Phillip Island Classic March 9-11

Competitor list & Event Schedule:

http://www.vhrr.com/Competitor-list-PI-2012.pdf

Group: A
43 David Paterson Toyota Corolla
12 Rod Markland Nissan Skyline GTR
44 David Towe BMW M3
46 Bill Cutler BMW M3
78 Hugh Harrison Alfa Romeo GTV 6
2 Jamie McDonald Holden VK Commodore
5 Bryan Sala Ford Sierra
8 Richard Espray Ford Sierra
18 Carey McMahon Nissan Skyline HR31
26 Jim Richards BMW 635csi
30 Luke Ellery Nissan Skyline
32 Edward Sansil Sierra RS500
33 Mike Roddy Jaguar XJS
38 Steven Tate Commodore
40 Adrian Allisey Holden Commodore
50 Richard Prince Volvo 240 T
62 Adrian Brady BMW 635 CSI
72 Tony Pallas Jaguar XJS
77 Craig Neilson Starion
83 George Nittis Ford Sierra
90 Robert Ingram Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth
96 Troy Stapleton Commodore

Group: C
13 Bob Holden Escort MK 11
14 Greg Keam Ford Escort RS 2000
16 Justin Nillson Nissan Exa
20 John Abbott Isuzu PF60
24 Chris Dubois Holden Commodore
42 Bill Magoffin Alfa Romeo GTV
48 Kerry Post Holden Isuzu PF50
53 Russell Keam Escort Mk2
54 Michael Logiudice Gemini PF50
34 Don Booker Mazda RX7
35 Carl Muller Ford Capri 3.0S
65 John Douglas Mazda RX 7
4 Craig Bowring Holden Commodore
9 Rod Hatfield Holden Torana L34
10 Shaun Tunny Holden Torana A9X
11 Neville Butler Ford Falcon XD
22 John Mina Falcon XD
41 Michael West Commodore
49 Ian Ross Ford Falcon
73 Murray Carter Falcon XC

Famous GP Ferrari for Phillip Island Classic

The most successful Grand Prix car of the modern era – the Ferrari Tipo 500 that brought the Maranello manufacturer its first World Championship 60 years ago – is being flown to Melbourne for a starring role at the 23rd annual Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport from March 9-11.

Driven by Italian ace Alberto Ascari, the Tipo 500 Chassis No 5 won the 1952 Belgian Grand Prix and went on to win a further five of the seven races counting towards the 1952 World Championship.

The only race that Ascari and Chassis No 5 failed to win that year was while he was absent in the Indianapolis 500 driving the 4.5-litre Ferrari.

Ascari won nine straight races in Tipo 500 No 5, a world championship record for an individual Formula 1 chassis that still stands today.

The Tipo 500 also won all but one of the 11 races in which it was entered, making it statistically the second most successful car in the history of the FIA World Championship after the McLaren MP4/4, which failed to win only one of its 16 races.

However Ferrari Tipo 500 Chassis No. 5 had an equally famous after-life Down Under in the hands of two notable Australian drivers.

Australia’s first Formula 1 driver, ex-WWII Spitfire Squadron leader Tony Gaze, purchased the Ferrari following the 1953 season and replaced its original 2.0-litre in-line four cylinder twin cam engine with a later 750 Monza 3.0-litre engine acquired from the Ferrari factory.

He campaigned the car extensively in South Africa and New Zealand, scoring a number of victories and podium places before selling it to Australia’s Lex Davison in 1956.

Davison went on to write the Ferrari into some of the most glorious chapters of Australian motorsport, winning six major races from 1956-1958 including back to back Australian Grands Prix in 1957 (Caversham, Western Australia) and 1958 (Bathurst NSW).

The return of the famous Ferrari to Australia after an absence of five decades comes appropriately as Ferrari celebrates the 60th Anniversary of its first F1 title and Tony Gaze DFC OAM marks the 60th anniversary of his first Formula 1 Grand Prix, which took place at Spa-Francorchamps on June 22, 1952.

Although now 92, Gaze hopes to be at Phillip Island to inspect his old racing Ferrari and do a lap of honour in a modern Ferrari.

