HTCAV – 2024 Historic Sandown report
Words: Darren Knight
Photos: Phil Wisewould, unless indicated
Held from 8-10 November, the 32nd edition of Historic Sandown delivered a packed programme, with everything from thundering F5000s to wild Sports Sedans, Formula Ford, Group M & O, historic Sports Cars and Group C/A Touring Cars, as well as the Group N crew led by the HTCAV.
The JUST CARS Historic Tourers formed the biggest block amongst all classes at Historic Sandown, attracting interstate entries and requiring separate grids for the weekend – Over 2-Litre and Under 2-Litre.
Big grids across the board demonstrated the enduring appeal of this iconic meeting, which now looks to have a future. After recent board changes, the Melbourne Racing Club (Sandown’s owners) voted to retain this important historic venue - and the motorsport community gave three cheers…
Group One – Under 2 Litre and Invited Cars
Race One, Saturday PM
After qualifying third, Richard Hill (Mini) went nowhere when the lights went out. Fortunately, the whole field avoided the ‘Stricken Brick’, which eventually got going but almost dead last. At the front, polesitter David Brown displayed all the speed his Datsun 1600 is renowned for, but with Phil Shepherd’s EH - the quickest in the country - in hot pursuit.
SA’s Ian Pringle (Mini), a regular visitor to Sandown, ran strongly in third as an almighty battle raged between the Mini of Steven McKay and Lotus Cortina of Kim Shearn. Further back, the EH Holdens of Queenslanders Claude Ciccotelli and Stephen Jeffs were giving Les Walmsley (Cortina GT) all sorts of bother, with James Holloway (Mini) joining this entertaining scrap in his first meeting for some time.
Meanwhile, Hill was absolutely storming through the field after fluffing his start and snatched fourth place on the last lap.
Brown took the win from Shepherd and Pringle, with Hill holding fourth ahead of Shearn. Of the non-Lotus Cortinas, John Harrison was best in eighth, while further back, Simon Browning edged out Don Knight in their GTs.
Race Two, Sunday AM
Shepherd got the jump on Brown and led for the first few laps as the Minis of Hill, Pringle and McKay punched on in earnest. A switch to different size rear rubber saw better speed from Walmsley this time, but he now had the FJ Holden of Phil Barrow for company before the Humpy’s bugbear of diminishing brakes eventually reared its head and Walmsley opened a gap.
HTCAV Championship contender Knight suffered a blow to his chances when a carb link issue forced retirement. Mike George (Lotus Cortina) continued his solid run, constantly harassing Harrison as Brown grabbed the lead and went on to take another win in front of Shepherd, Hill and Pringle.
Race Three, Sunday PM
Shepherd again grabbed an early advantage, but Brown fought back sooner this time to take the lead. Browning, Knight, newcomer John Doherty (Mini) and Racer Industries’ trackside van man Gordon Cox (MkII Cortina GT) got stuck into a fierce battle not far behind the immaculate Jag MkII of WA-based Michael Gallagher. A Sandown first-timer, Gallagher surprised no one by taking out the Best Presented award.
In the final stanza for the smaller cars, Barrow’s Cortina hunting came to a halt and he would limp to the finish with the FJ’s column shift stuck in top gear.
With his famous ex-Blanchard FE Holden now retired, category stalwart Eddie Dobbs was deservedly given the honour of waving the checker as Brown, previously untroubled at the front, found the roaring EH of Shepherd almost alongside him at the line, but he held the Holden at bay to make it a clean sweep. Hill completed the podium, followed by Pringle.
George showed he’s getting faster with every outing, wrestling fifth off Shearn at the finish and also winning the Makulu Vehicle Storage Group 1 Driver of the Meeting for his efforts.
Group Two – Over 2 Litres
Qualifying for the big boys saw some early drama when the Charger of Glenn Miles suffered a stuck throttle and T-boned the passenger side of Darren Jones’s Mustang, while fourth qualifier Dom Leo (Camaro) had his weekend cut short with an engine issue.
With the first three qualifiers all in the 1.21s, David Tessari plonked his HQ Monaro 350 on pole, ahead of Trevor Talbot’s Camaro and Queenslander Ian Mewett in the Fastback Mustang.
Race One, Saturday PM
Tessari grabbed the lead as Tony Hubbard (Camaro) rocketed off the line, but Daniel Van Stokrom soon had his Torana all over the big Chev’s tail. Likewise, Mewett harassed Andrew Beard (Camaro) as Tessari suddenly slowed, allowing Trevor Talbot (Camaro) to sweep into the lead. Tessari continued to fall down the order, plagued by gear selection issues and a recurrent miss.
Coming into Dandenong Road corner, Van Stokrom found himself out of control with a suspected deflating tyre. Try as he might to avoid Hubbard, he cannoned into the Chev’s rear quarter, resulting in massive damage to both cars. Both drivers alighted unaided, with Hubbard taken for medical checks.
After a race long duel, Jervis Ward (Falcon Sprint) snuck past Geoff Munday (Camaro) on the last lap as Talbot greeted the chequered flag first in front of Mewett and Ben Wilkinson (Mustang). However, a five-second penalty for alleged movement before the start saw Talbot knocked down to fourth behind Beard, elevating Mewett to the win.
Race Two, Sunday AM
Despite plenty of wheel spin off the line, Talbot joined Beard, Wilkinson and Mewett in a cracking early battle at the front. Beard looped his Camaro at T1, re- joining in fifth.
After the generous loan of a door from the Targa-spec ’66 fastback Mustang of Driving Standards Observer and fellow racer Andy Clempson, Darren Jones was back on the grid, but fuel surge would curtail his comeback.
Two-time HTCAV Club Champ Peter Meuleman led the pre-65 brigade with fantastic speed from his sinister all black Mustang. Fellow Nb runner Ward inadvertently knocked his ignition off before continuing and Bill Trengrove (Mustang) retired with overheating.
Talbot was next to have dramas, running wide at Dandy Road after second gear failed to slot, as Tessari retired the big Monaro with its maddening miss.
At the front, Talbot was closing rapidly on Wilkinson’s leading Mustang, but at the flag, fell short of the 302-powered silver Pony by half a second. Meuleman snagged third in front of Beard and Mewett, who had dropped back mid-race with braking issues.
Race Three, Sunday PM
A big squeeze after Turn 1 on the opening lap saw Mewett bounce across the hefty ripple strips and into retirement with the ’69 Mustang stuck in gear. In the melee, Ward slipped through on Meuleman as Wilkinson headed a charging Talbot who looked set to finally snatch a win. This came to nought when the Safety Car was despatched following a spin at T1 for John Alessi’s HQ Monaro
With the dreaded red flags coming out shortly after, Wilkinson was awarded the win ahead of Talbot, Beard and Ward. This effort, and his spirited charging all weekend, won Ben the Makulu Vehicle Storage Driver of the Meeting award for Group 2.
It had been a solid weekend’s sport as the JUST CARS racers’ HTCAV Championship surged towards the finish line, with just the Island Magic weekend at Phillip Island remaining before the 2024 champion is crowned. Watch this space for a full report on that event.
