Widescreen Gallery: The 2018 HSRCA Tasman Festival
Images thanks to Seth Reinhardt / HSRCA
Held over the 1st & 2nd of December, 2018, the HSRCA’s Tasman Festival brought a magic collection of historic race machinery to Sydney Motorsport Park to spend a weekend recreating the golden age of motor sport at the iconic Sydney circuit. Scroll on and enjoy some photos of the action.
The Tasman Festival follows on from the Tasman Revival, a bi-annual historic race meeting that celebrated the drivers and cars that contested the Tasman Series.
The Tasman Series ran on Australian and New Zealand race tracks from 1964 to 1975 and attracted many legends of the era to compete. Local legends like Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren tackled the championship, as did names like Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart and more.
To celebrate this history, the Tasman Festival contested the Dawson-Damer trophy for cars of the era and brought great fields of L, M and O cars as well as the exciting wings ‘n slicks machines of Q & R Sports and Racing to the circuit. Both fields were well-stocked, and put on a series of exciting races, including a particularly exciting one for drivers on Sunday afternoon when the wind picked up.
The event also staged an endurance race for Group S sports cars, complete with an action-packed pit lane driver change, and celebrated the 40th birthday of PRB.
Group S is one of the sport’s fastest growing categories and is extremely competitive. The enduro did not disappoint and drivers kept the competition kicking all the way through to the end of a 45-minute epic.
Joining in the fun were full fields of Formula Vees and Formula Fords, Group N touring cars, and both regularity and super sprint classes.
Healthy fields and classy driving led to some great races throughout the weekend.
Group N put together a strong field and demonstrated their signature style of tin top motor sport. The Formula Vees and Fords are closely-matched and exciting to watch with plenty of drafting and nose-to-tail cornering. Regularity and super sprint bring a great variety to meetings, and allow drivers and spectators to enjoy cars that may not otherwise hit the track.
As always, the pits and paddock were just as much fun as the track, with plenty to investigate and a buzzy summer atmosphere. If you head to a historic motorsport event in Australia, make sure to take a wander around, get up close to the cars and say ‘Hi!’ to some of the drivers and crews.
The HSRCA will run four historic race meetings in 2019. The Autumn Festival will run over the 30th & 31st of March at Wakefield Park. The Sydney Classic will follow in June over the 8th and 9th at Sydney Motorsport Park. The Spring Festival will see the club return to Wakefield Park over September 28th & 29th, and the Summer Festival will wrap up the year at Sydney Motorsport Park on November 30th and December 1st.
For more information head to the club’s website at www.hsrca.com.
Images thanks to Seth Reinhardt / HSRCA