The Tipo 500 appearance at the Phillip Island Classic has been coordinated by Melbourne-based design, art and culture organisation, The Ideas Institute, which was also instrumental in bringing out the ex-Fangio 1950 Alfetta 159 for the 2012 Phillip Island classic.

Other major supporters assisting the car’s return to Australia are Melbourne-based Ferrari specialists Terzini Motore, Brunswick café Gelobar, the Italian Chamber of Commerce and international freight forwarding agency, JAS.
The Ferrari’s owner Kevin Wheatcroft – the son of England’s Donington Motor Museum founder Tom Wheatcroft – and Briton Rick Hall, whose restoration business prepares the Ferrari, will accompany the Tipo 500 on its flight to Australia. Hall will drive the vehicle in Regularity events at Phillip Island and also take part in special vehicle parades at the meeting.

Under Hall’s supervision, the car has been restored to its correct 2.0-litre F2 specification and will run in Australia for the first time in the configuration that it brought Ferrari its first F1 title in 1952.

About the Ferrari Tipo 500

For 1952, the FIA announced that Grand Prix races counting towards the World Championship of Drivers were run to Formula 2 specification rather than to Formula 1, after the withdrawal of Alfa Romeo from the sport. Ferrari with its Tipo 500 designed by Aurelio Lampredi, was the only team to have a car specifically designed for the new formula.

The Tipo 500 was powered by a simple in-line four-cylinder twin-cam engine with two spark plugs per cylinder. This was installed into a welded-tube ladder-frame chassis with double-wishbone suspension at the front and a de Dion axle at the rear. The four-speed gearbox was mounted with the differential and connected to the engine via a short driveshaft running under the driver's seat.

Type: Tipo 500
Year: 1952-1956
Number of cylinders: 4
Configuration: Straight, 90/78, 2OHC, 2 valves per cylinder
Capacity: 1985
RPM: 7500 (1952), 7800 (1953)
Power: 185-190HP

The famous Ferrari is one of more than 550 sports, racing and touring cars spanning seven decades that will line up for 44 events at Phillip Island over the March 10/11 weekend.

The meeting has also attracted a record number of 620 display cars from 44 Clubs and a bumper crop of trade stalls.

Practice and Qualifying for all categories is on Friday March 9, with more than 40 races Saturday and Sunday March 10 & 11.

Admission costs $20 Friday, $25 Saturday, $35 Sunday with two-day ticket $50 and three-day ticket $70.

Meeting enquiries (03) 9877 2317 or visit www.vhrr.com or www.phillipislandcircuit.com.au

For media enquiries and publication-size images, contact Michael Browning 0418 324 328 or michael@browning.com.au


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Australia’s Lex Davison won two of his four Australian Grands Prix in the Ferrari 500 in 1957 and 1958 (Photo courtesy of www.autopics.com.au).

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Lex Davison in the Ferrari 500 lines up against Doug Whiteford in his 300S Maserati at Albert Park in 1957 (Photo courtesy of www.autopics.com.au).

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Les Davison lines the Ferrari 500 up for a run at the annual Geelong Speed Trials in the 1950s (Photo courtesy of www.autopics.com.au).

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Italy’s Alberto Ascari brought Ferrari its first World Championship in 1952 in the Formula 2 Tipo 500 Chassis No 5.

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Off-track action at 2012 Phillip Island Classic

Despite more than 550 vehicles competing on the 4.55km Grand Prix circuit, the excitement for many visitors to the 2012 Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport from March 9-11 will be ‘in-tents’, in the vehicle displays and in the circuit’s permanent Expo Centre.

Around 500 special vehicles from 43 clubs will be on display around the circuit on the Sunday, while 300 will also in attendance on the Saturday of the three-day meeting.

The participating clubs include those representing Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, BMW, Bolwell, Citroen, Cobra, Corvette, Daimler, Ferrari, Ford, Fiat, Holden, Jaguar, Lancia, Lotus, Mazda, Mini, MG, Morgan, Mustang, Nissan, Porsche, Renault, Singer, Torana, Vauxhall and Volvo.

