Desert boots and moccasinsG
reat discourse in AMC #109 on the GTS
350 Monaro, its race history, and Colin
Bond’s involvement.
What caught my eye were the driving shoes
on the winners in the main shot in the ‘The
Sweetest Victory’ story. It looks like Bondy was
shod with Desert Boots and Tony Roberts with
moccasins. Both pairs worn down to the wire!
On Harry Firth, his achievements in the eld of
motorsport speak for themselves, but his teacher-
student approach must have been wearing to
those around him. The contrast with the likes of
Carroll Smith could not have been more stark.
Alan Hamilton commented upon his obligations
as co-driver to Bond at Bathurst in 1977 that
Smith did not instruct him on how to drive the
car, and he appreciated that recognition.
Eric Waples
Albion Park, NSWRace track dunniesI
n issue #109, in the Muscle Maniac section,
Ron Gillard gave his memories of the dangers
of the Hume Weir toilets with their trackside
position and possible snakes. I can con rm
that old racing cars were not the only danger at
the early circuits, the toilets were too!
Back in the late fties, Lowood, the
Queensland airstrip track had similar ‘facilities’.
Hessian wrapped round bush poles and a rough
old seat was all you could hope for.
As I sat there early one crisp morning,
various cars could be identi ed by sound as
they practiced at maximum revs on the nearby
straight. I could identify Bill Pitt’s Jaguar D-Type
humming along, Arnold Glass’s 250F Maserati,
the king of all noise makers.
But what’s this? An unfamiliar sound got
rapidly louder and closer. What car could it be?
Louder and closer, sounded like it was going to
come right through the hessian wall! Had some
racing car jumped the wire fence and was about
to mow me down?
Should I escape with a high-speed shuffle,
trousers round my ankles, or take the time to
remove them and sprint out in the nuddy? Or
should I sit there and take it like a man.
These thoughts raced through my mind as thesound rose to a thunderous roar and a shadow
ashed across a couple of metres above my
head. It was a local pilot amusing himself by
buzzing the track and also seeing if there was
anybody in the open-air toilet who needed a
wakeup call.
My immediate reaction can be imagined, but
I was already well placed on the toilet, so no
problem there.
Somehow, the rest of the day seemed a bit
unexciting.
Rob Switzer
EmailWeir’s water trapsT
hought that I should send you this photo
taken at Hume Weir from 1973. I was
always impressed with their very innovative
use of ‘water traps’ instead of sand/gravel
traps. Can’t quite understand why they never
caught on as they obviously worked okay...
I photographed several meetings at The Weir
over the next three years but never with a press
pass. Even saw Brocky in his open-wheeler.
Raced my little 808 Mazda (1300cc) once
there in 1976, but I won’t bore you with that photo
as it was not exactly a Muscle Car of the era.
Russell Martin
EmailVale Kerry ButchersO
ur club, the New South Wales Road
Racing Club, has lost a life member and
long serving president, Kerry Butchers OAM.
Many of your readership will know the
NSWRRC were the stewards of the now defunct
Oran Park Raceway in south west Sydney and
will remember Kerry as a tireless worker and
competitor at this venue for some 43 years.
He was aged just 70 and his life was
celebrated in Picton in May. Incidentally he
passed away on 1 May, the 25 anniversary of
Senna’s death.
During his years as president, Kerry
presented many, many trophies and got no
greater pleasure. His is a motorsport family; two
daughters became active competitors and one is
now our acting club president.
With the loss of a home track at Oran Park,
many members became disinterested or simply
left motorsport all together. However, he and a
dedicated few worked hard to secure the future
of the NSWRRC, an outstanding legacy that (in
part) earned him an OAM.
Kerry was well known throughout the Sydney
motorsport fraternity. He was totally immersed
and undeniably dedicated to the welfare of all
those competing at the track. He was chief
scrutineer at countless events right up until
recently. It’s now more than ever we realise how
very lucky we were to have Kerry Butchers.
He will be sorely missed.
Kindest regards
Alex Tickle
NSWRRC SecretarySykes for sore eyesJ
ust a correction from issue #109’s Muscle
Mail. The ARDC used a photo of my 1975
Bathurst car on their promotional T-shirt and
the sponsor shown on the T-shirt, Sykes, were
Western Australia’s biggest dewatering and
pump hire company, not a trucking company as
suggested in the ED’s reply.
Tim Slako
West Racing Motor Development
Email