Image by, and thanks to, Brian Caldersmith
The HSRCA’s 2024 Summer Festival is set to farewell the year’s historic motor racing season with a bumper meeting over the weekend of November 31 & December 1, joined by a significant collection of Australian motor racing royalty.
Headlining the Summer Festival is a celebration of Australian motor racing legend Kevin Bartlett, and we’re proud to welcome a collection of significant cars both for competition and display.
John Goss has been extremely supportive of our tribute to KB, as Bartlett is colloquially known, and has organised for the 1974 Goss/Bartlett Falcon Coupe to be put on display in the KB Marquee over the weekend. This was the car that Kevin drove through the rain like magic to win the 1974 Bathurst 1000, claiming redemption after a bitter retirement from the lead in the 1973 race. It has been rebuilt using spare race engines and original parts from the period, as well as a second shell provided by Ford Australia.
Last month on the 50th anniversary of that effort, the car carried the Peter Brock Trophy around Mount Panorama ahead of the 2024 Bathurst 1000, and it has become one of Australia’s most famous and valuable race cars.
The Falcon will be joined by another very significant car – the Mildren Waggot, also known as the Yellow Submarine. Bruce Ayres is the custodian of the car, and is kindly bringing it down from Queensland to run in Group M, O & P throughout the weekend.
Powered by a 2.0 litre Waggott 4 valve engine, this is the original car in which KB won the 1969 Gold Star and Hordern Trophy, the 1969 Macau GP and the 1970 Tasman round at Warwick Farm (competing against significantly more powerful F5000s).
Thanks to Peter Schell
We also look forward to seeing the Brabham BT-2 understood to be one of the first of the open wheelers driven by Kevin early in his career. It is now owned by Colin Haste and will run alongside the Yellow Submarine in M, O & P.
The Mildren-Waggot (Rennmax BN3) spaceframe has also been invited. This car was built by Bob Britton, who we celebrated at the Sydney Classic earlier this year, and Kevin has been quick to say how much he enjoyed driving it over several years they raced together. It has history with the club as well, appearing at one of our very early Tasman Revival meetings.
Thanks to Peter Schell
We also expect to see KB’s Alfa Romeo GTA, and Peter Strauss will bring a Brabham BT-11A up from Victoria for the meeting. The BT-11A is similar to the one Kevin drove to set the first 100mph lap in practice for a 1967 New South Wales Championship for Racing Cars event at the circuit., narrowly edging out Spencer Martin who also ran several over 100mph laps at the event.
These Aussie legends will join a field of more than 200 historic sports, race and touring cars, many of which similarly storied and significant. Come along to the Summer Festival at Sydney Motorsport Park November 31 and December 1 to see them in action on the track and get up close to them in the pits and paddock, and make sure to catch the exciting Group S endurance race and the iconic Dawson-Damer trophy as well as two packed days of motor racing.
Tickets are available online now, and will be available at the gates each day.