Additionally there is a group of 40 Torana XU-1s celebrating Peter Brock’s historic first Bathurst victory 40 years ago in 1972.

Meanwhile another very special group can be admired under cover in Phillip Island’s expansive new Expo Centre, opposite the pits on the outside of the circuit.

There you will find the new Lotus range (celebrating Lotus Engineering’s 60 years in Grand Prix racing), the 2012 Mustang range, four of the best Torana GTR XU1s, three of Australia’s best Valiant Chargers, a replica of Murray Carter’s racing Falcon XC Coupe and assorted Holden Dealer Team race cars.

Also in the Expo Centre visitors will find a range of fascinating sporting cars like a Lancia Aurelia B20, a 1983 Treser Audi Quattro Turbo Coupe, an original Shelby Cobra 389, a Ferrari F40 and a classic 1960s front-engined 275 GTB.

Finally behind the pits in a separate collection you will find the fully restored Gardener/Crompton Coca-Cola Commodore, plus famous former race cars of Bob Jane, Brock and Jim Richards.

VHRR Patron Sir Jack Brabham, Bob Jane, Jim Richards, John Bowe, the meeting’s Patron Fred Gibson many other driving greats will also be on hand to meet enthusiasts and sign posters in the paddock throughout the weekend.


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With nearly 1,000 special vehicles on display inside and around the circuit, visitors to the 23rd annual Phillip Island Classic from March 9-11 will have trouble finding time to watch the record 44 on-track events over the weekend.

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Motor racing celebrities like VHRR Patron Sir Jack Brabham, who turns 86 in April this year and four-times Australian Touring car Champion Bob Jane will be on hand throughout the Phillip Island Classic weekend to meet fans and sign autographs.
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Racing Gibsons are joint 2012 PI Classic Patrons

Australia’s most famous husband and wife touring car team of Fred and Christine Gibson are joint Patrons of the 2012 Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport from March 9-11.

Bathurst winner, Ford factory driver and later mastermind and owner of the team that won four Australian Touring Car Championships and three Bathurst 1000s, Fred Gibson is one of the giants of Australian motorsport.

Christine Gibson (ne Cole) remains Australia’s most successful female driver after a career that began in 1967 driving a Mini sports sedan and peaked with her competing as a Holden and an Alfa Romeo Dealer Team driver in the 1970s and a Nissan team driver in the early 1980s.

Today retired, but still very much on the pulse of the sport’s latest developments, the Gibsons fit perfectly with the 2012 Phillip Island Classic theme, celebrating the ‘Class of 1972’.

After his first Bathurst victory with Harry Firth in 1967 driving a new XR Falcon GT, Fred Gibson became a mainstay of the Ford team for the next six years, scoring major victories at Amaroo Park and winning the competitive Toby Lee Series production sedan series at Oran Park in 1970 and 1971 driving his own Falcon GTHO.

Christine competed in several events for the Holden Dealer Team in the early 1970s, including driving a ‘prototype XU-I’ GT-R Torana with Sandra Bennett at Bathurst in 1970 and competing in two Rallycross events at Calder and Catalina, the latter driving the ex-Peter Brock supercharged Torana.
She joined the semi-works Alfa Romeo Dealer Team from 1973 driving GTV 2000 coupes in the Manufacturers’ Series and she met Fred Gibson while racing against him in his Falcon at Surfers Paradise that year. They were married the following year in Sydney.

In 1975 Christine was in contention for the 2.0-litre class in the Australian Touring Car Championship, but was forced to abandon the final rounds to give birth to their first child, Shona. Fred took over the Alfa for the rest of the year, with the Gibsons’ Alfa finishing fifth outright in the ATCC.

The only time the pair have shared the same car occurred in 1978 when Fred was due to co-drive a Torana A9X in the Rothmans 500 endurance race at Oran Park with the car’s owner Joe Moore. But when Moore was injured just before the race, Christine stood in for him.
“We raced against each other many times in different cars, but this was the only time we shared the same vehicle,” recalled Christine.

Christine recalls that their times in the A9X were fairly similar and they were leading in the race’s final stages when the engine let go and John Harvey went on to win in the Dealer Team Torana.

