1966 Bathurst winners Bob Holden and Rauno Aaltonen part of huge list of legends on site …
MINI fans from all over Australia will descend upon Sydney Motorsport Park this weekend at the 12th annual Muscle Car Masters to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the pocket rocket’s domination of the 1966 Bathurst 500.
The celebrations form part of the annual event that features both on and off track action for fans of Aussie motorsport history and heritage.
Event organisers will reunite 1966 Bathurst winners, Finnish rally ace Rauno Aaltonen and Australian touring car legend Bob Holden as part of the celebration.
The pair shared the #13 works BMC Mini Cooper S to victory in the 1966 Gallaher 500 at Mount Panorama 50 years ago, leading home a horde of Minis that filled the first nine finishing places.
The little Mini Coopers outlasted the bigger, more powerful Valiant, Holden and Studebakers to record an historic victory.
Fifty years on from his famous victory, evergreen 83-year-old Holden still competes in local Heritage Touring Car racing and will also race his Group A Toyota Corolla this weekend as part of a 40-plus field of Group A and C Historic touring cars.
Other festivities will include an all-Mini race on Sunday as well as a large display of road and race Minis that will take part in a lunchtime parade lap of the circuit on Sunday.
A long list of stars will be attending this year’s Muscle Car Masters on Sunday October 30 in addition to Holden and Aaltonen including Allan Moffat, Jim Richards, John Goss, Kevin Bartlett, John Bowe, Colin Bond, Fred Gibson, Bob Holden, Glenn Seton and many more.
Muscle Car Masters is a celebration of Australian motorsport history, heritage and passion jointly promoted by the Australian Racing Drivers Club and Chevron Publishing, a division of nextmedia.
First held in 2005 it has become a permanent part of Sydney Motorsport Park’s calendar and this year moves from the Father’s Day weekend to October 29-30.
The 2016 event will feature an all-star racing line-up of Historic Group A and C Touring Cars in the Heritage Touring Cars class, Australian Trans-Am, Group N Historic Touring Cars and Group S as well as the new Sports Racing Car Invitational demo category featuring thumping Sports Cars, GT, Can-Am and Historic Sports Sedan machinery.
Making their first appearance at the event this year are the Kumho Tyre Australian V8 Touring Car Series as well as the Australian 5-Litre Touring Car Association, featuring a range of impressive Commodores and Falcons from the early V8 Supercar era.
Further details are available at: www.musclecarmasters.com.au
