HTCAV – Vic State Race Series Rd.05 report
Words: Chris Ralph
Photos: Phil Wisewould, unless indicated
Phillip Island in early October can be challenging for man and car alike. Despite being well into spring, the island can be cold, windy, wet and downright grim at times. Such was the case for Round 5 of the Victorian State Race Series, which happened to be Round 6 for this year’s HTCAV championship. However, Brent Trengrove handled the mix of wet and dry conditions best.
The junior member of this HTCAV father-and-son pairing (dad Bill races a Group Nb Mustang), Brent qualified second fastest, but always had his self-built Chevy Camaro at the head of the field when it mattered.
Round 5 of the Vic State Series may have only attracted a small-field of historic tourers, but they delivered some of the best two-car battles seen this year.
Talbot takes dry pole
On a dry track, but with rain imminent, Trevor Talbot cracked a 1m48.7s lap to lead his four fellow Camaro captains – Brent Trengrove, Dom Leo, Adrian Moyle and Geoff Munday. Next best was the Charger of Glenn Miles, whose weekend mission was to “gate crash the Camaro Cup”.
Three 289 Group Nb Mustangs followed – Pete Meuleman, Bill Trengrove and Darren Jones - ahead of the Torana XU-1 of Stephen Pillekers.
Despite a strong qualifying, Moyle’s black Camaro suffered more left front hub issues (thought to be fixed after Winton in August), so had to leave his Chev cobbers to it in the races.
Wet Race 1 - Saturday pm
Tentative on very old ‘wet’ tyres, Talbot led the field across little rivers and puddles on the sighting lap to line up on pole. This wet starter would be the first of three 20-minute events for the HTCAV at the Vic State Series round that also included Formula Ford, Aussie Prototypes, the Hyundai Excels, MGs, Porsche 944s, Sports Sedans and more.
When the opener got underway, Brent Trengrove led Talbot, Leo and Munday into Turn 1, while Miles and Bill Trengrove made the best of a good start to get ahead of Meuleman, Pillekers and Jones.
In a race of two halves, Brent Trengrove cleared out from the chasing Camaros and Charger, with Leo taking Talbot at Siberia as Miles monstered Munday to set their personal battle style for the weekend.
In the second pack, the nifty and nimble Torana of Pillekers herded the Mustangs of Meuleman, Jones and Bill Trengrove before Jones took ‘Black Pete’ Meuleman at Turn 4.
Further ahead, Munday’s bravery lunging into corners was epic, but it allowed Miles’s Charger to close in, finishing just .27 secs behind as the four – Leo, Munday, Miles and Talbot - crossed in a pack behind the winning Brent Trengrove. A similar close finish among the Nb Mustangs saw Jones hold out Meuleman by less than a second, with Bill Trengrove the last over the line.
The impact of the wet conditions was reflected in the fact that the race’s fastest lap was more than 18 seconds slower than the class record set by Paul Stubber’s Camaro last year.
Dry-ish Race 2 - Sunday am
Brent Trengrove bested a squirming Leo at the start, but Trengrove Snr was the star in his ex-Clem Smith Nb Mustang. Bill split the grid straight down the middle, leaping from last to third by Turn 1! With the bit between his teeth, Bill remained ahead of the slow-starting Leo until the end of the first lap.
Meanwhile, the hard-driving Munday was challenging for the lead at Turn 1, but Trengrove Jnr held the outside line. Munday then had Leo on his hammer at Turn 4, who, despite half a tank-slapper on the exit, clamped white onto red and grabbed second back at the fast Turn 3 on the next lap. Down the sharp hill into MG corner, Munday got squirmy under a lunge and slowly fell back into the clutches of Miles’s Charger.
In the Nb Mustang vs Torana battle, Bill Trengrove’s early push was keeping him ahead of Pillekers’s XU-1, while Jones had caught Meuleman. On lap eight, Jones was too hot into Turn 4, locking up and going into a spin. The remaining pair had a last-minute dice with Meuleman, but Bill would prevail, pinching fifth place as the checker was waved.
Up front, Brent Trengrove was untouchable and Leo was enjoying a similar margin over Munday and Miles. The first of the day’s two sensational battles between these two saw Miles attack at Turn 4 on lap seven of nine and made it stick. But Munday wasn’t done. Tail wagging and leaving rubber in his pursuit of the flat-handling Mopar, he made an audacious lunge into Turn 10 on the last lap - and just failed to catch the Charger over the line.
Jones retired following his spin, while Talbot also retired.
Mostly dry Race 3 - Sunday pm
Brent Trengrove once again led the field away, while Talbot, starting from the rear of grid after his Race 2 DNF, ripped through the Nb cars on the opening lap and set off after Miles’s Charger. In his wake, Meuleman’s black Mustang chased the Venerable William Trengrove Esq’s red one - hard.
By Lap 3, Talbot had overtaken Miles and out-dragged Munday’s Camaro down the main straight, recording fastest laps in the process.
Leo was Talbot’s next target, and while he defended hard against the rampaging yellow Chev, a persistent right front lock up at Turn 4 left him vulnerable. He ultimately conceded second to Talbot, but kept chasing.
An encore clash between Munday and Miles saw the two almost kissing fenders coming onto the main straight. Miles then drafted Munday for consecutive laps, hoping his prey’s exuberant style might leave a crack. Side by side into Turn 4 and through Siberia on the last lap they went. Munday pulled ahead, Miles challenged and got underneath at Turn 12, but Camaro cubes ruled the day in the dash to the flag.
All this was happening behind Brent Trengrove, who took a comfortable 5+ second win - his third for the meeting - ahead of Talbot and Leo.
That group may have been done, but the Nb battle between Trengrove Snr and Meuleman hadn’t finished. ‘The Old Bill’ did a fantastic job holding out the ‘Black Knight’ for six laps, losing the advantage, regaining it on lap eight before losing it again on a superquick last lap. The final circuit saw both Mustangs lap in the mid 1.52s, with Meuleman getting the better of Bill Trengrove by just 0.4 seconds at the flag. Fittingly, all three Mustangs had taken a class victory across the meeting’s three races.
Apart from the retired Moyle (who had ruled the roost for Round 3 of the Vic State Series at Phillip Island back in June), every driver would have had their money’s worth of satisfaction and fun from this top ‘Statie’ weekend.
The 2024 HTCAV calendar is winding down, with Historic Sandown and a return to Phillip Island for Island Magic (both in November) the final chances for the historic tourers to accumulate championship points.
