Mount Buller Sprint leads off big month

There's a real horsepower race happening in Melbourne next week, but if you want to see unreal horsepower in action, head for Mount Buller. This weekend, Melbourne's winter playground plays host to the annual Mount Buller Sprint -- part hillclimb, part tarmac rally special stage.

2008 marks the fifth running of the event and the organisers are expecting a large field spanning decades of automotive history and the full spectrum of sporting machines -- everything from old and bold V8s to the latest all-wheel drive turbo terrors, with a sprinkling of Porsches and Lotuses thrown in also.

Touring car veteran Jim Richards and TV celeb Glenn Ridge are both competing in the event, which runs 16km from the base of the mountain to the peak. Mount Buller is less than three hours' drive from Melbourne and spectators can view the action from vantage points up the mountain.

The following weekend, the Victorian Automotive Chamber of Commerce (VACC) will be running 'Historic Sandown'. This year, the event will focus on Holden's 60th anniversary. Among the names associated with Holden's motor racing history attending the event are Bruce McPhee (winner of the 1968 Bathurst 500 as it was, driving a 327CID HK Monaro), Bob Watson and Harry Firth -- the first to accept the invitation to take part, despite being a nonagenarian.

The event's organisers have arranged for a number of special competition Holdens to be on display, including Norm Beechey's EH S4 and the 48-215 model that Peter Brock drove at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2006 -- shortly before his death in WA. While the event concentrates on the Holden brand this year, there'll be plenty of cars from rival marques at the event also.

The VACC is also behind the 'Cavalcade to the Vines', a rolling display of historic cars which, this year, celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Nissan Datsun Sports Owners Club.

Participants for this event will gather outside the VACC's headquarters at 464 St Kilda Road, Melbourne on November 23. From there, the vehicles will set off for the Morning Star Estate at Mt Eliza, on the Mornington Peninsula. Music for the event will be provided by the Jack Morris Big Band and Frankston RSL Pipes and Drums Band. Donations will go to the charity, Retina Australia. Entry details can be found here.

Late in the month (November 28-29), the Historic Sports and Racing Car Association will run the Tasman Revival at Sydney's Eastern Creek raceway. To date, the organisers have registered over 400 entries for the event, which pays homage to the Tasman racing series from the 1960s. Cars, including 20 Formula 5000 cars, are coming from as far afield as Britain, Japan and the USA.

Among the cars attending are a Ferrari Dino V6, a BRM P126 V12, a Brabham BT4, a McLaren M4A (F5000) and a Lotus 35. Japanese participant Hideo Yoshikawa is bringing a Brabham BT21 and his countrymen are fronting up with two Lotuses and four Formula Fords.

Although the spotlight is shining on the open-wheel race cars for this event, there will also be sports cars and tourers taking part.

To comment on this article click here