Above: Phil Verwoert races clear in his Porsche RS Carrera at Sandown Racecourse on Saturday. By Glen Atwell
ON Saturday, just one week before the Sandown Classic races into action, horsepower replaced horseflesh at the Sandown Racecourse.
The Victorian Historic Racing Register (VHRR) held its 10th annual Historic Sandown meeting, and record crowds turned out to hear the grunt of some serious racing machines.
The return of the Formula 5000s to the event attracted a record Saturday crowd, according to VHRR president Ian Tate.
“Saturday was enormous, definitely a record crowd. The weather was great and the people turned out,” he said.
“Sunday was a bit different. The weather wasn’t the best, but the crowd was still good.”
The 300-member VHRR club puts on the $300,000 event, much to the delight of historic race lovers, every year.
“For the size of our club, the events we do are enormous, our sponsors are amazing,” Tate said.
The VHRR is supported by the VACC, Shannons and Tattersall’s, sponsors that make the event possible.
Tate raced a 1948 Talbot Lago, a $1 million 1948 Formula 1 grand prix car, on the weekend.
“It gets up to about 130 miles per hour,” he said.
That’s over 200km/h.
“But it takes almost the entire length of the straight to stretch out,” Tate said.
