Return of the Thunder - Sandown Historics November 7-9

[Bullett]

This event is back for 2008, November 7 is private practice and 8-9 is racing, All the usual Historic classes will be there. For spectators there will be the Red Hill carpark open and a shuttle bus from Red Hill and the Paddock. At close of entries there were 360 entries! I cant wait for this event...its looking big and only a few weeks away now.

Anyone else attending?

[Peter Mallett]

Can't attend due to geography but I'm sure we like a report and perhaps some pics.

[johnh875]

I expect to attend as usual, will post some photos & report afterwards.

Some links:
http://www.vhrr.com/forum/showthread.php?t=317
http://www.vhrr.com/forum/showthread.php?p=613#post613
Entry list at 13/10/08

[Peter Mallett]

Looking at the entry list there's some fine machinery entered. Possibly the largest grid of F5000's anywhere.

[johnh875]

Yep 20 F5000s - the same number as FFords entered which is remarkable. Happily there have been a couple of larger grids in recent years but it will still be something not to miss, the F5000 cars really are impressive. There is also a second Sierra joining the Grp A ranks too which is good to see.

Does anyone know what day the Holden Heroes lunch is on? Sat or Sun?

[Peter Mallett]

It's gawd know's how many years since I saw a proper F5000 race and I recall them disappearing around Allard corner at Thruxton with the rear end bottoming out on the bump at the apex. David Purley was racing with a broken leg and powered by a GAA 3.4 so it was approx 1975.

[Bullett]

The entry list posted above is quite old, the entries are above 360 now, the largest race meeting ever held in Melbourne! F5000's were bigger but a few have pulled out for various reasons...

[Peter Mallett]

Good stuff.

[johnh875]

Ok, the event is only a couple of days away now! It's just down the road from work so I might even have to see if I can't pop in for a look at the F5000's on Friday...
Friday Schedule
Schedule for Sat & Sun
Entry List

Now saying 23 F5000's, 25 Group C and A proper historic tourers, 58 1960's touring cars, the sportscar races have 3 Panteras and 3 Corvettes, and there are also Sports Sedans (not sure what the equivalent class would be in the UK?) on the card which has ruffled some feathers but will be interesting. Bullett obviously they do not (quite reasonably) include Phillip Island in the "biggest ever" statistic.

The fixture of most GP weekends, the Speed Comparison pitting an MGB, the ex-Peter Brock/Doug Chivas Bathurst Holden Torana XU-1 and Andrew Robson’s Formula 5000 against each other will be interesting. That Torana is ear-splitting!

[Peter Mallett]

Enjoy, don't forget those pics and a report.

Coincidently and off topic, I'm off to Bahrain to see the Aussie V8s this weekend.

[Moosehead]

Hmm, interesting entry list, this an annual event?

[johnh875]

Yes it is annual, and always a big event. Assuming you would be travelling to Melbourne for the event, it is one of the world's easiest racetracks to get to - not only is it in the middle of suburbia (25km from the Melbourne city centre), there is nearby accommodation and the adjacent train line has a station at the circuit.

Didn't get there today, also lots of rain which will hopefully clear tomorrow. Weather forecast says Sunday should be sunny.

[Rachel Richards]

Got along there today, and saw 19 F5000's take the National Flag in R 3.

One of the additions to the program was a bit dubious, Sports Sedans ?

A frank & earnest discussion today explored the merits of current 'sporto's' being included, but we all ended up agreeing on three points:

That lot's of the 'historic' Australian Sports Sedans were actually once F5000's which got cut up & recycled after the class got shafted by CAMS (a historic feature in this country)

But also that most of the 'historic' Sports Sedans are now either boxes of parts, or have suffered the same fate as their predecessors.

And finally, despite being big fast & loud, they had no real place at a Histroic Event.

Group A, Group C & Group N tourers were more than enough.

[Peter Mallett]

Got any pics?

[Moosehead]

I'll second Peters pic request

[johnh875]

Well the day was great (Sunday), got a pretty bad dose of sunburn but enjoyed some really great racing, there were some epic battles across the day. F5000's were spectacular as ever, unfortunately they suffered a couple of Safety Car interventions which in a short 8 lap race make a real impact. I couldn't see the incidents or where stranded cars were, so I can't pass judgement.

