THE Historic Sport and Race Car Association (HSRCA) 2023 Sydney Classic was held at Sydney Motorsport Park (SMSP) over the King’s Birthday long weekend, with a private practice session on Friday 9th, followed by two days of racing on both the 10th and 11th of June.
The meeting offered races for all of the Association’s usual fifth category vehicles, as well as speed events for vehicles manufactured up to the 1990s, plus invited cars deemed compatible with those groups. In particular, HSRCA were honoured to host Heritage Touring Cars’ inaugural combined grid, featuring 2.0L Super Tourers and Early 5.0-Litre V8s, along with a special Group N endurance race on Sunday.
“We were blessed with a picture-perfect winter weekend, which turned out to be a rather relaxed affair at Sydney’s iconic SMSP,” said Seth Reinhardt, Web, HSRCA.
“A lighter entry list than anticipated did little to dampen the mood or impede the racing, which was excellent throughout the weekend in near-perfect conditions. The atmosphere throughout the pits and paddock was supremely relaxed, social and friendly, which made for a great weekend and good vibes all ‘round. As usual, private practice was hosted by the circuit and ARDC on Friday, giving competitors an opportunity to get settled in and put the final touches on the cars ahead of a big weekend of motorsport.”
Classes racing on the weekend were Regularity; L,M, O Sports & Racing & Fvee; Q&R Sports & Racing & Invited; Group S; Sports Sedans & Supersprint; Formula Ford; Groups C & A & Invited; Group N & Invited.
“The Multiple Sclerosis (MS) hot laps were another highlight for many,” said Seth. “Organised by Dave Williamson, these hot laps provide people suffering from MS an opportunity for passenger laps in race cars at speed. Thanks to everyone involved in getting this idea up and running, in particular Kumaresh Siva, whose idea it was to get these wonderful people into a race car for some hot laps. We hope to continue the event, and will look for more opportunities to improve and expand it.
“As always, we’d like to extend a massive thank you to all of the competitors, family and friends who joined us over the weekend with their beautifully-prepared machinery and good company. The quieter weekend made for a very social event, and we were pleased to spend time with everyone following the long break after the 2022 Summer Festival.
“Most importantly, it takes a huge amount of work from many people to make an event like the Sydney Classic possible and we would like to send our thanks to the many volunteers and supporters who put this meeting on. We’d be going nowhere fast without you and are greatly appreciative of all that you do.
“We’ll be back at SMSP for the Summer Festival over November 24 to 26 and look forward to seeing you there. Thank you from Noel, Robyn, Rod, Wayne, and the HSRCA committee for your support of the 2023 HSRCA Sydney Classic.”
