry Lawlor’s ex-GIO Nissan GT-R dominated the weekend with pole position and two race wins, it was 1966 Bathurst 500 winner Bob Holden that grabbed some of his own headlines.
Still racing on at age 81, Holden’s Group A Corolla took victory in the handicap Race 2 on Sunday, earning him the Lloyd Bax Memorial Trophy.
The Aussie racing legend was able to get to the chequered flag just 0.56s in front of the chasing Army Reserve Falcon XD of Frank Binding.
The HTC category raced on the three-kilometre ‘K’ circuit layout at Morgan Park and Lawlor’s Nissan was instantly the class of the field, setting a pole time of 1m20.874s on Saturday.
Anthony Compton put his ex-Glenn Seton Ford Sierra RS500 alongside on the front row with John Douglas’ Group C Mazda RX7 qualifying third.
The opening race on Saturday – over eight laps – saw a win for Lawlor from the JPS BMW M3 of David Towe with Douglas third from Compton and Queenslander Wayne Clift’s Group A Commodore VK.
Holden won the six-lap handicap Race 2 on Sunday from Binding, Michael Logiudice’s Gemini, Douglas and Greg Keam’s Ford Escort.
Sadly, engine problems sidelined winner Holden’s Corolla from the final race of the day, a 10-lap final.
Lawlor won some 7.5-seconds clear of Towe with Douglas, Compton and Mark Taylor’s Commodore rounding out the top five.
The next round of the Heritage Touring Cars Championship will be at the Muscle Car Masters at Sydney Motorsport Park on Father’s Day weekend – September 6-7.
Photos courtesy Darrin Mandy of Digital Realism – follow them on Facebook – facebook.com/digitalrealismphotography
