One of the biggest historic events in the world, at one of the most iconic circuits in Australia, will be held this weekend thanks to the Victorian Historic Racing Register (VHRR).
Taking place at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, the Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport will see more than 400 cars across the nation featured in the three-day event.
From full capacity grids in multiple categories, such as the 55 in the Formula Ford category and the 66 in the Regularity, through to the multiple special cups honouring legends from Australian motorsport history - there are plenty of things to get the average motorsport fan excited at the historic race meeting.
The Formula Ford field will be battling it out for one of those special cups, with the highest point scorer of the category’s races to be awarded the prestigious Perkins Cup.
A number of big names will be competing in the cup, including Blanchard Racing Team’s Team Principal, Tim Blanchard, Brian Soule and overseas drivers Richard Tarling from the UK, Gislain Genecand from Switzerland, and Xavier Michel from France.
The other special cup to be on show will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Peter Brock’s famous 1972 Bathurst win aboard a Torana XU1, with 11 competitors from five states to be fighting it out for the Peter Brock Trophy on Sunday.
There are plenty of other notable categories with large fields to line up throughout the weekend, including the the Group S Sports Cars - which has reached capacity of more than 50 cars across the multiple classes.
Another category to have a solid entry list is the 5 Litre Touring Cars and Invited High Speed Cars. Featuring an eclectic mix of B8 Touring Sprint cars between 1993 and 2002, the category will also welcome some stars to the race, including Supercars endurance co-driver Jack Perkins.
With a jam packed schedule planned for the three days, the combined Q & R Racing and Q&A Sportscars and will have two feature races on Saturday and will welcome a super impressive entry - Guido Belgiorno-Netti’s spectacular 1985 Ferrari 156/86 Formula 1 car.
While official proceedings begin on Friday, 270 competitors attended the circuit on Thursday to get some more track time and crucial practice in readiness of the event.
VHRR President Ian Tate was looking forward to the event and couldn’t wait to see all the action unfold.
“Everything went well for the practice sessions apart from an oil spill, and I think the weather was great and it’s going to set up a wonderful weekend of motorsport,” Tate said.
“We have been lucky to run this event in previous years, but we are still stoked to have more than 400 entries and to have so much support from our members and interstate competitors.
“There is going to be fantastic racing across all categories – especially because there are so many highly populated fields.
“I also think there are some real nice cars – a handful of Le Mans spec cars for me being the pick of the bunch. It’s also nice to have the likes of Jack and Larry Perkins, Tim McRae from S5000 and a number of international drivers competing – it’s all very exciting.”
Tickets for the spectacular historic motorsport event start from $30 for Friday and range up to $110 for a weekend pass, and will be available at the circuit gate.
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The Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport takes place at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit from 11-13 March.