HQ Racing NSW brought a great field and exciting racing to the 2025 Sydney Classic
We enjoyed a wonderful Kings Birthday long weekend June 6 – 8, celebrating with the 2025 HSRCA Sydney Classic at Sydney Motorsport Park. Let’s catch up on all the action on and off the track.
Without your support, these meetings would not happen
We’d like to start off with a big ‘Thank you!’ to all of the volunteers who support us in various roles across the circuit, in the lead-up to our meetings and throughout the year. There are many moving parts to a historic race meeting, and we wouldn’t be able to do it without your support.
It takes more than just drivers, mechanics and cars to make a race meeting – Syd Reinhardt photo
Thanks as well to all of our competitors, their family, friends and teams, and all of the club members and spectators who came out to support the meeting. The atmosphere throughout the pits and paddock was warm, friendly and relaxed, which made it a great place to spend the weekend.
Jan & Herb Neal preparing for a race
As always, the cars were beautifully prepared and driving standards were generally very high, which helped us run a smooth race meeting, and produced some great racing for all to enjoy.
Speaking of which, a special thanks to Blendline TV who joined us at the meeting and streamed it live in a very welcome first for the club. The archives are available on Blendline’s website, which you can find at this link.
Windy days presented some challenges in the pits and paddock
It was a pleasant winter weekend at the track, warm sunshine to be found amongst a few cloudy patches. The wind did pick up throughout the weekend, and certainly had a wintery bite to it, but conditions were generally favourable for motor racing outside of some challenges getting heat into the tyres during the cool mornings and afternoons.
Geoff Byrne 1969 Triumph TR6 at the head of a close pack in Group S also featuring Colin Wilson-Brown 1970 Alfa Romeo GTV, André Breit 1967 Datsun Fairlady, Tammie Hotz 1964 MG Midget and Kent Brown 1963 MGB
Group S opened the weekend’s competition bright and early on Saturday morning, with Wayne Seabrook claiming pole position and going on to win every race that he entered. Terry Lawlor and Doug Barbour were also quick at the front, Terry winning the final race of the weekend in his 1966 Shelby American GT350, Barbour finishing second and Joe Calleja from Victoria putting his Chev on the podium for a good finish to the weekend.
Damien Spinks and team working on the 1976 Nimbus Formula Vee ahead of Sunday afternoon’s race
Following on from a massive weekend in Goulburn earlier in the year, Formula Vee brought out 16 cars for some exciting races. Tony Paynter claimed pole position in and followed up with two race wins, Matthew Pearce getting the better of him in race two. Dan Bando also had an excellent weekend, with a second place finish in race one and third in race three, Stephen Normoyle also securing a podium finish.
MG Racing Australia were a feature category of the weekend and brought out a strong field for the meeting. 12 of the drivers were from interstate, including Jason Edwards who came all the way from South Australia, so a huge thank you for that support and of course the support of our interstate friends across the whole entry!
Working behind the scenes on the Philip Chester MGB GT V8
Philip Chester had a strong weekend in the MGB GT V8, qualifying on pole and winning two races. Simon Elliott was similarly quick, winning race one and finishing second in all of the other events. Warren Hotz put in a standout performance, steering the 1300cc 1962 Austin Healey Sprite to third in all three races in and amongst the monster MGs.
In Q & R Sports & Racing Tom Tweedie jumped to a quick lead in the Elfin MS7, William Lowing and Daniel Nolan following. However, race one saw Tom retire early, which Daniel capitalised on for a win, Malcolm Oastler steering his Ralt RT1 to the podium.
Tweedie leads the Q & R Sports & Racing Field at the start of race one
Race two would see the order disrupted again, with Daniel also suffering an unfortunate DNF, William Lowing securing his first win of the weekend and Andrew Kluver steering the mighty Budweiser Lola T332 CanAm car into third. The final race of the weekend would see Lowing maintain his place at the top of the sheets, Vivian King and Steve Willing climbing the podium in second and third.
L, M, O & P Sports & Racing saw a dominant performance by Travis Clark, who set the pace in qualifying and won the next two races. David Kent and Noel Bryen were similarly consistent, Noel spending most of the weekend dicing with Wayne Wilson in the Brabham BT 35. A depleted field in the final event saw Wilson stretch his legs, setting his fastest lap of the weekend and sneaking past Bryen for the win, John Macey finishing third in a Brabham BT 18.
Jason Johnston leads a closely competed pack of HQ Racing NSW Holdens preparing to come onto the main straight
Moving back to the tin tops and one of the highlights of the weekend – HQ Racing NSW. The series put 20 closely matched Holden HQs on track for some great races. Luke Harrison seemed to be in a class of his own, qualifying in first and winning every race, with John Baxter similarly quick and Jack Harrison scoring a second place finish in race one before a DNF in race two. Jarrod Harber claimed three third place finishes, including a nail biter in race three, David Proglio also quick, qualifying on the second row.