I think the Sports Sedans were included as a kick-start to the admission as an historic category, many of the cars racing could probably qualify if taken back to an older spec. They were certainly spectacular though - not sure if the course commentator was getting over-excited but he was saying the quickest car was getting near 200mph on the back straight, which is not that long! It was lapping up to 1sec faster than the F5000s, a lot on a 1:10s lap.

I'll get some photos and something of a JT-style report up in the next couple of days.

[PVDA]

Originally Posted by Moosehead

Hmm, interesting entry list, this an annual event?

It certainly is an annual event.

We are lucky in that most tracks have at least one historic event per year with similar entry numbers so that means for those of us in Victoria have 3 such events to attend or work at each year.

Sorry I cant post any photo's, well none I can publish publicly anyway, but I'll keep an eye out for when they appear on the usual spots and let you know.

I certainly enjoyed the F5000's and Group C/A races as I'm old enough to remember when the cars involved were new. I spent friday in the drivers seat of an FIV at the top of the hill and Saturday & Sunday in and around Pit Lane, the sound of V8 F5000's & the Touring Cars on full noise is something to behold (would've loved to have been in the grandstand with the echo effect you get in there).

Originally Posted by johnh875

F5000's were spectacular as ever, unfortunately they suffered a couple of Safety Car interventions which in a short 8 lap race make a real impact. I couldn't see the incidents or where stranded cars were, so I can't pass judgement.

From the radio traffic I was hearing pretty much all of the SC calls were justified, with so many expensive and rare cars running I'd rather see broken ones rescued rather than risk them being hit the next time the field goes past.

Originally Posted by Rachel Richards

One of the additions to the program was a bit dubious, Sports Sedans ?

But the sporties were responsible for the most spectacular incident of the weekend with the fire in Daniel Tamasi's Calibra. From what I gather and exhaust problem at the back of the car caused something to get very hot and up she went. The trackside officials did a good job of knocking down the fire from what I'm told which minimised the damage to the car although there is a fair bit of bodywork & wiring work to be done to get the car back on the track.

[johnh875]

Paul I agree with you, the only one I did see was in the 2nd under 3L Group N race where a Capri pulled off the track just after Dandenong Rd corner. It was in a pretty safe location but if someone had an extended moment and managed to find it, everyone would be saying "why didn't they..."

[PVDA]

Originally Posted by PVDA

But the sporties were responsible for the most spectacular incident of the weekend with the fire in Daniel Tamasi's Calibra. From what I gather and exhaust problem at the back of the car caused something to get very hot and up she went.

Isn't YouTube a wonderful thing.

Here is some footage of said fire.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=_x0LzM77HPY

[johnh875]

Handy that it happened in front of a video camera! Quite prompt action from the marshalls too.

Looking through my photos the incident above was actually the red Camaro not the Capri. One of the recovery vehicles stationed on the inside of the corner went out and dragged the car across the track back into the infield, a very quick recovery but not something you would want to do on a hot racetrack.

[jiminee]

I travelled to Adelaide (4 hours!) and then flew to Melbourne for this, though a work ute, cheap flights and an Uncle living 10 minutes from the track made it a cheap weekend!
Just had to see Sandown and the F5000s before they disappear forever and it was well worth it!
I have over 200 photos and a few short videos from the weekend. Obviously cant post them all up but will be putting some up in the next week and doing a report for the sim-racing ezine I contribute to.
I remember reading that the Historic Sports Sedans could of been there but were knocked back as being, lets say, too agricultural, for the stuffed coat brigade. That could be BS but they would of been better! Still the Hossack Audi is an amazing machine. The Tamasi fire was right in front of us and my brother doing a double forward roll with twist while getting to the fence (deg. of difficulty = 4.9!) was a laugh! Marshalls did very, very well to contain it though.
The V12 Mk II Jag was impressive as was the '32 Ford Roadster which was super quick all things considered.
Will let you know when pics are up.

[Peter Mallett]

Good stuff, looking forward to it. Are they closing Sandown?

[PVDA]

Not in the near future but as it's in the middle of suburbia it's always a chance.

[jiminee]

And now having been there I realise just how close to suburbia it is!

[PVDA]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Can't attend due to geography but I'm sure we like a report and perhaps some pics.

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Enjoy, don't forget those pics and a report.

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Got any pics?

Just to keep a certain person happy I found this site with nearly 1500 photo's from the event.

http://www.sdpics.com/cgi-bin/store/...DOWN_HISTORICS