Celebrate Retro at the 2014 Phillip Island Classic

Image: Derek Hanbidge

The Southern Hemisphere’s biggest and most action-packed historic motorsport event, the Phillip Island Classic, is just a week away, set for the 7th to the 9th of March, and this year they’re going retro to celebrate their 25th anniversary.

25th anniversary celebrations kick off where it matters – 25% more racing. The event will feature a record 44 events over the Saturday and Sunday alone, which will keep the entry list of around 500 racing, sports and touring cars from the past 100 years of motorsport history pretty busy.

Among that racing will be feature races for combined Group C & A Touring Cars spanning the ’70s and ’80s, including seven-time Bathurst winner Jim Richards in his 1990 Australian Touring Car Championship-winning Nissan HR31 Turbo.

Wings and slicks will have a commanding presence at the event, with a capacity grid of Formula 1, Formula 5000 and Indy cars, headlined by John Bowe driving Joe Calleja’s ’74 March 741 Formula 1.

“Let’s just say we’re planning to put on a good show. No one will be queuing for a hamburger while we’re on!” - Craig Miles

Looking forward to a time when Australian 5.0 Litre Touring Cars are accepted by CAMS in historic motorsport, Australian V8 Supercar racing will be represented by a special demonstration event for Ford and Holden V8 Supercars which competed between 1993 and 2002, some steered by their original drivers.

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Peter Brock’s back-to-back victories in the ’73 and ’74 Australian Touring Car Championship will be his ’73 XU-1, ’74 SL/R 5000 and 2003 Bathurst 24-Hour-winning 7-Litre Holden Monaro 427C.

Other famous cars include Mark Donohue’s 1974 IROC 911 RSR 3.0 Litre Coupe, which he drove to his final race win and clinched the 1974 International Race of Champions series in the final round at Daytona, before his death in 1975. These cars were specially-built monsters, created by Porsche for a ‘who’s who’ of racers to contest the 1974 International Race of Champions series.

Sir Jack Brabham will be feted at the event in celebration of his amazing life and achievements, including a lap of honor joined by many of the drivers against whom he competed, and will be joined by his 1966 World Championship Repco Brabham BT19 and up to a dozen Brabham racing cars from the ’60s.

The 2014 Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport, presented by the VHRR, will be held from the 7th to the 10th of March at the classic Phillip Island Classic Circuit. Head to the official websiteand Facebook page here for more information.

Admission:
Friday, March 7: $30.00
Saturday, March 8: $35.00
Sunday, March 9: $45.00
Two-day (Sat-Sun) pass: $70.00
Three-day weekend pass: $90.00
Children Under 16: Free
Pensioner concession: $5.00
Paddock entry: Free

The 2014 Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motor Sport presented by the VHRR is again being supported by Shannons, CoolDrive and Penrite, with additional support this year from Dutton Garage, Repco, Zagame, RDA Brakes and Trico.