HTCAV – 2024 Island Magic report
Words: Darren Knight
Photos: Phil Wisewould
Humid and showery conditions prevailed throughout the opening day of Island Magic on 23-24 November, but dark clouds of another type impacted the meeting when a competitor passed away. Andrew Rhodes-Anderson, a driver in Improved Production, had what’s believed to be a medical incident on the penultimate lap of that category’s opening race, coming to a stop without crashing. Proceedings were halted as emergency crews attended to Rhodes-Anderson, but he couldn’t be revived. Following confirmation of the death, the rest of the day’s programme, including the first Historic Touring race, was cancelled as a mark of respect. That left Sunday’s two stanzas to round out the 2024 HTCAV season.
Saturday Qualifying
Nineteen qualifiers slipped out on to the iffy surface for qualifying. With Phillip Island’s long straights and fast corners favouring the big horsepower cars, it was no surprise that the top four were all Camaros – WA’s Paul Stubber on pole, then Adrian Moyle, Geoff Munday and Andrew Beard. Next in line, the fiery Mazda RX2 of Peter McNiven and Glenn Miles’s Charger.
Behind Miles, but with no hard feelings, Darren Jones was still sporting the spare door on his Nb Mustang, donated by Andrew Clempson. That all came about at Historic Sandown after Miles T-boned Jones when his throttle jammed.
Wily veteran Bill Trengrove, in another Nb Mustang, qualified eighth ahead of NSW’s Quentin Bland in the V6 Capri. Rob van Stokrom was next, in the ’68 Mustang formerly campaigned by the late Alan McKelvie, who would be honoured at this meeting with a race winner’s trophy in his name.
Outside the top ten, the returning David Brown had his Datsun 1600 cooking, while Don Knight topped a trio of Cortinas that included Peter Olver and Gordon Cox.
The stage was set, but the curtain came down before play could get underway. The aforementioned fatality saw racing halted for the day.
Race 1. Slippery Sunday - 10 minutes
Necks were craned to the skies pre-race as drivers pondered whether to go with wet or dry rubber. In the end, it was almost an even split, with Moyle on wets giving Stubber all sorts of hurry up as the veteran West Aussie opted for dry tyres. Munday’s Camaro looked very strong in third, while Beard slowed with gearbox issues that had also afflicted his Camaro in qualifying.
Brown struggled for grip, as did everyone else, with lap times ten seconds slower across the field. Craig Miles (Charger) slid off and found the grass, while Glenn Miles (no relation) was giving the V8 boys something to think about in his Charger.
Mirroring what had afflicted him at the previous meeting, Jones suffered a stuck throttle, but thankfully didn’t T-bone anyone, while van Stokrom looped his Mustang in the greasy conditions.
Stubber eventually broke clear of Moyle to take the win, but by less than a half second at the checker. Munday was third and Glenn Miles fourth. McNiven, Bland and Trengrove were next, then Stephen Pillekers, who held out Pete Meuleman (Mustang) and evoked memories of Brock in the rain with his Torana running wets on skinny Sprintmasters.
Brown finished in tenth, followed by Trevor Talbot (Camaro) and van Stokrom, while Knight was the best of the Cortinas, finishing 16th, a few seconds in arrears of the struggling Beard.
Race 2. The Isola di Capri Victorian Historic Touring Car Trophy – 20 minutes
The morning’s misty rain had thankfully abated for the final race of the year and Stubber took full advantage, blasting away to lead the 20-minute trophy event. Munday went nowhere with massive wheel spin, lost many positions, then found himself immersed in a huge battle with Talbot, Beard and Trengrove.
Craig Miles retired after the opening lap, while Glenn Miles had his hands full with McNiven, who nipped his nimble Mazda into third when Glenn fell off at the Turn 4 hairpin. Bland was running his Capri strongly inside the top ten in the early stages, as the Cortinas of Knight, Olver and Cox ran in close company.
Out front, and with no pressure from behind, Stubber wasted no time in attempting to lower his own lap record (1:45.31) set at this meeting in 2023. On the drying track, he duly did so with an astounding 1:44.58 – quite a feat with a car now in its 25th year of competition.
Stubber’s exclamation point on the race was a 4-second winning margin over Moyle, with Beard making it an all-Chev podium. McNiven finished fourth ahead of Munday, with Glenn Miles, Trengrove, Meuleman, Bland and Jones completing the ten.
After Eddie Dobbs was the celebrity checker waver at Sandown, it was the turn of another retired HTCAV racer – ‘Fast Johnny’ Luxmoore - to carry out this task at Island Magic. The Cortina stalwart and perennial fan favourite did the job with aplomb, despite some rude gestures from his mates as they whizzed by!
So, that’s a wrap for 2024. The JUST CARS tourers will kick off 2025 at the Phillip Island Classic in March. This is the biggest historic meeting in the Southern Hemisphere, so now’s the time to make your accommodation arrangements for a big weekend of historic racing at the magnificent Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit!
