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Lead image by, and thanks to, Brent Murray – At Speed Images
Just shy of 40 historic Australian Group C & A touring cars will head to Sydney Motorsport Park this weekend, over the 28th and 29th of October, to wrap up the 2017 Heritage Touring Cars series in spectacular style at Muscle Car Masters.
The Group C & A touring cars will open the event on Saturday morning with a combined qualifying session. We then return to the circuit after lunch, firing up for two combined races on Saturday afternoon.
On Sunday morning the Heritage Touring Cars field splits into Group C and Group A grids for a standalone feature run each, before closing the season with a combined race late on Sunday afternoon.
We’ve enjoyed some brilliant, sometimes weekend-long, dices throughout the year and the Muscle Car Masters weekend is sure to be no exception. Duncan MacKellar leads the Group A tables going in to the event, just seven points ahead of Tony Alford, who’s a few clear of Craig Foster.
Foster’s had a spectacular debut year and will once again pilot his ex-Toyota Team Australia AE86 Group A Toyota Corolla Coupe over the weekend. Featuring just a few more horses is ‘Godzilla’, the GIO Skyline GT-R of Alford and somewhere in between is MacKellar’s ex-Anthony Reid Asahi Kiko JTCC BMW M3.
MacKellar’s M3 will be joined by the Benson & Hedges M3 of Rick Allen, David Towe’s signature JPS M3 and the Group A 325i of David Harris. Dean How completes the Bavarian presence with the ex-Grice/Richards JPS Team BMW 635 CSi – an absolute treat for the eyes and ears.
Speaking of treats for the eyes and ears, and Tony Pallas’ ex-Garry Willmington Jaguar XJ-S, which we recently featured on the website, will make its way to Muscle Car Masters to treat us all to the song of its magnificent V12.
Bill Magoffin is at the top of the table in Group C going in to the final round of the season and will be running his Alfa Romeo GTV 2000 over the weekend. Hugh Harrison will put a second Alfa on track in the form of the ex-Colin Bond Ignis Alfa Romeo GTV6, which is making a welcome return to Heritage Touring cars competition.
Steve Axisa is within striking distance of P1, and we’re confident that he’ll put in a great drive on board the ex-David Langman Torana L34. As we are with Ed Singleton, who will once again unleash the mighty ’77 John Goss Racing Ford Falcon XC.
We’ll be joined by a trio of Sierras at Muscle Car Masters, including VASC Team TEKNO’s ’92 Caltex Sierra. Steve Webb, Terry Lawlor and Carey McMahon will all be taking to the track in stunning examples of the ferocious Ford.
Other Ford firepower includes a pair of Falcon XDs in the hands of John Mina and Frank Binding, Carl Muller’s Capri 3.0S, Justin Matthews’ Escort MKII, Russell Keam’s Escort RS 2000, the FOX Mustang of Gregory Keam and the ex-Murray Carter Falcon XE of George Nittis.
There’s some serious pace on the other side of the great Australian divide as well, with V8 Supercar driver, current Dunlop Super2 Series and Pirtek Enduro Cup series driver, Jack Perkins to pilot the Barbagallo Castrol VN Commodore for Perkins Heritage Motorsport.
Matthew Hornby will bring out one of the last Commodores built by the Holden Dealer team, a VL Commodore originally raced in Western Australia with local Mobil distributor backing and Glen Featherstone will run the VL Commodore that Larry Perkins drove in the 1988 Australian Touring Car Championship.
The HRT VL Walkinshaw of Norm Mogg and the Jagparts VL Walkinshaw of Garry Kirwan will join Jamie McDonald’s Masterton Homes VK Commodore in representing Holden’s Group A history, while Michael Logiudice’s Torana A9X and the Marshall/Van Rooyen Bill Patterson Racing A9X of Michael Ward will represent the Group C era.
Looking to the Japanese marques and Bob Holden will compete in his Toyota Corolla AE82 GT, while David Paterson will run the ex-Bob Holden Corolla Sprinter and Gavin Adamson an Isuzu Gemini PF60. John Abbott will hop aboard the ex-Peter Williamson Toyota Supra and Graeme Taylor the ex-Murray Carter NetComm Nissan Skyline. Phillip Verwoert and Peter Lucas will be representing the Group C generation of Japanese muscle with a pair of RX7s.
A celebration of Australia’s colourful and exciting touring car heritage, Muscle Car Masters is a highlight in the Heritage Touring Cars calendar and we can’t think of a better way to close out the 2017 season.
Muscle Car Masters will be held at Sydney Motorsport Park over the 28th & 29th of October and feature not only Heritage Touring Cars, but Group N, Production Touring, V8 Kumho Touring Cars, Sports Sedans and the Master Blast demo as well. Be there!
For more details about the event, visit www.musclecarmasters.com.au, and for more from the Legends of Bathurst, stay tuned to www.heritagetouringcars.com.au!
