After 16 years, the Historic Racing Car Club (QLD) Inc. (HRCC) will finally return to Queensland Raceway, with the Shannons Historic Racing and Classic Car Festival taking centre stage this weekend. 

Starting on Friday, the three-day event will see 121 competitors across nine exciting categories on display, offering a mix of both clubman and national level competition.

Official action gets underway on Friday with practice and qualifying where each category will undergo 20-minute sessions ahead of their races on Saturday and Sunday. 

Amongst the categories are Heritage Touring Cars, Formula Vee and Historic Production Sports Cars, as well as the Shannons Regularity Trial that will kick off the competition Saturday morning. 

Competitors won’t just be vying for race wins either, with a handful of trophies on offer for a number of categories - the Jack Lacey Trophy (Historic Touring Cars), Fred Sayers Trophy (Sports Sedans), Queensland Tourist and HRCC (Historic Sport and Racing) and the Lionel Ayres Trophy (Formula Vee) all to be given out on Saturday. 

Running the event at Queensland Raceway for the first time since 2006, HRCC Secretary Brian Henderson believed the circuit’s new upgrades would be incredibly beneficial for the success and growth of the event moving forward. 



“The club is excited to be returning to the new and improved Queensland Raceway,” Henderson said.

“We haven’t run this event there for nearly 20 years, so we’re looking forward to welcoming all the competitors and spectators where they can see all the new facilities and how much better that’s going to be from an attendee perspective.

“Spectators will really enjoy the changes to the venue, as well as the variety of historic vehicles on display, as well as the opportunity to get out there and mix with the teams and drivers, in the hope that some of those spectators who have a race car at home might re-engage with the sport and come out and join us.”

Although entries have closed, the HRCC are still accepting entries for activations outside the track, including Sunday’s Show & Shine which invites proud car owners to show off their wheels for the chance to win a cash prize.

With the club having introduced a three-day event last year, the event’s structure will allow for more interested drivers to get involved too. 

“This is the second year we’re running a three-day event and it gives us the opportunity to add at least one more category to our schedule ensuring as many people in the historic scene get a run,” Henderson added.

“The HRCC is always very welcoming of any competitor regardless of the type of vehicles they’d like to race. We support as a sport and we want to do everything we can to ensure we can help competitors get on track and enjoy the sport.”

More information about entry, general admission and the schedule can be found here.

The Shannons Historic Racing and Classic Car Festival 2023 will take place at Queensland Raceway on 14-16 July.