Race Reports
and Results
Sandown Historics
2006
(updated regularly)
Group S at Historic Sandown - The Battle Continues!
The variety of cars eligible for Group S competition, which covers Sports Cars from 1941-1977, always ensures good racing with different car-driver combinations shining dependant (among others) on circuit layout, weather conditions and race length. Sandown Park, host of VHRR’s “Historic Sandown- Return of the Thunder” weekend, has traditionally favoured the big V8’s with its fast stretches providing a chance to run full throttle for a significant portion of every lap. It is at the end of these straights, in the braking zones, that the lighter cars can make up time - for there are few corners that test the agility of the cars on this layout. Traction out of the (several) slow corners also rewards at Sandown, the performance of the Porsche’s and the Jackson De Tomaso displaying graphic evidence of that as the weekend unfolded.
Sb/Sc Events: Qualifying
In the main group, which pitted the faster Sa cars with more modern machines in Sb and Sc, Ian Ross stormed his Sb Shelby Mustang around in 1:25.1. Simon Froude, a marque sports car entrant with his Carrera RSR, was allowed to qualify with this group and recorded the second fastest time in the session, though he was not racing in the category. His time however meant that Ross Jackson’s Sc De Tomaso Pantera would start from number 3 on the grid despite setting the second fastest time for Group S, with a 1:26.7. Tony Jones and Phil Verwoert in Group Sc 911’s (1:27.2 and 1:28.3)were 3rd and 6th, sandwiching the Sb Corvette driving Sabine family, fatherPaul (class lap record holder) taking 4th on a 1:28.0 in his 427 with son Cameron running 1:28.2 in his ‘baby’ 350. Michael Byrne throttled his diminutive 1600cc Sc Lotus Seven around in 1:28.7 to record the 8th quickest time. Overall, however, the circuit is as Cameron Sabine says “The best circuit for a V8 in Australia!”
Race 1
When the flag fell, Ross Jackson and the leading Porsche’s of Jones and Verwoert utilised their inherent traction advantages to menace the start, Jackson going around the pole- sitting Shelby of Ian Ross and into a lead he would hold for the duration of the race. Time and again Ian ran the Shelby up the inside as they edged onto the main straight but the torque of the De Tomaso ensured Ross could hold on through the gears to edge away from the GT350. The Porsches started well but had faded to 5th (Jones) and 6th (Verwoert) by the time the red flags came out on lap 5, with one of the Sb MG’s going off at turn 1. Their time to shine would come later in the weekend as the big guns started losing brakes! Paul Sabine looked more and more comfortable as he finished 3rd in the Vette, with Graeme Hooper taking 4th in his red Sb Corvette - poster car for the Sandown event. Graeme was lucky as the car slowed on the 6th lap and he was passed by Cameron Sabine and Michael Byrne, who were having a good tussle.
Showing the diversity of the class, one of the battles of the race was between Rob Rowland in a 1959 Healey 3000 and the 1971 3.0CS BMW of Richard Batchelor. They finished 19th and 20th respectively, their best laps within 2 tenths of a second. Geoff Pike from NSW was great to watch in easily the quickest MGB, finishing in 18th with a lap time over four seconds quicker than other MGB’s (1:34.2 versus a 1:38.1 for Geoff Herbert). Fastest lap was Ian Ross with a 1:27.6, shading the Jackson De Tomaso by one tenth of a second.
Race 2
On a still damp but drying track the spectators were treated to some fantastic racing on the Sunday morning. Given the conditions the race was shortened to six laps to fit other categories in during the day. The dampness again played into the hands of the mid and rear engined powerhouses, Jackson again taking the start, with Verwoert into second and Jones third in the Porsches. Michael Byrne also flew off the line, harrying the front runners initially before finally finishing 7th in the Lotus, with second fastest race lap (1:29.7). The Ian Ross Shelby seemed to have trouble with getting off the line but was back in contention when Verwoert retired on the 4th lap. He and Paul Sabine, now in the groove, rose back through the field, Sabine eventually taking charge in pursuit of Jackson. The yellow Pantera seemed to be fading under brakes, but could hold the others through superior traction out of the damp-in-places corners. These three pulled a gap of around 10 seconds on the field (Graeme Hooper’s Corvette in 4th) and were separated by only 1.5 seconds at the line, Jackson clinging to victory, Sabine second with fastest lap 1:29.1, a second and a half clear of Jackson, with Ian Ross third. Mike Jones finished a creditable 6th in his sweet sounding Datsun 240Z, providing some Eastern influence in the predominately European contest. Further downfield, John Ashby in his 911, Don McKay in another 240Z and the Pike MGB had a fantastically close race with only eight tenths of a second separating them at the finish. With 2 wins in 2 races the setup work on Ross Jackson’s yellow brute throughout the year was beginning to tell.
Race 3
The final 10 lapper on Sunday afternoon was run on a dry circuit, and the distance had the rapid Porsche drivers anticipating a race that would come to them as the race wore on. Out at turn 1, the boys in the brutish V8’s were on the middle pedal from around 215-250 metres out, the Porsches (and other smaller-engined cars) waiting until well beyond the 200m marker. Roger Ealand, master of tight circuits in his mighty Sb Marcos GT, did not start in this last event, leaving the fight for small capacity to the Byrne Lotus. After another rapid fire start, Byrne retired on lap one, pulling to the side of the circuit. The usual Jackson-Sabine-Ross train at the front continued, this time with Paul slotting the Corvette past Jackson in the first complex of turns and pulling out a steady gap. The De Tomaso was suffering from gearbox issues, finding a “box full of neutrals” at the end of the straights. The attention then turned more to the minor places, with the Porsches inevitably wearing down the big cars. Cameron Sabine put up a good fight, spinning off under pressure when in 6th, then recovering back towards the top ten before sliding off for good as he struggled to pass Mark Johnson’s Porsche into the first turn. In the later stages, Tony Jones had his Carrera flying, slicing past Verwoert and the Hooper Corvette as they lapped the Batchelor BMW, before bearing down on the hitherto unchallenged top 3. He missed a podium by just under a second, but made fastest lap in 1:27.0, almost a second quicker than Paul Sabine. While the Jackson Pantera was up front, mention should be made of Colin Fulton in his blue Sc De Tomaso. By the end of the weekend he was lapping over a second faster than he had qualified, on his way to 8th place in the final race. With 2 victories and a 2 nd place, the weekend belonged to Ross Jackson, butthe quality of racing and the standard of driving ensured a competitive weekend for all.