56 :OLD BIKE AUSTRALASIA
TRACKS IN TIMEWINTON
On the race weekend, the
temperature soared, reaching 37
degrees on the Sunday, and the
spectators stayed away in droves,
despite an excellent entry with riders
eyeing the substantial prize money on
offer. The title races began with the
125cc GP, which was a closely-fought
contest between Peter Galvin, Andrew
Palmer and Trevor Manley. Having just
snatched the lead the slippery track
claimed Palmer, leaving Galvin’s single
cylinder Honda to take the flag from
Manley’s MBA twin and Peter
McFayden’s Honda. Run over 30 laps, the
250cc GP brought together veteran Jeff
Sayle, Donnie Osborne, and HamishMcNicol and Martin Renfrey – the last
two aboard ex-works RS250 Hondas
previously raced by Kork Ballington in
USA. After a race-long battle, Sayle took
the win by centimetres from Renfrey
with McNicol third. 27 outfits faced the
starter for the Sidecar GP, another 30-
lapper, and after an early scrap between
Gavin Porteous, Andre Bosman and
Doug Chivas, but after a string of
retirements, Porteous was left with a
handy lead. However the heat and
leaking fuel soon pushed Porteous to the
point of near collapse, and his big lead
evaporated with Barry Ditchburn through
to the front, then just metres from the
line, losing second place to the West
Australian team of Hibbert/Allain. That
left the premier 1000cc GP, with Kevin
Magee on the Marlboro Team Yamaha
missing some skin after a practice crash.
Pole-sitter Robbie Phillis led from the
start and after a brief battle with
Malcolm Campbell, held the lead until
displaced by Magee, who was
seemingly unaffected by the stifling
heat and set the fastest lap of the
meeting at 1.01.7 on his way to a clear
win over Phillis with Campbell third
ahead of Sean Gallagher.Winton remained substantially
unchanged until 1995, when the BAC
undertook a $500,000 upgrade, with a
new surface and some sections of the
circuit widened. Two years later, a major
redevelopment took place with a new
loop adding almost one kilometre to the
lap, taking it to 3.0km (although the
original circuit could still be used), and
the entire track resurfaced. For the new
layout, which turned left at the end of
the back straight prior to what had
always been known as The Esses, the
start/finish area was moved, and pit
buildings gradually erected. The new
circuit is known as the Winton national
Circuit while the original layout is called
the Winton Club Circuit. In June 2005, an
arsonist set fire to the old race control
tower that had stood since the early
days, destroying the structure.
After some years away, the Australian
Superbike Championship is once again a
regular fixture at Winton, and the circuit
is heavily booked on most weekends of
the year for a wide variety of motor
sports, vehicle testing and corporate
functions. And in terms of Historic
Racing, it seems the track has many
more episodes in store. TOP LEFT At the peak of
his form in 1977, Gregg
Hansford plays on the
TKA H2R Kawasaki.
Photo: Sue Scaysbrook
TOP RIGHT Winner of the
1978 Tom Phillis Memorial
Trophy, Bob Rosenthal on
the Team Milledge TZ750
Yamaha.
ABOVE The Honda team at
Winton in 1980. L-R: Mick
Cole, Dennis Neill, Roger
Heyes and Alan Decker.
BELOW Start of the 1985
Denso 500 Production
Race. Winner Kevin Magee
(7), second placed Len
Willing (4) and third
finisher Robbie Phillis (32).