Historic Winton set to draw pre-COVID level crowds

Historic Winton is back for its 46th year and drivers, teams and spectators are ready to descend on Winton Motor Raceway for an entire weekend of historic car and motorcycle racing spanning May 27-28.

Cars and bikes produced between the 1920s and 1980s will take the track in a series of era-specific race events and while the racing is undoubtedly the major drawcard, there’ll plenty more to see and do with myriad static displays, one of Australia’s biggest show‘n’shine events and a pre-event bus tour.

Chief organiser and Austin 7 Club president Len Kerwood said the amount of interest and excitement from competitors and enthusiasts alike was akin to pre-COVID times, with online ticket sales already at an all-time high.

“We seem to be back to ‘normal’ with spectators extremely keen to get their fix of historic motorsport,” he said.

“It’s worth walking around the competition paddock to see the race vehicles and learn of their histories which are pretty impressive.

“The Regularity One event has a 1933 Singer car that won the 1934 Australian Grand Prix and Bob Rosenthal, the highly respected historic motorcycle champion, will be back racing a classic 1962 Norton ESA, to name a couple of examples.”

Hundreds of spectators will camp alongside the venue overnight both before and during the festival, and there will be so much going on around the country Victorian circuit that there’ll be a complimentary bus service.

Displays will include public entries as well as dedicated exhibitions from specialist groups including the Wartime Living History Association and the Military Brotherhood Military Motorcycle Club.

The full Winton Motor Raceway circuit is exactly 3km long and comprises 12 turns in total, whereas the short circuit covers just over 2km and takes in 10 turns.

Lead photo: Ian Smith

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