2017 Spring Festival at Wakefield Park: Photos and Wrap-Up

Kicking off on Friday the 1st of September and going through to Sunday the 3rd of September, the 2017 Spring Festival saw us celebrating historic motorsport, magic old machines and good friends at Wakefield Park, nestled in Goulburn’s picturesque countryside.

Our second historic race meeting of 2017 fell on the first weekend of spring, and Goulburn delivered a stunner. Cool temperatures and mostly sunny skies made for perfect conditions for the cars and temperate weather for all of us to enjoy.

The weekend was friendly and relaxed, setting the stage for some great races. It kicked off on Friday, with Wakefield Park hosting private practice. This allowed competitors to get settled in for the weekend and spend some time dialling in their cars before Saturday turned up the wick for qualifying and races launched on Saturday afternoon, continuing through Sunday.

This time out we were joined by eight grids, which included:

• Groups L & M and Formulas Junior & Vee
• Groups O, Q & R
• Regularity
• Formula Ford
• Group N Under 3000cc
• Group N Over 3000cc
• Group S
• Super Sprint

The event was well supported and we were pleased to be joined by more than a few new competitors, as well as some interesting and new (to us) cars. The support of Group N and the Historic Touring Car Association was particularly impressive, with the entry going above the maximum track density at Wakefield Park, resulting in two good grids. Group S entries were also very strong, and we thoroughly enjoyed watching the excellent grid of Groups O, Q & R cars blasting around Wakefield Park.

Group L, Formula Junior, Sports 2000, and the Regularity team event all competed for trophies, while Group N and Group S hosted rounds of their 2017 competition season. The Regularity endurance event was a lot of fun and featured a great field, and the Super Sprint event is strengthening in its support and proving to work very well.

Thanks to competitors, entrants and teams for the support! The racing, regularity and super sprinting was uniformly excellent, featuring some exciting dices and consistent displays of skill and respectful racing conduct. This ensured that the program ran smoothly and allowed us to keep the track singing all weekend long.

A huge amount of work goes in to preparing and running a historic car at a race meeting, and we’re extremely grateful for the support of everyone involved. Praise is also due for the beautiful preparation and presentation of the cars.

Thanks also to the Falcon GT, Mustang and Torana Clubs of Canberra for taking a run out to our event and joining in the fun. The clubs put on a beautiful display of classic muscle and enjoyed some track time over lunch on Sunday. We look forward to catching up at an event in the future.

The community that makes up the HSRCA is one of the most welcoming and friendly around, and everyone was on fine form this weekend. The atmosphere was warm and friendly and the pits and paddock full of people catching up, telling tales of racing glory, commiserating with each other about mechanical mishaps and generally enjoying good company.

If you attend a historic motorsport event, make sure to take some time to explore the pits and paddock, get up close to the cars and get to know some of the sport’s lovely people.

As always, I close with the most important part of our wrap up – an impossibly large ‘THANK YOU!’ to the many volunteers who make all of this possible.

We, and everyone involved in the club and its activities, are endlessly grateful for the time, talent and hard work that you devote to motorsport and its community. It is your selfless support that allows us the opportunity to enjoy these old cars and the wonderful community that goes along with them.

Thank you!

With that, it’s time to move on to the pictures!

Images thanks to Riccardo Benvenuti, Domenic Ciccio, David Jenkins, Rod Mackenzie, Peter Miles, Taylor Pember, Seth Reinhardt, Peter Schell and Dallas Thomas.

For more from Riccardo, please see his website here and to see more from Dallas, head to atstudioeleven.com.au. Domenic’s website is mtrvtd.com and Rod’s website is www.rodmackenziecollection.com.

David can be found on Facebook here, Taylor Made Photography is on Facebook here and Peter Miles can be found on Facebook here and YouTube here.

To get in touch with Peter Schell or Seth, send Seth an email at seth@hsrca.com.

2017 Spring Festival by Riccardo Benvenuti

2017 Spring Festival by Domenic Ciccio

2017 Spring Festival by David Jenkins

2017 Spring Festival by Rod Mackenzie

2017 Spring Festival by Peter Miles

2017 Spring Festival by Taylor Pember

2017 Spring Festival by Seth Reinhardt

2017 Spring Festival by Peter Schell

2017 Spring Festival by Dallas Thomas

Our next historic race meeting will see us heading to Sydney Motorsport Park for the Summer Festival – our first event at Sydney’s classic track in 2017.

The Summer Festival will be held over the 11th & 12th of November, and entry is open now through the ARDC’s competitor portal. Stay tuned to www.hsrca.com for more!