Widescreen Gallery: The HSRCA’s 2021 Sydney Classic

Images thanks to Seth Reinhardt / HSRCA

The Historic Sports and Racing Car Association of NSW held their 2021 Sydney Classic at Sydney Motorsport Park over the weekend, bringing together a magnificent collection of historic race machinery in honour of the late Ron Tauranac AO. Read on, and enjoy the shots.

Held in honour of Ron Tauranac, the meeting brought together a collection of Brabham and RALT race cars for both competition and display, including Sir Jack Brabham’s 1966 Formula 1 World Championship-winning BT19. Brabham drove the BT19 to victory in four straight races during the 1966 season, eventually claiming both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. The car was on display throughout the weekend, taking part in parade events over lunch when it was driven by Brabham’s grandson, Sam Brabham.

Group M, O & P races were dominated by Brabhams, with nine of the cars competing in the category over the weekend. A 1969 Brabham BT30 was in a class of its own in the hands of Sean Whelan, joined on the podium by a BT21/23 and BT21 for the final three races.

Highlights in the other open-wheeled categories included a gorgeous 1986 Benetton Formula 1 that led the Q & R Sports & Racing field alongside an Elfin MS7, a series of RALT RT1 and RT4s, a Lola T332 Can Am car and more. Formula Ford and Vee races were also a lot of fun, and produced some very close racing.

The open-wheelers were joined by more Australian motor sport royalty in the form of the Heritage Touring Cars – Group C & A touring cars that competed around the country from 1973 to 1992. Featuring cars like a 1980 Group C Ford XD Falcon first raced by Bob Morris and Bill O’Brien, a series of Walkinshaw Commodore VLs, the last BMW M3 built by Frank Gardner’s iconic JPS team and an ex-Garry Willmington Group A XJ-S, the field was led home each race by the 1991 Sandown 500-winning R32 GIO Nissan GT-R.

Touring car fans were treated to more great racing in the form of a stacked Group N field. This was dominated by a collection of ’60s Mustangs, but saw some strong competition from Mini Cooper S drivers, Holden Toranas, a Jaguar MK2 and a pair of Cortinas. Super Sprint brought two more touring car legends out to play in the form of early V8 Supercars that included an ex-Bob Pearson Pro-Duct VP Commodore.

Other highlights included a packed Group S field, which saw forty-odd sports cars compete in a pitched battle featuring everything from class-leading Porsche 911s and Ford Mustangs, through to a Pantera, MGs, Alfas, a gorgeous Lotus Elite, Datsuns and more.

The aforementioned speed categories, Super Sprint and Regularity, brought some very interesting machines out to the track in highly varied fields, and were awesome to see.

The 2021 Sydney Classic marked the first time that the club was able to hold night races, and these were greatly enjoyed by drivers and spectators alike, with a warm track and cool air producing perfect conditions for combustion. It was also the first time spectators were able to return to the meetings since we all went into hibernation last year, bringing a lot of energy and camaraderie to the meeting.

The club will be back in action over August 28th and 29th, when they head to Wakefield Park for their Spring Festival, and again for the 2021 finale at Sydney Motorsport Park – the Summer Festival – November 27 & 28.

For more, head to their website at www.hsrca.com.