Chris Stillwell in the Caltex Ford Sierra RS500 ahead of David Towe and Adrian Allisey
Our final feature category of the weekend, Heritage Touring Cars did not disappoint, bringing a great field and a lot of buzz to the meeting. David Towe pulled off an impressive upset in qualifying, putting the JPS BMW M3 on pole ahead of Chris Stillwell’s Sierra RS500 by less than a tenth of a second.
Stillwell would remedy that with the start of racing and go on to win all three events, Adrian Allisey finding his pace in the Walkinshaw Commodore for two second place finishes. The BMWs were back on song in race two, however, David Towe and Rick Allen aboard the Benson & Hedges M3 relegating Allisey to fourth.
Vic Andrews steering the 1981 Van Diemen RF81 through turn one late on Saturday afternoon
Formula Ford may not have had the biggest field, but it did see some good races which seemed to shuffle the order every time out and saw little to no attrition. Andrew McInnes was quickest to get to grips with the circuit, setting pole position ahead of Garry Watson and Bruce Connolly. Bruce would get the better of Watson in race one, Andrew Taite jumping two places to finish second in a race that saw the first four positions separated by less than a second.
By race two Taite was leading the field, Andrew McInnes back in second and Kieran McLaughlin making his first podium appearance of the weekend, a Van Diemen RF89 lockout of the front row. Andrew Taite would win the final race of the weekend, Bruce Connolly and Garry Watson relegating McLaughlin to fourth.
Luke Harrison stretches the legs of his 1965 Ford Mustang ahead of another Mustang and a group of hungry Minis
Group N brought another good field out to play, which Brad Tilley seemingly had the measure of, qualifying first and winning every race. That’s not to say he had no competition, Luke Harrison in another Mustang and Andrew Williams in a Torana doing a good job of keeping him honest. Jack Harrison and the Valiant Charger of John Burke also made podium appearances.
The speed categories brought some always enjoyable variance to the field, along with creating opportunities for some younger cars to run. In Supersprint it was the 2009 Superformance GT40 Mk1 Replica of Warren Brown and PRB Clubman of Paul Finch who led the timesheets through most of the weekend, Phillip Hoad, Mark Johnson and Warren De Guara also running well.
The beautiful 1969 Porsche 911 of Craig Duthie coming out of turn two
Regularity saw some beautiful cars competing including a pair of Elans, an Alfa Romeo Guilia GT and Jaguar Mk 2. Ben Crampton led the first run in a 1972 Datsun 1600, Graham Hodkinson’s Valiant AP-6 running second and Steve Byrnes in third. Graham would improve for the second run to top the sheets, Bruce Melville in second ahead of Tony Pallas. The final run of the weekend saw the order completely shift, Damian Ross from the ACT leading Ben Crampton and Geoff Burgess.
Thank you for your support of the 2025 HSRCA Sydney Classic! We’ll be out again before you know it, heading back to the recently renewed One Raceway for the 2025 Spring Festival August 29 to 31. Look forward to entries opening soon!
Emily Chebaia and Andy Aristodimou sharing notes on the dummy grid
Until then, click through the following links and enjoy a wonderful selection of images with thanks to the many talented photographers who help us document our meetings.
2025 HSRCA Sydney Classic: Andy Aristodimou
2025 HSRCA Sydney Classic: Campbell Armstrong-Rider
2025 HSRCA Sydney Classic: Riccardo Benvenuti
2025 HSRCA Sydney Classic: Jeremy Dale
2025 HSRCA Sydney Classic: Alex, Charlie & Paul D’Ambra
2025 HSRCA Sydney Classic: Paul Dickinson
2025 HSRCA Sydney Classic: Lily Doherty
2025 HSRCA Sydney Classic: Steve Haskell
2025 HSRCA Sydney Classic: David Jenkins
2025 HSRCA Sydney Classic: Craig King
2025 HSRCA Sydney Classic: Bruce Moxon
2025 HSRCA Sydney Classic: Seth Reinhardt
2025 HSRCA Sydney Classic: Mark Richards
2025 HSRCA Sydney Classic: Stuart Row
2025 HSRCA Sydney Classic: Peter Schell
Thank you to Andy Aristodimou, Campbell Armstrong-Rider, Riccardo Benvenuti, Jeremy Dale, Alex, Charlie & Paul D’Ambra, Paul Dickinson, Lily Doherty, Steve Haskell, David Jenkins, Craig King, Bruce Moxon, Seth Reinhardt, Mark Richards, Stuart Row and Peter Schell. Click their names to head to their websites or socials for more, or email Seth at web@hsrca.com if you’re looking for something from him, Bruce, Jeremy, Lily, Peter or Steve.
The C & A cars of Heritage Touring Cars coming on to the main straight on Sunday morning
Thanks to all the folk that make this event a reality.
Thanks André!