50th Anniversary of Touring Cars at Lakeside 2011

[TonyG]

Had an absolute ball today at Lakeside. Jim Richards was Patron of the meeting and was as usual a true gentleman to all the fans. They were calling him away to drive the Geoghegan Mustang and he apologized to all the people waiting for autographs and pictures and asked them to please come back when he was done all the while frantically signing as many posters as he could.
Just arrived home and have to sort through 570 images so I will post some tomorrow.
John French showed he has lost nothing when he was punting the Tru Blu Falcon around and he actually lapped the other cars 3 times. Was not afraid to get it sideways lol.
I laughed when Andrew Thompson came out with the Lowndes Commodore and Paul Morris with his Fujitsu car for a couple of flying laps straight afterwards and even the teenagers nearby said whats wrong with these things? They don't sound right !!! Those old cars had V8s in them whats in these ?
One thing I did learn though was that the Gemini drivers were just fruit loops. It was like superstocks on a road course !!!

[TonyG]

Couldn't wait ! Had to have a look and post some teasers.

Fruit Loops !!!


Group N




Aussie Trans Ams

[TonyG]

GIO Skyline


Glenn Seton in Pinepac Mustang


Grice A9X


Skaife R31

[TonyG]

Jim Richards in Geoghegan Stang


Bryan Thomson Camaro


Dick Johnson Coupe


Tru Blu with John French behind the wheel.

[Steve Holmes]

Hey Tony, great photos! I assume the Dick Johnson XC hardtop is the original car from the John Harris collection, not a replica? I'm surprised the Gemini series is still going. That was big in the 80s, but I thought they would have destroyed them all by now.

Good to see the Bryan Thomson Camaro there. Do you know who owns this car? Is it part of the Bowden collection?

Did the Aussie Trans-Am guys get a good turn-out?

[TonyG]

Hey Tony, great photos! I assume the Dick Johnson XC hardtop is the original car from the John Harris collection, not a replica?
Hi Steve; Yes it is the original Johnson car driven yesterday by Craig Harris. Press release said it was the first time on track in 30 yrs.
They also had another there #32 which was not driven on track. This one was the original Jim Richards car that they bought when they needed a new car for Johnson.
They were listed as the 1978 and 79 Cars. Will post a pic of the #32 car shortly.


I'm surprised the Gemini series is still going. That was big in the 80s, but I thought they would have destroyed them all by now.
The way they drive, I am surprised too. Trying to go 3 wide through Hungry Corner was unreal to watch and expect lol

\
Good to see the Bryan Thomson Camaro there. Do you know who owns this car? Is it part of the Bowden collection?
Yes it was good to see. No it is not part of the Bowden Collection. I am trying to find out now. Will advise later.


Did the Aussie Trans-Am guys get a good turn-out?

Unfortunately because it was a last minute addition to the program they only had 8 cars ready on Saturday and 6 for Sunday. I got shots of all 6 from Sunday. Would have loved to have seen the 64 Mercury Comet and Javelin though

The teaser shots I have put up are ok for now, but with the classes represented, would you prefer I categorized them into Classics eg Beechey, Moffatt etc , Group A/C, Group N, Trans Am (which we have a thread for so I will drop those shots straight in there.) Germinis & HQs in a thread together and a Category called Regularity where they race the clock rather than each other and seem to have a lot of fun. I could post Links to each thread at the start of this one once done. Might save a lot of time for those that want to look at each class.

[Steve Holmes]

Tony I wouldn't worry too much about the Geminis and HQs just because of the content of this being a historic/motorsport history website, plus I reckon most on here would be more excited about seeing the historic touring cars, plus the Trans-Am and Group N cars etc. Were there any HQ Monaros there at all? How does Lakeside look these days? Its still one of the most charismatic race tracks, and so much more interesting than Queensland Raceway.

[Steve Holmes]

Oh yeah, forgot to say, the reason i thought the Thomson Camaro might be in the Bowden collection is because the contact person for the My105 ad is Chris Bowden. http://www.my105.com/ListingDetails/...5/Default.aspx

[TonyG]

Good point re Historical aspect. Will do.

Apparently Thomson still owns the Camaro but like most things it is for sale and Chris is handling it through his company Ecurrie Investments.

There was 1 HQ there, track still looks like it did when in operation but to get to the infield you go through a tunnel instead of over the foot bridge which is just rusting away. Apparently under the Historical Act the track runs under they are not allowed to repair/replace it. Bit silly.
I walked up to the top of the hill above the Carousel but it was really overgrown with trees and weeds which made it really difficult to see. Willowbank is just plain boring compared to Lakeside. It has no character.

[Rod Grimwood]

Keep them coming Tony, great photos and knowledge.
When it comes to land/buildings, Historical (histerical) things are over the top. If they had knocked down half the damaged historical stuff in Christchurch after first quake, a lot of people would not have been hit with it in the second Quake. (lets not diverse)

That Camaro looks real good, it looks "heavy" bet it sounds right.

[Ellis]

In excess of 50 Group N cars...
pics courtesy of Garry Saunderson Qld whose son runs the Blue Mk1 Cortina up the pointy end...

[Steve Holmes]

Yikes! Did they run 50 cars in the one race, or did they split them?

[Steve Holmes]

Good point re Historical aspect. Will do.

Apparently Thomson still owns the Camaro but like most things it is for sale and Chris is handling it through his company Ecurrie Investments.

There was 1 HQ there, track still looks like it did when in operation but to get to the infield you go through a tunnel instead of over the foot bridge which is just rusting away. Apparently under the Historical Act the track runs under they are not allowed to repair/replace it. Bit silly.
I walked up to the top of the hill above the Carousel but it was really overgrown with trees and weeds which made it really difficult to see. Willowbank is just plain boring compared to Lakeside. It has no character.

Thanks Tony. Isn't that amazing re the bridge. You'd think it'd be in the best interests of health and safety that it doesn't one day collapse on top of somebody!

[105angria]

Thomson Camaro for sale on 105.com

[TonyG]

Yikes! Did they run 50 cars in the one race, or did they split them?

Actually had 2 heats of 30. More pics to come tomorrow. Had to rescue father in Laws computer after computer savvy sister in law crashed it so running behind on my stuff.
This Cortina mentioned in earlier post by Ellis

[Rod Grimwood]

Awesome Tony,

[TonyG]

Thanks Rod

[TonyG]

[TonyG]

[TonyG]