THE former Toyota Team Australia Supra turbo Group A car is set to make a racing return at the VHRR’s Phillip Island Classic in mid-March as part of a bumper field of Heritage Touring Cars.
Now owned by Sydney’s Meon Nehrybecki, the ex-John Smith Supra is to be part of a 34-car field for the opening HTC round of 2023 at the popular Victorian historic event.
The former TOMS factory car was shipped to Australia in 1989 for the factory Toyota Team Australia operation and ran at Bathurst that year in the hands of Smith and Drew Price.
Smith drove it in the 1990 Australian Touring Car Championship and again drove the car in that year’s endurance races. He and Price finished fifth in the Sandown 500 and Smith was teamed with Peter McKay and Mark Poole at Bathurst, though the car retired after 112 laps with engine problems.
Toyota pulled the plug on the program at the end of that 1990 season, though Smith and Geoff Morgan ran the car one more time at Bathurst in 1991 with Mercantile Mutual sponsorship.
The car was retained by Smith until only recently when it was purchased by Nehrybecki.
It’s featured in Heritage Hot Laps sessions at the Muscle Car Masters at Sydney Motorsport Park with Scott Bargwanna behind the wheel.
The Phillip Island HTC field will also include Steve Richards at the wheel of the Skyline GTS-R that father Jim used on his way to being crowned 1990 Australian Touring Car Champion.
Richards will be up against his 1999 Bathurst 1000-winning partner Greg Murphy, who will drive the ex-George Fury Skyline GTS-R now owned by Sydney’s Muscle Car Warehouse.
A third GTS-R Skyline in the hands of Tony Alford will also be among the field for the Phillip Island HTC event.
Former Nissan driver Carey McMahon will debut in his recently acquired ex-Lawrie Nelson Mustang while Terry Lawlor will be back behind the wheel of his recently re-purchased ex-Dick Johnson Greens-Tuf Mustang.
The newly restored ex-Diet-Coke, ex-Wellington 500 winning BMW M3 of Eddie Sansil will be joined by the ex-B&H car of Rick Allen and Adrian Brady’s ex-JPS Jim Richards 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship-winning chassis.
Tony Karanfilovski and Chris Stillwell will be behind the wheel of Sierras, Mike Roddy’s 1985 Bathurst 1000-winning Jaguar is entered, and a range of Commodores will make up a sizeable list of Group A cars.
A field of 15 Group C cars are entered, headlined by the return of the ex-STP ‘Elvis’ Commodore of Ed Singleton and Kyle Alford at the wheel of the ex-Bob Morris Channel 7/Breville Falcon XD most recently raced by Terry Lawlor.
The Phillip Island Classic runs from March 10 to 12 at Phillip Island with tickets available at the gate on the day.
