Our friends in the Historic Racing Car Club of Queensland have had a busy month, opening entry to their first race meeting in some time, and announcing Australian Drivers’ Champion and Bathurst winner Kevin Bartlett as HRCC Patron.
Up first, the Historic Warwick race meting. Entry to the Historic Warwick race meeting, scheduled for October 2nd to 4th, is now open and available through the club’s website at this link. As a thank you for the community’s patience and support in weathering this unusual year, a $25 race entry discount is being offered.
The meeting will proceed under COVID-19 restrictions implemented by the Queensland government, and will sadly not be open to spectators. As we are all very aware, running meetings under the current global condition is challenging and unpredictable. We wish our friends up north all the best, and if you’re in Queensland and would like to support the meeting, or if we’re able to travel at the time, please do.
In other recent news, the HRCC have announced Kevin Bartlett as their club patron. Full details are available in the press release below.
If you’d like to catch up on everything going on the club, the July/August edition of Historic Torque is available for download from the following link.
Historic Torque August 2020 [PDF]
With thanks to the HRCC
Kevin Bartlett announced as HRCC Patron
16th August 2020
The Historic Racing Car Club (Qld) Inc (HRCC) is both honoured and excited to announce retired race driver Kevin Bartlett will join the club as its patron. Kevin (KB) has participated in Australian and international motorsport since the late 1950’s that has seen him race cars of all varieties and makes. However, it is open wheeled racecars that is his passion. An iconic Australian racer that has demonstrated his skills at all levels and at circuits across the world. Rated highly on the alltime list of Australian drivers, he has been awarded an Australian Sports Medal, and was inducted into the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2017.
Starting out racing his mother’s Morris Minor he soon gained a reputation for being able to cut fast laps. This led to him becoming a works driver with the Alec Mildren Racing Team and access to competitive open wheeler cars. This was a time when the Tasman Series of races was in full swing and KB would race against the best of the F1 drivers of the day. In 1967 KB was the first driver to lap the Bathurst circuit at an average speed of over 100mph in a 1964 Brabham BT11A Climax. In 1969 he won the Macau Grand Prix in a Mildren – Alfa Romeo.
In 1968 and 1969 he won the Australian Drivers Championship and in 1974 was a winner of the Bathurst 1000. During the 70’s he was heavily involved in Formula 5000 racing in the Tasman series as well as in the USA. He was a strong competitor in the F5000 category. He also ran at Indianapolis in 1970.
KB took an opportunity in 1979 to develop a Camaro Touring Car that had backing from Channel 9 and took pole at the 1980 Bathurst 1000. In 1982 he was back at the mountain with the Camaro, only this time to end the race with it on its roof.
Never short of offers for his driving talent, KB became a driver for hire across a wide range of cars till the end of his driving career. It would be a very long list of makes and models that he has competed in during his time.
Never one to hold back on speaking his mind when required, KB has influenced many and assisted others to achieve better outcomes in their cars or driving techniques. He has a keen eye for future stars and is up to speed on development of modern racing.
It is with great pleasure that HRCC president Alan Steel welcomes Kevin into the club and looks forward to a long and fruitful interaction. Kevin will act as the Driving Standards Officer at HRCC race events as well as participate in other club social activities.