Went To Phillip Island Today.

[shepo]

Hi all,

As the title says, i was at the island today for the historics. What an awesome day! The weather was a bit iffy, but the entertainment was great.

I always love wondering through the pits at these events because everything is so open and you get right up close to some awesome machinery. I got to see up close three Formula 1 cars from the early - mid 80's, there was the "Beatrice" Lola, the Ferrari from 1985 (i think) and an old Benetton. Also saw the Sauber Mercedes LeMans car, the car that still to this day holds the top speed record at LeMans (410kp/h down the Mulsane straight)

But for me the highlight of the day was, as i was wondering down pit lane, i reached the garages right down the end. I could hear a car warming up in the garage, I thought "thats a familiar sounding engine note..." and sure enough i stick my head in the door and there it was. The bathurst winning "godzilla". The Winfeild R32 GTR Skyline. Now we all had a hero when we were a child right? Well for me, my hero was this exact car! (sad i know) I went into the garage while the car was running, it was music to my ears, every little rev sounded nicer and nicer. I must have spent ages in that garage just standing, staring, in awe of this amazing beast. When i finally left the garage i saw the cherry on the top of the cake. An R35 GTR was parked out the front, this is the first one i have actually been able to get close to. I WAS IN HEAVEN!!!

All in all, it was a great day out, i certanly didnt think when i woke up this morning that i would get to meet my hero! (as sad as that sounds...)

Now some pics, i hope you enjoy...

cheers,

Matty.

[ashneel]

nice

any pics???

[shepo]

sorry bout that that, clicked the wrong button before i had finnished...

[Do-Luck]

What sort of laptimes did the old F1's do? Or wasn't it a timed event?

[willL]

awsome stuff mate, any action shots of the Gibson Racing 32 on the track?

[madbung]

Very nice, thanks for sharing.

[Let Me Drive]

i was there also , it was a great day.

they did not run the r32 in any race cos it still does not meet the list of what is called a historic race car yet,

they ran the r31 gtsr which was awsome and showed the holdens and ford what a rb20 can do. LOL

[shepo]

not sure what time the F1's were doing but i think it might have high 1min 30's, but yeah cant be sure.

the gibson gtr just did a few parade laps with the R35, but unfortunatley i didnt have the camera on me at that time, he was only tootling anyway...

[Black Widow]

shepo,

you have no idea how much i hate you right now!

I shall fill your work email with spam!!! MWAHAHAHAHA

Seriously tho that Winfield GTR is p0rn...and being a bathurst boy...has very high sentimental value

Edited March 16, 2009 by Black Widow

[phunky_monkey]

I'm dark that I didn't go on the weekend, first historics I've missed for a little while. The weather just looked too iffy and I was being lazy, but I regret it now!

[archie01]

Thanks for the pics.

Some tuff cars.

F1's would have sounded awesome too

[Phatboy]

Wow that's awesome. Nice pics.

Seriously I'd be scared stiff to be the driver of any of these irreplaceable cars belting it around a track with other equally irreplaceable cars.

[shepo]

its just great that all the drivers piloting these cars have a great deal of respect for both each other and the machines they are racing.

and archie, those old F1s sounded amazing! i reckon its hard to beat the noise that those small capacity turbocharged v8's make.

[_Ryan_]

so how do i find out about the next one?

[shepo]

this event is held every year, its usually a week or 2 before the GP, there is one at winton at the end of may and one at sandown in november i think, but usually phillip island has the best selection of cars.

you want to check out www.vhrr.com for all the details.

[femno]

WOW...really jealous you saw the Winfield GTR Matt! Been wanting to see that car in the flesh for a while now..

I was planning to go down but we didnt...kinda wishing we shouldve...oh well next year!

Cheers for sharing!

[BBGTR]

and archie, those old F1s sounded amazing! i reckon its hard to beat the noise that those small capacity turbocharged v8's make.

Ba Bow - I think they are 1.5 Litre 4's and V6's from memory, and in qualifying trim I believe they used to belt out around 1,500 horsepower. Nothing like 4 bar of boost to get the blood pumping.

I was down there on Sunday. It was freezing and windy, but we go every year so wasn't going to miss it.

Was in the Winfield R32 pits for ages looking at how they dealt with the tremendous heat load those things would have had to deal with over 1,000 k's of bathurst.

Had the mental notepad going overtime.

A great weekend and a must see for any motorhead.