Christine temporarily stopped racing shortly afterwards to look after their young family, while in 1981 Fred joined the newly-formed Nissan touring car team, headed by a colleague from his factory Ford days, Howard Marsden.
Fred became the team's regular number two driver alongside George Fury during the Group C era, pioneering turbocharged touring cars with the cantankerous Nissan Bluebird and when Marsden left, he became the team’s manager, then its owner.

Christine returned to the track in 1983, joining joined Fred at Nissan and driving her last race in the Nissan EXA with the team at Bathurst in 1985.
Fred then oversaw the Australian Nissan Skyline program during Group A era, bringing young drivers Glenn Seton and Mark Skaife into the series.
Success for the team, now known as Gibson Motor Sport, came at last with the 1990 Australian Touring Car Championship for Jim Richards. Along the way Gibson and his team developed the Nissan GT-R into the dominant car of the era, winning three successive championships, taking back-to-back Bathurst 1000 wins in 1991 and 1992.

Fred continued to run Gibson Motor Sport as a Holden team in the V8 Supercar era as a Holden team, becoming a championship winner again with Skaife in 1994.

The end of tobacco sponsorship forced an end to the team's lucrative partner, Winfield and Fred eventually sold his interest.
In 2004 he was inducted into the V8 Supercar Hall of Fame.
Both Fred and Christine are looking forward to their latest motor racing ‘partnership’ at Phillip Island.

“We both really relate to historic motorsport,” said Christine. “There’s less ballyhoo than in today’s motor racing, everyone is very friendly and they talk a language I can understand!”

With a record 573 entry applications received, the 2012 Phillip Island Classic will be the largest historic motor racing meeting every staged in Australia. The event remains one of the most respected historic motorsport events on the international calendar and it was recently short-listed in Octane Magazine’s inaugural 2011 International Historic Motoring Awards.

It is being organised for the 23rd year by the Victorian Historic Racing Register, again supported by Shannons, CoolDrive and Penrite.

More meeting details can be found by visiting www.vhrr.com For media enquiries and publication quality images: Michael Browning 0418 324 328


Australian motor racing’s most famous husband and wife touring car team, Fred and Christine Gibson, are joint patrons of the 2012 Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport from March 9-11.

The only time Fred and Christine Gibson raced together was in the 1978 Rothmans 500 endurance race at Oran Park in an A9X Torana (second in picture). They retired when leading, leaving victory to the Holden Dealer Team Torana of John Harvey.(Image courtesy of Autopics)
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Richards to revive Touring Car glory at Phillip Island

Australia’s greatest active touring car driver, Jim Richards, will relive the first of his four National titles when returns to the wheel of one of the 1985 Championship-winning BMW 635 CSi cars at the 2012 Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport from March 9-11.

Richards will race the former John Player Special team car against a capacity field of former Group C and Group A touring cars from the 1970s and 1980s in four Touring Car Revival races over the Phillip Island Classic weekend in his first race in a BMW for 24 years.

Participation in the Phillip Island Classic races is essential to qualify drivers for their involvement in major support category events for the Group C and Group A Touring Cars at the 2012 Formula 1™ Australian Grand Prix meeting the following weekend, at which Richards will again drive the 635 CSi.

The BMW that Richards will race is the car he originally campaigned in Group C configuration in the 1984 Australian Touring Car Championship in what was a ‘shakedown’ for Australia’s move to International Group A Touring Car regulations the following year.

The vehicle was then rebuilt to Group A specification and was one of three similar BMWs that took part in the 1985 series, winning both the Australian Touring Car and Australian Endurance Championships that year.

Although a three-time Bathurst winner (partnering Peter Brock in Holdens) and having finishing second (twice) and third in the Australian Sports Sedan Championship driving his self-prepared Falcon XC, they were Richards’ first major Australian series titles since his first race in Australia at Bathurst in 1974.
“The BMW was a great car,” recalled Richards, who first drove the car in the final Surfers Paradise round of the 1982 Australian Touring Car Championship after being ‘head-hunted’ by the late Frank Gardner to spearhead his newly-formed JPS Racing Team.

