2006
Festival of Speed on Tweed report
15
to 17 September 2006, Murwillunbah, NSW (Event
photos to follow)
The 2006 Festival
of Speed on Tweed featured a celebration of Australia’s “Great
Race” – Bathurst. It sadly became a celebration of the
life of nine-time Bathurst winner Peter Brock who was to be the draw
card to this year’s
festival, but was tragically killed in a rally accident a week earlier
in Western Australia.
Some 200 rare and desirable cars
were selected from a large subscription to take to the 1.4km hilly
street circuit, which commences from the Murwillumbah Showgrounds
to its finish at the top of Main St in the northern rivers region
of New South Wales.
The festival raises funds for
local charities through the Rotary Club of Murwillumbah. Since the
events’ inception in 2001, Speed on Tweed has raised over $100,000
for the local community.
The event Patron for 2006 was
1983 Le Mans 24-hour winner, Australian Vern Schuppan. There were
so many Bathurst legends taking part with Vern in the festivities
including, Harry Firth, Fred Gibson, Kevin Bartlett, Bob Holden, John
Go
ss,
Jim Richards and John Bowe. They were joined by a huge number of other
Australian motor racing legends – Ron Touranac, Bob Brittain,
Denis Gehry and Murray Carter.
As a tribute to Peter Brock the
organisers (lead by Roger Ealand, Cath Donaldson & Noela Miller)
organised a large gathering of Brocky’s racing and rally cars
to converge on the Tweed. Brock was to drive the Austin A30 (a replica
of the one he built many years ago), which was there. Bathurst winning
Torana GTR XU-1, Torana A9X, three Commodores, two ‘Godzilla’
Skyline’s and the Bathurst 24-hour winning 7-litre Monaro. GM
Holden Marketing department not only allowed the 1979 Repco Round
Australia Rally winner out of the garage (including the dirt and dust
collected during the rally), but for the first time allowed it to
be driven in the lunch time parades on Saturday and Sunday.
Track action commenced on Saturday
morning with varying weather conditions throughout. Competing cars
ranged from 1920’s Amilcar C5 & Delage Hispano Suiza to
a brace of Mini Coope
r
S’ & Ford Mustangs. Current V8 Supercar driver and former
open-wheeler and sports-racing car driver John Bowe competed for the
second year in Andrew Fellowes Rondel Brabham BT36 (ex Tim Schenken)
and also showed what the faster ever Australian-built sports-racing
car, the Matich SR4 is capable of. The Matich was one of two at the
event (the other, Keith Berryman’s SR3) and houses an incredibly
powerful 5 litre Repco V8 engine, which sits at the rear of a light-weight
chassis.
Social festivities were held on
both Friday and Saturday nights in Main Street Murwillumbah. “Symphony
under the Stars” was the Saturday night fine dining theme. Speed
on Tweed is unique in a number of ways, including the 100 odd local
primary school children who sang in the choir, the Symphony Orchestra
and a Pipe Band all performing to a large crowd under clear skies.
Many restaurants provided the fine dining experience with 
tables
set up on the road, and delivering dinner “under the stars”!
A Robert Toodanai commissioned
oil painting of Peter Brock was raffled on the weekend with proceeds
benefiting the Peter Brock Foundation and many local charities. The
raffle was drawn by Peter Champion and Sandy Williams, both representing
the Brock family at the event.
A staggering time of 41.78 seconds
achieved Outright Fastest time of the weekend by Ty Hanger driving
his March 73B F. Atlantic, a time which was nearly two seconds faster
then John Bowe in the Brabham!
Not
as quick, but certainly eye catching (if you blink you wouldn’t
miss it!) was Phil Ross of Shannons Queensland driving the company’s
Goggomobile Dart. With recent upgrades & increased pedal power
Phil recorded a spectacular time of 74.75 seconds – Wow!
The Jon Chppindall Memorial Trophy,
presented to the driver who best captures the spirit of historic racing,
was awarded to Alec Lowe and Lance Collins who regularly compete at
the event in their Citroen Light 15. During Saturday’s damp
condition Alec spun the Citroen and backed it into the wall at turn
one (right in front of our commentary point), but managed to gather
it up and finish the run. They repaired the minor damage and continued
to run for the remainder of the event, and took out the Historic Sedans
1941-1960 class.
The 2007 Festival will be held
on 7-9 September. All enthusiasts are invited to take part in a 7
day Coach Tour organised by www.historicracing.com.au,
which will commence in Sydney on Monday 3 Septemer - Click
here for more details.
