2012 Ballarat Festival of Motoring
Looking back on the 2012 Ballarat
Festival of Motoring -August 25th to
September 2nd:
Many thanks to those responsible for enabling the 2012
event to take place including local government and agencies -
Ballarat City Council and Ballarat Regional Tourism; sponsors - The
Ballarat Courier, VACC, Mr. BRAKES, COATES Hire, REPCO, COPPENS
Signs, MERCEDES BENZ Ballarat, the Ballarat Foundation, McLAREN
Cars, COOL Drive, GRIFF's American Auto Parts & Restorations,
George Langley's Sound Systems and R&J Batteries; those key
facilities that we enjoyed - Ballarat Airport, the Mining Exchange,
OSCARS, the Ballaarat Club and the Ballarat Aero Club; those
community service and car clubs that provided volunteers - ROTARY
(Wendouree, Ballarat East and Wendouree Breakfast),
Vintage & Classic Car Club - Ballarat, Sporting Motorists
Association, Ballarat Light Car Club, Ballarat Early Holden Car
Club; Confederation of Australian Motor Sport(CAMS); those members
of the Event Steering Committee and Event Organisation (as recorded
in the Official Program and at the end of this document) and all of
the competitors and participants that made the event the success
that it was.
We also thank the Ballarat COURIER, Ian Wilson
Photography, Elgee Words & Pictures (Gary Hill), John Hartigan,
Noel Trengove and Russell Jackson for the use of their photographs
including those on the website.
We acknowledge the contributions made by Paul Faulkner
(1979 WILLIAMS FW07 - Motor Show and track demonstrations), Nigel
Tate and David Jones from REPCO Australia (facilitating the
involvement of the REPCO BRABHAM BT19 - Motor Show and Display);
Nick from McLaren Cars Australia (2012 McLAREN MP4-12C - track
demonstrations); and Richard Emery from Mercedes Benz Australia
(2012 Mercedes Benz AMG SLS Gullwing - Motor Show and track
demonstrations).
The combined objectives of those involved with the conduct
of the event were to deliver an enjoyable celebration of Ballarat's
motoring heritage culminating in a Father's Day based occasion - in
line with offering a range of static and dynamic events aimed at
enthusiasts with an interest in historic motoring
including:
1. August
25- The Enthusiasts Drive
from Buninyong to the City for Ballarat for VIP's, the media and
enthusiasts that involved some 40 vehicles. Participants
included Cr Samantha McIntosh (City of Ballarat -
Portfolio for Destination and Connections),
Cr John Philips (CoB - Portfolio for People and Communities)
and Justin Gilbert (Ballarat Regional Tourism Board member). The
event concluded at the Wendouree REPCO retail outlet where the staff there treated participants to a BBQ
before MC John Emery and David Jones (REPCO Australia's Project
Manager) ably assisted by councilors McIntosh and Phillips
conducted a free lucky ticket draw for a number of winners who
thanks to REPCO took home a variety of exceptional gifts including
high pressure car washing equipment, toolkits and car care
products.
2. August 29 to September
1 - The Motor Show and Model Expo at the
historic Mining Exchange in the heart of the city. This event was
launched on the 29thby Stuart Benjamin - Chair of
Ballarat Regional Tourism. Guests included Cr John Phillips and
members of the local media. At the conclusion of the Show and Expo
on September 1, the People's Choice for Favorite Car at the Show
was awarded to Chris Griffin's Shelby FORD and Favorite Motorcycle
was awarded to Bruce Armfield's VINCATI Outfit. The winner of the
Door Prize free ticket draw (Nylint Tether Car) was Gary
Pring.
3. September
1 - The Show and Shine at the airport
involved 96 vehicles with the Judges challenged by a number of
exceptionally well restored cars resulting in 15 category winners.
The Outright Car was awarded to John McQuay for his 1925 Bentley 3
- 4 ½ Litre , and the Outright Motor Cycle to Ken Rowland for his
customised 1966 Harley Davidson. One of the class winners was Frank
Smith for his recently restored a 1961 FORD Anglia that represented
a project for his grandson. On being handed the microphone during
the award speeches, the 15 year old grandson gave a wonderful
account of the work and experiences involved.
4. September
1 -Anniversary/Reunion Dinner at the
Ballaarat Restaurant within the Ballarat Club involving 78 guests
with MC's Brique Reed and John Emery. Their activities included a
tribute to Bill Prowse who drove a 1930's Riley Imp at the 1947
Ballarat airfield event, a photo of which was reproduced for use as
roadside Bill boards to promote this year's festival. One of the
Billboards was later auctioned off and the successful winner, Don
Hume, kindly donated it to Bill as a memento of the
occasion.
5. September
2 - motor sport competitions comprising
Standing Start 400Meter Sprints and Regularity Trials on the old
WW2 airfield runway based circuit involving 76
competitors.
- Major award recipients for the Sprints were Graham
Smith - FTD OUTRIGHT (1973 MARCH F5000 with a time of 11.04
seconds); Jim Russell - FTD Pre-War (1939 FORD V8 Special with a
time of 12.74 seconds) and Laura Bourns - FTD Female Driver (1963
MG B supercharged with a time of 16.49 seconds).
- Major
award recipients for the Regularity Tests were Graeme Scott
-OUTRIGHT (1969 Morris Mini Deluxe with a Best Score of 1.72); and
Philip Gray - PRE-WAR (1934 FORD V8 Special with a Best Score of
4.78).
- A
Ballarat Festival of Motoring Perpetual Trophy was a new initiative
for the event this year and the inaugural winner was Graeme Smith
who participated in his 1950 ALLARD J2 sports car and his 1976
MARCH 73A formula 5000.
- The
Awards Presentation for the motor sport competitions were conducted
by MC John Emery with assistance from Stuart Benjamin - Chair of
Ballarat Regional Tourism; and Cr John Phillips.
The festival received
significant media coverage with thanks in particular to the
Ballarat COURIER and ABC television throughout
Victoria.
The
majority of the expenses associated with the festival goods and
services requirements were sourced via Ballarat businesses in an
effort to contribute towards their tourism related
opportunities.
John and my major objectives for
the event this year included strengthening our working
relationships with those government agencies that the event has a
dependency on; with sponsors; those businesses that can provide the
required levels of goods and services provisions; the media; and
those community service groups and volunteer based clubs that can
enjoy a mutual benefit from our combined involvement with
establishing an overall enjoyable community event that can stand on
its own for the benefit of the Ballarat regional community; those
other stakeholders and those interest groups involved.
Given the outcomes from the
event de-brief meetings held so far, next year's objectives will
include a more effective timing system and a tighter
running sheet for the Sunday motor sport competition (that will
focus on minimising any unnecessary delays in proceedings) and
better spectator provisions.
We are also keen to host a
Ballarat based Hub Rally for historic rally enthusiasts as part of
the festival.
Please keep an eye on the
website from time to time for further details on next year's event
as they evolve.