Fast masters light up Eastern Creek

Looking down on the pit lane from the roof of Eastern Creek's business and pit centre, you could've sworn you were back in 1976 or '86. Except that Eastern Creek Raceway didn't exist back then.

The Touring Car Masters series is a sort of automotive answer to getting the band back together – a nostalgia trip, particularly for those of a certain age who rejoiced in the roar of the Australian Touring Car championship before it disappeared into the branding tunnel to emerge as V8 Supercars.

No shortage of familiar names here, sprayed in matching cursive font on the sill above the door of each car. Jim Richards in his '64 Falcon Sprint. John Bowe in his '69 Mustang Trans Am. Gary Wilmington and Peter Janson in their Jag XJS. Glenn Seton was there at the wheel of an XB coupe dating back to some time before his voice broke. Alan Moffatt was set to turn up for the main race on Sunday. Dick Johnson couldn't make it.

Since its inception in 2007, the series has been like a roll-call of, well, past masters: Kevin Bartlett, Colin Bond, Murray Carter, Neil Crompton, Harry Firth, John French, Wayne Gardner, Leo Geoghegan, Alan Grice, John Harvey, the Bobs Holden, Jane and Morris, David Parsons, Steven Richards and Barry Seton.

The same goes for the cars, with no shortage of Monaros, GTHOs and Chargers, although it's taken until this year for the conspicuous SLR 5000-shaped hole to find an occupant in the form of Tony Edwards' immaculate example of the breed.

Now the most popular support act for the V8Supercars, the TCM came out of CAMS's old Group N Historic Touring Car series. Open to cars made between 1963 and 1976, it gives teams more modification leeway than its predecessor, reflecting the safety and reliability improvements cars have seen since these specimens dominated the roads and tracks of the 'Sixties and 'Seventies. To the benefit of drivers and spectators alike, they're allowed upgrades such as disc brakes, radial tyres and dry-sump engines.

For 2011, the organisers rejigged the three-way classification structure from Groups to a Class division more accurately reflecting the era that inspired it. The field remains divided into three, but they've made the spread fairer, most notably by narrowing the eligibility criteria in the middle. The new Class A runs engines of up to 3500cc; Class B from 3501cc to 5100cc with the big-kahuna Class C covering 5101cc to 6000cc. Class A covers Aussie and American muscle; Class B was like the air-cooled RS division of Club 911.

Organisers impose minimum racing weights, rev ceilings and driver seedings to maintain performance parity within each class.

Prior to this year, the series ran in three Group classifications. Group 1 covered the big end – all vehicles with engines displacing over 5100cc, although organisers made occasional exceptions for vehicles like Richards's Falcon Sprint and Tony Edwards's Holden SLR 5000. Both have engines below the 5.1-litre threshold, but they hunted better with the top pack than the midsize Group 2. The latter covered engine capacity between 2.0 and 5.1 litres. Group 3 covered engines of up to 2.0 litres.

Round 4 on the Father's Day weekend was the fastest the series has seen at Eastern Creek, with John Bowe putting in a new lap record of 1:42.0978 in Race 1, with Andrew Miedecke and Jim Richards also limboing in under existing record time.

Bowe came into this mid-series round on top of the table in his '69 Mustang, ahead of Miedecke in his 1970 Camaro SS and Jim Richards in the Falcon Sprint. By meet's end, Miedecke had elbowed Bowe into second spot.

The three-race round saw plenty of good wholesome damage and safety-car action. Tony Edwards' SLR was out in Race 1 with a broken diff, care of a rear-ending from Bill Pye's Camaro going into turn one. Seton's XB coupe and Brad Tilley's XY GT rubbed shoulders neck-and-necking it at full tilt down the straight. Rory O'Neill ('73 911 RS) came out the worse from a three-way jostle going up to Corporate Hill. Gary Treloar lost his Charger into the sand on turn four in the last lap. A gallant Bernie Stack (another '73 911 RS) elbowed his way through 13 places in just ten laps from the back of the grid to finish fifteenth. Bowe took the race out, with Miedecke second and Richards third.

A reverse grid start in Race 2 saw Treloar out early again after going into turn two sandwiched between Seton and Gary O'Brien ('72 HQ SS). There was loads of action up front, meanwhile, with Eddie Abelnica ('74 XB coupe), Steve Mason ('69 Camaro) and Richards mixing it with Miedecke and Bowe. In the end it was Bowe again, with Miedecke second and Cameron Tilley ('69 Boss Mustang) keeping Richards at bay for third.

Race 3 saw a change in Bowe's fortunes, out at the start for a battery swap before returning at the back of the pack. Cameron Tilley jumped the gun, failed to notice the black flag, kept racing and was disqualified from the entire round for his trouble. Bowe put in a brave catch-up performance but it wasn't enough. This time Miedecke took it, with Seton second and Richards third.

With corrected points it was Miedecke who took out the Eastern Creek round in his class and overall. Class B honours went to Gary O'Brien, Class A to Amanda Sparks in her '73 911 RS.

The meet left Miedecke at the top of the table (813 points), followed by Bowe (787) and Richards (786).

Round 5 of the Touring Car Masters takes place at Mt Panorama on Bathurst 1000 weekend, October 6-9.

Read a full run down and review on the Touring Car Masters