Although well down on power compared to its Group C Falcons, Commodores and Mazda RX7s, Richards managed to finish fifth in the 1984 ATCC and surprised his rivals by leading the opening laps of the rain-drenched Lakeside, Queensland round.

The Touring Car Revival races will be amongst the highlights of this year’s Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport program, which will begin on Friday March 9 with practice and qualifying for all categories, followed by racing through the weekend.

With more than 550 entries received by the Victorian Historic Racing Register, which organises the ‘Classic’ with support from CoolDrive, Shannons and Penrite, this year’s Classic will be the largest motor sport event of its type ever staged in the Southern Hemisphere.

The most popular categories include Production Sports Cars, with nearly 100 entries from Alfa Romeos, Corvettes, Lotus, MG V8s, Nissans, Panteras and Porsches, Historic Touring Cars, with more than 40 entries from pre-1973 cars so far and Regularity, with 75 entries for two separate groups.

A record grid of high-powered open-wheeler racing cars, incorporating around 35 thundering Formula 5000s and several former Formula One cars, is also expected, with entrants coming from New Zealand, the USA, Canada and the UK.

The Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport has been recognised internationally as one of the world’s greatest motorsport historic motorsport events and was short-listed in the inaugural 2011 International Historic Motoring Awards conducted by the respected ‘Octane’ magazine.

More meeting details can be found by visiting www.vhrr.com For media enquiries and publication quality images: Michael Browning 0418 324 328

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Four-time Australian Touring Car Champion Jim Richards will revive memories at the 2012 Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport from March 9-11 when he races his former 1985 BMW 635 CSi in the Group C & A touring car races at the meeting.

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Jim Richards won the first of his four Australian Touring Car titles in 1985 in the JPS Team BMW 635 CSi he will race again at the 2012 Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport from March 9-11.
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Open wheelers power Phillip Island Classic Festival entry


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A record grid of up to 38 high-powered open-wheeler racing cars will be a spectacular highlight of the 23rd annual Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motor Sport organised by the Victorian Historic Racing Register from 9-11 March 2012



An expected 35 thundering Formula 5000 V8-engined racers from the 1970s, including leading cars from New Zealand, the USA, Canada and the UK, will be joined by several former Formula 1 cars from the 1980s in highlight events at the meeting, each of which will feature a rolling start.



Another highlight will be the large field of former Group C (1973-1984) and Group A (1985-1992) touring cars assembled for the meeting – with seven-time Bathurst winner Jim Richards and four-times Australian champion John Bowe amongst the drivers on the planned 22-car grid.



The ‘Class of 1972’ will also be a feature of the meeting, marking the 40th anniversary of Peter Brock’s memorable first Hardie-Ferodo 500 win in a Holden Dealer Team Torana XU-1 – the first of his record nine Bathurst victories. A special painting created by noted Australian motorsport artist Mike Harbar showing Brock leading John French’s second-placed XY GT HO Phase III Falcon and Doug Chivas driving the third-placed Chrysler Charger is being created for the meeting and will be auctioned for charity.



The 1972 race was notable as the last Bathurst where competitors were allowed to complete the full distance without a relief driver and it was the only time the big three manufacturers of Australia in the 60's and 70's all had representatives in the top three finishers.



The 2012 Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport is again on track for another big 500-vehicle entry and will continued to be supported by Shannons, CoolDrive and Penrite, Race officials will again be supplied by the Victorian Mini Club.

Other highlights of the meeting will be: -



• Celebrations of 60 years of Lotus engineering • The appearance of several special cars flown in from the Porsche Museum in Germany • Displays by up to 40 different car clubs and their members • An anticipated record number of trade stalls.



The Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport remains one of the largest and most respected motorsport historic motorsport events on the international calendar.



It was recently short-listed in Octane Magazine’s inaugural 2011 International Historic Motoring Awards, coming in just behind the Goodwood Revival in the prestigious ‘Motorsport Event of the Year’ category.



More meeting details can be found by visiting www.vhrr.com For media enquiries and publication quality images: Michael Browning 0418 324 328