2021 Historic Winton
Report by Colin Rosewarne –Â Photos by RbMotoLens – Rob Mott
The weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of May saw the 44th running of the Austin 7 Car Club’s 4×2 Historic Meeting at Victoria’s Winton Raceway.
Unlike previous years where the venue swam in torrential rain on Saturday afternoons, the skies stayed a crisp California blue and setting stage was set for a couple of days of magic two and three-wheeled racing.
Centre stage had to be given to Horner’s Irving Vincent garage with a pair of stunning Period 4 and Period 5 (Unlimited class) three wheelers up for a spin.
Husband and wife duo Cameron Donald and Kaz Anderson (#86) put in a commanding appearance on the P4 winning all their events convincingly.
Although not as successful as the P4, father and son duo Barry and Michael Horner (#888) gave the P5 outfit a great post-Covid19 trophy winning airing much to the delight of the large appreciative crowds present on both days.
Commendable three-wheeled performances over the weekend saw Period 3 successes for the Garth Francis / Kenny #97 Norton and the Peter Large / Heywood (in 650 cc) #87 Triumph, both giving the later model period ‘fat wheelers’ some genuine irreverent curry.
Rounding off the silverware for the three-wheelers, the Period 4 (836cc) gong was won by the green machine of Geoff Grant/ James Large on their #30 smokin’ H2 750 Kawasaki.
The Period 3 (500) two-wheelers were handsomely represented with a great field of true classics, led by a pair of single-cylinder Godet Vincent Comets.
This saw Cameron Donald (#86) having a red-hot shot against the established 500 single-cylinder racing mafia of Bob Rosenthal (#41 Geoff Clatworthy ES2 Norton), Keith Campbell (#3 George Campbell prepared ESO) and Garth Francis (#97 also riding a Francis ESO.)
Sadly though, an early valve failure saw Campbell withdraw, taking no further part in the weekend’s racing.
The Period 3 (500) racing was the undisputed highlight of the weekend with Donald, Rosenthal and Francis swapping positions with some good, close, hard, racing and the younger statesman Cam Donald eventually taking home the silverware on a countback.
The Hand Shifter brigade, Periods 3, 4 and 5 all had a multitude of classes competing with some really high-quality racing performances across the board.
This ranged from the century old, 998cc Altoona Indians of Stan Mucha (#112) and Peter Birthisel (#111) tearing up the track with some gear box crushing performances.
Through to the modern Period 5 (Unlimited) Harris Suzuki 1200 of Roger Gunn (#107).
The Winton 4×2 is a wonderful event and a must see on your racing calendar. Highly recommended.
