Club
member Bill Sheehan wrote about the early days on the occasion
of the 10th Historic Winton
It
all started at the beginning.........
With
Historic Winton celebrating its 10th annual
meeting, it was inevitable that many would ask how
it all began. As I seem to be the one given the
credit (or is it the blame?) for starting the whole
thing, here are a few memories.
Firstly,
as very little these days is original, I
must confess to copying the idea from the
Historic Amaroo meeting in Sydney. Prior
to that I had competed in, or had
attended, meetings where vintage and
historic events were just part of a full
race program. They, particularly those
interstate, were most enjoyable - not only
for the chance at competition motoring but
for the camaraderie and social atmosphere
of the "old car set".
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But it was the all-historic car and motorcycle
meeting at Amaroo that was the mind boggler. I saw
an instant need to have similar meetings in every
state, spread evenly over the year.
The
choice of circuit was all important - one where the
spectators could see all of the action and where
close racing could be enjoyed without it being too
easy to hit anything hard, or each other. Winton
seemed the obvious choice, particularly as it was
roughly mid-distant between our racing fraternity
in Sydney and in Adelaide. There was another reason
of course - as I had spent most of my schooldays in
Benalla, could I perhaps be accused of a little
bias? At least I had the background to know that
slotting Historic Winton between the other meetings
and running the event in winter was not necessarily
a great risk. Benalla usually enjoys good weather
at this time of year and so far hasn't often let us
down.
When
I took my "plans" to the Vintage Sports Car Club I
struck them at a bad time - they were running so
many events for members like myself that they
weren't confident of coping with the workload. I
then approached my favourite club, the Austin 7
Club, and persuaded the committee that it was
feasible to outlay something like $9000 of the
members' money and get most of it back! (Funny how
enthusiasm tends to ignore the risks and
pitfalls).
Meantime,
Wes Brown and the Hartwell Motor Cycle Club had
learnt of our plans and were eager to organise the
motorcycle part of the program for us - thank the
Lord! After a few preliminary meetings with
Hartwell we were off and running, Barry Fisher and
I then led the team to "get the show onto the
track". We must record our thanks to Mick Ronke of
the Benalla Auto Club for help and advice, because
though the A7C had run many Six Hour Relay races we
still had a lot to learn.
The
success of the first meeting relied on good entries
and good weather. The entries were more than the
usual worry because of a postal strike, but proved
good - and fortunately Old Sol and the attending
crowd did the right thing by us.
As
we didn't have much to spend on publicity, we
relied mainly on local advertising. Because also we
were short on time and workforce to organise
sponsorships, we organised (mostly free) efforts to
give us publicity. We made life harder for
ourselves by running four extra "events" to gain
attention. One was a parade of competitors and
other (old) cars through the streets of Benalla.
I'm not sure how successful this was as most
vehicles seemed to set off (and disappear) at
100mph! I'm not confident that too many of the
local shoppers saw much at all. Next was a Concours
at the circuit which included trophies and a parade
around the circuit, which seemed to go over well
with all concerned. Another was the
Saturday night dance, with a jazz band made up mainly from
members of the Hartwell Motor Cycle club.
The
piece-de-resistance was a marvellous display of
stunt flying over the circuit by vintage aircraft
(mostly from Drages' Air Museum at Wodonga), and to
them I remain ever grateful for one of my most
unforgettable moments. I suppose I'm grateful for
another reason - it's easy to dream these ideas up,
but they still have to work'
Not
much mention is ever made of the effort required to
put on a race meeting such as this - not only do we
rely so heavily on support from club members but on
those from other clubs. Remember, most support us
voluntarily and those few who do receive expense
money take only token compensation. It should be
pointed out that the $9000 outlay originally
required has risen in 10 years to over $20,000, so
I hope that others are as appreciative as I am of
the work, faith and risk that goes into making
Historic Winton an actuality each year.
Long
may it continue.
And it of course did!!
Big
crowd at the 26th 2002
Event SOME
PAST NOTES on HISTORIC WINTON
Historic Winton Race Report May 2012
Extracts From
Letters and Articles 2002-2008
Have You Been to Historic Winton - 2004
Historic Winton in the Merry Month of May 2002
From Behind the Wheel at Historic Winton 2002
RECENT HISTORY of WINTON MOTOR RACEWAY
Historic Winton has always been run at Winton Motor Raceway,
which for most of its life was controlled by the late Mick
Ronke, who died in 2013.
Mick was admired by the local motor racing fraternity
for his dedication to the development of
all aspects of motor sport, from grassroots to the highest
level. He spent a lifetime in the continued development of his
Winton Motor Raceway, turning the picturesque
country circuit into a top class venue for all forms of
motor racing.
His dedication to a continual upgrade and
improvement to the Winton venue for all types of competition was
well recognised. Mick
gave motor sport participants a venue which was
affordable, safe and enjoyable, including the 1997 extension
of the track from 2.03km to 3km, turning the original short
circuit into what he described as the best regional
motor race circuit in Australia.
Mick was proud of WMR's long history and always strived to
stay ahead of rapidly changing and challenging times. In
2013 there was a new 15,000 sqm display area on the old
Winton oval - a final initiative before his untimely death.
HISTORIC WINTON DATES
1st
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1977
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25th-26th
June
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13th
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1989
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27th-28th
May
|
25th
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2001
|
26th-27th
May
|
2nd
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1978
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3rd-4th
June
|
14th
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1990
|
26th-27th
May
|
26th
|
2002
|
25th-26th
May
|
3rd
|
1979
|
2nd-3rd
June
|
15th
|
1991
|
25th-26th
May
|
27th
|
2003
|
31st
May-1st June
|
4th
|
1980
|
31st
May-1st June
|
16th
|
1992
|
30th-31st
May
|
28th
|
2004
|
29th-30th
May
|
5th
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1981
|
30th-31st
May
|
17th
|
1993
|
29th-30th
May
|
29th
|
2005
|
28th-29th
May
|
6th
|
1982
|
29th-30th
May
|
18th
|
1994
|
28th-29th
May
|
30th
|
2006
|
27th-28th
May
|
7th
|
1983
|
28th-29th
May
|
19th
|
1995
|
27th-28th
May
|
31st
|
2007
|
26th-27th
May
|
8th
|
1984
|
26th-27th
May
|
20th
|
1996
|
25th-26th
May
|
32nd
|
2008
|
24th-25th
May
|
9th
|
1985
|
25th-26th
May
|
21st
|
1997
|
24th-25th
May
|
33rd
|
2009
|
30th-31st
May
|
10th
|
1986
|
24th-25th
May
|
22nd
|
1998
|
30th-31st
May
|
34th
|
2010
|
29th-30th
May
|
11th
|
1987
|
23rd-24th
May
|
23rd
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1999
|
29th-30th
May
|
35th
|
2011
|
28th-29th
May
|
12th
|
1988
|
21st-22nd
May
|
24th
|
2000
|
27th-28th
May
|
36th
|
2012
|
26th-27th
May
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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37th
|
2013
|
25th-26th
May
|
|
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38th
|
2014
|
24th-25th
May
|
21st
|
1997
|
24th-25th
May
|
33rd
|
2009
|
30th-31st
May
|
39th
|
2015
|
30th-31st
May
|
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40th
|
2016
|
28th-29th
May
|
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41st
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2017
|
27th-28th
May
|
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42th
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2018
|
26th-27th
May
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43rd
|
2019
|
25th-26th
May
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